An in-depth, interdisciplinary study of Joan of Arc offers ample opportunity for students to grow in academic virtues. Put simply, students come to know Joan of Arc and develop various skills in the process. This type of dual focus is a hallmark of classical education.

What follows is a breakdown of the types of exercises I use in conjunction with investigating Joan’s life. Collectively, they help students sharpen their reading and writing virtues, while simultaneously developing their critical thinking.

Chapter Reading and Journal Entries

The most basic requirement in this study is simply to read Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain. This is no small task, however, especially for young students. We combine read-alouds, choral reading, and silent reading. I pair chapter readings with journal entries in order to keep students on track with their reading and to provide concrete evidence of its completion.

Here is an example of a high quality journal entry.

The Art of Writing with Copia

Another important exercise is the classical writing method of copia, which is the art of expressing the Truth of language in a new way. The copia exercises I designed for Personal Recollections follows a three-fold process.

First, students analyze and annotate a pre-determined selection of text from the book. Once analyzed, students re-write the text two different ways. The first re-writing shortens the quote; the second lengthens it. Both re-writings compel students to express the core meaning of the original text in a new, artful way.

Examples from Personal Recollections are available here, along with more detailed explanation. 

Critical Insights through Discourse

Once students have read Personal Recollections and studied some of the other works about Joan of Arc, they are then ready to engage in the classical exercise of discourse, which is also commonly referred to as Socratic discussion. To this end, I facilitate an inclusive class discussion to compare the contending views of Joan’s life and consider possible explanations therein.  

While every discourse takes on a life of its own, I have found the following questions to be effective starting points:

Which construction of Joan do you find the most believable? Why? What is the basis of Twain’s credibility versus that of the other authors/creators? What is the difference between “Truth” and “truth?”  Can they be measured? If so, by what standard?

Disputation

Disputation, which is a formal process of debate that traces back to the Middle Ages, is another hallmark of classical education that helps students form their own opinions about who Joan of Arc really was.

It begins by proposing an idea, such as “Joan was a saint.” It then allows for an opposing view (e.g., “Joan was a heretic”) to challenge this idea. Much like today’s organized debates, disputations follow strict formats and time limits for participants. I generally assign students one position or another in order to balance the numbers on each side and challenge students to consider a range of viewpoints.

After all, very few of my students ever want to argue against Joan’s character, but I make them nonetheless. Being able to see and understand both sides of an argument is essential for deepening one’s own views.

Plays

Our final exercise, which requires students to write their own play about Joan of Arc, is often the most enjoyable. Students inevitably feel a great sense of accomplishment in their study of Joan’s life and no little relief in making it all the way through the “hard” part. They are then free to creatively construct their own version of Joan of Arc’s life. There are two main approaches I choose from each year.

One version involves the whole class writing one complete, cohesive play that covers the entire life of Joan. The other version allows students to form small groups and write “short” plays that revolve around a particular episode in Joan’s life, such as when Joan heard the voice of St. Michael for the first time.

Conclusion

My class’s investigation into the life of Joan of Arc takes several weeks. By the end, they have a strong, critically determined view about who she really was. Many even feel she has become a friend. And as with all friends, they realize there is always more to get to know.