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“In brief, the discipline of poetry may be expected first to teach the evocative power of words, to introduce the student, if we may so put it, to the mighty power of symbolism, and then to show him that there are ways of feeling about things which are not provincial either in space or time. Poetry offers the fairest hope of restoring our lost unity of mind.” (Richard Weaver, Ideas have Consequences)
The SMC Literature Department contributes to fulfilling the College’s mission through close reading and discussion of select works of the Western canon, in which the reality and consequences of fallen human nature as well as the abstract truths of theology and philosophy learned elsewhere in the curriculum are vividly dramatized in the lives of men and women. By learning to read beyond the literal to the allegorical sense, students hone their discernment of vice and virtue, of good and evil in literary art, the imitation of human reality, thereby heightening their awareness of the operation of grace and divine Providence even in our fallen world. Through the progression of the literature courses, students experience the birth, development, and post-Christian decline of Western culture, equipping them to engage in the effort of restoration. Their powers of self-expression are developed through the department’s composition program that begins with an introductory course in the first year and advances each year, challenging students to engage more fully with literary scholarship and make their own written contributions to the field and to Western culture. Students will demonstrate, though class discussion, presentations, and formal graded compositions, the capacity to comprehend and analyze masterpieces of the Western canon. In later courses, they will augment their reading and critical skills through research of literary scholarship, presenting their findings in class and in essays of increasing scope and length. The writing and communication skills developed in the literature program are transferable to any academic, professional, or civic endeavor.
“. . . teachers who think they have a part in the redemption of society will have to desert certain primrose paths of dalliance and begin the difficult, the dangerous, work of teaching men to speak and to write the truth” (Richard M. Weaver Language is Sermonic 198).
Inspired by the philosophy and practice of classical rhetoric as defined by Richard Weaver, Mrs. Childs endeavors to introduce students to “the mighty power of symbolism” (Language is Sermonic 53) in the poetry of ancient Greece and Rome and to “the art of soul-leading by means of words” (Weaver The Ethics of Rhetoric). Over the course of more than thirty years of professional experience either as a writing “coach” for students or as an editor for published authors, she has acquired a scholarly interest in the instruction of rhetoric, composition, and prosody.
Dr. Matthew Childs teaches literature primarily in the latter part of the St. Mary’s College curriculum. He earned a Bachelor of Science in English with Distinction from the US Naval Academy, a Master of Arts in English from the University of Maryland, a Master of Science in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a Doctor of Philosophy in English from the University of South Carolina
A native of Colorado, Professor Clarendon attended the United States Naval Academy, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in English Literature. After serving onboard two surface ships, he returned to the Naval Academy to teach Literature and Composition. He also has a Master of Arts in English Literature from the Catholic University of America. After leaving the Navy, he was one of the original faculty members at La Salette Boys Academy in Olivet, Illinois. He joined the faculty of Saint Mary’s College in 2010.