Reading plan

Great Books in a Year

A year of reading through Great Books of the Western World, using only the works in this library. The plan follows the order of the set, from Homer and the Greek tragedians through the philosophers, historians and Church Fathers, the medieval and Renaissance poets, the founders of modern science and politics, and the novelists and thinkers of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Long books take several days and some days are long, so treat the dates as a guide and catch up when you need to. Each day has one question to talk over together.

365 daily readings from 229 works (194 with the full text to read here), in the order of the Great Books volumes, from Homer to the twentieth century. Long books are spread over several days, one or more reader sections at a time. Each day has one discussion question from the work's own lessons and, where needed, a note for parents.

Your grade-level choice (in the header) hides readings outside that level; use "Show all grades" to see the whole year. Many Great Books are for high school and adults, so younger readers will see fewer days. Data: /api/great-books-year.json.

Today

With JavaScript on, today's reading appears here. Otherwise, find today's date in the months below.

Printable monthly lists

January · February · March · April · May · June · July · August · September · October · November · December

January printable list

January 1 · Day 1 · grades 9–12
The Iliad by Homer · part 1 of 2
Read: Book I to Book XIII
Talk about it: Is Achilles right to withdraw from battle?
Parent note: war violence
January 2 · Day 2 · grades 9–12
The Iliad by Homer · part 2 of 2
Read: Book XIV to Book XXIV
Talk about it: How does Achilles' grief manifest in his body and behaviour?
Parent note: war violence
January 3 · Day 3 · grades 9–12
The Odyssey by Homer · part 1 of 2
Read: Al Professore to Book XIII
Talk about it: Why must Odysseus return in disguise?
January 4 · Day 4 · grades 9–12
The Odyssey by Homer · part 2 of 2
Read: Book XIV to Book XXIV
Talk about it: Where does Odysseus's intelligence fail him?
January 5 · Day 5 · grades 10–12
Prometheus Bound and Other Plays by Aeschylus · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 2)
Talk about it: What does Pelasgus fear on each side of his decision?
January 6 · Day 6 · grades 10–12
Prometheus Bound and Other Plays by Aeschylus · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 3)
Talk about it: Why would an Athenian audience that had fought at Salamis watch a Persian lament?
January 7 · Day 7 · grades 9–12
The Oresteia by Aeschylus
Read: The House Of Atreus to Chorus Of Furies
Talk about it: What does the trial solve, and what does it leave unsettled?
Parent note: violence
January 8 · Day 8 · grades 10–12
Ajax, Electra, The Women of Trachis and Philoctetes by Sophocles · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 3)
Talk about it: Why does Odysseus pity Ajax when Athena invites him to laugh?
Parent note: Ajax's on-stage suicide, Heracles' agony and Philoctetes' wound need preview.
January 9 · Day 9 · grades 10–12
Ajax, Electra, The Women of Trachis and Philoctetes by Sophocles · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 4) to Full Text (part 6)
Talk about it: What images of change does Ajax use, and what do the chorus conclude from them?
Parent note: Ajax's on-stage suicide, Heracles' agony and Philoctetes' wound need preview.
January 10 · Day 10 · grades 9–12
Medea and Other Plays by Euripides · part 1 of 2
Read: Oxford University Press American Branch Introduction to The Voice
Talk about it: Where does Medea deliberate most clearly?
Parent note: violence: infanticide
January 11 · Day 11 · grades 9–12
Medea and Other Plays by Euripides · part 2 of 2
Read: Introduction to I. Tantalus
Talk about it: Which social rules trap Medea?
Parent note: violence: infanticide
January 12 · Day 12 · grades 9–12
The Theban Plays by Sophocles
Read: Oedipus The King Oedipus At Colonus Antigone Oedipus The King to A Watchman A Messenger A Second Messenger Antigone
Talk about it: Is Oedipus punished for ignorance or for pride?
Parent note: incest and suicide themes
January 13 · Day 13 · grades 11–12
The Trojan Women and Other Plays by Euripides · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 2)
Talk about it: Why does Euripides open with the gods planning the Greeks' destruction before we meet a single Greek?
Parent note: war grief; human sacrifice; revenge Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
January 14 · Day 14 · grades 11–12
The Trojan Women and Other Plays by Euripides · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 3) to Full Text (part 4)
Talk about it: Which speaker, Andromache or Hecuba, seems more persuasive in their exchange about death?
Parent note: war grief; human sacrifice; revenge Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
January 15 · Day 15 · grades 11–12
Lysistrata and Other Plays by Aristophanes · part 1 of 2
Read: Lysistrata to Dramatis Personae
Talk about it: Is Lysistrata a feminist play?
Parent note: bawdy sexual humor Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
January 16 · Day 16 · grades 11–12
Lysistrata and Other Plays by Aristophanes · part 2 of 2
Read: The Acharnians to Slave Of Lamachus
Talk about it: Is the portrait of Socrates fair?
Parent note: bawdy sexual humor Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
January 17 · Day 17 · grades 11–12
The Eleven Comedies by Aristophanes · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 7)
Talk about it: Why does the Sausage-seller defeat Paphlagon by being worse rather than better?
Parent note: Parent note: Old Comedy is frankly sexual and crude; for mature students in selection. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
January 18 · Day 18 · grades 11–12
The Eleven Comedies by Aristophanes · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 8) to Full Text (part 13)
Talk about it: What does each poet accuse the other of doing to Athens?
Parent note: Parent note: Old Comedy is frankly sexual and crude; for mature students in selection. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
January 19 · Day 19 · grades 11–12
The Bacchae and Other Plays by Euripides · part 1 of 2
Read: Introductory Note to Messenger
Talk about it: What exactly does Pentheus fear?
Parent note: violence: dismemberment Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
January 20 · Day 20 · grades 11–12
The Bacchae and Other Plays by Euripides · part 2 of 2
Read: The Trojan Women The Athenian Drama For English Readers to By The Same Author History Of Ancient Greek Literature.
Talk about it: Why does voyeurism matter to the plot?
Parent note: violence: dismemberment Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
January 21 · Day 21 · grades 11–12
Iphigenia in Aulis and Other Plays by Euripides · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 5)
Talk about it: Why does Iphigenia change her mind about dying?
Parent note: sacrifice and war violence; best with guidance Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
January 22 · Day 22 · grades 11–12
Iphigenia in Aulis and Other Plays by Euripides · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 6) to Full Text (part 9)
Talk about it: What arguments does Theseus use to keep Heracles from suicide?
Parent note: sacrifice and war violence; best with guidance Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
January 23 · Day 23 · grades 10–12
The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides · part 1 of 2
Read: Connop Thirlwall to Chapter XIV
Talk about it: How does the plague answer Pericles’ speech?
Parent note: long; best read in excerpts
January 24 · Day 24 · grades 10–12
The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides · part 2 of 2
Read: Book V to The End
Talk about it: Where do speakers redefine justice?
Parent note: long; best read in excerpts
January 25 · Day 25 · grades 9–12
The Histories by Herodotus · part 1 of 2
Read: In Two Volumes to Notes To Book I (part 3)
Talk about it: How does the Croesus story prefigure Xerxes'?
Parent note: long; best read in excerpts
January 26 · Day 26 · grades 9–12
The Histories by Herodotus · part 2 of 2
Read: Notes To Book II to Notes To Book III (part 3)
Talk about it: Where does Herodotus judge other peoples, and where does he suspend judgement?
Parent note: long; best read in excerpts
January 27 · Day 27 · grades 9–12
Charmides, Lysis and Laches by Plato · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 2)
Talk about it: Why does Socrates insist on giving the charm before the leaf, and what does that order say about soul and body?
January 28 · Day 28 · grades 9–12
Charmides, Lysis and Laches by Plato · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 3)
Talk about it: Why can't a 'knowledge of knowledge' tell a true physician from a quack?
January 29 · Day 29 · grades 9–12
Ion by Plato
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: Is Socrates right that a person who can judge the best poet on a subject must also be able to judge the worst?
January 30 · Day 30 · grades 9–12
The Last Days of Socrates by Plato · part 1 of 2
Read: The Dialogues Of Plato to Gorgias. Introduction.
Talk about it: Is Socrates genuinely ignorant, or ironic?
January 31 · Day 31 · grades 9–12
The Last Days of Socrates by Plato · part 2 of 2
Read: Gorgias. to Socrates. Eryxias. Erasistratus. Critias.
Talk about it: Are the Laws' arguments in the Crito convincing?

February printable list

February 1 · Day 32 · grades 10–12
Gorgias by Plato · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 2)
Talk about it: Is Gorgias right that a teacher of rhetoric is no more to blame for a pupil's misuse than a boxing instructor?
February 2 · Day 33 · grades 10–12
Gorgias by Plato · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 3) to Full Text (part 4)
Talk about it: Fill in Socrates' four pairs. Which modern practices would you place on the side of flattery, and why?
February 3 · Day 34 · grades 10–12
Meno by Plato
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: Why does Socrates reject Meno's list of the virtues of men, women and children?
February 4 · Day 35 · grades 11–12
The Symposium by Plato
Read: Symposium
Talk about it: What does each speaker think love lacks?
Parent note: sexual themes; best with guidance Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
February 5 · Day 36 · grades 10–12
Protagoras by Plato
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: Why does Socrates say buying knowledge is more dangerous than buying food and drink?
February 6 · Day 37 · grades 10–12
Euthydemus by Plato
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: In the argument that Ctesippus' dog is his father, which word changes meaning, and where?
February 7 · Day 38 · grades 10–12
The Republic by Plato · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to BOOK I.
Talk about it: Is the city-soul analogy persuasive?
Parent note: demanding philosophy; best with guidance
February 8 · Day 39 · grades 10–12
The Republic by Plato · part 2 of 2
Read: BOOK II. to BOOK X.
Talk about it: What should education censor, if anything?
Parent note: demanding philosophy; best with guidance
February 9 · Day 40 · grades 11–12
Cratylus by Plato · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 2)
Talk about it: What does the shuttle analogy explain well about language, and where does it break down?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
February 10 · Day 41 · grades 11–12
Cratylus by Plato · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 3) to Full Text (part 4)
Talk about it: Which of Socrates' etymologies seems most plausible to you, and which most fanciful? Why?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
February 11 · Day 42 · grades 11–12
Phaedrus and Letters VII and VIII by Plato
Read: Phaedrus
Talk about it: Which of the four kinds of divine madness have modern equivalents?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
February 12 · Day 43 · grades 12–12
Parmenides by Plato
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: Why might Plato have chosen to show Socrates being corrected rather than correcting others?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
February 13 · Day 44 · grades 11–12
Theaetetus by Plato · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 3)
Talk about it: Why does Socrates object that 'knowledge of shoemaking' is a circular answer?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
February 14 · Day 45 · grades 11–12
Theaetetus by Plato · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 4) to Full Text (part 5)
Talk about it: In what ways does Socrates say his art is like a midwife's, and in what ways different?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
February 15 · Day 46 · grades 12–12
Sophist by Plato · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 2)
Talk about it: Why does the Stranger practise on the angler before hunting the sophist?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
February 16 · Day 47 · grades 12–12
Sophist by Plato · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 3)
Talk about it: Why does the Stranger say that even the Great King, if never refuted, is in a state of impurity?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
February 17 · Day 48 · grades 10–12
Timaeus by Plato · part 1 of 2
Read: Introduction And Analysis. to Timaeus Introduction And Analysis. (part 3)
Talk about it: Where does Timaeus reward patient attention?
Parent note: demanding philosophy; best with guidance
February 18 · Day 49 · grades 10–12
Timaeus by Plato · part 2 of 2
Read: Timaeus.
Talk about it: What kind of disorder is most dangerous in Timaeus?
Parent note: demanding philosophy; best with guidance
February 19 · Day 50 · grades 11–12
Statesman by Plato · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 2)
Talk about it: Why does the Stranger reject number, wealth, consent and law as the defining marks of good government?
Parent note: Abstract method of division; Jowett's prose. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
February 20 · Day 51 · grades 11–12
Statesman by Plato · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 3)
Talk about it: What is wrong with law, according to the Stranger, and why should cities keep it anyway?
Parent note: Abstract method of division; Jowett's prose. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
February 21 · Day 52 · grades 9–12
Critias by Plato
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: Is Critias right that we are stricter judges of stories about people than about gods or the cosmos? Why?
February 22 · Day 53 · grades 12–12
Philebus by Plato · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 2)
Talk about it: Why does Protarchus reject the life of pleasure without mind once he considers it carefully?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
February 23 · Day 54 · grades 12–12
Philebus by Plato · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 3)
Talk about it: Name the four kinds Socrates distinguishes and give an example of each from the text.
Parent note: Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
February 24 · Day 55 · grades 11–12
Laws by Plato · part 1 of 2
Read: Introduction and Analysis to Book II
Talk about it: Why does the Athenian rank wisdom first and courage last among the virtues?
Parent note: Very long dialogue; Jowett's Victorian prose. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
February 25 · Day 56 · grades 11–12
Laws by Plato · part 2 of 2
Read: Book III to Book XII
Talk about it: What does the free doctor do that the slave doctor does not?
Parent note: Very long dialogue; Jowett's Victorian prose. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
February 26 · Day 57 · grades 11–12
Posterior Analytics and Physics by Aristotle · part 1 of 2
Read: Posterior Analytics to BOOK III. 5 a °5 a be moved ; or it will be moved everywhere — then it will not come to rest. 1
Talk about it: What is the difference between knowing the fact and knowing the reasoned fact in the example of the planets that do not twinkle?
Parent note: Dense technical philosophy; Oxford translation. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
February 27 · Day 58 · grades 11–12
Posterior Analytics and Physics by Aristotle · part 2 of 2
Read: BOOK IV. 3 aio a to BOOK VIII. 8 a 64 b
Talk about it: How does the image of a routed army rallying describe the way the mind grasps a universal?
Parent note: Dense technical philosophy; Oxford translation. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
February 28 · Day 59 · grades 10–12
De Anima by Aristotle
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Where does De Anima reward patient attention?
Parent note: demanding philosophy; best with guidance

