Grades 9+ Critical Thinking & Writing: Sci Fi

Grades 9+ – 1x per week – July 7-28

Location: Hillfield Strathallan College

Need a nudge to get focused on reading this summer? 

• Want to fall in love with new, challenging reading material?
• Aspire to write intelligent and sophisticated responses to literature?
• Wish for an exciting, brilliant mentor?

In each lesson, students will: 

• read and think critically about fiction (this summer our focus is on science fiction)
• discuss and debate a range of complex and fascinating questions
• write academic responses to literature that will be useful models for success in high school English classes (Students will receive detailed feedback on each writing submission and have the opportunity to edit, revise, and resubmit for additional feedback.)

This summer’s theme: A recurring theme in science fiction is the moment of first contact between humans and extraterrestrial intelligence. Countless storytellers have imagined the excitement, confusion, and terror that might await humankind at this moment. In this class, students will examine the first contact narrative in various media—literature, radio, television, and film—in order to explore a range of complex and fascinating questions. What would extraterrestrial life be like? How would we react to signs of extraterrestrial intelligence, and how would that intelligence react to us? Is first contact ever going to happen? What do first contact stories tell us about ourselves?

For more information, contact Brain Power at [email protected] or (905) 303-5457.