Where can I look for answers to the riddle and mystery of my masculinity, my life and the deepest questions of my identity and vocation as a man? The Lord of the Rings! Come join the Fellowship and embark on the quest. Become who you were born to be!

How to get the most out of From Boys to Men: Discovering Life Lessons and Virtues from the Lord of the Rings  with Bill Donaghy:

• First, read the course materials below before the first class meeting.

• Then have a notebook ready and available for class notes each live session.

• Read assignments before class meetings

• Watch that week’s recording if you need to revisit information from our live session.

• Do the 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.

NOTES: This course for young gentlemen is offered in two forms: for middle school and for high school. This is the high school course. The middle school course is offered in the fall semester. There is similar content taught in both courses, but at age-appropriate levels.

High School Boys to Men compliments Lisa Mladinich’s course True Radiance! Discovering Your Authentic Beauty as a Young Woman.

Total classes: 6

Duration: 55 minutes

Prerequisite: Have read or listened to Lord of the Rings before the first day of class

Suggested grade level: 9th to 12th grade

Instructor: Bill Donaghy

Course Description:

This is a course blending faith, literature, life, and the masculine mission for middle school to high school level boys. The works and letters of J.R.R. Tolkien as well as various writings of the saints, Dr. Peter Kreeft, Pope Benedict XVI and St. John Paul II will be used to shine a light on the masculine mission of being 1) aware and awake to the wonders of the world 2) a caretaker of the garden of the world, 3) a brother to all in a shared humanity 4) a guardian and defender of the good, the true and the beautiful 5) a steward and protector of the family .

“It's a living hymn to mercy, humility and the power of Divine Providence. It isn't a fantasy epic but an epic of virtue… There are so many lessons and examples of perseverance, courage and many other virtues, so necessary for a person of faith…  - Sr. Magdalen, Carmelite sister

Course Outline:

Week 1: Unlocking the Longing

Are we like Bilbo Baggins, safe and cozy in our first world comfortable hobbit hole, unwilling to do anything wild or unplanned for fear it might "make one late for dinner"? Or are we made for adventure and ready to make a leap of faith? “The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness”
- Pope Benedict XVI

Week 2: The Soil of the Shire is Deep

Being rooted in reality is the place to begin. “It is best to love first what you are fitted to love, I suppose: you must start somewhere and have some roots, and the soil of the Shire is deep. Still there are things deeper and higher; and not a gaffer could tend his garden in what he calls peace but for them, whether he knows about them or not.” (Samwise Gamgee)

Week 3: Born into Battle

We are all of us born into a battlefield between good and evil, and boyhood is our bootcamp. But what is the fighting for? “War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” (Faramir, Two Towers)

Week 4: The Road Goes Ever On and On

A boy is called out and discovers himself in the gift of himself. “He used often to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its springs were at every doorstep, and every path was its tributary. ‘It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,’ he used to say. ‘You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.’” (Frodo, of Bilbo)

Week 5: The Rightly Ordered Heart

What does a young man do with the desires of his heart and the attraction of the senses? Where should our passion be placed? 'In many ways,' answered the wizard. 'It is far more powerful than I ever dared to think at first, so powerful that in the end it would utterly overcome anyone of mortal race who possessed it. It would possess him.’” (Gandalf, Fellowship of the Ring)

Week 6: The Fellowship of the Ring

Brotherhood, good friends and encouragement must be part of a boy’s life. The truth that we are not alone but move toward a common purpose is key. “'Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear; nor are they one thing among Elves and Dwarves and another among Men. It is a man's part to discern them, as much in the Golden Wood as in his own house.’” (Aragorn)

Course materials:

The Lord of the Rings: One Volume by J.R.R. Tolkien (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0395489326/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_R89GME9BZ592JT1EM55Y)

Suggested further reading (optional):

J. R. R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle-Earth by Bradley J. Birzer (https://amzn.to/3cBgxpv) and The Philosophy of Tolkien by Peter Kreeft (http://a.co/amNbNrO)

Homework:

Study on what makes LOTR a “profoundly Catholic and religious work” (Tolkien’s own words) will be undertaken.

Assigned readings and short essay assessments will be given.

Assignments involving character studies and their application to the saints and the life of virtue will be undertaken.

“Choosing My Fellowship: A Band of Brothers” Project. Who would you want on the journey with you? 4 LOTR characters, and 4 saints.

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

©2024 Homeschool Connections and Bill Donaghy.

All rights reserved. This course is designed by Bill Donaghy.

• 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.