Great Books 3: Modern Times - TNSP

Self-Paced Courses are accessed through our learning management system. The students are guided by clear weekly schedules, instructional videos, and automated assessments. Courses are written to be completed in one academic year, but students set their own pace. No grading is provided, but answer keys are available for most courses. Access is for one calendar year.

Course Description: Our great books courses are 3-in-1 classes that integrate Literature, Philosophy, and Theology into a single reading sequence. Courses are organized by historical period, with purposeful repetition across the curriculum.

The class format is that of a "great books" seminar--students read primary works from the great authors and authoresses of Western Civilization and then discuss them in a round-table format, thus joining what has been referred to as the "Great Conversation." The students learn to read, listen, speak, relish, and dispute the true, good, and beautiful things that "our tradition" has to offer.

Though primary works are read, care is taken to see that students are not overburdened, through abridgment and editing of the works read and study aids. In addition to the abridged weekly readings, three complete works of literature are read throughout the year. Literary concepts and formal analysis questions form part of the weekly exercises.

History & Composition: This course is part of an integrated course cluster that includes History 3: Modern Times and Composition 3. Self-paced and Live course options are available.

Reading List: This cycle covers from the beginning of the Enlightenment to the Present, focusing upon European sources.

Great Books Excerpts & Themes (approximate):

• Petrarch—What is a Humanist?
• Boccaccio—Of Plagues & Pleasures
• St. Thomas More—Crime & Punishment
• Vasari—Michelangelo & the Popes
• Erasmus—Funny about Reform
• Ignatius of Loyola—Reform of the Self
• Council of Trent—Catechism & Religious Education
• Francis Bacon—A New Method
• English Poets—Sonnets & Songs
• Cervantes, Don Quixote—What is Real?
• St. Robert Bellarmine, Doctor—Dying Well
• Bossuet—Politics from Holy Scripture
• Documents of the "Bloodless" Revolution—Revolution
• Jonathon Swift, Gulliver’s Travels—Satire & Modernity
• John Locke—On the Nature of Government
• Isaac Newton—The Principles of Mathematics
• Smith, Wealth of Nations—Mass Production
• Newman, Grammar of Assent—Assent to God
• Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum
• Pope, Essay on Man—Man's Place in the Universe & Deism
• Prosper Gueranger—Modern Scholarship & the Prayer of the Church
• Francis Thompson—Pursued by God?
• Tolkien, Tree & Leaf
• Complete Works of Flannery O'Connor
  
• Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare
• The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare
• Tales of the Longbow, G.K. Chesterton

Recommended Age Range: 10th grade
Prerequisites: None
Required & Recommended Books: See The Self-Paced Course Book List
Required Tech: computer and internet connection capable of video playback

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