Bob Jones University Press High School Literature

This is one of my 100 Top Picks!

See the complete review in 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum.

The four BJUP high school literature courses are all available in homeschool kits that include the student text, teacher’s edition, tests and tests answer key. The Test Builder software (one program has banks of questions for all BJUP texts) will help you prepare customized tests. If you use TestBuilder, you might purchase only the text and teacher’s edition rather than the kit.

The teacher’s editions contain reproductions of the student text pages as well as questions and helps for discussion and analysis. Answers appear in the bottom border section along with teaching notes. In addition, teacher’s editions offer valuable background information. I highly recommend that you purchase the teacher’s editions for these courses. While it might be possible to work strictly from the teacher’s edition, covering answers when necessary, it is probably more practical for both teacher and student to have a text during discussions.

Fundamentals of Literature

Suggested for grade nine, this textbook is the foundation for the study of literature. It studies conflict, character, theme, structure, point of view, and moral tone through both traditional and contemporary selections. The drama Cyrano De Bergerac is included for study in the text, with a videocassette also available for $19.95.

Interpretation and evaluation from a Christian point of view are major emphases. Reading selections are not necessarily Christian, since interpretation and evaluation can be truly taught only by studying examples written from more than one perspective.

Elements of Literature

Suggested for tenth grade, this text teaches students literary analysis at a more challenging level than the ninth grade level Fundamentals of Literature. It delves into topics such as themes, allusions, symbolism, irony, as well as teaching more about the forms of literature—fiction, poetry, biography, drama, etc. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is included for study within the text. Study of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is an optional part of the course. [Great Expectations - $10.45; teacher’s edition for Great Expectations - $27]

There are separate teacher’s editions for the basic student text and for Great Expectations, both of which include reproductions of the student text pages as well as teaching information and helps. Time factors will probably limit you to covering either Romeo and Juliet or Great Expectations, so plan accordingly.

American Literature

Suggested for grade eleven, this text covers American literature from the colonial period up through this century. Representative authors are William Bradford, Benjamin Franklin, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Samuel Clemens, Thornton Wilder, and Bruce Catton.

Selections are organized by historical literary periods, while addressing some of the philosophical movements that influenced literature. There is significant discussion of the worldviews reflected by authors and their works.

British Literature

Suggested for twelfth grade, this course includes a hardback student text and a two-volume teacher’s edition. This book covers eight literary periods from Old English to Modern. Selections are often chosen to illustrate philosophical and cultural issues from various perspectives. Religious developments receive far more attention here than they do in other British literature texts.

Representative authors include John Wycliffe, Geoffrey Chaucer, Thomas More, Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, William Wordsworth, and Robert Browning. The play Macbeth is also included for study. An optional video presentation of Macbeth is available for $29.95.

Discussion questions follow each selection, and, while some might be used as writing assignments, discussion should be the primary method of helping students assimilate the material. Teachers are expected to pick reading selections that are best for their students, so there is more within this course than you can reasonably expect to cover in a year.