CATHOLICISM IN THE ENGLISH CURRICULUM AT HOLY NAME OF MARY
The study of English gives students and their teachers the opportunity to share their faith in every class. First of all, by focussing on literacy, English students and their teachers concentrate on the thinking skills that help individuals to know themselves and to understand the challenges facing them as they strive to live virtuous lives in a secular society that often seems to work in contradiction to their faith and their values.
The literature on our curriculum at Holy Name of Mary leads us to focus on many themes that are central to a faith-filled life. Although each course has its own particular areas of concentration, there are core themes which run through all the courses from grades 9 through 12: the wonder of God’s creation; the redemptive power of love and the value of living a virtuous life; the role of conscience; the finding of wisdom, right judgement, and redemption through suffering, repentance, and forgiveness; and the power of God’s grace.
What follows is an outline of some of the literary works and themes which are covered in our courses here at Holy Name.
Grade 9 – Appreciating the Wonder of God’s Creation
Mythology - exploration of the wonder of the created world
- exploration of the human capacity for feeling wonder and awe
- the study of heroes and the virtues associated with heroism
Poetry - together with mythology, poetry focuses the student’s attention
on the language of metaphor and thereby assists her in the reading of Scripture, coordinating with the grade 9 religion course
- focuses attention on the idea of awe
Novel Study Anne of Green Gables or The Secret Life of Bees
- focus on the redemptive power of love
- focus on the power of the imagination
- focus on the importance of family and, in particular the
relationship between parent and child
- focus on the development of discernment
Twelfth Night - love and marriage
- discernment of the difference between infatuation and love
- forgiveness
Grade Ten – Living a virtuous life
Prose To Kill a Mockingbird
- the virtues of faith, courage, wisdom, hope, temperance, respect. kindness, love, justice, self control, humility, and empathy
- nobility of character as demonstrated through many characters such as Tom Robinson, Calpurnia, Miss Maudie, Reverend Sykes, and Atticus Finch
- the beauty of innocence shown through Scout, Jem, and Dill
- the fight for true justice and love in a society where people are prejudged according to race, gender, and other differences
- the championing of the vulnerable
- the model parent
Chandra
- family relationships
- the struggle of the individual in society
- the virtues
The Pigman
- family relationships
- the virtues - in particular love, the importance of taking responsibity for one’s actions, and respect for the elderly
Short Stories such as “The Possibity of Evil” and “The Skating Party” which focus attention once again on virtuous living and making good choices
Poetry - again the study of poetry focuses the student’s attention
on the language of metaphor and thereby assists her in the reading of all works of literature, both poetry and prose, both fiction and non fiction
- draws attention to the idea of language as a medium of communication and beauty
Romeo and Juliet - the evils of prejudice
- the virtues – with special focus on love, temperance, and courage
- family relationships
In the reading which the students do during their grade 10 year through the Accelerated Reader program and through Literacy Preparation materials, there is much emphasis placed on the importance of the virtues in dealing with societal pressures and prejudices.
Grade 11 – Conscience
Through a study of such works as Macbeth, Jane Eyre, and a variety of poems and short prose works, Grade 11 University English students explore the theme of conscience. They analyze the actions of characters who wrestle with the temptations of life and examine the consequences for those who triumph over and succumb to these temptations – consequences for the individual souls and for the world in which they live.
Since essay writing is an important component of the grade 11 course, the students read models of the genre by exemplary writers. These essays provide the students with more opportunities to explore the theme of conscience through an examination of the responsibilities of the individual in society as emphasized by C.P. Snow in “Man in Society” and William Faulkner in “On Receiving the Nobel Prize” and through an insightful look at the law of human nature as described by C.S. Lewis in “Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe”.
Much of the poetry studied is also related in theme. Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “God’s World”, G.K. Chesterton’s “The Donkey”, Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Ulysses”, and Gerard Manley Hopkin’s “Pied Beauty” are just a few of the poems related to the theme of the course.
In The Diary of Anne Frank, The Miracle Worker, The Snow Goose, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Grade 11 College Level students explore the moral strength of main characters who triumph over major challenges in their lives by choosing to take the path of love, courage, justice, and right judgment over hatred, weakness, and intemperance. When time permits, the students also enjoy exploring children’s literature which focuses their attention on the theme of unconditional love through such works as Love You Forever, Mama, Do You Love Me, Charlotte’s Web, and The Narnia Chronicles.
In works such as A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, grade 11 students, at both the College and University levels, have the opportunity to read about a young Catholic heroine who triumphs because of her faith, the love of her family, and her desire for an education.
Grade 11 Specialty Courses: “Media Studies” and “Speech and Presentation Skills”
Both courses focus on deconstructing messages. The Media course alerts students to the manner in which media products can be used to indoctrinate them with a materialistic world view. The Speech and Presentation Skills course enables students to analyze how good speaking and presentation skills are powerful tools in constructing and deconstructing messages. In this way, students become more aware of how they can be easily influenced, and how they can influence others. The students also have the opportunity to compete in speech contests. Recently, the students delivered speeches on the value of a Catholic education.
Grade 12 – Making decisions
Some of the themes that are explored include:
-the importance of basing decisions on spiritual rather than material values (as seen, for example, in The Great Gatsby and The Blue Castle)
-nobility of character and the importance of such actions for the individual soul and for the creation of a just society ( with the opportunity to compare the actions of St. Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons with the main characters in Hamlet in the grade 12 University course, or with the opportunity to analyze the characters’ actions in such works as The Blue Castle on the grade 12 College course)
- the factors leading to a successful marriage (as explored through Pride and Prejudice, The Great Gatsby, Hamlet, and independent reading – in the grade 12 University course; and as explored through such works asThe Blue Castle, Taming of the Shrew, Pygmalion and Quiet in the Land – in the grade 12 College course )
-the importance of the relationship between parent and child (as emphasized in A Man for All Seasons, Pride and Prejudice, The Great Gatsby, Hamlet, and independent reading – in the grade 12 University course;
and as explored through such works as The Blue Castle and Quiet in the Land – in the grade 12 College course)
-the role of wonder and imagination in adult life as pointed out by Chesterton in “The Logic of Elfland” (a chapter from his spiritual autobiography, Orthodoxy) and by Northrop Frye in The Educated Imagination
Grade 12 Specialty Courses
ETS 4U1: The Drama of the Soul’s Choice
Through the study of such works as J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity, G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown detective stories, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux, and films such as Casablanca, the student explores the themes of decision making, conscience, moral justice, natural law, and the power of grace.
EWC 4U1: Writer’s Craft
Some of the creative writing activities that have been used in this and other courses at Holy Name of Mary have included the following:
Using the Rosary as inspiration, the students have written poems and poetic scripts based on the Joyous, Glorious, Sorrowful, and Luminous Mysteries , and then incorporated the poetry into a liturgy in which they read their work and prayed the Rosary.
Using the Stations of the Cross as inspiration, the students have written poems and poetic scripts based on the fourteen stations, and then incorporated them into a liturgy in which they read their poetry and prayed the Stations of the Cross.
After studying a medieval mystery play and several modern versions of the Nativity (including several Canadian ones such as William Kurulek’s A Northern Nativity), the students have written their own modern renderings using the following questions for inspiration:
If it happened here
as it happened there...
If it happened now
as it happened then...
Who would have seen the miracle?
Who would have brought gifts?
Who would have taken them in?