Courses – Fall 2025 / 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 SHORT STORIES
Coordinators: Nancy Richardson, Mary Buchwald, Frieda Lipp
This long-standing class discusses short stories from all over the world.
CONTEMPORARY POETRY
Coordinators: Ellen Rittberg, Frieda Lipp, Karen Millard, Linda Schwartz
We will explore important and well-regarded modern poets, their poems, and their place in the literary continuum/historical context.
MORAL TALES FOR OUR TIMES
Coordinators: Lynnel Garabedian, Sandy Kessler
Our class will read several plays in which individuals act morally and bravely in the face of enormous social and political pressure and at great cost to themselves.
ORAL INTERPRETATION OF POETRY
Coordinators: Joyce Hinote, Peter Dichter
The Origins of Poetry: Poetry is a fundamental form of expression of human emotions. It often arises from, channels, and distills our most fundamental emotions — love, grief, wonder, longing, rage, joy. Poetry can feel like an emotional instinct, a primal response to the complexity of life.
THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV
Coordinators: Sheryl Harawitz, Andrea Irvine, Ellie Schaffer, Ellen Shapiro
Our study group will dive into the complex world of Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, a masterpiece that explores the intricacies of faith, doubt, and morality through the lives of the Karamazov family.
TIMELESS WRITINGS: THE ILIAD
Coordinators: Sheryl Harawitz, Mary Ann Donnelly, Judy Hampson, Andrea Irvine
What could be more intriguing than sharing the literary works that have endured the test of time, and engaged and inspired people worldwide for over a millennium?
WONDERFUL BOOKS OUT LOUD: TWAIN'S SHORT STORIES
Coordinators: Harriet Finkelstein Larry Shapiro, Ruth Ward
Mark Twain has been called the father of American literature. A humorist, lecturer and novelist, Twain combined narrative wit and a strong sense of irony to create distinctive masterpieces based on American culture and language.