Literature and Composition

Catholic Homeschool High School Course

This course lays the foundation of core high school level English skills. Writing is taught incrementally, from developing a single correct paragraph to drafting a properly formatted research essay. Samples of each type of writing are included.

Literature study and reading comprehension are taught in two ways.

1. Literature Studies: Through The Lilies of the Field, Where the Red Fern Grows, and The Merchant of Venice (included with the enrollment), students learn fundamental literary terms, from foreshadowing and point of view to style and characterization. Quizzes and answer keys accompany the study of each work. Basics of poetry and short story reading are also included in the course manual.

2. Book Analysis: Students learn the broader skill of reading for the specific purpose of writing literary essays.

One book from each list below is also part of this course. We will automatically send the books in bold unless you choose one of the other titles. Based on our experience, students who read the books in bold do better on their analyses and tend to enjoy the books more.

1st Quarter:

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (for mature readers)

2nd Quarter:

Shane by Jack Schaefer
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand (Brian Hooker translation)

3rd Quarter:

No book analysis due; research report due this quarter.

4th Quarter:

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

View Sample Lesson Plans

ENG103 | Credit: 1 | Prerequisites: None

REQUIRED for all Diploma tracks

Included Books

The Lilies of the Field, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Merchant of Venice

Book Analysis Books

One book from each list below is also part of this course. We will automatically send the books in bold unless you choose one of the other titles. Based on our experience, students who read the books in bold do better on their analyses and tend to enjoy the books more.

Quarter 1

The Bronze Bow
by Elizabeth George Speare

This is a story of a Jewish boy who lived at the time of Jesus. Daniel was determined to avenge his father’s death by the Romans who conquered the Jews in Palestine. His heart was filled with hate as he joined a band of young men to fight the Romans.

(This book is included by default. 24 chapters.)

An Old-Fashioned Girl
by Louisa May Alcott

Polly leaves her rather poor lifestyle in a rural area to move into the home of a wealthy friend who lives in the city. She struggles to hold on to her values, her simple dress, and her old-fashioned ideas.

The Red Badge of Courage
by Stephen Crane

This is the story of a young soldier during the Civil War. He struggles with his own will to fight. He must face his own fears, especially the fear of being afraid in battle, and what the other soldiers will think of him.

(For mature readers. 24 chapters. An additional section called “The Veteran” is not part of the novel, but rather an optional short story included in some versions of the book.)

Quarter 2

Shane
by Jack Schaefer

This is a story of a cowboy hero who saves the community from bad men. However, the hero has more depth than anyone suspects.

(This book is included by default. 16 chapters.)

Cyrano de Bergerac
by Edmond Rostand

(Brian Hooker translation) This is a play about a brave knight with a large nose which makes him unattractive to the ladies. He seems to have a strong aggressive personality. However, he falls in love, only to discover that his best friend is in love with the same beautiful lady. Truly, this is a story of real love, a story of sacrifice for others. It is also a story of friendship and adventure for life. How did he appear to others? What kind of a person was he really? This is a story of appearances in contrast with reality.

The Old Man and the Sea
by Ernest Hemingway

This is the story of an old Cuban fisherman and his battle with a giant marlin out in the deep waters of the Gulf Stream. Hemingway won the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature for this story of courage in the face of defeat and personal triumph in the face of loss.

(No chapter divisions. It is one extended story.)

Quarter 4

A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens

This is the traditional story of Mr. Scrooge and the three ghosts who try to teach him something about the real meaning of Christmas. Think about the Ten Commandments and how he changed from his boyhood, to his being a “hard” employer, to his final change.

(This book is included by default.)

Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi

In 1881, Carlo Collodi, an Italian, sent a short story about a wooden puppet to a friend who edited a newspaper in Rome. The editor published it in the children’s section of the newspaper, and the children loved it immediately. The adventures of Pinocchio was published as a serial in the paper in 1881 and 1882. The book was published in 1883, and the English language version was published in 1892. The book is rich in the details of the adventures of the naughty puppet in search of boyhood.
For the book analysis, please read the full original translation.

(36 chapters.)

SetonOnline Features

This is a SetonOnline aligned course.

Enrolled students receive access to the print and digital versions of the course, and can use both interchangeably. The online version of Literature and Composition includes the following features: