A free class

00:00:00 – 00:04:20

Words of welcome. Questions to participants about their previous Shakespeare studies, previous encounters with the comedies, etc.

00:04:21 – 00:11:27

Objectives for the series. A look at what's coming.

00:11:27 – 00:25:12

Overview of Shakespeare's comedy: common characteristics, favorite comic devices, etc.

00:25:13 – 00:34:10

Chronology of Shakespeare's writing career: where the comedies fit in.

00:34:11 – 00:51:33

Introduction to Twelfth Night:

• what the title refers to (eve of Epiphany);
• the setting (Illyria);
• the characters' names (Italian, English, exotic);
• source for the text (First Folio, 1623); the opening scene.

00:51:34 – 01:30:00

Close reading of Act 1, scenes 1 & 2.

current session

Twelfth Night

Eight online sessions
of 90 minutes each
Tuesdays & Thursdays
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM EDT

complete schedule:
Thursday, June 4, 2020
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
Thursday, June 11, 2020
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Thursday, June 18, 2020
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Tuesday, June 30, 2020

To register a student, click here:

For more information, please CONTACT US.

now open for registration

Shakespeare's
Romeo & Juliet

Ten online classes

Instructor: Roy Speed

These online sessions provide an in-depth study of this play as well as the historical, cultural, and literary background needed to bring the play to life. As one of our College-Bound Intensives, this course is designed to take students to an advanced level of reading comprehension and analysis, enabling them to:

• tackle sophisticated material across the spectrum of the college curriculum;
• dissect difficult passages included in standardized tests.

For my daughter, the most helpful part of taking this class was reading through parts of the play, line by line, with Roy's guidance every step of the way. Through this experience, she has begun to understand how to read Shakespeare and has been inspired by him to read many of Shakespeare's plays on her own.

Vicki B.

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College-Bound Intensives

The instructors for our College-Bound Intensives are all subject-matter experts with a passion for their fields. They're selected for their ability to instill in their students real love and intellectual excitement for the subjects they teach.

Wrestling with difficult texts

A chasm separates middle school from high school or college-level work. Faced with advanced texts in science, history, and literature, students can no longer read passively; they must be active readers, digging into the content for nuance and understanding.

Our College-Bound Intensives are programs designed to build skills crucial for college-level work. Through intensive study of great authors, these courses take students to an advanced level of reading comprehension and analysis, enabling them to:

• tackle sophisticated material across the spectrum of the college curriculum;
• dissect difficult passages included in standardized tests.

In the process, students expand their vocabulary, strengthen their facility with complex ideas, and deepen their understanding of what makes great writing great.

Great works, important skills

We had a number of reasons for creating the College-Bound Intensives:

• Few homeschooling parents feel equipped to teach the works of great authors — like Shakespeare — but may feel nonetheless that such works should figure prominently in their own curriculum.
• Plenty of courses now target the student's performance on tests required for acceptance at college; fewer courses seem to target the student's performance in college — i.e., by providing knowledge and skills critical to a successful college career.