March printable list

March 1 · Day 60 · grades 10–12
Categories by Aristotle
Read: Opening to Part 15
Talk about it: Why does Aristotle say that if primary substances did not exist, nothing else could exist?
March 2 · Day 61 · grades 11–12
On Interpretation, Prior Analytics, Topics and Sophistical Refutations by Aristotle · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to Part 3
Talk about it: Why does Aristotle say a prayer is a sentence but not a statement?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 3 · Day 62 · grades 11–12
On Interpretation, Prior Analytics, Topics and Sophistical Refutations by Aristotle · part 2 of 2
Read: Part 4 to Part 34
Talk about it: Restate the sea-fight argument in your own words.
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 4 · Day 63 · grades 11–12
On the Heavens by Aristotle · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to Part 9
Talk about it: Why does Aristotle think the eclipse shadow tells us about the earth rather than about the moon?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 5 · Day 64 · grades 11–12
On the Heavens by Aristotle · part 2 of 2
Read: Part 10 to Part 6
Talk about it: What example does Aristotle give of a small initial error with large consequences?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 6 · Day 65 · grades 11–12
On Generation and Corruption by Aristotle
Read: Opening to Part 11
Talk about it: Which of these is alteration and which generation in Aristotle's terms: a green apple ripening, wood burning, ice melting?
Parent note: Technical and abstract; best taught in excerpts alongside the Physics and a chemistry course. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 7 · Day 66 · grades 12–12
Metaphysics by Aristotle · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to Part 13 "
Talk about it: What ladder does Aristotle trace from sensation to wisdom in Book I, Parts 1–2?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
March 8 · Day 67 · grades 12–12
Metaphysics by Aristotle · part 2 of 2
Read: Part 14 " to Part 6 "
Talk about it: Why does Aristotle refuse to demonstrate the principle of non-contradiction directly?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
March 9 · Day 68 · grades 11–12
Meteorology by Aristotle · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to Part 6
Talk about it: Why does Aristotle reject 'the sweat of the earth' as a theory while allowing it as poetry?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 10 · Day 69 · grades 11–12
Meteorology by Aristotle · part 2 of 2
Read: Part 7 to Part 12
Talk about it: What evidence does Aristotle give that Egypt was formed by the Nile?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 11 · Day 70 · grades 11–12
Parva Naturalia (Short Treatises on Nature) by Aristotle · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to Part 3
Talk about it: What is the difference between remembering and recollecting in On Memory, Parts 1-2?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 12 · Day 71 · grades 11–12
Parva Naturalia (Short Treatises on Nature) by Aristotle · part 2 of 2
Read: Part 1 to Part 27
Talk about it: What examples does Aristotle give of emotion distorting perception?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 13 · Day 72 · grades 11–12
Politics by Aristotle · part 1 of 2
Read: A Treatise On Government to Chapter XI
Talk about it: Where does Politics reward patient attention?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 14 · Day 73 · grades 11–12
Politics by Aristotle · part 2 of 2
Read: Chapter XII to Index
Talk about it: What kind of disorder is most dangerous in Politics?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 15 · Day 74 · grades 10–12
Rhetoric by Aristotle · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to Part 8
Talk about it: Why does Aristotle complain that the earlier handbooks said 'nothing about enthymemes'?
Parent note: Start with Book II (emotions) and Book III (style); select from Book I's topics.
March 16 · Day 75 · grades 10–12
Rhetoric by Aristotle · part 2 of 2
Read: Part 9 to Part 19
Talk about it: How can practising both sides of a debate serve truth rather than relativism?
Parent note: Start with Book II (emotions) and Book III (style); select from Book I's topics.
March 17 · Day 76 · grades 11–12
The Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle · part 1 of 2
Read: Introduction to Chapter VII.
Talk about it: How does habit change responsibility?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 18 · Day 77 · grades 11–12
The Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle · part 2 of 2
Read: Chapter VIII. to Notes Book I
Talk about it: How does eudaimonia differ from feeling happy?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 19 · Day 78 · grades 10–12
History of Animals by Aristotle · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to CHAPTER XVII.
Talk about it: Why does Aristotle collect differences among animals before seeking their causes?
Parent note: Includes frank descriptions of animal reproduction.
March 20 · Day 79 · grades 10–12
History of Animals by Aristotle · part 2 of 2
Read: CHAPTER XVIII. to CHAPTER VII.
Talk about it: What reason does Aristotle give for describing the human body first?
Parent note: Includes frank descriptions of animal reproduction.
March 21 · Day 80 · grades 11–12
Parts of Animals by Aristotle · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to Part 4
Talk about it: Why does Aristotle say a picture of an animal can please us more easily than the animal itself?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 22 · Day 81 · grades 11–12
Parts of Animals by Aristotle · part 2 of 2
Read: Part 5 to Part 14
Talk about it: Explain the house analogy for final causes in your own words.
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 23 · Day 82 · grades 11–12
On the Motion and Gait of Animals by Aristotle
Read: Opening to Part 19
Talk about it: Why can a man move a boat by poling from the bank but not by pushing on the mast while standing in it?
Parent note: Short but compressed; assumes the Physics and De Anima, and the Gait relies on lost diagrams. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 24 · Day 83 · grades 10–12
Poetics by Aristotle
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: Why does Aristotle say a tragedy can exist without character but not without action?
March 25 · Day 84 · grades 11–12
Generation of Animals by Aristotle · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to Book III. 1
Talk about it: Find two places where Aristotle says the evidence is not yet adequate. What does he do next?
Parent note: A treatise on reproduction; some views on sex are mistaken. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 26 · Day 85 · grades 11–12
Generation of Animals by Aristotle · part 2 of 2
Read: Book IV. 1 to Book V. 1
Talk about it: What does the carpenter analogy say about whether anything material passes from father to child?
Parent note: A treatise on reproduction; some views on sex are mistaken. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
March 27 · Day 86 · grades 10–12
The Athenian Constitution by Aristotle (attributed)
Read: Opening to Part 69
Talk about it: Why did both the rich and the poor turn against Solon after his reforms?
Parent note: Compact constitutional history; Greek terms.
March 28 · Day 87 · grades Adult/Advanced
Hippocratic Writings by Hippocrates · part 1 of 2
Read: New York. to On Regimen In Acute Diseases.
Talk about it: What counts as evidence in the case histories?
Parent note: research text Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.
March 29 · Day 88 · grades Adult/Advanced
Hippocratic Writings by Hippocrates · part 2 of 2
Read: Appendix To The Work On Regimen In Acute Diseases. The Argument. to Footnotes (part 3)
Talk about it: How does On the Sacred Disease change the moral status of illness?
Parent note: research text Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.
March 30 · Day 89 · grades Adult/Advanced
Galen: Selected Works by Galen · part 1 of 2
Read: A. J. B. to B I
Talk about it: Where does method clarify observation?
Parent note: research text Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.
March 31 · Day 90 · grades Adult/Advanced
Galen: Selected Works by Galen · part 2 of 2
Read: G I to Index And Glossary
Talk about it: How should a field honor founders without becoming captive to them?
Parent note: research text Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.

