GDS HS English Classes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What framework do you use to analyze literature, OP? These are all tools/theoretical frameworks of analysis.

Likely most posters never studied these, and some are quite new. So, here is an explanation:

https://iep.utm.edu/literary/

The issue at hand is assigning activist propaganda books instead of classics or less political books to apply literary theory and tools.

[Anonymous]

Here’s the school paper oped OP cited

https://theaugurbit.com/2022/09/03/what-i-wish-i-knew-about-politics-at-gds-as-a-freshman/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. Have been mostly happy w GDS HS english and related faculty.

This fall, one of the HS grades as started out by studying the following topics:

Queer Studies, CRT, Marxist Theory, Intersectionality, Structuralism Theory

Serious old person question - why are these taught in ENGLISH rather than in a special elective class? Isn't english for the study of literature. I get it - literature is a window into humanity....but really? I also get it - it's GDS but this is a core class all students must take.

And there was even an op-ed in student paper last week from a student very unhappy with the single-minded bias faculty show and the lack of oxygen they provide for dissenting views.

This has to be a troll. Critical race theory is legal scholarship, no way they’d be teaching it in HS English, unless the person teaching it doesn’t understand what it is. Sounds like a Maga trump fan making fun of GDS’ wokism.

I'm not OP but can vouch that this Not a Troll post - go to GDS Open House and they happily list the English books per grade. It's really different from any other school.

Ugh. Open house for prospective families, bc we missed hearing examples like this or the academics. Or Open House for second month of school parents?

My open houses were pre-covid. Did they not have virtual open houses during Covid? They used to have subject classes you could visit (but had to pick 3? maybe 4?) and the english teachers always put up the lists of books for 9th grade, 10th grade english. As I noted - I'd be accused by anyone as far left and woke - and I found the GDS approach to be over the top. Instead of having a curriculum that is informed by and infused with diversity - it felt the other way around....how can we take everything diverse and cobble a curriculum around it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. Have been mostly happy w GDS HS english and related faculty.

This fall, one of the HS grades as started out by studying the following topics:

Queer Studies, CRT, Marxist Theory, Intersectionality, Structuralism Theory

Serious old person question - why are these taught in ENGLISH rather than in a special elective class? Isn't english for the study of literature. I get it - literature is a window into humanity....but really? I also get it - it's GDS but this is a core class all students must take.

And there was even an op-ed in student paper last week from a student very unhappy with the single-minded bias faculty show and the lack of oxygen they provide for dissenting views.

This has to be a troll. Critical race theory is legal scholarship, no way they’d be teaching it in HS English, unless the person teaching it doesn’t understand what it is. Sounds like a Maga trump fan making fun of GDS’ wokism.

I'm not OP but can vouch that this Not a Troll post - go to GDS Open House and they happily list the English books per grade. It's really different from any other school.

I’m the OP. Honestly this is not a troll. This is the core English class for an upper grade in the high school. Truly really.

I'm the PP - Yes I know - this is for the regular Grade level English classes that everyone has to take. Not a specialty class or an elective you choose as you get to 12th grade. It was eye opening that there seemed to be NO classic books at all.

Can you name the books please?

No because our child chose to go somewhere else and this was 4-5 years ago. Someone from GDS will have to share their child's 9th/10th grade English reading list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much studying of queer identity needs to occur? My kid is in middle and I’m ok with the rest of the DEI but the kids get sick of talking about sexuality all the time. It can be draining to those who would prefer to not read and discuss peoples sexual preferences. It doesn’t mean that we don’t accept them but the constant discussion is too much. Parents are beginning to pull their kids out (especially after 2nd grade) and GDS needs to wake up!

True. 2nd grade Identity Project got off the rails the last few years with Jazz Jennings trans books before health ed, Explore your Gender homework, all the his/hers/them worksheets, and Dominant Culture lectures.

Frankly, I cannot imagine a sane parent allowing this, let alone paying $50K a year for it.

[Anonymous]

Their historic instagram and FB posts are over the top too.

Who are they marketing to exactly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. Have been mostly happy w GDS HS english and related faculty.

This fall, one of the HS grades as started out by studying the following topics:

Queer Studies, CRT, Marxist Theory, Intersectionality, Structuralism Theory

Serious old person question - why are these taught in ENGLISH rather than in a special elective class? Isn't english for the study of literature. I get it - literature is a window into humanity....but really? I also get it - it's GDS but this is a core class all students must take.

And there was even an op-ed in student paper last week from a student very unhappy with the single-minded bias faculty show and the lack of oxygen they provide for dissenting views.

OP here. Yes that’s junior English and it’s still taught like that. I’m talking about the new senior English in which CRT and intersectionality are the lenses through which literature will be analyzed. This is new since last year.



