February 28--March 4 From Austen to Hugo--with Voltaire in between

Reading What Jane Wrote; Writing About What We Read

Be preparing for an upcoming essay on Jane Austen

Monday:

The World of Jane Austen:  On-going discussion points on Pride and Prejudice

What Jane Missed:  Political and Social Upheavals

Tuesday:
From Jane Austen to Voltaire--The Descent
Revolution Brewing in France
Tests Brewing in the Classroom

Wednesday:
Student Reports to be read on the Enlightenment and Enlightenment Philosophers
Film Documentary

Thursday:

Voltaire's Candide, Indeed
Film Documentary

Friday:
Wars of the 18th Century and Enlightened Despots and Others
Film Documentary

Readings:

• Pride and Prejudice simply must be finished this week, preferably on Monday evening.
• Voltaire's Candide, a short read of some 120 pages, should be read during this week and perhaps finished over the weekend.
• Fifty poems of the 1700s, read, re-read, contemplated, and documented: One should reach at least halfway to the goal.
• The selection from Peter Leithart:  Should be read over several times this week.
• Historical background to the reports

Advice from Jane Austen:

There are such beings in the world -- perhaps one in a thousand -- as the creature you and I should think perfection; where grace and spirit are united to worth, where the manners are equal to the heart and understanding; but such a person may not come in your way, or, if he does, he may not be the eldest son of a man of fortune, the near relation of your particular friend, and belonging to your own county.  (From a letter in 1814 written to her niece.)

The Jane Austen Top Ten Song List

 1. "All the Nice Girls Love a Sailor"...........Anne Elliot,
                                       Mrs. Croft, and Louisa Musgrove

 2. "Once I had a Secret Love"...................Jane Fairfax and
                                                 Frank Churchill

 3. "Lord, It's Hard to be Humble"...............Mr. Darcy

 4. "Food, Glorious Food"........................Dr. Grant

 5. "I Had a Letter from my Love"................Elizabeth Bennet

 6. "Mad About the Boy"..........................Lady Osborne

 7. "How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?".....Sir Thomas and
                                                 Lady Bertram

 8. "Girls Were Made to Love and Kiss"...........Sir Edward Denham
                                       and the Seducers' Barbershop
                                       Quartet:  Messrs. Willoughby,
                                       Wickham, Crawford, and Elliot

 9. "Soldier Blue"...............................Colonel Brandon

10. "Baby, It's cold Outside"....................Mr. Woodhouse and Emma

February 21-25 From George I to George Washington

In the Midst of the Enlightenment, the AmericanWar for Independence, the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic Era:  Jane Austen Conquers the World of Miniatures and Manners

Monday: Presidents' Day.  Hope you did not forget to read from Pride and Prejudice

Tuesday:  Discussion of Pride and Prejudice.
                 Readings from Essays on the Enlightenment and Key Thinkers
                 More from Simon Schama
                  Review Ideas for a Test

Wednesday:  Discussion of Pride and Prejudice
                      Twenty Questions on the Times:  British History, Scottish Struggles, and the Enlightenment
                       More from Simon Schama

Thursday:  Discussion of Pride and Prejudice
                   Surveying the Texts and Timelines of the 17th Century
                    More from Simon Schama OR ....

Friday:  Turn in this week's reports.
               Film or in-class work on recent studies

This week's reports:  Pick a War or Leader Prior to the French Revolution.  Write one page giving the most basic information about the event or person. 

