2025
—Winter Courses—
We teach six books each session at three levels of difficulty to accommodate various ages and abilities:
Level I
Our Level I books are typically taught in Grades 7-9 and utilize relatively simple vocabulary and straightforward syntax. The underlying themes can be nuanced, however, and students will need to learn how to read closely and think deeply to uncover the work's hidden meaning. These books offer a solid foundation for those students who are still developing the basic skills and knowledge necessary for more advanced literary analysis.
Level II
Level II books are generally taught in Grades 10-11 and contain more advanced vocabulary, challenging syntax, and complex themes. Students will need to learn how to read between the lines to understand the writer's true intent. The most widely read classics in American and World Literature fall in this category, and most colleges will expect incoming students to have read these books at some point in their high school careers.
Level III
Level III books are the most challenging that students will read at the high school level. They are usually reserved for AP classes in Grade 12 and represent the type of books that students will read at the college level. These books are subtle and complex, often employing difficult syntax that requires careful reading to decipher the underlying themes. When students are comfortable with Level III books, they know that they are ready for college.
Derek Bunting
CEO/Founder
Lead Instructor
B.A. English
Dartmouth College
M.A. Education
Stanford University
Course Description
Our four-week intensive courses focus on the fundamentals of literary analysis so students better understand the writer's craft while acquiring the skills and knowledge necessary for success at the college level. Students will learn how to analyze a complex text through the "four pillars" of literary analysis—diction, imagery, language, and syntax—and how authors use various literary techniques—such as point of view, characterization, setting, and irony—to establish tone and convey theme.
In addition to analyzing and discussing literature, students will also have an opportunity to write three argumentative essays modeled after those found on the AP Literature and Composition Exam: a poetry analysis, a passage analysis, and a literary argument. To receive guidance during the writing process, students can schedule 15-minute pre-writing and post-writing conferences to receive help organizing their thoughts, finding evidence to support their claims, and receiving constructive feedback on their finished drafts.
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We limit our classes to a maximum of twelve students to ensure all students will have ample opportunity to schedule individual writing conferences and to share their ideas during class discussions. Each course homepage provides a detailed Daily Agenda with descriptions of every class activity with links to assignments and supplemental material so students will be able to extend their learning independently beyond our scheduled class time.
Session One
January 14 - February 6
Morning Courses
Level I
Duration:
Four Weeks
​
Dates:
January 14 - February 6
​
Days:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Time:
10:00 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. MT
​
Tuition:
$225
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Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun became an instant classic when it was first performed on Broadway in 1959, making its author, at the age of twenty-nine, the youngest American, the fifth woman, and the first Black playwright ever to be awarded the Best Play of the Year prize by the New York Drama Critics. James Baldwin wrote in a review that “never before in the entire history of American theater had so much of the truth of Black people’s lives been seen on the stage.”
Level II
Duration:
Four Weeks
​
Dates:
January 14 - February 6
​
Days:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Time:
11:00 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. MT
​
Tuition:
$225
​
After World War II, four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mah jong, and talk. United in shared unspeakable loss and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. With wit and sensitivity, Amy Tan’s debut novel—published in 1989 and now widely regarded as a modern classic—examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between these four women and their American-born daughters.
Level III
Duration:
Four Weeks
​
Dates:
January 14 - February 6
​
Days:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Time:
12:00 p.m. - 12:50 p.m. MT
​
Tuition:
$225
​
In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, published in 1899, Marlow, a seaman and wanderer, recounts his physical and psychological journey in search of the infamous ivory trader Mr. Kurtz. Travelling upriver to the heart of Africa, he gradually becomes obsessed by how this enigmatic figure has gained power and control over the local people, which makes him question, not only his own nature and values, but those of Western civilization itself in this highly influential Modernist masterpiece.
Afternoon Courses
Level I
Duration:
Four Weeks
​
Dates:
January 14 - February 6
​
Days:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Time:
4:00 p.m. - 4:50 p.m. MT
​
Tuition:
$225
​
While the powerlessness of the laboring class is a recurring theme in John Steinbeck's work, he narrowed his focus when composing Of Mice and Men in 1937, creating an intimate portrait of two migrant laborers, George and Lenny, who confront a world marked by petty tyranny, misunderstanding, jealousy, and callousness. But though the scope of the novel is narrow, the theme is universal: a loyal friendship and shared dream that make an individual's existence meaningful.
