Welcome to American Myths and Realities

You’ve all heard the litany of so-called “wisdom” about junior year at New Trier: “it’s the year that counts . . . it’s the most stressful year . . . it’s when you need to start targeting where you’ll go to college . . . it’s when you need to move up in levels to show colleges you’re taking a rigorous program . . . it’s the year that will determine much of your future.”  Perhaps you’ve heard statements like these from peers and family members.  Perhaps some of you have even uttered something close to these statements above.

But to what extent should we believe the conventional wisdom of these statements?  Think about it for a minute: if a lot of people in a given community say something, does that make it true?  Maybe we should ask, “to what extent are the common statements we hear about junior year at New Trier myths?  To what extent are they realities?”

“Myths” and “Realities” are words we’ll use a lot this year.  We’ll use them to think about our country – its past and the state of our country today – and we’ll also use these words to explore the literature of our country.  Our approach in this course will be thematic; we’ll use the theme of “American Myths and Realities” – as well as broad, guiding questions – to explore both American Literature and our world today. 

John Dewey (gotta respect the stache)

In the end, my goals are to engage your interest and to promote a classroom environment where you develop a deeper appreciation of reading and writing.  Moreover, I want you to reflect on the world in which you live and how we can create a more just and democratic society.  And perhaps most importantly, I want you to develop a deeper understanding of who you are and how you fit in the America of 2019.  John Dewey, our country’s greatest educational philosopher, once wrote, “Education is a social process; education is growth; education is not preparation for life but is life itself.”  My hope is that by June of 2020 a “reality” of this course is that we’ve come a bit closer to living Mr. Dewey’s philosophy.  Have fun!