Spring enrollment is open · See the catalog
A whole-book seminar
Douglass in his own words: the Narrative read whole, plus the Fourth of July speech, with attention to how a man argued his way into freedom.
New this term. Reviews from students and parents appear here once families have taken it.
One of the great American books and one of the great American arguments. Students read the Narrative slowly, read passages aloud, and finish with "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?", a speech that is simultaneously an indictment and a defense of the founding documents.
This course accumulates. The class reads the same pages at the same pace and each meeting picks up the argument where the last one left it, so joining halfway means joining an argument already in progress.
Because there is a whole body of work at the end of it, this one is graded (letter) and can be carried to a transcript. Enroll before the second meeting.
Weeks 1–4
The opening chapters, the withholding of birthdays and names, and literacy as contraband.
Weeks 5–8
The central confrontation and what Douglass says it did to him.
Weeks 9–11
Flight, the abolitionist circuit, and the politics of writing your own life.
Weeks 12–14
The 1852 speech read whole, then argued about.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
Public domain; print copies recommended, PDF provided.
None. Any student in the age range can enroll.
Douglass is read as a founding-era-adjacent political thinker as well as a memoirist. His argument with Garrison over whether the Constitution was pro- or anti-slavery is treated as a live question.
Read our academic philosophyMeetings are recorded and released to enrolled families for fourteen days. Recordings capture the instructor and shared materials; student video is not published.
Full refund up to seven days before the first meeting; inside seven days, everything paid is credited to your Lyceum balance. No refunds or credits once the class has begun. Cancel any section from your parent account.
These describe how this instructor has been trained, reviewed with educators and accessibility specialists. They are not a diagnosis and not a marketing claim.
Students and parents review separately, on different questions, and the two aggregates are never blended. Every review is verified and moderated.
No parent reviews for this class yet.
Reviews from students are published as “Student, age 13”, never with a full name. Photo and short video reviews are supported and moderated before they appear.
Great Books
The year-long seminar · Ages 15–18
A full year inside Tocqueville: both volumes, forty pages a week, discussed live every Tuesday with twelve other students.
Dr. Alan HaleNew this term
Reviews appear once families have taken it.
$8/wk
$56 in total
$22.40 for add’l siblings
Great Books
A whole book in six weeks · Three mornings a week
Homer’s Odyssey read whole across one summer, Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the same hour. Meeting three times a week is what makes finishing it possible.
Mr. James OkadaNew this term
Reviews appear once families have taken it.
$24/wk
$144 in total
$57.60 for add’l siblings
Great Books
Selections, read closely
A student studying Smith reads Smith. Books I and IV in substantial selection, plus the passages from Moral Sentiments people forget exist.
Mr. Thomas WardNew this term
Reviews appear once families have taken it.
$8/wk
$56 in total
$22.40 for add’l siblings
