Winter readng challenge

Kathleen posted an invitation on my classical home educator's list for a winter reading challenge, and I've decided to join in. Now, for me, this is a courageous step. I am wading in with the big girls, who read fast, read lots, and are a whole lot smarter than me... but here is my humble list...

In the category of needing to finish, and hoping this will help me do it:

Resurrection by Tolstoy. I am listening to this in audio format: it is my folding laundry reading... and so far, is pretty typically Tolstoy, and keeps giving my flashbacks to Dickens' Bleak House.

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett. This was recommended by my son and his friend Josh. It is very funny, and very strange, and quite a change of pace for me.

A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin. I have been reading little chunks of this for a year, but I keep getting interrupted. I NEED to finish it...

Life at the Bottom by Theodore Dalrymple. I read the first 2/3 of this a year ago, and had to set it aside for a while. He writes in an interesting and compelling way about a depressing subject, but it is excellent, and I need to finish off the last few essays.

Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. Almost finished with this one, too.

And in the category of on the near-future list, and hoping to read by the end of February:

Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card. We recently enjoyed the first book in this series as an audio book on a family trip (Ender's Game), and were taken by the sparse style and interesting plot of this science fiction/fantasy book (recommended by ds Ben). So on to the next in the series.

The Writer's Workshop by Gregory L. Roper. I am hoping this newly published ISI book will get me excited about teaching composition next year.

Bonfire of the Humanities by Hanson, Heath and Thornton. To feed my passion for classical education.

That will be a challenging list for me. Here we go!

December Give-away

Thomas Boston on Assurance

“Assurance is the believer’s ark where he sits, Noah-like, quiet and still in the midst of all distractions and destructions, commotions and confusions. . . . [However] most Christians live between fears and hopes, and hang, as it were, between heaven and hell. Sometimes they hope that their state is good, at other times they fear that their state is bad: now they hope that all is well, and that it shall go well with them for ever; [then] they fear that they shall perish by the hand of such a corruption, or by the prevalency of such or such a temptation. . . . They are like a ship in a storm, tossed here and there”

~Thomas Boston, Heaven on Earth

Jesus: Adam in reverse

I was intrigued this week, in reading a wonderful commentary by Sinclair Ferguson on the book of Philippians, to see his claim that Jesus is "Adam in reverse". He outlines his case this way, comparing Philippians 2:5-8 with Romans 5:12-21 and John 13:3-5:

1. That Jesus, being in the form of God but not grasping after that glory, reminds us of how Adam, also made in the likeness of God, was a grasping man.

2. Jesus emptied himself, making himself a servant, while Adam refused to serve God.

3. Jesus was obedient unto death: a death brought about by Adam's disobedience.

The first thing that struck me in this comparison is how much I feel like Adam when I read this. No big surprise, I guess, for someone who has held the doctrine of total depravity for almost 30 years. Yet we can bask so long in the place of favor with the Lord that we forget the reasons we have to be humble. This is a good reminder.

The second thing that happens as I reflect on these truths is worship. What a contrast between what that first Adam, and I, his daughter, have been, and what Christ was by grace for me and all like me. As Ferguson says, "No wonder such theology produced poetry!"

Augustine on Rhetoric

Now, the art of rhetoric being available for the enforcing either of truth or falsehood, who will dare to say that truth in the person of its defenders is to take its stand unarmed against falsehood? For example that those who are trying to persuade men of what is false are to know how to introduce their subject, so as to put the hearer into a friendly, or attentive, or teachable frame of mind, while the defenders of the truth shall be ignorant of that art? That the former are to tell their falsehoods briefly, clearly, and plausibly, while the latter shall tell the truth in such a way that it is tedious to listen to, hard to understand, and... not easy to believe it? ... That the former, while imbuing the minds of their hearers with erroneous opinions, are by their power of speech to awe, to melt, to enliven, and to rouse them, while the latter shall in defense of the truth be sluggish, and frigid...? Who is such a fool as to think this wisdom?

- Augustine, "On Christian Doctrine"

An introduction to the progymnasmata

As the old Monty Python guys used to say, "And now for something completely different..."

It has been some time since I wrote about classical education or homeschooling, likely because I am on sabbatical: that is, because I have two weddings coming (one this December, and one next September) I decided not to teach any classes to the home schoolers in our town this year. Except for chorus, of course.. but that hardly counts. At any rate, while I enjoy choosing music and approaching chorus from a Christian and classical perspective, I've already written about that. And chorus doesn't tend to spawn any deep thoughts on the nature of education or anything.

