angela in ohio Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 I am working on a one-year World Literature course (not for my kiddos, for co-op.) I have looked at the syllabi from several courses, and I am starting to put together a list of works. If you have taught World Lit or can think of what you would use, could you give me some idea? I am particularly short in the area of women authors and anything from the Southern hemisphere. I plan to teach a mix of plays, poems, short stories, and novels. If you know of a world lit program (other than Notgrass, Stobaugh, Seton, or LL, which I have already looked at,) could you post that, too? I have never looked at World Lit before, as we are doing a 4-year lit cycle a al WTM, so this is new. :confused: ETA: The works need to be fairly conservative and Christian friendly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendi Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Hmm. For women authors, have you considered: Jane Austen Louisa May Alcott Charlotte Bronte Flannery O'Connor Harper Lee Shirley Jackson Mary Shelley Emily Dickinson George Eliot Isak Dinesen Wendi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Well "Christian friendly" could mean all sorts of things, so I wouldn't like to make assumptions. If you make a nice, easy to read, dot point list of what you are looking for, I can try suggesting books from my chunk of the Southern Hemisphere. Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted April 6, 2011 Author Share Posted April 6, 2011 (edited) Well "Christian friendly" could mean all sorts of things, so I wouldn't like to make assumptions. If you make a nice, easy to read, dot point list of what you are looking for, I can try suggesting books from my chunk of the Southern Hemisphere. Rosie I'm thinking along the lines of no gratuitous sex scenes, nothing too morose, and nothing blatantly anti-Christian. I'm trying to be careful, as I'm finding that I'm a bit more liberal in what I let my dc read in the way of classics than many others are. Of course, if I pick something too risque, and no one signs up, it will be an easy class to teach. :D Edited April 6, 2011 by angela in ohio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted April 6, 2011 Author Share Posted April 6, 2011 Hmm. For women authors, have you considered: Jane Austen Louisa May Alcott Charlotte Bronte Flannery O'Connor Harper Lee Shirley Jackson Mary Shelley Emily Dickinson George Eliot Isak Dinesen Wendi I'm trying to steer clear of British and American authors and go with a little more geographic diversity. My problem is that most of the female authors I know are one or the other. I will look into Isak Dinesen, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Did you say how old these kids will be? (I've been up since 3am, and that's my excuse if I say anything stupid.) Here's a reading list published on the site of a Christian homeschool provider: http://www.homeschoolingdownunder.com/booklists/Australian_New_Zealand_novel_ideas.html They are aimed at earlier teens. I had this bookmarked too: https://sites.google.com/site/aussiebookthreadssite/australian-chapter-books Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 (edited) Lightning Literature -- World Lit 1 sample lesson - An Artist of the Floating World -- ASIA: Japan, post-WW2 - Things Fall Apart -- AFRICA: Nigeria, 20th century - This Same Sky -- WORLD: poems from around the world - Fountain and Tomb -- MIDDLE EAST: 20th cent. Egypt (yes, I know that's in N. Africa, but culturally it is very Middle Eastern) Lightning Literature -- World Lit 2 - A Thousand Pieces of Gold -- ASIA/US: China/US, late 19th century - Malgudi Days -- ASIA: India, mythical short stories - My Invented Country -- S. AMERICA: Chile, late 20th century - Other Voices, Other Vistas -- WORLD: China, India, Japan, Latin American short stories - In the Name of Identity -- WORLD: philosophical look at violence from Lebonese author who lives in France Excellence in Literature: World Lit. Unit 1: ANCIENT GREECE = The Odyssey Unit 2: ANCIENT GREECE = Antigone Unit 3: ANCIENT ROME = The Aeneid Unit 4: MEDIEVAL ITALY = Divine Comedy: Inferno Unit 5: MEDIEVAL SPAIN = Don Quixote Unit 6: FRANCE = Les Misérables Unit 7: RUSSIA = The Portable Nineteenth Century Russian Reader Unit 8: GERMANY = Faust Unit 9: DANISH/ENGLISH = Out of Africa and “Babette’s Feast” (Dinesen was born in Denmark, lived most of her adult life in England) IDEAS IF YOU MAKE YOUR OWN LIT: Fantastical Short Stories from around the world: - Black Water (anthology; Edited by Alberto Manguel) - Black Water 2 (anthology; Edited by Alberto Manguel) More Ideas, By Country: South Africa - Cry, the Beloved Country (Paton) -- South Africa, 20th century; tragic/poignant; very Christian in theme of forgiveness China - Joy Luck Club (Tan) -- series of vingettes set in China/US 19th-20th cent.; FEMALE author; PREVIEW -- DEFINITELY SOME MATURE CONTENT Japan - The Samurai (Endu) -- set in 16th century Japan; written by 20th cent. Japanese author; Catholic-Christian; tragic - Hiroshima (Hersey) -- biographical accounts of A-bomb victims in WW2 by an American author India - City of Joy (Lapierre) -- French priest living/working in the slums of Calcutta India Russia - "How Much Land Does A Man Need" (Leo Tolstoy) -- short story by 19th cent. author - Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky) -- 19th cent. author; story of sin, conviction, redemption - "The Nose" (Nikolai Gogol) -- satirical short story by 19th cent. author; impressionist modernism and absurdism - a short story by Anton Chekov -- 19th cent. author - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn) -- novel; 1950s Soviet labor camp; intense, graphic Poland - A Day of Pleasure (Isaac Singer) -- novel; biographical sketches of Jewish ghetto, pre-WW1 Germany - "The Metamorphisis (Franz Kafka) -- short story; Austria-Hungarian Jewish author of the late 19th/early 20th cent. - Faust (Goethe) -- LONG novel "deal with the devil" story - All Quiet of the Western Front (Remarque) -- novel; biographical account of WW1; PREVIEW! EXTREMELY INTENSE AND GRAPHIC, mostly in the violence, but also male humiliation of one another based around bedwetting and references to sexual performance Spain - Don Quixote (by Miguel Cervantes) -- 1400s; Spain under Moorish (Islamic) influence France - Les Miserables (Victor Hugo) -- 19th century author Italy - Cosmicomics (Italio Calvino) Select some short stories from this collection by 20th cent. author with existential philosophy. WARNING, while most of these stories are fine, much of Calvino's writings have casual sex, and male sexual longing for women Denmark - short story by Isak Dinesen; FEMALE author - Ordette -- 1925 play written by Kaj Munk, a Danish playwright/pastor who was executed by the Nazis; very Christian Norway - a play by Henrik Ibsen, 19th century playwright, the "father of modern drama" Argentina - "25th August, 1983" -- short story by Jorge Borges; surrealist author Columbia - short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez -- "magic realism"; WARNING: most of his works contain graphic sexuality, death, etc. Canada - I Heard the Owl Call My Name -- Pacific Northwest Native peoples; very Christian; FEMALE author Edited April 6, 2011 by Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjbucks1 Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Wow, Lori, thank you. I am not the OP but this is a great list!