Whenever I take up "Pride and Prejudice" or "Sense and Sensibility," I feel like a barkeeper entering the Kingdom of Heaven. I mean, I feel as he would probably feel, would almost certainly feel. I am quite sure I know what his sensations would be -- and his private comments. He would be certain to curl his lip, as those ultra-good Presbyterians went filing self-complacently along. ... She makes me detest all her people, without reserve. Is that her intention? It is not believable. Then is it her purpose to make the reader detest her people up to the middle of the book and like them in the rest of the chapters? That could be. That would be high art. It would be worth while, too. Some day I will examine the other end of her books and see. Mark Twain, in an essay- "Jane Austen,"

February 14-18 The Enlightenment: Sic et Non

Jane Austen Contra Mundum:
February 14-18

"The greatest university of all is a collection of books." Thomas Carlyle

Monday:

Exploring Jane Austen's Prose and Characters

17th Century Matters:  Timelines and Events

Tuesday:

More Considerations of Jane Austen

The Enlightenment

Events in Britain

Wednesday:

Jane Austen and Marriageable Folks

18th Century Wars and Rumors of Wars

Events in Britain

Thursday:

Jane Austen and Manners and Decorum

More 18th Century Wars and Rumors of Wars

Events in Britain

Friday:

Jane Austen: Against the Enlightenment

Student Reports

Filmfest

Readings:

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, volume 1, to page 101 must be completed.

Justo Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Chapters 14 and 21

Jackson Spielvogel, Western Civilization, Scan Chapters 16-17.

Writing Assignments:

In-class Journal Entries

Class Notes

Enlightenment Paper--due Friday

The Enlightenment Paper:  A Descriptive Paper

Freshmen--Juniors will use Gonzalez and Spielvogel to write a one page (typed/doublespaced) paper answering the question:  What was the Enlightenment?

Seniors will use Gonzalez, Spielvogel, and/or Schaeffer to write a one page (typed/double spaced) paper on an Enlightenment Thinker:

Descartes, Rousseau, Hume, or Kant

Quotes About Jane Austen

          First and foremost let Austen be named, the greatest artist that has ever written, using the term to signify the most perfect mastery over the means to her end. There are heights and depths in human nature Miss Austen has never scaled nor fathomed, there are worlds of passionate existence into which she has never set foot; but although this is obvious to every reader, it is equally obvious that she has risked no failures by attempting to delineate that which she has not seen. Her circle may be restricted, but it is complete. Her world is a perfect orb, and vital. Life, as it presents itself to an English gentlewoman peacefully yet actively engaged in her quiet village, is mirrored in her works with a purity and fidelity that must endow them with interest for all time.

George Henry Lewes, 1852, 



February 7--11: Proud and Prejudiced about Jane Austen

February 7--11  Social Foundations and Reactions to a Revolutionary Age

"The person, whether it be a gentleman or a lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel,

must be intolerably stupid"

 Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Monday: 

Concluding Paradise Lost:  "Betwixt the world destroyed and the world restored."
New Book:  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Tuesday:
George Grant's Lecture on Walter Scott and Jane Austen

Wednesday:
What happened in the 18th Century?
What was the Enlightenment?

Thursday:
The Cromwell Papers
Getting Better Acquainted with Miss Austen and the Bennett's

Friday:
Reactions and Romanticism
Film

The Giant Bookends: A Week Remembering the Greats--January 30-Feb. 6

Modern World Humanities:

Expansion of the World through Explorations and Literature

Francis Schaeffer, born January 30, 1912

Pastor, Christian Apologist, Author, Founder of L'Abri

Ronald Reagan, born February 6, 1911

Actor, Governor of California, President of the United States, Political Visionary

Monday:

Mr. House will be out on this day.  Students are to read from the purple books titled McDougal, Littell Literature:  English Literature.  The books are on the bottom of the long shelf. Read about the Cavalier Poets and Milton, pages 308-327.  Since you have already read the selections from Paradise Lost, you can simply scan over those portions.  Do the worksheets provided. 

Tuesday:

Finish Cromwell Test

Discuss Book VIII of Paradise Lost

Wednesday:

Discuss Book IX of Paradise Lost

History of the Times:  The Age of Cromwell through 1700

Thursday:

Discuss Book X of Paradise Lost

Friday:

Discuss Books XI and XII of Paradise Lost

Peer Reviews of Cromwell Papers

Readings and Writings:

Paradise Lost

Selected portions of Gonzalez and Spielvogel

NEXT WEEK:

Meet Jane Austen--Beginnings of the Austen Marathon

The Westminster Confession of Faith

Something Scottish This Way Comes