Quest Courses – Spring 2023 / Literature


The courses listed below, in the general area of literature, are currently offered at Quest.

Click on any title to view the related course page.


CONTEMPORARY POETRY

Coordinators: Martha Drezin, Mary Ann Donnelly, Frieda Lipp

So many say, “Poetry is just not for me.” It has always gotten a bad rap – called highfalutin and indecipherable. In this class, we believe the opposite.

CONTEMPORARY SHORT STORIES

Coordinators: Nancy Richardson, Mary Buchwald, Frieda Lipp

This long-running class-driven discussion course brings together fans of international short stories who share their points of view about the various elements of each story — plot, setting, characters, etc.

ELIZABETH GASKELL

Coordinators: Arlene Curinga, Patricia Geehr, Susan Keohane

An English novelist, biographer, and short-story writer, Elizabeth Gaskell’s novels offer a detailed portrait of society, particularly the very poor.

INVISIBLE MAN BY RALPH ELLISON

Coordinators: Lynnel Garabedian, Sandy Kessler,

This semester we will consider Ralph Ellison’s novel “The Invisible Man” (1952), which deals with the problems of race relations and Black identity in the United States.

ORAL INTERPRETATION OF POETRY

Coordinators: Joyce Hinote, Peter Dichter, Mary Ann Donnelly, Sheryl Harawitz

Reading aloud introduces us to the voice of poetry: its rhyme, meter, syntax, imagery. In this class, we continue this human oral tradition by bringing poetry alive.

TONI MORRISON: THE LEGEND

Coordinators: Donna Ramer, Sheryl Harawitz, Tamara Weinberg

What makes a legend?