Course Description:
Literature at its best embodies in characters and actions the
perennial questions, What is the Good Life? and How ought I to
live it? that lie at the heart of what it means to be a human.
Every generation frames the questions for themselves and looks
to answer the questions in its own way. When we read good literature
we enlist the imagination to come to the aid of reason in our
search for the answers to these questions. This course will examine
several common themes running through literature and dealing with
the following topics:
• Moral and Social Education
• Moral Education and English as a Second Language
• Ethics in the Workplace
Procedure:
The course consists of five lessons, each accompanied with one
or more readings followed by two guiding questions. The
reading must be completed prior to listening to the lecture
in order to be able to understand allusions that will inevitably
be made to the literature selection.
Readings:
1. “The One Thing Needful,” “Murdering the Innocents,”
Dickens;
2. “The Necklace,” Maupassant
3. The Odyssey, (books 3 and 4), Homer
4. Measure for Measure, Shakespeare (as retold by Lamb)
5. Inferno, (Canto 5) Dante
The five mini-lectures will be accompanied by several questions
which will help you to think about the reading in some depth.
These questions ought to serve as a focus for your attention and
ought to be discussed where possible.
At the conclusions of the lectures there will be a 20 question
multiple choice exam based on the readings and the lectures.
Assessment:
When
you have completed the courses, you are ready to take an examination
which, if you pass it successfully, will enable you to receive
a Certificate of Achievement from the Washington Institute for
Social Sciences.
When you are ready to take the examination, you should send an
email message to info@isngrig.ru Your
message should inform us that you desire to take the examination.
You will be sent instructions for how to pay the examination fee
of $35 as well as instructions for taking the examination. If your
score on the examination is satisfactory, you will be given a Certificate
of Achievement.
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