• • Is my teen learning about literature when reading popular fiction?
  • Does my teen understand literary devices and elements such as figurative language and point of view?
  • Is my teen learning what the author does to capture his or her heart and mind, seeing not only the tapestry but also the weaver behind the tapestry?
  • Is my teen becoming a more discerning reader?
  • Does my teen pick up on the themes in the books and apply them to life?
  • Are the characters, events, and themes of the books my teen is reading feeding my teen’s soul?

• • 1. The seven novels and one memoir in this course are arranged around the literary element of conflict. Your student will get an in-depth view of stories based on their conflict, the protagonist’s problems, and how he solves them. Students will also compare and contrast certain books they’ll read in this course to examine some recurring events in the novels and how authors choose to resolve their protagonists’s dilemmas.
    2. This year-long course gives continuity to your student’s study of and understanding of literature.
    3. When your student learns, say, the hero’s journey from one novel in Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide, he or she will be able to apply that knowledge to other novels in the course.

Second, it’s unstuffy, relaxed, and easy to learn from.

Third, students will not only be learning literary terms but they’ll also be learning about writers’ devices and the methods by which the author captures their minds and hearts.

This third reason, viewing the novel through the author’s eyes, will make your teens more discerning readers for the rest of their lives.

It’s defeating and frustrating when students cannot find the correct page in the novel that the course is referring to. And it’s confusing when teachers are trying to teach a class but the students all have different versions of the novel. No one can find the correct page to see examples of what they need to learn. Students are lost and spend the whole time trying to keep up.

The students who do not have the official version of each novel become frustrated and learn less in the course.

Having the official version of each novel makes the course go smoothly and facilitates your students’  learning.

The quizzes are graded automatically for you on the quiz website. Students will receive a full report sent to the email address they sign in with. The report includes the original questions, the student’s answers, the correct answers, and the score. The opinion surveys do not receive a grade but will generate a full report to the student’s email address.

If you do not have easy Internet access or would like your students to take the quizzes and opinion surveys on paper, you’ll want to order the Quiz and Answer Manual. You’ll find the link to that under the image of the cover of the Quiz and Answer Manual above.

• • • Quizzes—graded online for you
    • Participation in the online opinion surveys—graded by you based on the level of student participation
    • Vocabulary quizzes—graded by you, with answers and “points for each correct answer” included in the Teacher’s Guide
    • Participation in discussions after the novel—graded by you based on the level and quality of student participation
    • Completing the lessons for each novel—graded by you based on the level of completion and apparent understanding
    • Completing an activity—graded by you based on the level of creativity, quality, or competency
    • Reading the novel—graded by you based on the level of completion

If you are teaching this course in a classroom or a co-op, plan your lessons as you would any course. Co-op plans for a once-a-month class are included in the Teacher’s Guide.

So, to answer your question, no. It is not Common Core aligned. It exceeds it.