This document provides an overview of an English literature course titled "Our Lives and Our Times: Storytelling and Social Commentary" being offered at the Milton Hershey Summer School in 2019. The course will explore how authors use their work to comment on social issues. Students will read selected books, complete a research project comparing a social issue in the US and another country, and write a personal narrative mentored by course texts and New York Times college essays. The course aims to discuss how literature functions as social commentary and how authors share stories in the context of broader social issues.

1. Our Lives and Our Times: Storytelling and Social Commentary
Milton Hershey Summer School 2019
Instructor: Adison Godfrey
Email: adisongodfrey@gmail.com
Course Overview: In this course, students will explore the ways in which authors and artists use their
work to comment on issues they see in the world around them.
Essential Questions:
❖ How does literature function as a means of social commentary?
❖ How do authors/artists present their ideas to comment on the values, beliefs, and events of their time?
❖ How do writers use stories to construct commentary?
❖ How do authors/artists share the stories of their own lives in the context of broader social issues?
❖ How does literature transcend time and place?
Course Requirements:
1. Free Reading. ​Free reading is a required element of the English 11 summer school course.
Students will select a book of their choice (novel, nonfiction, poetry collection, graphic novel, etc.)
and spend the first 20 minutes of each class engaging in free reading.
2. Completion of Course Text. ​In addition to free reading, students are required to read one of the
following books for the course:
❖ Shout ​by Laurie Halse Anderson
❖ It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime ​by Trevor Noah
❖ Just Mercy: A True Story of the Fight for Justice ​by Bryan Stevenson
❖ The 57 Bus ​by Dashka Slater
Students will discuss their chosen book with classmates both in class and via Google Classroom
discussion boards, as well as complete written responses in their journals.
3. Research Project. ​During the second week of summer school, students will complete a research
project. They will choose a social issue to research in the United States and in another country of
their choosing, and they will present their comparative study to the class in the form of a Google
Slides presentation. In addition, students will construct their own piece of social commentary (a
song, short story, advertisement, scene, piece of artwork, etc.) regarding their chosen issue.
4. Personal Narrative. ​During the final week of summer school, students will use their course text
and selected ​New York Times ​college essays as mentor texts to write their own personal
narratives. Ideally, students will finish the course with a solid draft of their personal narrative that
can be adapted for use as a college application essay.
Tentative Course Calendar:
Week One (July 15-19): ​Songs, Poetry, and Short Stories
Week Two (July 22-26): ​Comedy, Art, and the Research Project
Week Three (July 29-August 2): ​NYT ​Best College Essays and the Personal Narrative