Last Word
Today the April rain
Is flecked with snow:
Soft little flakes, wind-tossed,
Run in the rain - lost -
Trying to explain
That winter should remain
Letting us know
That winter hates to go.
Leland B Jacobs
PS Daughters in Chicago and Hyde Park both made mention of rain mixed with snow today. Here in Georgia the skies are partly cloudy, then clearing, to end on a good note.
Friday, April 01, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Book Club: Imagination Method #10
Esolen's essay Deny the Transcendent or Fix Above the Heads of Men the Lowest Ceiling of All hammers the final nail into the coffin of the child's imagination.
It explains how denying the existence of God will surely bring about suffocation.
In the first section, Esolen describes his relationship with the Family Bible. He comes away inspired.
In the second, he describes man's relationship with art, those visible works which allow the heart to seek something beyond self and suggest worship.
In the third part of the essay, Esolen is sure that billboards line the road to Avernus and challenges the reader to ignore the sirens of the enemy.
Overall, Esolen is right.
He speaks from a position of authority: a college English professor who comes into contact with a large number of young adults. I think he has a pretty good grip on how well modern-day parents have prepared their offspring for the responsiblities of 21st-century adulthood.
We should heed his warnings, apply his methods, and share his message.
But Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child is an unusual parenting manual.
Would you give it as gift to new parents?
How will you apply Esolen's solutions?
What will you do with this book?
If nothing else, consider reading all of Cindy's commentaries. She hosted the online book club for this title and always included practical applications of Esolen's high brow references.
It explains how denying the existence of God will surely bring about suffocation.
In the first section, Esolen describes his relationship with the Family Bible. He comes away inspired.
In the second, he describes man's relationship with art, those visible works which allow the heart to seek something beyond self and suggest worship.
In the third part of the essay, Esolen is sure that billboards line the road to Avernus and challenges the reader to ignore the sirens of the enemy.
Overall, Esolen is right.
He speaks from a position of authority: a college English professor who comes into contact with a large number of young adults. I think he has a pretty good grip on how well modern-day parents have prepared their offspring for the responsiblities of 21st-century adulthood.
We should heed his warnings, apply his methods, and share his message.
But Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child is an unusual parenting manual.
Would you give it as gift to new parents?
How will you apply Esolen's solutions?
What will you do with this book?
If nothing else, consider reading all of Cindy's commentaries. She hosted the online book club for this title and always included practical applications of Esolen's high brow references.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Book Club: Imagination #9
Nearing the end of Anthony Esolen's parenting manual, Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child, I have not tired of his exhortations, but I continue to wonder about his audience.
Distract the Child with the Shallow and Unreal or The Kingdom of Noise subtitle speaks volumes, but I learned about these vices from my parents, not from reading books or poetry. I tried to model and teach the counter habits to my children in an effort to combat the ill effects of a life lacking discipline.
What are they?
Learning to be quiet.
Learning to to sit still.
Developing right relationships.
Exercising self control with TV, radio, etc.
My favorite quote from this chapter has many applications.
But that's not new.
Here's a link to a poem written in 1948 by Phyllis McGinley who decries the demise of the dinner hour ~
a perfect segue another pet peeve: hopping up and down from the dinner table.
If a youngster cant sit still for a 30-minute family meal, then I take note. But I doubt that anyone reading my blog has that problem, since all y'all's offspring sit still for church, circle time, and car rides.
But can s/he be quiet and listen?
My mother continues to have occasion to remind me of these good habits. I admit to being a poor listener and do try and withhold my opinions and hear what the other people has to say first. But it continues to be an effort. I have created more problems for myself by forgetting that God gave me two ears and one mouth..... for a reason!
When my children were very young, just going to church provided an opportunity to practice what I was preaching at home. Our congregation favors family worship, encouraging us to keep our babies, toddlers, and young with parents during the service, albeit on the back row - close to the door ;-) So, in that space of time, we practiced silence, hands folded in lap, keeping still, using our ears, and facing forward. Thankfully, our church is small enough that the preacher is not projected onto a screen, imitating television. The habits there formed have translated well as our children matured.
Finally, the habit of developing right relationships continues to be an area where we can advise our children. It covers a lifetime and I truly approve of Esolen's perspective here. Family connections trump social associations on many fronts, and certainly long term. Here's a link to the first article I ever read by Esolen: Dozens of Cousins. Family reunions are high on my list of important events. These people are mysterious portals. Don't be afraid to walk through.
Lastly, I leave you with a challenge.
Here's a link to Anthony Esolen's contact information.
His birthday is Friday, March 18th.
He'll be 52.
Make a connection.
Bonus Link to DD#1's recent voice recital ~
Distract the Child with the Shallow and Unreal or The Kingdom of Noise subtitle speaks volumes, but I learned about these vices from my parents, not from reading books or poetry. I tried to model and teach the counter habits to my children in an effort to combat the ill effects of a life lacking discipline.
What are they?
Learning to be quiet.
Learning to to sit still.
Developing right relationships.
Exercising self control with TV, radio, etc.
My favorite quote from this chapter has many applications.
Television doesn't merely spend the time, it spoils the time it doesn't spend.Just insert a different media (or person/celebrity) for the word *television* and you can cover the gamut of popular electronic devices (and riff raff) that comprise the Kingdom of Noise.
But that's not new.
Here's a link to a poem written in 1948 by Phyllis McGinley who decries the demise of the dinner hour ~
a perfect segue another pet peeve: hopping up and down from the dinner table.
If a youngster cant sit still for a 30-minute family meal, then I take note. But I doubt that anyone reading my blog has that problem, since all y'all's offspring sit still for church, circle time, and car rides.
But can s/he be quiet and listen?
My mother continues to have occasion to remind me of these good habits. I admit to being a poor listener and do try and withhold my opinions and hear what the other people has to say first. But it continues to be an effort. I have created more problems for myself by forgetting that God gave me two ears and one mouth..... for a reason!
When my children were very young, just going to church provided an opportunity to practice what I was preaching at home. Our congregation favors family worship, encouraging us to keep our babies, toddlers, and young with parents during the service, albeit on the back row - close to the door ;-) So, in that space of time, we practiced silence, hands folded in lap, keeping still, using our ears, and facing forward. Thankfully, our church is small enough that the preacher is not projected onto a screen, imitating television. The habits there formed have translated well as our children matured.
Finally, the habit of developing right relationships continues to be an area where we can advise our children. It covers a lifetime and I truly approve of Esolen's perspective here. Family connections trump social associations on many fronts, and certainly long term. Here's a link to the first article I ever read by Esolen: Dozens of Cousins. Family reunions are high on my list of important events. These people are mysterious portals. Don't be afraid to walk through.
Lastly, I leave you with a challenge.
Here's a link to Anthony Esolen's contact information.
His birthday is Friday, March 18th.
He'll be 52.
Make a connection.
Bonus Link to DD#1's recent voice recital ~
Friday, March 11, 2011
Fashion on Friday
Color is popping up all over the gray landscape now that we're just days before the official start of Spring ~
Pantone's Palette comes to mind as I see
yellow forsythia
coral quince
pink magnolias
and that luscious
honey-colored beeswax
home to our friendly pollinators.
But it is still cold.
And wet.
So, I'm dressing warmly in light-colored turtlenecks wrapped with this sheer, multi-colored cotton scarf compliments of Spartina 449.
The blue rain coat is 30 years old and perfect for this time of year.
100% nylon made by Tote, this knee-length poncho washes well, takes up next to no room in the closet, and never goes out of style.
It will always remind me of Charleston, SC where I bought it in 1981.
The heavy coats and dark jackets are put away despite the lingering chill.
Be gone winter doldrums!!
