Literature study for engineering oriented 9th grader

[TravelingChris]

SO I am contemplating what to do for literature with my upcoming ninth grade girl. She does read long books but is not the reader that her older brother and sister were and are. We are finishing LL7 and she doesn't particularly like it. SHe has already turned down doing Omnibus I with her friend and friend's mother. I was looking at Intro to Literature from Excellence in Literature and that seems too hard for her. I just can't see her reading things like Jane Eyre or Gulliver's Travels next year. I just really don't know what to use. Her older brother did Ancients in ninth grade and her older sister did a movies and lit class that was quite advanced too but I don't know if that was because my dd was the only ninth grader in the class and it was mostly jrs, and snrs. Any ideas?

[8filltheheart]

I'm using Oak Meadow English 9 with my math oriented/non-lit oriented ds next yr. I already have it and after glancing through it, it is right on target for him.

 

Like your older kids, mine have done heavy duty lit in 9th grade (Great Books Academy and Regina Coeli's ancients). He is just not up to that type of intense reading (at least not if he is going to take the heavy math that he wants to take)

 

http://www.oakmeadow.com/curriculum/overviews/9_eng_ov.pdf

[JennW in SoCal]

You're an old pro at homeschooling. How about simply coming up with a list of titles you think she would enjoy? Pick a period or a theme and make a list of novels, short stories, non-fiction, plays and poetry to cover during the year. I'm sure Lori will chime in with one of her detailed lists, but off the top of my head, you could devote a year to sci fi, another year to Brit Lit, another year to American Lit and not have to tackle lots of dense material as there is so much to choose from. Consider using audio books, too, for some of the titles you choose.

 

Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings makes for an enjoyable year of literature because works like Beowulf and Sir Gawain are added into the mix as are Arthurian tales.

 

Pick books and plays that have been made into movies so you can compare the work to the movie. To Kill a Mockingbird, Grapes of Wrath, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing come to mind.

 

My oldest ds, who is non-academic minded and a reluctant reader, made it through Red Badge of Courage, Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, the play Our Town and Catcher in the Rye in a school year in addition to the recent biography of Walt Disney and Moss Hart's memoir (Moss Hart was a Broadway playwright & director). That was his American History year.

 

He also did the Movies As Literature which isn't that great, but it did the trick for him.

 

The college board has a list of 101 recommended books for college bound students. You may not agree with all the titles, but it is a good place to start picking titles.