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Literary Analysis & Reference

We don't study literature because it's fun or to brag about the books we've read. We study literature to experience the world from different perspectives, and to understand ourselves and everyone else more deeply.

Literary analysis is an acquired skill. It isn't simply reading a book to relate the plot and names of the characters, though you need to be able to do that. Literary analysis involves looking beyond a story's obvious elements to the underlying meaning. This may require background information about the author, the time period in which the story takes place, the era in which it was written, etc. As a result, most literary analysis courses and aids deal with specific literary works, so methods of studying the text itself as well as the background information can be clearly demonstrated. Students are expected to learn how to apply basic methods to any work they encounter.

Another important aspect of literary analysis is the study ofa text's style and construction. An author's style reveals a lot about his ideas. Understanding what to look for results in more productive study and greater appreciation of literature. A lot of people shy away from "great books" because they haven't been trained to engage the often unfamiliar language; discussing technique and style is an effective way to remove this barrier.

There's a dearth of literary analysis materials for homeschoolers. There are plenty of reading guides and unit studies, but they don't normally focus specifically on analysis, instead trying to cover a variety of disciplines and topics. Others are more or less glorified reading programs, designed to get kids interested in good literature. If they have no way to analyze and process what they're reading, however, simply getting kids to read isn't very profitable.

A lot of literary analysis courses are set in the context of worldview—students identify the author's worldview as well as their own, thus turning the study of literature into a primarily practical pursuit. The really good programs teach students how to interpret literature and interact with texts, not simply to identify a given text as "good" or "bad," "Christian" or "non-Christian".

