Fostering academic excellence and biblical virtue to equip students for lives as local and global Christian servants.

Modern History, Lit, and Comp (Honors)

Course Catalog ID:
3891
Subject Categories:
English Language Arts, History, Honors, Literature and Media, Writing and Composition
Description

When Winston Churchill referred to the light of history as a “flickering lamp” to illuminate the Present, he was by parts questioning and parts affirming the value of studying our past. The Modern period is particularly challenging for people of faith because it is a period of considerable secularization in the West. Yet this very difficulty is also what makes it essential deep analysis for understanding the current age, so we might march in the “rectitude and sincerity” that Churchill went on to extol as traits of honor that transcend period and place. This course is an honors-level analysis of the Modern period’s essential events studied alongside its essential writings. Spanning the mid-1600’s to the Present, this course considers the impact of interrelated revolutions in religion, politics, science and literature. While the course focuses predominately on the western world, it also considers the clashes and changes as cultures began to interact on a global level. All of these are reflected in the literary works of each period. Frankenstein illuminates not just the scientific questions of its day but, more importantly, the deep, abiding role of man in relationship to his God. Written in the shadows of war, T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland and C.S. Lewis’ radio addresses, which later became Mere Christianity, respond to the horrors of those wars by pleading Christianity as the only solution to a world torn asunder. A Gentleman in Moscow explores the question of how to find purpose in worldviews dominated by deterministic Naturalism or “absurd” Existentialism. These “revolutions” were also reflected in the new mediums that emerged from them, including films like Casablanca, television shows, hero comics, and the meteoric rise of “popular” music. These and other reflective and influential works are used to bring out the real “history” of the events. The great works and historical analysis are also used as the foundation for teaching advanced composition skills, and the course culminates in a research opportunity integrating a student’s understanding of a key historical event with thoughtful analysis of a complementary literary work.

Notes and Requirements
Grade Levels*:
10, 11, 12
(* Determined by Date of Birth and declared Grad Year. Enrollment outside these grade levels requires written concurrence from TPS Support.)

Transcript Planning: On a transcript, this integrated course lists as two Honors courses — an English course credit and a History course credit.

Reviews from Students and Parents

“The fact that the information you learn throughout the year is used simultaneously is ridiculously helpful! Rather than balancing two separate schedules or working through separate texts, this course gives you a single schedule for both history and English as well as streamlining the workload by utilizing your in-class texts for both classes.”

Trent E
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Student

“This course shed a whole new light on History and English for me. Rather than just throwing out a bunch of names, dates, and facts for rote memorization, this class focused on truly understanding the history and the reasons behind the history. As we traced important events and movements throughout the years, we discovered how each event connected with the others and the causes and effects of these events. At the end of the school year I found myself amazed at how perfectly everything we learned fit together. We were able to trace the historical and cultural developments in literature and see the connections between the two. Rather than just knowing that the history happened, we actually studied and discussed it and truly learned to understand it. Additionally, this course matured my writing in ways I never expected. We learned to go beyond the basic five paragraph essay and explored new and deeper methods and styles of writing. This class taught me in a fun, engaging, and effective way, and was truly one of my favorite TPS experiences.”

Olivia B
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Student