What order to read these in?

[Chris in VA]

Our booklist--

Frankenstein
Moby Dick
Huck Finn
Great Expectation
Lord of The Flies
Selections from John Locke, Walden, deToqueville, Paine, Poe
4 Shakespeare--Midsummer, R&J, Hamlet, MacBeth

Should I stay completely chronological? (with the nonfiction excepted) Should I separate out the Shakespeare and do it either last or interspersed (thinking interspersed)? I want to start the year on a good note--something interesting to read, just to kick things off, iykwim.

We will be discussing the Noble Savage idea all thru the books we have chosen. Since ds is doing Am Gov't, we'll pull in the selections on natural law from Locke and read some de Toqueville, as well as Common Sense and Rights of Man from Paine. That will be separate from our lit studies, of course.

We start tomorrow!

[Michelle in MO]

Our booklist--

Frankenstein
Moby Dick
Huck Finn
Great Expectation
Lord of The Flies
Selections from John Locke, Walden, deToqueville, Paine, Poe
4 Shakespeare--Midsummer, R&J, Hamlet, MacBeth

Should I stay completely chronological? (with the nonfiction excepted) Should I separate out the Shakespeare and do it either last or interspersed (thinking interspersed)? I want to start the year on a good note--something interesting to read, just to kick things off, iykwim.

We will be discussing the Noble Savage idea all thru the books we have chosen. Since ds is doing Am Gov't, we'll pull in the selections on natural law from Locke and read some de Toqueville, as well as Common Sense and Rights of Man from Paine. That will be separate from our lit studies, of course.

We start tomorrow!

might be to start off the year with two of the Shakespeare, such as Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet.

Then, follow your lit. list in chronological order, interspersing those with the philosophers in chronological order. After a hefty novel like Moby Dick, try something a little lighter, perhaps, like Huck Finn (even though the themes in Huck Finn are still pretty important, the dialogue and tone is a lot easier to handle).

Then, perhaps, end up the school year with the last two Shakespeare plays--Hamlet and Macbeth. Of course, to me, beginning and ending with Shakespeare is always a pleasant way to start and finish the journey!

HTH!

[Karen in CO]

I agree with Michelle, but I would do Hamlet as one of the earlier plays - before Frankenstein. Definitely alternate the more dense with the lighter. Make sure you watch some plays or movies when you do the Shakespeare.

[Chris in VA]

Thanks so much! Karen, why would you do Hamlet before Frank? We will definitely watch Shakespeare--probably the BBC productions (unless I hear they are terrible), and I told ds he could watch Shakespeare in Love when we are done (although we won't get every reference, since it deals with a play or two we aren't doing!).

[Karen in CO]

Shelley references the ghost from Hamlet in Frank. She had also noted that she used some Hamlet symbolism in Frank. SOme things we found: Hamlet often has the feeling that he is living in a world of horror which is a feeling also seen in Frankenstein. Hamlet is crippled by his inability to make decisions - which plagues Victor also. I had never really seen the connection between them until we studied them last year. Midsummer's night is also mentioned in the preface, but I haven't read it recently so I have no opinion on how much of it you can see in Frank. But of course, this doesn't go with your Noble Savage theme, so it may not be of much use to you. We focused on tragic heros and views of good and evil in historical context when we were reading these. I like your noble savage theme better.

[Mrs Mungo]

Our booklist--

Frankenstein
Moby Dick
Huck Finn
Great Expectation
Lord of The Flies
Selections from John Locke, Walden, deToqueville, Paine, Poe
4 Shakespeare--Midsummer, R&J, Hamlet, MacBeth

Should I stay completely chronological? (with the nonfiction excepted) Should I separate out the Shakespeare and do it either last or interspersed (thinking interspersed)? I want to start the year on a good note--something interesting to read, just to kick things off, iykwim.

We will be discussing the Noble Savage idea all thru the books we have chosen. Since ds is doing Am Gov't, we'll pull in the selections on natural law from Locke and read some de Toqueville, as well as Common Sense and Rights of Man from Paine. That will be separate from our lit studies, of course.

We start tomorrow!

Is this for your 11th grader? I would add in Brave New World at the end as it gives a different perspective on the Noble Savage idea.

I would do the Shakespeare all at once as a sort of unit study. I'd also add in one of Shakespeare's history such as Henry V, even if you didn't study it in depth.

[Beth in SW WA]

Our booklist--

Huck Finn
Great Expectation


Chris,

The Introduction in my copy of GE discusses the similarities btw. Joe (Pip's step-dad) to Jim in Huck Finn.


"Like all good novels, Great Expectations is a story about people, and Dickens saw people as spiritual beings; they might be grievously oppressed by political institutions and heavily handicapped by economic maladjustments, but neither politics nor economics could be the making of them. Joe Gargery is a figure of fun, but he is also a saint, and he tests those who come near him for gold and for alloy, much as Jim does in Huckleberry Finn."

Edward Wagenknecht
Professor of English
Dec 26, 1955

[Chris in VA]

That's so interesting, Beth--it's rather serendipitous for us to have chosen those two books, and even for us to have chosen Hamlet and Frankenstein, too--Seems like it will hang together well. How 'bout that!

[Chris in VA]

Thanks, Mrs. Mungo for your thoughts. I don't know if we will have time to add anything, as we only have until December. I'm going to do Lord of the Flies as an "anti-Noble Savage" work. It's a very quick read.

[Michelle in MO]

Shelley references the ghost from Hamlet in Frank. She had also noted that she used some Hamlet symbolism in Frank. SOme things we found: Hamlet often has the feeling that he is living in a world of horror which is a feeling also seen in Frankenstein. Hamlet is crippled by his inability to make decisions - which plagues Victor also. I had never really seen the connection between them until we studied them last year. Midsummer's night is also mentioned in the preface, but I haven't read it recently so I have no opinion on how much of it you can see in Frank. But of course, this doesn't go with your Noble Savage theme, so it may not be of much use to you. We focused on tragic heros and views of good and evil in historical context when we were reading these. I like your noble savage theme better.

I was not aware that Hamlet was referenced in Shelley's Frankenstein. Thanks for sharing this!

[Beth in SW WA]

Chris,

Hamlet is woven all throughout GE -- so I'd read Hamlet first (but I bet you knew that) :)

Here's a great freebie for you about the Hamlet/fatherly ghost/revenge themes from the two books:

http://www.umd.umich.edu/casl/hum/eng/classes/434/geweb/HAMLETAN.htm

[Chris in VA]

Well, we started today with Frankenstein, because I have the Progeny Press guide for it, found a great video to go with it on Discovery Streaming, and *I* like it! We will probably pick up Hamlet next--maybe. I think. Possibly. :D

[danielle]

After the last 6 years of reading each book in the order (or order of the time period subject in earlier years) written, this year we're going to try "free choice". What I mean by that is that we've come up with a list of works for the time period dd is studying this year (Ancients). This list is longer than it's possible to read, I think. From that, she can choose whatever she is most interested in (using The Lifetime Reading Plan to help select), with a minimum of 15 works read. For example, she's probably going to choose to read Herodotus out of order, because we're planning a trip to Greece in the fall.

It's just an alternative way to try to encourage independence & responsibility. YMMV.
Danielle