Pantone's Palette comes to mind as I see
yellow forsythia
coral quince
pink magnolias
and that luscious
honey-colored beeswax
home to our friendly pollinators.
But it is still cold.
And wet.
So, I'm dressing warmly in light-colored turtlenecks wrapped with this sheer, multi-colored cotton scarf compliments of Spartina 449.
The blue rain coat is 30 years old and perfect for this time of year.
100% nylon made by Tote, this knee-length poncho washes well, takes up next to no room in the closet, and never goes out of style.
It will always remind me of Charleston, SC where I bought it in 1981.
The heavy coats and dark jackets are put away despite the lingering chill.
Be gone winter doldrums!!
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Book Club: Imagination Method #8
Despite the two dimensional nature of this popular story-book character, Flat Stanley seems to be able to enjoy an adventurous and happy life.
He has lots of friends whom he visits via snail mail ;-)
Does this protaganist stimulate the imaginations of his readers or insulate them from the wonders of the world?
How does reading literature replete with personalities large and small contribute to the healthy development of the human mind?
That is the big question being answered by Professor Anthony Esolen in his ever insightful indictment of modern educational and parenting styles, Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child.
Albeit with books more high-brow than the Flat Stanley series.
Ten weeks into Cindy's Online Book Club discussion we readers are well-versed in Esolen's methodology of comparing and contrasting old-fashioned values with new-fangled ones, hoping to be encouraged by his vision.
Method #8 essay, Level Distinctions between Man and Woman or Spay and Geld, is no different. Esolen quotes poetry (Milton and Frost), reminisces about his own childhood/schooling (catholic/parochial), and cites historical examples (Michaelangelo and guilds) to undergird his position for maintaining distinctions, especially between boys and girls.
In French, that would be vive la difference!
Paraphrased in English, I'd say that Esolen is in favor of discrimination.
Which is a good thing.
How does that translate into your schooling and everyday living?
Bonus Link: Read my review of The Norton Book of Friendship
He has lots of friends whom he visits via snail mail ;-)
Does this protaganist stimulate the imaginations of his readers or insulate them from the wonders of the world?
How does reading literature replete with personalities large and small contribute to the healthy development of the human mind?
That is the big question being answered by Professor Anthony Esolen in his ever insightful indictment of modern educational and parenting styles, Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child.
Albeit with books more high-brow than the Flat Stanley series.
Ten weeks into Cindy's Online Book Club discussion we readers are well-versed in Esolen's methodology of comparing and contrasting old-fashioned values with new-fangled ones, hoping to be encouraged by his vision.
Method #8 essay, Level Distinctions between Man and Woman or Spay and Geld, is no different. Esolen quotes poetry (Milton and Frost), reminisces about his own childhood/schooling (catholic/parochial), and cites historical examples (Michaelangelo and guilds) to undergird his position for maintaining distinctions, especially between boys and girls.
In French, that would be vive la difference!
Paraphrased in English, I'd say that Esolen is in favor of discrimination.
Which is a good thing.
How does that translate into your schooling and everyday living?
Bonus Link: Read my review of The Norton Book of Friendship
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Book Club: Imagination Method #7
Basically, I couldnt agree more with Anthony Esolen in this chapter, Reduce All Talk of Love to Narcissism and S*x or Insert Tab A into Slot B.
While I dont have any poetry or book selections to bolster the position,
I do think the following quote from our second president is noteworthy, even crucial to effective parenting;
and it applies to the third section of this week's book club assignment, Brave New Family.
In his autobiography, John Adams stated that the strength of a nation rests to a large extent on the morality of its women. He said that men are likely to be lax in morals and women must set the moral tone of society*:
So, fellow book clubbers, this is the reason that we should care whether our young people retain a sense of modesty (or regard for dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress), such as they might feel in the presence of something mysterious or holy. (Esolen pg, 177)
It's called *decorum*
Added later ~
I did think of a book that relates to this chapter.... in an imaginative sort of way ;-)
Here's the link to If Everybody Did.
*John Adams
as quoted in Christianity and the Constitution
by John Eidsmoe
Baker Book House, 1987, p. 272,
which source is Diary and Autobiography of John Adams
ed. L.H.Butterfield, Belknap/Harvard, 1962, IV:123
Basically, I couldnt agree more with Anthony Esolen in this chapter, Reduce All Talk of Love to Narcissism and S*x or Insert Tab A into Slot B.
I do think the following quote from our second president is noteworthy, even crucial to effective parenting;
and it applies to the third section of this week's book club assignment, Brave New Family.
In his autobiography, John Adams stated that the strength of a nation rests to a large extent on the morality of its women. He said that men are likely to be lax in morals and women must set the moral tone of society*:
From all that I had read of History of Government, of human life and manners, I had drawn this Conclusion, that the manners of Women were the most infallible Barometer, to ascertain the degree of Morality and Virtue in a Nation.
All that I have since read and all the observations I have made in different Nations, have confirmed me in this opinion.
The Manners of Women, are the surest Criterion by which to determine whether a Republican Government is practicable, in a Nation or not.
The Jews, the Greeks, the Romans, the Swiss, the Dutch, all lost their public Spirit, their Republican Principles and habits, and their Republican Forms of Government, when they lost the Modesty and Domestic Virtues of their Women.
The foundations of national Morality must be laid in private Families.
In vain are Schools Academies and universities instituted, if loose Principles and licentious habits are impressed upon Children in their earliest years.
The Mothers are the earliest and most important Instructors of youth....
The Vices and Examples of the Parents cannot be concealed from the Children.
How is it possible that Children can have any just Sense of the sacred Obligations of Morality or Religion if, from their earliest Infancy, they learn that their Mothers live in habitual Infidelity to their fathers, and their fathers in as constant Infidelity to their Mothers.
So, fellow book clubbers, this is the reason that we should care whether our young people retain a sense of modesty (or regard for dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress), such as they might feel in the presence of something mysterious or holy. (Esolen pg, 177)
It's called *decorum*
Added later ~
I did think of a book that relates to this chapter.... in an imaginative sort of way ;-)
Here's the link to If Everybody Did.
*John Adams
as quoted in Christianity and the Constitution
by John Eidsmoe
Baker Book House, 1987, p. 272,
which source is Diary and Autobiography of John Adams
ed. L.H.Butterfield, Belknap/Harvard, 1962, IV:123
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Imagination & Art:Neun Gute Helden
Hector
Alexander the Great
Julius Caesar
Joshua
David
Judas Maccabeus
King Arthur
Charlemagne
Godfrey of Bouillon
Nine statues grace the old city hall building (south side-link see last paragraph) in Cologne, Germany and stand tall in their contribution to the development of the ideal hero. Sculpted in the 13th century these valiants are the earliest known representations of a group of champions who best personified the ideals of chivalry as described by Jacques de Longuyon in the French epic poem, Vows of the Peacock.
Worthies (link to poem) is the label assigned to these select historical, scriptural, mythological or semi-legendary characters who were identified in the Middle Ages to represent all facets of the perfectly chivalrous warrior.
The study of the life of each would thus form a good education for the aspiring young man because as a team they exemplified all the moral virtues and courage necessary for soldiership.
This artwork ties directly into my current book club selection, How to Destroy The Imagination of Your Child, where the author Anthony Esolen supplies the reader with a host of books, novels, epics, tales, and narratives which, if read, will inform (NOT destroy) the imagination and prepare it for a life of service.
Allow me to introduce the Worthies who compose a triad of triads true to medieval symmetry ~
Hector
Alexander the Great
Julius Caesar
Joshua
David
Judas Maccabeus
King Arthur
Charlemagne
Godfrey of Bouillon
The first triad is pagan; the second represents Old Testament Jews, and the third Christian princes.
