Introduction to the Great Books of the Revolutionary Era

The Introduction to the Great Books series is designed for junior high and early high school students who desire to study the Great Books but may be concerned about the pace and level of material normally attempted in a Great Books course.

Objectives

• To become familiar with the primary points of plot, character, and style of major early modern works and authors of the revolutionary era, providing a fundamental understanding which will enable students to tackle these or other similar works in their entirety in future studies.
• To receive an overview of events in the revolutionary era of early modern history and their place in historical chronology.
• To make connections of selected themes across a broad range of works, both contemporary and historical, that will give them a base from which to approach other Great Books.
• To learn and execute the forms of three types of progymnasmata essays: the comparison, the commonplace, and the thesis.
• To receive an appreciation of the works studied at their most engaging level—as Great Stories that are enjoyable for all ages and all times.
• To approach all works from a Christian worldview and to view each selection through the lens of Scripture.

Books

• History of England by H. O. Arnold-Forster (online access)
• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
• Miracle at Philadelphia by Catherine Drinker Bowen
• Historical documents (formatted and provided by instructor)
• PBS Liberty! primary source documentary series
• George Washington’s World by Genevieve Foster
• Longitude (movie)
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• She Stoops to Conquer (video of play by Oliver Goldsmith)
• Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
• Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis
• Biography of Napoleon (TBD)
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
• Amazing Grace (movie about William Wilberforce)