I have been asked, however, to prepare a little talk on the progymnasmata for Monday evening's classical home school support group. It is a very basic beginner's group, and so I am trying to give a very basic introduction to these classical writing exercises. I am printing the text of my notes below, in case anyone wants to know what the progymnasmata are, and why they are an excellent training ground for the craft of writing.

Introduction to the progymnasmata:

In classical education, writing is about learning a craft. It is a set of tools put in the toolbox of the apprentice that he will be trained in using, and will one day use in growing measure on his own. In Christian education, writing is about dying to self and learning to communicate to others. So in classical Christian education, we want to train our children in the craft of writing well to enable them to communicate that which is good, true and beautiful to a lost and broken world that needs that truth, beauty and goodness.

Rhetoric and Poetics:

All writing is either persuasive or imaginative, and these are the two main divisions of classical upper-level writing instruction. Rhetoric focuses on persuasion, and is really not simply writing instruction, but the end result of good writing, good analysis, good reading and good logic. It is the practical application of both reading and logic.

Rhetoric itself is traditionally organized into 5 canons: invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. In the current day, because we use largely written communication, memory and delivery are less emphasized. Basically:

· Invention: what ideas are we going to talk about

· Arrangement: how we arrange those ideas

· Style: how we word our ideas

Progymnasmata:

These are writing exercises that prepare the student for rhetoric. Different teachers present the exercises in different order, but most contain these exercises:

· Narrative: story telling. Includes:

o Condensing

o Expanding

o Changing voice/point of view

o Differing modes of narration (direct declarative, indirect declarative, interrogative, and comparative)

o Narrative elements: action, agent, time, place, manner, cause (what, who, when, where, how, why)

o Attributes of an excellent narrative are brevity, clarity and credibility

· Description: the verbal representation of people. Places and things that exist in time and space.

o Learn how to detail persons, places, actions, things, and time

o Learn to order the details by special, temporal or order of impressions

o The attributes of an excellent description are clarity and vividness.

· Fable: a fictional illustration,

o Primary purpose of a fable is to illustrate a point in order to give advice. This lends emotional impact to an argument.

o In a fable, there is a single incident that illustrates the point at hand, and can be summed up in a pithy statement.

o We retell, condense, expand and invent fables.

o We write moral tags for fables

o We adapt the structure of a fable by introducing it with its moral tag, then telling the fable itself, then drawing an analogy from the fable to real life. We can turn that order around, too. Then we are ready to use a fable in the midst of a longer piece of persuasive writing.

· The Proverb: a short, pithy saying that is true from common experience

o 3 kinds of proverbs:

§ those that exhort to action

§ those that dissuade from action

§ those that instruct or enlighten moral understanding

o We learn how to amplify proverbs or write a fable for them as an illustration

o We learn a pattern for writing a deliberative essay around the proverb (Cite the saying; praise its wisdom; define its key terms; paraphrase or explain its meaning; give reasons to support it; draw a conclusion)

· The Anecdote: a wise saying or short exposition that gives moral instruction

o This is also known as chreia.

o There are verbal anecdotes (similar to the proverb), or action anecdotes, where the short account of an action speaks for itself, or a combination of these.

o We amplify anecdotes, and practice fitting them into larger deliberative essays (Introduction, Narration, proposition, confirmation, refutation, conclusion)

· Refutation/Confirmation: supporting or attacking a position

o This prepares writers to meet public controversy with persuasion.

o We identify the type of question being raised: is it a question of:

§ Fact (conjecture)

§ Definition

§ Qualitative (value, quality or nature)

§ Jurisdiction (who decides)

o We use some of the sub-topics of invention to help us discover ways to refute or confirm our topic:

§ Is it probable/improbable?

§ Is it clear /obscure?

§ Is it possible or impossible?

§ Is it consistent or inconsistent?