Level II
Duration:
Four Weeks
​
Dates:
January 14 - February 6
​
Days:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Time:
5:00 p.m. - 5:50 p.m. MT
​
Tuition:
$225
​
Chinua Achebe’s critically-acclaimed narrative about Africa’s cataclysmic encounter with European colonialism is told through the fictional experiences of Okonkwo, a wealthy and fearless Igbo warrior of Umuofia in the late 1800s. Things Fall Apart, a classic of world literature originally published in 1958, explores one man’s futile resistance to the devaluing of Igbo customs and traditions in a way that broadens our understanding of contemporary realities in a post-colonial world.
Level III
Duration:
Four Weeks
​
Dates:
January 14 - February 6
​
Days:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Time:
6:00 p.m. - 6:50 p.m. MT
​
Tuition:
$225
​
In Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake, published in 2003, we meet the Ganguli family, new arrivals from Calcutta, trying their best to become Americans even as they pine for home. The name they bestow on their firstborn, Gogol, betrays all the conflicts of honoring tradition in a new world—conflicts that will haunt Gogol on his own winding path through divided loyalties. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Jhumpa Lahiri brilliantly illuminates the tangled ties of the immigrant experience.
Session Two
February 18 - March 13
Morning Courses
Level I
Duration:
Four Weeks
​
Dates:
February 18 - March 13
​
Days:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Time:
10:00 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. MT
​
Tuition:
$225
​
Born in Transylvania, Elie Wiesel was a teenager when he and his family were taken from their home in 1944 to the Auschwitz concentration camp and then later to Buchenwald. Night, published in 1956, is the terrifying record of the death of Wiesel’s family, the death of his own innocence, and his despair confronting the evil of which humans are capable. Wiesel’s memoir is one of the most important documents of our time with its message that this type of horror must never be allowed to happen again.
Level II
Duration:
Four Weeks
​
Dates:
February 18 - March 13
​
Days:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Time:
11:00 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. MT
​
Tuition:
$225
​
Decades after its original publication in 1977, Ceremony remains one of the most profound and moving works of Native American literature. Tayo, a World War II veteran of mixed ancestry, returns to the Laguna Pueblo Reservation in New Mexico, deeply scarred by his experience as a prisoner of the Japanese and further wounded by the rejection he encounters from his own people. Only by immersing himself in Native American history can he begin to regain the peace that was taken from him.
Level III
Duration:
Four Weeks
​
Dates:
February 18 - March 13
​
Days:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Time:
12:00 p.m. - 12:50 p.m. MT
​
Tuition:
$225
​
In this deeply compelling and epic milestone of American literature, a nameless narrator describes growing up in the segregated South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of “the Brotherhood” before retreating into a basement lair amid violence and confusion. Published in 1952, Invisible Man won the National Book Award and established Ralph Ellison as one of the key writers of the 20th century.
Afternoon Courses
Level I
Duration:
Four Weeks
​
Dates:
February 18 - March 13
​
Days:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Time:
4:00 p.m. - 4:50 p.m. MT
​
Tuition:
$225
​
The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Told in a series of vignettes—sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous—Sandra Cisneros' masterpiece is a classic story of childhood and self-discovery. Acclaimed by critics and beloved by readers of all ages, Cisneros’ novel has been taught in schools and universities around the world since its publication in 1984.
Level II
Duration:
Four Weeks
​
Dates:
February 18 - March 13
​
Days:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Time:
5:00 p.m. - 5:50 p.m. MT
​
Tuition:
$225
​
Of all the contenders for the title of The Great American Novel, none has a better claim than Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Written in 1884 against the backdrop of the nation’s desire to expand into the promised future of the West, the novel stands as a stark reminder of the difficulty of escaping inherited traditions and prejudices. Huck and Jim’s voyage down the Mississippi River portrays a turbulent epoch in American history in voices that are often satirical but always authentic.
Level III
Duration:
Four Weeks
​
Dates:
February 18 - March 13
​
Days:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Time:
6:00 p.m. - 6:50 p.m. MT
​
Tuition:
$225
​
Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, where she may go out once a day to markets whose signs are now in pictures because women are not allowed to read. Offred can remember when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job—before she lost even her own name. Like Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, originally published in 1985, endures as a literary landmark and warning of a possible future that remains chillingly relevant in today's world.
Scholarships
Literary Focus is committed to having classes that are as diverse as possible. We want every student who has a desire to attend one of our academic enrichment classes to have that opportunity—regardless of that student's financial situation. If you qualify for the USDA free and reduced lunch program or have other financial concerns, please complete an application with your parent or guardian to receive one of our tuition-free scholarships.
