The Lesson of St. Bernadette of Lourdes, by Sr. M. Eleanore, C.S.C.

Find out how Sr. M. Eleanore compares Madame Curie with St. Bernadette of Lourdes to teach us The Lesson of St. Bernadette in this inspiring essay!

Rabbit Trails

* A discussion of idiomatic expression (as found in the text) can be found in the study guide, but for teachers' background information, the Literary Devices website has a good write-up!

* There's a little expo on double negatives (also called "litotes") in the study guide that could be expanded. Try here.

* You can find a discussion on positive statements as part of a thesis or conclusion in the study guide, as well, which can be an aid to good paragraph construction for essay writing. A good essay, in essence, is a collection of true statements that add up to an ultimate point of truth.

Downloads

Find the text of "The Lesson St. Bernadette of Lourdes" here.

The study guide is here.

Answer Key, here.

Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls

This novel might be a somewhat difficult read for the sensitive (fair warning!), but all the better to discuss difficult things with children in the controlled environment of a book! We learn from the hero of the story, Billy, the values of loyalty, patience, devotion, and hard work, as well as his persistence and mature handling of difficult situations. There is a somewhat gory description of a boy falling on an ax to be aware of, as well as the tragic (but heroic) demise of Billy's beloved dogs, but all ends as it should, as Billy learns to deal with his grief, and Billy's (and the dogs') hard work ultimately improves the lives of the entire family. 

This story is a page-turner, one that I hate to turn into a scholastic exercise. Sometimes a person just needs to read a book for the pure enjoyment of the thing! In my opinion, this is one of those books. That said, though, there are some things we can learn from this well-written book, and children will benefit from "downloading" about the events in this story, so I've written out some discussion questions for each chapter to "get the ball rolling," so to speak. Teachers may find that the children lead this discussion, though, which is the best possible outcome!

Rabbit Trails

* A good introduction to the literary device known as a "frame," this story begins and (briefly) ends with the narrator's story-telling voice addressing the reader in the present day -- but the bulk of the story is told in past tense, as a flashback. A detailed description of this literary device with further examples can be found here. 

* The specs and history of coon hounds and their use for hunting is drawn out in the Teachers Notes for this novel, but more information can be found here. 

* Little Rabbit Trails for each chapter are discussed in the Teachers' Notes (below).

Downloads

* Teachers' Notes can be found here in Word Doc format.

* Biography of Wilson Rawls here.

* You can download the entire novel from Internet Archive, here.

The March of the Big Knives by Lowell Thomas

 While Washington was engaging the British across the Appalachians, George Rogers Clark was preparing an expedition in the West. Settlers had suffered too much from British-inspired Indian raids to stand for any more. The Indians had to be stopped; the British had to be smoked out of the Mississippi River lairs. Clark did it without firing a shot, the most unusual campaign in our military history.**

William Clark (1770-1838)

This short selection, "The March of the Big Knives" is a detail rich glimpse into the tactics of an intelligent and practical soldier -- turned explorer, Indian agent, and eventually a territorial governor during the infancy of the Americans Experiment.

About the author: Lowell Thomas (1892-1981), the author of The March of the Big Knives, is not chiefly known as an author of historical literature, but it might be said that, in his heyday, he could have been in the running for “World’s Most Interesting Man.” A short dive into his fascinating biography might be of interest to older students.

Rabbit Trails

* Biography of Lowell Thomas here.

* Biography of William Clark here.

* A lesson on foreshadowing, which is discussed in the Study Guide, can be found here.

Downloads

* Access Word Doc (.docx) Text for reading here.

* Find Word Doc (.docx) Study Guide here.

** From the preface of the text.

The Martyrdom of St. René Goupil

One of the 9 holy North American martyrs, St. Rene Goupil was murdered by the Huron Indians on the 29th of September, 1642. Having only recently professed in the Jesuit Order as a lay brother, he, nonetheless, exemplified perfectly the virtues of charity and obedience, most especially, to a remarkable degree. His sacrifice for the love of souls, and ultimately for love of the cross, teaches us all the value of our holy Faith. There could not possibly be a better account of St. Rene Goupil's life and death than this account, written by his fellow Jesuit, fellow martyr, St. Isaac Jogues.

Rabbit Trails

*For further reading: Saint in the Wilderness, by Glenn Kittler, c.1960; Brebeuf and His Brethren, by EJ Pratt, free Project Gutenberg download here, but also in print and available used.

