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Chari
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I am creating a World Lit course for a sophomore and senior......it is in place of British Lit....because they have read way too much British Lit to need a course. 
Below, you will find the definitions that I have found regarding World Lit......and then countries listed with some of the famous literature from that country.
I am looking for help in several ways:
Could you please tell me if they should NOT read any of these books, for whatever reason, for their age?
Could you please tell me what books I am missing?
Could you please help me fill in the missing countries?
You will find ancient literature missing because we cover it when we study ancient history.
Thanks so much! And then, with your help, this will be sitting here waiting for anyone else who needs it. 
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Definition of WORLD LITERATURE: Literature originally written in a language other than English or a book written in English about another culture outside of America or Britain.
While it would be generally assumed that America and Britain were part of the world, per se, there are already courses specifically geared to cover American and British literature.
RUSSIA
Animal Farm by George Orwell
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Father and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksander Solzhenitsyn
FRANCE
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Joan of Arc by Mark Twain
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness D ‘Orczy
The Song of Roland by ?
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmund Rostand
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Paternak
GERMAN
Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass
Night by Elie Weisel
ITALY
The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
The Divine Comedy by Dante
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
BRITIAN & IRELAND
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter
The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Black Arrow Robert Louis Stevenson
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathon Swift
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Tolkien
The Fairie Queen by Spenser
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
SPAIN
El Cid by Racine
Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes
Saint John of the Cross
Saint Teresa of Avila
CHINA
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
MIDDLE EASTERN
The Thousand and One Nights by (young version)
AUSTRALIA
SOUTH AMERICA
AFRICA
Poetry
My House by Nikki Giovanni
JAPAN
Rashomon by Akutagawa Ryunosuke
INDIA
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
JEWISH
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
Exodus by Leon Uris
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guitarnan
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Canada?
The Danger Tree by David Macfarlane (Newfoundland and WWI)
Anything by Margaret Atwood (pre-read, some adult themes...)
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lapazfarm
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Well, I can't imagine leaving Goethe out of German lit, so I'd definitely add Faust to the list.
For Africa I'd include Cry the Beloved Country. For fun you could include the No. 1 Ladies Detective Society novels.
Just my opinion, but I find the Good Earth to be deadly boring, so I would work to find something else for China. Perhaps The Joy Luck Club? It's one of my favorites, though I cannot think if there is anything in it inappropriate. It has some really heart-wrenching parts, but Amy Tan has a way of bringing Chinese culture to life.
I did notice recently that there are some free Kindle books on China (free cause they are old). One is called "Myths and Legends of China" and one is "Across China on Foot" which both sound cool but I have not pre-read them yet for reading levels, etc. You could easily download them with Kindle for PC and preview them (again, they are free, so no loss if they are not good).
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guitarnan
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China - Lisa See's novels and memoir capture Chinese culture and the Chinese-American immigrant experience.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Natalia
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Chari,
This is a very ambitious course! are they reading all those books in one year or are they choosing a couple of books from each country? Just to read El Quijote will take forever! Regarding Spain, I have seen on the Ignatius Catalog a translation of a novel by Jose Maria Gironella, The Cypress Believe in God. It is a the first in a trilogy about the Spanish Civil War. It is excelletn.
For South America, the typical choice would be One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. It has been quite a while since I read it and I know some of his books are "racy" so you might want to preview.
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Kristie 4
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No Dostoyevsky for Russia?? That would be a shame!! I would definitely put him in there instead of Tolstoy- he gets at so much of the heart of Russia which Tolstoy doesn't!
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Kristie 4
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War and Peace is such a long read as well- upwards of 1500 pages I think (but I read it a few years ago!!). Crime and Punishment is a wonderful read- very deep and much shorter and much, much superior in my books (IMHO)!
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lapazfarm
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It does seem quite ambitious if you are having them read the whole list (40 books on the original list, without the suggested additions). But if you are just making a list to draw from, that's another story.
Just my 2 cents: When I plan a high school lit course, I plan for two novels per month. Three if they are super-short or easy. My son could read more than that, but if I want to leave time for any kind of in-depth analysis or discussion, etc, then I don't want to plan more than that. We can always pick up an additional book or fill in with short stories and poems if we have extra time, and that tends to make a more rounded course, I think. It also leaves a bit of wiggle room for ds to follow any rabbit trails he may hit on--like wanting to read additional works by the same author, doing some biographical research, learning more about the historical context, etc.
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Chari
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Thanks for reminding me of Canada, Nancy! duh!
Theresa, I had left Goethe off of the list because they are still young enough to go find him later...and maybe too young to get enough out of it or young enough to be confused. What do you think? I just ordered a bunch of stuff form our library.
Thanks, Nancy, for the Lisa See novels and memoir...I have them reserved now.
 , Natalia!!! Of course, it is a survey and they are to choose form the various countries....and I will prob discourage one of them from taking on Don Quixote Thanks for the recs...I had left One hundred years off the list...but I cannot now remember why 
Kristie...there was some reason I left him off.....but I cannot remeber why now...I wrote this list in June. I just added! I read War and Peace when I was in my senior year so it made the list.
Thanks for your final thoughts, Theresa. I will take that idea into consideration. One of my girls can handle the big stuff....and one will be lucky to get one difficult novel a month.....I just wanted to give them choices......plus, they plan to revisit this list outside of the course later, so they have informed me. ...like good, little literature-addicted homeschoolers
I will tell them 2-3 three novels, depending on length, per month and then I planned to round out with poetry and short stories, if needed.
Thanks......now, I just need to see if I can find something from Australia
I have also added Anna and the King for Siam.
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Chari...Take Up & Read
Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11
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Erin
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Chari wrote:
..now, I just need to see if I can find something from Australia |
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Chari
I've been thinking about this.
I just found this site Teaching Australian Literature which looks most interesting. I'm familiar with some of the authors.
Some suggestions from my own readings to begin with.
Classics
A Fortunate Life - AB Facey
When Cobb and Co Was King - Will Lawson
I can Jump Puddles - Alan Marshall
I remember reading Merry Go Round in the Sea - Randolph Stow when I was at school. I haven't revisited it as a parent though.
Play
A Hard God- Peter McKenna (Discussed here)
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Erin
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Chari
How are you going with your plans?
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vmalott
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I second Theresa's thought of adding in short stories and poetry to round things out. Novels can get tedious sometimes, even great literature. In one of my college English classes, we read several short stories from various cultures.
Don't forget about plays! Drama is a form of literature, and reading that form can provide a welcome break to students. Plus, you can follow up with a screen adaptation, or, if you're lucky, a stage presentation of that work. We like to follow up with movie version of various works of literature AFTER reading and then discuss the differences between the movie and the book. 
Also, Quixote, even just the first 10 chapters or so, is great exposure and a truly enjoyable read. I know there are plenty of college lit courses that just have students reading excerpts of bigger works of great literature, including Quixote (just look at the Norton Anthologies).
Naturally, reading excerpts is not as good as reading the whole book, but it *is* exposure and hopefully that is helpful when it comes to cultural references and understanding other works of literature.
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: Creating a World Lit Course-help