May the literature inspired by these personages act as refreshing gargoyles spilling stimulating springs of ideas into the hearts and minds of our up-and-coming generation of heroes.
And thanks to Cindy for hostessing this fun online book club and for having the insight to choose such a worthy volume.
Bonus Link ~
Read about Millais' Boyhood of Raleigh
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Book Club: Imagination Method #6
Unstoppable
Am I reviewing Method 6 in Anthony Esolen's Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child (book club link)
or
Am I promoting the new movie which demonstrates heroism in action?
Does the titular adjective refer to an overactive imagination which capitalizes on flippancy, sarcasm, and derision?
Or the paradoxical resolution of the movie's name?
There is certainly enough dynamite in the film to blow mountains of heaped-up conformity and dullness sky-high.
Yet in Esolen's essay Pottering the Puny he eschews modern media and points us to the victories found in an host of ancient and historical literary superheroes, all of whom capture the imagination but not all of whom spring from Biblical standards.
The professor's methodologies provide significant insight into the proper application of these stories into our daily lives and the lives of our students, making them more suitable than modern day versions.
And that is good, but not all.
Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), American educator, author, orator, and political leader provides an alternate definition of hero.
Now those words epitomize heroism and capture faith-in-action for me.
Doing everything as unto the Lord (Col 3:23) and being a part of that gathering of the saints (Matt 23:31) leave every other notion in the dust. For is hero a Biblical term?
Does my favor for Booker T's summary mean I've fallen prey to the post-modernists who putate heroic equality?
Does upholding honor in ordinary circumstances trump a one-time, fortuitous rescue?
Frank and Will (main characters in the movie) were real, the situation plausible.
So, what is the difference?
It is admirable to have heroes and read about them, but your life is not doomed if you do not. It is more necessary to know how to size men up and wield a proper weapon. Thankfully, Esolen uses one example who is all about presenting the gospel (pg 144) and another which points to The Type, Our Savior, Jesus Christ. (pg 147)
The apostle John shares the secret to being heroic in I John 2: 14 (emphasis mine)
Esolen understands this and calls us to arms (link to 2008 merecomments).
That's why I'm keep writing about this book and relating it to my ordinary life.
But I do wonder if Unstoppable would make it into Esolen's Netflix queue?
Am I reviewing Method 6 in Anthony Esolen's Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child (book club link)
or
Am I promoting the new movie which demonstrates heroism in action?
Does the titular adjective refer to an overactive imagination which capitalizes on flippancy, sarcasm, and derision?
Or the paradoxical resolution of the movie's name?
There is certainly enough dynamite in the film to blow mountains of heaped-up conformity and dullness sky-high.
Yet in Esolen's essay Pottering the Puny he eschews modern media and points us to the victories found in an host of ancient and historical literary superheroes, all of whom capture the imagination but not all of whom spring from Biblical standards.
The professor's methodologies provide significant insight into the proper application of these stories into our daily lives and the lives of our students, making them more suitable than modern day versions.
And that is good, but not all.
Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), American educator, author, orator, and political leader provides an alternate definition of hero.
On the battlefield, when surrounded and cheered by pomp, excitement, and admiration of devoted comrades, and inspired by strains of martial music and the hope of future reward, it is comparatively easy to be a hero, to do heroic deeds.
But to uphold honor in ordinary circumstances, to be a hero in common life, that is a genuine achievement meriting our highest admiration.
Now those words epitomize heroism and capture faith-in-action for me.
Doing everything as unto the Lord (Col 3:23) and being a part of that gathering of the saints (Matt 23:31) leave every other notion in the dust. For is hero a Biblical term?
Does my favor for Booker T's summary mean I've fallen prey to the post-modernists who putate heroic equality?
Does upholding honor in ordinary circumstances trump a one-time, fortuitous rescue?
Frank and Will (main characters in the movie) were real, the situation plausible.
So, what is the difference?
It is admirable to have heroes and read about them, but your life is not doomed if you do not. It is more necessary to know how to size men up and wield a proper weapon. Thankfully, Esolen uses one example who is all about presenting the gospel (pg 144) and another which points to The Type, Our Savior, Jesus Christ. (pg 147)
The apostle John shares the secret to being heroic in I John 2: 14 (emphasis mine)
I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
Esolen understands this and calls us to arms (link to 2008 merecomments).
The holy catholic church, as the Body of Christ, is as always the first defender and last bastion of truth, goodness, and beauty in the God's world. Having preserved the Gospel of Christ in its fullness through the vagaries and degradations of countless heresies, the Church is now facing, quite possibly, the most significant and far-reaching heresy since the Arian controversies - the widespread rejection of revealed Truth and apostolic authority by the majority of the world's population as well as millions of the so-called "faithful."
The gross libertinism of the elite; the vague gnosticism and casual self-indulgence of the many, the willful indifference to the carnage of the innocent. It is the same old story.
So let us gird up our loins, welcome any allies who will join us in the rejection of evil, and armed with the assurance of ultimate victory, meet the enemy with the weapons of truth, courage, fidelity and love.
Thanks be to God for the joy of battle and the endurance of the church militant.
Onward, Christian Soldier!
That's why I'm keep writing about this book and relating it to my ordinary life.
But I do wonder if Unstoppable would make it into Esolen's Netflix queue?
Friday, February 18, 2011
Fashion on Fridays
Temperatures have been gradually climbing this week, now boasting 70 degrees on this Winter Day.
Hence my thoughts turn to the Pantone color palette which I will use to help organize the closet/wardrobe for this coming Spring and Summer.
Today I know better than to dress like it's going to be warm outside. The fact that the temperature may reach 70 degrees this weekend really only means that the mercury hits that number for one second at three o'clock in the afternoon and then starts dropping again.
So, dont be fooled.
Bring along the coat and scarf as you plan to get outside for that long overdue walk.
Where are you going?
Here I am on Tobler Creek Trail at Andalusia Farm in Milledgeville, GA. More trails pictures at this link.
What are you wearing?
Still enjoying my favorite color, Turquoise (aka Peapod), which won the 2010 Pantone Color of the Year.
The turtleneck is lavender.
The plaid scarf (barely seen) is purple, pink, and lavender.
Tomorrow I hope to make it down to the Atlanta Botanical Garden for their orchid exhibition. Lots of walking there, especially the Canopy Path!
Warning ~ Before you act on my Fashion Advice....
Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware) - Saddle Oxfords have been some of my favorite shoes, like Flannery O'Connor's whose artwork I'm highlighting this week in my Fine Art Friday post here.
Doggone this Golden Slipper Contest! Now we have to wear saddle oxfords.
Published (2010) in The Cartoons of Flannery O'Connor at Georgia College.
Temperatures have been gradually climbing this week, now boasting 70 degrees on this Winter Day.
Hence my thoughts turn to the Pantone color palette which I will use to help organize the closet/wardrobe for this coming Spring and Summer.
Today I know better than to dress like it's going to be warm outside. The fact that the temperature may reach 70 degrees this weekend really only means that the mercury hits that number for one second at three o'clock in the afternoon and then starts dropping again.
So, dont be fooled.
Bring along the coat and scarf as you plan to get outside for that long overdue walk.
Here I am on Tobler Creek Trail at Andalusia Farm in Milledgeville, GA. More trails pictures at this link.
What are you wearing?
Still enjoying my favorite color, Turquoise (aka Peapod), which won the 2010 Pantone Color of the Year.
The turtleneck is lavender.
The plaid scarf (barely seen) is purple, pink, and lavender.
Tomorrow I hope to make it down to the Atlanta Botanical Garden for their orchid exhibition. Lots of walking there, especially the Canopy Path!
Warning ~ Before you act on my Fashion Advice....
Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware) - Saddle Oxfords have been some of my favorite shoes, like Flannery O'Connor's whose artwork I'm highlighting this week in my Fine Art Friday post here.
Doggone this Golden Slipper Contest! Now we have to wear saddle oxfords.
Published (2010) in The Cartoons of Flannery O'Connor at Georgia College.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
One by One
Book Club Moderator and Virtue-Ordering Mother-Extraordinaire, Cindy asserted yesterday that poetic knowledge trumps the educational trick and better prepares the student for life.
While I dont believe Cindy thinks that math/science should be ignored in the curriculum, I do want to challenge all of us to remember that the poetic exists in those realms as well.
As we read through Anthony Esolen's methodologies (link to Mirus review) for reviving our own imaginations (the only way to keep from destroying those of our children) allow me set before you the advice of one who wielding his weapon did do battle with the times and can help us sharpen our own swords.
Meet the Sage of Mecosta ~ Russell Amos Kirk.
In his autobiography, The Sword of the Imagination, Dr Kirk explains that there is not one sword of imagination, but five! The historical, political, moral, poetic, and prophetic.
If I may borrow from Gleaves Whitney's ISI book review,
Cindy's blog name Ordo Amoris (ordering of affections) is a throwback to Augustine's definition of virtue, whick Kirk addresses as well.
This ordering or prioritizing (my word) shows itself in different civilizations which Kirk traced in his book, Roots of American Order. We Americans have been privileged to inherit the ordering of the soul from the Hebrews, the ordering of the minds from the ancient Greeks, the ordering of polity from the Romans, the ordering of law from the English, and last but most important, the ordering of LOVE from Christ (Christians).
Now with that background, let's be on our mission of redeeming the time with our young (potential) leaders.
What are yours reading today?
Photo Credit: Julie Robison
Family Heirloom Sword
situated above the mantel at
Piety Hill, Mecosta, MI
home of Russell and Annette Kirk
Dr John Willson (seated before the fireplace in above photo) is giving a short lecture about this knight errant to Hillsdale College students who made a pilgrimmage Kirk's ancestral home last Spring.
Today, however, here's a link to what you should be reading: Dr Willson's exhortation for recovery, Was There a Founding?,at e-zine, Imaginative Conservative.
While I dont believe Cindy thinks that math/science should be ignored in the curriculum, I do want to challenge all of us to remember that the poetic exists in those realms as well.
As we read through Anthony Esolen's methodologies (link to Mirus review) for reviving our own imaginations (the only way to keep from destroying those of our children) allow me set before you the advice of one who wielding his weapon did do battle with the times and can help us sharpen our own swords.
Meet the Sage of Mecosta ~ Russell Amos Kirk.
In his autobiography, The Sword of the Imagination, Dr Kirk explains that there is not one sword of imagination, but five! The historical, political, moral, poetic, and prophetic.
If I may borrow from Gleaves Whitney's ISI book review,
- Leaders need the historical imagination to understand what humankind has been.
- They need the political imagination to know what humankind can do in community.
- They need the moral imagination to discern what the human person ought to be.
- They need the poetic imagination to perceive how human beings can best use their creative energies.
- They need the prophetic imagination to divine what human beings will be, given the choices they make.
Cindy's blog name Ordo Amoris (ordering of affections) is a throwback to Augustine's definition of virtue, whick Kirk addresses as well.
This ordering or prioritizing (my word) shows itself in different civilizations which Kirk traced in his book, Roots of American Order. We Americans have been privileged to inherit the ordering of the soul from the Hebrews, the ordering of the minds from the ancient Greeks, the ordering of polity from the Romans, the ordering of law from the English, and last but most important, the ordering of LOVE from Christ (Christians).
Now with that background, let's be on our mission of redeeming the time with our young (potential) leaders.
What are yours reading today?
Photo Credit: Julie Robison
Family Heirloom Sword
situated above the mantel at
Piety Hill, Mecosta, MI
home of Russell and Annette Kirk
Dr John Willson (seated before the fireplace in above photo) is giving a short lecture about this knight errant to Hillsdale College students who made a pilgrimmage Kirk's ancestral home last Spring.
Today, however, here's a link to what you should be reading: Dr Willson's exhortation for recovery, Was There a Founding?,at e-zine, Imaginative Conservative.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Book Club: Imagination #5 Discussion Questions
In our family "Our hero" is always followed by "Harold Ramorez." Why?
Who is Harold Ramorez?
Is he related to Epaminondas?
What is your favorite heroic epic?
Eneas Africanus by Harry Stillwell Edwards
Have you memorized this poem yet?
No
Why not?
Per Plato, my memory has been destroyed and my mind is weak.
Plus I have two copies (one hardback, one paperback) and it's available to you to read online.
In competition with Sir Walter's lofty lines,
I propose Randolph of Roanoke by John Greenleaf Whittier ~
All parties feared him: each in turn
Beheld its schemes disjointed,
As right or left his fatal glance
And spectral finger pointed.
Sworn foe of Cant, he smote it down
With trenchant wit unsparing,
And, mocking, rent with ruthless hand
The robe Pretence was wearing.
Too honest or too proud to feign
A love he never cherished,
Beyond Virginia’s border line
His patriotism perished.
While others hailed in distant skies
Our eagle’s dusky pinion,
He only saw the mountain bird
Stoop o’er his Old Dominion!
What do Yeats, Walter Scott and Flannery O'Connor have in common?
Piety of Place ~
I'm on a mission to find out why Mary Flannery named her place *Andalusia.*
This link to the farm website states that the O'Connors called it *Sorrel Farms* until they realized the original owners/family had named it *Andalusia.*
In A Good Man is Hard to Find did you feel badly about what happened to the grandmother?
Frankly, I was totally taken aback by the story, having never wanted to read it again. But after perusing some of O'Connor's non-fiction, now I understand that she was purposefully trying to shock the reader. I still question her approach (I am still turned off by her characters) and turn to Mark Twain's advice for comfort ~
Truth is stranger than Fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possiblities. Truth is not.
Even though a lot of people from Florence, Italy are apparently in Hell, why do we still desire to visit that city?
Because Tony Esolen is lead guide for the tour.
If I stretch my imagination, I'll guess that some Egyptians are acting on feelings of patriotism. But I'm rather suspicious of the situation and like to read alternative news sources. One article suggests that a MLK comic inspired some. Another suggests that the uprising started after a young girl's speech.
Questions inspired by the imagination of book club moderator and writer extraordinaire, Cindy.
Join the discussion!
In our family "Our hero" is always followed by "Harold Ramorez." Why?
Who is Harold Ramorez?
Is he related to Epaminondas?
Eneas Africanus by Harry Stillwell Edwards
Have you memorized this poem yet?
No
Why not?
Per Plato, my memory has been destroyed and my mind is weak.
Plus I have two copies (one hardback, one paperback) and it's available to you to read online.
In competition with Sir Walter's lofty lines,
I propose Randolph of Roanoke by John Greenleaf Whittier ~
All parties feared him: each in turn
Beheld its schemes disjointed,
As right or left his fatal glance
And spectral finger pointed.
Sworn foe of Cant, he smote it down
With trenchant wit unsparing,
And, mocking, rent with ruthless hand
The robe Pretence was wearing.
Too honest or too proud to feign
A love he never cherished,
Beyond Virginia’s border line
His patriotism perished.
While others hailed in distant skies
Our eagle’s dusky pinion,
He only saw the mountain bird
Stoop o’er his Old Dominion!
What do Yeats, Walter Scott and Flannery O'Connor have in common?
Piety of Place ~
I'm on a mission to find out why Mary Flannery named her place *Andalusia.*
This link to the farm website states that the O'Connors called it *Sorrel Farms* until they realized the original owners/family had named it *Andalusia.*
In A Good Man is Hard to Find did you feel badly about what happened to the grandmother?