· The Commonplace: an amplification of a good or evil that is self-evident.

o This is directed against a deed (as opposed to a person)

o The sub-topics of invention that can be used well to amplify a commonplace are:

§ Contrast (e.g. a good act with a wrongful one)

§ Comparison (a wrong with something worse)

§ Intention (accidental or intentional)

§ Past life of person (how personal background affected the act)

§ Rejection or appeal to pity

§ Question of legality

§ Question of expediency

§ Question of honorableness

§ Question of practicality

§ Question of immediate result

· Praising/Blaming: an amplification of the virtues or vices of a person

o This is also known as encomium and invective

o Again, we will use some of the sub-topics of Invention to discover ideas for our amplification:

§ Background

§ Education

§ Virtues/Vices

§ Achievements/Crimes

· The Comparison: a double composition of praising and/or blaming.

o We will talk about two persons or things in one of the following relationships:

§ Similar things: the good beside the excellent/the mean beside the base

§ Different things: the good and the evil

§ Greater and lesser things

o We’ll use the same sub-topics of invention we used when we talked about encomium and invective (background, education, virtues, achievements) and compare and contrast them in the two things being compared.

o We’ll practice different patterns of arrangement we can use in presenting these comparisons.

· The Speech-in-Character: the imitation of a person’s character, habits and feelings.

o The student here is asked to put him/herself into someone else’s place and express that person’s thoughts and feelings.

o This is related to both soliloquy (a speech in which a character talks to him or herself as though alone) and monologue (a speech in which a character speaks to an implied or real audience).

o We talk about these speeches as being either pathetic (depicting the emotions and feelings) or ethical (depicting the moral character) or both.

o The character can be a specific, definite person (like Hamlet), or an indefinite one who has the features of a class of people (like a soldier).

o Often the arrangement of this exercise involves structuring around time: a statement from the character about the present, followed by one about the past, and ending with one about the future.

· The Thesis: a reasoned inquiry into a yes-or-no proposition.

o The purpose of the thesis is to deliberate on practical and philosophical questions, and the exercise is structured to provide experience arguing both sides of an issue.

o The thesis seeks to persuade or dissuade an audience concerning the advantage or disadvantage of something for the future.

o The topics of a thesis can be dividing into:

§ The definite (specific time/place) or indefinite

§ The practical (political or social) or theoretical (philosophical or speculative)

o The sub-topics of invention we will use for thesis are:

§ Necessary/unnecessary

§ Possible/impossible

§ Advantageous/disadvantageous

§ Easy/hard

§ Fitting/unfitting

§ Lawful/unlawful

§ Customary/uncustomary

§ Just/unjust

o We will again practice this in a specified deliberative essay arrangement (Introduction, narrative, proposition, confirmation/refutation, conclusion) and in others, such as an alternating confirmation/refutation pattern.)

· For and Against Laws: the exercise in legislation.

o This exercise focuses on enabling students to argue for and against laws, ordinances, regulations and rules. It gives them practice again in arguing both sides of topic.

o We will practice using the same topics we used in the thesis to help us discover ideas, and arrange our ideas in the same deliberative essay arrangement.

By the time we have worked through these exercises, you can see that many tools needed for every kind of persuasive essay has been practiced. By the time we are arguing for or against a law, we are narrating, describing, using fables, anecdotes or proverbs, making comparisons, praising or blaming, etc.

As each exercise is introduced, I recommend using imitation and analysis from the ancient and great authors as a starting place. Copy and analyze what they have done. Then imitate it. Write and rewrite. You can see how I have applied this to high school students in my composition classes in my notebooks: feel free to take a look at them.

Some suggested resources:

· Books for the teacher:

o Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student, E.P.J. Corbett and R.J. Connors, Oxford University Press

o Composition in the Classical Tradition, F. J. D’Angelo, Allyn and Bacon

o Imitation and Analysis (aka Model English I) & Model English II & Persuasive Speech by Francis P. Donnelly (out of print, Allyn and Bacon)

· Internet Resources:

o http://rhetoric.byu.edu/ {A great rhetoric resource}

o http://www.leeds.ac.uk/classics/resources/rhetoric/prog-aph.htm {A translation of THE early medieval text for teaching the progymnasmata by Aphthonius)

o http://hobbits8.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=28&Itemid=97 {a .pdf document of Francis Donnelly’s out of print masterpiece, Imitation and Analysis}

o http://members.aol.com/cmarsch786/ {Writing Assesment Services, a variety of online writing services by classical educator and homeschooler Cindy Marsch, including her progymnasmata tutorials}

o http://home.att.net/~mikejaqua/may-june-00.html {a good beginner’s reference on the progymnasmata)

Some thoughts on marriage and courtship-- mostly not mine...