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugs Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 I hate to follow on the heels of LoriD ;), but here's my one suggestion: The Good Earth by Pearl Buck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 I hate to follow on the heels of LoriD ;), but here's my one suggestion: The Good Earth by Pearl Buck. LOL! here's my one suggestion: The Good Earth by Pearl Buck. Ya know, I had this on the list and dropped it. It is a good one, BUT, there is some sex in it -- handled pretty well, but it's right out in the open which may be a problem for very conservative families. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheryl in NM Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 http://www.everyday-education.com/literature/index.shtml We started the Intro to Lit this year and really like it. I know she offers a World Lit, but I don't know anything about it. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 I've really got one this time! Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay. Two points to me! Southern Hemisphere and female! If you ask nicely, I'll send a postcard to your class. :lol: Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ester Maria Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 If you are considering adding Italian literature to the mix, my first choice would obviously be Dante, though there are problematic things for some who may be conservative (but then again, those same problematic things - such as Paolo and Francesca - actually get punished in Inferno, so the message is clear LOL). Other than Dante, all the good and representative stuff would actually be unkosher (from Manzoni to Verga to Svevo). :glare: But you can try to go with Pirandello's One, None and One Hundred Thousand if you want one of the more modern novels (his theatre opus is actually significantly better, but again, who knows whether it is suitable), Foscolo's poetry; most of female Italian writing that I read is simply bad and the rest is probably not kosher for you; maybe you can sneak in Bassani, he is worth reading too (The Garden of the Finzi-Continis). Can you sneak in a story about a girl destined to become a nun who does not want to and falls in love, etc.? No unkosher content, but it may be a bit problematic... That is Verga, History of capinera, but wait, is that even translated to English? I doubt. :001_huh: Are opera librettos fine? They are a form of literature, after all, and some of the best verses in Italian were written for opera... But I am not sure that would suit you either. Nabucco maybe, that is also Biblical. Anyhow, just go with Dante. He is the most representative, the best, and all the problematic content gets fiercly punished. :lol: Your limitations keep you away from the best stuff in French literature too (such as Racine :tongue_smilie:). But there you may go with the typical Camus or Sartre's short stories, would Balzac be fine? (Pere Goriot if so). I have one for you in Spanish literature though - Calderon's Life is a Dream (baroque). Is Shai Agnon translated to English? He has several beautiful short stories... I would suggest Tehila and Agunot, so you get early Israel / Jewish content there (but wait, Agunot may also be problematic... but I would hope not). Get an annotated version or he will be hard to understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Don Camillo by Giovannino Guareschi It's actually a series of books, about post WWII Italy, a small town and the inevitable skirmishes between the local communist leaders and the parish priest. I don't remember any gratuitous sex, moroseness or unchallenged blatant ant-Christian vibes. It's not in the same league as Dante or Dostoyevsky, is a much easier read and has a lot of humor. Several of them have been made into movies (black & white, 1950-ish.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted April 7, 2011 Author Share Posted April 7, 2011 Thank you all! I am going to go through your list and see what I can figure out, Ester Maria. I've had the Inferno on and off the list several times, as I'm not sure if they would be up to it. I also thought about an ancient Greek play, but I wonder the same thing. Rosie, that one sounds great (from the Wikipedia description.) And it's a female author! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Don Camillo by Giovannino Guareschi We're big fans of the Don Camillo books here, too; I'd agree that they're not 'literature,' but they certainly are fun reads. (I imagine some might find them offensive as Don Camillo speaks to Christ who speaks back to him. If I recall correctly, the author does state upfront that Christ represents his conscience.) A few possibilities to consider: Botchan by Soseki Natsume (Tr. Umeji Sasaki) Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (this is an illustrated novel; definitely preview to see if the content would work for your group) Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam L in Mid Tenn Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 McDougal Littell's Language of Literature series has a World Lit book that I like. You can find use copies cheap on Amazon too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Rosie, that one sounds great (from the Wikipedia description.) And it's a female author! If you use it, I'll send a postcard. :) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Adding 1 to Lori's list: New Zealand Katherine Mansfield Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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