Everyone has a moment in history which belongs particularly to him. It is the moment when his emotions achieve their most powerful sway over him, and afterward when you say to this person 'the world today' or 'life' or 'reality' he will assume that you mean this moment, even if it is fifty years past. The world, through his unleashed emotions, imprinted itself upon him, and he carries the stamp of that passing moment forever. - A Separate Peace (40)

Several 10th Grade Humanities classes close-read John Knowles' A Separate Peace, the coming of age story of young men at a New England boarding school during World War II. Students make real-life connections between the book's setting, Devon School, and Culver as they make sense of the "war within one's own heart" during adolescence. They begin to understand how the characters of Finny and Gene deal with adversity and how these various "explanatory styles" resonate in their own lives at Culver. This can be a powerful teacher in the quest to living the good life.