* You can find here, at the Library of Congress website, some original source material: "The early Jesuit missions in North America; compiled and translated from the letters of the French Jesuits, with notes."

* A Feast Day Quick Take video on all the Feast of the North American Martyrs on --- here. * A sermon on the Feast of the North America Martyrs (by Fr. Philip Davis, CMRI) here.

Downloads

You can find the text for download here.

A pretty simple study guide here.

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce

One of the most prolific and famous authors of the 19th century, Ambrose Bierce published "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" in the San Francisco Examiner in 1890. It has since been acclaimed as "one of the most famous and frequently anthologized stories in American literature." The literary style which sets this story apart is its irregular time sequence and twist ending -- but almost revolutionary for its time is the form of narrative; instead of a formal linear narration (with a 3rd person narration of events falling in predictable order of real time), Bierce’s narration takes place from within the mind of the protagonist, allowing the author to tell the tale as a stream of consciousness -- which is not necessarily dependable. Thus, the surprise ending.

Fair warning: this tale may be somewhat brutal in its factual representation of events in wartime, which is almost definitely Ambrose Bierce's point in the telling. The "glory of war" is not very glorious.

Rabbit Trails

Some of the possible teaching moments in this short story include:

* The art of the twist ending. (The teacher's notes address this, as well as the study guide, with a list of additional examples of twist endings that could be introduced.)

* The stream of consciousness style of narration that, if it wasn't invented by Bierce, was certainly perfected in this story.

* The fun and frustration of the unreliable narrator.

* The reality of war: what is the Church's stand on the morality of war? Was the Civil War justifiable, based on the teachings of the Church?

* What should one's last thoughts, ideally, be when faced with imminent death? Why? What can we do to assure that our minds naturally turn in the right direction when we find ourselves in danger of death?

Printables

The simple text can be found here.

The text with teacher's notes can be found here.

Short biography of Ambrose Bierce and supplemental teachers notes, here.

Printable Study Guide, here.

The Necklace by Guy DeMaupassant

This classic short story, written by French author, Guy De Maupassant in 1884, is an example of a twist (or surprise) ending. The author leads the reader, step by descriptive step, to the painful, ironic conclusion, leaving in the wake of shock and dismay -- a thoroughly good lesson against vanity and envy. This story has been described as "Cinderella Gone Wrong."

Rabbit Trails

* It might be interesting to discuss this story amongst boys and girls to discover the differences in their reactions. Do young men glean a different lesson from the story than young women? Are they more or less annoyed at Mathilde? Why do they think this is?

* Was the final outcome an inevitable punishment? Though envy and vanity certainly instigated the tragic accident (the loss of the necklace), was it pride that caused the couple's ultimate societal downfall? What could they have done in humility that would have prevented the whole thing? Or... do the students think the couple's reaction to the loss of the necklace was actually an act of honor and integrity? Do the students think that it's possible the couple may have ended up the better, spiritually, by the lesson learned?  (There is no definitive answer, but it's an interesting discussion!)

Printables

Text here.

Study Guide here.

The Prideful Knight

A very old tale from the Middle Ages, this selection provides myriad opportunities for discussion and learning. First and foremost, as you might guess from the title, this tale affords a good chance to pull out the catechism and renew our acquaintance with the Church's teaching on that most ancient and deadly of vices: pride. It's also a good review (or introduction) to the literary device, the allegory, as well as a dive into the literary genres of folk tales, fables, and parables. 

Rabbit Trails

* The chapter on pride in William J. Bennett's Book of Virtues contains similar examples of stories with lessons on pride.  

* Linked is the Project Gutenberg free download, but this book is, in my opinion, a "must-have" and is available at reasonable cost on both Abebooks and Thriftbooks.

* A pdf of Aesop's Fables can be found here at Project Gutenberg

* A NO link, but a pretty good one, that discusses the parables in Scripture can be found here.

* A selection of American Folk Tales and Legends can be found at Project Gutenberg as well: here.

                           

Printables

For the full text of The Prideful Knight, go here for a pdf download.

Teacher's Text with notes can be found here.

The study guide for student use is here

Also, you can find here the same study guide, complete with teacher's notes that serve as a (partial) answer key.

(Stay tuned, I might eventually get around to completing an actual answer key for this one...)