Age: 12-14 Middle School 1 Full Credit

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This course, taught by Mrs. Maggie Purifoy, approaches literary analysis of novels, plays, and poetry via lively discussion; varied writing assignments, including the comparison essay, the expository essay, and the thesis paper, flow from this analysis.

This course uses lively discussion as the way to approach literary analysis. Socratic questioning generates those discussions, and gives writing assignments that flow from the analysis. Assignments include the comparison essay, the expository essay, and the thesis paper.

  • 28 videos

Required Books:

  • Johnny Tremain by Esther Hoskins Forbes
  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
  • Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
  • The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
  • A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
  • Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
  • The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • Shakespeare, some short stories, and poetry
  • Each student needs to have their own Writing and Rhetoric book as a guide for instruction. Parents will need the Teacher’s Edition which provides a clear rubric to grade each writing assignment. In the second semester, we will begin Book 10.  It is a very comprehensive, step-by-step guide.

*Copies of these books can be purchased on any of these sites, Better World BooksThrift Books, or Amazon.com

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Preview the assignments for this course in the scope and sequence.

Course Content

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INTRODUCTION & MATERIALS

JOHNNY TREMAIN
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Across Five Aprils
The Hiding Place
A Christmas Carol
Murder on the Orient Express
The Fellowship of the Ring
SNOW DAY HOMEWORK
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
THE CAPTURED SHADOW
Shakespeare
Poetry
Short Stories
THESIS PAPERS

About Instructor

Maggie Purifoy

Maggie graduated from Covenant College in 1996 with a degree in Elementary Education. She spent several years in the classroom, including working at Vienna Christian School in Austria. She helped her husband, Thomas, establish The American School of Lyon in France in 2000-2001. Since then, she has homeschooled her own 3 children; her oldest graduated high school in May 2020 and will be attending Samford University. In 2019-20, she taught Medieval History and Literature to a class of 7-9th graders (something she thoroughly enjoyed).

2 Courses

Not Enrolled

Course Includes

  • 30 Lessons
  • 58 Steps
  • Course Certificate