Which literature year is the Can't Miss one for you?

[johnandtinagilbert]

If you follow the classical cycle, and had to compete only one "year" of high school literature in the cycle, which would you choose. We use TOG, so if that's your spot, I'd love to hear from you.

 

I'm thinking the "years" are: Ancients, Medieval/Renaissance, Early Modern, Modern

 

My thoughts are to limit our literature studies for a math strong kiddo to one year and 1 credit. Then, if there are some Must Reads, we'll just pick 1 or 2 and read them over the summer w/o actual analysis assignments.

 

Thank you!

[Chris in VA]

Wow, that's a toughie!

Backing up a bit--is your son planning on college? I guarantee you one year of lit will not fly with any college, even if he is attempting a non-English-based major.

 

That said, I honestly think if you were going to do only one year, you should do a chronological survey of lit, covering one or two works from every period. There are others far more qualified to answer which works should be considered, but fwiw, I'd probably pick

 

Ancients

The Odyssey

The Theban Triology

 

Medieval

Selected Canterbury Tales

A Shakespeare play

 

Early Mod

An English work, such as Frankenstein or a Dickens work

An American work, such as Scarlett Letter, some Thoreau, or something like Frederick Douglas' work

 

Modern

The Jungle

Grapes of Wrath or a holocaust work, like Night or The Hiding Place

 

That's just the lit I find most accessible to a kid w/ limited interest in lit.

 

Now, if I absolutely had to pick a Year, I'd do moderns, because there are some competing ideas of what people are really like--are we good by nature, or evil by nature? Does civilization destroy the natural goodness, or correct the natural "badness?" Those types of big questions are easy to find in modern lit.

 

Not that I'm any sort of authority, that's for sure.

Edited October 7, 2010 by Chris in VA

[Nan in Mass]

I would do ancients, watch a bunch of Shakespeare videos (the modern ones are gripping), and have him read a few scifi classics during the summer, like 1984. A better approach might be to do a combo of ancients and medieval/ren. and then do the Shakespeares and scifi as extras. That way, you could include Beowulf and Canterbury Tales (both of which appeal to boys). I am skipping moderns. I think one is least likely to read ancients on one's own as an adult, and everything else contains so many references to them that having read some of them makes everything else make more sense. I think Shakespeare can be appreciated without pulling apart or discussing and not to be missed. And with the fast pace of technological change, I think it is dangerous not to read a bit of scifi. That stands on its own with no discussion, too, so I think it is fine to get audio books or do it as summer reading. This is more or less what I did with my older one, with the addition of the foundation documents for his US history credit. It worked so well I am doing something similar with my younger one, too. The older one had 5 English credits: speech/composition at CC, ancients, medieval, renaissance/early modern (we did Sense and Sensibility and some comedy), and scifi. What that looked like daily was four years of ancients and medieval with other literature reading on his own summers and tons of work on writing.

-Nan

Edited October 6, 2010 by Nan in Mass

[JennW in SoCal]

Whoa! Hold on there. Just because a kid is strong in math doesn't mean you should limit him to a single credit of high school literature. You will be doing him a huge disservice as colleges want to see 4 years on a transcript.

 

The thinking and writing that comes in with a literature course are essential skills no matter what the major. If you want to tailor things to your child's strengths, then think about which works you assign -- do 10 major works in a year and make one of those a play, make one of the 10 a unit on poetry. But don't NOT do literature!

[2cents]

Whoa! Hold on there. Just because a kid is strong in math doesn't mean you should limit him to a single credit of high school literature. You will be doing him a huge disservice as colleges want to see 4 years on a transcript.

 

The thinking and writing that comes in with a literature course are essential skills no matter what the major. If you want to tailor things to your child's strengths, then think about which works you assign -- do 10 major works in a year and make one of those a play, make one of the 10 a unit on poetry. But don't NOT do literature!

