Join Joseph Pearce, the premier literary biographer of our time and author of the book Catholic Literary Giants, and step into the worlds of six favorite Catholic authors -- Shakespeare, Newman, Hopkins, Belloc, Chesterton, and Tolkien -- to get excited about how six great writers have so much to offer.

Instructor Access (Optional grading support) is available for this course. Please note: this is ONLY recommended if you wish to write the optional paper. All quizzes are internally graded in this course. Optional papers will be completed via this page (click here) for an Instructor Access fee of $75.

How to get the most out of Catholic Literary Giants with Joseph Pearce:

• Have a notebook ready and available for class notes.

• Watch each week’s recording.

• Do the reading assignments, quizzes, and any extra work assigned for that week.

• Once the course is completed to the parent's and professor’s satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end to be filled in for your records.

Total classes: 6

Duration: 55 minutes per class

Prerequisite: An interest in literature and great Catholic writers.

Suggested grade level: 9th to 12th grade

Suggested credit: ½ semester Literature

Instructor: Joseph Pearce

Course description: Learn six Catholic literary giants who continue to positively influence our world today: Shakespeare, Newman, Hopkins, Belloc, Chesterton, and Tolkien. This dynamic course offers an introduction to each writer and an overview of their life and work. Understanding the author helps you, the reader, read with clarity, understanding, and the ability to think critically and keenly in all of your high school and college literature (and literature analysis) courses.

Course outline:

                     Day 1: Shakespeare

                     Day 2: Newman

                     Day 3: Hopkins

                     Day 4: Belloc

                     Day 5: Chesterton

                     Day 6: Tolkien

Course materials: There are no required texts. Optional: Catholic Literary Giants by Joseph Pearce [Ignatius Press], ISBN 978-1586179441 (https://amzn.to/2Yms4lP).

Homework: Students should take the quiz for each class as promptly as possible. Estimated homework time: 1 hour per week.

Technical Help: If you have any technical trouble or questions about course content, please email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com.

©2021 Homeschool Connections and Joseph Pearce.  All rights reserved. This course is designed by Joseph Pearce.

• This material is only to be used for its intended purpose by active subscribers of Homeschool Connections. Any other use without explicit permission is in violation of the seventh commandment (yes, the 7th commandment) and in violation of US and International copyright laws.

• You may print or download to local hard disk extracts for your personal homeschool and non-commercial use only. This is not to be used for homeschool co-ops without express written permission from Homeschool Connections.