need help figuring out literature to go with world history

[AngieW in Texas]

My 10th grader will be studying world history up to about 1850 using Prentice Hall Connections to Today, Augustus Caesar's World, Black Ships before Troy/Wanderings of Odysseus, and Mythology (huge anthology with Egyptian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Incan, Aztec, Mayan, Native American, Australian, Celtic, Norse, and Greek/Roman myths).

 

I plan to have her use Glencoe Literature Course 5 and also add in some novels.

 

I've planned out one semester and part of another:

short story unit from textbook

any two novels out of: Golden Goblet, Mara Daughter of the Nile, and Shadow Hawk

nonfiction unit from textbook

poetry unit from textbook

Antigone from textbook

Julius Caesar (the complete play) from textbook

any two novels out of The Silver Branch, Eagle of the Ninth, Lantern Bearer, Roman Ransom

any two novels out of Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver, A String in the Harp, **looking for two more novels to go with 500-1300 in Europe**

excerpt from Morte d'Arthur from textbook

excerpt from Once and Future King from textbook

any two novels out of Crystal Cave/Hollow Hills/Last Enchantment, Once and Future King, Inferno, Decameron

 

That's as far as I've gotten. The textbook has good discussion questions and essay suggestions. Any good novels I know of to go with a time period that we're studying is in the list as a possibility. When I don't have good novels for a time period, I plan to do a unit from the literature textbook. There are some very good selections in the text, so whenever there is one that will go with history, I plan to use it.

 

What I have above would probably take us about 120 days. I still need to do more planning. We're going to spend a lot more time on ancient and medieval history than 1500-1800. My dd was in ps when I did ancient and medieval times with her sisters. She came back to hsing when we got to Queen Elizabeth I.

 

Do any of y'all have suggestions for other literature I should include as possibilities? I know that the list in WTM would be way too heavy for her.

[Chris in VA]

I think you should let her try The Odyssey instead of the Sutcliff books (just read the retelling of the Illiad first, if you aren't going to do offer the full version of The Illiad). I was surprised that it really isn't that hard to understand. We liked Fagel's translation because it was easy to read. You can even use SparkNotes or something similar to help you.

 

Your booklist is solid.

[Jane in NC]

 

any two novels out of Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver, A String in the Harp, **looking for two more novels to go with 500-1300 in Europe**

 

....

 

any two novels out of Crystal Cave/Hollow Hills/Last Enchantment, Once and Future King, Inferno, Decameron

 

.....

Do any of y'all have suggestions for other literature I should include as possibilities? I know that the list in WTM would be way too heavy for her.

 

A couple of comments. A String in the Harp is one of my favorites, so I am delighted to see it mentioned. It is, however, a middle school aged book--totally different in nature than others on your list like Inferno and Decameron. I am seeing some disconnect here, particularly in light of your last statement.

 

Inferno is not an easy read. It is a valuable book, one that my 10th grader studied, but one that requires a good deal of discussion in my opinion. You could easily spend a month on this book with the accompanying lectures from the Teaching Company.

 

Are you aware of how bawdy the Decameron is? Be forewarned.

 

Jane

[AngieW in Texas]

I had a hard time coming up with books for the Roman era. My library has all three of the Sutcliff books I listed, but I wanted to give her an option that was by somebody else as well. Roman Ransom isn't at the same level as the others, but I do own it and it's a good book.

 

I wasn't sure what to do for the middle ages either. I put in A String in the Harp because I own it and it's a great book. I think that A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver is a good book for high school level, but was having trouble coming up with more. Decameron and Inferno are from the suggested reading list in the world history textbook. I've never actually read either one, but my library has both of them. I haven't been back to the library since making my original list, so I haven't had a chance to look at them. I'd love any suggestions you might have.

 

I could always do another unit from the textbook to fill in the time periods when I didn't find good novels for her to read, that's why I bought the textbook in the first place. It would give her a mix of things to read and I wouldn't have to work quite as hard to find literature for her. We've always used SL and their literature list helped considerably, but their high school level world history course only covers 20th century.

[Lori D.]

My 10th grader will be studying world history up to about 1850 using Prentice Hall Connections to Today, Augustus Caesar's World, Black Ships before Troy/Wanderings of Odysseus, and Mythology (huge anthology with Egyptian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Incan, Aztec, Mayan, Native American, Australian, Celtic, Norse, and Greek/Roman myths).

 

I plan to have her use Glencoe Literature Course 5 and also add in some novels.

 

I've planned out one semester and part of another:

short story unit from textbook

any two novels out of: Golden Goblet, Mara Daughter of the Nile, and Shadow Hawk

nonfiction unit from textbook

poetry unit from textbook

Antigone from textbook

Julius Caesar (the complete play) from textbook

any two novels out of The Silver Branch, Eagle of the Ninth, Lantern Bearer, Roman Ransom

any two novels out of Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver, A String in the Harp, **looking for two more novels to go with 500-1300 in Europe**

excerpt from Morte d'Arthur from textbook

excerpt from Once and Future King from textbook

any two novels out of Crystal Cave/Hollow Hills/Last Enchantment, Once and Future King, Inferno, Decameron

 

That's as far as I've gotten. The textbook has good discussion questions and essay suggestions. Any good novels I know of to go with a time period that we're studying is in the list as a possibility. When I don't have good novels for a time period, I plan to do a unit from the literature textbook. There are some very good selections in the text, so whenever there is one that will go with history, I plan to use it.

