The goal of an English curriculum in high school must be to expose students to literature that will educate them. However, should English classes, including the books provided, be meant to enlighten students about just literary aspects, or also to challenge students to understand societal conflicts regarding human nature? 

When comparing selected books from Greenwich High School and Greenwich Country Day School, you quickly see that both of these English curriculums utilize societal conflicts and important literature lessons to thoroughly educate their students.

Greenwich High School, which is a public school facility, focuses its English curriculum mostly around literary classics. Some of their junior year English texts this year are One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey and Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. These books were both bestsellers and are seen as “classics” for their exemplary and noteworthy reviews. These well-known texts both tackle challenging societal conflicts through themes such as Identity, power, mental illness, sexual violence, and gender. This allows for intriguing discussions in the classroom and deep dives into societal aspects of literature.

At the Greenwich Country Day upper school, the books are selected by teachers based on the English and History elective. For example, in the junior English and History DYAD-1 (Supreme Court Law), students have read There There by Tommy Orange, The Map of Ireland by Stephanie Grant, and Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. While some might not consider these books to be literary “classics,” they also explore challenging themes such as identity, storytelling, racial tensions, acceptance, and gender roles. Specifically, both The Map of Ireland and Middlesex shed light on the LGBTQ+ community, gender identity, and racial differences. These topics lead to open and constructive conversations in the classroom about modern-day social acceptance and norms. Similar to the texts at Greenwich High School, these books work effectively to help students thoroughly understand social norms and conflicts while also serving as valuable reads for understanding literature. Both curriculums demonstrate how the classroom is a safe space for intellectual inquiry, the exploration of ideas, and the discussion of challenging topics.