 

:iagree:

[Leanna Tomlinson]

No matter what college your son tries to attend, they will probably expect 4 "English" credits on his transcript. English credits are usually a combination of Literature, Composition, and Grammar. Eliminating 3 years of Lit. means your math oriented kids will then be doing that much more writing.

 

As a fellow TOG user, I have a suggestion. Make each year a combination of Dialectic and Rhetoric Lit based on the severe cutting level as outlined on the Loom under "Teaching Rhetoric Literature". Again, cut severely. Make your goal 2 works per unit. Don't completely skip the poetry. He needs introduction to the terms etc. Don't make him write any answers to the Lit Questions. Just discuss Lit on the most basic level.

 

Year 1: Read the "big three"(Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid) at the Dialectic level. Then from the weekly rhetoric lit. discussions, read aloud the suggested excerpts from the actual work. This will give him a feel for the language. Cut all non-western works ('Gita, Analects,etc.) Watch one or two Greek plays, or read a summary of a couple. Add in some Dialectic Lit if you want.

 

Year 2: Watch Shakespeare plays. Read a few Dialectic summary books and look at excerpts from the real one (ie - Canterbury Tales, Beowulf, Gulliver's Travels) Skip Paradise Lost and Dante's Inferno if you want. Read Tartuffe - it's a funny play, easy to understand....my kids loved it.

 

Year 3 - If I remember correctly this is where you are now. Right? I think several Dialectic Lit selections are valid Rhetoric selections. (I studied a few in my AP Lit class in high school - like Our Town). Stick with Dialectic and skip the "girl oriented" works like Anne.

 

Year 4 - Look at the cutting list. Pick works based on content. Works from this century can be dark. You know your child.

Unit 1 - Animal Farm and the Short Stories are easy reads

Unit 2 - The Chosen (this one is often in 7th or 8th grade programs) and Great Gatsby or Glass Menagerie are fairly approachable for the more math oriented.

Unit 3 -The Crucible (a play - rent it) Fahrenheit 451 (again, included in many jr. high programs), To Kill a Mockingbird - an easy read and so rich!

Unit 4 - The Hobbit and Poetry

 

That's just my suggestion. You've got TOG, and you have all the information you need to teach these works. I've done tweaking and cutting for all 4 years for my co-op classes. We've made adjustments, cut works, watched plays, and have had a great time. With TOG, I have been able to launch two students (one mine, one a friend's) into English majors in college. I've been able to introduce some kids to great literature who have no intention of attending college. You've got the resources you need with TOG. I know you know that already, :D , but it still works great for high school lit....no matter who your student is.

 

If you like my suggestion, I'd be happy to "talk" more specifics with you and share more ways we cut the intensity in TOG Lit.

[justamouse]

Medieval/Ren

 

 

;)

[johnandtinagilbert]

I'm smiling at Jenn's WHOA THERE! I don't plan on eliminating literature reading for any year and will probably read along w/ our history, I just want to downgrade to lighter reading w/ focus on specific works as high school literature coursework, i.e., we'll read fewer books and only really pull one on one discussions from a few high school level books; otherwise, he can read the stories, but have no pressure of papers, etc.

 

His credits will be: Comp I & II, English 1, 1/2 credit poetry, and Literature -- totally 4.5 credits. It's very likely he'll get at least one CC credit in Comp so he can meet that req't and it should be pretty easy for him, he writes well.

 

I just want to really hit Lit. lightly to reduce so much heavy reading. I want to choose well and give him time to enjoy great works, instead of rushing through them.

 

I like the suggestions. I'm gonna have to sit down and really think through the options. Leanna, I will surely contact you. I'd prefer to follow TOGs general direction (for teaching ease) and we didn't hit Dialectic for Ancients, so it does leave me some wiggle room :) Feel free to pm me :)

 

Thanks everybody for helping me get through this high school adventure!

[JennW in SoCal]

One more random thought for you Tina. Would your son enjoy audiobooks? It is a great way to get through some of the heavier reads. Some kids read along while listening, others just enjoy listening while fiddling with legos or drawing or whatever.