Literature suggestions

[SarahKate]

I have been doing BJU Literature 8 this year, but it is a bore! Well, to be honest, some of the stories are okay, but all the literature "analysis" questions are boring and seem pointless. At the beginning of the year my mom and I were looking for a literature curriculum to do but couldn't find one we really wanted to do so I just did the BJU literature we have at home that my older sister did. It takes me maybe 10 minutes a day and I'm not really learning much. My mom and I don't know of any curriculum we should use. Does anybody have any suggestions? :001_smile:

[swimmermom3]

Sarah Kate, welcome to The Well-Trained Mind Forums! You may want to look at Excellence in Literature. I have linked you to the site and if you scroll part way down, you will see some sample pages. They have five courses that include: Introduction to Literature, Literature and Composition, American, British, and World Literature. The program uses whole books and I think it is about $24 to download one course as an ebook, so it would be an inexpensive program for you to try.

[swimmermom3]

Here are some other threads that may help you:

 

So what is a good program for teaching lit analysis?

 

You might also like to work with Teaching the Classics and Windows to the World. Either one is a fine stand-alone program or can be combined together and there is a syllabus for that.

 

Teaching the Classics/Windows to the World

[SarahKate]

Thanks! I'll check that out and talk to my mom about it. :)

[Guest]

Hi, Sarah Kate. You're right; many, many literature programs rely on very basic comprehension questions instead of open-ended questions that lead to much deeper thinking or analysis.

 

You can probably find Susan Wise Bauer's The Well-Educated Mind at your library. In it, she lays out a pattern of things to do when you are educating yourself through reading. For each genre of book you'll typically encounter (fictional prose, poetry, drama, plays, etc.), she gives you an introduction to that format, advice for how to learn about the historical context in which the work was written, questions to ask yourself and think about as you read.

 

Also, try taking a look at Cliff's Notes, or sparknotes online. They're not wonderful, but they will each give you a discussion of themes, imagery, character motivations, etc. Once you get used to the kinds of things they look for and discuss, you'll begin to see those things yourself as you read.

 

Another useful tool can sometimes be the book club questions in the backs of paperback fiction in the bookstore. Sometimes the questions are just silly or approach a book simply on the level of "Has there ever been a time when YOU experienced such-and-such?" But other times they can be springboards for some interesting thinking and mulling over.

 

Do you have anyone to discuss the fiction with, or are you doing this on your own? It's much more fun with someone else to bounce ideas off. If there's no one in your family or close circle of friends who might do this with you, check to see whether your library has a readers group; or a nearby bookstore might sponsor a book club group, or have authors come to speak and discuss their books.

 

And you can always ask here! People use so many different curricula and reading lists that you're bound to hit on somebody who knows a text that may be stumping you, and can talk it out with you.

[swimmermom3]

What do you and your mom really want to do? If you could put out your wish list for the "perfect" class, what would you want it to look like? Is there a genre of books you are drawn to? Is there a list of books that you would absolutely love to read? Favorite authors?

[SarahKate]

What do you and your mom really want to do? If you could put out your wish list for the "perfect" class, what would you want it to look like? Is there a genre of books you are drawn to? Is there a list of books that you would absolutely love to read? Favorite authors?

Well....I love historical fiction. My mom wants me to read the classics and analyze them. I am already taking a seperate composition course that is pretty rigorous so a minimal amount of writing would be preferable. I looked up your suggestion for Excellence in Literature, I don't think that would be doable for me since I am only in 8th grade and it contains a lot of writing. Maybe I should just read some of the classics in addition to the BJU literature book I am doing... Do you think that would be a good idea?

[Guest]

There's certainly no need to write about every single book you read. Reading, thinking, and discussing are the centerpieces of a good literature course. Since you're already doing a fairly heavy writing course separately, set yourself a goal of responding in writing once every week. This does not have to be a formal essay; write about things you notice in the book, connections to other novels you've read before, things that strike you about the characters or the language of the book, thoughts about who is narrating the book and how that affects your view of the characters, information you find if you look up the historical period or background of the author (ONE of these, not all in one response). More formal literary analysis doesn't have to be a major piece of your curriculum in junior high.

 

If you are looking for a list of questions to guide you, SWB lists questions she considers appropriate for your grade level in her book The Well-Trained Mind (look under logic stage literature). You can also read ahead into the rhetoric section to see how your writing responses should change once you begin high school proper.

[SarahKate]

There's certainly no need to write about every single book you read. Reading, thinking, and discussing are the centerpieces of a good literature course. Since you're already doing a fairly heavy writing course separately, set yourself a goal of responding in writing once every week. This does not have to be a formal essay; write about things you notice in the book, connections to other novels you've read before, things that strike you about the characters or the language of the book, thoughts about who is narrating the book and how that affects your view of the characters, information you find if you look up the historical period or background of the author (ONE of these, not all in one response). More formal literary analysis doesn't have to be a major piece of your curriculum in junior high.

 

If you are looking for a list of questions to guide you, SWB lists questions she considers appropriate for your grade level in her book The Well-Trained Mind (look under logic stage literature). You can also read ahead into the rhetoric section to see how your writing responses should change once you begin high school proper.

That is a great idea! I'm sure my mom would like that. What book (classic) would begin with for next semester if you were me?

[swimmermom3]

There's certainly no need to write about every single book you read. Reading, thinking, and discussing are the centerpieces of a good literature course. Since you're already doing a fairly heavy writing course separately, set yourself a goal of responding in writing once every week. This does not have to be a formal essay; write about things you notice in the book, connections to other novels you've read before, things that strike you about the characters or the language of the book, thoughts about who is narrating the book and how that affects your view of the characters, information you find if you look up the historical period or background of the author (ONE of these, not all in one response). More formal literary analysis doesn't have to be a major piece of your curriculum in junior high.

