DD12 loves to read! If I don’t watch her closely, she will read during each meal, instead of doing her chores, instead of sleeping… You get the idea. She is rarely without a book. When the Excellence in Literature review opportunity came up, I jumped at the opportunity.
According to the website:
“Introduction to Literature is a college-preparatory literature and composition course. Focus works, including novels, short stories, poems, and drama, have been selected for literary quality, and for their place in the historical development of literature. Context readings provide background information about the author, the historical period, and the literary and artistic context of the focus work.”
I knew that DD12 would not be quite ready for the writing that is required in a course that is designed for 8th grade and up, but I want to encourage her love of reading and to include more literary works. I was drawn to this program by the literary selections that the author included.
Unit 1 is comprised of some of my all-time favorite short stories:
Unit 1: Short Stories by-
• Sarah Orne Jewett: A White Heron
• Edgar Allen Poe: The Purloined Letter (This one is not scary, if you’re concerned about that.)
• Guy de Maupassant: The Diamond Necklace
• O. Henry: The Ransom of Red Chief
• Eudora Welty: A Worn Path
• James Thurber: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
The other units are comprised of longer works. Make sure you check out the included works on the website.
Since I was not planning on having DD12 do the larger writing projects, I decided to include DS8 in the reading and discussing of the stories, and then I would have DD12 do the approach paper. I wasn’t quite sure how it would work with all three of us around the computer, so I plugged my laptop into the HDMI port so that we all could see easily.
I like the Introduction to Literature e-book for several reasons.
- The author includes links to the works online. While I don’t think that I would want to read a major work in its entirety online, it is nice to have the option to do so.
- The author includes links to other works and interesting facts about the author of the work being studied. For instance, she included a link to the picture of Jules Vernes’ tombstone.
- The author includes directions and instructions for the different types of writing required, as well as, directions for grading.
- It is really a “one-stop shopping” for a literature program that is affordable.
As you can see on the graphic above, there is a complete set of Excellence in Literature books to take you from Junior High through the end of High School. I know that we will be continuing through part of the Introduction to Literature this year, and then, we will come back in a year or two to complete it, including all the writing projects. Then, we would certainly consider going through the rest of the books in this series.
Pertinent Information:
- Product name: Excellence in Literature
- Price: Excellence in Literature is available in a print copy ($29 + shipping) and as an e-book ($27).
- Age Range: The edition that I reviewed is aimed at 8th grade with the complete set aimed for Junior High-High School.
- Read other reviews on this product on the Crew Blog Page.
FTC Disclosure: I was given an e-book of Excellence in Literature’s Introduction to Literature for review purposes as a part of the TOS Crew. Although I was given this product free of charge, my opinions stated above are my own and not influenced by anyone.
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