NOTICE: This is an older course recorded with Adobe Connect and/or Vimeo recordings. We are currently working to replace the recordings with new Zoom recordings. Please don't hesitate to email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.
How to get the most out of Cultural Literacy for Catholics with Kevin O’Brien:
- First, read the course details below.
- Prepare a notebook for note taking and homework.
- Students begin the course by clicking on the "Recording" and watching the instructor's lecture for Class One.
- Complete the Week One Activities.
- If you need review, go back and watch the recording again and/or go over the Powerpoint.
- Repeat until all classes are complete. Parents can grade any essay questions, or they may purchase Instructor Access for Kevin O'Brien to grade the essay questions.
- Once the course is completed to the parent's satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end to be filled in for your records. Homeschool Connections does not provide record keeping.
Total Classes: 13
Prerequisite: None
Suggested Grade Level: 9th to 12th Grade
Suggested Credit: One semester credit of English
Instructor: Kevin O’Brien
Instructor Email: kevin@classeswithkevin.
Course Description: What are some of the basic things all educated Catholics should know? Sadly, most Catholics don’t know them! From the point of view of Literature and its impact on culture, these basic “everybody should know this” stuff would include the issues we will examine in each class meeting …
- The general scope of the Bible: what sort of books does it include and what’s the overall story it tells? How does the biblical narrative fit into the Great Empires of history?
- Who is Job and why do people say, “the patience of Job”?
- Who is Bathsheba and what happened to David because of her?
- Who is St. Paul and why does he writing fill so much of the New Testament?
- What is the Allegory of the Cave?
- Who were the Church Fathers and why are they so important?
- What were the Great Heresies and why should we care?
- What is a Troubadour and what do they have to do with St. Francis?
- What was the Reformation?
- What happens in Hamlet?
- Why do people think Descartes and Kant are so important?
- What is the Enlightenment?
- Where did capitalism, socialism and communism come from?
- Who was Mark Twain and why don’t people read him anymore?
- What are these famous quotes from great movies or novels that everybody seems to know?
- What was Humanae Vitae and why should Catholics know what it teaches?
Course Outline (week by week):
- Introduction
- Scripture - Genesis
- Scripture - Job & David
- Scripture - Exodus
- Scripture - King David
- Scripture - Job and Ecclesiastes
- Philosophy - Touching on Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle
- The Early Church and the Heresies that All Catholics Should Know
- Dante's Divine Comedy
- But...but...but I hate Shakespeare!
- The Reformation and the Enlightenment: the Modern World Begins
- Modern Church Controversies, including Humanae Vitae and why it is important
- Pop Culture and Review
Course Materials: PDF handouts from the Instructor
Homework: Quizzes and Final Exam (graded by the instructor). Plan on about 2 to 4 hours of homework per week outside of the classroom.
- Teacher: Kevin OBrien