"It was better than I thought it would be." That is high praise for Lightning Literature & Composition coming from my ninth grader!
Lightning Lit is a series of workbooks seeking to teach "college-level composition skills by responding to great literature." They offer full-year courses for 7th and 8th grade literature (student guide, teacher guide, workbook - $20/each). They also offer the following one-semester courses for 9th through 12th grades:
9th-12th
American Lit: Early to Mid 19th Century
American Lit: Mid to Late 19th Century
Speech
10th - 12th
British Lit: Early to Mid 19th Century
British Lit: Mid to Late 19th Century
11th - 12th
British Lit: Medieval
American Christian Authors
British Christian Authors
Shakespeare: Tragedies & Sonnets
Shakespeare: Comedies & Sonnets
World Lit 1
World Lit 2
Each of these comes with a student guide ($29.95) and a teacher's guide ($2.95). There is bundle pricing available, including the pack of all the necessary books, and also discounts for orders of five or more of one title.
Hewitt Homeschooling provided me with a student guide and a teacher's guide for American Lit: Early to Mid 19th Century. As a former English major, I really liked the choices of literature. These are definitely "living books" (or selections). Some authors covered are: Washington Irving, Frederick Douglass, Edgar Allen Poe, Herman Melville and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Since it is summer vacation, I have to say, we are still working through Unit 1 -- The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. In the first chapter of the textbook, the author, Elizabeth Kamath gives a good one-page lead-in intro about Franklin's life and then another page on Pre-19th Century Literature in general. After reading the selection, which I downloaded as a free e-book, I asked my kids the comprehension questions. These are broken into sections of 2 to 7 questions each and go along with the section titles of the book. In retrospect, in future I will give the questions before the reading. My kids were surprised to be asked the names of Franklin's uncles and the number of his siblings and half-siblings (16).
After the comprehension questions comes the section on writing, directly related to the reading. Since the work is an autobiography, the 5-page lesson is about autobiographies and what kinds of details youo might include if you write your own. Following the lesson, there are 8 writing exercises which I thought were quite varied and appealing to students of differing interests and aptitudes. I will be having my kids write several of them -- the author suggests picking two for each selection.
[As an interesting side-note, as I was pre-reading the selection, I came across the passage from which the IEW-style was inspired: where Ben Franklin takes an existing writing, takes notes, re-writes, etc.]
In the Introduction to this course, the author discusses how/why to read literature and poetry. She gives detailed descriptions of figurative language terms (similie, metaphor, personification) and sounds (alliteration, assonance, rhythm, etc.). She goes on to describe how to write a paper, including topic statements, brainstorming, research and outlines. These are quick but thorough passages, probably review for most students at this level. The Appendix offers discussion questions and project suggestions, additional reading and schedules. The author also has suggestions for vocabulary notebooks, reading journals, and more.
Although much of this book could be self-taught, I always think that literature needs discussion, so don't leave your student entirely on their own. Discuss what they have read and what they have written. The Teacher's Guide gives grading tips and checklists for papers, schedules (finish in 1 semester or 1 year), answers to composition questions, and additional writing assignments.
I am excited about adding this literature course into our schedule and will plan to order more in the series! Be sure to check it out for yourself here.
Disclaimer:
I was provided a free copy of the student and teacher guide for Lightning Literature & Composition's American Lit: Early to Mid-19th Century in exchange for an honest review. You can see more reviews from the TOS Crew Members here.
My Dear Wormwood,
How do you think you will ever learn anything about British Literature if you don't read any? And if you are going to read some, how about my letters, appropriately entitled The Screwtape Letters? And if you are going to bother to read them, why not study them, analyze them for their literary qualities (I assure you there are many), and make sure that you digest every word I have sent you? You can do all that more easily if you use the Literature Guide provided by Progeny Press! Now get to work, you scruffy little demon!
Your mildly affectionate uncle,
Screwtape
Okay, so I made that letter up. But, Screwtape has a great idea there. If you'd like help in your homeschool with analyzing literature, Progeny Press study guides are an awesome resource! I was privileged to receive the guide for The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, but there are many other options available, including American, British, Historical, World, and Christian Literature. A few of the titles covered are:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Call of the Wild
The Scarlet Letter
The Lord of the Rings
A Tale of Two Cities
Hamlet
Romeo & Juliet
The Hiding Place
Number the Stars
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Bronze Bow
and many, many more in their catalog
The study guides are offered in booklet ($21.99), CD ($18.99), or e-mail .pdf formats ($18.99). They also sell the novels; this one would have cost $13.99. I received the .pdf version which included a 75 page Student Guide, plus a 10 page Answer Key for the teacher/parent. This version is interactive on Windows or Mac computers. I could also read the file on my iPad, but not "interact" with it. (The guides for 4th to 12th grades are interactive, but the kindergarten through 3rd grade are read-only.)
Progeny Press recommends each of their guides to cover from 8 to 10 weeks of study. Generally, students should read the entire novel the first week and then use the guide to review, analyze and gain insights into what they read.
The Screwtape Letters guide began with a brief synopsis of the novel, followed by information about C.S. Lewis, the author, and a few pages of background on the Battle of Britain which plays a role in the story. These details are followed by a selection of pre-reading activities which can be assigned before reading or during that first week of reading. Then, you are ready to get down to business. For each section, in this case, about 4 "letters" (chapters) at a time, students are asked vocabulary questions in multiple choice, matching, fill-in-the blank, synonym/antonym, and word search forms. These are fun for the kids to fill in on the computer.
Vocabulary segments are followed by a plethora of thought-provoking questions on all levels. Some elicit what the student knows about what happened (why did Screwtape write to Wormwood?) and others deal with literary analysis (how is parody used?). Some can be answered with a word or phrase, others require paragraphs. Go as deep as you want.
Each section then lists optional activities such as papers, reports, and projects that could be chosen to add to all that learning. At the end of the guide were also a large number of final essay topics ranging in varying lengths required. At the very end was a list of additional resources.
Personally, I don't think you could (or should) do every question/project listed -- there is so much -- I prefer to think of it as "so much to choose from!" I had my kids work through the vocabulary, then asked some questions orally and had them fill in a few "online." We did not attempt every question by any means! Although we have not begun it yet, I really liked the final essay idea of writing your own letter (as Screwtape) giving Wormwood advice on how to tempt you! That would take some real introspection and also biblical insight.
Speaking of the Bible, Progeny Press is a Christian company and their guides present literature from a Christian perspective. This was easy to see with The Screwtape Letters because it is a Christian work, but this is also true with their other 100+ titles.
Although I have a background in English Education, guides like this one are a great time-saving device for me! The questions are clear, well-thought out, and make your students think. Hopefully, that is temptation enough for you to try one (or more) guides out for yourself!
As a member of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, I received this guide free in exchange for an honest review. To see what other TOS reviewers had to say, click here.
