Philosophy behind breakdown of history into these 4 Year plans?

[Irene in CA]

I might have read it somewhere, but I can't think where, and now I really need to understand. As a disclaimer, I am very happy with TOG in every way possible, but I need some help approaching year 2.

Why is TOG organized with a year on the Ancients (customary) and a year on the Middles Ages of Europe, the Islamic Empire, Establishment of European monarchies, Early and Late Renaissance, Reformation, Age of Religious Wars, Age of Exploration, Settlement of Americas, American Revolution, Establishment of the United States of America all in one year; followed by a year each on the 19th and 20th centuries?

I am with a high school student who has twice studied history in the 4 year pattern: Ancient, Fall of Rome to 1650, 1650 to 1800, and 1800 to present. I need to understand why the vast changes in civilizations between 450 and 1800 are raced through in 36 weeks. Because this is her most in-depth phase of study, I am not sure how the need for depth can be addressed with so broad a span of topics in Year 2.

I previously have used TOG in the dialectic phase,
1st year) year 2 units 3-4 & Year 3 units 1-2; (approximately the American Revolution to the Civil War)
2nd year) Year 3 units 3-4 and Year 4 units 1-2 and a few highlights of units 3 & 4. (Civil war to the present)

I am now on track after doing Rhetoric Ancients, but approaching this one turbo-speed-with flux-capacitor Year 2, on a Rhetoric level, I am in distress over how summary the year will be.

Maybe someone can direct me to an article that explains this.

[Pat]

I cannot provide you with a link, but I know I've read an article from Tapestry that they spend the final two years on the cycle on the last 200 years of history because those last 200 years have the most influence on us.

If you look for instance at forms of literature. Novels first appear and become popular right around the turn of the 19th century. Fast-forward to today. If a writer wishes to influence and communicate with people of today do they write epic poems or for that matter even plays? No, they write novels.

[Irene in CA]

Well Pat, I think that's changed--I think they write blogs, tweets, and facebook posts. I can't remember the statistics of how many Americans have read a book in the past year, but it was pretty low. Still, I do appreciate you remembering that reason. I think I must have read the same article, and I wish I could read it again.

[Marcia]

Pat is basically correct. Especially in the rhetoric level, the focus is on worldviews, and the program as a whole focuses on the "ism's" of the 1800s that led to fruition and horror in the 20th century. Most of the ideas that challenge the faith of modern students were conceived (or promulgated) in the 1800's and 20th century. Thus, we slow way down to be sure that students have ample time to understand these. The fast pace through Year 2 does presuppose that the rhetoric student is familiar with the basic flow of history in those Year 2 eras already. You'll note that rhetoric students take a track that places a lot of emphasis on the nuances of European history during the Renaissance, Reformation, and Colonial eras than do their younger counterparts. It's all part of our focus on building apologists who are well grounded in their faith. HTH! Feel free to ask more questions!