goldberry Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Please don't flame me harshly...! DD is not a big reader. To keep her interest and stop her from hating reading completely, I have to mix the most interesting classics with other more interesting modern literature. So, we will NEVER cover all the books I would like her to be "familiar" with. Obviously she won't get the literature experience without reading them, and I understand that. There are just so many books that I think she needs to be at least familiar with the stories and their place in our culture. Has anyone covered books and stories without actually reading them, or only reading parts of them? For example, learning about the author, the context, the story line and characters? How did that work for you and what process did you use? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 No flames, harsh or gentle! I do have a no muss no fuss recommendation for you, though, in the form of a lecture series from the Teaching Company. The Western Literary Canon in Context covers all kinds of great books from the Bible and Gilgamesh through The Lord of the Rings. The professor is interesting and each lecture covers a great work with historical context and reasons why the work has survived the test of time to become part of the canon of great works. http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=2120 We used these lectures whether we read the work or not, especially with ancient literature, and it filled in lots of holes. The choices of modern titles are a little more questionable, or not as obvious, so we didn't watch all of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I'm not sure I would do anything quite as formal as you suggest if I was in your shoes. Instead I'd watch a bunch of movies and have her read synopsis if you thought necessary. This handy volume could help: http://www.amazon.com/The-Oxford-Companion-English-Literature/dp/0198662440 Just don't try to use it as a text. You can also sometimes find lighter weight modern versions of some stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 There are children's versions of a lot of the classics. Some of them are pretty good. Rosemary Sutcliff did Black Ships Before Troy (the Iliad) and The Odyssey. They're illustrated. There was also one of the Aeneid in that series. If you want to do Greek plays,just watch the plays (same goes for Shakespeare and a lot of other drama). http://books.google....id=kFKQq17xdaUC This author has done a number of other classics, not all of them ancient. Padraic Colum also did a number of retellings that are classics on their own. To be honest, I've gotten more out of his retellings and the Vandiver lectures than actually reading the works themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Χά�ων Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I second the Padraic Colum suggestion. Have you thought about audiobooks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 My ds is not a big reader either. This year I've outlined the books I want him to read and we are doing many of them together as read-alouds. He likes that part. My end goal is to cover what I feel is important (which is modified when necessary) and not kill his love of reading, his limited love of reading. He doesn't mind listening to lectures, which helps. We're using the Vandiver lectures on the Iliad right now. One book I've enjoyed as reference is Invitation to the Classics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 Trying children's adaptations might be a great idea! I've never heard of Padriac Colum before, so I'll definitely check him out. Are the Vandiver lectures the ones offered through Great Courses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Look into the Great Illustrated Classics as well. Many of my very favorite books I read there first, and having an overview of the plot (I'm looking at you, Tale of Two Cities) kept me from getting completely lost in the prose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burfhe Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 We read some of the Usborne Classics retold, and also chose titles from their Young Reading series. Took the pain out of becoming familiar with the stories. Classics retold: http://www.usborne.com/catalogue/catalogue.aspx?cat=1&area=CS&subcat=CSCR Young Reading series 3: http://www.usborne.com/catalogue/catalogue.aspx?cat=1&area=YR&subcat=YRS3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 On the list - there are some books I definitely want to read the whole thing, some where we'll definitely read parts, and some where it depends on whether the student will become engaged and then we'll do it.... I don't have a formula that I follow for the ones we don't read every word....It depends on the book, the materials I have, etc.... One thing I do normally do is 1. actually 'have' the book (ie have all the books). (because I have other children - some will like one and not another, etc) - this also allows the possibility that the student becomes engaged by reading some part of it and then wanting to read more...and more and suddenly they've read most of the book. :-). For some, such as Moby Dick, one is impressed by the sheer size of the tome and so when Susan Wise Bauer writes in WEM p92 that one interpretation of the book is that it is about 'obsession' and you have a basic idea of the story line - it helps you gain a new meaning of the word 'obsession'. :-). Sometimes something about the physical book itself draws the reader in (eg Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl - at least the edition we have has a very old photograph on front which makes one curious) - a problem with Kindles IMHO - they all come in "one size fits all" :-) 2. I also have one or more study guides for each of the books whether it is Progeny Press, Cliff Notes, Invitation to the Classics, Omnibus (III is the only one I have and can really recommend. It gives challenging viewpoints - some of which I quite disagree with and others are quite different than the typical take - but they make us think and challenge our assumptions). For me it is not all about agreeing with the guide - it is about having contradictory guides to get the student and myself thinking....So dd will sometimes read the plot summaries in one of the guides and then want to read more excerpts in the book... Some variable aspects: 3. Try dipping into the book to see if the student can get engaged...If you can find some exciting or important scene and read from the book... 4. Yes, read about the author, or even read some letters the author wrote....that help him become more 'real'...if you have something on hand. Eg. in the books The World's Great Letters - there are letters by various authors, heads of state, etc. which give another perspective on the person... in the Norton Anthology of American Literature 4th edition Vol 1 - eg there are some letters by Herman Melville (Moby Dick) to Hawthorne...where he talks about his everyday life - bringing in his crops,etc. 5. Sometimes we have an audio book which can be listened to... 6. This depends on the format of the guide....She'll read the plot summary from the guide. Or I'll look through the chapter analysis and find points that I think are important to cover (so not every chapter - just find questions that are interesting - not just regurgitation of events)...and read that part of the book... Those are things that come to mind - and if more come I'll add on... Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 Thank you for these ideas! Has anyone used any of the classics turned graphic novels? Any favorites or especially good ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinL in Canada Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 No flames, harsh or gentle! I do have a no muss no fuss recommendation for you, though, in the form of a lecture series from the Teaching Company. The Western Literary Canon in Context covers all kinds of great books from the Bible and Gilgamesh through The Lord of the Rings. The professor is interesting and each lecture covers a great work with historical context and reasons why the work has survived the test of time to become part of the canon of great works. http://www.thegreatc...l.aspx?cid=2120 We used these lectures whether we read the work or not, especially with ancient literature, and it filled in lots of holes. The choices of modern titles are a little more questionable, or not as obvious, so we didn't watch all of those. I recommend this lecture sereis too--one of my favourites : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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