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English lit course for myself


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I would like to spend some time studying some Brit Lit and I have been looking at the Sonlight core. I have some questions if anyone if able to answer them.

 

My first question is, can than this core be done in a secular way?

 

If so, how would I go about doing it.

 

If it is not doable in a secular way, what else is there out there that is similar to Sonlight?

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pick some online study guides, such as SparkNotes to go along with them. Was there something more specific you wanted to do?

 

When I was in school, there were three levels of English class and I was in the bottom class and never got the chance to study the big complex novels of the top class. I just want to read the books and understand them, maybe write something about them.

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Hi Sarah, I just want to encourage you. I don't know level of English I was in in high school, but I do remember never analyzing novels the way my teachers expected. For this reason, I avoided the great books. When it came time for my kids to read them (somewhere in middle school), I began to read them myself. I found Dickens and Shakespeare the most difficult to read so far, but managed quite well. I used side by side translations with Shakespeare, and Dickens I just had to trod through. I'm really enjoying ancient lit, even the more difficult ones.

I would recommend reading the book How to Read a Book like a Professor first (this opened my eyes & was a fun read). I also read How to Read a Book by Adler. With this one I cheated and read the first half and then the specific section for the different genre before I read a book of that type. Then tackle some books from a booklist, whether it be Sonlight or WTM. Use sparknotes or anything free online. Annotating the books or keeping a response journal may benefit you more than a specific writing assignment.

I hope you enjoy your new journey. It can be so fun to learn as an adult!

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I would like to spend some time studying some Brit Lit

 

In my recent endeavor of self-education, I have found British Lit to be so much fun! Austin, Bronte, Shakespeare, Tolkien, Lewis -- to name of few that I have enjoyed this year.

 

I've had fun w/ some American Lit also but Brit Lit has a special place in my heart.

 

I couldn't find a pre-packaged curriculum that suited my eclectic mix of titles that I wanted to read this year. I'm so high-maintenance that way.... :)

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I have SL's Brit Lit core. I haven't done much with it, but I can give you some observations about the IG. It consists of 3 parts: Schedule, Appendices, and Study Guide.

 

The Schedule is very basic. It has how much to read per day and keeps you on track with the poetry resources and vocabulary resource, as well as any writing assignments. I don't know that this is important for personal study purposes; I think you can find an example on their website.

 

The Appendices include an answer key to the poetry resource, brief summaries of the different time periods that the literature came out of, a plot line sample, poetry examples, and a section on how to do a research paper. These all appear to be absent of religious persuasion, although I haven't read through all of it. The most valuable part imo is the overview of the history of British Literature. It's succinct yet informative.

 

The Study Guide is probably the real reason you'd buy the IG. Each book has a brief introduction, followed by study/discussion questions, vocab notations, creative writing assignments, and misc. notes. Religion seems to be only in the form of disclaimers in the introductions of some of the books, and occasionally in some of the study questions if prompted by the work itself. The study questions do occasionally reference the bible or other Christian thoughts or books, but it is done in an objective way to encourage thought and the development of an opinion rather than to show or convince you of their thoughts. There is an answer key to the study guide which might have more Christian viewpoints in it (I haven't looked at that much.)

 

The only odd-ball book is perhaps A Severe Mercy, since it isn't exactly Brit. Lit. I don't think that you'd have any more problems with the Christian base of the program than you would with the fact that it's directed towards teens (some things ask "what do you parents do?" or are directed at developing one's worldview). The guide seems to be pretty in-depth, although I haven't seen others so I can't compare.

 

Hope that helps some!

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