Frankly, I was totally taken aback by the story, having never wanted to read it again. But after perusing some of O'Connor's non-fiction, now I understand that she was purposefully trying to shock the reader. I still question her approach (I am still turned off by her characters) and turn to Mark Twain's advice for comfort ~
Truth is stranger than Fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possiblities. Truth is not.
Even though a lot of people from Florence, Italy are apparently in Hell, why do we still desire to visit that city?
Because Tony Esolen is lead guide for the tour.
How does this chapter relate to what is currently happening in Egypt?
If I stretch my imagination, I'll guess that some Egyptians are acting on feelings of patriotism. But I'm rather suspicious of the situation and like to read alternative news sources. One article suggests that a MLK comic inspired some. Another suggests that the uprising started after a young girl's speech.
Questions inspired by the imagination of book club moderator and writer extraordinaire, Cindy.
Join the discussion!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Book Club: Imagination Method #5
How-to books can be annoying oversimplifications for negotiating life, but not Anthony Esolen's Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child.
Chapter after chapter he guides us through a wide variety of literature and shows us how it applies to every day lives.
Continuous critical and damaging remarks on persons, places, and things have altered not only the literal landscapes of our country, but also the literary places of our imaginations.
Esolen is heroic in his efforts to help us remember, recognize, and realize.
With copious examples from literature, Esolen directs the focus of parents to four areas: the gathering of communities (holidays), honoring our elders (heroes), loving the land (terra firma), and remembering history (genealogy).
Frankly, when I was reading some of these epics and stories in high school and college, I struggled just to grasp the surface meanings. It was in French that I read portions of La Chanson de Roland, in Latin that I read the Aeneid. I thought Flannery O'Connor was weird (kinda still do) and that poets are difficult to understand (some still are).
This past Saturday I took a field trip with DD#3, one of her college friends, and one of my nephews. We three visited Andalusia Farm (Mary Flannery's homestead) in Milledgeville, GA, walking all over the property, visiting O'Connor's grave, and attending mass at her family church (Sacred Heart).
First, we set the tone by eating together (link to Blue Willow).
Thankfully, imaginations can be revived.
Chapter after chapter he guides us through a wide variety of literature and shows us how it applies to every day lives.
Continuous critical and damaging remarks on persons, places, and things have altered not only the literal landscapes of our country, but also the literary places of our imaginations.
Esolen is heroic in his efforts to help us remember, recognize, and realize.
With copious examples from literature, Esolen directs the focus of parents to four areas: the gathering of communities (holidays), honoring our elders (heroes), loving the land (terra firma), and remembering history (genealogy).
Frankly, when I was reading some of these epics and stories in high school and college, I struggled just to grasp the surface meanings. It was in French that I read portions of La Chanson de Roland, in Latin that I read the Aeneid. I thought Flannery O'Connor was weird (kinda still do) and that poets are difficult to understand (some still are).
This past Saturday I took a field trip with DD#3, one of her college friends, and one of my nephews. We three visited Andalusia Farm (Mary Flannery's homestead) in Milledgeville, GA, walking all over the property, visiting O'Connor's grave, and attending mass at her family church (Sacred Heart).
First, we set the tone by eating together (link to Blue Willow).
Thankfully, imaginations can be revived.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Book Club: Imagination Method #4
It destroys memory
and weakens the mind,
relieving it of the work
that makes it strong.
It is an inhuman thing.
What is it?
Just like Plato lamented the use of the stylus during his lifetime, Anthony Esolen makes a valiant case against exposing ourselves to the synthetic light emanating from the GNAC, whether it be an LED or a neon billboard.
Sound bites, cliches, spin, or propaganda, Esolen gives us example after example of how truth has been corrupted and reading literature will keep you from falling for everything (from decay).
Just like I admired the dust jacket for Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child, this week I spent time studying the bibliography and index. Those two sections distinguish this book, making it more useful. But in order for our charges to be able to read and comprehend the recommended novels, we teachers must lay a solid groundwork early on in our children's schooling.
There are lots of ways to build that foundation.
Those basics never change.
But there is a host of skills that parents alone must demonstrate.
Nothing better than a cursory examination of the current state of affairs in the great USofA (link to Land of Opportunity) and watching our current leaders talk like they are living in Camelot (link to prayer b'fast analysis) proves that we are already stultified.
Please don't tell me that you dont know what I'm talking about.
Bonus Link: (Creative Writing by Yours Truly)
and weakens the mind,
relieving it of the work
that makes it strong.
It is an inhuman thing.
What is it?
Just like Plato lamented the use of the stylus during his lifetime, Anthony Esolen makes a valiant case against exposing ourselves to the synthetic light emanating from the GNAC, whether it be an LED or a neon billboard.
Sound bites, cliches, spin, or propaganda, Esolen gives us example after example of how truth has been corrupted and reading literature will keep you from falling for everything (from decay).
Just like I admired the dust jacket for Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child, this week I spent time studying the bibliography and index. Those two sections distinguish this book, making it more useful. But in order for our charges to be able to read and comprehend the recommended novels, we teachers must lay a solid groundwork early on in our children's schooling.
There are lots of ways to build that foundation.
Those basics never change.
But there is a host of skills that parents alone must demonstrate.
Nothing better than a cursory examination of the current state of affairs in the great USofA (link to Land of Opportunity) and watching our current leaders talk like they are living in Camelot (link to prayer b'fast analysis) proves that we are already stultified.
Please don't tell me that you dont know what I'm talking about.
Bonus Link: (Creative Writing by Yours Truly)
Monday, February 07, 2011
O Muse! the causes and the crimes relate;*
Once upon a time early in his reporting career Verity Jones of WGNC-TV covered the trial of Sheriff Miles Upright when the US DOJ indicted him on felony charges.
And despite the fact that ten years had passed since that final on-camera interview with the defendent, Verity continued to ponder the entire situation especially the lawman's parting comments.
What did he mean when he looked straight into the television camera and said ~
Read your Shakespeare!
Sipping his cognac in the Men's Grille at the country club, Verity was alone with his thoughts.
Read your Shakespeare!
The words haunted him.
He could recall the plot of Romeo and Juliette from high school English class and could still recite a few lines from Hamlet's *To Be or Not To Be* soliloquy. Did it count for something that last year he'd taken his wife to the Shakespeare Tavern for dinner?
But actually sitting down alone in a peaceful and quiet place, handling a book, opening the volume, turning the pages, and reading all the lines of just one of the bard's plays?
That he'd never done.
Verity regretted never following up directly with Upright to ask exactly what he'd meant by that exhortation: three simple words... spoken clearly and directly into the young reporter's microphone when leaving the courthouse after the sentencing.
Verity continued to be confused about the way the case play out. Justice seemed overshadowed by politics. The sheriff had a wide reputation for doing what was right and honorable. Somehow the fraud investigation had backfired.
How did Upright get caught in all this intrigue?
It didnt make sense. The sheriff was not easily fooled.
Just last week at the sheriff's funeral, citizens and family alike lauded his charisma and character. He knew when to be silent and how to be patient. He thought before he acted. He protected the community.
Read your Shakespeare!
The evocative effects of the cognac were wearing off and Verity finished brooding.
On the way home he stopped at the bookstore.
It was past time to soldier up.
*Virgil, in Book I of the Aeneid:
O Muse! the causes and the crimes relate;
What goddess was provok'd, and whence her hate;
For what offense the Queen of Heav'n began
To persecute so brave, so just a man; [...]
(John Dryden translation, 1697)
Bonus Link: Who's Afraid?
Link added 7/9/2105 *Best Business Book*
And despite the fact that ten years had passed since that final on-camera interview with the defendent, Verity continued to ponder the entire situation especially the lawman's parting comments.