 

What I have above would probably take us about 120 days. I still need to do more planning. We're going to spend a lot more time on ancient and medieval history than 1500-1800. My dd was in ps when I did ancient and medieval times with her sisters. She came back to hsing when we got to Queen Elizabeth I.

 

Do any of y'all have suggestions for other literature I should include as possibilities? I know that the list in WTM would be way too heavy for her.

 

 

 

Lit. ideas for ancients:

 

- Gilgamesh and Other Babylonian Tales (retelling by Jennifer Westwood)

Abridged version of the epic with NO sexual scenes (a problem in many translations!). Short and includes several Babylonian myths. (This is out of print and the cheapest I see it is at http://www.abe.com for $17+shipping -- but maybe your local library will have it! I would only buy it if I could get it for no more than $10-12 including shipping.)

 

- some ancient Greek myths

(I recommend Nathaniel Hawthorne's very readable short story retellings in his books: "A Wonder Book for Girls and Boys" and "Tanglewood Tales". Between the two books you get some of the most well-known myths, such as: The Gorgon's Head; The Golden Touch (King Midas); Theseus and the Minotaur; Persephone, Pluto and the Pomegranate Seed; Jason and the Golden Fleece)

 

- all three plays of the Oedipus cycle: Oedipus the King; Oedipus at Colonus; Antigone

Each play is surprisingly short. While there is that theme of the unintended murder/incest, it is not graphically dwelt on in any of the three plays. The three plays have similar themes running through each, with different choices and outcomes so it's great if you can read all three and compare them.

 

- The Aeneid for Boys and Girls (Church)

An abridged prose retelling of the ancient Roman epic by Virgil.

 

 

Historical Fiction ideas for ancients:

- Ides of April (Ray) -- very well written -- ancient Rome, with Greek slave

- Beyond the Desert Gate (Ray) -- sequel to the above

- Ben Hur (Wallace) -- ancient Rome, time of Christ

 

 

Lit. ideas for middle ages:

- Beowulf -- not that long, and the translation by Heaney is very readable!

- The Junior Classics, vol. 4, Hero Tales (pub. by Collier) has GREAT abridged adaptations of classics that exactly fit your time frame; vocabulary/theme/sentence structure wise, I'd say these are written for 7th/8th grade level and up -- right along the lines of what you listed among your selections. Available used at amazon for $2+ shipping: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/5800008116/ref=dp_olp_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1219605899&sr=8-1

Here's the table of contents:

* Departure of Telemachus (from the Odyssey)

* Adventures of Odysseus (from the Odyssey)

* The Forging of the Sampo (from the Kalevala, old Finnish epic song)

* Roland and Oliver (from the Song of Roland)

* Battle at Roncesvalles (from the Song of Roland)

* Stories from the Chronicles El Cid (from the Chronicles of El Cid)

* Beowulf Fights Grendel (from Beowulf)

* Beowulf Fights the Dragon (from Beowulf)

* King Arthur and the Round Table (from King Arthur)

* The Hunting of the Boar (from The Maginogion, knightly legends of Wales)

* Finn and Oisin (from Cuchulain, ancient epic literature of Ireland)

* The Boyhood of Cuchulain (from Cuchulain, ancient epic literature of Ireland)

* Robin Hood and Little John (in verse, from the Old English ballads)

* Robin Hood and Allen a Dale (in verse, from the Old English ballads)

* Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar (in verse, from the Old English ballads)

* Death of Robin Hood (in verse, from the Old English ballads)

 

 

 

Historical Fiction ideas for middle ages:

- Anna of Byzantium (Barrett) -- c. 1100

- a Cadfael mystery (Peters) -- c. 1135-1150 England

- The Great and Terrible Quest (Lovett) -- excellent! (only reprinted/available thru Sonlight)

- Farmer Giles of Ham (Tolkien) -- fun medieval dragon/reluctant hero short story

- Smith of Wooten Major (Tolkien) -- poignant short story in medieval setting

 

 

 

A completely different idea would be to fill out the rest of your school year with some of those "every high schooler should read" type of books:

 

- play by Shakespeare -- Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It

(check out the Shakespeare guide "Brightest Heaven of Invention", or the Parallel Text Shakespeare book/guide/workbook set)

 

- some classic short stories

Several guides to help with that:

* IEW's guide Window From the World uses short stories to teach literary analysis and annotation

* Teaching With 50 Great Short Stories: Vocabulary, Comprehension Tests, & Writing Activities (Nyman)

 

- some poetry

(Progeny Press has a literature guide with 3 units on poetry)

 

- To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee)

- Tom Saywer or Huck Finn (Twain)

- Great Expectations (or something else by Dickens)

[jamnkats]

I wonder if you'd find this interesting?

 

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/history/virtual/core4-1.htm