Great Books 2 Tutorial Page

Current Assignment *Class Forum* Class Roster Assignment Schedule Study Guide Questions: guidelines Guidelines for doing reading assignments Papers Evaluation Procedure Relevant Links TextBooks: TTS Bookstore for required Book list Additional Help for Parents of Great Books Students: Writing Assessment Services (mention your involvement in TTS when you contact WAS) Study Guide Questions and Class Summary To be done for each week's assignment. After each week's class session, post your answers to the study questions for that class along with a short summary of the class session on the class forum. You should do this by the end of the day after class. You should have the study questions done before class, but you may change your answers after class if you need to before you post them. The study questions should be answered in complete sentences. The class summary should be one paragraph, about 150-250 words, and should be a brief discussion of points you found particularly interesting or intriguing, were struck by or disagreed with, or thought were the most important part of the discussion that day. If you miss a class session, you should still post your study question answers, but you may summarize the reading instead of the class discussion. Make sure your name is on your summary/study questions. If you are the first to post, put "Week 1" etc. in the subject line. If you are not the first, read the first post, then hit "respond" and post your material. Assignments 1. Week of Sept. 11 Aeneid, Book 1 Study Questions 2. Week of Sept. 18 Aeneid, Books 2 - 6 Study Questions 3. Week of Sept. 25 Aeneid, Books 7 - 12 Study Questions 4. Week of Oct. 2 Livy, The Early History of Rome, Book 1 Study Questions *Paper 1 due Friday* 5. Week of Oct. 9 Livy, The Early History of Rome, Books 2 - 3 Study Questions 6. Week of Oct. 16 Livy, The Early History of Rome, Books 4 - 5 Study Questions 7. Week of Oct. 23 Lucretius, The Way Things Are, Books 1 - 3 Study Questions *Paper 2 due Friday* Oct. 30 - Nov. 3 Autumn Break 8. Week of Nov. 6 Lucretius, The Way Things Are, Books 4 - 6 Study Questions 9. Week of Nov. 13 Cicero, Against Verres, I (Pages 35 - 57); On Duties, III; On Old Age Study Questions Nov. 20 - 24 Thanksgiving Break 10. Week of Nov. 27 Plutarch, Julius Caesar Study Questions 11. Week of Dec. 4 Plutarch, Pompey and Alexander Study Questions *Paper 3 due Friday* 12. Week of Dec. 11 Plutarch, "Demosthenes"; "Cicero"; "The Comparison of Demosthenes and Cicero" Study Questions 13. Week of Dec. 18 Plutarch, "Antony"; "Marcus Brutus" Study Questions Dec. 25 - Jan. 12 Christmas & New Year's Break 14. Week of Jan. 15 Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome, (bk I-III) Study Questions *Paper 4 due Friday* 15. Week of Jan. 22 Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome, Pages 157 - 283 Study Questions   16. Week of Jan. 29 Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome, Pages 284 - 397 Study Questions 17. Week of Feb. 5 Josephus, The Jewish War, Preface and Book 1 Study Questions 18. Week of Feb. 12 Josephus, The Jewish War, Books 2 - 3 Study Questions Josephus online *Paper 5 due Friday* 19. Week of Feb. 19 Josephus, The Jewish War, Books 4 - 5 Study Questions Feb. 26 - Mar. 2 Mid-Winter Break 20. Week of Mar. 5 Josephus, The Jewish War, Books 6 - 7 Study Questions 21. Week of Mar. 12 Early Christian Fathers: 1st Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp, Martyrdom of Polycarp, Didache Study Questions 22. Week of Mar. 19 Early Christian Fathers: Letter to Diognetus, First Apology of Justin Martyr, Athenagorus, Irenaeus Study Questions 23. Week of Mar. 26 Athanasius, On the Incarnation Athanasius online Study Questions 24. Week of Apr. 2 Eusebius, The History of the Church, Books 1 - 3 Study Questions Easter / Spring Break: Apr. 9 - 13 -- No Tutorials 25. Week of Apr. 16 Eusebius, The History of the Church, Books 4 - 6 Eusebius online Study Questions *Paper 6 due Friday* 26. Week of Apr. 23 Eusebius, The History of the Church, Books 7 - 10 Study questions 27. Week of Apr. 30 Augustine, Confessions, Books 1 - 5 Study questions 28. Week of May 7 Augustine, Confessions, Books 6 - 9 Augustine online Confessions in Latin Study Questions 29. Week of May 14 Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy, Books 1 - 3 Study Questions *Paper 7 due Friday* 30. Week of May 21 Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy, Books 4 - 5 Boethius online (the Latin is available on this site also) Study questions Papers See ETS's Paper Guides page for useful help in doing papers. While Talisker Tutorial Great Books papers may not necessarily be the same, the principles will often be useful. See Writing Assessment Service's special offer for Talisker Great Books