Teaching Three Great Books

In this course, Dr. Flora Armetta describes and demonstrates how she teaches three different great books to her upper school students at Covenant Christian Academy in Harrisburg, PA. The three books she presents in this course are:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Dr. Armetta presents three lectures for each book, explaining both the book and author’s place in literature and history, describing the essential themes and brilliance of each book, and then suggesting ways of presenting, teaching, and discussing each book with students. She also suggests a variety of assignments and assessments. Each lecture is followed by discussions with Dr. Christopher Perrin in which further pedagogical strategies are explored.

Here is the outline of the course:

Introduction to the Course

Course Introduction
Interview on Literature and the Liberal Arts
Lesson 1: An Overview of Teaching Three Great Books

How to Teach The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Discussion

How to Teach Jane Eyre

Lesson 6
Discussion
Lesson 7
Discussion
Lesson 8
Discussion
Lesson 9

How to Teach Great Expectations

Lesson 10
Discussion
Lesson 11
Lesson 12
Discussion

Teaching with Visual Art

Lesson 13
Discussion

Flora Armetta earned her doctorate in 19th-century literature in 2009 from Columbia University and has written for The New Yorker and the Dictionary of Nineteenth Century Journalism, among other publications. She has lectured on art and literature at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and at Columbia University. She currently is an upper-school humanities educator at Covenant Christian Academy in Harrisburg, PA, and formerly served as Assistant Professor of Arts and Humanities at CUNY / Guttman Community College in New York City.

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Please Note: ClassicalU is currently developing a certification to accompany our course offerings. The certification credit component of this course is now active but also undergoing refinement and testing.

To obtain a certification credit for this course, simply complete the quiz that follows each presentation in the course, and then also take the certification test at the end of the course. The quizzes are designed to ensure that you have understood the essential content of each presentation, and they can be taken more than once if necessary. The cumulative certification test at the end of the course is given as a pass/fail test and requires that you upload one short essay (of 500 – 650 words) demonstrating your understanding this course. When you have completed the course, a certificate that you can print or email will magically appear under the “My Courses” section of this website.

For this course, the the essay assignment is:

In 500 to 650 words, describe the insights from this course you will implement as you teach your next great book.

Please allow approximately 2 weeks for essay submissions to be reviewed.

By taking the course for certification credit, you also will be on your way to obtaining a Level 1 certification.