Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2024
Book Discussion: Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) by Zora Neale Hurston, Revisited
Book Discussion: To the Lighthouse (1927) by Virginia Woolf, Revisited
Virginia Woolf's exploration of domestic life during a summer visit to the Hebrides is among the most challenging and also rewarding of modernist novels. Woolf crafts a deeply interior narration that gives insight into each of the characters while, at the same time, showing how far apart they are from each other. On display in the story are human affections and dependencies and resentments and passions, while each of the characters tries to find his or her way to fulfillment. Read Woolf's novel with an eye toward the creative life, the way in which we all individually make meaning for ourselves in a contemporary world. Participants should come to the first class having read and prepared to discuss part one of the novel. JOSHUA GAYLORD (see bio for “Book Discussion: Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) by Zora Neale Hurston, Revisited”). 2 Sessions, starting Wednesday, July 24 • 11:00am-12:30pm • Westchester Reform Temple • Course 12647 • $60
To say that we are "revisiting" Zora Neale Hurston's seminal novel is something of a misnomer, since most of us came of age in a generation when the book was mostly unread, undiscovered, and unvisited in the first place. Hurston's novel is the story of Janie, a woman who grows up to forge her identity in the early parts of the twentieth century, navigating issues of independence, race, womanhood, sexuality, and community. In exploring the book, focus on Janie's attempts to balance her position in various societies with the relentless pursuit of her own passionate individuality. Participants should come to the first class having read and prepared to discuss the first eight chapters. JOSHUA GAYLORD received a PhD in English at New York University, specializing in twentieth century American and British literature. He has taught at Scarsdale High School since 2021, and, prior to that, he taught at Ramaz Upper School in Manhattan for two decades. He has also taught literature and cultural studies courses as an adjunct professor at New York University, the New School, the Center for Fiction, and Catapult. 2 Sessions, starting Wednesday, July 10 Wednesday, July 3 • 11:00am-12:30pm • Westchester Reform Temple • Course 12646 • $60
Book Discussion: Heart of Darkness (1899) by Joseph Conrad, Revisited Joseph Conrad's novel about the ivory trade in the Congo has been seen frequently as a literary turning point on which Western culture shifts from Victorianism into modernism. Even though its views on race and imperialism are criticized often, even in the book itself, its exploration into the sinister side of human nature is filled with beauty and grandeur and universality. As a result, the book has had a wide influence on pop culture from Apocalypse Now to video games to Seinfeld. Explore the novel's cultural impact and the ideas it evokes that still haunt us today. Participants should come to class having read and prepared to discuss the whole book. JOSHUA GAYLORD (see bio for “Book Discussion: Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) by Zora Neale Hurston, Revisited”). Wednesday, August 7 • 11:00am-12:30pm • Westchester Reform Temple • Course 12648 • $30
www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325
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