Annapolis Sophomore Seminar Readings

Fall Semester 2023

This list may be subject to change. Please always check with tutors or cross-reference with the paper reading list distributed by the dean’s office.

Sophomore Seminar Readings for Fall 2023
Date Reading
August 24 Bible, Genesis 1–11
August 28 Bible, Genesis 12–25
August 31 Bible, Genesis 26–50
September 4 Bible, Exodus; Numbers 20
September 7 Bible, Leviticus 11, 18-20; Deuteronomy
September 11 Bible, Samuel I, II; Kings I, 1–4
September 14 Bible, Psalms (selections) - See Appendix
September 18 Bible, Amos; Jonah; Isaiah 40–55
September 21 Bible, Job
September 25 Lucretius: De Rerum Natura, I–III
September 28 Lucretius: De Rerum Natura, IV–VI
October 2 Virgil: Aeneid, I–IV
October 5 Virgil: Aeneid, V–VIII
October 9 Virgil: Aeneid, IX–XII
October 12 Plutarch: Lives, Caesar; Cato the Younger
October 16 Tacitus: Annals, I–II
October 19 Tacitus: Annals, III–VI
October 23 Epictetus: Handbook
October 26 Bible, Matthew
October 30 Bible, Luke
November 2 Bible, Acts
November 6 Bible, Gospel of John; First Letter of John
November 9 Bible, I Corinthians
November 13 Bible, Romans; James
November 16 Plotinus: (selections) - See Appendix
November 20 Augustine: Confessions, I–V
November 27 Augustine: Confessions, VI–IX
November 30 Augustine: Confessions, X–XI
December 4 Anselm: Proslogium
December 7 Christian Creeds - See Appendix;
Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologiae, Prologue; Prima Pars (First Part), Questions 1, 2
December 11 Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologiae, Prima Pars (First Part), Question 3, Articles 1–4; Question 4; Question 6, Articles 1–2; Question 7, Article 1; Question 8, Articles 1, 3; Question 9, Article 1; Question 11, Articles 3–4
December 14
(Thursday)		 Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologiae, Prima Pars (First Part), Question 12, Articles 1, 4, 5, 7, 11–13; Question 13, Articles 1–5, 11–12

Appendix

September 14
The Psalms for the September 14 reading are: Psalms 1, 8, 14, 19, 22, 23, 42, 46, 51, 90, 121, 122, 126, 130, 131, 137, 139, and 148. (These numbers are as in the JPS, RSV, and Jerusalem Bibles. Users of other editions should cross-check numbering.)

November 16
The selections from Plotinus for November 16 are (in The Essential Plotinus, O’Brien):

  • The Three Primal Hypostases: V.1 (pp. 91–105)
  • Contemplation: III.8 (pp. 163–175)

A PDF of the Loeb translation (A.H. Armstrong) will be available for purchase in the Bookstore.

December 7
The assignment for December 7 includes three Christian Creeds—the Apostolic, Nicene, and Athanasian (available in the Bookstore)—and the following selection from Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae: Prologue; Prima Pars (First Part), Questions 1 and 2.

Spring Semester 2024

This list may be subject to change. Please always check with tutors or cross-reference with the paper reading list distributed by the dean’s office.

SOPHOMORE SEMINAR READINGS FOR SPRING 2024
DATE READING
January 8 Dante: Divine Comedy, Inferno I–XVII
January 11 Dante: Divine Comedy, Inferno XVIII–XXXIV
January 15 Dante: Divine Comedy, Purgatorio I–XVIII
January 18 Dante: Divine Comedy, Purgatorio XIX–XXXIII
January 22 Dante: Divine Comedy, Paradiso I–XVII
January 25 Dante: Divine Comedy, Paradiso XVIII–XXXIII
January 29 Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologiae
First Part of the Second Part:
Question 90
Question 91, Articles 1–5
Question 93, Articles 1–3, 5, 6
Question 94
Question 95, Articles 1, 2
Question 96, Articles 2–6
Question 97, Articles 1–3
February 1 Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologiae
First Part of the Second Part:
Question 100, Articles 1–3, 9, 10, 12
Questions 106, 108, 109
February 5 Christian Creeds (available in Bookstore)

Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologiae
Second Part of the Second Part, Questions 1, 2, 4
February 8 Chaucer: Canterbury Tales
General Prologue
Knight’s Tale
February 12 Chaucer: Canterbury Tales
Miller’s Prologue and Tale
Reeve’s Prologue and Tale
February 15 Chaucer: Canterbury Tales
Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale
Clerk’s Prologue and Tale
February 19 Chaucer: Canterbury Tales
Franklin’s Prologue and Tale
Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale
February 22 Shakespeare: As You Like It
February 26 Montaigne: Essays
To the Reader
I, 31 (Of Cannibals)
II, 11 (Of Cruelty)
III, 2 (Of Repentance)
February 29 Montaigne: Essays
III, 13 (Of Experience)
March 18 Machiavelli: The Prince
March 21 Machiavelli: Discourses on Livy
Introductory Letter
Book I: Preface, 1–28, 58 to end
Book II: Preface, 1–5
March 25 Shakespeare: Richard II
March 28 Shakespeare: Henry IV, Part I
April 1 Shakespeare: Othello
April 4 Shakespeare: Hamlet
April 8 Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book I, Chapters 1–6; 15
April 11 Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book II, Chapters 1, 2 (#12–27), 3
April 15 J. S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion
April 18 Bacon: Novum Organum, Book I, Preface and Aphorisms 1–115
April 22 Bacon: Novum Organum, Book I, Aphorisms 116–130
Book II, Aphorisms 1–20
April 25 Descartes: Discourse on Method, I–IV
April 29 Descartes: Discourse on Method, V–VI
May 2 Shakespeare: Macbeth
May 6 Shakespeare: King Lear
Avoid newer editions that print two separate versions of King Lear.
May 9 Shakespeare: The Tempest
End of spring semester