As a mom of two sons, both of whom will be getting married, D.V., in the next year, I have been thinking a lot about this subject lately. I have been thinking about it for a long time as the dh and I tried over the past 23 years or so to raise boys to be godly men in this culture. For a time we followed down the expected courtship route of every "good" homeschooling family, but as our young men entered this phase of life, reality hit the fan, so to speak, and got splattered all over all of us!

Now, as my dear friend Cindy has said in her wise and clever way, she hesitates to post about courtship because people have such strong ideas about courtship, and the younger your children are, the stronger your opinions tend to be. So, instead of saying much, I just thought I would share the first part of what should be a series of articles. I read the first part this morning, written by David Bayly. I think he is hitting on something important when he says,

"Scripture tells us that a king should count the cost before sending his army into battle. In the same way a young man should count the cost and weigh the odds before entering the lists of romantic battle. It’s not an easy course. Rewarding, pleasurable, wonderful, yes, but pitched conflict fraught with danger as well...."

And in speaking of the modern "courtship" movement, he makes this point:

"The obvious problem with such an approach is that it doesn’t eradicate danger, it merely delays the necessary battles of courtship and wooing until after marriage—when the stakes are even higher and the costs of failure even greater."


I think there is a lot of wisdom there, and look forward to reading future installments. I hope you'll take the time to read his entire presentation. It is well worth your effort.

He shares his blog space with his brother, Tim (who pastors the church of one of my ds), and I grow in appreciation of them both as I read their writings.

A good thing to be thankful for...

Thanks to Terry at New Lumps for the following wonderful gem from Matthew Henry. It's a good one to contemplate, and much material to lead us into thankfulness.

Besides the heavenly inheritance prepared for the saints, there is a present inheritance in the saints; for grace is glory begun, and holiness is happiness in the bud.

November Give-Away at Challies.com

Bella

Dave and I attended the movie "Bella" yesterday afternoon (I am currently on travel with Dave in Las Vegas, and they have it showing in several places here.) If you want to find out more about the movie, look here:
http://www.bellathemovie.com/

This is a lovely movie. It has a beautiful message, without preaching or telling, but by showing how beautiful life can be. It contrasts the idea of grief and pain with the joy of being that can only be known through the eyes of a child. And it did all this without downplaying the grief and pain.

Add to that the fact that we sat in a large, "brand name" theatre and watched a film with pro-life film. That was perhaps the only time we have had the privilege of doing that.

I highly recommend you search around for a viewing of "Bella" in your area. It is worth the time and the effort to support this endeavor!

Mercy

This morning in worship, as we were preparing for communion, our pastor shared a wonderful quote from a Puritan author:

"There is more mercy in Christ than there is sin in us."
~R. Sibbes, A Bruised Reed

Wow. I don't know about you, but the hugeness and seeming endlessness of my sin seems awfully big to me most of the time. To contrast that with the greater vastness of Christ's mercy really got my attention today. I think my acting and unspoken assumption was that my sin was the most vast of things. But I am wrong-- God's mercy is more vast. Hallelujah! Now that is something to be ever thankful about!

A Fall Apple Recipe

I just had to type up a recipe to send to my parents, and thought, why not share? Everyone needs a good apple recipe this time of year! Well, here is one we enjoy, and so do my parents!

Apple Bread

2 C peeled, cubed apples
1 egg
1 C sugar
1/4 C oil
1/4 t cinnamon
1 t baking soda (adjust to 3/4 for altitude)
1/2 t salt
1 C flour
nuts (optional- I never use them, though they would be good)

Put cubed apples into large bowl; stir in egg. Add sugar and oil and mix by hand. Add dry ingredients; stir. Add nuts if desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes in a lightly sprayed loaf pan, or 9" pie or cake rounds.

The Deathly Hallows

I have just completed Harry's final adventure. Without giving any spoilers for those still wishing to be surprised, I will just say that it *did* hold some fun twists and turns, and I enjoyed the book thoroughly. Rowlings continues to write something short of great literature, but to excel as a compelling story-teller. I could hardly put it down during the last 100 pages, and I am a slow reader, so it meant a LOT of time this week devoted to Harry and his band of warriors. It is, in the end, a redemptive tale, and well worth the time invested over the years!

What kind of accent do you have?

We are beginning a new year of study in the Women's Fellowship at BAPCA (www.bapca.org) in the book of Phillipians, using a commentary by Sinclair Ferguson entitled Let's Study Philippians. I may try to post thoughts here from that study, from time to time, as an aid to formulating my ideas somehow.

