Fill the Stage

Daniel Dignan

Fill The Stage

Helping students live well

new / index / about

YouTube

 

terms / privacy

Subscribe via Email

Secretary Rubio’s Athens Speech

by Leave a Comment

Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a speech near the Acropolis of Athens about America’s ancient Greek heritage. He connected classical Greek contributions with Western realities such as the quest for truth, exploration, and the pursuit of excellence. Secretary Rubio emphasized the need for pride, strength, and courage, warning that many in the West lost the will to survive, while enemy militaries grew strong, and that the West is at a crossroad of decision.

A serious speech. I recommend it to middle and high school students.

The Hobbit

by Leave a Comment

Part of Bilbo did not want to leave his Hobbit hole. Not for a mountain of treasure or his friend Gandalf. He could not stand the thought of adventures: “Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!” But Bilbo’s adventurous side got the best of him.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s prequel to The Lord of the Rings is a delightful children’s tale about courage, written two years before World War II. Deeply influenced by the heroic, ancient story of Beowulf, Bilbo confronts a dragon and many other perils.

Who can forget Bilbo’s escape from the Misty Mountains and goblins? His encounter with the giant spiders and their sticky webs? Their journey through dark Mirkwood? Bilbo’s descent into the Lonely Mountain’s side door and down the dark, hot tunnel? And Thorin Oakenshield’s injustice and redemption? With every step, Bilbo’s courage grew, though he often longed for home, tea, and chair.

Bilbo did not start with courage. But like a muscle, it grew with use. And love of the good fueled it. Though not a warrior and underappreciated by his party, Bilbo rose to the occasion, surprising all with his resourcefulness, conviction, and bravery.

A beloved tale with lessons in courage in every chapter, the story climaxes in an epic battle for the Lonely Mountain’s treasure. Tolkien’s personal experience of World War I deepened his writing of battle. Tales of sacrifice, maneuver, charge, desperate action, gloom, and hope permeate the story and reach readers young and old alike.

Tolkien tells a timeless tale of courage: it comes from the unlikeliest of places and can turn the tide for the good.

The Elements of Rhetoric

by Leave a Comment

A young person should keep a few short books handy. The Elements of Rhetoric is one of them. It provides a crash course in writing and speaking well.

Good persuasion has been cast away, and with it, much beauty and good, the author believes. The author covers the elements of persuasion: logos, pathos, and ethos, or the grammar, logic, emotion, and character of the speaker. Then, the author turns to the considerations and mechanics of planning, organizating, and delivering a speech or essay. Special attention is paid to devices that make a speech easier to hear.

The book is memorable, harmonizing rules of speech with examples and drawing on greats like Cicero, Augustine, Shakespeare, and Dickens. Importantly, it provides practical exercises for students who want to improve.

It’s a beautiful and enlightening work. The author is clearly a practitioner and teacher of the topic, and shares much wisdom about speaking truthfully and beautifully. Highly recommended gift for middle and high school students.

Death on the Nile

by Leave a Comment

Only the Bible and Shakespeare outsell Agatha Christie. She is the best-selling and most translated fiction writer. Known for Whodunit murder mysteries, her page-turning stories hook readers with suspense and plot twists.

Death on the Nile is a prime example. Set in Egypt on the Nile, a young, beautiful traveler is murdered, and the observant detective Hercule Poirot endeavors to identify who did it. Cases and possible motives emerge across several characters, and complications arise, but the theories fall short. Will the observant, wise, and arrogant detective find out the truth?

Murder mysteries like Death on the Nile are not only entertaining, but they take evil, crime, truth, order, and justice seriously. Poirot warns one character, “Do not allow evil into your heart; it will make a home there…” And like an archaeologist, the detective sought to brush away debris to find the “naked shining truth.” Crime novels, like Christie’s, have been noted as products of Christian cultures, which hold truth and justice in high regard.

The book contains swearing. I recommend it for no younger than 10th grade.

Ben-Hur (1959 Film)

by Leave a Comment

An epic story: a Jewish prince seeks to free his nation from Roman oppression, but a childhood friend and military tribune wrongly imprisons his family and condemns him to the gallows. While seeking revenge, he meets the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, who gives him a priceless gift.

Lew Wallace, a Civil War general, wrote what became the top-selling fiction story of the 1800s. The story’s prose is clear and compelling, and its elements and plot form an epic that ranks with the greats. The 1959 movie won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The movie’s characters, music, set, and story combine to make an overwhelmingly moving experience.

I highly recommend the movie for middle and high school students.