students. Paper 1: Aeneid. Aeneas is not a perfect hero. Drawing from various episodes throughout the poem, describe Aeneas's character in as balanced a way as possible (what are his major character traits? what are his weaknesses and strengths?). Given this picture, what kind of example was he to the Romans of Virgil's day? What virtues could the Romans learn from him? 500-800  words. Paper 2: Livy, The Early History of Rome. Reread that very important paragraph in the top half of page 34 (fourth paragraph from beginning). Livy invites our attention to the kind of lives the early Romans lived and asks us to find for ourselves and our country both examples of  "fine things to take as models " and warnings of  "base things, rotten through and through, to avoid ". Please do so. Choose, from Livy's Early History, one man or event for each category, examples and warnings. Summarize the man's role and character or the event and then explain how it could be used as an example to a person and to *our* country. 500-800 words. Paper 3: Lucretius, The Way Things Are.Lucretius argues in this poem for an atheistic materialism (the universe is nothing but matter and void). The obvious question for a Christian then is  "why study Lucretius? " Argue for the value of studying this poem in 500-800 words. Paper 4: Plutarch, Lives. See ETS Paper Guide Paper #6,  "Characterization: Plutarch ". 500-800 words. Paper 5: Tacitus, Annals. Topic of your choice relating to the book. Suggestions: 1) Describe Tacitus's view of the symptoms and cause of moral decay (that is, what things does he usually point as proof of moral decay, and what things does he seem to think caused it?), and then evaluate the truth of his opinion. Refer to specific passages for support. 2) Discuss how Tacitus's book reveals God's preparation for Christianity, and also His protection of the new church, referring to specific passages for support. 500-800 words. Paper 6: Early Christian Fathers. Choose a topic relating to the Early Christian Fathers or Athanasius. Suggestions: 1) Choose one argument used by the apologists (defenders of the faith) and discuss what belief of the pagans this argument is refuting, why the author thinks it's necessary to refute, how he does so, and how well you think he did. 2) Choose two or three of the Early Christian Fathers we've read and compare and contrast their styles, emphases, and interests, summing up with your opinion of which author you find most interesting or useful in your Christian life and why. 3) Do a little research and write a summary of the history of the time perios of one of the Fathers; that is, write about the general Roman background of their day: who was emperor, what political, military, or literary events outside of Christianity were going on. 4) Find another early Christian author or work we haven't readand summarize it. 5) Summarize Athanasius's argument for the necessity of the Incarnation. 6) Write an account of the Council of Nicea. 300-500 words. Paper 7: Augustine's, Confessions. 500-800 words.Topic of your choice relating to the book. Suggestions: 1) Summarize Monica's relationship to and influence on her son. 2) Describe Augustine's relationship with his friends. 3) Describe the main intellectual objections Augustine had to Christianity and the answers he found for them. 4) Choose an episode of Augustine's life (stealing pears, leaving his mother in Africa, the death of his friend, abandoning his mistress, conversion in the garden, telling his mother about his conversion, etc.) and write a short story about it, being careful to make it consistent with Augustines' character in the Confessions. 5) Write a dialogue between Augustine and Ambrose about faith (Confessions 6.5). Evaluation procedure No grades will be assigned for either the papers or for the tutorial as a whole. For those parents who desire it, assistance will be provided in determining a grade for the student's semester work. Papers should be posted on the class forum. It will be helpful to the student to see how others write. However, no grades will be assigned for either the papers or for the tutorial as a whole. Evaluations will be provided upon request at any point. See Cascade Independent High School for more detail on credit, grades, etc. Cindy Marsch, of Writing Assessment Services, offers a special evaluation package for Talisker Tutorial Great Books students. I highly recommend this as a complement to the Great Books tutorial. Relevant Links The Imperial Index: The Rulers of the Roman Empire From Augustus to Constantine XI Palaeologus Map of Mediterranean Creeds of Christendom Foxe's Book of Martyrs Mr. Hinrichs' European Tour Spring '99 History on the Internet More ancient references to Christians

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