| Author | |
cheesehead mom
Forum Pro
Joined: Aug 08 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 374
|
| Posted: Jan 02 2012 at 3:54pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
So ladies would you choose the Scarlet Letter or Death Comes to the Archbishop for a 10th grade boy studying American Lit?
Laura
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
lapazfarm
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 21 2005
Location: Alaska
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6082
|
| Posted: Jan 02 2012 at 5:32pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I think both are excellent choices, but I'd probably choose the Scarlet Letter. Reason being that the book is so iconic and part of nearly everyone's knowledge base--part of a common high school experience. Plus, it is "the" book to teach so many literary devices such as foreshadowing, imagery, and most especially symbolism.
Death Comes to the Archbishop is a good read and very evocative of early Southwest history and culture, but it just doesn't hold quite the pride of place that SL does, you know?
To me it is sort of like asking if one should read Romeo and Juliet or As you Like It. Both are worthy plays, but who wants to exit high school not having read Romeo and Juliet?
__________________
Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Aagot
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 06 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 649
|
| Posted: Jan 02 2012 at 8:30pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I agree with Theresa.
I like both but SL is so rich.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Erin
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 23 2005
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5814
|
| Posted: Jan 02 2012 at 10:08pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Personally I far preferred Death of an Archbishop and didn't like the Scarlet Letter at all. That's just personal taste. So for a boy, have you thought of O'Henry's 'Heart of the West' short stories? Just another idea altogether.
__________________
Erin
Faith Filled Days
Seven Little Australians
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
cheesehead mom
Forum Pro
Joined: Aug 08 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 374
|
| Posted: Jan 02 2012 at 10:12pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Have either of you had kids that ever struggled with this subject matter--I have 7 kids but he is very sensitive to sensuality/sexulaity type issues. Same problem with TO Kill a Mockinbird--he didn't even like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight because of the women's advances. I am wondering if I should go with Death Comes beacuse of this issue. I know the subject mnatter would not hinder my dd but I do believe it may be a stumbling block for him. I want to honor his desire to be moral/pure but also want him to be well read. 
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Erin
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 23 2005
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5814
|
| Posted: Jan 02 2012 at 10:53pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I have, and have left some books/ideas till later because of this. If he is not ready, I'd leave it for another year and revisit the idea then, there are so many books to choose from.
__________________
Erin
Faith Filled Days
Seven Little Australians
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
lapazfarm
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 21 2005
Location: Alaska
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6082
|
| Posted: Jan 03 2012 at 1:39am | IP Logged
|
|
|
cheesehead mom wrote:
| Have either of you had kids that ever struggled with this subject matter--I have 7 kids but he is very sensitive to sensuality/sexulaity type issues. Same problem with TO Kill a Mockinbird--he didn't even like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight because of the women's advances. I am wondering if I should go with Death Comes beacuse of this issue. I know the subject mnatter would not hinder my dd but I do believe it may be a stumbling block for him. I want to honor his desire to be moral/pure but also want him to be well read. |
|
|
I haven't had that particular issue. But if that is the case then there may be a problem with Death Comes... also. There is a part about a rogue priest and all his ladyfriends, and his whole reasoning behind thinking priests should be allowed to fool around.
I'd be inclined to skip them both for a kid who has issues with sensuality.
__________________
Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
cheesehead mom
Forum Pro
Joined: Aug 08 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 374
|
| Posted: Jan 03 2012 at 10:56am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thank you all. I felt organized going into this year but admit to not being as fluent in lit as I should have been when choosing titles--I am a math teacher by trade:) So, he has read Tale of Two Cities and did a fantasy lit class on Tolkien online...and we are studying the late 1700s thru 1860 this year historically--any other ideas for Am Lit? If it fits historically fine, if not I can live with that as well.
