2013--2014 Schedule of seminars

Dear students and parents,

Below is the class schedule for the academic year 2013--2014, I will also post this schedule at the blog: ashevillelatinseminars.blogspot.com.

Best wishes, and again a good summer,

Mr. Minick

Monday

9:00--10:50--World History and Literature

11:15--1:05--Latin I

1:15--3:05--3Rs I

Tuesday

9:00--10:50--World History and Literature

11:15--1:05--Latin II

1:15--3:05--3Rs II

Wednesday

8:00--9:50--World History and Literature

9:00--10:50--AP World History

11:15--1:05--Latin III

1:15--3:05--AP World History

Thursday

9:00--10:50--AP Latin

11:15--1:05--AP English Language and Composition

1:15--3:05--AP English Literature and Composition

Schedule for the Academic Year 2013--2014

August 8--Parent meeting/payment due for fall semester

August 19--Classes begin

Week of November 25--Thanksgiving break

December 19--Christmas break/Christmas party

January 6--Second semester begins/payment due for spring semester

Week of March 17--Spring break

Week of May 5--final classes

End of year celebration TBA

Books for Latin Seminars

Latin I

Henle Latin (0829410260)

Henle Grammar (978-0-8294-0112-7)

Latin Made Simple (978-0-7679-1861-9)

Latin II

Same as Latin I

Latin III

Latin for Americans (provided in-class)

Wheelock’s Latin (provided in-class)

Review Text in Latin Three and Four Years by Freundlich (978-0877205586)

Vulgate Bible (provided in class)


Advanced Placement Latin
AP Virgil--Aeneid (978-0-86516-765-0)

AP Virgil Workbook (978-0-86516-7742)

AP--Gallic Wars (978-0-86516-778-0)

Workbook for Caesar’s Gallic Wars (978-0-86516-753-7)

Latin in Three and Four Years (978-0877205586)

Aeneid in English(Translation by Mandelbaum recommended)

AP Latin summer work: Memorize the assigned vocabulary sheets. You’ll need the books this summer to start the vocabulary. Read the entire Aeneid in English. These are absolute requirements for the first day of class. We will have some gatherings through the summer.

N.B.: The Caesar and Virgil texts and workbooks may be ordered either from Amazon or from the publisher, Bochazy-Carudcci.

Books for 3Rs I and II

3Rs I

Writer’s Inc. (978-0-669-47186-1)

Harp and Laurel Wreath edited by Laura Berquist (ISBN 0-89870-716-1)

Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation by Jane Straus (978-0-470-22268-3)
The Bible (King James or RSV recommended)
Treasure Island (Provided in class)

Gift of the Magi (0-486-27061-0)

Importance of Being Earnest (provided in class)

Little Women (any complete edition)

True Grit by Charles Portis (any complete edition)
Animal Farm by George Orwell (any complete edition)

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (provided in class)

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (any complete edition)

Christmas Carol (provided in class)

Henry V (any complete edition of the play)

Summer reading for 3Rs I: Select a book unread by you previously of no less than 300 pages and read it. Bring that book to the first class. (No comic books or graphic novels).

3Rs II

Writer’s Inc. (978-0-669-47186-1)

Harp and Laurel Wreath edited by Laura Berquist (ISBN 0-89870-716-1)

Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation by Jane Straus (978-0-470-22268-3)
The Bible (King James or RSV recommended)

A Christmas Carol (Provided in class)

The Princess Bride (provided in class)

Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (provided in class)

Henry V (Shakespeare: any complete edition)

War Stories by Paul Dowswell (ISBN 978-0794514990)

Little Women (any complete edition)

To Kill A Mockingbird (any complete edition)

Importance of Being Earnest (provided in class)

Edith Hamilton’s Mythology (provided in class)

Till We Have Faces (C.S. Lewis: any complete edition)

Summer reading 3Rs II: Select a book unfamiliar to you of no less than 300 pages and read it. Bring that book to class. (No comic books or graphic novels).

Books for World History and Literature

Complete Idiot’s Guide to World History (ISBN 978-1-61564-148-2)

Middle East For Dummies (978-0764554834)

Writer’s Inc.

Barron’s 1100 Words You Need To Know (ISBN 978-1-4380-0166-1)

Boys’ Book of Battles (online)

Poems online

The Bible

Antigone (provided in class)

Socrates’ Phaedo (online)

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (any complete edition)

The Day Christ Died by Jim Bishop (any complete edition)

Rule of St. Benedict (online)

Christian Mystery Plays (provided in class)

Romeo and Juliet (any complete edition)

The Communist Manifesto (online)

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (any complete edition)

Out of Africa by Karen Blixen (Isak Dineson) (any complete edition)

A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (any complete edition)



Summer reading: Read any book of your choice, three hundred words or more and historical in nature, which you haven’t read before. (Avoid American history). This may be a novel, a biography, or a history. Bring that book to the first class.

Books for AP Seminars

Note to AP students, particularly to those in literature: You must have the correct edition of the book. Several--the Norton Critical Editions--have important essays and notes at the end of the book. We use the books in class and must reference page numbers. You’ll slow the class down by using a different edition.