As Dr. Ferguson discusses the first two verses of Philippians, he says...
"...They are at Philippi...But notice what is implied: the Christian lives in two different orders of reality at the same time. We belong to Christ. As Paul will later say, 'our citizenship is in heaven', not here on the earth. Yet for the moment we live in a sinful environment, 'at Philippi", or London or Atlanta. Here we are called to live as alien residents. Our emphases, accents, and lifestyle make others ask, 'Now, where do you belong?' That is effective Christian witness." {Ferguson, Let's Study Philippians, p.3}

So, I wonder what others can tell by my accent? Can they tell I am from somewhere else? That I belong elsewhere, to a distant kingdom, whose King is the Lord? That is something worth pondering as I do my laundry today...

Harry Potter

OK- so I have been re-reading the Potter books prior reading the final one. I was a Potter dismisser for many years: it wasn't good literature, the "hero" was childish, the author was simplistic, and had ripped-off several good books. Well, at the urging of eldest ds, I finally did begin reading the books. They are still not great literature, but I have grown to appreciate Rowlings as an excellent story-teller. I have enjoyed watching the writing style mature with the protagonist, and seeing the depth of writing and plot growing as Harry does. As the books get darker and more complex, I am hoping Rowlings stays true to the redemptive quest she seems to have started. I really enjoyed re-reading these, and have already jumped in to the Deathly Hallows, which means I will be wandering around, tired and bleary-eyed, until that adventure is complete!

October Give-away

Interested? Click above for a chance to win, and by clicking here, you give me an extra chance as well!

Books

I don't think anyone ever reads this part of my blog-- not that many read the other one-- but it's a nice way of recording things! So, I think I will try to post about the books I've read here, even if it is not "classical" in nature. So the first one is a distinctly non-classical: this last weekend I read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. It was a creative and compelling story, complete with lots of fodder for future books... Card has managed to create a futuristic world that has many twists on our expectations, many reflections of harsh reality, and many lovely ideas.

I honestly can't remember the last time I read science fiction, perhaps many years ago when rereading Lewis' Space trilogy, but this was well worth the dip into the genre again. We listened to this on a trip, in the audio version, and in an interview at the end of the book, Card made the interesting distinction that the difference between science fiction and fantasy (a genre I feel much more at home in somehow) is that on the cover of fantasy novels there will be trees and woodsy-elvish things. On a science-fiction cover, however, there will be rivets of some kind. LOL!

Well, if you want a little dip into an interesting, "riveting" world, I recommend Ender's Game, and I intend to do some more reading by Card.

You gotta love a give-away

I know I do! So, for those of you who love free chances at great stuff, click on the banner below. When you do, you will go to a web site I was referred to by a friend of mine. The give-aways are happening there. If you go there by clicking on the banner below, I get an extra chance to win these interesting commentaries :-)

That Jephthah Thing

In my quiet time the other day, I was reading about Jephthah (if you don't know the story, you can read all about it in the Bible, in Judges Chapter 11.) Here, in the midst of a time when God's people are running around helter-skelter, each following their own way, God raises up Jephthah. He is a "mighty man of valor", and the Lord pretty much empowers him to gather the folks of Gilead together (a pretty amazing feat in itself) and defeat the Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites (a more amazing feat!) But what Jephthah did when the Lord blessed him with the first adrenaline rush of success, is make a wild and rash vow: if the Lord continued giving victory, Jephthah would sacrifice the first thing that came out of his house when he went home. Jephthah thought he was being faithful. But in reality, Jephthah was taking on the presuppositions of the neighboring peoples. their gods were the ones who loved human sacrifice. It was abhorrent to the true God.

So, God continues to care for His people, and brings victory to Jephthah, and then he returns home, and what comes out of his house first, but his daughter. And this mighty man of valor allows his pride to refuse to admit the error of his vow, and he does the abominable.

Our pastor preached last Sunday from 1 Corinthians 3, and made the statement that the way we often deceive our own hearts is by justifying our actions as godly when in fact they are anything but. How often have I done the abominable? How often am I so embroiled in the world, or in MY world (the Cosmos of Chris, where everything revolves around me) that I don't even see that I am worshiping like the pagans, with human sacrifices left and right so that my comfort, my joy, my pleasure may be full?

I am trying to learn that I need to die to self on the Lord's altar, and stop sacrificing others, and fooling myself.

Spring sprang...

... as evidenced by the apple blossoms, tulips and pansies around our little homestead.

Update on reading

I don't think anyone ever reads this blog. I barely write on it. But there is something fascinating about knowing I am recording something somewhere. In October I said I was reading the following books. If you want to know what kind of a reader I really am, the answer is slow... Here is my update:

_Jayber Crow_ by Wendell Berry: completed, but not completely satisfying to me. Berry *does* give one a sense of longing for place and a sense of what belonging must mean. His writing is simple, but somehow profound. But this book failed to move me on the whole. I may give _Hannah Coulter_ a try and see if Mr. Berry's fiction grows on me...

_Peacemaking Women: Biblical Hope for Resolving Conflict_ by Tara Klena Barthel and Judy Dabler: Almost done studying through this with our Women's Fellowship at church. It is excellent, and I highly recommend it. I think it's weakest sections are the ones on marriage and family, but there is a plethora of good material on those topics, so I will excise that. The rest is challenging and biblical.

_Standing by and Making Do: Women of Wartime Los Alamos_ ed. by Jane S. Wilson and Charlotte Serber: this is not tremendously well written, but it is a fascinating look at my adopted "hometown". It is a little slice of what these women went through as Los Alamos was founded. I loved the descriptions of people waiting outside here in Los Alamos, looking southward, waiting for the first atomic test to be visible. Fascinating.

_The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment_ by Jeremiah Burroughs: I reread about half of this timeless classic, and have laid it aside for a time. Anyone who has not read this, ought to do so.

_A Soldier of the great War_ by Mark Helprin (though I'm only a few pages into this one, and not sure if I'll stick it out or not...): Well, I didn't stick it out, but I am rethinking. I am trying to talk my husband into reading it first, and telling me whether it is worth it or not...

And new on my nightstand:

_Life at the Bottom: The Worldview that Makes the Underclass_ by Theodore Dalrymple: Fascinating, sobering, and I think full of insight. Dr. Dalrymple, a psychoiatrist in England, discusses his discovery that poverty is not so much about lack of wealth, but about poverty of soul and ideas in the West. I can't read it at bedtime, because it gives me nightmares, and makes the people you see on the Jerry Springer Show seem real...

_Lord Peter: The Complete Lord Peter Winsey Short Stories_ by Dorothy L. Sayers: Just for fun :-)

Books on my Wishlist

I have a book wishlist. It is a word document, double-spaced, size 12 font, and goes on for 6 or more pages. So many books, and so little time-- and this is a double curse on someone like me who is a slow, plodding reader (though I enjoy reading!) So below are some of the books at the top of my wish list, just as a reminder to me of those things I want to spend time thinking about, and a list for future Christmas/birthday purchases for my dear family...

Sooo... here are books yet to join my personal library:

Standing by Words by Wendell Berry

The Office of Assertion: An Art of Rhetoric for the Academic Essay by Scott Crider

Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave by Ed Welch

Only a Lover by John Pieper

The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief by Francis Collins

The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck

When No One Sees by Os Guinness

The Enjoyment of Music (with all the CDs, scores, etc.)

For the Glory of God by Rodney Stark

Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry

The Degradation of Language and Music, and Why We Should, Like, Care by John McWhorter

Poetry as a Means of Grace by C.G. Osgood

Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child's Moral Imagination by Vigen Guroian

Woe is I and Words Fail Me by Patricia O’Connor

The Red Shoes by Allen French

The Cross-Centered Life by Mahaney

A Landscape with Dragons by Michael O'Brien

And just in case you would like to know what my current reading input includes, I am currently reading the following:

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry

Peacemaking Women: Biblical Hope for Resolving Conflict by Tara Klena Barthel and Judy Dabler

Standing by and Making Do: Women of Wartime Los Alamos ed. by Jane S. Wilson and Charlotte Serber

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs

A Soldier of the great War by Mark Helprin (though i'm only a few pages into this one, and not sure if I'll stick it out or not...)

Lost Tools of Writing, or what we all ought to know about teaching writing, but don't.

As promied, below are my notes to the weekend workshop in Colorado Springs with Andrew Kern of Circe Institute. These note only include Andrew's "side comments', so to speak. The curriculum-specific notes were written right into my LToW notebook. This is an excellent, new writing curriculum, using the classical approach. For more information on the curriculum, click on the Circe Institute link to the right.

