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- College-Level Writing Skills
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- Theology of the Bible I
- Theology of the Bible II
- Western Literature I
- Western Literature II
- History of the United States I
- History of the United States II
- History of Western Civilization I
- History of Western Civilization II
- Freedom's Foundations I
- Freedom's Foundations II
- Logic
- Rhetoric
- Philosophy
- Principles of Biblical Reasoning
- Constitutional Law
- Economics and the Citizen
- Euclidean Geometry
- Latin I & II
- Latin III
- Latin IV
- Attic Greek I
- Attic Greek II
Western Literature I (LIT213)
Course Description
This course will deal with representative masterpieces of the Classical Era, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. Literary accomplishments will be placed in the context of the culture and intellectual history of each age.
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: none
Additional Details
Students will come to understand how the selected texts are interrelated and have both shaped and reflected western culture. Students will learn how elements of literature such as the following contribute to literary quality: rhythm, meter, rhyme, diction, imagery, symbolism, genre, conflict, and character. Students will learn to think critically and Christianly about these works, respond to professional criticism on one of the works, and create original literary criticism of their own.
This course promotes the learning objectives for the Classical Liberal Arts Core Curriculum by requiring students to enhance reading and writing skills, refine critical thinking skills, and apply the Judeo-Christian worldview to the study of the liberal arts.
Literature to be Studied
- The Odyssey (Homer)
- Clouds (Aristophanes)
- The Aeneid (Virgil)
- The Discarded Image (C. S. Lewis)
- Inferno from The Divine Comedy (Dante)
- "The
- As You Like It (Shakespeare)
- King Lear (Shakespeare)
- an excerpt from Don Quixote (Cervantes)
- Paradise Lost (
About the Editions in the PHC Online Bookstore
All of these works, except those by C. S. Lewis, can be readily obtained on the Internet for free because their copyright status is Public Domain. (Those works not originally in English have old translations available that by now are also Public Domain.) Many different inexpensive editions can also be found in used bookstores. However, if you use different editions than those in the PHC Online Bookstore, it may present problems for you. You may have trouble keeping up with online discussions and understanding the posted discussion questions when the instructor and other students reference quotes and page numbers in the text. In addition, these translations are modern and easy to read, but some free e-texts online may be much older and use archaic English.
Technical Requirements
2009 Western Literature I has a bi-weekly audio class discussion. In the past, students have found these discussions to be enormously helpful and enjoyable. They are one hour long. In Fall 2009 audio discussions will be every second Thursday from 8-9 p.m. EST, and the first one takes place on Sept. 3. Our distance learning system, E-College, provides all the software needed, and you will receive instructions on how to use it.
Technical requirements for taking part are:
- A headset for your computer. Click here to see list of compatible headsets. The headsets are inexpensive and will ensure high audio quality.
- Broadband Internet connection.
Long-term (Life-time) Goals for Western Lit I and II. More specifically, it is my prayer that:
- Each of you as individuals will grow into serious, active, life-long readers of the Bible (as THE BOOK, God's Word written), the classics of theology and devotion, literature and other great books, new and old.
- All of you whom God calls to parenthood, the discipling of your children into mature manhood in Christ, will instill in them from their earliest years a life-long love for reading and learning by your own example, by reading aloud to them as well as by precept and discipline.
- Those of you who hope to serve in the political arena will gain the specific and direct insight into politics that literature affords, but that you will also develop a much deeper understanding of what "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is all about. Good government gets out of our way and allows us to really live, but literature enables us to better understand what really living is all about, thus giving us a much deeper appreciation for the blessings of liberty.
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Those of you who hope to serve in the cultural arena will gain a clearer overall vision of the possibilities and a better sense of the specific contributions God has gifted and called you to make. I hope that you, at least, become very familiar with the Perrine questions appended to this syllabus, as they are what distinctively literary analysis is all about.
