(Recorded Course) Catholic Literary Giants with Joseph Pearce

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.

How to get the most out of Catholic Literary Giants with Joseph Pearce:

  • First, read the course materials below before the first class meeting.

  • Then have a notebook ready and available for class notes each live session.

  • Read assignments before class meetings

  • Watch that week’s recording if you need to revisit information from our live session.

  • Do the 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

Duration: 55 minutes per class

Prerequisite: An interest in literature and great Catholic writers.

Suggested grade level: 9th to 12th grade

Suggested credit: ½ semester Literature

Instructor: Joseph Pearce

Instructor Email: joseph.pearce@augustineinstitute.org

Course description: Learn six Catholic literary giants who continue to positively influence our world today: Shakespeare, Newman, Hopkins, Belloc, Chesterton, and Tolkien. This dynamic course offers an introduction to each writer and an overview of their life and work. Understanding the author helps you, the reader, read with clarity, understanding, and the ability to think critically and keenly in all of your high school and college literature (and literature analysis) courses.

Course outline: Day 1: Shakespeare

                     Day 2: Newman

                     Day 3: Hopkins

                     Day 4: Belloc

                     Day 5: Chesterton

                     Day 6: Tolkien

Course materials: The required texts are provided FREE by the instructor as a Word document. Optional: Catholic Literary Giants by Joseph Pearce [Ignatius Press], ISBN 978-1586179441 (https://amzn.to/2Yms4lP).

Homework: Students should read the assigned text for each class prior to the class meeting and take the weekly quiz within seven days of the completion of each class. Estimated homework time: 1 hour per week.