N.B. The test preparation books--the Barron’s, the Princeton Review, the 5 for a 5--are this year’s editions (2013). There is no real advantage in getting the 2014 books. They provide the same information, and we need the books in August for class. Order by the ISBN.

AP English Literature

5 Steps to a 5 (978-0071751742)

Literature 0316488763 (Used. Blue cover. MUST have this edition)

How to Read Literature like a Professor (978-0-06-000942-7)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (any complete edition)

The Power and The Glory by Graham Greene (any complete edition)

Heart of Darkness (provided in class)

Wuthering Height (ISBN 0-393-97889-3) (Must have this edition)

Anna Karenina (978-0393966428) (Must have this edition)

The Great Gatsby (any complete edition)

The Sound and the Fury (0393964817 (Must have this edition)

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (any complete edition)

Plays and poems (contained in our textbook, Literature)

Summer reading: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

AP Literature notes: A California advertisement (1860) for Pony Express riders read: “Wanted. Young, skinny, wiry fellows. Not over 18. Must be expert riders. Willing to face death daily. Orphans preferred.”

If I were composing a similar ad for AP English Literature, I would write: “Wanted. Young, intense, reckless readers. Not over 19. Must be book-smitten. Willing to give their hearts and minds to literature. Bibliophiles preferred.”

I am excited about our class this fall. We’ll be reading everyone from what Ezra Pound called “the Rooshians” to Fitzgerald. My hope this year is to focus on literature--on poetry, drama, short stories, and novels--that should fire our imaginations.

AP English Language and Composition

Barron’s AP English Language and Composition (978-1438002033)

The Bedford Reader (978-0-312-66779-5)

The Day I Became an Autodidact by Kendall Hailey (any complete edition)
An Education for Our Time by Josiah Bunting (any complete edition)

Eats, Shoots and Leaves (978-1592402038)

Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace 4^th edition (978-0205830763)
Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman (any complete edition)

American Essays (provided in class)

With Love and Prayers (provided in class)

The Writer’s Workshop (provided in class)

Summer reading: The Day I Became an Autodidact

This year I am making several major changes to the curriculum for AP English Language and Composition. Several essays and perhaps books will be assigned from online sources. Our main focus will be on reading books about writing and on writing itself.

AP World History

Cracking the AP: World History Exam: Princeton Review (978-0307944917)

Global History (AMSCO) (ISBN 1-56765-607-2)

The Creators by Daniel Boorstein (1-978-0679743750)

Online sources

Summer reading: The Creators: Prologue, Parts I and II (approximately 63 pages). Read, study, and absorb these pages. Make notes on the main historical figures in each biographical sketch.

Notes for AP World History: This afternoon a neighbor was working the garden behind her house. She was in her thirties, tanned and fit, and dug vigorously into the earth. The thought occurred that we humans have done this same thing for thousands of years, this same act of mixing our labor with dirt, sun, water, and seed to produce food by which we might live.

There is a romance to history. It is the story of human beings, our ancestors, who by all their struggles and labors brought us into being. And this history is anything but dead--it surrounds us, and we just don’t see it.

In the coming year we will learn many things together about the history of the world and its many peoples, but I want you to remember, while we are in the middle of all those facts and interpretations, that we are always concerned with real human beings, people who lived and walked this earth and sometimes brought forth great art and vast civilizations.

NOTES FOR STUDENT/PARENT MEETING ON AUGUST 6, 2012

Prayer:

Lord,
As we begin a new school year, we ask for
The gift of your protection, your blessing on our endeavor, your unrelenting love.
Please help us to train our hearts and minds;
To follow you in the night and in the day;
To give all that we are and all that we could be to your service;
To learn by the candle of Your truth;
To become all that we are meant to be.
In Your name we pray.
Amen

　
Let me welcome all of you here this evening. For some of you students--and since we are home schooling parents, for some parents as well--this time before we begin another year of academic studies is one of high anticipation. We’re ready to fall back into a schedule: we look forward to the challenges of books, calculators, paper, and pen. For others, this is a time of growing dread, when we feel each passing day bringing us closer and closer to “school.” Whichever of these conditions you find yourself in this evening, the fact remains that another academic year is gathering steam to leave the station. The journey is about to begin. My purpose here for the next few minutes is to give some solid information which I hope will make our journey together a little smoother.

I’ll begin with practicalities. These instructions will be repeated on the first day of each seminar.

Church Policies

Trinity Presbyterian has been very good to me and to students and parents these past five years. In return, they ask for the following:
1. Drive the speed limit through this neighborhood. Teen drivers: let me caution you about the round-about near here. Other drivers blithely shoot through that weird little contraption without regard for the right of way rules. Always enter that round-about with great caution.
2. Teen drivers should park away from the church in the side parking lot. The mother’s morning out facility which meets here brings small children into the parking lot. Always, always, always drive with extreme caution on church property.
3. Enter the front of the church through the left hand door. Do not congregate in the foyer. Ministers and church workers have their offices there, and need relative quiet.
4. Walk quietly up the stairs. The secretary of the church and the day care center are both located beneath the stairwell.
5. Do not run inside the church. Do not play soccer, football, or other sports inside the church.
6. Help keep the restrooms clean. Report all plumbing problems to me.