 

If you are looking for a list of questions to guide you, SWB lists questions she considers appropriate for your grade level in her book The Well-Trained Mind (look under logic stage literature). You can also read ahead into the rhetoric section to see how your writing responses should change once you begin high school proper.

 

:iagree:I would second what Karen has recommended. If you don't already have the book, The Well-Trained Mind, you can get it from the library. If you want an inexpensive resource for literary terms and some practice to go with them, you can use Figuratively Speaking.

 

Karen, what do you think of To Kill a Mocking Bird to start with , if Sarah Kate hasn't already read it?

[swimmermom3]

This is the list of works for Introduction for Literature (Janice Campbell)which is for 8th graders:

 

Unit 1: Short Stories by-

• Sarah Orne Jewett: A White Heron

• Edgar Allen Poe: The Purloined Letter (This one is not scary, if you're concerned about that.)

• Guy de Maupassant: The Diamond Necklace

• O. Henry: The Ransom of Red Chief

• Eudora Welty: A Worn Path

• James Thurber: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

 

Unit 2: Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

Honors: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

 

Unit 3: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain

Honors: The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

 

Unit 4: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Honors: Shirley or Villette by Charlotte Brontë

 

Unit 5: Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

Honors: Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot

 

Unit 6: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Honors: Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

 

Unit 7: Animal Farm by George Orwell

Honors: 1984 by George Orwell

 

Unit 8: The Tempest by William Shakespeare

Honors: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

 

Unit 9: Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

Honors: The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

 

 

Any of the bold suggestions would be great to start with. There is a nice mix of short stories, novels, and dramas. If you are primarily teaching yourself literary analysis, short stories are a wonderful place to start. The length is ideal as well if you have someone else who is willing to read along and discuss the works with you. Short stories offer you a limited amount of text to work with when you are looking at the Five Elements of Fiction: setting, theme, plot, characters, and conflict.

 

 

Here, we read to each other and literary analysis is our favorite part of the day. Have fun.

[SarahKate]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I have already read "To Kill a Mockingbird" multiple times, it is my favorite book!! My dad read to me, "treasure Island" a few years ago. I have also read "Kidnapped" and part of "around the world in 80 days" My mom really wants me to read "The Pilgrim's Progress" (that was one of the honors books on the list) so I might start that after the break. Thanks again! :)

[Susan C.]

Some (most) of the book suggestions in Intro. to Lit. would have been too difficult for either of my kids in the 8th grade. My ds just read Jane Erye in his upper level college lit. class!! I admire all of the classical students who can read these books, though!

 

We have done BJU 7th and 12th gr. lit. and A Beka 10th-12th grade lit. The questions and some of the selections are not that great. I changed from A Beka American Lit. this year to Scott Foresman and we love it! I was able to get both the teacher's and student's books used for under $20. Maybe post on the K-8 board for secular literature book suggestions for the 8th grade.

 

Another idea would be to read the literary element parts of the BJU text to familiarize yourself with that, and then read books of your choosing. I did that with my dd in 8th and 9th grades. We mostly discussed the books, with a few papers.

[swimmermom3]

Susan, what was on your reading list for 8th grade? I am curious because I have had a child who could manage this list in 8th grade, but my youngest would not be thrilled. He would be happier with the books listed in TWTM for seventh and eighth grade.

[Susan C.]

Susan, what was on your reading list for 8th grade? I am curious because I have had a child who could manage this list in 8th grade, but my youngest would not be thrilled. He would be happier with the books listed in TWTM for seventh and eighth grade.

 

I just found this... and its late. Hmmmm. Yearling, To Kill A Mockingbird, Children's Homer (Colum), Abe Lincoln (Sanford), Good Earth, there's more, let me think! I do think a lot of them are in the logic reading list. I alternated easier with harder, she is a slower reader, but the whole books did speed her up. It was a nice break from literature texts.

[Stacy in NJ]

Well....I love historical fiction. My mom wants me to read the classics and analyze them. I am already taking a seperate composition course that is pretty rigorous so a minimal amount of writing would be preferable. I looked up your suggestion for Excellence in Literature, I don't think that would be doable for me since I am only in 8th grade and it contains a lot of writing. Maybe I should just read some of the classics in addition to the BJU literature book I am doing... Do you think that would be a good idea?

 

Do you have a copy of the Well Trained Mind? In addition to or in place of your BJU program, you could simply read the recommended literature list in TWTM. The lit list corresponds to the history rotation; for 8th grade that's Modern History. If you're not doing Modern this year and you do have TWTM, page through the book and look for the lit selections that coordinate with your history studies. For 8th grade the list includes:

 

Kidnapped or Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson)

The Man without a Country (Edward Hale)

Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)

Any Sherlock Holmes selection (Doyle)

The Jungle Book (Kipling)

The Time Machine or The war of the Worlds (Wells)

The Call of the Wild (London)

Any of the Father Brown series (Chesterton)

The Scarlet Pimpernel (Orczy)

Short stories of O. Henry

Anne of Green Gables (Montgomery)

Murder on the Orient Express (Christie)

Strong Poison (Sayers)

Gone with the Wind (Mitchell)

The Yearling (Rawlings)

 

The list actually goes on to include poetry and drama selections (I can post those if you're interested).

 

Obviously, most of these books can be found at the library, and, therefore, won't cost your mom any additional funds for this years curriculum.

[SarahKate]

I think we might have "The well-trained mind" I'll look. I am actually studying geography this year not history, so maybe I can have to read books that have to do with where I am studying. Thanks for the suggestions!