Canon Press Literature Curriculum

"Macbeth," one of William Shakespeare's most well-known tragedies, examines the interplay between fate and ambition, prophecy and power.

Canon Classic books are printed on thicker text stock than most thrift editions, feature textured paperback covers with distinctive artwork, and have individualized settings that prioritize readability.

93 pages, softcover.

Go beyond the basics of the plot with the Canon Classics Worldview Guide: Aeneid. This slim volume presents a firmly Christian perspective on this distinctively American work, and examines both the big-picture themes and the finer details.

Canon Classics Worldview Guides provide a Christian perspective on some of the greatest works of Western literature. Acting as a friendly literary coach and compass, this small guide will help teachers, parents, and students to appreciate and critique the classics.

Each guide is divided into 10 sections: Introduction, The World Around, About the Author, What Other Notables Said, Plot Summary & Characters, Worldview Analysis, Quotables, 21 Questions for Discussion, Review of the Five Elements of a Novel (including Setting, Themes, and Conflict), and an End-of-Book Test & Answer Key.

56 pages, softcover. 4.25" x 7.5".

Go beyond the basics of the plot with the Canon Classics Worldview Guide: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This slim volume presents a firmly Christian perspective on this distinctively American work, and examines both the big-picture themes and the finer details.

Canon Classics Worldview Guides provide a Christian perspective on some of the greatest works of Western literature. Acting as a friendly literary coach and compass, this small guide will help teachers, parents, and students to appreciate and critique the classics.

Each guide is divided into 10 sections: Introduction, The World Around, About the Author, What Other Notables Said, Plot Summary & Characters, Worldview Analysis, Quotables, 21 Questions for Discussion, Review of the Five Elements of a Novel (including Setting, Themes, and Conflict), and an End-of-Book Test & Answer Key.

37 pages, softcover. 4.25" x 7.5".

"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain follows Huck Finn and escaped slave Jim as they encounter a variety of people on their journey down the Mississippi River, their journey acting as a conduit for Twain's observations and criticisms of racism and "civilization."

Canon Classic books are printed on thicker text stock than most thrift editions, feature textured paperback covers with distinctive artwork, and have individualized settings that prioritize readability.

318 pages, softcover.

Go beyond the basics of the plot with the Canon Classics Worldview Guide: Iliad. This slim volume presents a firmly Christian perspective on this distinctively American work, and examines both the big-picture themes and the finer details.

Canon Classics Worldview Guides provide a Christian perspective on some of the greatest works of Western literature. Acting as a friendly literary coach and compass, this small guide will help teachers, parents, and students to appreciate and critique the classics.

Each guide is divided into 10 sections: Introduction, The World Around, About the Author, What Other Notables Said, Plot Summary & Characters, Worldview Analysis, Quotables, 21 Questions for Discussion, Review of the Five Elements of a Novel (including Setting, Themes, and Conflict), and an End-of-Book Test & Answer Key.

56 pages, softcover. 4.25" x 7.5".

Go beyond the basics of the plot with the Canon Classics Worldview Guide: Odyssey. This slim volume presents a firmly Christian perspective on this distinctively American work, and examines both the big-picture themes and the finer details.

Canon Classics Worldview Guides provide a Christian perspective on some of the greatest works of Western literature. Acting as a friendly literary coach and compass, this small guide will help teachers, parents, and students to appreciate and critique the classics.

Each guide is divided into 10 sections: Introduction, The World Around, About the Author, What Other Notables Said, Plot Summary & Characters, Worldview Analysis, Quotables, 21 Questions for Discussion, Review of the Five Elements of a Novel (including Setting, Themes, and Conflict), and an End-of-Book Test & Answer Key.

54 pages, softcover. 4.25" x 7.5".

Shakespeare is often seen as only second to the Bible in his influence of Western thought and literature. But Christians often have a tricky time with the arts. Exploring why Christians should read literature (and not dismiss it as unbiblical and irrelevant), Brightest Heaven of Invention seeks to help Christians understand literature, rather than evaluate it. Each chapter focuses on one of Shakespeare's plays through the lens of a central theme. Chapters are broken down into four lessons, each of which concludes with "review questions" that help assess reading comprehension and "thought questions" that advance critical thinking and analysis. Henry V, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing are analyzed. The actual plays are not included in this book and must be read from another source.

