Literature

Language Arts

Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4: Fundamentals of Expository Writing

Writing instruction at WHA begins with Language Arts in the Grammar School and continues through the School of Logic and School of Rhetoric years, culminating in Rhetoric 2: Senior Thesis.  The primary goal of our writing process is to teach students how to write coherent, logical, and elegant essays.  To accomplish this, students need a […]

Section: Composition, Literature   |   School: Grammar School, School of Logic

Get to Know Laura Ingalls (Summer)

Travel back to the pioneer childhood days of pioneer Americans Laura Ingalls and Almanzo Wilder. Their resourcefulness, resilience and rare perseverance helped to build America into a great nation. We’ll join them as they carve a home out of the raw landscape, meet bears in the woods, train baby oxen, eat from the earth’s bounty, […]

Section: Literature, Summer   |   School: Grammar School

Don’t Miss These Books!

Grammar Level, SOL Level 1, SOL Level 2

Perhaps nothing engages the heart and mind simultaneously like a really good book, and there are just some books in life that should not be missed! Don’t Miss These Books! presents a selection of excellent titles for grammar and middle school students to both enjoy and study. This sequence is created for students who are […]

Section: Literature   |   School: Grammar School, School of Logic

The Great Conversation

The Great Conversation 1 - 6

This series of integrated humanities classes prepares students to enter into the “Great Conversation” that has shaped the thinking and culture of western civilization by exploring the great works that make up that conversation. In order to cover the rich complexities of the material sufficiently in two 90 minute class periods per week, we will […]

Section: History, Humanities, Literature   |   School: School of Logic, School of Rhetoric

Get to Know C.S. Lewis

Many life-long fans of the Chronicles of Narnia can recount the joy they experienced upon discovering that C.S. Lewis was much more than a writer of children’s fiction. He was one of the great Christian minds of the 20th century, writing expertly on Christian theology, ethics, and apologetics. The purpose of the course is to […]

Section: Literature   |   School: School of Rhetoric

Get to Know J.R.R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien has been hailed in some quarters as the “Author of the Century.” The readership of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit continues to swell well into the 21st century. Students who quickly discover that Tolkien was a first-class storyteller are then pleasantly surprised to find out that he was a first-class […]

Section: Literature   |   School: School of Rhetoric

Get to Know Fyodor Dostoevsky

Have you ever wrestled with the tough questions of life? How can there be a good God if there is so much evil in the world? What does Christianity have to do with my culture? What is the relationship between science and religion? What is at the heart of faith in Christ? Join me as […]

Section: Literature   |   School: School of Rhetoric

Modern Literature & Thought

Having worshiped at the altar of unaided Reason in the 18th century, Western Man drifted toward a more subjective, emotionally-driven philosophy of progress and optimism in the 19th century. But a radical shift took place in the 20th century that extinguished the unbridled idealism of the 1800’s. At the same time, the West experienced a […]

Section: Humanities, Literature   |   School: School of Rhetoric

Get to Know Jane Austen (Summer)

Nothing is more important than relationships. Our relationship with God and our relationships with one another define and shape us. Jane Austen wrote six novels, all of which revolve around the centrality of relationships. Her engaging stories provide profound and unique insights into what it means to live a circumspect and godly life. Join me […]

Section: Literature, Summer   |   School: School of Rhetoric

Get to Know Flannery O’Connor (Summer)

In her brief life, Flannery O’Connor wrote two novels and more than 30 short stories that continue to shock and confound readers. O’Connor was a serious theologian and a remarkably gifted writer. Her stories provide perspectives on Christ and the gospel designed to wake up a post-war generation that was giving up hope in objective […]

Section: Literature, Summer   |   School: School of Rhetoric

Learn to Love Poetry (Summer)

Could the mighty Anglo-Saxons have recounted the brave deeds of Beowulf in anything other than hard consonant sounds? Why is the death of Roland during the Battle of Roncevaux best told in the soft sounds of assonance? Oftentimes, the study of poetry begins with a historical lecture and works backwards to the poem itself. In […]

Section: Literature, Summer   |   School: School of Rhetoric