Freshman (First Year) Classes:
Science 1 (Ryan Patin, Instructor)
Stay tuned!
Composition 1 (Ryan Abshire, Instructor)
We began some work on nonfiction, but only had two days this week, so will expand nonfiction studies into next week.
Monday: We discussed the writing process for nonfiction pieces and the various types of work that fall into that category. read two short nonfiction pieces in class: “A Letter to My Students As We Face the Pandemic” by George Saunders and “So What If Mountain Dew Can Melt Mice?” by Chuck Klosterman to explore purpose, style, audience, and tone in nonfiction writing.
Wednesday: We discussed their homework reading, “In Pursuit of Persimmons” by Kerri Westengerg from 64 Parishes Magazine and examined sources, inspiration, and structure. The students then spent class time writing a short piece about their field trip to Camp Coushatta (or something of their own choosing), with multiple options for approaches: letters, how-to, informational, anecdotes, travel writing, etc. We shared a few before the end of class.
Humanities 1 (Chris Hebert, Instructor)
We continued reading Plato’s Republic and discussed the Allegory of the Cave. During the discussion, students brought up how they see this play out in every day life.
Monday: Start reading the Allegory of the Cave
Tuesday: Field Trip
Wednesday: Finished Plato
Sophomore Classes:
Science 2 (Ryan Patin, Instructor)
Stay tuned!
Composition 2 (Ryan Abshire, Instructor)
This was the start of nonfiction week, but we will expand it into next week as we only spent one of our two days talking about it.
Monday: We discussed types, formats, and purpose of nonfiction and how we can use tools from poetry and fiction to create powerful nonfiction: detailed language, character, and structure. We read “In Bed” by Joan Didion and discussed in class, exploring not only the content of the article but the context in which it was written. For homework reading they were given “Weasels” by Annie Dillard.
Wednesday: GPGC alumna and University of Chicago professor Stephanie Soileau joined the class via Zoom to lead a discussion on fiction, pacing, and dialogue, as well as answering questions about her process. Her new book, “Should the Waters Take Us,” is forthcoming on July 14. The students were very excited and answered questions very sharply, huddling around the webcam to chime in.
Humanities 2 (Chris Hebert, Instructor)
Because this week was short, I assigned the Gifties the short novel “Animal Farm” by George Orwell. Seeing that this novel is more fairy tale and fantasy, we discussed how Orwell utilized the metaphors for the animals for real world history (the rise of the Soviet Union) and as a warning for people to avoid those same kind of mistakes. Justice for Boxer!
Monday & Wednesday: Read and discussed Animal Farm
Tuesday: Field Trip to Camp Coushatta
Senior and Grad (Third & Fourth Year) Classes:
English (Jack Vanchiere, Instructor)
During this short week we continued looking at examples of formal poetry, and honed in on our Final Projects for the semester. We spent a good bit of time looking at personalized selections of poems, and considering how we might implement elements of form we find inspiring.
Monday we discussed some forms, explored some poems by Layli Long Soldier and Gauri Awasthi, including “Ghazal after Babrid Masjid”
Tuesday the students went to Coushatta.
On Wednesday, I gave the students numerous works from authors such as Layli Longsolider, Emily Luan, Gauri Awasthi, Amy Gerstler, Jos Charles… to name a few, and tried to tailor some choices for specific students so that we could better understand forms that felt particular to us.
History (Carson Savoie, Instructor)
Stay tuned!
International Relations (Joshua Brown, Instructor)
Stay tuned!
Musically Gifted (MG)
Music Theory, History, & Practice (Brandon LaFleur, Instructor)
This week I was out for a professional development opportunity. Colette Tanner continued drilling triads and intervals while leading a more historical discussion on Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Music.
M: Intervals/Triads and Medieval
T: Intervals/Triads and Renaissance
W: Intervals/Triads and Baroque