The materials we offer aren't all curricula; many are simply books designed as study aids for the work of specific authors or types of literature. Some are fairly elaborate programs designed for use by high schoolers, and involve lots of reading and written work. Many people feel it's not necessary to study literature at such a level, but the truth is everyone can benefit from advanced literary study. Not only will it help you to think more clearly and analytically, it will open you to ways of thinking you have never experienced. Most of all, seriously pursuing literary study will bring you closer to the real goal of education—not merely knowledge, but the altogether more relevant goal of understanding.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur.Read more of his reviews here.
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Allegory of Love
by C. S. Lewis
from Cambridge University
for Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$24.99
Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare
by Isaac Asimov
from Avenel Books
for 10th-Adult
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
Augustine's Confessions
by Leland Ryken
from Crossway Books
for 9th-Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
Battle of Maldon together with The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth
by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Peter Grybauskas
from HarperCollins
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$30.00
Brightest Heaven of Invention
by Peter Leithart
from Canon Press
for 10th-Adult
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
$21.00
Brush Up Your Shakespeare!
by Michael Macrone, illustrated by Tom Lulevitch
from Harper & Row
for 6th-Adult
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress
by Leland Ryken
from Crossway Books
for 9th-Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
Christian Guide to the Classics
by Leland Ryken
from Crossway Books
for 9th-Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
Christian Reading Companion for 50 Classics
by James Stobaugh
Reprint from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$12.79 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Classics Club - Huckleberry Finn
by Adam Andrews
from Center for Literary Education
for 10th-Adult
in Teaching the Classics (Location: LITCUR-TTC)
$19.00
Compass for Deep Heaven
by Diana Pavlac Glyer and Julianne Johnson, editors
from Square Halo Books
for 9th-Adult
in The Inklings (Location: LIR-INK)
$24.95
Condition of Creatures
by Georgia Ronan Crampton
from Yale University Press
for Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Creed of a Humanist
from University of Washington Press
for Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Critical History of Children's Literature
by Cornelia Meigs, Anne Thaxter Eaton, Elizabeth Nesbitt, Ruth Hill Viguers
from Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Deep Comedy
by Peter Leithart
from Canon Press
for 10th-Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$15.00
Dickens's Great Expectations
by Leland Ryken
from Crossway Books
for 9th-Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
Discarded Image
by C. S. Lewis
from Cambridge University
Medieval and Renaissance Lit Guide/Resource for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99
English Literature in the 16th Century (OHEL)
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
for Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$39.99
Evaluating Books
by Richard Maybury
2nd edition from Bluestocking Press
for 9th-Adult
in Uncle Eric books (Location: ECON-ERIC)
$10.95
Experiment in Criticism
by C. S. Lewis
Reissue from Cambridge University
Literature Guide/Resource for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99
First and Second Dalhouse Manuscripts
by Ernest W. Sullivan, II (editor), John Donne
from University of Missouri Press
for Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Great Code: The Bible and Literature
by Northrop Frye
from Academic Press Canada
for Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
He Gave Us Stories
by Richard L. Pratt Jr.
from P&R Publishing
for Adult
in Bible Surveys (Location: XBI-SURV)
$14.00 $9.00 (1 in stock)
History of Middle Earth - Boxed Set
by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
from Del Rey
for 9th-Adult
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$49.95
Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War
by Joseph Loconte
from Tyndale House
for Adult
in The Inklings (Location: LIR-INK)
$18.99
How to Read a Book
by Mortimer Adler & Charles Van Doren
from Simon and Schuster
for 10th-Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$17.99 $7.70 (2 in stock)
How to Read Slowly
by James Sire
3rd edition from Shaw Books
for 10th-Adult
in Christians & Thought (Location: XAP-THO)
$12.00 $6.00 (3 in stock)
In the House of Tom Bombadil
by C. R. Wiley, Foreword by Bradley J. Birzer
from Canon Press
for 9th-Adult
in Lord of the Rings (Location: LIR-LOTR)
Invitation to the Classics
by Louise Cowan & Os Guinness
from Baker Books
for 11th-Adult
in Recommended Book Lists (Location: LIR-REC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Jane Austen for Dummies
by Joan Klingel Ray
from Wiley Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
Jonathan Edwards: Art and the Sense of the Heart
by Terrence Erdt
from University of Massachusetts
for Adult
in Culture & Discernment (Location: XCU-DIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Landscape with Dragons
by Michael O'Brien
2nd edition from Ignatius Press
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$17.95
Lewis Agonistes
by Louis Markos
from Broadman & Holman
for Adult
in The Inklings (Location: LIR-INK)
Light from Behind the Sun
by Douglas Wilson
from Canon Press
for 9th-Adult
in The Inklings (Location: LIR-INK)
$14.95
Lord of the Elves and Eldils
by Richard L. Purtill
2nd edition from Ignatius Press
for 9th grade-Adult
in Lord of the Rings (Location: LIR-LOTR)
Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion
by Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull
from William Morrow & Company
for 11th-Adult
in Lord of the Rings (Location: LIR-LOTR)
$35.00
Lost Road and Other Writings
History of Middle-Earth Volume 5
by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
2020 Del Rey Mass Market Edition from Del Rey
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
Making of The Wind in the Willows
by Peter Hunt
from University of Chicago
for Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
Miniatures and Morals
by Peter Leithart
from Canon Press
for 9th-Adult
in British Literature Curriculum (Location: LITCUR-BRI)
$16.00
Monsters from the Id
from Spence Publishing Company
for Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
Odyssey & Guide - 2 book set
by Homer
from Vintage Classics
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
On Stories
by C. S. Lewis
Reissue from HarperOne
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Our Literary Heritage
by Otto L. Bettmann
from Dutton Adult
for 9th-Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
Oxford Concise Companion to English Literature
by Margaret Drabble & Jenny Stringer
from Oxford University
for 9th-Adult
in British Literature Curriculum (Location: LITCUR-BRI)
$12.00
Pilgrim's Progress - Study Guide
by Maureen L. Bradley
from P&R Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in British Literature Curriculum (Location: LITCUR-BRI)
$9.99
Pleasures of Reading in an Ideological Age
by Robert Alter
from Touchstone
for Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Poetry, Providence, and Patriotism
by Joel Burnell
from Pickwick Publications
for Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Preface to Paradise Lost
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
for Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$23.99
Read Well, Think Well
by Hal W. Lanse
from Adams Media Corp.
for Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Reading Between the Lines
by Gene Veith
from Crossway Books
for 10th-Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$14.39 $5.60 (2 in stock)
Reading with Purpose
by Nancy Wilson
from Logos School
for 10th-Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$6.00
Realms of Gold
by Leland Ryken
from Wipf and Stock Publishers
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
Recovering the Lost Art of Reading
by Leland Ryken
from Crossway Books
for 11th-Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$17.59
Rhetoric of Fiction
by Wayne C. Booth
for 10th-Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Romantic Rationalist
by John Piper & David Mathis, editors
from Crossway Books
for 10th-Adult
in The Inklings (Location: LIR-INK)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Selected Literary Essays
by C. S. Lewis
from Cambridge University
for Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.95
Shakespeare High School Literature Package
by William Shakespeare & Peter Leithart
from Canon Press
Drama for 9th-Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
Shakespeare the Christian I
by Ralph Smith
from Covenant Media Foundation
for 10th-Adult
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
$35.00
Shakespeare's Hamlet
by Leland Ryken
from Crossway Books
for 9th-Adult
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
$4.79
Shaping of Middle Earth
History of Middle-Earth Volume 4
by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
2020 Del Rey Mass Market Edition from Del Rey
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
Spenser's Images of Life
by C. S. Lewis with Alastair Fowler
from Cambridge University
for Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.95
Steeped in Stories
by Mitali Perkins
from Broadleaf Books
for Adult
in Recommended Book Lists (Location: LIR-REC)
$22.49
Story of Chantecler
by Marco F. Liberma
from Moffat, Yard and Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Tending the Heart of Virtue
by Vigen Guroian
unknown from Oxford University
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$36.95
Twelve Trademarks of Great Literature
by J. F. Baldwin
from Worldview Academy
for 9th-12th grade
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$11.00 $7.50 (2 in stock)
Well-Educated Mind
by Susan Wise Bauer
2nd edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
for Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$35.00
Well-Educated Mind (old)
by Susan Wise Bauer
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for Adult
in Clearance: Home School Resources (Location: ZCLE-HSR)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
Why Read Moby-Dick?
by Nathaniel Philbrick
Reprint from Penguin Press
for 11th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Windows to the World
by Leland Ryken
from Wipf and Stock Publishers
for 10th-Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
Words of Delight
by Leland Ryken
2nd edition from Baker Academics
for Adult
in Bible Surveys (Location: XBI-SURV)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Worldview Detective - DVDs
by Adam & Missy Andrews
2nd edition from Center for Literary Education
for 8th-Adult
in Teaching the Classics (Location: LITCUR-TTC)
$39.00
Worldview Detective - Seminar Workbook
by Adam & Missy Andrews
2nd edition from Center for Literary Education
for 8th-Adult
in Teaching the Classics (Location: LITCUR-TTC)
$13.00 (1 in stock)
Worldview Detective - Set
by Adam & Missy Andrews
2nd edition from Center for Literary Education
for 8th-Adult
in Teaching the Classics (Location: LITCUR-TTC)
$52.20
Writing Ancient History
by Neville Morley
for 10th-Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
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