Homeschool Literature Curriculum

The Words Aptly Spoken series from Classical Conversations provides companion resources for the Classical Conversations "Challenge" level curriculum; Words Aptly Spoken: American Literature is designed for Challenge I level curriculum (High School).

Words Aptly Spoken: American Literature features excerpts from award-winning American Literature, including The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry, Paul Revere's Ride by Longfellow, An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, Walden by Thoreau, and others.

Each work features an introduction that includes a short author biography. Questions about each work are included: Review Questions help students understand the basic plot, characters, setting, and message of the document, while Thought Questions help students apply themes and ideas raised by the author to more familiar situations. Shorter selections are included in-book, while longer pieces (such as Alcott's An Old-Fashioned Girl and Elizabeth George Speare's The Sign of the Beaver) must be obtained separately. Each section also features a writing practice section that targets important skills and concepts (such as quotes, vocabulary, plot, developing a thesis, etc) relevant to writing an essay.

221 pages; non-consumable as answers must be written separately from the text.

This second edition differs in that it contains all-new lessons to Colson's Born Again, Kipling's If, McEvoy's If for Girls, and The Witch of Blackbird Pond. All of the readings used in Challenge I are now included in this volume. This edition has also been expanded and updated.

Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide is a full-year (two semester), student-directed course that's perfect for homeschoolers in high school!

In this course students will read seven novels and one memoir (all sold-separately; listed below) while this textbook helps them learn about the craft of writing and familiarizes them with the joys of reading great literature. Written from a Christian perspective, students will learn to analyze content through a Christian worldview and to view literature as books written by flawed humans. This course's title, "When Worlds Collide," refers to the featured books, each of which was chosen because of its collisions--whether physical, political, racial, spiritual, or philosophical.

Each book unit begins with a "Before you Read the Book" introduction with suggested reading and homework plan. This introduction is followed by lessons that cover the book text and relevant literary terms and elements (e.g. text, context, conflict, point of view, genre, setting) through discussion questions, activities, and quizzes.

This student textbook is one part of the full available curriculum options; a Teacher's Guide and Quiz & Answer Manual are both available separately. This student textbook also includes access to the free (and required) download "Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide Novel Notebook," along with links to online quizzes that are graded automatically with emailed reports-the separate quiz and answer manual is only for parents who want their students to take paper-and-pencil tests.

284 non-reproducible pages, softcover consumable textbook/workbook. 70 lessons. Grades 9-12.

This course requires the following literature (also sold-separately). This course specifically uses the following editions; it's helpful to have the approved versions since lessons refer to specific page numbers in these books.

• Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain; Dover Publications; 048640885X
• The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells; Dover Publications: 0486295060
• The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West; Harcourt, Inc; 015602909X or 0156336065
• Peter Pan by Sir James Barrie; Dover Publications; 0486407837
• Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals; Washington Square Press/Pocket Books; 0671866397
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury; Simon & Schuster; 9781451673319
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens; Dover Publications; 0486406512
• The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis; HarperCollins; 9780060652937

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.

Worldviews in Conflict by Kevin Swanson will introduce high school students to the works and worldviews of some of the world's most influential thinkers and writers. The first part of the book covers "Worldviews in Philosophy" with chapters covering works by Thomas Aquinas, Rene Descartes, Karl Marx, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Dewey, Sartre, and others. The second portion covers "Worldviews in Literature" and covers Shakespeare, Hawthorne, Twain, Hemingway, and Steinbeck. The final chapter, "Pandora's Machine," covers "Worldviews in Culture."

Featuring selected readings and summaries of over 15 philosophers and authors, chapters include analysis of their works along with biblical references and truths to help equip students to be able to argue against the humanist worldview. Each chapter ends with assignments that include vocabulary words and their definitions and in-depth study questions. In the last chapter students will study film, music and media; students are given a short summary and quote from famous movies and songs and asked to identify the "Great" philosopher and the ideas that lie behind the excerpt.

Emphasizing the danger of uncritically reading the "great" thinkers and writers without an explicitly Christian lens, this text will familiarize students with the thoughts and writings that have "undermined the Christian foundations in the West." Linking secular and Christian high school and college educations to the "apostasy" of the current age, this text is designed to be carefully used in the hope of strengthening students' spiritual well-being, not destroying them.

Grades 11-12. 632 pages with glossary, hardcover.

Learning Language Arts Through Literature - The Gold Book - Literary Criticism provides homeschoolers with a complete language arts high school course. Designed to help prepare students for college level writing, all the writing assignments are based on literature and intended to challenge the student's ability to think critically. Students will be introduced to different methods of literary criticism and given instructions on how to write essays. By the end of the course, the student will have written a short memoir, a college essay, nine five-paragraph essays, three five-page essays, and one ten-page essay.

Easy-to-use for both student and teacher, this book is designed for self-directed students with answers for the teacher in the back of the book.

The Gold Book - Literary Criticism is designed for 11th and 12th grade students and is organized by following literary criticism techniques:

• Focus on the Reader

• Focus on the Author
• Focus on the Culture, Society, History
• Focus on the Work
• Focus on Poetry
• Focus on Satire

To complete the assignments in this book, the student will need access to the internet and/or a library as well as the following books (NOT included & sold-separately):

• A Literary Criticism Anthology, published by Common Sense Press

• Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, published by Broadway Books
• Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein, published by Ace Trade
• The Trial by Franz Kafka, translated by Breon Mitchell, published by Schocken Books
• No Fear Shakespeare, Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, published by Spark Publishing
• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas, published by Townsend Press, Inc.

Blend faith and academics in a Christ-honoring package with Steadfast Press’ Year Three: Exploration – Expansion Literature & Composition Homeschool Bundle. In Year Three your student will explore literature shaped by exploration, colonization, and westward expansion. Through poetry, short stories, and other literature and historical texts, learners will explore rhetorical tools, build core skills, and use journaling to deepen understanding of American history, literature, and persuasive communication. Composition lessons cover paragraph and essay structure; developing arguments; drawing conclusions; elements of style; reading and writing fluency; rhetorical, analytical, and creative writing; and critical thinking. This bundle includes the consumable Student Notebook that contains 34 weeks of literature assignments and comprehension questions, essay and creative writing instruction and assignments, video clip suggestions, reading excerpts, and more. The Teacher Notebook includes teaching tips and recommendations for evaluating writing assignments, all the pages of the Student Notebook with answers and suggested point values, and memorization assignments. The Student Weekly Plans provides day-to-day scheduling of the weekly assignments to help your student stay on track and finish each week strong. Three softcovers, 3-hole punched and perforated. High School.

This bundle includes:

• Year Three: Exploration – Expansion Literature & Composition Student Notebook
• Year Three: Exploration – Expansion Literature & Composition Teacher Notebook
• Year Three: Exploration – Expansion Literature & Composition Student Weekly Plans

Please note: Year Three has additional required reading resources that are not included. Refer to the Student and Teacher Notebooks for more information.