April printable list

April 1 · Day 91 · grades 8–12
Elements, Book I by Euclid
Read: Book I: Theory of Angles, Triangles, Parallel Lines, and
Talk about it: Which postulate and which axiom does Proposition 1 use, and where?
Parent note: Propositions with proofs; best read with diagrams.
April 2 · Day 92 · grades 8–12
Elements, Books I-VI by Euclid · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to BOOK III. THEORY OF THE CIRCLE
Talk about it: In I.1, which postulate justifies drawing each circle, and which axiom proves the triangle equilateral?
April 3 · Day 93 · grades 8–12
Elements, Books I-VI by Euclid · part 2 of 2
Read: BOOK IV. INSCRIPTION AND CIRCUMSCRIPTION OF TRIANGLES to BOOK XI.
Talk about it: Why might Euclid have delayed using this axiom for twenty-eight propositions?
April 4 · Day 94 · grades 11–12
The Method (Geometrical Solutions Derived from Mechanics) by Archimedes
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: Why does Archimedes say his mechanical argument indicates the result without proving it?
Parent note: Geometric proofs; needs strong mathematics. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
April 5 · Day 95 · grades 8–12
Introduction to Arithmetic by Nicomachus of Gerasa
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Restate Nicomachus's fourfold division in your own words. Where would modern subjects such as statistics or physics fit?
April 6 · Day 96 · grades 11–12
On the Nature of the Universe by Lucretius · part 1 of 2
Read: Book I to The Senses And Mental Pictures
Talk about it: Does natural explanation comfort or chill?
Parent note: materialist philosophy; best with guidance Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
April 7 · Day 97 · grades 11–12
On the Nature of the Universe by Lucretius · part 2 of 2
Read: Some Vital Functions to The Plague Athens
Talk about it: Is Lucretius fair to love?
Parent note: materialist philosophy; best with guidance Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
April 8 · Day 98 · grades 9–12
Discourses (selection) and Encheiridion by Epictetus · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 2)
Talk about it: Why does Epictetus put the body on the list of things not in our power?
April 9 · Day 99 · grades 9–12
Discourses (selection) and Encheiridion by Epictetus · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 3) to Full Text (part 4)
Talk about it: How does the example of Socrates support the claim about death?
April 10 · Day 100 · grades 10–12
The Discourses by Epictetus · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to Chapter 1. Of finery in dress
Talk about it: In I.1 Epictetus says the will cannot be fettered. What does he mean, and is it true of every kind of pressure?
April 11 · Day 101 · grades 10–12
The Discourses by Epictetus · part 2 of 2
Read: Chapter 2 to Chapter 13. Against or to those who readily tell their own affairs
Talk about it: Why does Epictetus say a single outburst of anger is more than a single defeat?
April 12 · Day 102 · grades 9–12
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius · part 1 of 2
Read: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus The Roman Emperor His First Book to The Eighth Book
Talk about it: Is it always possible to remove the judgment 'I have been harmed'?
April 13 · Day 103 · grades 9–12
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius · part 2 of 2
Read: The Ninth Book to Glossary
Talk about it: What temptations of power does Marcus guard against?
April 14 · Day 104 · grades 11–12
Enneads by Plotinus · part 1 of 2
Read: The Six Enneads to Fourth Tractate.
Talk about it: Where does Enneads reward patient attention?
Parent note: hard philosophy; best in excerpts Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
April 15 · Day 105 · grades 11–12
Enneads by Plotinus · part 2 of 2
Read: Fifth Tractate. to The End.
Talk about it: What kind of disorder is most dangerous in Enneads?
Parent note: hard philosophy; best in excerpts Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
April 16 · Day 106 · grades 9–12
Eclogues and Georgics by Virgil
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: How does Tityrus explain his good fortune? What does Meliboeus's reply suggest about it?
April 17 · Day 107 · grades 9–12
The Aeneid by Virgil · part 1 of 2
Read: Book I to Book VII
Talk about it: Whose suffering does Roman destiny require?
Parent note: war violence
April 18 · Day 108 · grades 9–12
The Aeneid by Virgil · part 2 of 2
Read: Book VIII to Book XII
Talk about it: When is Aeneas most admirable?
Parent note: war violence
April 19 · Day 109 · grades 9–12
Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans by Plutarch · part 1 of 3
Read: Theseus to Philopoemen
Talk about it: Why does Plutarch think a jest can reveal more than a battle?
April 20 · Day 110 · grades 9–12
Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans by Plutarch · part 2 of 3
Read: Flamininus to Caesar
Talk about it: Choose one Comparison. Do you agree with Plutarch’s verdict?
April 21 · Day 111 · grades 9–12
Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans by Plutarch · part 3 of 3
Read: Phocion to Otho
Talk about it: Which Life shows most clearly a gift undone by a passion?
April 22 · Day 112 · grades 10–12
The Histories by Tacitus · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to BOOK III. ANTONIUS' ADVANCE
Talk about it: Why does Tacitus call the army's discovery a secret of state?
Parent note: Civil-war narrative with political violence; Fyfe translation.
April 23 · Day 113 · grades 10–12
The Histories by Tacitus · part 2 of 2
Read: BOOK IV. ROME AFTER THE FALL OF VITELLIUS to BOOK V. THE CONQUEST OF JUDAEA
Talk about it: Which of the four emperors does Tacitus judge most harshly, and on what evidence?
Parent note: Civil-war narrative with political violence; Fyfe translation.
April 24 · Day 114 · grades 11–12
The Annals of Imperial Rome by Tacitus · part 1 of 2
Read: Contents Introduction to Book III
Talk about it: Where do characters speak in code?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
April 25 · Day 115 · grades 11–12
The Annals of Imperial Rome by Tacitus · part 2 of 2
Read: Book IV to Book VI
Talk about it: Which private relationships become political?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
April 26 · Day 116 · grades 11–12
Almagest by Claudius Ptolemy
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Why does Ptolemy show that the eccentric and the epicycle give the same motion of the Sun?
Parent note: Summary and guide only; no text stored. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
April 27 · Day 117 · grades 11–12
On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres by Nicolaus Copernicus
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: How does the motion of the earth explain why Mars sometimes appears to move backward against the stars?
Parent note: Summary and guide only; no text stored. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
April 28 · Day 118 · grades 11–12
New Astronomy and The Harmony of the World by Johannes Kepler
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Why did Kepler trust Tycho's data over his own elegant model?
Parent note: Summary and guide only; no text stored. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
April 29 · Day 119 · grades 11–12
Epitome of Copernican Astronomy by Johannes Kepler
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: What does the question-and-answer form allow Kepler to do that a continuous treatise would not?
Parent note: Needs plane geometry and ratios; Book V suits students who know conic sections. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
April 30 · Day 120 · grades 10–12
Confessions by Augustine of Hippo · part 1 of 2
Read: Book I to Book IX
Talk about it: Why does Augustine pray 'give me chastity, but not yet'?
Parent note: demanding; best with guidance

May printable list

May 1 · Day 121 · grades 10–12
Confessions by Augustine of Hippo · part 2 of 2
Read: Book X to Gratias Tibi Domine
Talk about it: How does Augustine's grief for his friend differ from his grief for Monica?
Parent note: demanding; best with guidance
May 2 · Day 122 · grades 11–12
On Christian Doctrine by Augustine of Hippo · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to Chapter 3.--How Pronunciation Serves to Remove Ambiguity. Different
Talk about it: Why does Augustine compare our life to travellers returning to their homeland?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 3 · Day 123 · grades 11–12
On Christian Doctrine by Augustine of Hippo · part 2 of 2
Read: Chapter 4.--How Ambiguities May Be Solved. to Chapter 31.--Apology for the Length of the Work.
Talk about it: Why is a loving misreading not a lie, according to Augustine?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 4 · Day 124 · grades 11–12
City of God by Augustine of Hippo · part 1 of 3
Read: He Rebukes The Shamelessness Of Those Who Cast Up To The to In This Book Augustine Teaches That The Good Angels Wish God
Talk about it: Does this comfort or excuse political loss?
Parent note: long; best read in excerpts Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 5 · Day 125 · grades 11–12
City of God by Augustine of Hippo · part 2 of 3
Read: BOOK ELEVENTH. ARGUMENT. to In This Book The History Of The City Of God Is Traced During The
Talk about it: What does a society’s love reveal?
Parent note: long; best read in excerpts Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 6 · Day 126 · grades 11–12
City of God by Augustine of Hippo · part 3 of 3
Read: Augustine Traces The Parallel Courses Of The Earthly And Heavenly to Edited By The
Talk about it: How does Augustine define moral injury?
Parent note: long; best read in excerpts Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 7 · Day 127 · grades 11–12
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri · part 1 of 2
Read: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Inferno to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Purgatorio (part 2)
Talk about it: Where does The Divine Comedy reward patient attention?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 8 · Day 128 · grades 11–12
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri · part 2 of 2
Read: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Purgatorio (part 3) to Appendix
Talk about it: What kind of disorder is most dangerous in The Divine Comedy?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 9 · Day 129 · grades 11–12
Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer · part 1 of 2
Read: Troilus And Criseyde to BOOK III. Incipit prohemium tercii libri.
Talk about it: How does Troilus's body reveal love before he can speak it?
Parent note: sexual content; Middle English Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 10 · Day 130 · grades 11–12
Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer · part 2 of 2
Read: BOOK IV. Incipit Prohemium Liber Quartus. to BOOK V. Incipit Liber Quintus.
Talk about it: Is Pandarus comic, predatory or both?
Parent note: sexual content; Middle English Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 11 · Day 131 · grades 9–12
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer · part 1 of 2
Read: Preface to The Clerk’s Tale
Talk about it: Which pilgrims live up to their callings, and which do not?
Parent note: bawdy tales; use selections
May 12 · Day 132 · grades 9–12
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer · part 2 of 2
Read: The Merchant’s Tale to End of the Tales
Talk about it: Why does Arcite die despite winning?
Parent note: bawdy tales; use selections
May 13 · Day 133 · grades 11–12
Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin · part 1 of 3
Read: Opening to CHAPTER 15.
Talk about it: Why does Calvin say it is hard to decide which of the two kinds of knowledge comes first?
Parent note: long systematic theology; read in selected chapters Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 14 · Day 134 · grades 11–12
Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin · part 2 of 3
Read: CHAPTER 16. to CHAPTER 25. OF THE LAST RESURRECTION.
Talk about it: What evidence from Genesis does Calvin give for his claim about the human mind?
Parent note: long systematic theology; read in selected chapters Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 15 · Day 135 · grades 11–12
Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin · part 3 of 3
Read: BOOK FOURTH. OF THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH to CHAPTER 20. OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
Talk about it: What does Calvin conclude from the claim that we belong to God rather than to ourselves?
Parent note: long systematic theology; read in selected chapters Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 16 · Day 136 · grades 11–12
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli · part 1 of 2
Read: The Man And His Works Dedication The Prince to Concerning The Way In Which Princes Should Keep Faith
Talk about it: Is Machiavelli rejecting morality or redefining what political goodness is?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 17 · Day 137 · grades 11–12
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli · part 2 of 2
Read: That One Should Avoid Being Despised And Hated to The Life Of Castruccio Castracani Of Lucca Written By Nicolo Machiavelli
Talk about it: Why does the order and timing of harms and benefits change how they are felt?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 18 · Day 138 · grades 11–12
Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes · part 1 of 2
Read: Ecclesiastical And Civill to A Common-Wealth
Talk about it: Is Hobbes's state of nature a historical claim, a thought experiment, or a description of civil war?
Parent note: best read in excerpts Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 19 · Day 139 · grades 11–12
Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes · part 2 of 2
Read: Of A Christian Common-Wealth to To Whom It Accreweth
Talk about it: How does Hobbes link individual madness with the 'roaring' of a seditious multitude?
Parent note: best read in excerpts Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 20 · Day 140 · grades 11–12
Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to Chapter 3.XXIV. How Panurge consulteth with Epistemon.
Talk about it: What does Gargantua learn from the sophisters, and why does it make him worse?
Parent note: Mature content: bawdy and scatological humour. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 21 · Day 141 · grades 11–12
Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais · part 2 of 2
Read: Chapter 3.XXV. How Panurge consulteth with Herr Trippa. to Chapter 5.XLVII.
Talk about it: How do Picrochole's counsellors feed his ambition in the council scene?
Parent note: Mature content: bawdy and scatological humour. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 22 · Day 142 · grades 11–12
The Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 3)
Talk about it: Pick one claim from Folly's praise of self-love and decide whether Erasmus means it straight, ironically, or both ways.
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 23 · Day 143 · grades 11–12
Essays by Michel de Montaigne · part 1 of 3
Read: The Life Of Montaigne to A Custom Of The Isle Of Cea
Talk about it: Why does Montaigne think a private life is as instructive as a public one?
Parent note: frank content; best in selections Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 24 · Day 144 · grades 11–12
Essays by Michel de Montaigne · part 2 of 3
Read: Chapter IV to CHAPTER XXXVII. OF THE RESEMBLANCE OF CHILDREN TO THEIR FATHERS
Talk about it: How does 'Of Cannibals' reverse the meaning of the word barbarous?
Parent note: frank content; best in selections Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 25 · Day 145 · grades 11–12
Essays by Michel de Montaigne · part 3 of 3
Read: CHAPTER I. OF PROFIT AND HONESTY to CHAPTER XIII. OF EXPERIENCE (part 2)
Talk about it: What experiences might explain Montaigne's change of mind about preparing for death?
Parent note: frank content; best in selections Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
May 26 · Day 146 · grades 9–12
The Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. Milan. An abbey
Talk about it: Trace Proteus's steps from the soliloquy in 2.6 to the forest in 5.4. At which point could he most easily have turned back?
May 27 · Day 147 · grades 10–12
Henry VI, Part 1 by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. London. The Palace.
Talk about it: Read York's and Somerset's speeches in Act 4, Scenes 3 and 4. Which of them has the better case, and does it matter?
May 28 · Day 148 · grades 10–12
Henry VI, Part 2 by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. Fields between Dartford and Blackheath
Talk about it: What evidence does Gloucester give for his innocence in Act 3, Scene 1, and why does it not save him?
May 29 · Day 149 · grades 10–12
Henry VI, Part 3 by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. Coventry
Talk about it: Examine Richard's argument in Act 1, Scene 2. Is it sound? What would follow if it were true?
May 30 · Day 150 · grades 9–12
Love's Labour's Lost by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. The King of Navarre’s park
Talk about it: What does the King hope to gain by the academe, according to his opening speech about fame and "cormorant devouring time"?
Parent note: Dense wordplay and Latin tags; use a glossed edition and read the comic scenes aloud.
May 31 · Day 151 · grades 10–12
Richard II by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. London. A street leading to the Tower.
Talk about it: Gaunt refuses to avenge Gloucester and leaves the quarrel to heaven. Is that patience, piety or a failure of justice?

