Teaching Classical Literature Classically
by Andrew Kern

The classical purpose for teaching literature is the same as the classical purpose for teaching anything: to cultivate wisdom and virtue so that the student is better able to know and enjoy God. Classical literature exposes the student to models of virtue. It also places demands on his intellect, thus developing his intellectual virtues. As the intellectual virtues are developed, the student’s capacity to know and understand facts, ideas, relationships, and persons is nurtured. Furthermore, classical literature cultivates what James Taylor and John Senior have called Poetic Knowledge.

Poetic knowledge is the type of knowledge children gain when they read, e.g. The Chronicles of Narnia or Fairy Tales. It is an intuitive knowledge of the nature of things, but the reader may not always–or even often–be directly aware of what he is learning or how he is being nourished by it. Poetic knowledge removes the reader from the realm of pragmatism (love of power) and lifts him to the realm of genuine ideals (love of virtue). By presenting models of virtues, training the intellectual virtues, and nourishing poetic knowledge, classical literature cultivates wisdom and virtue in the student.

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Copyright 2006 John Paul II Academy