Classroom Policies

When he was president of Washington College, now Washington and Lee University, Robert E. Lee was once asked what rules of behavior the young men at the college were to observe. He replied, “I expect them to behave like gentlemen.” In regard to classroom behavior, I expect you students to behave like ladies and gentlemen. Otherwise, my classroom policies are fairly simple.
1. Don’t eat food during class. You may bring covered drinks into the classroom.
2. You’re welcome to chew gum as long as the rest of us don’t have to hear you doing so.
3. Use the restrooms on the breaks.
4. Unless we’re engaged in an open discussion, you’ll need to raise your hand to make a point or ask a question. Please don’t interrupt me or your classmates.
5. Conversing with your neighbors in class distracts your classmates and your teacher. Refrain from talking during class.
6. Laptops may not be used in the classroom. Cell phones should be turned to “silent” or “off.” If we have a problem with cell phones, we will need to do as we have done in years past and put the phones in a box at the back of the classroom before we open the seminar. If you are expecting an important call--one year a student’s father was undergoing surgery, and she wished to answer the call from the hospital--all you have to do is tell me and we’ll work it out.
7. Do not bully or verbally abuse your classmates. Contumelious speech transforms your teacher from a mild-mannered instructor into the Hulk. It’s not a pretty sight. Whether in the break room or in class, show a kind regard for others.

Academic Policies

This year brings two major changes in regard to my evaluation of your studies.

First, in all classes homework will be checked at the beginning of class and homework quizzes will be commonplace. Second, papers must be delivered on the date set on the syllabus. Except for extreme extenuating circumstances, papers may not be delivered later than that date. Failure to bring the paper on time will result in a grade of 0. At the end of the semester, the lowest grade you’ve earned will be dropped. This condition does not apply to major AP papers.

Bear in mind that the grades given in these courses are my evaluation. Your parents have the right to determine your final grade.

Homework Partners

Each of you will have a partner for the homework. This is the person you will contact if you miss class. Pick someone for a partner who is readily available and who can help you if you miss class. If you can’t contact your partner, call or email me.

Teacher Assistants

As in the past, I have hired from the pool of students who have completed an AP course graders and tutors for your seminars. They will be helping me by evaluating your papers, marking your quizzes and tests, and tutoring you free of charge when necessary. They will assist in leading discussion groups and may at times do special presentations.

Academic Success

To succeed in these seminars means doing the work and coming prepared for class. Below are typical study times for the seminars which, if followed, should give you ample assurance that you are ready for class:
Latin I, II, and III--3 to 4 hours weekly (Latin I for the first two weeks will require less time)
AP Latin--5 to 6 hours weekly
3Rs I and II--3 to 4 hours weekly
English History and Literature--5 to 7 hours weekly (This is a two-subject course.)
All other AP courses--5 to 6 hours weekly

One other tip: the organized student is the student who will do best in class. Check your books and notebooks before leaving home to ensure that you have the proper materials. Carefully mark changes in the syllabus. Make sure you understand the assignments before leaving the classroom. If you don’t understand the general instructions, approach me after class for clarification.

Costs

Not all the fees you have paid for these seminars goes into my pocket. There are expenses: rent paid to the church, extra books bought for classes, copying fees, the National Latin Exams, and payment to the tutors. This year these expenses total approximately $11, 255.00. (For those of you who heard the lower cost at the August 6^th meeting, please note that I had failed to calculate correctly payment for the tutors).

You have a great opportunity ahead of you this year. To deepen your knowledge of the past, to study the human heart through poetry and stories, to learn to express your thoughts as clearly as possible, to study the intricacies of an ancient language: all of these endeavors help make your innermost being--what some call the soul--a treasure-house of gold and silver. You are stocking that house with precious objects on which you can draw for the rest of your lives.

Dear students and parents,

I hope this letter finds all of you well and enjoying some time off from your schoolwork. (I mean that for moms and dads as well as students).

This letter contains some important information for next year. Please read it carefully. I will also post this letter at ashevillelatinseminars.blogspot.com. I will send a second letter immediately following this one with next year’s reading lists and summer assignments. Please read those lists carefully. Be sure to have the books at hand and your summer assignments completed when school begins in August.

Before I get into the schedule, fees, and so forth, I did want to tell those of you who are graduating this year goodbye. Some of us said those goodbyes in class, but I didn’t get a chance to say farewell to some of you because of the AP testing. I wish all of you the very best as you begin your new adventures and pray that God will extend to you every blessing. You’re a great bunch, and I’ll miss you.

Schedule for 2012--2013

Tuesday, August 14--Student/parent meeting at 7 pm at Trinity Presbyterian Church

In what I hope will be a brief meeting, we’ll review our goals for the academic year for each class. All fees for the first semester are due at this time.