When integrated with reading assignments of the plays themselves, each lesson can take one week, resulting in a month spent on each of the six plays. A suggested schedule for homeschoolers is included. High School students, or advanced Jr. High students.286 pages, softcover.

Once upon a time, a carpenter entered a forest and happened upon a wolf wearing a feathered cap. Quick, whose side are you on? If you don't know, then keep reading. Stories provide a roadmap for life. This is because stories are life. But oftentimes it's easiest to understand where we are when we can look through other eyes-from the perspective of someone else, living somewhere else, somewhen else.

If you thought you knew The Book Tree, think again. Jane and Elizabeth have updated this charming book with over 100 new book reviews, and whimsical illustrations from recommended titles are scattered throughout. New formatting and four indexes (title, author, illustrator, and subject) make it easier than ever to browse for that next well-worn favorite.

For those beginning to read for the first time or those beginning to read again, The Book Tree will drop golden apples in your lap, until you can climb high enough to pick for yourself. Paperback.

The Iliad, Theogony, The Odyssey, The Aeneid . . . help your students read and grapple with these foundation stones of classic literature. Leithart, a Cambridge-educated Presbyterian minister, presents a scholarly Christian commentary on each of them, providing theological insight into literary conflicts between the heroes of the city of man and the city of God. Includes study questions. 389 pages, softcover from Canon.

One rainy day, years ago, a little girl named Lucy discovered that the back of a wardrobe isn't always just the back of a wardrobe. Sometimes, it's a door into another world.

In Lucy's case, that other world was called Narnia, and though she was among the first to enter it, she was by no means the last. Millions of children (young and old) have followed her there and met its strange but wonderful inhabitants-Mr. Tumnus, Reepicheep, and Puddleglum, among others.

But the lessons of Narnia don't just belong to the world of fiction and fantasy. We may never meet fawns, talking mice, or marshwiggles in our ordinary lives, but the lessons they teach in The Chronicles of Narnia are the very lessons we need to fight the battles we face in our everyday lives.

Douglas Wilson begins this series of meditations on C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia with the observation, "This is not intended to be an introduction to Narnia at all, but is rather more like a conversation between good friends about some other good friends, talking about what a good time we all had and why." Wilson highlights the practical themes of mature, Christian living that emerge from these classic tales-nobility, confession, complete grace-a joyful contrast to the thinness of modern life. A must for any Narnia fan, young or old.

Jane Austen's novels are not only still widely read, but also continue to influence modern film and literature. In both their moral content and their focused, highly detailed, "miniaturist" execution, they reveal Austen's mastery of the art of fiction and her concern for Christian virtues exercised within communities. Her sharp wit and sense of irony entertain, edify, and challenge both men and women alike. From theological and literary angles, Leithart unpacks both character and theme while summarizing each of Austen's major works. For all who desire a richer appreciation of her enduring genius, Leithart offers a hearthside seat.

Edmund Spenser (1552-99) ranks just below Shakespeare, with Chaucer and Milton, in the pantheon of great writers. In The Faerie Queene, he spins a sub-created fantasy universe that would be the model for Tolkien and Lewis. This poet, whom Milton considered to be a better teacher than the medieval theologians, wrote an epic tale of adventure, love noble deeds, and faith. And it all symbolizes the Reformation.

Despite all of his acknowledged greatness, almost no one reads Spenser anymore. Roy Maynard takes the first book of The Faerie Queene, exploring the concept of Holiness with the caracter of the Redcross Knight, and makes Spenser accessible again. He does this not by dumbing it down, but by deftly modernizing the spelling, explaining the obscurities in clever asides, and cueing the reader towards the right response.

In today's cultural, aesthetic, and educational wars, Spenser is a mighty ally for 21st century Christians. Maynard proves himself a worthy mediator between Spenser's time and ours.