Three-ring binders decorated with colorful collages are currently on view in George School’s Main Lobby, bearing titles such as “A Melting Pot of Prose,” “A Writer’s Journey,” and “Fearless.” Located in a display case between the Admission Office and the Dining Room, the binders contain
English portfolios produced last spring by students in George School’s Freshman Literature and Composition class.
The final project in Freshman Literature and Composition, the portfolio assignment challenges students to collect and revise the best essays they produced during the course of the class. The essays represent a variety of expository forms studied in the class—descriptive, narrative, reminiscent, and personal—along with a free paper written in a form of the student’s choice.
“As students rewrite essays from freshman year, they learn about themselves—their favorite themes and types of composition, their stylistic tendencies, and their beliefs,” said
Terry Culleton, one of the teachers of the class. Freshman Literature and Composition is also taught by faculty members Kathy Rogers, Colette Weber, and Eric Wolarsky.
“Self-expression becomes self-discovery,” added Terry, a former Bucks County Poet Laureate and the current sponsor of
Argo, George School’s literary magazine. “The free paper—a nonfiction essay of any kind and on any topic—brings students face to face with freedom, leading them to consider whether they do best with structure or without it.”
That freedom led students to explore their thoughts on a variety of topics. One student, Jesse Palmiotti '13 of Wrightstown, Pennsylvania, chose to write his free paper as a narrative essay. Entitled “Moroccan Nightmare,” the essay details how a trip to Morocco when he was eleven years old opened Jesse’s eyes to the extent of poverty in the world. “What I saw shocked me. Huge crowds of people stopped everything they were doing to stare at us. Most of them wore dirty, tattered clothing and were startlingly thin,” Jesse wrote in his essay. “Even today, the sights and sounds of Morocco’s cities still haunt me.”
Another student, Kafiya Mohamed '13 of Astoria, New York, chose to write her free paper as a personal essay. Entitled “How George School Has Changed Me,” the essay expresses Kafiya’s gratitude for the ways in which she has benefited from learning experiences at George School. In one passage of the essay, she explains how she came to understand the purpose of
Quaker meeting for worship, in which school community members sit in silent reflection, and individuals may stand to share insights aloud.
“As my experience here progressed I started to notice the affection and wisdom that circulated the room after someone would stand up and share a message,” Kafiya wrote regarding meeting for worship. “Love consumed the meetinghouse every time worship was happening.”
The freshman portfolio project follows a central premise of the English Department curriculum—that expanding one’s imagination leads to greater empathy towards others, and greater insight into oneself. Throughout the four-year English program, students cultivate their own voices in personal and creative writing, and hone their analytical powers through extensive practice in critical writing.