for lit. analysis: LLATL Gold American or Lightning Lit

[Jeannie in NJ]

here is dd's experience with lit. analysis:

in 8th grade, she used Lightning Lit. 7 enjoyed it.

 

went to public school for 3 marking periods this year. all they did was read 3 short stories (voc. tests, short answer tests, not really lit. analysis) and a few poems, spent 9 weeks on a 3 page paper on a medical issue of their choice. was pretty much a disgraceful year with what little the teacher covered

 

so the only lit. anaylsis, she has had is LL 7 in 8th grade.

 

next year she will be doing Am. History with Notgrass so would like to do Am. Literature probably using either LLATL Gold or LL Amer. Lit.

 

can anyone compare these 2 programs, also can LL Am. Lit be done without doing LL 8 first.

 

I am not looking for anything too heavy but do want her prepared for college classes. She is a very good writer (used IEW since 5th grade), however I looked at Windows to the World and the Elegant Essay and did not care for them (dd would just die with all the annotation that is required in WTTW.

[Hunter's Moon]

I am looking into this too.

 

Look at the reviews at the bottom of this page:

http://www.christianbook.com/learning-language-through-literature-american-book/greg-strayer/9781880892893/pd/72898?event=BB&bookbag=1&item_code=WW#customer_reviews

 

 

 

I believe it is heavy in reading content, but not daily work. There are only 36 lessons, but probably because there is a lot of reading.

[Susan C.]

I looked at Windows to the World and the Elegant Essay and did not care for them (dd would just die with all the annotation that is required in WTTW.

 

Thanks for the observation....

 

What do you think of this? It has an American Lit (Eng. 3), but this introduces the program:

 

http://everyday-education.com/literature/eng1.shtml

[Lori D.]

... can LL Am. Lit be done without doing LL 8 first.

 

 

Yes. You will not miss any critical skills by skipping LL8.

 

LL8 is almost identical to LL7. LL8 is a third longer than LL7 (has four more units), uses slightly more mature works (such as To Kill a Mockingbird), and in the last half of the program, starts easing the student into a little more literary analysis in the student workpages. LL8 could be a good fit for a 9th grader with little or no previous literature background, but again, LL8 is NOT a requirement for the high school levels of LL.

 

 

 

... LLATL Gold or LL Amer. Lit. ... can anyone compare these 2 programs

 

 

Learning Language Arts Through Literature: Gold: American Literature

We used parts of this program this year. The focus is on 10 short stories, and 10 poets. Three novellas are included, but just very lightly touched on. There is no grammar or writing instruction. There is no vocabulary work. There are writing assignment ideas for each work. There are a few comprehension questions for each work, and 1-2 discussion questions or literary analysis-type questions. There is only just a little instruction in literary analysis or elements, and no guided discussion/analysis.

 

While 1 week is scheduled for each work for a total of 36 weeks, this is a "lite" program, and most people consider it to be worth 0.5 credit (1 semester). It would be fine to use it as scheduled over the course of 1 year, as that would also allow you time for writing and grammar.

 

We saw LLATL as a nice "dipping the toe" into literature kind of program. We went much deeper in our discussions/analysis on our own. A younger student without a lot of past literature background would probably do better with a meatier, more guided program.

 

 

Lightning Literature

No experience with their high school programs (loved LL7 and LL8), but from the extensive samples and overview of the program, it looks like you get a good amount of background information and literary analysis information, and spend more time writing than you would with LLATL.

 

The two American Lit. programs are each 1 semester long, and each cover novels, biography, short stories, essay, and poetry, so you get a nice variety of types of literature. You might ask Katia on the high school board for her experiences, as they have used and enjoyed LL in the high school years.

 

 

another option: Excellence in Literature: American Literature

One other option you may want to consider is the Excellence in Literature: American Literature program. It is done mostly solo by the student; it covers a variety of types of literature (novels, short stories, poetry), it is designed for grade 9 (or more beginning literature students), and focuses on literary analysis and writing. It looks to be more in-depth than LLATL and a little more hand-holding than LL.

 

Also, towards the bottom of this thread post are the lists of the literature covered, and links to the sample lessons and the table of contents for each of LLATL, LL, Excellence in Literature and the online American Lit class at the Potter's School. Comparing the literature covered and reading the sample lessons is often the most helpful way for me to see what program is a "match" for us. :)

 

 

 

I looked at Windows to the World and the Elegant Essay and did not care for them (dd would just die with all the annotation that is required in WTTW.

 

Not trying to talk you into anything you know would not be a fit for your family, BUT... I do have to put a plug in for Window on the World's AWESOME section on how to write a literary analysis essay. I have yet to see anything better, more simple, more specific -- IMO, worth the price of the student book alone for that!

 

A thought on the annotating: our younger DS also HATES writing because of a learning disability, and *really* hated the very idea of annotating, and so he did NOT like me making him do it for the first story ("The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell). HOWEVER... the story was very fun and engaging, AND we took a full week to annotate the first story (both DSs AND ME, each annotating our own photocopy), just doing 2 or so pages a day. Then, when we went over all our annotations, we ALL could really see how annotating REALLY brought out depth, details, and things you could talk about in an essay. I did not require the intense annotating after that, but DS really learned from doing it -- and having me do it, too, mentally helped DS.

 

BEST of luck finding what works best for your family! And welcome to high school! :) Warmest regards, Lork D.

Edited May 17, 2010 by Lori D.

[Susan C.]

another option: Excellence in Literature: American Literature

One other option you may want to consider is the Excellence in Literature: American Literature program. It is done mostly solo by the student; it covers a variety of types of literature (novels, short stories, poetry), it is designed for grade 9 (or more beginning literature students), and focuses on literary analysis and writing. It looks to be more in-depth than LLATL and a little more hand-holding than LL.

 

 

 

Lori D.,

The American Literature is English 3, which is 11th grade, right?? There is another English 1 (that is what I linked above), English 2 is under development, and also British and World Literature.

 

I am looking at this and wondering if it would work for us (the American Lit.).

[Amy in CO]

Excellence in Literature American Literature is for 10th grade. Their are 5 levels, but you can shift them around to suit your schedule.