Monday, August 20--First day of classes

We do not take any Monday holidays. Please keep in mind that classes meet on Labor Day, Columbus Day, Martin Luther King Day, and so on.

Week of November 19--Thanksgiving break. No classes this week.

December 20--Last day of classes for Christmas. Class celebration at 1 p.m.

January 7--Classes resume. All fees for the second semester are due this day.

Week of March 25--Spring break. (This is the same week as the AB Tech break. It is also Holy Week, with Easter falling on the 31st).

May 9--Final day of classes for the year.

Fees

The semester cost per seminar is $220. Most of you have paid $20 of that fee with your registration, which means that you will owe $200 per seminar in August. If you are unable to make this meeting, please mail the check. I will include my address in the July letter.

In the past, I have taken Trailblazer Ingles script for some of the payments and hope to do the same again this fall. I’ll put the details in the July letter.

Church rules

Church policies regarding our classes will be distributed at the parent/student meeting. I will also email them at that time to you and post them on the blogspot.

Classroom code

I’ll send this as well in July.

Odds and ends

In addition to a regular class notebook, students in the 3Rs classes and in the English History and Literature class will need to bring a composition book to each class. These are the square notebooks, usually with a checked cover. Wal-Mart and other stores usually stock them.

The Monday English History and Literature class is large. If you are able to move to Tuesday’s class, please contact me.

Students in the English History and Literature seminars: you are receiving credit for history and for literature in this seminar. This means that you are expected to complete between six and seven hours worth of work at home. (That’s less than an hour a day on each subject on days you don’t have class). This year we will be spending time at the beginning of each class to check the homework.

Students in AP courses: These subjects require diligence and an earnest commitment on your part. You can best begin your year by completing the summer assignments found with your book list.

All Latin students: Latin is like math in that you can’t afford to get behind in your assignments. It’s important, too, that you understand what you’re doing. If you don’t understand something covered during class, please ask.

Papers and projects: Because of the problems with essays delivered late in the past two years, I am instituting a new policy regarding papers and other projects collected in class. You must have these assignments to me on the day due. I won’t be taking any late papers this year except in cases of extended illness. This means that if you don’t bring the paper you’ll receive a failing grade for it. To compensate, I will at the end of the semester drop your lowest mark from the grade book--a paper, a quiz, whatever the project. This policy doesn’t apply to any final exams or the major papers written by different classes in the spring.

I had mentioned in May that Latin students might wish to get together for some light review over the summer. I’ll send some times for get-togethers later this week.

I’m looking forward to a good year, though the summer looks good too right now. J

Best wishes,

Mr. Minick

Asheville Latin Seminars Book List 2012--2013

Below are the book lists by class for the coming academic year. Nearly all of these books may be ordered from Amazon or from second-hand dealers online--abebooks.com has always worked for me--for a fraction of their original cost. Others are Dover Books, which generally run under $3 per book. Books with an ISBN should be ordered by that number. Books without an ISBN beside them may be ordered in any complete edition. THIS IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT FOR THE AP BOOKS.

Please be sure to read all the pages below connected with your particular class. This book list will also be posted on ashevillelatinseminars.blogspot.com. Summer assignments are posted below each seminar.

Books for Latin Seminars

Latin I
Henle Latin First Year(0829410260)
Henle Grammar (978-0-8294-0112-7)
Eyewitness Books--Ancient Rome (DK Publishers) A number of copies at $1 apiece are available on abebooks.com.

Summer reading: Go online or visit your local library, and read about the Romans. Learn about their family life, their social customs, their government, their gods, and whatever else strikes your fancy. You will be studying an ancient language, a language known to Cicero, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, Thomas Jefferson, and millions of others. Learn something about the people who first spoke and wrote Latin. Please bring the titles of the books or the online articles you read to the first class.

Latin II
Henle Latin First Year and Henle Grammar (You already own these books).

Summer assignment: Know the vocabulary lists on pages 91--98 and pages 217--220 in Henle Latin. Review the declensions and conjugations learned in first-year Latin. We are three months away from our next class, so be sure to review this summer. You must know these by heart when class begins. Be sure to know the principal parts of the verbs.

Latin III
Latin for Americans (provided in-class)
Wheelock’s Latin (provided in-class)
Latin Third and Fourth Years (O-87720-558-2) This is an old ISBN, but the author is Charles Freundlich. You may order either the workbook or the book. Both versions contain the same material.

Summer assignments: Memorize the vocabulary lists from Henle Latin: pages 91--98, 217--220, and 217--220. Review all the declensions and conjugations covered in class. Bring your Henle books to the first class.

Advanced Placement Latin
The AP Latin test has changed. You may find the books at Amazon, but you can find the paperbacks by Googling Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers. When you go the Bolchazy website, you will find the two books prominently displayed. These are your texts for the year. We’ll get the workbooks when they become available. Beneath the photographs of those books you will find the new requirements for the AP. Read those requirements and then order these books:
Caesar (ISBN 978-0-86515-752-0)
Virgil’s Aeneid (ISBN 978-0-86515-764-3)
You will also need in English: The Aeneid (English translation by Mandelbaum or Fagles)

Summer assignment: Begin by reading The Aeneid in its entirety in English. I will send you a vocabulary list from the Bolchazy books when my own books arrive.