Laura
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
guitarnan
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Maryland
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 10883
|
| Posted: Jan 03 2012 at 11:38am | IP Logged
|
|
|
The Last of the Mohicans (Cooper)
A Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales (Hawthorne)
Any of the good bios of Abraham Lincoln
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Edgar Allan Poe's stories (detective stories are less scary)
__________________
Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SallyT
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 08 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2489
|
| Posted: Jan 03 2012 at 2:24pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
First U.S. lit ideas that come to mind:
Founding documents (Declaration/Constitution)
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin/Poor Richard's Almanack
Abigail Adams, "Letter to Her Daughter From the New and Unfinished White House"
Washington Irving
Hawthorne short stories: "The Minister's Black Veil" (also deals with, and critiques, puritan view of sin and atonement, but without the problematic backstory of The Scarlet Letter)
A taste of Emerson and Thoreau (not as writers whose ideas you would endorse, but as a way of looking at the pedigree of many ideas in contemporary culture); definitely Emerson's "Concord Hymn"
Walt Whitman ("O Captain, My Captain," "Sparkles From the Wheel," etc)
Emily Dickinson
earlier American lit:
1600s/Puritans:
Of Plimoth Plantation/William Bradford (Puritans landing in Massachusetts; diary of their hardships)
poetry of Anne Bradstreet & Edward Taylor
sermons of Jonathan Edwards ("Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God") & Cotton Mather (again, not as theologians whose ideas you endorse, but they are huge figures in that historical landscape, and it can be interesting to analyze their theology and compare/contrast to Catholicism)
For 1700s, you can also look at literature of/about the French Revolution -- The Scarlet Pimpernel, Song at the Scaffold -- as a parallel to our own American experience of revolution.
Pre-Civil-War/Civil War:
slave narratives:
My Bondage and My Freedom/Frederick Douglass
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (author's name now escapes me)
Letters/bios of Robert E. Lee, U.S. Grant, other major figures
Diary of Mary Chesnut
The Red Badge of Courage
Poems of Fr. Ryan ("priest-poet of the Confederacy")
Native American:
The Way to Rainy Mountain/N. Scott Momaday
novels like The Light in the Forest/Conrad Richter (early colonial era)
selection from the Iroquois Constitution (could look at St. Isaac Jogues & other N.A. martyrs at the same time)
"I Will Fight No More Forever" (Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce -- actually much later, like 1870s/80s)
That's all I can think of right now. I used to teach 11th grade American lit in public school, and my oldest daughter did a U.S. lit course at home with me two years ago, when she was an 11th grader, so I'm pulling largely from her reading list.
You'll want to preview texts to see what you think might be appropriate for your student, but these are pretty much standards of an AmLit course. Hope this helps you shape your own course!
Sally
__________________
Castle in the Sea
Abandon Hopefully
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
cheesehead mom
Forum Pro
Joined: Aug 08 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 374
|
| Posted: Jan 03 2012 at 5:18pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thanks Sally--very helpful!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Elena
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 13 2006
Location: Ohio
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 592
|
| Posted: Jan 03 2012 at 5:29pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Have him read one and then do the other one as an audiobook- that way you can squeeze them both in!! 
__________________
Elena
Wife to Peter, mom of many!
My Domestic Church
One Day at a Time
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
MaryM
Board Moderator
Joined: Feb 11 2005
Location: Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13104
|
| Posted: Jan 05 2012 at 2:42am | IP Logged
|
|
|
A little late, but getting back to the specific books you mentioned in the first post, Laura. Homeschool Connections has offered (or is currently offering) classes on both. This would offer the Catholic perspective and approach those tough topics from that view. I was going to mention, and Theresa did so first, Death Comes for the Archbishop does have some moral issue of the rogue priests (who are clearly disobedient), but it is not explicit and it is not the focus of the story, so overall much less focus than in The Scarlet Letter.
So anyway:
Homeschool COnnections has this course in the archives which are accessible by monthly subscription.
Quote:
Literature: Scarlet Letter
Total classes: 7
Professor: Henry Russell, Ph.D.
Suggested grade level: 10th, 11th, 12th, or college
|
|
|
And this one is being offered as a course this spring - starting in a couple weeks.
Quote:
Literature: Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (American Classics Series)
10:00 am Eastern
Tuesdays, Jan. 17 to Mar. 6
$100
Henry Russell, Ph. D.
10 - College |
|
|
__________________
Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
cheesehead mom
Forum Pro
Joined: Aug 08 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 374
|
| Posted: Jan 05 2012 at 10:06am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thanks so much Mary. I had intended to use the Homeschool Connections as we have been using their recorded courses. I think I may stick with some Twain this semester and then do Willa Cather junior year. He is a young Sophmore as it is.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Forum Locked) 
4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: 10th grade lit opinions needed
