LibraryLover Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 (edited) I can start. ;)I know there is much derision of Gothic novels, but as a Jane Eyre fan, I can't embrace that derision. :DOur Gothic Novel exploration Edited October 19, 2013 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 (edited) Oh no. It's just as I feared. lol Edited October 19, 2013 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 I love many of the books you mentioned with the exception of Anne Rice - too explicit for my family. Two current ones you might consider are The Thirteenth Tale and The Forgotten Garden. My dd is reading Jane Eyre; you've given me some good ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle in AL Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Please don't worry about a lack of responses being related a disinterest in Gothic novels. I think your study sounds fabulous! I loved Wuthering Heights and Fankenstein. I think it also helps our teens to see the difference between the true origins of gothic culture and how gith is interpreted today. I know many others here have done wonderful, creative projects with their teens: Nan's Natural Science study, Lori's sci fi class etc. Maybe everyone's just tooo busy to post. My favorite study I've done with my kids was a yr of C.S. Lewis for a literature class. This yr I'm doing a literature study on lit of the middle ages focusing on what is a true hero and what is the best model for society. That's about the end to my creativity. Maybe some others will post if we bump this thread up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Oh no. It's just as I feared. The love of the Gothic novel is too painful a notion for many. Our pedantic undies are showing. :D lol Not at all! It sounds brilliant! When I worked in the Lit department at UC San Diego, way back before children, one of the most popular courses was gothic lit. I think the professor, Bram Djikstra, even published a book on the genre. This isn't an organized study, but more like a thread over the last few years. My younger ds and I love to analyze literature in relation to the tv show LOST. Nothing formal, it is all just for fun. But we noticed for instance in one of the early seasons that Sawyer was reading Watership Down, so we talked about how the book related to the show. We just read Shakespeare's Tempest last month and had a field day with LOST tie ins. My ds has to read about Enlightenment thinkers next month, and I'm sure we'll get into similarities between the characters on the island and their namesakes from the Enlightenment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 I love many of the books you mentioned with the exception of Anne Rice - too explicit for my family. Two current ones you might consider are The Thirteenth Tale and The Forgotten Garden. My dd is reading Jane Eyre; you've given me some good ideas. We didn't include Anne Rice ( I read only one book of her books many years ago, although dd hasn't). Rice is enticing to many. Including Rice might offer an interesting comparisson to 18th century Gothic lit, if one was so inclined to explore that. I am not a Rice fan (eek!) That's for the titles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 (edited) :)I don't know about brilliant. It's still ongoing, in it's way. Edited October 17, 2013 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 I love that! Bill Moyers did an older series on Myth and Heroes. I don't know if you've seen it. I enjoyed it. Please don't worry about a lack of responses being related a disinterest in Gothic novels. I think your study sounds fabulous! I loved Wuthering Heights and Fankenstein. I think it also helps our teens to see the difference between the true origins of gothic culture and how gith is interpreted today. I know many others here have done wonderful, creative projects with their teens: Nan's Natural Science study, Lori's sci fi class etc. Maybe everyone's just tooo busy to post. My favorite study I've done with my kids was a yr of C.S. Lewis for a literature class. This yr I'm doing a literature study on lit of the middle ages focusing on what is a true hero and what is the best model for society. That's about the end to my creativity. Maybe some others will post if we bump this thread up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 (edited) Two courses we've made ourselves were VERY successful and greatly enjoyed: A full-credit filmmaking class as an elective for DS: - Read "Attack of the Killer Video" by Shulman - Read "I-Movie HD" by Pogue - Made 6 short films (4 animated, 2 live action), using video camera, free downloadable I-Movie software, Legos, friends, etc. -- one film he even made the music soundtrack, too, using free downloadable Garage Band software! - Write 3 short (2-page) reports, one on pre-production, one on production, and one on post-production, using info from the books and his own filmmaking experiences "Worldviews in Sci-Fi Literature", a full-credit class, in which we read aloud/discussed together: 1. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Progeny Press; Sparknotes) = Christian theme of inborn sin nature 2. Frankenstein (Progeny Press; Sparknotes) = romanticism; gothic elements 3. Time Machine (online guide) = evolution; socialism 4. Animal Farm (Sparknotes) = communism/capitalism 5. The Giver (Discovering Literature Garlic Press pub.; Glencoe) = utopia/dystopia 6. Brave New World (Sparknotes) = utopia/dystopia 7. Farenheit 451 (Progeny Press; Sparknotes) = loss of literacy; cultural ascendency of the image 8. Canticle for Leibowitz (Wikipedia article; online guide) = post-apocalyptic world; rise to power/self destructive cycle of the state vs. church preserving culture/literacy/knowledge 9. short stories from Cosmicomics (Wikipedia article on author Calvino) = existentialism 10. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy = absurdism We also enjoyed watching the movie versions of some of the books, too. :) Edited January 11, 2010 by Lori D. added info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparrows-Song Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Not at all! It sounds brilliant! When I worked in the Lit department at UC San Diego, way back before children, one of the most popular courses was gothic lit. I think the professor, Bram Djikstra, even published a book on the genre. This isn't an organized study, but more like a thread over the last few years. My younger ds and I love to analyze literature in relation to the tv show LOST. Nothing formal, it is all just for fun. But we noticed for instance in one of the early seasons that Sawyer was reading Watership Down, so we talked about how the book related to the show. We just read Shakespeare's Tempest last month and had a field day with LOST tie ins. My ds has to read about Enlightenment thinkers next month, and I'm sure we'll get into similarities between the characters on the island and their namesakes from the Enlightenment. We are huge LOST fans and this sounds so interesting!!! Thanks for the idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparrows-Song Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 My favorite study I've done with my kids was a yr of C.S. Lewis for a literature class. Could you elaborate in which works you covered, what you used, and what age were your children? Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathmom Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 I am so inspired by this thread! The Gothic study is perfect for my DS as is the film study. This is a little less academic, but "Sushi" has asked that I develop a Fundamentals of Cooking class for him. We will do a combination of lessons from http://www.freeculinaryschool.com and cooking for the family at least once per week. If all goes well, he will document his progress in a blog. Actually, even if it doesn't go well, he will blog. :lol: We also did some brainstorming on a special topic he can research this spring. Through a strange series of ideas we have come up with a tentative idea of having him consider the history of swearing. :blushing: The funny thing is, no one in our family is big on swearing. It won't be a topic for everyone, but I'm curious to see where he can go with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 I misspelled his name -- it is Dijkstra. I just looked at a list of his titles on Amazon, and I don't see anything specifically on gothic. It has been almost 18 years (gasp!) since I worked in the Literature Dept., so my memory is a little fuzzy about specifics.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Your Gothic literature study sounds wonderful! It reminded me of this past post by JennW in SoCal about their history study based on The History of the World in Six Glasses. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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