Courtesy of Mrs. Meryl Feldblum, English Department Chair
Over the course of the first semester, English students at 91影视 had the opportunity to explore a number of classic literary works through creative projects and presentations.
One of the novels studied by the ninth grade, was J. D. Salinger鈥榮听The Catcher in the Rye. For this unit,听Ms. Luisa Frey鈥檚 9B English class embraced their artistic side in a project relating to Holden Caulfield, the notorious protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye. 听This multidisciplinary project involved a number of visits to the art room, under the direction of Mrs. Winslow. 听
In addition to a written portion of the project, students worked in groups to create a life-sized representation of Holden Caulfield. 听After tracing a body outline, they then had to draw symbolic images to represent various parts of Holden鈥檚 body. 听For example, Holden carried a lot of proverbial weight on his shoulders due to the death of his brother and his expulsion from prep school. 听Thus, one group drew bricks on his shoulders to symbolically represent the burdens he carried. 听Another group depicted the lack of love in Holden鈥檚 life by symbolically drawing his heart with a big hole in it. 听Once the visual part was completed, each group gave a short presentation in which they explained the symbolic representations of each part of Holden鈥檚 mind and body.
In Dr. Anne Berkman鈥檚 class,听students got to explore a new side of Holden Caulfield through the medium of dramatic performance. Rabbi Neil Fleischmann visited the classroom in the character of Holden Caulfield, with Holden鈥檚 hat, coat, and disaffected air as his only props. Rabbi Fleischmann answered students’ questions about the novel in character, as well as discussed his personal ideas about the book and how it continues to speak to him.听
Meanwhile, in Mrs. Feldblum鈥檚 11A class, one unit project focused on the famous, and infamous, author Edgar Allen Poe. 听The project asked the students to identify Poe鈥檚 distinctive style and then research the lingering messages of Poe鈥檚 work.
The unit began as a whole class reading of Poe鈥檚 famous short story 鈥淎 Tell Tale Heart.鈥 听After this whole class reading, students broke into groups to begin their 鈥淧oe Projects.鈥 听The first step of the project asked students to choose a poem and a short story written by Poe. 听Students were then required to write a short piece explaining a common theme or element of the two chosen works. 听
The Poe assignment then asked students to take a step outside of the literature. The juniors wrote an op-ed piece discussing the impact media and entertainment have on our perceptions of the mentally ill. 听This assignment required students to think critically about the messages they consume and the impact it has on their perceptions. 听One group made the connection between this topic and their summer reading novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo鈥檚 Nest. Another group discussed the controversial series Thirteen Reasons Why. 听Through their writing, students drew connections between the intentional and unintentional messages we receive from current events, media, and literature. 听
This project will be one of many that help the students connect the literature to the world around them. 听