My notes are rather stream-of-consciousness, since we were really talking about a curruculum, but the encouragement Andrew gave along the way was inspiring, so here you have it.

Notes from LToW Workshop, Colorado Springs, October 2006

Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” This is a good goal for education. But what is a Christian classical education? According to A.K., it is the cultivation of wisdom and virtue by nourishing the soul on truth, goodness and beauty, so that in Christ we may better know, glorify and enjoy God.

Locke said, “The soul is a needless hypothesis.” In many ways, this could be the moto for the U.S. public school system, and is reflected in our society’s free-fall morally. We need to be “radical”—Latin for “roots”, and return to the roots of education.

Language is a gift from God, patterned after Him for the purpose of communicating with us. Our capacity to know and enjoy God is qualified by our capacity to use the tool of language. Rhetoric (in the original sense of the word, meaning sound use of language) is important as communion with the Creator. In teaching from a classical and Christian perspective, we redeem rhetoric.

How can writing cultivate wisdom and virtue? St. Ignatius said, “The glory of God is the man fully alive.” By learning the beauty and intricacies of language, we learn more about God, and can become more fully alive. We, as teachers, can water those dry and impoverished souls to help them be restored. And restored sould respond quickly to nourishment.

One lesson that public schools teach well is anxiety: they are driven by and perpetuate it. We, on the other hand, need to cultivate and teach from a place of rest. Nourishing souls requires rest, contemplation and peace.

Wendell Berry says, “…specialization is tantamount to self-absorption.” If we exert our personal rights above all, we are failing to hope in the possibility of living in harmony with others.

The arts, including writing, are not only aesthetic, but ethical. Christian ethic is not based on a false good/bad dichotomy (since God created all things good), but on an ethic of priority. When we teach the idea of propriety, we gain discernment and judgment. Everything we teach should help aid children to make judgments in propriety. Teaching by formulae can’t teach judgment. Formulae can be good for a start, but we have to go beyond that.

95% of the times we encounter laziness, it is a symptom of despair. Students do not have the tools they need to perform the tasks we've given them.

The goal of classic rhetoricians was to name the basic principles found in all worthy writing.

Honesty leads to depth. If you try to be deep, you will be corrupted. Try for honesty instead. Writing is rooted in death to self for the Christian, like all other acts.

Writing is a craft, with particular tools of the trade. It is not about self-expression, which is thinly veiled self-absorption. An artist has firstly, mastered the craft, and secondly, has something to say.

There are three basic problems in writing: what to say, how to organize it, and how to say it. This breaks into the three important canons of rhetoric for writers: invention/discovery, arrangement, and elocution/style. All writing should fit the nature and purpose of the communication.

The quality of life is determined by the quality of the questions you ask. If your most pressing question is “how can I get a good-paying job?” that will determine many things. If your most pressing question is “how can I become more Christ-like” that will likewise determine some things, and lead to a richer life.

Likewise, the quality of your writing is largely determined by the questions you ask.

When writing, we start with a question, make it into an issue with the word “whether”, and go through the “ANI” process. (ANI is listing affirmative, negative and interesting ideas for your issue.) We can use the 5 Topics of rhetoric as powerful questions:

1. What is X? (Definition)
2. How does X compare with Y? (Comparison)
3. How is X related to Y? (Relationship)
4. What are the circumstances surrounding X? (Circumstance)
5. Who says what about X? (Testimony)

If you ask one good question, and answer it completely, you will be made to think of the whole issue.

Always keep in mind: Nature, Purpose and Judgment.

Arrangement in writing is wired into the nature of things. Everything must have an introduction, body and conclusion. Arrangement is just becoming self-conscious about what works and what we already do. Structure *is* intelligibility.

All narratives have an intro, a rise in action, a climax, a fall in action and a conclusion. History itself is a narrative.

We ought to be obsessively teleological; that is, always asking about the purpose in everything we do.

The world is ontologically semiotic; that is, created by God to employ symbolism. Because we are created in God’s image and He is relational, we are relational, see things relationally, and the world exists relationally. Everything has meaning in relation to something else, because meaning itself is relational.

The arrangement of an essay must be consonant with its purpose and nature. Aquinas said, “It is the part of the wise man to order and to judge.” The wise man can only judge and order rightly when he knows the nature and purpose of the work. We need to concentrate more fully on this.

