Hewitt Homeschooling–Lightning Literature

• Lightning Literature & Composition
• Shakespeare Comedies & Sonnets
• by Elizabeth Kamath 
• Available from Hewitt Homeschooling
• Student Guide $29.95, Teachers Edition $2.50
• High School Level program.
• One semester course, may be stretched to one year, if desired.

This course on Shakespeare covers 4 comedies, Twelfth Night, As You  Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Merchant of Venice. As well, four sonnets are studied.

The book starts out with general information on How and Why to read Literature and Poetry. Then it flows into Paper Writing 101. This is a brief overview of how to construct a well-written paper. A thorough introduction to the man William Shakespeare comes next. Sarah and I found this fascinating. It was interesting to read about his life and literary approaches

The  guide to approaching each lesson is very helpful in setting up a schedule for this course. Since this book is written to the student, I had Sarah read through the approach and come up with a plan for the first lesson: Twelfth Night. 

The very first part of the lessons begins by reading the play that is being studied.  A great feature of this book is the Plot Summary. As Sarah is reading, if she has a question about any plot point, she can turn to this section for explanations of what is going on in the play. Then the lesson focuses on comprehension questions. It is suggested that the questions be answered before beginning the writing lessons.

The writing lessons explore different themes, depending up on the book read. For  “Twelfth Night” the themes are Love, Appearance versus Reality and  Festival and Fun. Character studies help to dig deep into what the character is thinking and feeling. Language lessons and literary terms are explained and then the student is expected to use some of that knowledge in writing their paper. I liked the variety of writing exercises given. Students are encouraged to choose two of the exercises and write a one or two page paper using one of the ideas given.

Recommendation

This is a good resource for teaching analysis and enjoyment of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets. The writing assignments get students to think and analyze what they are reading. The course presumes previous knowledge of the mechanics of writing a paper, which is to be expected at the High School level.

We reviewed Shakespeare’s Comedies and Sonnets. Lightning Literature offers many other genres for analysis. Visit the Hewitt Homeschooling Lightning Literature page to see what other books are offered. As well, many of my Crew Mates reviewed various Hewitt Homeschooling products. Click on the banner below to read what they thought of their products.

Disclaimer:  As an Independent contractor for The Old Schoolhouse and member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew I received Lightning Literature Shakespeare Comedies and Sonnets, for free from Hewitt Homeschooling Resources in exchange for my honest review of their product.  All opinions given are mine and/or my children’s.