Magical Realism

Magical realism is one of the new English classes offered at Bolles. This type of class originated in the 1940s from Latin America and “seeks to blend the real with the fantastical and the imagined with the concrete.”

It is a literary style that discusses and explores the existence of a multiverse along with the possibilities within.

Within this class, students study authors such as Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, Yuri Herrera, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia. These authors represent different cultures along with the style of magical realism, encouraging risks and defying order.

Senior Alida Cucoranu takes magical realism and described her favorite part of the class as “the way the books make me think and reflect on my life and experiences.”

“I also love how the class is discussion based and how Mr. Stam will show us parts of films to give us visuals,”

– Alida Cucoranu ‘23

Finally, Cucoranu loves that the writers within this class “blur the line between reality and imagination.”

World Poetry

World poetry is a class that tries to make meaning of poetry by reading poems from every continent.

Within this class, students will use creative techniques for analysis, learn poetic forms from around the world, and explore how poems “work their magic.” Students also examine how social change can be made around the world through poetry.

The goal of this class is to leave students with a newfound confidence in reading poetry and possibly find a few favorite poems along the way.

Senior Annalise Cannada stated what she enjoys about the class,

“I like that poetry is more intimate and interesting than some books or novels.”

– Annalise Cannada ‘23

She also stated,

“I love that you can uncover so much from simply one stanza of a poem.”

– Annalise Cannada ‘23