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This teacher needs your help!

Mr. Viles from Newport ME is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Mr. Viles is requesting

Save the Classics

My students need four books each that they can annotate and keep.

  • $458 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

My Students

These students are all from rural, low-income communities and have taken an elective class in the classics. The course description makes it clear we will read Dante, Shakespeare, Cervantes, and Milton. These students aspire to understand what they perceive to be high culture. I admire them for this.

George Steiner once wrote, "The way you honor a human being is to ask of him an effort" and that is what this is about.

This course in these four classic texts is my attempt to do just that, to honor the students who aspire to know a piece of their heritage that is far removed from their local experience.

These students have committed themselves to read some of the most difficult texts in English literature. They know this. They know they will be initially confused by the language, by the style, and by the ideas at play. They still want to do it. They trust in the judgment of generations before them which elevated these books and believe that cultivating a similar judgment in themselves is a worthy enterprise.

My Project

Reading Dante's "Inferno" or Milton's "Paradise Lost" is not a disposable experience. Engaging these texts for the first time is a life event, and I believe it is critical that the students view it this way and take ownership of the experience.

They need to be able to write in texts actively, to refer to them over time as they read other books, and, importantly, they need to able to look on these books as the beginning of their personal literary library.

It is for this reason that I need your help to give the books to the students.

If funded, all eight of my students in Classics will receive their own copy of each text. I will teach higher literacy and annotation strategies as we examine each text. The students will utilize their own book in class discussions and as a reference for written compositions. Finally, each student will take their copy on with them to their homes and, later, to their colleges as a token of their experience with each text and a life-long reference.

Mr. Viles
Grades 9-12

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Expand the "Where your donation goes" section below to see exactly what Mr. Viles is requesting.

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TEACHERS, FEELING INSPIRED?

You can start a project with the same resources being requested here!

Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Don Quixote • Amazon Business $14.44 8 $115.52
The Inferno • Amazon Business $14.40 8 $115.20
Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained (Signet Classics) • Amazon Business $7.85 8 $62.80
Othello • Amazon Business $5.39 8 $43.12

Materials cost

$336.64

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $16.83

3rd party payment processing fee

$5.05

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$388.52

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$68.56

Total project goal

$457.08

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $457.08

2 Donors

-$457.08

Donations toward project cost

-$388.52

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$68.56

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Viles and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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