BOOKS FOR 3Rs I and Summer Reading
Writer’s Inc. (You will not only use this resource book this year, but in the following years if you continue to take my seminars. The ISBN on my own book is 978-0-669-47186-1. You may order the edition before this one if it’s less expensive. Both can be found at abebooks and Amazon).
The Harp and Laurel Wreath (ISBN 0-89870-716-1) We will use this book this year and in next year’s 3Rs II class.
The Bible (Any edition that maintains some splendor of language is acceptable. The KJV, the Douay-Reims, the RSV: all will serve nicely).
The Hobbit
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Parker
Captains Courageous (Kipling)
Gift of the Magi (ISBN 0-486-27061-0) Please buy this book by the ISBN. It has the stories we’ll be reading. We’ll also be annotating the book as part of the assignment.
Animal Farm (Orwell)
Watership Down (Adams)
Macbeth (any complete edition)

Summer reading assignment: Go to the public library or a bookstore, and select two appropriate books you have never read. Read the books. Bring the books to class. You’ll be discussing them and writing about them on the first day of class.

Books for 3Rs II and Summer Reading
Writer’s Inc. (see notes in 3Rs I)
The Harp and Laurel Wreath (see notes in 3Rs I)
The Bible (see notes in 3Rs I)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (ISBN 0486266585) We will be writing in this book. If you don’t want to get this edition--it’s from Dover Publications and quite cheap--please buy an inexpensive copy. Macbeth (Shakespeare: any complete edition)
The Yearling (Rawlings)
To Kill A Mockingbird (Lee)
The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
Till We Have Faces (author: C.S. Lewis)
All Creatures Great and Small (Herriot) Do not buy the omnibus edition of Herriot’s book; it apparently deletes some of the stories.

Summer reading assignment: Go to the public library and select two appropriate books you have never read. Read the books. Bring the books to class. You’ll be discussing them and writing about them on the first day of class.
Books for English History and Literature and Summer Reading
The History of the Kings and Queens of England (ISBN 9780520224605)
Prentice-Hall Literature: The English Tradition (0136917003) Get this exact edition. You can find numerous copies for under $4 on abebooks.com.
Great Tales from English History by Robert Lacey
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The Man Who Would Be King (Dover edition. ISBN 0486280519. Please order this edition. It has the stories we need, and we will be writing in the book)
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Tolkien edition: ISBN 0345277600)
Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

Summer assignment: You’ll take a trip to the English countryside with Three Men In A Boat. This novel is a gem of writing, observation, and humor. Finish the book before we begin in August and bring it to class.

AP Book List and Summer Reading
Note to AP students, particularly to those in literature: You must have the correct edition of the books. Several--the Norton Critical Editions--contain important essays and notes. We use the books in class and must reference page numbers. You’ll slow the class down by using a different edition.

AP English Literature and Summer Reading
Literature 0316488763 (Used. Third Edition. X.J. Kennedy, editor)
Barron’s AP English Literature and Composition (2012 or 2013 edition)
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
The Power and The Glory 0142437301
Wuthering Heights 0393978893 (You must have this edition).
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Sound and the Fury 0393964817 (You must have this edition).
Hamlet (any edition with adequate notes will do. The Folger editions are good, but there are others out there equally fine).
Plays and poems (contained in our textbook, Literature)

Summer reading assignment: Read a novel which is new to you and which has literary merit. You will need to determine what “literary merit” means. Hints: you can find lists of classics and modern novels online. Google “100 Great Novels” and you’ll find yourself on the way. You can also Google “AP English Literature Reading List” and see what pops up. Finally, you can find a “Summer Reading” table at Barnes and Noble. Bring the novel to the first class and be prepared to write a short essay on it.

AP Composition and Summer Reading
Barron’s AP Composition and Literature (2012 or 2013 edition)
Strunk and White’s Elements of Style
The Norton Book of Personal Essays (editor: Joseph Epstein)
Lost in the Cosmos (Walker Percy)
An Education for Our Time (Bunting)
Orthodoxy (G.K. Chesterton)
Slouching Towards Bethlehem (Joan Didion)
Three Men In A Boat (Jerome)
Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman (Feynman)
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Assigned essays old and new from the internet

Summer reading assignment: Read Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman and one other non-fiction book of your choice not found on the above list. Bring both books to the first class. You’ll be writing about the books in that class.

