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