June printable list

June 1 · Day 152 · grades 10–12
King John by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. Northampton. A Room in the Palace.
Talk about it: What exactly has France given up at Angiers, and what has it gained?
June 2 · Day 153 · grades 10–12
Henry IV, Part 2 by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. Gloucestershire. Shallow’s house.
Talk about it: Why does Hal keep the Chief Justice who once imprisoned him, and what does this say about the kind of king he intends to be?
Parent note: Read after Part 1; tavern scenes contain bawdy talk and Doll Tearsheet is a prostitute.
June 3 · Day 154 · grades 9–12
The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. A room in the Garter Inn
Talk about it: Why do the wives choose tricks rather than simply telling their husbands at once?
Parent note: Bawdy puns, talk of adultery and Ford's beating of the disguised Falstaff; preview Act IV, Sc. I.
June 4 · Day 155 · grades 10–12
On the Magnet (De Magnete) by William Gilbert · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to BOOK FOURTH. _CHAP. I._
Talk about it: How does Gilbert treat the authorities he reviews in Book I?
Parent note: Elizabethan science in translation; many experiments.
June 5 · Day 156 · grades 10–12
On the Magnet (De Magnete) by William Gilbert · part 2 of 2
Read: BOOK FIFTH. _CHAP. I._ to BOOK SIXTH. _CHAP. I._ (part 4)
Talk about it: What differences does Gilbert find between the attraction of amber and the attraction of a loadstone?
Parent note: Elizabethan science in translation; many experiments.
June 6 · Day 157 · grades 10–12
Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. The woods. Before Timon’s cave
Talk about it: List three gifts Timon gives in Act 1. Which were wise, and which were not?
June 7 · Day 158 · grades 10–12
Coriolanus by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. Rome. A public place
Talk about it: What is true in the belly's answer, and what does it leave out?
June 8 · Day 159 · grades 10–12
Pericles, Prince of Tyre by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. Enter Gower.
Talk about it: Which of Pericles' sufferings come from human wickedness and which from storm and chance? Does the play distinguish them?
Parent note: The brothel scenes of Act IV need teacher guidance; the quarto text is corrupt in places.
June 9 · Day 160 · grades 10–12
Galileo: The Starry Messenger, Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina, and Two New Sciences (First Day) by Galileo Galilei · part 1 of 2
Read: The Starry Messenger (1610) to Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina (1615)
Talk about it: Why does Galileo give the date and hour of so many observations of Jupiter?
Parent note: Varied: observation report, letter, dialogue.
June 10 · Day 161 · grades 10–12
Galileo: The Starry Messenger, Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina, and Two New Sciences (First Day) by Galileo Galilei · part 2 of 2
Read: Two New Sciences: First Day (1638) to Two New Sciences: First Day (1638) (part 3)
Talk about it: How does Galileo use Augustine to support caution in interpreting Scripture on natural questions?
Parent note: Varied: observation report, letter, dialogue.
June 11 · Day 162 · grades 11–12
Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences (Second to Fourth Days) by Galileo Galilei · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 2)
Talk about it: Using Salviati's reasoning, explain why 'a small dog could probably carry on his back two or three dogs of his own size'.
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
June 12 · Day 163 · grades 11–12
Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences (Second to Fourth Days) by Galileo Galilei · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 3) to Full Text (part 4)
Talk about it: What theories of the cause of acceleration does Salviati list, and why does he say examining them 'is not really worth while'?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
June 13 · Day 164 · grades 10–12
Cymbeline by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. Britain. The Roman camp.
Talk about it: What exactly does Iachimo see in Imogen's bedchamber, and what does he claim it proves?
June 14 · Day 165 · grades 9–12
The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. Sicilia. A Room in the palace of Leontes.
Talk about it: What, if anything, in Act 1, Scene 2 prompts Leontes' suspicion? Track the moment it begins.
June 15 · Day 166 · grades 10–12
Henry VIII by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. A gallery in the palace.
Talk about it: Wolsey says the king 'has cured me' by taking his offices. Is he being ironic, sincere, or both?
Parent note: Teach with a 1520-1533 timeline; the play compresses events. Mild verbal innuendo.
June 16 · Day 167 · grades 10–12
On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals (De Motu Cordis) by William Harvey
Read: Introduction to Chapter XVII: the Motion and Circulation of the Blood Are Confirmed From the
Talk about it: Why does Harvey deliberately choose low estimates for the amount of blood expelled at each beat?
Parent note: Short, clear experimental argument; dissection detail.
June 17 · Day 168 · grades 11–12
The Works of William Harvey by William Harvey · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to CHAPTER XVII. (part 5)
Talk about it: Reconstruct Harvey's calculation in Chapter IX with modern figures for heart rate and stroke volume. Does his conclusion survive?
Parent note: Describes vivisection, dissection, childbirth and an autopsy; preview for younger students. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
June 18 · Day 169 · grades 11–12
The Works of William Harvey by William Harvey · part 2 of 2
Read: CHAPTER XVII. (part 6) to C. AND J. ADLARD, PRINTERS,. BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE.
Talk about it: How does Harvey show respect for Galen and Aristotle while disagreeing with them?
Parent note: Describes vivisection, dissection, childbirth and an autopsy; preview for younger students. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
June 19 · Day 170 · grades 11–12
Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. Plains near Rome
Talk about it: Tamora calls the sacrifice cruel, irreligious piety. Is her charge fair, given what she later does?
Parent note: Extreme violence, including rape and mutilation; for mature students. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
June 20 · Day 171 · grades 11–12
Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. The Grecian camp. Before the tent of Achilles.
Talk about it: Which side of the Hector-Troilus debate does the rest of the play support?
Parent note: Coarse language and sexual themes; for mature students. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
June 21 · Day 172 · grades 11–12
All's Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. Marseilles. A street.
Talk about it: Summarise the King's argument in Act 2, Scene 3. Which of his claims is strongest?
Parent note: Sexual themes, including a bed trick; for mature students. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
June 22 · Day 173 · grades 11–12
Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. A public place near the city gate.
Talk about it: Why does Isabella begin by saying she wishes her brother's vice punished? Is that a tactic or a conviction?
Parent note: Sexual coercion is central to the plot; for mature students. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
June 23 · Day 174 · grades 10–12
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes · part 1 of 3
Read: Contents Volume I Introduction Prefaratory Cervantes to Matters Pleasant And Amusing
Talk about it: What modern media might produce a Don Quixote today?
Parent note: long; often read abridged or in excerpts
June 24 · Day 175 · grades 10–12
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes · part 2 of 3
Read: Which Treats Of The Heroic And Prodigious Battle Don Quixote Had With to Cause This Adventure To Be Deemed Apocryphal
Talk about it: How does Sancho change by Part Two?
Parent note: long; often read abridged or in excerpts
June 25 · Day 176 · grades 10–12
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes · part 3 of 3
Read: Necessary To The Right Understanding Of This Great History to CHAPTER LXXIV. p74a.jpg (96K)
Talk about it: Are readers implicated in the Duke and Duchess's laughter?
Parent note: long; often read abridged or in excerpts
June 26 · Day 177 · grades 11–12
Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I. Caesar’s Camp before Alexandria.
Talk about it: Pick one Roman scene and one Egyptian scene. List the words each uses for what matters most.
Parent note: Sensuality and suicide; for mature students. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
June 27 · Day 178 · grades 10–12
The Advancement of Learning by Francis Bacon · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 3)
Talk about it: Why does Bacon say that pretending God works without second causes is offering 'the unclean sacrifice of a lie'?
Parent note: Jacobean prose thick with Latin tags; Book I and chosen chapters of Book II teach well.
June 28 · Day 179 · grades 10–12
The Advancement of Learning by Francis Bacon · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 4) to Full Text (part 6)
Talk about it: What historical causes does Bacon give for the rise of 'delicate learning' after Luther?
Parent note: Jacobean prose thick with Latin tags; Book I and chosen chapters of Book II teach well.
June 29 · Day 180 · grades 11–12
Novum Organum by Francis Bacon · part 1 of 2
Read: Novum Organum By Lord Bacon to Aphorisms--Book II
Talk about it: Which idol best describes how a new psychiatric diagnosis or drug class can become fashionable?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
June 30 · Day 181 · grades 11–12
Novum Organum by Francis Bacon · part 2 of 2
Read: Aphorisms--Book II (part 2) to Footnotes
Talk about it: Why does Bacon build a 'table of absence in proximity' rather than only a table of presence?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.

