Beebalm Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Okay, it's time to admit I'm going in circles by myself and consult the collective wisdom of the hive. Here's the situation: two dd, 9th and 11th grade. Need a lit program to coincide with ancient history: younger using Spielvogel HO text, older pursuing AP world history with AP text. Younger dd struggles with learning, older dd is a self-directed whiz. Since we're going in so many different directions, I'm trying to pull us together for a study/discussion of ancient lit. I'd like to use WEM but need a discussion guide/comp. questions geared to the major works. (Genesis, Epic of Gil., Homer, etc.) I've looked at SMARR, Progeny, Garlic, Omnibus (too time intensive), and many others. Can you give me feedback on a no frills lit package that you've found helpful? The younger dd needs a gentle approach and the older dd has many demands in other areas this year so I'm not concerned about great rigor for her. I just want to pull my family together a little more for SOMETHING!!! Oh how I wish LL had one now! Any advice? Thanks so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbjmeyer Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 I have not used it yet - too soon for my ds - but I have been impressed by what I read on the website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenn in CA Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 This was a fabulous book. Go look at the TOC on Amazon (here) to see if it covers the books you need. Comprehension questions, as well as thought questions. Christian, somewhat reformed worldview. I loved it. Lots of good background info and "commentary", somewhat summary-like but much more informative than Cliff's. It doesn't have tons of questions for each book, as it's only one book to cover many works, but it had enough for me. I had my kids read the book along w/whatever work they were reading, and answer some questions. Invitation to the Classics is good for background info to have the students read, and there are usually 5-6 essay/discussion questions at the end about each work. Not much but the questions are quite good and I found them very useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gullicat Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 have you looked at Kolbe? they have syllabi for ancient greek and ancient roman lit and history thru lit, plus booklets with quizzes. FWIW -sarah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Below is what we did for ancient lit. along with the first 200 pages of Spielvogel's Human Odyssey for our ancient history. We did most of the literature aloud together and discussed together, using guides. We particularly liked these guides: - Garlic Press publishers' Discovering Literature series (secular) - Sparknotes (secular; free online) = http://www.sparknotes.com - Cliff's Notes (secular; free online) = http://www.cliffsnotes.com - The Great Books (Christian worldview) = http://www.thegreatbooks.com - Progeny Press (Christian) = http://www.progenypress.com - Wikipedia (free online encyclopedia articles on individual authors and works) = http://www.wikipedia.com More helpful guides: - Glencoe (secular; free online) - Portals to Literature (secular) - Grade Saver (secular; free online) = http://www.gradesaver.com/study-guides/ - Cyber Guides (secular; free online) = http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cy912.html - Pink Monkey (secular; free online) = http://www.pinkmonkey.com Shmoop = http://www.shmoop.com/literature/ Book Wolf (free online book notes) = http://www.bookwolf.com/ We stuck with more epic/adventure/story-driven works to keep it interesting (rather than the histories or philosophies). We also used some abridgments so as not to overwhelm our then 8th and 9th grade DSs. We also watched a few documentaries on the times, plus enjoyed some film versions of the ancient lit. after we read it: - Jason and the Argonauts (1963 film with Ray Harryhausen special effects) - The Odyssey (1997 TV mini-series version starring Armand Assante) - Ben Hur (1959 film starring Charleton Heston) We really enjoyed our time with the ancients! BEST of luck, whatever you use, and ENJOY your journey through ancient lit! Warmest regards, Lori D. Epic of Gilgamesh and Other Babylonian Tales a clean (i.e., not scenes between Endiku and the temple prostitute), easy retelling by Jennifer Westwood -- out of print, but still available through Amazon used books or http://www.abe.com) - guide: SMARR -- did NOT like -- not much to it, mostly about vocabulary and comprehension questions with only a few sentences about literary elements and only about 6 decent discussion questions; next time I would just use Sparknotes and abridge to fit the work The Iliad (Fagles translation) guide: Novel Unit -- okay; next time I would also use some other guide alongside to beef it up; the nice thing about this guide is that it gave you ideas of what to cut out if you didn't want to do the entire work (a LOT of battle scenes, whole chapters on armor and ships, etc.) The Odyssey (Fagles translation) guide: Garlic Press publishers Discovering Literature guide -- AWESOME! very meaty, with summary of every chapter; loads of great discussion questions; introduces some literary elements; great writing assignment ideas; more resource ideas Greek myths (various) guide: none; but check out the helpful Sparknotes article on Greek mythology; you might also check out The Great Books guide on mythology (http://www.thegreatbooks.com/books/details.php?ISBN=0316341517&return=www.thegreatbooks.com/courses/ancient.php) Oedipus the King (Fitzgerald translation) Antigone (Fitzgerald translation) The first and third of the 3-play cycle. Very accessible and interesting plays; fast reading. Wish we'd also had time to also do the middle play, "Oedipus at Colonus". guide: Sparknotes; LOTS of background info and text on symbols, motifs, characters/motivations, and themes; no real discussion or comprehension questions; about 4 essay writing ideas The Aeneid for Boys and Girls (Alfred Church) a prose abridgment; easy to read -- and really glad by this time we went to a shorter version, as we were getting a little burned out on the ancients! :tongue_smilie: guide: Sparknotes; LOTS of background info and text on symbols, motifs, characters/motivations, and themes; no real discussion or comprehension questions; about 4 essay writing ideas For solo "literature" reading, the boys read about 6 books over the year, choosing from historical fiction that was below their reading level to lighten things up, but to give them a feel for the times. Most titles were from Sonlight 6 Core or Bethlehem books: ancient Egypt - Golden Goblet - Mara Daughter of the Nile - God King - Shadow Hawk - Tales from Ancient Egypt ancient Israel - Victory on the Walls (not very well written) ancient Greece - Archimedes and the Door to Science - Galen and the Gateway to Medicine - Detectives in Togas; Mystery of the Roman Ransom ancient Rome/Palestine - Bronze Bow (powerful book) - Ben Hur - Ides of April - Beyond the Desert Gate ancient Rome/Britain - Eagle of the Ninth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beebalm Posted August 1, 2009 Author Share Posted August 1, 2009 Thank you guys so much...you are wonderful. You've given me much to think about and I think the fog is beginning to lift a bit. I have hope now that I'll figure out the right thing from your suggestions. Thanks for being so very gracious and helping me out. This board has been such a blessing to me, so many times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 PS: I know you were looking for a single no-frills program, but I couldn't think of one, and I just wanted to encourage you that coming up with your own program is really not so tough -- select the 6-12 works you want to cover; consider which translation / version / abridgment you want for each, and then look for the lit. guide you like best to go with each. BEST of luck, whatever you go with! :) Warmly, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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