New Fourth Edition!
Literature & Composition (English 2) is a one year, college-preparatory literature and composition course, and is the first volume of the Excellence in Literature curriculum.
Visit the print edition page for a full description.
Downloadable eBook: 182 pages
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The Literature and Composition ebook contains the same text as the print version of the book. Lit and Comp is also known as English 2, and is the second volume of the Excellence in Literature curriculum. You can read a full description of the book and its contents at the print book page, but here is a reading list of the books that will be studied at this level.
Reading List for Excellence in Literature's Literature and Composition eBook
Note: All levels of EIL contain composition. The only reason it's included in this title and not the others is that I needed a descriptive title for the fifth book (and there are five books instead of four because there were that many books I felt were essential).
Module 1: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel DeFoe
Honors: The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss or The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel DeFoe
Optional: The book of Jonah (any translation) and Grace Abounding to the Chiefest of Sinners by John Bunyan
Module 2: Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Honors: “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau and “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Module 3: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Honors: The Man in the Iron Mask or The Three Musketeers by Dumas
Module 4: The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Honors: Manalive by G.K. Chesterton
Module 5: Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
Honors: The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Module 6: Death Comes to the Archbishop by Willa Cather
Honors: Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett
Module 7: Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
Honors: King John by William Shakespeare
Module 8: Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
Honors: Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare or Rob Roy by Scott
Module 9: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Honors: Kim by Rudyard Kipling
Visit my blog to read about how I chose the literature for Excellence in Literature. This link will open in a new tab, so you don't have to worry about losing your place here.
Lit and Comp books in chronological order
One of our loyal curriculum users shared the following list of the Literature and Composition modules, organized in chronological order. While the original order was created for the purpose of alternating longer, more challenging works with shorter ones, it is interesting and quite appropriate to enjoy the modules chronologically. Either way works just fine. Enjoy!
- Renaissance: Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
- Neo-Classical: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel DeFoe (c. 1660-1731)
- English Romanticism: Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)
- Romanticism: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870)
- American Romanticism: Walden by Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
- Romantic Victorian: The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People by Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
- Modernism: The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)
- Modernist/Regional: Death Comes to the Archbishop by Willa Cather (1873-1947)
- Modern Myth: Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis (1898-1965)
Following the nine modules that outline readings and a week-by-week lesson plan for each of the classic works being studied, you will find reference resources, including instructions for evaluation, reproducible rubric and assignment sheets, and more.
You can see an annotated listing of each of the introductory and reference chapters at the "What is included in Excellence in Literature" post.