July printable list

July 1 · Day 182 · grades 9–12
New Atlantis by Francis Bacon
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: Why does Bacon give a member of Salomon's House, not a priest, the task of declaring the pillar a true miracle?
July 2 · Day 183 · grades 11–12
Rules for the Direction of the Mind by Rene Descartes
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Why does Descartes reject the comparison between the sciences and the arts of the hand?
Parent note: Rules I-XII suit a logic course; Rules XIII-XXI assume algebra and some geometry. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
July 3 · Day 184 · grades 11–12
Discourse on Method by Rene Descartes
Read: And Seeking Truth In The Sciences to Part VI
Talk about it: Is it possible to doubt everything at once, or only one belief at a time?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
July 4 · Day 185 · grades 11–12
The Geometry by Rene Descartes
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Draw Descartes's construction for the product of two segments using a unit length and similar triangles. Why does the result have to be a line?
Parent note: Needs Euclid Book I and algebra through quadratics; Book III suits precalculus students. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
July 5 · Day 186 · grades 11–12
Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Why does Descartes reject the comparison with madmen but accept the dream argument?
Parent note: demanding philosophy; best with guidance Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
July 6 · Day 187 · grades 11–12
Six Metaphysical Meditations, with Hobbes's Objections and the Replies by Rene Descartes
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: Why does the meditator say his doubt concerns speculation and not the conduct of life, and is that limit consistent?
Parent note: 1680 spelling and heavy italics; gloss terms such as 'nilling' and 'objective reality'. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
July 7 · Day 188 · grades Adult/Advanced
Ethics by Baruch Spinoza · part 1 of 2
Read: On The Nature And Origin Of The Mind Preface to Definitions Of The Emotions
Talk about it: Does naming and explaining an emotion really reduce its power, in your experience?
Parent note: hard philosophy Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.
July 8 · Day 189 · grades Adult/Advanced
Ethics by Baruch Spinoza · part 2 of 2
Read: General Definition Of The Emotions to Preface
Talk about it: What is gained and lost when emotions are studied without blame?
Parent note: hard philosophy Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.
July 9 · Day 190 · grades 11–12
Areopagitica by John Milton
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: What does Milton mean by a fugitive and cloistered virtue, and why will he not praise it?
Parent note: Milton's ornate 17th-century prose. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
July 10 · Day 191 · grades 10–12
The Shorter Poems and Samson Agonistes by John Milton · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to BOOK VI. THE ARGUMENT.
Talk about it: Why does Patience 'prevent' the murmur before it is fully spoken? What is the poem's attitude to complaint?
July 11 · Day 192 · grades 10–12
The Shorter Poems and Samson Agonistes by John Milton · part 2 of 2
Read: BOOK VII. THE ARGUMENT. to BOOK XII. THE ARGUMENT. (part 3)
Talk about it: List the pleasures in each poem. What kind of person would choose each day?
July 12 · Day 193 · grades 9–12
On His Blindness (Sonnet XIX) by John Milton
Read: Sonnet XIX: On His Blindness
Talk about it: What does the speaker assume God wants from him in lines 1-7?
July 13 · Day 194 · grades 11–12
Paradise Lost by John Milton · part 1 of 2
Read: Book I to Book VI
Talk about it: Why does the Father insist that foreknowledge does not cause the Fall?
Parent note: demanding epic verse Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
July 14 · Day 195 · grades 11–12
Paradise Lost by John Milton · part 2 of 2
Read: Book VII to Book XII
Talk about it: How does Satan's boast in Book I compare with his soliloquy on Mount Niphates?
Parent note: demanding epic verse Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
July 15 · Day 196 · grades 11–12
Scientific and Mathematical Treatises by Blaise Pascal
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: What result on the mountain would have counted against Pascal's view?
Parent note: Physics students can follow the vacuum papers; the triangle and Fermat letters need algebra. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
July 16 · Day 197 · grades 11–12
The Provincial Letters by Blaise Pascal · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to LETTER X.
Talk about it: Why does the narrator keep asking for a definition, and why do the doctors refuse to give one?
Parent note: Dense theological controversy; best read in selected letters (I, IV, V, VII, XI, XVIII) with notes. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
July 17 · Day 198 · grades 11–12
The Provincial Letters by Blaise Pascal · part 2 of 2
Read: LETTER XI. TO THE REVEREND FATHERS, THE JESUITS.[228] to LETTER XIX. FRAGMENT OF A NINETEENTH PROVINCIAL LETTER, ADDRESSED TO PERE ANNAT.
Talk about it: How does the father's rule change the question from 'What is right?' to 'What may I defend?'
Parent note: Dense theological controversy; best read in selected letters (I, IV, V, VII, XI, XVIII) with notes. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
July 18 · Day 199 · grades 11–12
Pensees by Blaise Pascal · part 1 of 2
Read: Introduction By to Morality And Doctrine
Talk about it: What would Pascal make of the smartphone?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
July 19 · Day 200 · grades 11–12
Pensees by Blaise Pascal · part 2 of 2
Read: Section VIII to Notes
Talk about it: Is the white coat Pascal's square cap?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
July 20 · Day 201 · grades 10–12
The School for Wives, The Critique of The School for Wives and Don Juan by Molière
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: What does Arnolphe fear, and why does he think ignorance will protect him?
July 21 · Day 202 · grades 9–12
The Misanthrope and Other Plays by Molière · part 1 of 2
Read: Tartuffe Or The Hypocrite to Act One
Talk about it: Is Alceste right about society?
July 22 · Day 203 · grades 9–12
The Misanthrope and Other Plays by Molière · part 2 of 2
Read: Act Two to ACT III. SCENE I
Talk about it: Why is Orgon so attached to Tartuffe?
July 23 · Day 204 · grades 9–12
The Miser and The Would-Be Gentleman by Molière · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to ACT V. SCENE I.--HARPAGON, A POLICE OFFICER.
Talk about it: List the ways Harpagon's avarice harms each member of his household. Which harm is worst?
July 24 · Day 205 · grades 9–12
The Miser and The Would-Be Gentleman by Molière · part 2 of 2
Read: ACT ONE. SCENE I (Music Master, Dancing Master, Musicians, and Dancers) to ACT FIVE. SCENE VI (Madame Jourdain, Monsieur Jourdain, Cleonte, etc.)
Talk about it: Is Cléante right to resent his father? Is anything in his own conduct blameworthy?
July 25 · Day 206 · grades 10–12
Bérénice by Jean Racine
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Racine says the whole play is drawn from one sentence of Suetonius. What has he added, and what has he deliberately left out?
July 26 · Day 207 · grades 11–12
Phaedra by Jean Racine
Read: Opening to ACT V
Talk about it: List the moments where Phaedra says 'do what you will' or its equivalent. What does she gain by not deciding?
Parent note: Incestuous passion, a false charge of rape, two suicides and a violent death, all reported offstage. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
July 27 · Day 208 · grades Adult/Advanced
Principia by Isaac Newton · part 1 of 2
Read: New-York to BOOK II. OF THE MOTION OF BODIES. (part 2)
Talk about it: Where does Principia reward patient attention?
Parent note: advanced mathematics; excerpts only before college Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.
July 28 · Day 209 · grades Adult/Advanced
Principia by Isaac Newton · part 2 of 2
Read: BOOK II. OF THE MOTION OF BODIES. (part 3) to BOOK III. (part 6)
Talk about it: What kind of disorder is most dangerous in Principia?
Parent note: advanced mathematics; excerpts only before college Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.
July 29 · Day 210 · grades 11–12
Treatise on Light by Christiaan Huygens
Read: Opening to CHAPTER VI. ON THE FIGURES OF THE TRANSPARENT BODIES
Talk about it: Why, according to the preface, are proofs in physics different from proofs in geometry?
Parent note: Geometrical optics with diagrams. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
July 30 · Day 211 · grades 10–12
Opticks by Isaac Newton · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 4)
Talk about it: What does Newton mean by a 'hypothesis', and why does he distrust them?
Parent note: Experiments and propositions; 18th-century prose.
July 31 · Day 212 · grades 10–12
Opticks by Isaac Newton · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 5) to Full Text (part 7)
Talk about it: Why does Newton compare colour to sound in a bell or a musical string?
Parent note: Experiments and propositions; 18th-century prose.

August printable list

August 1 · Day 213 · grades 10–12
A Letter Concerning Toleration by John Locke
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: Locke says faith is not faith without believing. Why does this make compulsion useless for salvation?
Parent note: 1689 spelling; clear argument.
August 2 · Day 214 · grades 11–12
Second Treatise of Government by John Locke · part 1 of 2
Read: Mdcclxiii to CHAPTER. VIII. OF THE BEGINNING OF POLITICAL SOCIETIES.
Talk about it: What counts, for Locke, as a 'long train of abuses'? Who decides?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 3 · Day 215 · grades 11–12
Second Treatise of Government by John Locke · part 2 of 2
Read: CHAPTER. IX. OF THE ENDS OF POLITICAL SOCIETY AND GOVERNMENT. to CHAPTER. XIX. OF THE DISSOLUTION OF GOVERNMENT.
Talk about it: Can Locke consistently say that I own my body but may not end my life?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 4 · Day 216 · grades Adult/Advanced
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke · part 1 of 2
Read: In Four Books to CHAPTER XVII.
Talk about it: Is the 'white paper' image consistent with Locke's admission that the mind has active powers?
Parent note: hard philosophy Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.
August 5 · Day 217 · grades Adult/Advanced
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke · part 2 of 2
Read: CHAPTER XVIII. 1. Other simple Modes of simple Ideas of sensation. to End Of Volume I
Talk about it: If a person cannot remember an act, are they the same person who did it? Why does Locke still allow the drunkard to be punished?
Parent note: hard philosophy Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.
August 6 · Day 218 · grades 11–12
A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge by George Berkeley
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 3)
Talk about it: Can you form a general idea of a triangle, or only a particular one used as a sign?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 7 · Day 219 · grades 11–12
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume · part 1 of 2
Read: By David Hume to PART I.
Talk about it: How would Hume evaluate a single case report of a dramatic, unexpected recovery?
Parent note: demanding philosophy; best with guidance Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 8 · Day 220 · grades 11–12
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume · part 2 of 2
Read: PART II. to Index
Talk about it: Why does Hume think no argument could ever settle the problem of induction?
Parent note: demanding philosophy; best with guidance Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 9 · Day 221 · grades 9–12
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift · part 1 of 2
Read: Remote Nations Of The World to CHAPTER I.
Talk about it: Which of Lilliput's absurdities have modern equivalents?
Parent note: satire; crude episodes
August 10 · Day 222 · grades 9–12
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift · part 2 of 2
Read: CHAPTER II. to CHAPTER XII.
Talk about it: Are the Houyhnhnms admirable or chilling?
Parent note: satire; crude episodes
August 11 · Day 223 · grades 11–12
Candide: Or Optimism by Voltaire
Read: Candide By Voltaire Introduction By Philip Littell to Xxviii
Talk about it: Is Voltaire fair to Leibniz's actual philosophy?
Parent note: satire; sexual and violent content Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 12 · Day 224 · grades 12–12
Rameau's Nephew by Denis Diderot
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Is the nephew more honest than the people he flatters? Does honesty about vice make it less wrong?
Parent note: A cynical speaker defends parasitism and vice; mature content. Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
August 13 · Day 225 · grades 11–12
The Spirit of the Laws by Montesquieu · part 1 of 2
Read: The Translator to the Reader to Book XXI. Of Laws in relation to Commerce, considered in the Revolutions
Talk about it: Which of Montesquieu's factors (government, climate, soil, religion, commerce, manners) seems strongest to you, and why?
Parent note: long; best read in excerpts Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 14 · Day 226 · grades 11–12
The Spirit of the Laws by Montesquieu · part 2 of 2
Read: Book XXII. Of Laws in Relation to the Use of Money to Book XXXI. Theory of the Feudal Laws among the Franks, in the Relation
Talk about it: Why does Montesquieu say that even virtue has need of limits?
Parent note: long; best read in excerpts Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 15 · Day 227 · grades 11–12
Discourse on the Origin of Inequality by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: Why does Rousseau begin by laying aside facts?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 16 · Day 228 · grades 11–12
A Discourse on Political Economy by Jean-Jacques Rousseau · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to CHAPTER IX. CONCLUSION
Talk about it: List Rousseau's differences between the family and the state. Which is strongest?
Parent note: A short but abstract treatise; pair with selected chapters of The Social Contract. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 17 · Day 229 · grades 11–12
A Discourse on Political Economy by Jean-Jacques Rousseau · part 2 of 2
Read: CHAPTER IX. CONCLUSION (part 2) to CHAPTER IX. CONCLUSION (part 4)
Talk about it: Give an example of a group whose good might conflict with the good of the larger community.
Parent note: A short but abstract treatise; pair with selected chapters of The Social Contract. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 18 · Day 230 · grades 11–12
The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau · part 1 of 2
Read: Jean Jacques Rousseau to Has The Restoration Of The Arts And Sciences Had A Purifying Effect
Talk about it: Is Rousseau right that a 'right' that disappears with force was never a right at all?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 19 · Day 231 · grades 11–12
The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau · part 2 of 2
Read: Moral Effects Of The Arts And Sciences to A Discourse On Political Economy
Talk about it: How could anyone tell whether a vote expressed the general will or merely the will of all?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 20 · Day 232 · grades 11–12
The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith · part 1 of 3
Read: Introduction and Plan of the Work to Book II, Chapter III: Of the Accumulation of Capital, or of
Talk about it: What three reasons does Smith give for the increase in output in the pin factory?
Parent note: long; best read in excerpts Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 21 · Day 233 · grades 11–12
The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith · part 2 of 3
Read: Book II, Chapter IV: Of Stock Lent at Interest to Book IV, Conclusion of the Mercantile System
Talk about it: Why does Smith say we address ourselves not to the humanity but to the self-love of the butcher, brewer and baker?
Parent note: long; best read in excerpts Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 22 · Day 234 · grades 11–12
The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith · part 3 of 3
Read: Book IV, Chapter IX: Of the Agricultural Systems, or of to Book V, Chapter III: Of Public Debts
Talk about it: What does Smith say happens when people of the same trade meet together?
Parent note: long; best read in excerpts Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 23 · Day 235 · grades Adult/Advanced
Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant · part 1 of 2
Read: Chapter II. The Antinomy of Pure Reason. Section I. System of Cosmological Ideas. to Reason
Talk about it: Does Kant's view make the world less real, or only our access to it more structured?
Parent note: hard philosophy Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.
August 24 · Day 236 · grades Adult/Advanced
Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant · part 2 of 2
Read: General Remark to Chapter IV. The History of Pure Reason
Talk about it: Give an example of a 'blind' intuition and an 'empty' thought from your own experience.
Parent note: hard philosophy Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.
August 25 · Day 237 · grades 11–12
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals by Immanuel Kant
Read: Fundamental Principles Of The Metaphysic Of Morals to The End
Talk about it: Is it plausible that a good will that achieves nothing has full moral worth?
Parent note: hard philosophy; best with guidance Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 26 · Day 238 · grades 11–12
Critique of Practical Reason by Immanuel Kant · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to CHAPTER III. Of the Motives of Pure Practical Reason.
Talk about it: Why does Kant think the man would answer differently about lust and about false witness?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 27 · Day 239 · grades 11–12
Critique of Practical Reason by Immanuel Kant · part 2 of 2
Read: CHAPTER I. Of a Dialectic of Pure Practical Reason Generally. to CHAPTER II. Of the Dialectic of Pure Reason in defining the. Conception of the "Summum Bonum".
Talk about it: How does Kant's highest good differ from the Stoic and Epicurean versions he criticizes?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
August 28 · Day 240 · grades 12–12
The Critique of Judgement by Immanuel Kant · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to PART I. CRITIQUE OF THE AESTHETICAL JUDGEMENT (part 3)
Talk about it: Kant says a judgement of taste claims universal agreement without a concept. Give an example from your own experience where you expected others to agree about beauty and could not prove it.
Parent note: Very demanding; best read in selected sections (§§ 1-9, 23-29, 43-46, 59, 64-66, 86-87). Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
August 29 · Day 241 · grades 12–12
The Critique of Judgement by Immanuel Kant · part 2 of 2
Read: PART I. CRITIQUE OF THE AESTHETICAL JUDGEMENT (part 4) to PART II. CRITIQUE OF THE TELEOLOGICAL JUDGEMENT (part 4)
Talk about it: Why, according to Kant, must the spectator be in security for a storm to seem sublime rather than simply terrifying?
Parent note: Very demanding; best read in selected sections (§§ 1-9, 23-29, 43-46, 59, 64-66, 86-87). Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
August 30 · Day 242 · grades 12–12
The Metaphysical Elements of Ethics by Immanuel Kant
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: Why does Kant think the law can require honest dealing but cannot require reverence for justice?
Parent note: Senior seminar; read after the Groundwork, one numbered section at a time. Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
August 31 · Day 243 · grades 12–12
The Science of Right by Immanuel Kant · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to CHAPTER II. The Mode of acquiring anything External.
Talk about it: Kant says I may wish in my heart to infringe another's freedom and still be in the right, so long as I do not act. Is this a sound limit on law?
Parent note: Dense legal argument; read the Introduction, §§ 1-9, 41-49 with Remarks A and E, and §§ 53-62. Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.