I went to GDS. This sounds like the 11th grade English course that I took (albeit, this was many years ago), so no, not OP is a troll. That class was very focused on rhetoric and argument in addition to the study of various critical lenses through which literature can be examined. I remember once I had to do a paper that involved taking two of the aforementioned critical lenses and close reading a short story or essay, the goal being that different critical frameworks yield different analyses and interpretations (so, not at all the 'indoctrination', but an encouragement of different thinking). And for the people griping that English needs to focus on the "classics" this same English 11 course started with Greek rhetorical appeals (ethos, logos, pathos) and Aristotle's poetics.


The only reasonable critique of teaching these things that I can fathom is that they're boring and maybe a bit advanced for some students (and I take issue with that claim, personally). English, especially a class which is focused on rhetoric and argument, is absolutely the place to learn about, well, different approaches to reading a text. And I don't remember that DD was taught that one of these approaches is more right than another -- it's simply useful and important to know they exist.

I found this class to be challenging, but it did make me a better writer and I still use what I learned today, as an adult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. Have been mostly happy w GDS HS english and related faculty.

This fall, one of the HS grades as started out by studying the following topics:

Queer Studies, CRT, Marxist Theory, Intersectionality, Structuralism Theory

Serious old person question - why are these taught in ENGLISH rather than in a special elective class? Isn't english for the study of literature. I get it - literature is a window into humanity....but really? I also get it - it's GDS but this is a core class all students must take.

And there was even an op-ed in student paper last week from a student very unhappy with the single-minded bias faculty show and the lack of oxygen they provide for dissenting views.

OP here. Yes that’s junior English and it’s still taught like that. I’m talking about the new senior English in which CRT and intersectionality are the lenses through which literature will be analyzed. This is new since last year.



I went to GDS. This sounds like the 11th grade English course that I took (albeit, this was many years ago), so no, not OP is a troll. That class was very focused on rhetoric and argument in addition to the study of various critical lenses through which literature can be examined. I remember once I had to do a paper that involved taking two of the aforementioned critical lenses and close reading a short story or essay, the goal being that different critical frameworks yield different analyses and interpretations (so, not at all the 'indoctrination', but an encouragement of different thinking). And for the people griping that English needs to focus on the "classics" this same English 11 course started with Greek rhetorical appeals (ethos, logos, pathos) and Aristotle's poetics.


The only reasonable critique of teaching these things that I can fathom is that they're boring and maybe a bit advanced for some students (and I take issue with that claim, personally). English, especially a class which is focused on rhetoric and argument, is absolutely the place to learn about, well, different approaches to reading a text. And I don't remember that DD was taught that one of these approaches is more right than another -- it's simply useful and important to know they exist.

I found this class to be challenging, but it did make me a better writer and I still use what I learned today, as an adult.

So, OP, you're really just talking about one part of one senior English class? Just trying to stir up trouble, aren't you?

My DC found the GDS English teachers to be phenomenal, and he was much better prepared than my public school kids for the writing challenges of college. These are all various lenses through which literature can be analyzed, and what is the problem with your kid learning about them in high school - doesn't that make them better prepared for college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. Have been mostly happy w GDS HS english and related faculty.

This fall, one of the HS grades as started out by studying the following topics:

Queer Studies, CRT, Marxist Theory, Intersectionality, Structuralism Theory

Serious old person question - why are these taught in ENGLISH rather than in a special elective class? Isn't english for the study of literature. I get it - literature is a window into humanity....but really? I also get it - it's GDS but this is a core class all students must take.

And there was even an op-ed in student paper last week from a student very unhappy with the single-minded bias faculty show and the lack of oxygen they provide for dissenting views.

OP here. Yes that’s junior English and it’s still taught like that. I’m talking about the new senior English in which CRT and intersectionality are the lenses through which literature will be analyzed. This is new since last year.



I went to GDS. This sounds like the 11th grade English course that I took (albeit, this was many years ago), so no, not OP is a troll. That class was very focused on rhetoric and argument in addition to the study of various critical lenses through which literature can be examined. I remember once I had to do a paper that involved taking two of the aforementioned critical lenses and close reading a short story or essay, the goal being that different critical frameworks yield different analyses and interpretations (so, not at all the 'indoctrination', but an encouragement of different thinking). And for the people griping that English needs to focus on the "classics" this same English 11 course started with Greek rhetorical appeals (ethos, logos, pathos) and Aristotle's poetics.


The only reasonable critique of teaching these things that I can fathom is that they're boring and maybe a bit advanced for some students (and I take issue with that claim, personally). English, especially a class which is focused on rhetoric and argument, is absolutely the place to learn about, well, different approaches to reading a text. And I don't remember that DD was taught that one of these approaches is more right than another -- it's simply useful and important to know they exist.

I found this class to be challenging, but it did make me a better writer and I still use what I learned today, as an adult.

So, OP, you're really just talking about one part of one senior English class? Just trying to stir up trouble, aren't you?

My DC found the GDS English teachers to be phenomenal, and he was much better prepared than my public school kids for the writing challenges of college. These are all various lenses through which literature can be analyzed, and what is the problem with your kid learning about them in high school - doesn't that make them better prepared for college?

NP. The curriculum seems extremely imbalanced for a HS English class. Glad we stuck with Catholic education.

[Anonymous]

GDS is a college-prepatory school. Believe it or not, courses like these help to prepare GDS students to succeed in college. Unlike their peers are less progressive schools, GDS students won't be shell shocked by these perspectives and cutting-edge scholarship, as well as the highly interdisciplinary nature of the humanities and social sciences, when they start college. As someone who went to a very traditional high school, and then went to a top SLAC for college, I was in over my head compared to classmates who had the kind of HS curriculum that GDS is offering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GDS is a college-prepatory school. Believe it or not, courses like these help to prepare GDS students to succeed in college. Unlike their peers are less progressive schools, GDS students won't be shell shocked by these perspectives and cutting-edge scholarship, as well as the highly interdisciplinary nature of the humanities and social sciences, when they start college. As someone who went to a very traditional high school, and then went to a top SLAC for college, I was in over my head compared to classmates who had the kind of HS curriculum that GDS is offering.

The subject matter is such that you can avoid this in college, where you select your classes. This is unnecessary....especially when they don't accept other points of view.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS is a college-prepatory school. Believe it or not, courses like these help to prepare GDS students to succeed in college. Unlike their peers are less progressive schools, GDS students won't be shell shocked by these perspectives and cutting-edge scholarship, as well as the highly interdisciplinary nature of the humanities and social sciences, when they start college. As someone who went to a very traditional high school, and then went to a top SLAC for college, I was in over my head compared to classmates who had the kind of HS curriculum that GDS is offering.

The subject matter is such that you can avoid this in college, where you select your classes. This is unnecessary....especially when they don't accept other points of view.

Maybe if you’re in the sciences and need to take only a couple of humanities classes. Also, how do you thoughtfully disagree with theories you haven’t even studied?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. Have been mostly happy w GDS HS english and related faculty.

This fall, one of the HS grades as started out by studying the following topics:

Queer Studies, CRT, Marxist Theory, Intersectionality, Structuralism Theory

Serious old person question - why are these taught in ENGLISH rather than in a special elective class? Isn't english for the study of literature. I get it - literature is a window into humanity....but really? I also get it - it's GDS but this is a core class all students must take.

And there was even an op-ed in student paper last week from a student very unhappy with the single-minded bias faculty show and the lack of oxygen they provide for dissenting views.

I went to GDS. This sounds like the 11th grade English course that I took (albeit, this was many years ago), so no, not OP is a troll. That class was very focused on rhetoric and argument in addition to the study of various critical lenses through which literature can be examined. I remember once I had to do a paper that involved taking two of the aforementioned critical lenses and close reading a short story or essay, the goal being that different critical frameworks yield different analyses and interpretations (so, not at all the 'indoctrination', but an encouragement of different thinking). And for the people griping that English needs to focus on the "classics" this same English 11 course started with Greek rhetorical appeals (ethos, logos, pathos) and Aristotle's poetics.


The only reasonable critique of teaching these things that I can fathom is that they're boring and maybe a bit advanced for some students (and I take issue with that claim, personally). English, especially a class which is focused on rhetoric and argument, is absolutely the place to learn about, well, different approaches to reading a text. And I don't remember being taught that one of these approaches is more right than another -- it's simply useful and important to know they exist.

I found this class to be challenging, but it did make me a better writer and I still use what I learned today, as an adult.

I'm going to guess there aren't too many 'differing' opinions at that school and if you voice one you aren't going to do well. It's really got to knock some kids' self-esteem to be labeled a 'bad' person for not conforming to the woke extreme agenda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the school paper oped OP cited

https://theaugurbit.com/2022/09/03/what-i-wish-i-knew-about-politics-at-gds-as-a-freshman/

That's exactly why I would never send a kid there. I'm an Independent and I truly believe in civil discourse and allowing both sides (all sides to be heard) agenda-free. This is part of the reason our country is so polarized.

And, my kids are in a private HS now and part of the reason they are there is that our local school system in APS operates much along the lines as GDS (granted the pyramid my kids are zoned for--not every school in the county). My kids were really force-fed some agendas. Students also played up to the environment, which in reality can be just as toxic as when its swung the other direction too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS is a college-prepatory school. Believe it or not, courses like these help to prepare GDS students to succeed in college. Unlike their peers are less progressive schools, GDS students won't be shell shocked by these perspectives and cutting-edge scholarship, as well as the highly interdisciplinary nature of the humanities and social sciences, when they start college. As someone who went to a very traditional high school, and then went to a top SLAC for college, I was in over my head compared to classmates who had the kind of HS curriculum that GDS is offering.

The subject matter is such that you can avoid this in college, where you select your classes. This is unnecessary....especially when they don't accept other points of view.

Maybe if you’re in the sciences and need to take only a couple of humanities classes. Also, how do you thoughtfully disagree with theories you haven’t even studied?

The subject matter is being rammed down their throats. It's not just a sprinkling. It's an entire course. Inappropriate as a required course imo.