AP European History
AP Achiever for European History (ISBN 978-0073256726. Author: Chris Freiler)
History of Western Society (ISBN 0618270744. Authors: McKay, Hill, Buckler)
Weekly Internet sources and assignments. Of particular value will be historyteacher.net.
A World Lit By Fire (William Manchester)

Summer reading assignment: Read William Manchester’s A World Lit Only By Fire. Manchester was a fine writer--his books on the death of John F. Kennedy and on Churchill’s early life are the only two nonfiction books about which I have dreamed (and in Technicolor, yet). This particular book, however, takes Manchester away from twentieth century history. It was a best-seller, and if you look online at AP summer reading lists, you will find it recommended more than any other book. In the opinion of your teacher, these recommendations are undeserved. A World Lit Only By Fire is deeply flawed history. His prejudices are apparent. (Questions to help you begin your analysis: What Manchester think about the Middle Ages? The Catholic Church? Christianity in general? Does he sensationalize his writing? Does he take a particular event and turn it into a general fact?) Your assignment is to read the book and then draw up a two-column list giving the strengths and weaknesses of the book. (You’ll want to do this as you read). Beside each entry on the list you will need to document your point with page numbers. You don’t need to list every strength or weakness in the book, just some points with pertinent page numbers.

ASHEVILLE LATIN SEMINARS
2012--2013
REGISTRATION FORM


NAME OF STUDENT______________________________________

AGE__________ DATE OF BIRTH________________________

GRADE IN SCHOOL FOR 2012--2013________

NAME OF PARENTS OR GUARDIANS__________________________________________

ADDRESS______________________________________________
STREET/P.O. BOX CITY ZIP

TELEPHONE________________________________________

E-MAIL_________________________________________ __(Please print clearly)

EMERGENCY CONTACT WITH TELEPHONE NUMBER___________________________________________________

CLASSES (Please indicate correct class with a check mark):

MON. __English History and Literature 8:45 ___ Latin III 11:15
___AP English Language and Composition 1:15

TUES. __ 3Rs I 9:00 __Latin I 11:15 __English History and Literature 1:15 (Class runs until 3:20)

WED. __Latin II 9:00 ___3Rs II 11:15 ____ Latin I 1:15

THURS. ___AP European History 9:00 ___AP Latin 11:15 ____AP English Literature and Composition 1:15


N.B.: You must check the underscored line appearing BEFORE the course listed above to be properly registered for the seminar. If you check the wrong line, you risk being bumped from the class you wanted.

Dear parents and students,

I hope this letter finds you well this cold Sunday afternoon.

Below are the schedule and book list for the fall of 2012. Most of you are familiar with the courses, but I did want to add a note on two of them.

First, the English History and Literature course is the third part of the three-year history/literature cycle that I teach: European History and Literature (with some elements of world history added), US History and Literature, and English History and Literature. In this class we take a look in depth at English history and literature from the time of Caesar’s invasion to the present day. The aim of the class is to become more familiar with the island nation from which we take so many of our traditions and beliefs. English history was my specialty in my graduate school years, and this is a seminar I particularly enjoy teaching.

Second, the AP European history seminar is well worth taking. You will learn a good deal about modern Europe (1500--present), and the colleges in which you may be interested, knowing the difficulty of this course, will be impressed by a good score on the AP exam. One caveat: this is a difficult course. The rewards are many, but you must be willing to study and to learn as much as possible.

The cost of each seminar per semester has not changed. It is $220.

Beginning on Monday, February 20th, I will take registrations from those of you already taking seminars with me. The following Monday, February 27, I will open registration to homeschoolers in general.

I will have registration forms available in the classroom and on the blog. The form must be accompanied by a $20 check or cash for each course taken. This money applies to the cost of the seminar, which means that in August you will owe $200 per seminar for the fall semester.

Best wishes,
Mr. Minick


2012--2013 Seminar Schedule

Monday
9:00 English History and Literature
11:15 Latin III
1:15 AP English Language and Composition

Tuesday
9:00 3Rs I
11:15 Latin I
1:15 English History and Literature


Wednesday
9:00 Latin II
11:15 3Rs II
1:15 Latin I

Thursday
9:00 AP European History
11:15 AP Latin
1:15 AP English Literature


2012-Projected Book List -2013

Note: Please do not order the books below. This is a tentative list of books for classes. Final book lists for each class will be released in May.
One exception: If you sign up for the English History and Literature class, please order now PRENTICE Hall LITERATURE: THE ENGLISH TRADITION. It’s a huge textbook which you can find it for $1 at abebooks.com.

Below are the book lists by class for the coming academic year. Nearly all of these books may be ordered from Amazon or from second-hand dealers online for a fraction of their original cost. Others are Dover Books, which generally run under $3 per book.

Books with an ISBN must be ordered by that number. Books without an ISBN beside them may be ordered in any complete edition.

Please be sure to read all the pages below connected with your particular class. This book list will also be posted on ashevillelatinseminars.blogspot.com.

Books for Latin Seminars
Latin I
Henle Latin (0829410260)
Henle Grammar (978-0-8294-0112-7)

No summer assignment

Latin II
Same texts as Latin I

Summer assignment: Know the vocabulary list on pages 91--98 and pages 217--220 in Henle Latin. Review the declensions and conjugations learned in first-year Latin. We are more than three months away from our next class, so be sure to review this summer.

