Lori D. (and anyone else) - how do you use Garlic Press or other lit guides?

[Chrysalis Academy]

So I've never really used a purchased lit guide before - online Glencoe or Schmoop guides to direct some discussion, yes, but not a full-on lit guide.  I picked up the Garlic Press lit guide for The Giver, and its definitely meaty, it's got a lot going on, but I'm wondering - how much of this stuff do you do? And how often?  It seems to be set up that you do a bunch of questions/discussion and some writing after every single chapter!  At that rate it would take 3 or 4 weeks to get through a single book.  And I know for sure that my kid won't be satisfied to read the book just one chapter at a time - she'll inhale it in a few hours, then we'll go back through it more slowly, and a lot of the discussion seems to be predicated on the idea that this is a first read-through for the kid.  

 

So I'm just wondering how you've used this guide, or other guides that have chapter-by-chapter activities. Do you pick and choose? Or do you really have your kid spend 3-4 weeks on a (short) book and write multiple essays about it?  I don't know, this seems like overkill to me, somehow . . . 

[Lori D.]

Well, your student is a lot different than my DSs. But.. based on what I know of your DD from other posts, I'd suggest treating the work done with Garlic Press a little differently than your other literature / reading.

 

Think of this as your "quarter climax book" -- and yes, a full quarter (9 weeks), or 3-4 weeks, or whatever the work warrants** -- to slow it down, dig deep, discuss, write about, use it as the springboard to learn about various literary elements and literature topics. Really savor this book, like sucking on a fabulous, Belgian chocolate, to make it last. ;)

 

** = The Giver is a short book, but other of the books that Garlic Press covers, like the full translation of the Odyssey, could take 7-9 weeks, depending on your reading speed.

 

DON'T do that with the other lit. and reading -- let her go at her own pace and do what you normally do, which, hopefully is NOT analyzing to death every single book. ;)

 

What might that look like? Do it aloud together, reading "popcorn style" ("you read a page, I read a page" and go for 30-40 minutes, 1-2 chapters at a time. Maybe even do it at night to make it different.  If she absolutely can't stand to wait, then, okay have her read through it on her own just for plot. THEN go back and do it together, and each of you point out things as you see it.

 

Then the following day, pick just a few discussion questions from the end of chapter discussion questions, and see where your discussion goes. Go through the literature lessons info one at a time, and see if those lead onto any bunny trails. Only pick 1-2 of the writing assignments TOTAL -- don't want to kill the book! ;) Check out the resources page and see if anything there is something you'd like to add. I guess I'd suggest having a sort of "mini unit-study" mindset  going into using the Garlic Press guides -- they are a buffet, so pick and choose from the wonderful goodies, but don't overstuff yourself. ;)

 

Enjoy! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Chrysalis Academy]

No, we certainly don't analyze every single book!  She's read 60 books "for fun" so far this year - and re-read quite a few - and those we don't do anything with unless she wants to tell me about them.  She's read 30 "historical fiction" type books connected to the modern era, some of which are "gentle" classics, and we've discussed many, but not all, of those.  She's written a couple of SWB-style literary analyses, but the only book this year we've really dug deeply into is Animal Farm - we read a bunch of context material about the historical situation, and we read critical analyses about both its reception and impact at the time of publication and later, as well as really analyzing the story, and she wrote a nice paper about it.  That was about 3 weeks, altogether, including reading, discussing, writing and revising.

 

The thing about The Giver is that she will want to read it in one sitting, and unless I physically restrict access, she will read to the end.  And that would drive her nuts.  So I think that I will just let her read it and skip all the parts that ask about the unfolding opinion (what do you think release is now? what do you think light eyes signify now?) and focus on the discussion of literary techniques.  I do really like how so many of them are brought in to analyzing this book - there is setting and mood, irony, plot, foreshadowing and flashback, characterization, conflict, point of view, and theme, all about this one book!  I think if she really likes the book, we'll dig in and try and analyze that stuff on a deeper level, and definitely write an essay, but I can't see assigning multiple essays or spending more than 3 or 4 weeks on this book.  For the Odyssey, sure, that seems like something you could spend a whole term on! 

 

Did you use the Odyssey guide? How about The Hobbit?  We're going to do The Hobbit next year in 7th, the Odyssey probably not till 8th.  I am thinking about using these guides for both books, I definitely think they are plenty meaty.  I guess I have to just let go of the idea that we have to do everything in the guide, no matter how cool it is!

 

Thanks for your input.

[Lori D.]

… So I think that I will just let her read it and skip all the parts that ask about the unfolding opinion (what do you think release is now? what do you think light eyes signify now?) and focus on the discussion of literary techniques.  I do really like how so many of them are brought in to analyzing this book - there is setting and mood, irony, plot, foreshadowing and flashback, characterization, conflict, point of view, and theme, all about this one book!  I think if she really likes the book, we'll dig in and try and analyze that stuff on a deeper level, and definitely write an essay, but I can't see assigning multiple essays or spending more than 3 or 4 weeks on this book.

