Cultivate a love of British classics with Read with the Best: British Literature Student Workbook from Diagnostic Prescriptive (Jill J. Dixon), targeted at grades 8-12. This consumable paperback spans 34 weekly units covering 1485-1965 literature (Beowulf to modern) from The Norton Anthology of English Literature-Major Authors (8th ed.), plus full books like Frankenstein, Macbeth, The Screwtape Letters, and Gulliver's Travels. Features author/setting research, "Words to Know" (part of speech/synonyms/sentences), literary analysis/critical reading, writing coordinated with Write with the Best Volume 2, hands-on activities for all styles, culminating group challenges, vocabulary/literary terms tests every six weeks, and research paper guide. It prepares for ACT/SAT/CLEP/AP with 2 high school credits in literature/composition. Medium teacher involvement supports independent checklist study—excellent for homeschoolers building higher-level thinking and literary appreciation in a neutral program (Teacher Edition, anthology, books, dictionary, writing resources required).
Read with the Best: British Literature Student Workbook
Description
FINALLY CREATE a love of literature in your high-schooler with this hands-on and challenging curriculum devised by a high school literature teacher, homeschool mom and educational consultant of 33 years. TOTALLY prepare your student for the ACT, SAT, CLEP, AND AP exams with the teaching and understanding of literary analysis, informative and descriptive writing including an MLA style research paper, SAT/ACT vocabulary, and higher level thinking skills. Each lesson includes hands-on activities for all learning styles to solidify studied topics and encourage a love of literature. Students who complete the course can receive 2 high school credits in literature and composition/writing. The literature in this course was chosen not only for its literary and analytical quality, but for its moral and inspirational quality as well. Adaptations are included for students with special learning needs.
Literature selections are taken from The Norton Anthology of English Literature-Major Authors/eighth edition. Additional books needed are Frankenstein, No Fear Shakespeare-Macbeth, a Victorian novel of choice and The Screwtape Letters.
The study of British Literature spans the years of 1485-1965 and begins with the Medieval epic poem Beowulf as well as other Medieval literature, introduces Shakespeare and 17th century metaphysical poets and moves on to writers of the Victorian Age and modern literature. Students learn to analyze sonnets, essays, short stories, novels, epic poems, lyrics, plays, satires, villanelles and an epistolary novel.
Three important additions to Read With the Best-British Literature are a Fiction Literature Guide included in the Student Workbook, three guides for analyzing poetry, annotating literature, and writing a research paper included in the Student Workbook and Teacher's Guide, and supplemental analyzing and comprehension worksheets for teachers to use with students that are included in the Teacher's Guide. Also included in the Student and Teacher's Editions are How to Read and Analyze Literature, Tips for Analyzing and Interpreting Poetry, and A Research Paper Guide.
The course is organized into 34 weekly study units which include one or more literature selections. The two remaining weeks are reserved for review and tests. Each selection's study includes author/setting background information (student researches); a "Words to Know" section that requires the student to determine the part of speech, provide synonyms, and use in sentences; and questions for both literary analysis and critical reading. Each week the student is challenged to "make it real." For instance: "Think of two examples of foils in literature or movies" or "Name at least one stereotype or stock character that Irving portrays in Rip Van Winkle." Writing assignments are also part of each week's study. As previously mentioned, these are typically coordinated with Write with the Best. There is also a weekly "culminating activity". These activities vary greatly but tend to be more hands-on and often something that will be more meaningful and fun if done in a group. Vocabulary and Literary Terms Tests are given every six weeks.
The Student Worktext is consumable and designed to provide both an excellent study tool and comprehensive test-prep review material. Introductory material and a weekly schedule (in the form of a checklist) communicate to the student the course's independent study nature. Writing space for all assignments is provided although some students may prefer to complete the composition assignments on the computer.
The Teacher's Edition is essentially a full-text answer key but also includes vocabulary and literary terms test masters (reproducible for family) along with their answer keys. There is also a research paper checklist that can be reproduced for the student.
Required resources: Many of the literature selections are taken from Norton Anthology of British Authors - Major Authors although most should also be able to found online. (The only work that does not seem to be found in the current edition of the Norton Anthology appears to be Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard.") Additionally, several whole book studies are covered in the course. These include: Macbeth, The Screwtape Letters, Frankenstein and Gullivers Travels (Part I). For the British Literature course, the author highly suggests that parents or students access audio versions of all literary works online or purchase them in audio format, noting that many can be downloaded free from the Internet. Like the American Literature courses, you will also need: Write with the Best, Volume 2 (#019034), The American Heritage Dictionary and Thesaurus (#035790), Writing a Research Paper: A Step-by-Step Approach (#054413) and the Teachers Edition (#054414).
| Product Format: | Paperback |
|---|---|
| Grades: | 8-12 |
| Brand: | Diagnostic Prescriptive |
| Author: | Jill J. Dixon |
| ISBN: | 9780986189906 |
| Length in Inches: | 11.0625 |
| Width in Inches: | 8.5 |
| Height in Inches: | 0.5625 |
| Weight in Pounds: | 1.6 |