How We Talk About Books Matters

At Cincinnati Classical Academy, we believe that literature is not merely something students study—it is something that forms them. The books we read, and the way we read them, shape how young people understand the world, human nature, and themselves. For that reason, how literature is discussed in the classroom matters just as much as what is read.

 

Classical education approaches literature with confidence that the great works of the Western tradition speak to enduring human questions: What is courage? What does justice require? What does love demand of us? Why do pride and envy so often lead to ruin? These “academic exercises” are moral and intellectual inquiries that help students grow in wisdom and judgment.

 

Our approach to literature is therefore ordered, disciplined, and purposeful. Classroom discussion is guided by close reading of the text itself. Students are asked to attend carefully to language, structure, character, and theme. They learn to trace big ideas as they unfold in a story or poem and to consider how virtue and vice are embodied in the choices characters make as well as the consequences that follow.

 

This is not an abstract or ideological exercise. It is a deeply human one.

 

A well-led seminar invites students to compare works they have read across years, to recognize patterns and contrasts, and to see how authors across centuries treat the same moral realities. It trains students to think clearly, speak carefully, and listen charitably. In short, it forms them to be thoughtful readers and responsible young adults.

 

At the same time, we are equally clear about what does not belong in a classical literature classroom.

 

Our classrooms are not platforms for personal grievances or confessional storytelling. Students should never be asked—implicitly or explicitly—to carry a teacher’s frustrations, family disputes, or private opinions. Teachers are professionals, and the classroom is a place of instruction, not personal expression.

 

Nor are literature classes venues for political partisanship. Cincinnati Classical Academy does not take sides in contemporary political debates, and our teachers do not use class time to praise or criticize current political figures, parties, or movements. This is not because such topics are unimportant, but because they are inappropriate to the purpose of literary study and often divisive, unsettled, and emotionally charged.

 

Similarly, current events do not belong in literature instruction. Current events are, by definition, still unfolding; their truth, meaning, and significance are often not yet clear. By contrast, literature allows students to reflect on settled human experiences with the benefit of time and accumulated wisdom. Historical context may be introduced when it helps illuminate a text, but the classroom is not a forum for commentary on today’s headlines.

 

We are also intentional about how texts are interpreted. Classical education does not treat literature as raw material for modern ideological frameworks. We do not approach works primarily through lenses of sexualization, political activism, or speculative accusations of hidden motives. Students are not encouraged to hunt for innuendo, perversion, or ideological subtext. (Yes, this is a longstanding trend in literature education–but not here!) Instead, they are taught to take texts seriously, read them honestly, and engage them with moral clarity and intellectual humility.

 

This restraint is a form of wisdom. It reflects our conviction that young people deserve instruction that is age-appropriate, ordered, and worthy of their trust.

 

Parents entrust us with their children during some of the most formative years of their lives. We take that trust seriously. Literature, taught well, enlarges the soul. Taught poorly, it can confuse, unsettle, or desensitize. Our responsibility is to ensure the former and guard firmly against the latter.

 

The result is a classroom culture marked by a joyful seriousness coupled with confidence in the power of great books to speak for themselves. We believe that when students encounter literature in this way—carefully guided, morally grounded, and intellectually honest—they are not only becoming better readers, but better human beings.