Cooper High School - Talons Yearbook (New Hope, MN)

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Miss Judith Lutterman Mrs. Carol Moore Miss Carol Peterson Juniors Study Growth Of American Literature Mrs. Bonita Sandvick Mr. Albert Shaff The development of American litera- ture, from the Colonial writers to pres- ent-day authors, was the subject of junior English classes. To encourage student interest, many special activities were planned. During the drama unit students enacted John Doe, a closet play, before their large group classes. Speakers obtained through the Brave New Workshop, a Minneapolis satirical coffeehouse, spoke to classes about the dramatic arts. As a result of a federal grant, more than eight hundred juniors and seniors were enabled to attend a special student matinee of Harper’s Ferry at the Tyrone Guthrie Theater in October. Students also produced an inter-school television program concerning the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder. 26

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English X Studies Greek Classics, Mythology Mr. Patrick Billig Mr. David Cade Through the study of Greek mythol- ogy, classics, and arts, sophomore Eng- lish students acquired an awareness of the impact of the Greeks in world litera- ture that they studied. Operating on the premise that given enough time students will read many books, the sophomores were engaged in an intensive reading program. Dur- ing their free time students read books of all types and levels. A new unit on comic structure was introduced at the beginning of the year. Questions such as “What is lan- guage?” were explored in the unit on communications, in which students be- came aware of the value of words and why they are necessary for life in dia- lectic regions of the United States. Mrs. Dorothy Dryseth Mr. Leo Dvorak Mr. Richard DeCuise To complete her assignment on the manners and customs of the Anglo-Saxons, Helen Lanners uses the special bibliography lo- cated in the English resource center. 25

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Dramatizing from The Scarlet Letter, Mr. Cade as John Wilson, Mr. Swenson as Arthur Dimmesdale, and Mrs. Dryselh as Hester, enact the final scaffold scene. Seniors Explore Literary Classics Of England Mrs. Janet Singer Mr. Eugene Sullivan English literature, from the Dark Ages until the twentieth century, was the year-long topic of senior English. Spe- cial large group presentations aided understanding of each period of litera- ture studied. A trip to the Academy Theater to see The Taming of the Shrew was a high- light of the unit on Elizabethan litera- ture. Developing parallels between eighteenth and twentieth century coffee- houses was achieved through student skits. Later, the conflict between science and religion was debated by Mr. James Treinen, physics teacher, and a local clergyman for the Victorian unit. In connection with the play JB, Mr. Mar- vin Trautwein, American history teach- er, delivered a lecture on existentialism. Mr. Frederick Thumhart Mrs. Frances Zabel 27