Latin III
Latin for Americans (provided in-class)
Wheelock’s Latin (provided in-class)
Latin Third and Fourth Years (O-87720-558-2; old number; author is Charles Freundlich. You may order either the workbook or the book. Both versions contain the same material.

Summer assignments: Memorize the vocabulary lists from Henle Latin: pages 91--98, 217--220, and 217--220. Review declensions and conjugations.

Advanced Placement Latin
Because the AP Latin exam has changed, the textbooks won’t be available until March. You will order these from Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers: one text for Vergil, another for Caesar. Texts TBA.
Latin in Three and Four Years (see above)
Aeneid (English translation by Mandelbaum)

Summer assignment: TBA.

Books for 3Rs I and II
3Rs I (11--13)
Writer’s Inc.
The Bible
The Hobbit
Captains Courageous (Kipling)
Gift of the Magi (0-486-27061-0)
Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jameson (author: Lois Lenski)
True Grit (Portis)
Animal Farm (Orwell)
Watership Down
Macbeth (any complete edition)
Various poems assigned from online sources

Summer reading assignment: Go to the public library and select an appropirate book you have never read. Read the book. Bring the book and your library card to class. You will write about the book on the first day of class.

Books for 3Rs II (13--15)
Writer’s Inc.
The Bible
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Macbeth (Shakespeare: any complete edition)
Lord of the Flies
To Kill A Mockingbird
All Creatures Great and Small
Till We Have Faces (author: C.S. Lewis)
Jane Eyre
Songs of the Open Road (Poems: Dover Publications)

Summer reading assignment: Go to the public library and select an appropriate book you have never read. Read the book. Bring the book and your library card to class. You will write about the book on the first day of class.

Books for English History and Literature
The History of the Kings and Queens of England
Prentice-Hall Literature: The English Tradition
Great Tales from English History
The Great Divorce
My Early Life
Beat To Quarters
Rebecca

Summer assignment: Read Winston Churchill’s My Early Life.

Books for AP Seminars
Note to AP students, particularly to those in literature: You must have the correct edition of the book. Several--the Norton Critical Editions--have important essays and notes at the end of the book. We use the books in class and must reference page numbers. You’ll slow the class down by using a different edition.

AP English Literature
Literature 0316488763 (Used. Must have this edition)
Kaplan’s AP English Literature and Composition (2012 or 2013 edition)
Invisible Man (Ellison)
The Power and The Glory 0142437301
Wuthering Heights 0393978893 (must have this edition)
The Great Gatsby 0743273567
The Sound and the Fury 0393964817 (must have this edition)
Brideshead Revisited (Waugh)
Hamlet
Plays and poems (contained in our textbook, Literature)

Summer reading assignment: Read one of the books on the list which will be released in May.


AP Composition
Kaplan AP Composition and Literature (2012 or 2013 edition)
Strunk and White’s Elements of Style
The Norton Book of Personal Essays (editor: Joseph Epstein)
Lost in the Cosmos (Percy)
Candide (Voltaire)
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (Dillard)
An Education for Our Time (Bunting)
Mere Christianity (Lewis)
Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman (Feynman)


Summer reading assignment: Read one of the books from the list which will be released in May.

AP European History
Kaplan’s AP European History (2012 or 2013 edition)
AP Achiever for European History
Perry Sources of the Western Tradition
McKay, History of Western Society
Summer reading assignment: A World Lit Only By Fire (Tentative)

Below are the Latin assignments (with the exception of AP Latin) for the week of August 29:

Latin I
Julius Caesar online
Memorize page 5, Grammar
Memorize vocabulary, page 7, Text
Ex. 2, 5, 11 in text
Read pages 9 and 10, text

Latin II
Julius Caesar online
Exercises 115, 127
Memorize first and second conjugations, text, pages 217--219
Grammar, pages 44-47, first and second conjugations

Latin III
Roman weddings online
Lessons I and II in Latin For Americans, translations
Henle, pages 480--483
Grammar: Know the endings of the five declensions

Below is the booklist for next year. With each reading list is the reading assignment for the summer. You’ll need to complete these assignments before classes begin.

The schedule for the fall is as follows:

Monday, August 15--Registration in the classrooms at Trinity Presbyterian Church from 5:30 until 7:00. You’ll receive a reminder from me in late July regarding this meeting. Fees for the fall semester must be paid in full by August 15. If you are unable to make the meeting, you may send the check in the mail to me. Again, I’ll send a reminder in late July.

Monday, August 22--Classes begin.

Classes will not meet on Labor Day, Monday, September 5.

Thanksgiving break will take place the week of Thanksgiving. Monday classes will meet that week to make up Labor Day.

Christmas break begins on December 15. Classes will resume on Monday, January 2.

This schedule allows for sixteen classes in the fall and eighteen in the spring.

The July note will also contain information regarding the church property, behavior in the classroom, and our goals for the year.

Have a grand and lovely summer.

