This course is designed to help you gain a deeper understanding of literary analysis, introduce you to assignments and lessons similar to those in IB / AP courses, and your standard English Literature curriculum. It includes texts from a wide range of genres and literary periods, aiming to improve your skills in organizing, writing, and editing essays and other writing assignments. The course is 15 weeks long, covering 3 separate texts.

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson While reading this famous Gothic novella, students will engage in symbolism and theme analysis and develop a deeper understanding of human duality and moral darkness.

Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe Students will use this landmark postcolonial text to examine cultural traditions, colonial conflict and tragedy, exploring perspectives outside the Western literary tradition.

Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut With this anti-war absurdist novel, students will analyze its non-linear structure and satirical tone, and reflect on trauma, time and the meaning of war.

Current Events is a weekly lecture course that introduces students to contemporary issues in technology, economics, international relations, science, and the arts. By connecting ideas across different fields and examining an increasingly interconnected world, students will develop a deeper understanding of the trends shaping their future.

No prior experience or prerequisites are required. The program is recommended for students in G7+ and is particularly valuable for debaters who want to strengthen their awareness of current events, develop critical thinking skills, and build a broader cognitive framework for understanding the world.

The course also helps high school students develop the analytical and interdisciplinary thinking skills needed for academic success and informed discussion. By exploring real-world issues across multiple fields, students learn to evaluate different perspectives, connect ideas, articulate well-supported arguments, and engage more confidently in academic discussions, debates, and future university studies.

“O brave new world, that has such people in’t!”

The Tempest by William Shakespeare

In an age that teems with information, disinformation, and “influencers,” critical thinking is perhaps the most important skill that students can learn. This learning process is exactly what Shakespeare invites us to experience in The Tempest. 

Defying dramatic categories of comedy and tragedy, The Tempest raises essential questions about colonization, slavery, and the competing claims of personal and social responsibility.  Shakespeare himself had a new perspective when he wrote the play, having moved back to Stratford from London. The Tempest is one of Shakespeare’s last plays and regarded by many as his farewell to the world of theatre.  Thus, it combines Shakespeare’s beauty of language and depth of characterization with delight in the sheer spectacle that theatre affords. 

Over this ten-lesson course, we will read the play together in class and discuss its literary, dramatic, and thematic elements in small groups and as a class.  Student assignments will focus on critical thinking and writing about relationships and themes in the play, and elements of dramatic production.  The final assignment will be an essay on one of the ethical issues of the play.

Course Outline

Class 1 – Shakespeare background; start Act I

Homework:  Work sheets on language

Class 2- Act I; approaches to critical analysis

Homework:  Analysis of Prospero’s speech to Miranda

Class 3 – Finish Act I

Homework: Test

Class 4 – Act II; comedy and parody

Homework:  Character comparison

Class 5 – Finish Act II; colonialism in Shakespeare’s time

Homework:  Critical analysis on Caliban and Ariel

Class 6 – Act III; what is love in this play?

Homework: creative writing

Class 7 – Finish Act III; theme of revenge

Homework: Test

Class 8 – Act IV; essay writing

 Homework: essay draft

Class 9 – Act V; more essay work

Homework:  Revise and complete essay

Class 10 – Essay due; Huxley and Beyond:  The Afterlives of The Tempest