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 Romeo and Juliet with Professor Joseph Pearce:
- First, read the course materials below before the first class meeting.
- Then have a notebook ready and available for class notes each session.
- No reading is required for the first class but please ensure that all assigned reading is done prior to each subsequent session.
- Watch each week’s recording, taking notes as you do so.
- Do any assignments, quizzes, and any extra work assigned for that week.
- Once the course is completed to the parent's and professor’s satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end to be filled in for your records.
Total Classes: 6
Prerequisite: The ability to read and enjoy the play.
Suggested Grade Level: 9th to 11th grade (advanced 8th graders can be accepted.)
Suggested Credit: ½ semester Literature or Shakespearean Literature
Instructor: Joseph Pearce
Course Description: Romeo and Juliet is perhaps the most famous love story ever written. Its cultural influence is so profound that Shakespeare’s “star cross’d” lovers have become synonymous with the very meaning of romantic love. But what exactly does the world’s greatest playwright have to say about the world’s greatest lovers? Does he sympathize with their plight? Does he consider them blameless, or are they largely responsible for the tragedy that awaits them? Is it a story about fatalistic forces beyond the control of the lovers, or is it a cautionary tale warning of the dangers of unbridled erotic passion? In this course, Joseph Pearce, editor of the Ignatius Critical Edition of Romeo and Juliet, asks and answers these questions as he invites students to see the play through Shakespeare’s Catholic eyes.
Course Outline:
- Week One: An Introduction to Shakespeare
- Week Two: Act One
- Week Three: Act Two
- Week Four: Act Three
- Week Five: Act Four
- Week Six: Act Five and concluding comments
Required Reading: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (Ignatius Critical Edition, edited by Joseph Pearce), ISBN # 1586174398 (http://amzn.to/2oNR3x3 or bookfinder.com)
Suggested Reading: The Quest for Shakespeare by Joseph Pearce (Ignatius Press), ISBN # 1586172247 (http://amzn.to/2tl4byu or bookfinder.com)
Homework: Reading and weekly automated quizzes for immediate feedback.