Wisdom and Eloquence

by Leave a Comment

This wonderful book helps Christian educators and parents understand the original purpose of liberal arts education and how it ought to be practiced in light of classical and Christian teaching for the good of students and society.

Education, in the classical sense, sought to prepare individuals for lifelong and “self-directed learning” (p. 29). Greek and Roman educators sought to produce wise, eloquent future leaders who would benefit the city and society.

The authors are classical educators; their thesis is that the trivium (i.e., grammar, logic, and rhetoric), the primary building blocks of classical education, must be taught from day one and throughout a child’s education. This includes the quadrivium, or the mathematical arts.

They also recommend that teachers and homeschooling parents educate their students by keeping the end in mind. This means setting out what a student should know and be able to do by grade 12 and working backward.

The book summarizes what the parts of the trivium (language arts) and the quadrivium (mathematical arts) entail and require. It summarizes classical subjects and curriculum, though not in step-by-step detail.

Appendix B, “The Liberal Arts Tradition in the Public Square: A Historical Apologetic for the Liberal Arts,” was outstanding. It offers a brief history of classical education, focusing on the ancient debate regarding the use and value of rhetoric versus philosophy. Most importantly, it explores Augustine of Hippo’s thoughts on rhetoric for Christian education and ministry. In short, truth and wisdom surpass eloquence, though practical eloquence is essential for helping Christians grow.

New Book Club

by Leave a Comment

Parents,

We are starting a new student book club on October 17. If you’re new and interested, please email info@fillthestage.com with your student’s name and grade.

We are alternating between two books. Here’s the book club page.

Regards,

Daniel

P.S. – This famous event recorded in Mark is one we will discuss.

The Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt, 1632

Lincoln A Photobiography

by Leave a Comment

I’m planning to read Abraham Lincoln’s speeches and a couple of Lincoln books by historian Allen C. Guelzo. To get started, I wanted a short, accessible overview of Lincoln’s life. So I searched online for the best Lincoln biography for high school students. Google search resulted in Award-winning Lincoln A Photobiography.

Winner of the 1988 Newberry Medal, the biography did not disappoint. It’s short, well-written, uses a large, pleasing font, and includes plenty of pithy quotes and pictures that help the reader get a sense of Lincoln’s life and times. It shows Lincoln’s boyhood home, backwoods family dynamic, education, personality, romance, rise, speeches, leadership, and struggles leading a nation through Emancipation and the Civil War.

If you want a book that helps young readers glimpse Lincoln’s greatness and grasp the historical context of his speeches (e.g., the Lincoln-Douglas Debates), I highly recommend it. Hardly less important, it was entertaining, I could barely put the book down.

The book concludes with a sample of Lincoln quotes, sites, and recommended biographies.

Great Expectations

by Leave a Comment

One of the greatest and most unforgettable stories, a young boy named Pip strives to rise and win the love of the cold-hearted, beautiful Estella. Victimized by the haunting Miss Havisham and lifted by a benefactor, Pip shuns those who love him most, but becomes heroic when all seems to crumble around him.

Charles Dickens masterfully describes the characters, Victorian society, family life, London, and the penal system. Memorable scenes include great humor and, at times, horror, as well as descriptions of Pip’s thoughts and moral change. Dickens combines horror, crime, detective, adventure, coming-of-age, and romance, shaping many plotlines toward a deeply meaningful end.

Readers are greatly entertained. The story’s twists and turns give insight into human nature. Lessons about character and human happiness require reflection, guidance, and more than one reading. The consequences of virtue and vice are portrayed in humorous and frightening ways. Dickens clearly values and elevates forgiveness, family, and work ethic.

The book nears 500 pages, but is much shorter than some of Dickens’ other novels. The long buildup is worthwhile for the novel’s reading experience, impact, and lessons. The moral world and punch lines are congruent with, and in some ways exclusively, Christian.

The Penguin Classics edition pictured above contains very helpful notes.

I recommend Leland Ryken’s short guide and commentary; it helped me understand the story and Dickens’ craft. You can read it alongside the book, though it contains a few spoilers.

Ryken highly recommends this edition’s introduction.

Learn How to Invest

by Leave a Comment

Tradeway’s five-day challenge is a great way to introduce high school students to investing and trading on the stock market. The course expands one’s vision of what’s possible.

For $97, students will learn the basics of trading, how to read charts, and profit from different markets. Most importantly, the course emphasizes the importance of putting one’s money to work and of investment as a biblical imperative for one’s family and the kingdom of God.

Lastly, Tradeway’s YouTube channel contains helpful trading videos for beginners.