Best Blogs from New York

Hello All,

We have now finished marking the blogs from our amazing trip to New York, studying the literature and drama of that extraordinary city. All our students had to do daily blogs (on literature and drama… and some chose to blog also on other key events).

For nearly all students the most memorable event was the visit to the Canaan Baptist Church for an African American Gospel Service. Here are two of the blogs that captured the wide -literary and historical- implications of this event most beautifully:

https://nastassiainnewyork.wordpress.com/2017/02/05/i-know-why-the-caged-bird-sings-29012017/

https://eatthestrawberries.wordpress.com/2017/02/05/what-is-caged-is-set-free-through-belief/

As you can see, for these students, the event not only deeply enhanced their appreciation of the African American writers we were dealing with (Maya Angelou, Tony Morisson, August Wilson, Langston Hughes etc) but it gave them a profound experience of what are some of the key contemporary issues in world history, politics and race relations. These students have been deeply impacted and I am sure they will never forget this and other such moments. Thank you both Nastassia and Teagan for the clarity of your recollections.

At another, equally meaningful, level were some of the student responses to our Central Park tour which focussed in on the transformative world of Salingers’ Holden Caulfield. Our tour through Central Park, climaxing in our visit to the famous Carrousel, was best recorded by Morgan. Here is her blog on this event:
https://morganjessie.wordpress.com/2017/02/05/a-salinger-carrousel-ride/

In all, there were 300 blogs on literary and dramatic topics. They would fill a book showing the powerful, transformative impact that this visit has had on our students. Thank you all who were involved with this adventure! Especially Eric and his crew of literary guides from New York’s Literary Pub Crawl -hastening to add that our under-age students did not once enter a pub in New York!!

Finally, which were the OVERALL BEST Blogs, that is the ones that received the highest overall scores? Click on names to explore their blogs!

Top Score went to Kirsten

Close runners up were

All of these scored close to maximum marks!

Congratulations to all for such fine work!