How Literature Makes the Great Hearts Reading List Facebook Twitter Email This Post Great Hearts Academies August 24, 2022 The reading lists at Great Hearts serves as the backbone to the classical education provided to its scholars. This distinguished list includes some of the greatest works of literature in the Western Tradition. But how does a text rise to the status of Great Hearts Canon? Great Hearts Academic Officer Jake Tawney explained the established criteria that a book must meet to be considered. “It is not too much to say that our reading list is our mission,” said Tawney. “Literature forms the moral imagination of the student. It teaches the student what it means to be human and how to act virtuously in the world. Therefore, we are very careful and intentioned when we choose books to put into the hands of our students.” The text must be an established canonical classic that transcends its own time and culture. Canonical status means that a text possesses a kind of universality—it transcends its own time and culture, and it is widely read and appreciated by a broad spectrum of readers and scholars, not just cherished by only one particular sect or ideological band. This includes both timeless intellectual and aesthetic excellence as well as actual impact and influence over time. The text must make a unique contribution to the Great Conversation. The text must make an essential and unique contribution to the Great Conversation. There must be a clear answer to the question, “What great idea(s) does this book contribute to the Great Conversation that cannot be found anywhere else in the syllabus? What’s the irreplaceable value?” The text must be appropriate to the intellectual and social maturity of our students. Some text may be deemed inappropriate for younger grades based on difficult narratives or mature content but could be justified for older grades. The text must be of an appropriate length. This explains why War and Peace is not included on our reading list. We strive for something of a balance between shorter and longer works. The text must fit into the arc and sweep of the curriculum. This concept of “arc and sweep” speaks to how the text can be interwoven into the curriculum and philosophies introduced by grade level. But more important than the books are outcomes it produces in our scholars. These great texts foster the pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. They create a culture where the reader can transcend their own experiences and environment. E. M. Forster once said, “What is wonderful about great literature is that it transforms the man who reads it towards the condition of the man who wrote, and brings to birth in us also the creative impulse.” Learn more about our reading lists: Elementary Reading Lists Middle School Reading Lists High School Reading Lists Do you have a story or know of a story that you would like to see featured at Great Hearts? Please contact jmoore@greatheartsamerica.org.
