Mr. Lipowitz and Mr. Conley Published Authors

Two members of the Unionville High School English department, James Conley and Daniel Lipowitz, have co-authored the text Advanced Placement Classroom: Macbeth, a literary and historical analysis of the frequently studied Shakespearean tragedy for Prufrock Press, Inc., the nation’s leading resource for gifted and advanced learners.

Mr. Conley, who teaches American Studies, 12th AP, 11th Honors, and 11th first level, was Educator of the Year for 2006-2007. Mr. Lipowitz, who teaches 12th Honors, 10th academic, Creative Writing, Film as Art, and the Grammar elective, has directed thirty-five plays at the high school and is the advisor for the Indian Post.

To promote its new Shakespearean resource line, Prufrock Press, Inc. issued a nation-wide call for manuscripts two years ago. The publishing company accepted Conley and Lipowitz’s Macbeth manuscript, making them the only authors from Pennsylvania contracted to write the fourth work in the company’s newly established Advanced Placement Classroom Shakespeare series. The other authors are denizens of Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Virginia.

The Unionville teachers’ two-year effort will come to fruition with the book’s release on May 15, 2009.

One section of the text, for example, compares the well-known Shakespearean Macbeth to the eleventh century historical king. In addition, the book includes a section on writing, Macbeth in the media, and other research-based ideas and interpretations. The text, organized in an easy-to-use format, with a scene-by-scene analysis, is geared toward educators and students of Shakespeare.

"We divided the work load, concentrating initially on research and literary analysis," said Conley. Lipowitz added, "Our plan was to write and write. We determined that we would worry about editing once we had text." After months of research, critical analysis and interpretation and, finally, daily writing, the two teachers met in late August to review their work. “We were determined to meet our October 1st deadline, and we did,” Conley said. “By a week,” Lipowitz added.

You may review the text at http://www.prufrock.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=1121. The text is also available on www.amazon.com.

"We will gladly sign any purchased copy of Advanced Placement Classroom: Macbeth," both English teachers noted.