History and Literature

Students will learn history chronologically, along with literature linked to those times and places. 

            Fifth Grade: Ancient History and Literature

            Sixth Grade: Medieval History and Literature

            Seventh Grade: European History from the Renaissance to Modern Times

            Eighth Grade: American History and Literature

Fifth and Sixth Grade students will learn the basic facts of Ancient and Medieval History while reading the hero myths and stories of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and the Middle Ages, including tales of Troy, Jason and the Argonauts, Beowulf, the Song of Roland, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Niebelungenlied, Piers Plowman and Robin Hood, as well as the religious poetry and choral compositions of St. Hildegard von Bingen and contemporaneous minstrel poetry. In the Seventh and Eighth grades, students will study history from the Renaissance to our own times, with an emphasis on Europe and the Americas while also reading the prose and poetry of authors such as Shakespeare, Cervantes, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, Wordsworth, Keats, Stevenson, Dickens, Twain, and Alcott and others.

In Grades Nine through Twelve, students will repeat the cycle (Ancient, Medieval, Modern, American) in greater depth through exposure to original historical documents coupled with  the reading of more advanced literature. A Senior Thesis, on a topic in history or literature selected by the student, will be required of each student completing a full high school course of study.