High School Program: Year Four

The Modern World


High Level Texts:

SpielvogelWestern Civilization (Ch. 15-30)



Primary Sources and Subject Texts

MoreUtopia
Pico della MirandolaOn The Dignity of Man
ErasmusIn Praise of Folly
Ernle BradfordThe Great Siege: Malta 1565
GalileoLetter to the Grand Duchess Christina
BaconOf Truth, Great Place, Studies, Friendship
SpenserProthalamion; Epithalamion; Hymn in Honor of Beauty; Hymn in Honor of Heavenly Beauty
SidneySelected Poems
SouthwellSelected Poems
John DonneSelected Poems
Robert HerrickSelected Poems
George HerbertSelected Poems
VaughanSelected Poems
A. MarvellSelected Poems
MiltonParadise Lost (1-4, 7, 10, 12)
MontaigneEssays: Of Repenting; Of Solitariness; Of the Inconstancie of our Actions
PascalPensees: Boredom; Causes and Effects; Greatness; Contradictions; Philosophers; The Wager
Addison & SteeleSpectator selections
GoldsmithThe Deserted Village
--The Declaration of Independence
--US Constitution
--Federalist Papers: 1, 9, 10, 11, 14, 23, 37, 47, 49-80
WashingtonFarewell Address
SwiftGulliver's Travels
A Modest Proposal
AustinPride and Prejudice
ByronSelected Poems
ShelleySelected Poems
KeatsSelected Poems
GoetheFaust
GogolThe Overcoat
ChekhovUncle Vanya
DickensDavid Copperfield
TrollopeThe Warden
William WordsworthSelected Poems
ColeridgeSelected Poems
SoutheySelected Poems
Frederick DouglassNarrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
E.E. HaleThe Man Without a Country
Lincoln1st & 2nd Innaugural Addresses, Gettysburg Address
Ken BurnsWatch: The Civil War
WagnerWatch: The Ring Cycle
DostoyevskyCrime and Punishment
ConradHeart of Darkness
KiplingSelected Poems
W. B. YeatsSelected Poems
Sir Winston ChurchillLondon to Ladysmith via Pretoria
GravesGoodbye to All That
SassoonSelected Poems
OwenSelected Poems
JungerStorm of Steel
FitzgeraldThe Great Gatsby
FrostSelected Poems
Edith SitwellSelected Poems
W. H. AudenSelected Poems
T. S. EliotSelected Poems
GironellaThe Cypresses Believe in God
OrwellAnimal Farm
WilderOur Town
ChandlerThe Big Sleep
Anne FrankDiary of Anne Frank
HerseyHiroshima
SolzhenitzenOne Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch
CamusThe Stranger
SartreNo Exit

Shakespeare List:
The goal with Shakespeare in the Humanities Program is to gain familiarity with Shakespearean language and cultural literacy in regards to plots, characters and themes. In this regard, it is best for the student to experience Shakespeare's plays as they were designed to be, by watching them rather than reading them silently as texts. Watching plays live can be ideal, but it's often far more practical to watch filmed productions. Among these, the BBC Complete Shakespeare series (available at many libraries or via NetFlix) is highly recommended because they are full text productions which are in the main very "straight" productions, rather than imposing some unusual setting or interpretation on the play. Theatrical movie adaptations which significantly shorten and reinterpret the play are to be avoided. Another great approach, if practical, is to do a read-aloud of some plays, with family and friends taking parts.

Start watching a play every week or two at the beginning of the year and work through as many as fit the time and interest levels of the student. These are in priority order, so if you can't watch from the top down and make it as far as you can.

Macbeth
Hamlet
Much Ado About Nothing
Romeo and Juliet
Merchant of Venice
Henry V (Branagh or Olivier productions also recommended)
Taming of the Shrew
Richard III
Twelfth Night
King Lear

Movie List:
The following movies are recommended (as interest and time permit) to be watched as the student reaches the relevant historical periods in the program.

Barry Lyndon
HBO Series: John Adams
Persuasion (1995)
Gettysburg
Glory
Paths of Glory
HBO Series: Band of Brothers
Schindler's List
Judgment at Nuremberg
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Third Man
The Bicycle Thief
The Graduate
American Graffiti
Apocalypse Now


Notes:

1 comment:

scotch meg said...

Really interesting. I am trying to do something similar, although I've divided it up differently. First year: ancients; second year: world lit; third year: american lit; fourth year: brit lit.

It's hard to find room for all the things I would like my kids to read.

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