HUMANI T IES


UPPER SCHOOL B


“They may find their life path in the field of


writing, but regardless, through cultivating


their curiosity about the world and their place in


it, they will be wiser and lead richer lives.”


—Rick Rees, Grade 6–12 English chair


y the time students reach Upper School, they are assumed to be writers.


Students design


intriguing covers for their Literary


Journalism Projects. Some are shown on facing page.


They have mastered analytical writing and have experimented with a variety of genres. They are ready to set forth upon the ocean of ideas, which in Ninth Grade includes reading literature from Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt, studying the writings of Confucius, and penetrating the New Testament, and the Ramayana. They interpret and analyze the works, and they do a major project on Rome, basing their work on the original texts of Roman historians, poets, and playwrights. The focus is on the ideas, but they also are developing research techniques, becoming precise with their citations, and adding bibliographies. These are skills they will use throughout high school and college, and they will employ them in all subject areas, from science to philosophy. The Humanities diverge


Chris H. ’11 interviews Doyle McCormack for a Literary


Journalism Project


about a locomotive roundhouse.


into English and History in the Tenth Grade. Students explore the Medieval World, the Age of Reason, and the Age of Exploration, using their research, critical thinking, and writing skills to grasp the politics, economics, religion, social history, arts, and literature of those periods. They read novels, plays, and stories, and use expository and persuasive writing to observe, to explain, and to argue for a point of view. They also spend a quarter of the year on poetry, writing their own poems in


12 OES MAGAZINE SUMMER 2010 12


several genres, and doing a research project on a chosen poet. They present to their


classmates their favorite pieces of their chosen poet, and they imitate the poet’s style, but the content is their own. For example, in the following excerpt, BEN U. ’12 employs the world-weary voice from T.S. Eliot’s “Journey of the Magi,” but in his imitation the jaded outlook belongs not to a wise man traveling to Bethlehem but to Tinkerbell traveling to Neverland:


It was easier this time


With more people believing Flitting from star to star Morning didn’t seem that far away


Yet behind came that irritating thunder


Of unmuffled noises Those three boys


Excitedly discussing the plundering pirates And who would plunder whom


The fat one kept slowing down


To do a loop the loop By their junior year,


students have used their craft to circumnavigate the globe, and they return to North America, studying the history and literature of the United States. The major writing endeavor for juniors is the Literary Journalism Project, in which they do original research on a local topic, exploring the hidden


streams, the backwaters, and the underlying currents of Portland culture. They interview people in the community, visit the locales where the event or activity they are researching takes place, and do primary research in area libraries and archives. “We have an ethic of getting


out of the classroom, using your skills, and bringing back a creative piece of writing,” said Rick Rees. The final product of the


Literary Journalism Project is a piece of creative nonfiction suitable for publishing. Some of the projects this past year were an article by Austin P. ’11 about the present and past Portland jazz scene, an unrelenting examination by Samar F. ’11 of sex trafficking in Portland, and a story by CHRIS H. ’11 about steam locomotive preservation in Portland. Chris begins his narrative by describing the man who has preserved three locomotives in the Brooklyn Roundhouse in Southeast Portland:


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40