Recorded HS

“Sensation Genre” Novels (Victorian Classics)

Are Victorian-era "sensation" novels only all about secrets, deception, and the survival of the hero -- or does the genre have something to teach us? Enjoy three lively novels (The Woman in White, Lady Audley’s Secret, and Great Expectations) -- and develop your critical reasoning, imagination, and knowledge of the stories’ historical and literary context -- with outrageously fun reading.

Recorded HS

A Contrast of Kings: Macbeth and Julius Caesar (Catholic Shakespeare Series)

Our course will very briefly review that evidence and then place its focus on examining the two plays most widely read by high school students. Although set in Scotland of the 11th century and Rome of the 1st century BC, both plays comment clearly and powerfully on the sad situation of the Catholic Church, outlawed and persecuted in Shakespeare’s England. Both dramas end with victory for Christ’s Holy Bride that cannot, for long, be suppressed.

Recorded HS

American Literature Part One: Age of Exploration through Reconstruction

American Literature Part Part One: Age of Exploration through Reconstructionis a survey course in American Literature covering works written by and about Americans from early exploration through post-Civil War. This course will align with HSC's American History: Part One.

Recorded HS

American Literature Part Two: Reconstruction through Present Day

American Literature Part Two: Reconstruction through Present Day is a survey course in American Literature covering works written by and about Americans from Post Civil War Reconstruction to modern times.

Recorded HS

Catholic Literary Giants

Join Joseph Pearce, the premier literary biographer of our time and author of the book Catholic Literary Giants, and step into the worlds of six favorite Catholic authors -- Shakespeare, Newman, Hopkins, Belloc, Chesterton, and Tolkien -- to get excited about how six great writers have so much to offer.

Recorded HS

Death Comes for the Archbishop (American Classics Series)

Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop is one of the few American novels radically to appreciate and celebrate the Catholic culture of the American Southwest that long pre-dated the settling of Plymouth Massachusetts.

Recorded HS

Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)

Often vacillating wildly between the terrible and the comic, Bram Stoker's 1897 novel of blood and passion stands as one of the greatest and most baffling masterpieces of Gothic fiction. The work brings together a host of disparate but compelling themes: tensions between antiquity and modernity, the powers and limitations of technology, the critical importance of feminine virtue, the difference between superstition and religion, the nature of evil, and the complex relationship between ancient faith and scientific enlightenment.

Recorded HS

Inferno (Hell) by Dante (Divine Comedy Series)

Join Dr. Russell and your fellow students to learn why Dante is the greatest author of the greatest book on the greatest subject of any ever written by a man not known by the Church to be directly inspired by God!

Recorded HS

Iliad: The Glory and the Will of God

The Iliad could justly be called the Tragedy of Achilles. It focuses on the anger of that matchless warrior and how he destroys what he loves best, by seeking only his own glory.

Recorded MS

Introduction to Literature and Writing: How to Read, Interpret, and Write about Literature, Part One

Do you want (need!) to learn how to read literature more easily–and then be able to write about it well? With this course, you’ll be able to give “life” and clearer meaning to literature as you engage with great authors, explore literary genres and devices, and learn critical thinking that helps in reading comprehension! If you want to increase your ability to engage more easily with the written word (and write well), then this course is for you!

Recorded HS

Introduction to Poetry (HS X-13)

An introduction to reading and writing poetry, covering such literary devices as rhyme, meter, and figurative language, and the relationship of those elements to the overall meaning of a poem. Students will practice the art of close, critical reading, as well as experimenting with elements of poetry in their own writing. Introduction to Poetry plays a crucial function in the whole scheme of high-school literature, providing the student with a heightened understanding of this most mysterious literary form, as well as sharpening overall writing and critical-reading skills.

Recorded HS

The Silmarillion

Register today and go deep into the stories behind The Fellowship of the Ring. The Silmarillion is Tolkien’s vast “myth” of the spiritual love of the Father and his mighty creations, the Ainur, who together create the harmonious cosmos. That harmony and love is harmed by a demonic vanity in one of the Ainur, Melkor, so that almost eternal warfare enters creation and is centered upon the earth.

Recorded HS

J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit

Professor Pearce unlocks, in two six-week courses, the Catholic meaning of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (see the Lord of the Rings class with Professor Pearce for a follow-up course).

Recorded HS

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (1847) (Victorian Classics)

One of the most famous novels of the mid-Victorian period, Jane Eyre exemplifies the Bildungsroman (“coming-of-age”) genre, and, in fact, radically defined that genre in the English literary tradition. Our studies will also address the novel’s biographical and historical context, providing insight into the mid-Victorian Period. In this course, we will come to know Jane Eyre and the remarkable novel that bears her name, studying both over six classes.

Recorded HS

Julius Caesar: Shakespeare in Production

Have you ever dreamed of being a producer? Do you love putting on plays? If so, this is the course for you! This course will explore the practical aspects of putting on a Shakespeare play, from beginning to end. Each student will prepare and discuss the facets of production.