Great Books Writing Workshop Choices from Antiquity to Modernity
The workshop experience, designed for a full school year or half, gives students the opportunity to read selections from the Great Books and good books, and to complete monthly drafts and papers for evaluation. The more than thirty available assignments include a mix of traditional essays and Progymnasmata exercises, and you may substitute alternate reading selections in consultation with me. Assignments may be chosen from one era or from Antiquity to Modernity, rearranged or pursued on your own schedule, but all work must be completed by mid-June of the school year for which you order. When you order you will receive access to the crteacher.com site for GBWW, and there you may choose the assignments that will best meet your educational needs. The chart below shows the assignments currently available at the site, and others may be added over the course of the year.
New this year--a Resource Membership for teachers and families who need help with assignments but no evaluations. Resource Membership includes access to all assignments and samples as well as to interaction on the Forums, and evaluations may be added at any time. I have even included at the site a collection of twenty-four fully evaluated student papers based on the GBWW assignments. Download Sample GBWW Antiquity assignment
Antiquity
| Reading |
Assignment |
Difficulty, Word Count |
| Daniel (portions) |
Evaluation |
** 300-500 |
| Genesis (portions), Gilgamesh |
Comparison |
*** 500 |
| Odyssey (portions) |
Characterization or Narrative |
** or *** 600-800 |
| Herodotus (portions) |
Special Narrative |
** or *** 500 |
| Oedipus Rex and Poetics |
Thesis |
*** 500-1000 |
| Plutarch on Lycurgus and Numa P. |
Praise/Blame |
*** 400-700 |
| Plato on Socrates' Trial and Death |
Praise/Blame |
*** 400-700 |
| Plutarch on Cicero and Alexander |
Essay Exam |
** 1 hour for exam |
| Caesar, Gallic War (portions) |
Anecdote |
**** 600 |
| Augustine, Confessions (portion) |
Research/Analysis |
*** 800-1000 |
Christendom (Medieval/Renaissance/Puritan)
| Reading |
Assignment
|
Difficulty, Word Count |
Augustine, Confessions (portion)
|
Narrative
|
** 300-400 in two parts |
| Beowulf |
Thesis/Support |
*** 500-700 |
| Henry V |
Anecdote
|
*** 500 |
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
|
Proverb
|
*** 400 |
Dante, Inferno
|
Blame (Invective) |
**** 400-700 |
| Canterbury Tales (portions) |
Choice
|
** to **** Varied length |
| Doctor Faustus (Marlowe) |
Essay Exam
|
** 1 hour for exam |
| Pilgrim's Progress "Battle With Apollyon" |
Narrative |
** 350-500 |
| Pilgrim's Progress (Part One) |
Expository
|
*** 500 |
| Paradise Lost |
Praise |
*** 400-700 |
| Poetry |
Thesis/Support
|
*** 400-700 |
Modernity
Reading
|
Assignment |
Difficulty, Word Count |
|
Pride and Prejudice (or other Austen) |
Narrative |
** 350-400 |
| Hard Times (or other Dickens) |
Character Description |
*** 350-500 |
| Romantic Poetry |
Thesis/Support |
** to **** 400-700 |
| History or Biography Reading |
Proverb |
*** 400 |
"Leiningen vs. the Ants" (All stories from 21 Great Stories, ed. A. Lass) |
Narrative
|
** 300-500 |
| "There Will Come Soft Rains" |
Description |
** 300-500 |
| Buchan, Greenmantle |
Anecdote |
**** 500 |
| "-Ism" Essay |
Extended Definition |
*** 500-800 |
| Short Stories |
Praise/Blame |
*** 400-600 |
Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby or Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird or other selection |
Speech-in-Character
|
*** 250-400 |
| Short Stories |
Essay Exam |
*** 1 hour for exam |
|
|
|
|
|
|