Grade Eleven English blocks focus on two epic poems that explore man’s journey toward God.
Block One:: Divine Comedy** – Dante
- Week One:: Biography of Dante Alighieri – students will explore his life and the times in which he lived. This will paint a backdrop for Inferno and give a lens through which to understand the context of his writing.
- Week Two:: Hell
- Week Three:: Purgatory
- Week Four:: Paradise
**Using TBG vol. 21 “Dante”
Block Two:: Parzival
- Week One:: Biography of Wolfram von Eschenbach, Chapters 1-4 including Wolfram’s apology
- Week Two:: Chapters 5-10
- Week Three:: Chapters 11-16
**Using Penguin Classics version of “Parzival” by Wolfram von Eschenbach
English Track:: Selected works by Shakespeare and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Students will be asked to analyse each piece as social commentary in the context of its time, and to write critical reviews or speeches supporting their point of view. Performance of one or more pieces is encouraged wherever possible.
**Optional:: Students may read “Seven Storey Mountain” by Thomas Merton which alludes to Inferno, and is an autobiographical account of Merton’s own journey toward God.
