What is the purpose of government?

        Where does the idea of equality come from?

        What role do we play in ensuring life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans?

        Should people engage in revolution to enact change?

Course Overview: 

Get ready for a year of radical reading and writing! This year we'll be encountering revolutionaries, romantics, realists and radicals as we examine the ideas and literature of early America, the American revolution, the Civil War, and the Civil Rights Movement.  

Great Books is an honors-level class that incorporates historic primary documents, classic literature, and various essay writing skills. This is a gently challenging course for those who want a superior, classical education. Together, we will discover the ideas contained in the Great Books of American Literature that have shaped Western civilization and filter these ideas through the lens of Scripture.

The emphasis of the class will be to annotate literature and share in class discussions. Based on notes and discussions centered on essential life questions, students will demonstrate understanding of themes as they construct a variety of essays designed to encourage a modern culture to engage with and learn timeless lessons from classic literature. 

Literature selections/excerpts include: 

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin; The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution; excerpts from The Social Contract and Democracy in America; selected American poetry; Emerson & Thoreau; Uncle Tom's Cabin; The Killer Angels; Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Up From Slavery; and "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."

(Note - selections may change)

Course Duration: 33 weeks, 340 hrs. (1.5 hrs./wk. in class + 8.5 hrs./wk. reading, writing and revising at home) 

Equivalent to 1.5 credits for transcript.