What did he mean when he looked straight into the television camera and said ~
Read your Shakespeare!
Sipping his cognac in the Men's Grille at the country club, Verity was alone with his thoughts.
Read your Shakespeare!
The words haunted him.
He could recall the plot of Romeo and Juliette from high school English class and could still recite a few lines from Hamlet's *To Be or Not To Be* soliloquy. Did it count for something that last year he'd taken his wife to the Shakespeare Tavern for dinner?
But actually sitting down alone in a peaceful and quiet place, handling a book, opening the volume, turning the pages, and reading all the lines of just one of the bard's plays?
That he'd never done.
Verity regretted never following up directly with Upright to ask exactly what he'd meant by that exhortation: three simple words... spoken clearly and directly into the young reporter's microphone when leaving the courthouse after the sentencing.
Verity continued to be confused about the way the case play out. Justice seemed overshadowed by politics. The sheriff had a wide reputation for doing what was right and honorable. Somehow the fraud investigation had backfired.
How did Upright get caught in all this intrigue?
It didnt make sense. The sheriff was not easily fooled.
Just last week at the sheriff's funeral, citizens and family alike lauded his charisma and character. He knew when to be silent and how to be patient. He thought before he acted. He protected the community.
Read your Shakespeare!
The evocative effects of the cognac were wearing off and Verity finished brooding.
On the way home he stopped at the bookstore.
It was past time to soldier up.
*Virgil, in Book I of the Aeneid:
O Muse! the causes and the crimes relate;
What goddess was provok'd, and whence her hate;
For what offense the Queen of Heav'n began
To persecute so brave, so just a man; [...]
(John Dryden translation, 1697)
Bonus Link: Who's Afraid?
Link added 7/9/2105 *Best Business Book*
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Book Club: Imagination #3 Discussion Questions
Cindy, book club hostess, continues to deliver shocks to our synapses even while suffering with a fever. This blogger is dedicated to discipleship, even when she declines your invitation.
We're reading Anthony Esolen's Ten Ways to Destroy Your Child's Imagination.
Has God made the human spirit resilient enough to overcome the dangers of modernity?
Yes ;-)
Sociologically, though, we do see patterns, knowing how God does give us the ability to overcome how should we approach the schooling norms of our age?
Set your eyes on a vision, make a plan, execute maneuvers, re-evaluate annually, repeat.
Is it still possible to succeed without traditional schooling?
Yes, read the example of Mr Mission Possible.
(google it)
Why do we worry about it so much?
Mistrust. And worry is entertaining.
Is going to a science museum similar to going to Chuck E Cheeses?
I dont think so, espcially if you go to The Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY
http://creationmuseum.org/
Besides I hate Chuck E Cheeses. The gorilla scared me!
What projects have your children done on their own?
In addition to the dreaded annual science project, one spear-headed an a capella singing group at her high school. I will post others as they come to mind.
What did you do as a child along these lines?
Aside from the normal school project, I had a thriving babysitting business as teenager. Then I worked summers as a lifeguard (in additional to a part-time retail clerk). I taught group swimming lessons at our neighborhood pool.
Does a one-legged duck swim in circles?
Only if the sky is blue.
Either than or she's making fun of us ;-)
Cindy, book club hostess, continues to deliver shocks to our synapses even while suffering with a fever. This blogger is dedicated to discipleship, even when she declines your invitation.
We're reading Anthony Esolen's Ten Ways to Destroy Your Child's Imagination.
Yes ;-)
Sociologically, though, we do see patterns, knowing how God does give us the ability to overcome how should we approach the schooling norms of our age?
Set your eyes on a vision, make a plan, execute maneuvers, re-evaluate annually, repeat.
Is it still possible to succeed without traditional schooling?
Yes, read the example of Mr Mission Possible.
(google it)
Why do we worry about it so much?
Mistrust. And worry is entertaining.
Is going to a science museum similar to going to Chuck E Cheeses?
I dont think so, espcially if you go to The Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY
http://creationmuseum.org/
Besides I hate Chuck E Cheeses. The gorilla scared me!
What projects have your children done on their own?
In addition to the dreaded annual science project, one spear-headed an a capella singing group at her high school. I will post others as they come to mind.
What did you do as a child along these lines?
Aside from the normal school project, I had a thriving babysitting business as teenager. Then I worked summers as a lifeguard (in additional to a part-time retail clerk). I taught group swimming lessons at our neighborhood pool.
Does a one-legged duck swim in circles?
Only if the sky is blue.
Either than or she's making fun of us ;-)
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Book Club: Imagination Method #3
Scott's Antique Market is the type of place that comes to mind while reading Anthony Esolen describing the merits of junkyard schooling in his new book, Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, February 4, 5, and 6 are the next dates.
Take advantage of Scott's cultural experience here in Georgia.
One man's trash is another's treasure.
There are lots of positive outcomes from this type of parenting.
Georgia boasts a writer who grew up in a junkyard: Janisse Ray.
Texas claims a junkyard millionaire: Ron Sturgeon.
But the best advice I've read for helping one's child select a way of life (a career) is from a lady who is 113 years old today. She wrote a book in 1971.
Here's a link to my short review of Leila Denmark's book, Every Child Should Have a Chance.
There is a common thread in the lives of these three successful individuals, besides lots of reading, a hobby, and elbow grease (hard work). Esolen highlights it in this third method of his tongue-in-cheek parenting manifesto: How to Destroy Your Child's Imagination or Keep Children Away from Machines and Machinists.
Janisse, Ron, and Leila all spent time around adults and in places where children supposedly weren't allowed.
When Ron was only 17 years old his father died and his stepmother kicked him out of the house. In a 1992 INC Magazine article, he gives advice: "Read, read, and read some more!"
Janisse's dad, Franklin Ray, was a fatherly conundrum, depriving his children of such luxuries as television and inspiring them to preserve nature while junking up the landscape with old cars and blown-up tires.
Leila Denmark followed her curious intellect. As a child she did not know that a woman could become a doctor, but she knew she loved to see things live.
Actually these testimonials just undergird my thinking that imaginations can not be destroyed, only stunted or perverted, but prayerfully captured for the Lord. It may be difficult to envision something this far in the future for your young children. But rest assured that events and experiences that happen today affect and build on their futures.
It's all a matter of perspective.
How you see things.
How your child sees things.
Actuallly it's a little exciting to me. That is, I feel expectant when I ponder how current life happenings will play out in my future.
When I'm not sure about my eyes and ears though, I re-read I Corinthians 2.
And I avail myself of the fine exposition of Scripture as it relates to child-rearing, especially Elder Tim Price's new series at my church.
Who or what encourages you as you rear your family?
Scott Antique Market - photo borrowed from Google Images
Photo at beginning is also borrowed from Google Images and is not representative of the booths at Scott Antique Market here in Georgia. I just wanted to highlight the lady's obvious character and personality.
Scott's Antique Market is the type of place that comes to mind while reading Anthony Esolen describing the merits of junkyard schooling in his new book, Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child.
Take advantage of Scott's cultural experience here in Georgia.
One man's trash is another's treasure.
There are lots of positive outcomes from this type of parenting.
Georgia boasts a writer who grew up in a junkyard: Janisse Ray.
Texas claims a junkyard millionaire: Ron Sturgeon.
But the best advice I've read for helping one's child select a way of life (a career) is from a lady who is 113 years old today. She wrote a book in 1971.
Here's a link to my short review of Leila Denmark's book, Every Child Should Have a Chance.
There is a common thread in the lives of these three successful individuals, besides lots of reading, a hobby, and elbow grease (hard work). Esolen highlights it in this third method of his tongue-in-cheek parenting manifesto: How to Destroy Your Child's Imagination or Keep Children Away from Machines and Machinists.