Best wishes,
Mr. Minick







2011-Book List -2012

Below are the book lists by class for the coming academic year. Nearly all of these books may be ordered from Amazon or from second-hand dealers online for a fraction of their original cost. Others are Dover Books, which generally run under $3 per book.

Books with an ISBN must be ordered by that number. Books without an ISBN beside them may be ordered in any complete edition.

Please be sure to read all the pages below connected with your particular class. This book list will also be posted on ashevillelatinseminars.blogspot.com.

Books for Latin Seminars
Latin I
Henle Latin (0829410260)
Henle Grammar (978-0-8294-0112-7)
Workbook (provided in class: charge of approximately $10)

No summer assignment

Latin II
Same as Latin I

Summer assignment: Know the vocabulary list on pages 91--98 and pages 217--220 in Henle Latin. Review the declensions and conjugations learned in first-year Latin. We are more than three months away from our next class, so be sure to review this summer.

Latin III
Latin for Americans (provided in-class)
Wheelock’s Latin (provided in-class)
Latin Third and Fourth Years (O-87720-558-2; old number; author is Charles Freundlich. You may order either the workbook or the book).

Summer assignments: Memorize the vocabulary lists from Henle Latin: pages 91--98, 217--220, and 217--220. Review declensions and conjugations.

Advanced Placement Latin
Pharr’s Aeneid (9780865165847)
Aeneid Workbook (0865166145)
AP Virgil Workbook (0738607061)
Latin in Three and Four Years (see above)
Aeneid (English translation by Mandelbaum)

Summer assignment: Read Mandelbaum’s Aeneid in its entirety. Memorize the “pull-out” vocabulary list at the back of Pharr’s Aeneid. I’ll be mailing you this sheet as well.

Books for 3Rs I and II
3Rs I (11--13)
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation: Tenth Edition (ISBN 978-0-470-22268-3)
The Bible
Treasure Island (Stevenson)
Gift of the Magi (0-486-27061-0)
Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jameson (author: Lois Lenski)
Dear Mr. Henshaw (author: Beverly Cleary)
True Grit (Portis)
Animal Farm (Orwell)
Watership Down
Henry V
Various poems assigned from online sources

Summer reading assignment: Dear Mr. Henshaw

3Rs II (13--15)
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation: Tenth Edition (see ISBN above)
The Bible
The Yearling
Henry V (Shakespeare: any complete edition)
Lord of the Flies
To Kill A Mockingbird
Fahrenheit 451 (author: Ray Bradbury)
Till We Have Faces (author: C.S. Lewis)
Jane Eyre
Various poems from online sources

Books for US History and Literature
The American Pageant 0669108103 (Used. See below)*
Young Goodman Brown 0486270602
O Pioneers! 0486277852
Up From Slavery 0486287386
Killer Angels 0345348109
The Chosen (author: Chaim Potok)
Glass Menagerie (playwright: Tennessee Williams)
Poems and songs assigned from online sources (no purchase)
Education of a Wandering Man 0553286528
1776 (author: David McCullough)
With Love and Prayers (in-class: no need to purchase)

Summer reading assignment: Education of a Wandering Man (Louis L’Amour)

Books for AP Seminars
Note to AP students, particularly to those in literature: You must have the correct edition of the book. Several--the Norton Critical Editions--have important essays and notes at the end of the book. We use the books in class and must reference page numbers. You’ll slow the class down by using a different edition.
AP English Literature
Literature 0316488763 (Used. Must have this edition)
The Day I Became an Autodidact (author: Kendall Hailey)
The Four Loves (C.S. Lewis)
The Power and The Glory 0142437301
Wuthering Heights 0393978893 (must have this edition)
Crime and Punishment 9780393956238 (must have this edition)
The Great Gatsby 0743273567
The Sound and the Fury 0393964817 (must have this edition)
Franny and Zooey (author: J.D. Salinger)
Plays and poems (contained in our textbook, Literature)

Summer reading assignment: The Day I Became An Autodidact




AP Composition
Farnsworth’s Classical English Rhetoric (author: Ward Farnsworth)
Strunk and White’s Elements of Style
The Norton Book of Personal Essays (editor: Joseph Epstein)
Lost in the Cosmos (Percy)
My Early Life (Churchill)
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (Dillard)
An Education for Our Time (Bunting)
Mere Christianity (Lewis)
Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman (Feynman)

Summer reading assignment: Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman

AP U.S. History
A History of the American People (Paul Johnson)
Booknotes on American Character (ISBN 1-58648-342-0)
Kaplan AP U.S. History 2011

Summer reading assignment: Part one of Paul Johnson’s History of the American People “Colonial America, 1580--1750”

Seminar Schedule for 2010--2011

Monday
9:00--3Rs II
11:15--Latin II
1:15--U.S. History and Literature

Tuesday
9:00--3Rs I (tentative)
11:15--AP Latin
1:15--AP English Literature

Wednesday
9:00--3Rs I
11:15--Latin I
1:15--U.S. History and Literature
3:15--AP Composition

Thursday
9:00---AP U.S. History
11:15--Latin III
1:15--AP U.S. History