When Literary Worlds Collide: Studying The Classics with High School Homeschoolers
Literature.
The Classics.
Homeschool parents often want to give their children an education built around good books. But what’s the best way to cover the classics? What even counts as a “classic?”
And how do parents choose classic books kids actually want to explore and study?
Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide is a complete high school literature curriculum designed to help homeschool families read and thoughtfully analyze eight classic novels. This one-year program teaches teens key literary concepts and helps parents see their students truly engaging with classic books.
Read on to learn how Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide helps homeschool parents teach literary analysis in a way that will keep high schoolers choosing great books for years to come.
Engaging with Classic Books
Classic books are built differently, but that’s not a bad thing.
Many of us have picked up a popular current novel and noticed it’s easy to read, but it rarely leaves us asking big questions or mentally unpacking it for weeks.
Admittedly, it can be more challenging for homeschoolers to dive into classic books.
Classics or “old books” tend to start slowly and the language and syntax may feel outdated. Plus, if parents haven’t studied classic literature much themselves, they may not feel qualified to lead a literary discussion.
But Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide addresses these challenges head-on and invites families to dig in without feeling intimidated or as if classic books are untouchable:
“These books are not sacred; there’s no need to revere them. Enjoy them, find pleasure in them, pick them apart, find the flaws in thinking and worldview, ponder changing a passage or an ending, learn from them, copy out favorite passages and try to imitate them, and love or hate the characters. No matter how you choose to view literature, dig out the nuggets of truth and appreciate the things that make them classics.”Sharon Watson, author of Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide
The Approach: Eight Classics, One Year
Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide is a high school literature course that covers eight famous novels at a pace of about one per month.
Families will study:
- Pudd’nhead Wilson
- The War of the Worlds
- The Friendly Persuasion
- Peter Pan
- Warriors Don’t Cry
- A Tale of Two Cities
- Fahrenheit 451
- The Screwtape Letters
Worlds (and Literary Concepts) Collide
Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide’s theme is what happens when worlds collide – racial, political, extraterrestrial, spiritual, philosophical, and beyond.
By including a mix of eras, genres, and perspectives in the curriculum, students have a new opportunity each month to gain exposure to literary concepts like plot, theme, symbolism, and more.
Context and Conflict
Plus, high school students don’t just study the contents of each book.
Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide helps high schoolers read in context and learn about the author’s life (Mr. Twain versus Mr. Clemens, for instance, and how Twain’s dual identity influenced Pudd’nhead Wilson.)
They’ll also get a snapshot of the historical moment when each book was written or published to help them better understand how great books have influenced each other through time.
Classics Literature Study, Month by Month
Using a four-week rhythm, high schoolers read each book and complete activities and before and after lessons. Suggested schedules for lessons and reading are included for a successful experience.
Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide combines literary analysis with high school-level writing. Students have the option to complete assignments like movie reviews, research essays, or short stories. Exercises like “Imitate!” allow students to learn by “borrowing” from real-life authors.
This approach is ideal for both reluctant learners and those who enjoy flexing their creativity.
Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide can also be paired with The Novel Notebook, a printable companion workbook with ready-made pages for each of the eight novels. This guide gives teens a single place to collect their observations like foreshadowing, irony, and favorite passages and bring them to discussions. (A link to a free copy of The Novel Notebook is available inside Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide.)
Literature Study with a Christian Worldview
Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide helps homeschool families examine eight classic books through a Biblical lens. Students are invited to evaluate conflicting ideas and worldviews without absorbing them.
Created for high schoolers, the course includes books with content for older readers, including slavery, racism, and suicide. Illuminating Literature invites families to have honest conversations around those types of issues through discussion-based teaching.
In The War of the Worlds, for instance, H.G. Wells presents a critical view of Christianity. Instead of ignoring that theme or skipping the book, Illuminating Literature invites high schoolers to think through Wells’s ideas and challenge the book, rather than treat it as an “untouchable classic.”
Teaching Literature to High Schoolers
Parents don’t need a literature degree to teach Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide to their homeschoolers. In fact, as a discussion-based curriculum, parents may choose to read along with their student, especially if they haven’t read a particular book in the past.
A Teacher’s Guide is available to bundle with Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide. This guide includes objectives for lessons, a synopsis of each lesson, and helpful ideas for the discussions. Also included are specific Grading Grids for each novel. Parents may also opt to include online “Yes, I Read It,” and literary term quizzes plus extra lessons and activities. (Links to online materials are included in the student version of Illuminating Literature.)
Getting Started with Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide
To get started learning with Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide, the first step is to purchase the student version in digital or paperback format.
Families may choose to add the Teacher’s Guide, which can be bundled with the student guide.
Inside the student version of Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide, families will find links to online quizzes and activities plus The Novel Notebook, a printable companion workbook that gives students one place to keep their work.
Growing Discernment (and Lifelong Readers)
There can be a lot of pressure in the homeschool world to make sure students are studying “all the great works” before they graduate.
A more meaningful and effective approach is to provide students with a solid foundation for studying literature, building discerning readers for life.
Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide provides a comprehensive, one-year program that helps students and their parents study and engage with classic books through reading and talking about them together.
Part of Writing with Sharon Watson’s extensive writing and literature line-up, families may choose to combine Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide with writing curriculum in high school.
Learn more about Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide, now available exclusively through Berean Builders, along with other writing and literature curriculum from Writing with Sharon Watson.
For more like Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide, be sure to check out Illuminating Literature: Characters in Crisis.