Janisse, Ron, and Leila all spent time around adults and in places where children supposedly weren't allowed.
When Ron was only 17 years old his father died and his stepmother kicked him out of the house. In a 1992 INC Magazine article, he gives advice: "Read, read, and read some more!"
Janisse's dad, Franklin Ray, was a fatherly conundrum, depriving his children of such luxuries as television and inspiring them to preserve nature while junking up the landscape with old cars and blown-up tires.
Leila Denmark followed her curious intellect. As a child she did not know that a woman could become a doctor, but she knew she loved to see things live.
Actually these testimonials just undergird my thinking that imaginations can not be destroyed, only stunted or perverted, but prayerfully captured for the Lord. It may be difficult to envision something this far in the future for your young children. But rest assured that events and experiences that happen today affect and build on their futures.
It's all a matter of perspective.
How you see things.
How your child sees things.
Actuallly it's a little exciting to me. That is, I feel expectant when I ponder how current life happenings will play out in my future.
When I'm not sure about my eyes and ears though, I re-read I Corinthians 2.
And I avail myself of the fine exposition of Scripture as it relates to child-rearing, especially Elder Tim Price's new series at my church.
Who or what encourages you as you rear your family?
Scott Antique Market - photo borrowed from Google Images
Photo at beginning is also borrowed from Google Images and is not representative of the booths at Scott Antique Market here in Georgia. I just wanted to highlight the lady's obvious character and personality.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Sparking the Imagination
Book club hostess, Cindy, of Dominion Family Fame, rightly is focusing on literature which fuels the imagination and is giving us the opportunity to make suggestions, submit a list.
There are several books on my shelf which address this topic, like Gladys Hunt's Honey for a Child's Heart, Elizabeth Wilson's Books Children Love, or Elizabeth McCalllum's The Book Tree.
Last year's book club selection, Norm's and Nobility's final chapter outlined an high school curriculum that Cindy still wants to discuss.
But here I share some upper-level suggestions, because
1) there are already many good choices listed for preschoolers and elementary-aged children; and
2) where there is no vision, the people will perish. That is to say what you hope for your children may not happen, if you have trouble with expectations.
So, I reveal Dr. Kirk's list from his book Decadence and Renewal (Chapter 3 entitled Perishing for Want of Imagery) since many may not have immediate access to this book, but may have highschoolers on the premises.
In this case, Kirk states that these students between the ages of thirteen and eighteen ought to be treated as young adults (notice the non-use of the term *teenagers*- link to lecture on that issue) and actually or potentially capable of serious thought.
These books are calculated to wake the imagination and challenge the reason. None ought to be too difficult for most young people to apprehend well enough -- provided that they are functionally literate.
Nineth-Grade Level
Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progess
Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
Hawthorne's The House of Seven Gables or The Marble Faun
Stevenson's Kidnapped
Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes or Dandelion Wine
Scott's Rob Roy or Old Mortality
Poems selected with an eye to the marvellous and the mysterious from Spenser, Burns, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Shelley, Tennyson, Whittier, Longfellow, Chesterton, Kipling, Masefield, Yeats, Frost
Tenth-Grade Level
Defoe's Robinson Crusoe
Shakespeare's Macbeth or Julius Caesar
Parkman's The Oregon Trail or The Conspiracy of Pontiac
Twain's Huckleberry Finn or Life on the Mississippi
Franklin's Autobiography
Thackeray's The Virginians or Henry Esmond
Melville's Typee or Omoo or Whitejacket
Selected poetry of a biographical or historical cast.
Eleventh-Grade Level
Milton's Paradise Lost
Swift's Gulliver's Travels
Dickens' Great Expectations or David Copperfield
Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral
Orwell's Animal Farm
Shakespeare's As You Like It or The Merchant of Venice
Selected poems of a speculative cast
Twelfth-Grade Level
KJV Epistles of Paul
Johnson's Rasselas
M Aurelius' Meditations (Long's Translation)
Burke's Speech on Conciliation with the American Colonies
Lewis's The Screwtape Letters or The Great Divorce
Marlowe's Doctor Faustus
Santayana's The Last Puritan
Joseph Conrad short stories
Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Selected poems of Frost, Robinson, Masters, Eliot, Santayana, Chesterton and other 20th century poets
Well, there is no doubt that I have my own work cut out for me, as I have not read many of these.
That may account for my lack of imagination.
Which is why I'm reading a book about it with a bunch of people I dont know in real life.
I'm throwing a spark on that pile of dry wood in my head, hoping to light a fire that will keep me warm until the end of my days.
There are several books on my shelf which address this topic, like Gladys Hunt's Honey for a Child's Heart, Elizabeth Wilson's Books Children Love, or Elizabeth McCalllum's The Book Tree.
Last year's book club selection, Norm's and Nobility's final chapter outlined an high school curriculum that Cindy still wants to discuss.
But here I share some upper-level suggestions, because
1) there are already many good choices listed for preschoolers and elementary-aged children; and
2) where there is no vision, the people will perish. That is to say what you hope for your children may not happen, if you have trouble with expectations.
So, I reveal Dr. Kirk's list from his book Decadence and Renewal (Chapter 3 entitled Perishing for Want of Imagery) since many may not have immediate access to this book, but may have highschoolers on the premises.
In this case, Kirk states that these students between the ages of thirteen and eighteen ought to be treated as young adults (notice the non-use of the term *teenagers*- link to lecture on that issue) and actually or potentially capable of serious thought.
These books are calculated to wake the imagination and challenge the reason. None ought to be too difficult for most young people to apprehend well enough -- provided that they are functionally literate.
Nineth-Grade Level
Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progess
Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
Hawthorne's The House of Seven Gables or The Marble Faun
Stevenson's Kidnapped
Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes or Dandelion Wine
Scott's Rob Roy or Old Mortality
Poems selected with an eye to the marvellous and the mysterious from Spenser, Burns, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Shelley, Tennyson, Whittier, Longfellow, Chesterton, Kipling, Masefield, Yeats, Frost
Tenth-Grade Level
Defoe's Robinson Crusoe
Shakespeare's Macbeth or Julius Caesar
Parkman's The Oregon Trail or The Conspiracy of Pontiac
Twain's Huckleberry Finn or Life on the Mississippi
Franklin's Autobiography
Thackeray's The Virginians or Henry Esmond
Melville's Typee or Omoo or Whitejacket
Selected poetry of a biographical or historical cast.
Eleventh-Grade Level
Milton's Paradise Lost
Swift's Gulliver's Travels
Dickens' Great Expectations or David Copperfield
Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral
Orwell's Animal Farm
Shakespeare's As You Like It or The Merchant of Venice
Selected poems of a speculative cast
Twelfth-Grade Level
KJV Epistles of Paul
Johnson's Rasselas
M Aurelius' Meditations (Long's Translation)
Burke's Speech on Conciliation with the American Colonies
Lewis's The Screwtape Letters or The Great Divorce
Marlowe's Doctor Faustus
Santayana's The Last Puritan
Joseph Conrad short stories
Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Selected poems of Frost, Robinson, Masters, Eliot, Santayana, Chesterton and other 20th century poets
Well, there is no doubt that I have my own work cut out for me, as I have not read many of these.
That may account for my lack of imagination.
Which is why I'm reading a book about it with a bunch of people I dont know in real life.
I'm throwing a spark on that pile of dry wood in my head, hoping to light a fire that will keep me warm until the end of my days.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Top Ten: Parenting Books
1) The Bible
2) The Example (my parents-book yet to be published)
3) Withhold Not Correction by Bruce Ray
4) Six-Point Plan for Raising Happy, Healthy Children by John Rosemond
5) The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer
6) Every Child Should Have a Chance by Leila Denmark
7) Teach Them Diligently by Lou Priolo
8) Ten Ways to Destroy Your Child's Imagination by Anthony Esolen
9) It Takes Backbone to Raise Terrific Kids by Carol Demar
10) The Strong-Willed Child by James Dobson
1) The Bible
2) The Example (my parents-book yet to be published
3) Withhold Not Correction by Bruce Ray
4) Six-Point Plan for Raising Happy, Healthy Children by John Rosemond
5) The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer
6) Every Child Should Have a Chance by Leila Denmark
7) Teach Them Diligently by Lou Priolo
8) Ten Ways to Destroy Your Child's Imagination by Anthony Esolen
9) It Takes Backbone to Raise Terrific Kids by Carol Demar
10) The Strong-Willed Child by James Dobson
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Bookclub: Imagination Method #2
Idyllic is one way of describing the child's life being promoted by Anthony Esolen in his parenting manual, Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child.
By juxtaposing a variety of typical childhood experiences, the author demonstrates a superior method for rearing our charges and developing their imaginations, those valuable vaults of images, sensations, and concepts.
As I read through the details of uninterrupted play, spontaneous neighborhood baseball games, and nightime river exploration, I wanted to think that I could point to similar experiences. I wanted to believe that my children could recall such times as well.
Unfortunately, we all know that growing up is not usually that charming.
I also found myself relating to Tormentaria, that planet populated with specimens ready and awaiting to be molded by The Visionaries, because more often my schedule resembled the structured over the looser one.
Unfortunately, I keep feeling a void in Esolen's premise, which I suspect he addresses in Method 10, the Transcendence. Why does he wait so long to bring up this vital aspect?
I mean how do the boys in the baseball game know about forgiveness?
Or how do the river boys know to make a compact or the importance of sealing it with blood?
Or as in my case, how did we girls know how to structure our families when we played house?
We didnt just *make.them.up*
Some committee informed us.
It's called the Trinity.
That awesome threesome who authored the penultimate parenting how-to volume.
Make sure that downspout (gargoyle) is pouring out life-giving water over your child's head day in and day out.
Like Deuteronomy 6:7 ~
Impress them (commands, decress, laws) on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
AND
2 Corinthians 10:5 (three translations)
casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; (American Standard Version)
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (New International Version)
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, (New American Standard)
As well as these wise words from a modern-day Godly ruler, Abraham Kuyper ~
Read more about it at our online bookclub.
Bonus Bits ~
Consider reading the chapter entitled Creativity in George Roche's excellent book, Education in America. His information adds substance to Esolen's and is available free online.
Funny, pertinent story about committees at this link.
Photo Credit:
Gargoyle by Ed O'Keefe
Artwork Credit:
Stamp issued by gov't
of Liberia
By juxtaposing a variety of typical childhood experiences, the author demonstrates a superior method for rearing our charges and developing their imaginations, those valuable vaults of images, sensations, and concepts.
As I read through the details of uninterrupted play, spontaneous neighborhood baseball games, and nightime river exploration, I wanted to think that I could point to similar experiences. I wanted to believe that my children could recall such times as well.
Unfortunately, we all know that growing up is not usually that charming.
I also found myself relating to Tormentaria, that planet populated with specimens ready and awaiting to be molded by The Visionaries, because more often my schedule resembled the structured over the looser one.
Unfortunately, I keep feeling a void in Esolen's premise, which I suspect he addresses in Method 10, the Transcendence. Why does he wait so long to bring up this vital aspect?
I mean how do the boys in the baseball game know about forgiveness?
Or how do the river boys know to make a compact or the importance of sealing it with blood?
Or as in my case, how did we girls know how to structure our families when we played house?
We didnt just *make.them.up*
Some committee informed us.
It's called the Trinity.
That awesome threesome who authored the penultimate parenting how-to volume.
Like Deuteronomy 6:7 ~
Impress them (commands, decress, laws) on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
AND
2 Corinthians 10:5 (three translations)
casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; (American Standard Version)
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (New International Version)
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, (New American Standard)
As well as these wise words from a modern-day Godly ruler, Abraham Kuyper ~
"Oh, no single piece of our mental world is to be hermetically sealed off from the rest, and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'"
Read more about it at our online bookclub.
Bonus Bits ~
Consider reading the chapter entitled Creativity in George Roche's excellent book, Education in America. His information adds substance to Esolen's and is available free online.
Funny, pertinent story about committees at this link.
Photo Credit:
Gargoyle by Ed O'Keefe
Artwork Credit:
Stamp issued by gov't
of Liberia
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Oaths, Ethics, and Sanctity of Life
On this the 38th anniversary of Roe v Wade, allow me to relate a story showing how God gave opportunity for witness in an unlikely setting.
Standing firm in one's convictions is never an easy thing to do, especially if you dont know what you believe.
Thankfully, the Lord shined His Face upon me at an early age, informing my heart and mind of not only His Love, but also His Law.
In addition, God gave me a husband who knows and serves Him, too.
That means we know what we believe by reading Scripture with the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit.
But if you're not sure where to stand on this issue, we recommend R. C. Sproul's book, Abortion: A Rational Look at an Emotional Issue, recently re-printed and distributed to every member of Congress.
Now for the story.
Early in medical school (1982), DH was in class when the professor interrupted his lecture to poll his students. This was a little unusual, but it must have related to the topic.
The question concerned abortion ~
In the first scenario, the professor asked, "In general, would you as a medical doctor perform an abortion?" And if so, he directed, move from your seat to a seat on the other side of the room.
A fair number of students moved.
In the second scenario, the professor queried, in the case of rape, would you perform the abortion?
A few more students moved to the other side of the room.
In the third scenario, the situation became more dire as the life of the mother is in danger: would you perform an abortion?
The final few students moved to the other side of the room, leaving my husband seated alone.
He stood firm, upholding the Hippocratic Oath, not bowing to situational ethics, and demonstrating in a remarkable way the sanctity of life.
Sounds like a *Martin Luther* moment, dont ya think?
I was very proud of him when he told me that story over dinner that evening.
I still am.
PS Here's a link to KSJ's talk recently delivered at a medical conference. Take a listen and be informed about the ever-changing landscape of healthcare.
Standing firm in one's convictions is never an easy thing to do, especially if you dont know what you believe.
Thankfully, the Lord shined His Face upon me at an early age, informing my heart and mind of not only His Love, but also His Law.
In addition, God gave me a husband who knows and serves Him, too.
That means we know what we believe by reading Scripture with the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit.
But if you're not sure where to stand on this issue, we recommend R. C. Sproul's book, Abortion: A Rational Look at an Emotional Issue, recently re-printed and distributed to every member of Congress.
Now for the story.
Early in medical school (1982), DH was in class when the professor interrupted his lecture to poll his students. This was a little unusual, but it must have related to the topic.
The question concerned abortion ~
In the first scenario, the professor asked, "In general, would you as a medical doctor perform an abortion?" And if so, he directed, move from your seat to a seat on the other side of the room.
A fair number of students moved.
In the second scenario, the professor queried, in the case of rape, would you perform the abortion?
A few more students moved to the other side of the room.
In the third scenario, the situation became more dire as the life of the mother is in danger: would you perform an abortion?
The final few students moved to the other side of the room, leaving my husband seated alone.
He stood firm, upholding the Hippocratic Oath, not bowing to situational ethics, and demonstrating in a remarkable way the sanctity of life.
Sounds like a *Martin Luther* moment, dont ya think?
I was very proud of him when he told me that story over dinner that evening.
I still am.
PS Here's a link to KSJ's talk recently delivered at a medical conference. Take a listen and be informed about the ever-changing landscape of healthcare.
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