How do we move from invention to arrangement? We need to see the big picture; to force students to remember that orderliness is important, as is learning self-limitation. All limitations are really possibilities. Division is a moral point: we must be honest about where the agreement and argument really is. Neitsche said, “We will never be free from God until we are free from grammar.” Limitations are actually good for us.

Elocution is teaching that revision is necessary, and teaching how to do it.

Clarity is very important. You must learn to be clear before you can discuss clarity. Tools can help you master clarity, but how then do we create sound judgment? We need to instill propriety, which includes context, circumstances, etc.

Figures of speech: schemes appeal to the senses, while tropes appeal to logic.

Didactic instruction moves from particulars to universals. It explores “types”, and employs induction.

1. Start with what a student knows. This is “pre-grammar”. Review and connect. A third of each lesson should include this.
2. Show the particulars (examples- individuals). This is “grammar”.
3. Make comparisons. This is dialectic.
4. Grasp the lesson at hand- what is the teacher trying to communicate, and make it their own. This is the beginning of rhetoric.
5. Apply what is learned. This is the end of rhetoric.

Fall

Well, a new school year is upon us. This fall I am teaching three classes to homeschooled children.

Composition II:
Composition I was imitation and analysis of sentences and paragraphs ala Francis Donnelly, and the first three progymnasmata exercises (narrative, description, and fable) ala D'Angelo and other sources. We also did a grammar review via sentence diagramming. Now, Composition II is going to introduce the rest of the progymn exercises, and the beginnings of the canons of invention. We are also taking a tour through figures of speech. I am thinking that next year, if atrophy doesn't keep me from teaching Composition III, I will use Andrew Kerns' material, The Lost Tools of Writing. To that end, I am looking f0rward to a conference in Colorado Spring next month on that subject. I'll try to post here some of the things I learn there.

Worldviews:
This is the second of a two year class for highschoolers. Using the material provided by Summit Ministries and David Noebel's book "Understanding the Times" as our jumping-off spot, we study 10 different discipline areas from 4 different western worldviews, and prepare for college work along the way. They have lots of reading, writing, and analyzing. It is the class our homeschooled kids like to complain about :-)

Chorus:
This is described below. This year we have 104 songbirds in the flock, and are adding a second auditioned ensemble for high school women's voices.

All these are keeping me happy and challeneged!

On the Last One Leaving (written in the Fall of 2003)

On the Last One Leaving

This morning, I drove with my youngest child the two-hours of highway through the desert of northern New Mexico to the airport at Albuquerque. It was the first step on his 1500 mile journey to college. In the back of my car were two large backpacks and three large suitcases filled with most of his worldly belongings. But the most precious assets of the boy beside me could not be found by rifling through the tee-shirts and jeans, books, posters and CDs.

This fledgling young man has been the object of my wrestling and rejoicing in prayer for more than 18 years. The Lord called his dad and me, first with his older brother, then with him, to leave what we knew behind us and trust God in their nurturing, admonition and education. That led us often to struggle with them, and in that struggle, we discovered that the real enemy was us: our sin, our failures, our selfishness. God used this young man, once a child, to make me what He wanted me to be—to lead me where He wanted me to go. And wonder of wonders, in the process this young man became my brother and my friend. He now bears the fruit of the journey we have been on with the Lord over the course of his life.

“You know to call when you get there,” I say.

“Yes, Ma’am,” he answers.

“And you will make daily time with the Lord a priority, and get involved with a good church right away?”

“Of course, Mom,” he says with a patient smile that reminds me he has heard this before.

Then he slips off to sleep beside me as he has done a hundred times before. That gives me a chance to thank God for him quietly, for the privilege of nurturing two young men who now begin their own journeys to stand for the cause of Christ in the world. Now I can let my heart overflow into tears without dampening the joy of his day. He is ready and excited. This is a day we have anticipated, prayed for, and dreamed of together. And yet how can it be that it has arrived, already, on this beautiful, clear morning with a brilliant sun beating upon us as it has so often done?

It can be a daunting thing to drive back to an empty home which has been full. And yet this is one more step on that journey from a place of familiarity to a place of trust. The struggle, sweetness and fullness of the journey behind us make the pain of leaving it more intense, but also make the promise of the journey to come more inviting. As I drive through the high plains desert back towards the Jemez Mountains, I rejoice in the God who has made all things well—the earth, and all those who dwell there—and who once sent out a Son of His own.