September printable list

September 1 · Day 244 · grades 12–12
The Science of Right by Immanuel Kant · part 2 of 2
Read: Chapter Third. Acquisition conditioned by the Sentence of a Public Judicatory. to PART II. PUBLIC RIGHT. Public Right
Talk about it: Why does Kant think that my labour on a piece of land is not enough to make it mine?
Parent note: Dense legal argument; read the Introduction, §§ 1-9, 41-49 with Remarks A and E, and §§ 53-62. Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
September 2 · Day 245 · grades 6–12
The Founding Documents by Continental Congress and United States Constitutional Convention
Read: The Declaration of Independence (1776) to Amendment XXVII
Talk about it: What does it mean for a right to be unalienable?
September 3 · Day 246 · grades 6–12
The Articles of Confederation by Continental Congress
Read: Article I to Article XIII
Talk about it: What word in Article II limits the powers given to the United States?
September 4 · Day 247 · grades 11–12
The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay · part 1 of 2
Read: The Federalist Papers (1787-1788) to FEDERALIST No. 44: Restrictions on the Authority of the Several States
Talk about it: What view of human nature underlies Federalist 51?
Parent note: best in selected papers Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 5 · Day 248 · grades 11–12
The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay · part 2 of 2
Read: FEDERALIST No. 45: The Alleged Danger From the Powers of the Union to the State Governments to FEDERALIST No. 85: Concluding Remarks
Talk about it: How does Madison defend political scale?
Parent note: best in selected papers Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 6 · Day 249 · grades 11–12
On Liberty by John Stuart Mill · part 1 of 2
Read: Of The Limits To The Authority Of Society to CHAPTER III. OF INDIVIDUALITY, AS ONE OF THE ELEMENTS OF WELL-BEING.
Talk about it: Is there any purely self-regarding act, given families, dependants and shared health systems?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 7 · Day 250 · grades 11–12
On Liberty by John Stuart Mill · part 2 of 2
Read: CHAPTER IV. OF THE LIMITS TO THE AUTHORITY OF SOCIETY OVER THE INDIVIDUAL. to CHAPTER V. APPLICATIONS.
Talk about it: Name a clinical guideline that is followed without its rationale being understood. What happens when it is challenged?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 8 · Day 251 · grades 11–12
Considerations on Representative Government by John Stuart Mill · part 1 of 2
Read: Preface to Chapter VIII--Of the Extension of the Suffrage
Talk about it: What two tests of good government does Chapter II propose?
Parent note: Long Victorian argument. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 9 · Day 252 · grades 11–12
Considerations on Representative Government by John Stuart Mill · part 2 of 2
Read: Chapter IX--Should there be Two Stages of Election? to Chapter XVII--Of Federal Representative Governments
Talk about it: Why does Mill think a numerous assembly is unfit to draft detailed laws?
Parent note: Long Victorian argument. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 10 · Day 253 · grades 11–12
Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill
Read: Susceptible
Talk about it: Who counts as a 'competent judge' of the pleasures of someone with a severe illness or disability?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 11 · Day 254 · grades 11–12
The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 7)
Talk about it: What does the first meeting in Davies's shop in 1763 show about both men?
Parent note: Abridged; 18th-century prose and long conversations. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 12 · Day 255 · grades 11–12
The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 8) to Full Text (part 14)
Talk about it: What image does Johnson use in the letter to describe a patron?
Parent note: Abridged; 18th-century prose and long conversations. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 13 · Day 256 · grades 10–12
Elements of Chemistry by Antoine Lavoisier · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to PART II.
Talk about it: Why did a metal's gain in weight when it burned trouble the theory of phlogiston?
Parent note: 18th-century chemistry; tables and procedures.
September 14 · Day 257 · grades 10–12
Elements of Chemistry by Antoine Lavoisier · part 2 of 2
Read: PART III. Description of the Instruments and Operations of Chemistry. to PART III. Description of the Instruments and Operations of Chemistry. (part 3)
Talk about it: What does the name 'oxygen' claim about the substance it names? Was the claim fully correct?
Parent note: 18th-century chemistry; tables and procedures.
September 15 · Day 258 · grades 11–12
Experimental Researches in Electricity, Volume 1 by Michael Faraday · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 8)
Talk about it: Why did Faraday's coils show a current only at the moment the battery was connected or broken?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 16 · Day 259 · grades 11–12
Experimental Researches in Electricity, Volume 1 by Michael Faraday · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 9) to Full Text (part 16)
Talk about it: Why did Faraday think the word pole was misleading?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 17 · Day 260 · grades 12–12
Philosophy of Right by G. W. F. Hegel · part 1 of 2
Read: Translator's Preface to Third Part: Ethical System
Talk about it: Why does Hegel say in the Introduction that arbitrary choice is not yet true freedom?
Parent note: Highly abstract philosophical prose; OCR text. Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
September 18 · Day 261 · grades 12–12
Philosophy of Right by G. W. F. Hegel · part 2 of 2
Read: Third Part: Ethical System (part 2) to Third Part: Ethical System (part 5)
Talk about it: What does Hegel mean by calling conscience the deepest internal solitude?
Parent note: Highly abstract philosophical prose; OCR text. Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
September 19 · Day 262 · grades 11–12
The Philosophy of History by G. W. F. Hegel
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: What does Hegel admire in original historians like Thucydides?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 20 · Day 263 · grades Adult/Advanced
Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Why does Johannes say that if Abraham is not a man of faith he is a murderer?
Parent note: hard philosophy Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together. Under copyright: the library page has a summary and guide, not the full text.
September 21 · Day 264 · grades Adult/Advanced
Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche · part 1 of 2
Read: Table Of Contents Preface Beyond Good And Evil to Choses D'Une Maniere Desinteressee Qu'Il Trouve La Mort Revoltante Et
Talk about it: If every philosophy is 'involuntary autobiography', what does Beyond Good and Evil confess about Nietzsche?
Parent note: hard philosophy Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.
September 22 · Day 265 · grades Adult/Advanced
Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche · part 2 of 2
Read: Seven Apophthegms For Women to From The Heights
Talk about it: How does Nietzsche's view of the self compare with what intrusive thoughts or rumination feel like from the inside?
Parent note: hard philosophy Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.
September 23 · Day 266 · grades 11–12
Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville · part 1 of 3
Read: Democracy in America, Volume 1 to Chapter XV: Unlimited Power Of Majority, And Its Consequences—Part II
Talk about it: How does equality shape personality?
Parent note: long; best read in excerpts Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 24 · Day 267 · grades 11–12
Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville · part 2 of 3
Read: Chapter XVI: Causes Mitigating Tyranny In The United States—Part I to Chapter XX: Characteristics Of Historians In Democratic Ages
Talk about it: What is soft despotism?
Parent note: long; best read in excerpts Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 25 · Day 268 · grades 11–12
Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville · part 3 of 3
Read: Chapter XXI: Of Parliamentary Eloquence In The United States to Part II
Talk about it: Why are associations so important to Tocqueville?
Parent note: long; best read in excerpts Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 26 · Day 269 · grades 11–12
Faust, Part One by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 2)
Talk about it: What exactly does Faust bet, and why is he so sure he will win?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 27 · Day 270 · grades 11–12
Faust, Part One by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 3)
Talk about it: Why does the villagers' praise trouble Faust?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 28 · Day 271 · grades 11–12
Faust, Part Two by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to ACT II. I.
Talk about it: Why does the court accept the notes so eagerly?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 29 · Day 272 · grades 11–12
Faust, Part Two by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · part 2 of 2
Read: Act III. Before the Palace of Menelaus in Sparta. to ACT V. I.
Talk about it: What does Homunculus lack, and how does he try to get it?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
September 30 · Day 273 · grades 11–12
Cousin Betty by Honoré de Balzac · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 5)
Talk about it: What injuries, real and imagined, does Lisbeth carry from childhood, and does the novel ask us to pity her?
Parent note: Parent note: adultery, seduction and revenge are central; for mature students. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.

