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- Course name
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Epic and the Person, Part Two (Eligible for College Credit)
- Summary
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This course traces the vision of what it means to be human through the study of the epics of Greece, Rome, and the Catholic world. The course is designed as a Freshman College course would be, although it has been split into two semesters to make it accessible to 11th and 12th grade students.
Instructor: Dr. Henry Russell
Course Description: The course invites students to explore changing relations between the individual and society in and through classic examples of Western epic. The Fall’s course readings allowed students to see both continuity and difference in the passage from Greek to Roman epic (e.g., The Iliad and The Aeneid). This semester we see St. Augustine as he traces his own movement from pagan classical to medieval Christian conceptions of culture, society, and selfhood or soul. Dante’s Christian masterpiece, The Divine Comedy presents the fullness of the Catholic faith as it is lived or denied.
St. Augustine, The Confessions, translated by Henry Chadwick (Oxford University Press, 2008) ISBN: 0199537828 (https://amzn.to/3PHuOVN)
Dante, The Divine Comedy, translated by Dorothy Sayers (Penguin) Inferno, ISBN: 0140440062 (https://amzn.to/3PMoFbg); Purgatorio, ISBN: 0140440461 (https://amzn.to/3VIwJgX); Paradiso, ISBN: 0140441050 (https://amzn.to/3J13SNl). FUS concurrent enrollment students will have free access to a study guide and additional video lessons provided by the university.
- Course name
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Epic and the Person, Part Two (Eligible for College Credit)
- Instructor
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Henry Russell
- Semester
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Spring 2025
- Category
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Literature ➤ Survey Literature
- Grade level
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High School
- Editors
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Sophia Russell, Mary Catherine Russell
- Start time
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January 14th, 2025 at 10:00 AM ET
- Course type
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Live
- Price
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$277
- Seats available
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25 seats available
- Seats remaining
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10 seats remaining
- Relative due dates
The Catholic Shakespeare: A Contrast of Kings: Macbeth and Julius Caesar
The Catholic Shakespeare: Early and Late Comedies: A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest
The Hobbit or There and Back Again as Gateway to J.R.R.Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Beowulf and Christ
Canterbury Tales of Geoffrey Chaucer; Trust God and Tradition
The Man Who Was Thursday by Chesterton (Modern Catholic Classics Series)
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (Modern Catholic Classics Series)
Homer’s Odyssey; The Soul of Pre-Socratic Wisdom
The Iliad: Glory and the Will of God
King Arthur and Christ: Heroism and Holiness
Medieval Literature for Modern Catholics
Scarlet Letter
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; Chivalry, Courtesy and Chastity
Sophocles and Tragedy
Virgil’s Aeneid: The Founding of Nations in the Will of God
Death Comes for the Archbishop (American Classics Series)
Redemptive Comedy of Flannery O’Connor (American Classics Series)
Inferno (Hell) by Dante
Purgatorio (Purgatory) by Dante
Dante’s Paradiso (Heaven)
- This material is only to be used for its intended purpose by active subscribers of Homeschool Connections or purchasers of the course. Any other use without explicit permission is in violation of the seventh commandment, and in violation of US and International copyright laws.
- You may print or download to your own storage 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.
- Upon completion of the course, you must delete all copies of course materials from any storage on which you saved permissible extracts.
Special notes
This is Part Two of a two-semester course.
Parts One and Two of this course are part of the Franciscan University Advantage Program for college credit. They align with Franciscan’s ENG210 for 3 college credits. For more information on the optional concurrent enrollment program and to see if your student is eligible, visit https://homeschoolconnections.com/resources/college-credit/ and download the fact sheet.
Total classes
Class dates
Starting time
Duration
Prerequisites
Epic and the Person, Part One
Suggested grade level
Suggested credit
Outline
Course Outline:
Week One: St. Augustine, Confessions, Bks. 1-2, and Bk. 3, Chapters 1-6
Week Two: St. Augustine, Confessions, Bk. Bk. 3, Chapters 7-12 and Bks. 4-5
Week Three: St. Augustine, Confessions, Bks. 6-7
Week Four: St. Augustine, Confessions, Bks. 8-9
Week Five: Dante, Inferno, Cantos 1-4
Week Six: Dante, Inferno, Cantos 5, 7-10
Week Seven: Dante, Inferno, Cantos 13, 15, 18, 19
Week Eight: Dante, Inferno, Cantos 26-27, 31-34
Week Nine: Dante, Purgatorio, Cantos 1-3, 6
Week Ten: Dante, Purgatorio, Cantos 9-12, 17-18
Week Eleven: Dante, Purgatorio, Cantos 21, 25, 27, 29-31
Week Twelve: Dante, Paradiso, Cantos 1, 3, 5, 6, 7
Week Thirteen: Dante, Paradiso, Cantos 10-12, 14-16
Week Fourteen: Dante, Paradiso, Cantos 20, 23-26
Week Fifteen: Dante, Paradiso, Cantos 28, 30-33
Materials
Homework
Expect to spend two to three hours of reading per week. There will be auto-graded quizzes after each class for immediate feedback as well as weekly writings. The midterm will consist of short essays; the final is a 300-word paper.
**Note that the writing assignments and midterm & final papers are recommended for students who opt into the college credit program, and optional for others based on the parent's requirements.
Fees
Fee: For all 15 classes: $257 if you register on or before November 15; $277 if you register after Nov. 15. (Registration closes one week before the first day of class. After that date, registrations are not guaranteed. There is a $20 surcharge for late enrollments after the course is closed.)
NOTE: there is an additional fee through Franciscan University if you choose the college credit option (not required).
Henry Russell
About Henry Russell
A graduate of Princeton and South Carolina (MS), Dr. Henry Russell completed his graduate work at Louisiana State University. Formerly the Chairman of Ave Maria College’s Department of Literature, he has also been a professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville and Wake Forest University. He is a founding faculty member of the St. Robert Southwell Creative Writing Workshop held in Mahwah, New Jersey.
Dr. Russell is Headmaster of the St. Augustine’s Homeschool Enrichment Program, which he founded with his wife Crystal. The program began in Fall 2005 with 20 students in two living rooms and now tutors more than 140 students in three locations.
Dr. Russell’s works include The Catholic Shakespeare Audio Series. He was the Associate Editor of The Formalist from 1990-2004 and his writings have been published in various journals. He was honored to edit Dr. Alice von Hildebrand’s groundbreaking volume, The Privilege of Being a Woman.
Click here for more info about Dr. Russell!
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