A Literary Education: Reflections on the Socratic Method by Sandy Moore

Firstly I want to thank all you lovely women for your willingness to come together every six weeks and participate in the Whole Hearted Home Educators CM study group. In so many ways this group has blessed my homeschooling journey, and enriched my life with new ideas, friendship and fellowship. In light of our most recent meeting focusing on Knowledge of Man: Literature, I wanted to share a few reflections and recommendations as a follow up to our discussion.

To Experience literature is to see the world through new eyes. As C.S. Lewis stated in his Experiment in Criticism, "Those of us who have been true readers all our life seldom fully realize the enormous extension of our being which we owe to the authors... My own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through the eyes of others." When we read, we broaden our perspective, so that we are no longer trapped within the limits of our own experience. "In reading great literature, " Lewis says, "I become a thousand men and yet remain myself... I see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see.... I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do."

This broadening of perspective is a necessary and crucial part of a strong education. The ability to interact gracefully with important ideas is one mark of a truly educated person and exposure to great ideas is the only way to become conversant with them! Great literature, because it presents ideas with eloquence, provides models and examples by which students can hone their skills of expression and debate.

However this is only half the reason.

The other half is that great literature, because it bountifully portrays the tragedy, pathos and wonder of the human condition, is an end in itself. It's not just a tool for teaching the skill of debate, or a training manual on how to discuss ideas; it is art that richly rewards the educated contemplation. It represents the contributions of its authors to what Mortimer Adler called the Great Conversation about the good life, the relationship between the human and the divine. The pleasure and fulfillment that come from reading literature are a part of what it is to be human, in the fullest sense.

This is the opening paragraph in the Book "Teaching the Classics: A Socratic Method for Literary Education" by Adam and Missy Andrews @2004, The Center for Literary Education.

This thin but meaty resource is a perfect guidebook for helping us practically implement that much sought after prize we often refer to as: "A Literary Education". I think intuitively we all know that great books are the backbone of a CM education and have taken pains to line our shelves with those classic titles by Kipling, Stevenson, Dickens, Twain, Shakespeare and Lewis, to name only a few. As our kids grow we are constantly on the lookout for quality reading material to funnel their way, in order that that dreaded harmful "twaddle" may not even cross the threshold of our domain let alone gain a foothold in our children's minds and appetites.

But the question we discussed last evening at our WHHE meeting (high school portion) seemed to be one that was on many minds. How do we interact with these great books? Do we just read them and run?... hope for the best? Allow all those good nutritious book-meals to do their nourishing work while we passively serve them up, one after the other? Or is there more we can do?

One resource I have found particularly helpful as I strive to help my kids grow in their ability to interact with those capital ideas found in the Great Books is Teaching the Classics. Not only does this resource present the 5 elements of literary analysis (Characters, Setting, Plot, Conflict and Theme) but it does so in context of easily accessible and familiar stories that entertain as well as enlighten. In addition to the literary elements this resource elucidates the tried and true" Socratic Method" of discussion. I think for many of us this style of discussion focusing on open ended questions in order to draw out the reader's own ideas and impressions of the material is intuitive but who can resist a comprehensive list of suggestions to help make the going a little easier! Using these questions as possible essay or written narration assignments helps makes this resource even more practical and allows our older students to develop those elusive written skills in manageable chunks.

Of course not every book should be "analyzed" or dissected in such a way or we will succeed only in creating readers who run the other direction when the word " literature" is mentioned. Nor should we discount that reading is a richly rewarding end in itself, and should be enjoyed as such. At the same time though, we need to be intentional about nurturing active minds in our children and ourselves, minds that are trained to discern good from evil, valid argument from opinion, truth from falsehood. By taking some time to enter into discussions about the books we are reading and the ideas contained therein we can naturally deepen our understanding of complex ideas and at the same time grow in our relationships with God, each other and the Universe. What could be time better spent than that?

Teaching the Classics: A Socratic Method for Literary Education by Adam and Missy Andrews @2004 Center for Literary Education is found in our WHHE library or can be purchased from
www.excellenceinwriting.com (click on the Literature and Poetry section)