October printable list

October 1 · Day 274 · grades 11–12
Cousin Betty by Honoré de Balzac · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 6) to Full Text (part 10)
Talk about it: Trace the path from Hulot's spending on Valérie to his uncle's suicide and his brother's death.
Parent note: Parent note: adultery, seduction and revenge are central; for mature students. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
October 2 · Day 275 · grades 9–12
Emma by Jane Austen · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to CHAPTER X
Talk about it: Why does Emma misread Mr. Elton so completely in Volume I?
October 3 · Day 276 · grades 9–12
Emma by Jane Austen · part 2 of 2
Read: CHAPTER XI to CHAPTER XIX
Talk about it: Why does Mr. Knightley stress Miss Bates's poverty and her long acquaintance with Emma?
October 4 · Day 277 · grades 11–12
Middlemarch by George Eliot · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to CHAPTER XLII.
Talk about it: Why does Eliot begin with Saint Teresa and end with unvisited tombs?
Parent note: long, demanding prose Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
October 5 · Day 278 · grades 11–12
Middlemarch by George Eliot · part 2 of 2
Read: CHAPTER XLIII. to CHAPTER LXXXVI.
Talk about it: What does Dorothea expect from marrying Casaubon, and what does she find in Rome?
Parent note: long, demanding prose Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
October 6 · Day 279 · grades 9–12
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to CHAPTER 35. What was behind Mr Pancks on Little Dorrit’s Hand
Talk about it: Why does Dr Haggage call the Marshalsea 'freedom'? What is true and false in his claim?
October 7 · Day 280 · grades 9–12
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens · part 2 of 2
Read: CHAPTER 36. The Marshalsea becomes an Orphan to CHAPTER 34. Gone
Talk about it: Why does the narrator say the Office was early in learning 'HOW NOT TO DO IT'? What does the Office actually gain by inaction?
October 8 · Day 281 · grades 9–12
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville · part 1 of 2
Read: Etymology to Chapter 59: Squid
Talk about it: What arguments does Starbuck make against the hunt in Chapter 36 and Chapter 135?
Parent note: long; demanding prose
October 9 · Day 282 · grades 9–12
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville · part 2 of 2
Read: Chapter 60: The Line to Epilogue
Talk about it: What changes Ishmael's opinion of Queequeg in the first chapters?
Parent note: long; demanding prose
October 10 · Day 283 · grades 9–12
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to CHAPTER XXI.
Talk about it: Why does Huck feel better after writing the letter to Miss Watson, and why does he tear it up?
Parent note: racial slurs; needs historical context
October 11 · Day 284 · grades 9–12
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain · part 2 of 2
Read: CHAPTER XXII. to CHAPTER THE LAST
Talk about it: What does Jim say to Huck after the trick in the fog, and why does it change Huck?
Parent note: racial slurs; needs historical context
October 12 · Day 285 · grades 10–12
On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin · part 1 of 2
Read: John Murray, Albemarle Street. to Chapter VIII. Hybridism.
Talk about it: Where does On the Origin of Species reward patient attention?
Parent note: best read in excerpts
October 13 · Day 286 · grades 10–12
On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin · part 2 of 2
Read: Chapter IX. On The Imperfection Of The Geological Record. to Index.
Talk about it: What kind of disorder is most dangerous in On the Origin of Species?
Parent note: best read in excerpts
October 14 · Day 287 · grades 11–12
The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin · part 1 of 2
Read: Preface to the Second Edition to Chapter XII: Secondary Sexual Characters of Fishes, Amphibians, and Reptiles
Talk about it: Which term in The Descent of Man most resists a modern equivalent?
Parent note: best read in excerpts Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
October 15 · Day 288 · grades 11–12
The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin · part 2 of 2
Read: Chapter XIII: Secondary Sexual Characters of Birds to Chapter XXI: General a Summary and Conclusion (part 3)
Talk about it: What kind of evidence is most persuasive in this work?
Parent note: best read in excerpts Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
October 16 · Day 289 · grades 11–12
The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
Read: I. Bourgeois And Proletarians to Iv. Position Of The Communists In Relation To The Various Existing Opposition Parties
Talk about it: Where does The Communist Manifesto reward patient attention?
Parent note: best with guidance Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
October 17 · Day 290 · grades 11–12
Capital, Volume I by Karl Marx · part 1 of 3
Read: Editor's Note To The First American Edition to Chapter XIV: Division of labour and manufacture
Talk about it: How does Marx distinguish labour from labour-power?
Parent note: Long, abstract and polemical; best read in selections with guidance. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
October 18 · Day 291 · grades 11–12
Capital, Volume I by Karl Marx · part 2 of 3
Read: Chapter XV: Machinery and modern industry to Chapter XXV: The general law of capitalist accumulation (part 2)
Talk about it: What do the factory inspectors' reports reveal about working conditions?
Parent note: Long, abstract and polemical; best read in selections with guidance. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
October 19 · Day 292 · grades 11–12
Capital, Volume I by Karl Marx · part 3 of 3
Read: Chapter XXV: The general law of capitalist accumulation (part 3) to Chapter XXXIII: The modern theory of colonisation (part 7)
Talk about it: What does Marx mean by the fetishism of commodities?
Parent note: Long, abstract and polemical; best read in selections with guidance. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
October 20 · Day 293 · grades 10–12
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy · part 1 of 3
Read: Opening to CHAPTER XX
Talk about it: How does Prince Andrew's view of Napoleon change on the field of Austerlitz?
October 21 · Day 294 · grades 10–12
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy · part 2 of 3
Read: CHAPTER XXI to CHAPTER XXXVI
Talk about it: What does Pierre learn from Bazdéev, and why is it not enough?
October 22 · Day 295 · grades 10–12
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy · part 3 of 3
Read: CHAPTER XXXVII to CHAPTER XII
Talk about it: Why is Natásha drawn to Anatole at the opera and afterward?
October 23 · Day 296 · grades 11–12
A Doll's House and Other Plays by Henrik Ibsen · part 1 of 2
Read: The Collected Works Of Henrik Ibsen Volume VII to The Guests.
Talk about it: What is 'the wonderful thing' Nora hopes for, and why does its failure end the marriage?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
October 24 · Day 297 · grades 11–12
A Doll's House and Other Plays by Henrik Ibsen · part 2 of 2
Read: Gregers Werle. to Other Voices.
Talk about it: What are the 'ghosts' of the title?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
October 25 · Day 298 · grades 11–12
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky · part 1 of 2
Read: Part I to Chapter III.
Talk about it: Where does The Brothers Karamazov reward patient attention?
Parent note: long; demanding novel Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
October 26 · Day 299 · grades 11–12
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky · part 2 of 2
Read: Chapter IV. to The End Footnotes
Talk about it: What kind of disorder is most dangerous in The Brothers Karamazov?
Parent note: long; demanding novel Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
October 27 · Day 300 · grades 11–12
Hedda Gabler, The Master Builder and The Wild Duck by Henrik Ibsen · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to ACT SECOND.
Talk about it: List the reasons Gregers gives for telling Hjalmar. Which of them concern Hjalmar's good and which concern Gregers's own conscience?
Parent note: Two of the plays end in suicide. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
October 28 · Day 301 · grades 11–12
Hedda Gabler, The Master Builder and The Wild Duck by Henrik Ibsen · part 2 of 2
Read: ACT THIRD. to ACT V.
Talk about it: What does Hedda fear most: scandal, dullness, or being ruled by someone else? Find a scene for each.
Parent note: Two of the plays end in suicide. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
October 29 · Day 302 · grades Adult/Advanced
The Principles of Psychology by William James · part 1 of 2
Read: New York Henry Holt And Company to CHAPTER X. THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF SELF.
Talk about it: What does James mean by the 'transitive parts' of thought, and why are they hard to observe?
Parent note: research text Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.
October 30 · Day 303 · grades Adult/Advanced
The Principles of Psychology by William James · part 2 of 2
Read: The Mutations Of The Self to Exact Measurements Of Memory
Talk about it: Is James right that 'every smallest stroke of virtue or of vice leaves its never so little scar'?
Parent note: research text Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.
October 31 · Day 304 · grades Adult/Advanced
Studies on Hysteria by Josef Breuer and Sigmund Freud
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Which term in Studies on Hysteria most resists a modern equivalent?
Parent note: research text Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together. Under copyright: the library page has a summary and guide, not the full text.