 

Sounds like a good plan! :) And it can be a sort of first step towards taking a bit more time on some works in the future, to be able to dig deep. Since she loves reading and is a fast reader, in a few years when you're doing the classics/high school literature works, you could let her just read the work you're going to analyze first, and then have her go through a second time and annotate, which opens up doors for discussion and essays and taking more time with the work. (Windows to the World (Christian, but easy to use secularly) is great for getting you up and running with annotation and then using the annotations.)

 

Since your DD is really developing into the Lit. fast, if you were thinking of using Lit. Lessons from the Lord of the Rings, you might not want to wait too much longer, or it will end up being too lite for her -- maybe get it started next year after The Hobbit, and then finish it the following year… Just a thought!

 

But you have everything well in hand, and I'm sure your family will grow into how Literature works best for DD. :)

 

I guess I have to just let go of the idea that we have to do everything in the guide, no matter how cool it is!

 

 

Well, unless your student is begging for more out of the guide… ;)

 

 

Did you use the Odyssey guide? How about The Hobbit?  We're going to do The Hobbit next year in 7th, the Odyssey probably not till 8th.

 

 

Yes! Loved the Odyssey guide. Also used and enjoyed the guides for The Giver, Lord of the Flies, and To Kill a Mockingbird. We were using LL8 when we did The Hobbit, but in retrospect, I wish we'd add in parts of the Garlic Press guide, too.

 

Enjoy! :) Alas, there all too-few of these great guides. Another meaty guide series, but written for the classroom so you have to do a LOT of adapting, is Portals to Literature (secular, for high school). I also like the free online Glencoe Literature Library guides (secular, for middle school/high school) for the full-page or two of background info on the author/work/times. And when you get to Shakespeare, the teacher guides and student workbooks from the Parallel Shakespeare (secular) materials are great!

[Chrysalis Academy]

Awesome!  Thank you, Lori!

 

I do have LLLOTR, and that's a good suggestion - if our Hobbit study goes well and she wants to dive right into it after that, why not?  I'm slowwwwly letting go of the idea that lit and history have to correlate, and it is very liberating!  I was thinking about a short story study for next year, but that could always push back a grade if it needs to  I guess what I'm mostly trying to avoid is doing things like The Iliad and The Odyssey too early. . .  how integral do you think those units are to LLLOTR? Meaning, could you skip them and come back to them the next year without violating the integrity of the curriculum?  ;)

[Lori D.]

Awesome!  Thank you, Lori!

 

I do have LLLOTR, and that's a good suggestion - if our Hobbit study goes well and she wants to dive right into it after that, why not?  I'm slowwwwly letting go of the idea that lit and history have to correlate, and it is very liberating!

 

Good for you! :)

 

Personally, I think LLftLotR works well as a stand-alone project, so you are free to do other literature to match up with your history as you like. And, if you need rationalization to do it in a specific time period (LOL!), you can make lots of connections with:

 

- Ancients (the epic aspect, and Tolkien's own schooling founded on ancient classics)

- Medieval (Beowulf and King Arthur influences)

- Early Modern (influences of 19th century fairy tales and fantasies Tolkien read as a child)

- Modern (Tolkien's own WW1 experiences and lamenting loss of simple times for modernization)

 

 

 I guess what I'm mostly trying to avoid is doing things like The Iliad and The Odyssey too early. . .  how integral do you think those units are to LLLOTR? Meaning, could you skip them and come back to them the next year without violating the integrity of the curriculum?

 

 

Yes, not a problem.

 

The units are pretty independent of one another so you could save that unit and do the year you do The Iliad and The Odyssey… Or just go ahead and enjoy when you do LotR; the info on the epic conventions is really quite helpful and useful as you read through LotR. We actually did the units a little bit out of order and did that unit on the epic conventions first, then went back and did the first units on background info on Tolkien and languages. I wanted us to be able to be looking for those conventions throughout the whole reading. Also, the units are really not that long -- maybe 8-10 pages at most? -- so you may not feel that's enough to wait on it, esp. if you have a meaty guide like Garlic Press to use alongside The Odyssey… Just a thought! :)

 

The year we did LLftLotR (the Lit. portion of the English credit), we also did a full credit Elective of Ancient Classics, including Iliad & Odyssey to go with our full credit of Ancient World History. It was actually refreshing to have a portion of our readings NOT related to the ancient time period! :)

 

Two works you may seriously want to consider including when you do LLftLotR are Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Both are novella length, but both are poetic translations so you really need to read them aloud to hear the syllable patterns and alliteration, and the language is old-fashioned, so you want to take them in "sips" rather than gulp them down just because they are short. ;)