Planning Medieval/Ren-Ref literature study -

[Liza Q]

and I need to think *out loud* here a little bit.

Here are some books that I am sure I want to use -

On The Incarnation (we won't get to it this year so I want to start next year with it)
Confessions of St. Augustine
Beowulf
Canterbury Tales (Prologue and 3-4 tales)
Utopia
The Prince
Imitation of Christ
5 Shakespeare plays (my girls chose from a list of ones we have not yet read) - Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Richard III

So....other possible titles.....

Rule of St. Benedict - short and I really liked it, but should I save the time for something better?

Cur Deus Homo - Susan recommends it but I have never even heard of it. Is it a medieval reworking of On the Incarnation???

Aquinas? Scary!!! Which selections?

La Vita Nuovo - I don't feel up to the Inferno but I thought that I could manage this one. Or am I crazy to think of reading Dante without help of some sort?

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight? Or selections of Le Morte D'Arthur? Or both? Or should I just have my younger daughter read The Once and Future King on her own time (my oldest has already read it) and say that is enough Arthur?

Luther or Calvin? A little of both? What is most important? I don't know how to choose selections here.

Any thoughts/comments/criticisms will be gratefully received!!!

Oh - I should say that I have used Lightning Lit and Smarr before. I am not happy with limiting myself to either this year and I can't afford to buy both....

[Jane in NC]

While there are compelling reasons to study Augustine, we did not. As you have noted, the list of authors is lengthy and one must pick and choose.

Thus we began our school year with Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, perhaps not everyone's choice but a good one for us since my son exhibit's Anglophile tendencies. We had spent a month traveling in Britain so I knew that he would appreciate a number of the incidents described by Bede.

From Bede we attempted the Koran. It was apparent that we needed better direction than we were finding, so instead we read a small book from Oxford University Press, A Very Short History of the Koran. This is "very short" and dense, offering historic and religious information in a concise fashion for what I felt was a good introduction.

(Side note: Oxford's series of Very Short Instroductions (http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/series/VeryShortIntroductions/?view=usa) is worth investigating at your local library or university library.)

My son had already read Beowulf, but we decided to listen to Seamus Heaney's delightful reading of his poetic translation.

Next came the Mabinogion, followed by The Once and Future King (T.S. White).

We spent more time on Inferno, listening to The Teaching Company lectures on the book. (Actually we listened to a series on medieval literature as well.)

Since then he has read Gawain, Canterbury Tales (a selection), The Prince, and Richard II. Still to go are Henry IV and Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves (first book of the Faerie Queen in a student edition by Canon Press). He is reading a bit of Hobbes (selections from Leviathan) on the side now.

There are so many choices and not enough hours in the day (particularly if your child is studying for the larger than life AP Bio exam). Whatever you choose from your tentative list, you really cannot go wrong.

Best regards,
Jane

[Nissi]

Here is our reading plan from Omnibus 2 :
Eusebius' Church History
Confessions
On the Incarnation
Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Rule of St. Benedict
Beowulf
The Song of Roland
History of the Kings of Britain
MacBeth
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The Divine Comedy: Inferno
Canterbury Tales (Selected Tales)
Bondage of the Will
I would like for ds. to read Calvin. We are going to concentrate more on early church history this year and read Calvin next year.
Nissi

Nissi

[Liza Q]

Thanks for the ideas.

Whatever you choose from your tentative list, you really cannot go wrong.

And thanks especially for this, Jane - I needed this reminder!

[Luann in ID]

We are planning to do Medieval/Ren-Ref next year, too. I need to start planning soon. I appreciated seeing your developing list and hearing the others' input.

I have found www.thegreatbooks.com (http://www.thegreatbooks.com) very helpful when trying to choose selections and figuring out how long a reading will take. We have used the schedules (they're free!) and guides on that site for Modern and Ancient the last two years. Next year I will condense and combine his Medieval and Reformation schedules, since it's my twins' senior year and they haven't covered either of those time periods. I don't know how I'm going to pick and choose! I think that's why I keep putting the planning off. I liked you're list though, so maybe I'll use that as a starting point.

I'd love to see your final plans and look forward to hearing how it goes.

Best wishes,
Luann
mom of 12

[Liza Q]

Luann - thanks so much for that link! It does look like it will be

very helpful when trying to choose selections and figuring out how long a reading will take.and I like that I can buy some of the study guides. I may buy a few from Smarr as well, which should be all the hand-holding I need!

:hurray:

[Luann in ID]

You're very welcome! I hope you enjoy the study guides. We have had some really fantastic discussions with them.

Best wishes,
Luann
mom of 12