November printable list

November 1 · Day 305 · grades Adult/Advanced
The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud · part 1 of 2
Read: Chief Of The Neurological Department Of The Bronx Hospital And to Vi The Dream-Work
Talk about it: Why does the 'botanical monograph' turn out to matter more than its surface suggests?
Parent note: research text Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.
November 2 · Day 306 · grades Adult/Advanced
The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud · part 2 of 2
Read: Vi The Dream-Work (part 2) to Index
Talk about it: Which explanations of Irma's illness does the dream offer, and why do they contradict one another?
Parent note: research text Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together.
November 3 · Day 307 · grades 12–12
Reflections on War and Death by Sigmund Freud
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: Freud says the state forbids wrongdoing to individuals in order to monopolize it. Is that an accurate description of the governments of 1915, or an exaggeration born of disillusionment?
Parent note: Parent note: Freud's theories of sexuality and religion are central; for seniors with guidance. Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
November 4 · Day 308 · grades 12–12
A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 6)
Talk about it: Freud compares the man who calls slips meaningless accidents with the religious view that no sparrow falls without God. What point is he making, and does the comparison work?
Parent note: Parent note: Freud's theories of sexuality and religion are central; for seniors with guidance. Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
November 5 · Day 309 · grades 12–12
A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 7) to Full Text (part 11)
Talk about it: Why does Freud begin his account of dreams with the dreams of children?
Parent note: Parent note: Freud's theories of sexuality and religion are central; for seniors with guidance. Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
November 6 · Day 310 · grades 12–12
Beyond the Pleasure Principle by Sigmund Freud
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: Which of Freud's four kinds of evidence (war dreams, the reel game, transference, fate neurosis) seems strongest to you, and which weakest?
Parent note: Parent note: Freud's theories of sexuality and religion are central; for seniors with guidance. Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
November 7 · Day 311 · grades 12–12
Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego by Sigmund Freud
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: Which features of Le Bon's crowd have you observed yourself, and which seem exaggerated?
Parent note: Parent note: Freud's theories of sexuality and religion are central; for seniors with guidance. Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
November 8 · Day 312 · grades 12–12
The Ego and the Id by Sigmund Freud
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: In Chapter II, what is the 'difference' Freud adds to the rider analogy, and why does it matter for his view of reason?
Parent note: Parent note: Freud's theories of sexuality and religion are central; for seniors with guidance. Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
November 9 · Day 313 · grades Adult/Advanced
Civilization and Its Discontents by Sigmund Freud
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Why does Freud call chemical intoxication the most effective and the most dangerous method?
Parent note: psychoanalytic theory Recommended for grades Adult/Advanced; read it first or together. Under copyright: the library page has a summary and guide, not the full text.
November 10 · Day 314 · grades 12–12
An Introduction to Metaphysics by Henri Bergson
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Why does Bergson say analysis is endless but intuition is simple?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 12–12; read it first or together.
November 11 · Day 315 · grades 11–12
Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking by William James · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to Lecture IV. The One and the Many
Talk about it: Which side wins the squirrel argument, and why does James say both are right?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
November 12 · Day 316 · grades 11–12
Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking by William James · part 2 of 2
Read: Lecture V. Pragmatism and Common Sense to Lecture VIII. Pragmatism and Religion
Talk about it: Which column in James's list fits you better, tender-minded or tough-minded?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
November 13 · Day 317 · grades 10–12
The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to CHAPTER VIII. HOW _A PRIORI_ KNOWLEDGE IS POSSIBLE
Talk about it: Why does Russell say that the table has no single colour?
November 14 · Day 318 · grades 10–12
The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell · part 2 of 2
Read: CHAPTER IX. THE WORLD OF UNIVERSALS to CHAPTER XV. THE VALUE OF PHILOSOPHY
Talk about it: How does Russell's knowledge of Bismarck differ from Bismarck's knowledge of himself?
November 15 · Day 319 · grades 11–12
The Word of God and the Word of Man by Karl Barth
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Why did the 1914 manifesto of German intellectuals shake Barth's confidence in his teachers?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
November 16 · Day 320 · grades 11–12
Science and the Modern World by Alfred North Whitehead · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to CHAPTER VI. THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Talk about it: What exactly does Whitehead say science owes to medieval theology, and what does he explicitly not claim?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
November 17 · Day 321 · grades 11–12
Science and the Modern World by Alfred North Whitehead · part 2 of 2
Read: CHAPTER VII. RELATIVITY to CHAPTER XIII. REQUISITES FOR SOCIAL PROGRESS
Talk about it: Explain in your own words Whitehead's ironic sentence that nature is 'a dull affair, soundless, scentless, colourless'. Is he stating his view or someone else's?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
November 18 · Day 322 · grades 10–12
Experience and Education by John Dewey
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: What does Dewey see as the strengths and weaknesses of traditional schooling?
Parent note: Under copyright: the library page has a summary and guide, not the full text.
November 19 · Day 323 · grades 11–12
Philosophical Investigations by Ludwig Wittgenstein
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Why does Wittgenstein begin with Augustine's account of learning to speak?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together. Under copyright: the library page has a summary and guide, not the full text.
November 20 · Day 324 · grades 11–12
Science and Hypothesis by Henri Poincare · part 1 of 2
Read: Part I: Number and Magnitude, Chapter I to Chapter VIII: Energy and Thermodynamics
Talk about it: What two attitudes toward science does the preface reject, and why does Poincaré call them equally convenient?
Parent note: Mathematical examples; OCR text. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
November 21 · Day 325 · grades 11–12
Science and Hypothesis by Henri Poincare · part 2 of 2
Read: Part IV: Nature. Chapter IX to Chapter XIII: Electro-Dynamics
Talk about it: Why does the existence of non-Euclidean geometry count, for Poincaré, against Kant's view of geometry?
Parent note: Mathematical examples; OCR text. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
November 22 · Day 326 · grades 10–12
An Introduction to Mathematics by Alfred North Whitehead
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: What does Whitehead mean by calling mathematics abstract?
November 23 · Day 327 · grades 10–12
Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein
Read: Preface to Appendix IV
Talk about it: What method does Einstein propose for deciding whether two distant events are simultaneous?
Parent note: Popular exposition with some algebra.
November 24 · Day 328 · grades 10–12
A Mathematician's Apology by G. H. Hardy
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: What makes Euclid's proof of infinitely many primes beautiful, in Hardy's terms?
Parent note: Under copyright: the library page has a summary and guide, not the full text.
November 25 · Day 329 · grades 10–12
What Is Life? by Erwin Schrödinger
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Why does Schrödinger begin by asking why atoms are so small?
Parent note: Under copyright: the library page has a summary and guide, not the full text.
November 26 · Day 330 · grades 11–12
Physics and Philosophy by Werner Heisenberg
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Why can an electron's position and velocity not both be measured exactly?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together. Under copyright: the library page has a summary and guide, not the full text.
November 27 · Day 331 · grades 11–12
The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to Chapter Eight ~~ Industrial Exemption and Conservatism
Talk about it: Why does Veblen think conspicuous consumption matters more in cities than in villages?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
November 28 · Day 332 · grades 11–12
The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen · part 2 of 2
Read: Chapter Nine ~~ The Conservation of Archaic Traits to Chapter Fourteen ~~ The Higher Learning as an Expression of
Talk about it: How does Veblen explain the origin of ownership in Chapter Two?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
November 29 · Day 333 · grades 11–12
The Acquisitive Society by R. H. Tawney · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 2)
Talk about it: How does Tawney define a function, and why does he insist on responsibility to a 'higher authority'?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
November 30 · Day 334 · grades 11–12
The Acquisitive Society by R. H. Tawney · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 3) to Full Text (part 4)
Talk about it: Why does Tawney say that an acquisitive society could be satisfied by nothing short of infinity?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.

December printable list

December 1 · Day 335 · grades 11–12
The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money by John Maynard Keynes
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: How does the multiplier work, step by step?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together. Under copyright: the library page has a summary and guide, not the full text.
December 2 · Day 336 · grades 11–12
The Waning of the Middle Ages by Johan Huizinga
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: What does Huizinga mean by the violent tenor of life?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 3 · Day 337 · grades 11–12
The Golden Bough (abridged edition) by James George Frazer · part 1 of 3
Read: Opening to Chapter 69. Farewell to Nemi. Preface (part 9)
Talk about it: What examples does Frazer give of homoeopathic magic, and of contagious magic?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 4 · Day 338 · grades 11–12
The Golden Bough (abridged edition) by James George Frazer · part 2 of 3
Read: Chapter 69. Farewell to Nemi. Preface (part 10) to Chapter 69. Farewell to Nemi. Preface (part 17)
Talk about it: What is Frazer's final answer to the riddle of the priest at Nemi?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 5 · Day 339 · grades 11–12
The Golden Bough (abridged edition) by James George Frazer · part 3 of 3
Read: Chapter 69. Farewell to Nemi. Preface (part 18) to Chapter 69. Farewell to Nemi. Preface (part 25)
Talk about it: How does Frazer distinguish religion from magic?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 6 · Day 340 · grades 11–12
Structural Anthropology by Claude Lévi-Strauss
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: Why can the avunculate not be explained by looking at the uncle and nephew alone?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together. Under copyright: the library page has a summary and guide, not the full text.
December 7 · Day 341 · grades 10–12
Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov
Read: Opening to ACT IV
Talk about it: What exactly does Vanya think he has lost by serving the professor?
December 8 · Day 342 · grades 11–12
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Read: I Ii Iii I to I Ii Iii I (part 3)
Talk about it: Why does Kurtz succumb when others do not?
Parent note: brutality in the Congo ivory trade and period racial epithets Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 9 · Day 343 · grades 11–12
The Beast in the Jungle by Henry James
Read: Opening to CHAPTER VI
Talk about it: What does Marcher expect the beast to be, and why does he never try to find out by acting?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 10 · Day 344 · grades 11–12
Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
Read: Full Text
Talk about it: What does Chapter II admire in Aschenbach's way of working?
Parent note: Mature content: an older man's obsessive infatuation with a boy; no sexual acts. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 11 · Day 345 · grades 11–12
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 6)
Talk about it: What did the narrator remember of Combray before the madeleine, and what does he remember after?
Parent note: Mature content: adult relationships and a scene of voyeurism. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 12 · Day 346 · grades 11–12
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 7) to Full Text (part 12)
Talk about it: How does Swann persuade himself that Odette is beautiful?
Parent note: Mature content: adult relationships and a scene of voyeurism. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 13 · Day 347 · grades 11–12
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to Chapter III
Talk about it: How does the language of the opening pages differ from that of the diary at the end?
Parent note: Mature content: a visit to a prostitute; religious crisis. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 14 · Day 348 · grades 11–12
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce · part 2 of 2
Read: Chapter IV to Chapter V
Talk about it: Why do Dante and Mr. Casey quarrel so fiercely over Parnell?
Parent note: Mature content: a visit to a prostitute; religious crisis. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 15 · Day 349 · grades 11–12
Six Characters in Search of an Author and Other Plays by Luigi Pirandello · part 1 of 2
Read: Opening to ACT II
Talk about it: Why do the characters object when the actors play their scene?
Parent note: Mature content: Six Characters involves a near-incestuous encounter in a brothel setting. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 16 · Day 350 · grades 11–12
Six Characters in Search of an Author and Other Plays by Luigi Pirandello · part 2 of 2
Read: ACT III to ACT III
Talk about it: Which act does the Father fear will define him, and why does the Step-Daughter insist on it?
Parent note: Mature content: Six Characters involves a near-incestuous encounter in a brothel setting. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 17 · Day 351 · grades 10–12
Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 2)
Talk about it: What does the Inquisitor fear will happen if heresy is not stopped in its pious beginnings?
December 18 · Day 352 · grades 10–12
Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 3) to Full Text (part 4)
Talk about it: How does Joan answer when asked to submit her revelations to the Church Militant?
December 19 · Day 353 · grades 10–12
A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
Read: Opening to PART TWO. I
Talk about it: Why does the Captain refuse to shelter his property, and what does Judge Pommeroy think of the choice?
Parent note: Includes an adulterous affair, treated without explicitness.
December 20 · Day 354 · grades 11–12
The Prussian Officer and Other Stories by D. H. Lawrence · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 3)
Talk about it: What in the orderly provokes the Captain, and why can the Captain not admit it?
Parent note: Mature content: violence and suppressed desire. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 21 · Day 355 · grades 11–12
The Prussian Officer and Other Stories by D. H. Lawrence · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 4) to Full Text (part 5)
Talk about it: How does Elizabeth's anger in the first half of the story prepare for her grief in the second?
Parent note: Mature content: violence and suppressed desire. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 22 · Day 356 · grades 11–12
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: What does Gregor worry about first when he wakes, and what does that reveal about his life?
Parent note: unsettling themes; best with guidance Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 23 · Day 357 · grades 11–12
The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot
Read: Opening to V. WHAT THE THUNDER SAID
Talk about it: Why does Eliot borrow Dante's line about death undoing so many for the crowd on London Bridge?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 24 · Day 358 · grades 9–12
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald · part 1 of 2
Read: Full Text to Full Text (part 2)
Talk about it: What does Gatsby want from Daisy besides Daisy herself?
December 25 · Day 359 · grades 9–12
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald · part 2 of 2
Read: Full Text (part 3)
Talk about it: Who is responsible for Myrtle's death, and who for Gatsby's?
December 26 · Day 360 · grades 11–12
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: What does Mrs Ramsay do at dinner to draw the guests together?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together.
December 27 · Day 361 · grades 11–12
Mourning Becomes Electra by Eugene O'Neill
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: What takes the place of the Greek gods and the Furies in O'Neill's version?
Parent note: Mature content: murder, suicide, incestuous undercurrents. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together. Under copyright: the library page has a summary and guide, not the full text.
December 28 · Day 362 · grades 11–12
Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: What is Courage doing at the moment each child is lost?
Parent note: Mature content: war violence. Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together. Under copyright: the library page has a summary and guide, not the full text.
December 29 · Day 363 · grades 9–12
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: How does each commandment change, and who changes it?
Parent note: Under copyright: the library page has a summary and guide, not the full text.
December 30 · Day 364 · grades 11–12
The Portable Faulkner by William Faulkner
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: How does fragmentation change the reader's sense of guilt?
Parent note: violence; racial language; demanding prose Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together. Under copyright: the library page has a summary and guide, not the full text.
December 31 · Day 365 · grades 11–12
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Read: The summary, argument and lessons on the library page
Talk about it: What do Vladimir and Estragon do to pass the time in Act I?
Parent note: Recommended for grades 11–12; read it first or together. Under copyright: the library page has a summary and guide, not the full text.