Textbooks for Literature Subjects

Our teachers have carefully selected classical education textbooks which present their course materials in an organized manner, but which also reflect our primary mission to provide a rigorous and thorough preparation for the life of the mind in Christ. Please read the information supplied in their notes carefully. In some cases, you may be able to substitute editions, but not in others. In many cases, used versions of the textbook will be available through Amazon or ABE Books. If you have any questions about the appropriateness of a text for your student, or about the correct edition to buy, please contact the teacher.

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During the early part of the calendar year, the bookstore may list textbooks for courses from both the current academic year, and the upcoming summer and fall academic years. Not all textbooks will be listed until teachers approve course descriptions and select their books. Be sure that you order books for the correct enrollment year.

Textbooks for both Summer and Academic Year 2024 Courses

Courses in Literature

Summer Shakespeare I (1825) • [2024 (Summer)] Bruce McMenomy

Required:	*A Midsummer Night's Dream [Any edition]* William Shakespeare
Required:	*As You Like It [Any edition]* William Shakespeare
Required:	*Julius Caesar [Any edition]* William Shakespeare
Required:	*King Lear [Any edition]* William Shakespeare
Required:	*Richard II [Any edition]* William Shakespeare
Required:	*Romeo and Juliet [Any edition]* William Shakespeare
Required:	*The Merchant of Venice [Any edition]* William Shakespeare
Required:	*The Taming of the Shrew [Any edition]* William Shakespeare
Required:	*Twelfth Night [Any edition]* William Shakespeare
Optional:	*All of Shakespeare [Any edition]* Maurice Charney Notes: NOT required. A convenient middle-weight overview of the whole Shakespeare corpus by a scholar and theorist of theater. Not as penetrating as Garber or Bloom, but somewhat more accessible.
Optional:	*Essential Shakespeare Handbook [Any edition]* Leslie Dunton-Downer, Alan Riding, Karen Wilks (Designer), Elizabeth Wyse (Editor) Notes: NOT required. This book provides a systematic overview of the whole corpus of Shakespeare plays in an accessible and colorful form, with notes on famous performances, themes, settings, and other such details. It is very useful for a student first getting to know Shakespeare, and equally useful for an advanced student wanting to have the ability to see the corpus in outline.
Optional:	*Shakespeare After All [Any edition]* Marjorie Garber Notes: NOT required. A useful book covering all of Shakespeare's plays critically and thoughtfully, aware of contemporary scholarly trends but not overly encumbered by them.
Optional:	*Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human [Any edition]* Harold Bloom Notes: NOT Required. A celebrated and widely cited book, filled with Bloom's own highly personal approach to the various plays in the Shakespeare corpus. Appropriate for the more advanced general reader or the serious scholar; certain to be intimidating for the novice.
Optional:	*Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare [Any edition]* Stephen Greenblatt Notes: NOT required. This is a fascinating recent biographical discussion of how Shakespeare's life may have shaped his work. All Shakespeare biography is chancy, and theories about Shakespearean authorship tend largely to divert us from the more serious issues of understanding his plays, but this study has some material relevance to the material at hand. Suitable for more mature readers; probably not appropriate for younger readers.

Looking at Middle-earth (1844) • [2024 (Summer)] Bruce McMenomy

Required:	*The Hobbit: or There and Back Again [Any edition]* J. R. R. Tolkien
Required:	*The Lord of the Rings [Any edition]* J. R. R. Tolkien Notes: Any edition will suffice.
Optional:	*The Silmarillion [Any edition]* J. R. R. Tolkien Notes: Not required, but the next logical step after reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

The Thought Plickens: Learning to Think Critically (1884) • [2024] Alexandra Dascalu Nelson

Required:	*A Wrinkle in Time [Edition required: 1]* Madeleine L'Engle
Required:	*Anne of Green Gables [Any edition]* L.M. Montgomery Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Notes: If possible there will be an online or PDF version available as well and posted to the website. If you are having trouble finding the edition, please contact me.
Required:	*Ender's Game [Any edition]* Orson Scott Card Notes: This book will be assigned based on the students reading level and age.
Required:	*Redwall [Edition required: 1]* Brian Jacques
Required:	*The Jungle Books [Any edition]* Rudyard Kipling Publisher: Oxford World Classics Notes: If possible there will be an online or PDF version available as well and posted to the website. If you are having trouble finding the edition, please contact me.
Required:	*Treasure Island [Any edition]* Robert Louis Stevenson Publisher: Modern Library Classics Notes: If possible there will be an online or PDF version available as well and posted to the website. If you are having trouble finding the edition, please contact me.

Fairy Tales, Myths and Folklore (1899) • [2024] Alexandra Dascalu Nelson

Optional:	*A Treasury of Irish Fairy and Folk Tales (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classic Collection) [Any edition]* Various Authors Notes: The Textbook is OPTIONAL as online links to the assigned reading or a PDF version will be provided as well.
Optional:	*Mythology [Any edition]* Edith Hamilton Notes: I can provide a PDF version of this book and the supplemental readings.
Optional:	*The Complete Fairy Tales - Hans Christian Andersen (Wordsworth Special Editions) [Any edition]* Hans Christian Andersen Notes: The Textbook is OPTIONAL as online links to the assigned reading or a PDF version will be provided as well.
Optional:	*The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm All-New Third Edition [Edition required: 3]* Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Notes: The Textbook is OPTIONAL as online links to the assigned reading or a PDF version will be provided as well.

World Literature (1829) • [2024] Alexandra Dascalu Nelson

Required:

World Literature [Any edition]
Susan Wittig Albert, Richard Cohen, Rose Sallberg Kam, David Adams Leeming, Thomas Monsell, Carroll Moulton, Susanna Nied, Eileen Hillary Oshinsky
Notes:

Be sure to obtained the revised edition as specified by the ISBN. Copies are available used at ridiculously low prices: do read the descriptions of their condition to avoid getting something that is just falling apart.

Western Literature to Dante (1830) • [2024] Bruce McMenomy

Required:	*Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature [Any edition]* Erich Auerbach, Willard R. Trask (tr.)
Required:	*The Aeneid (Penguin Classics) [Any edition]* Virgil, David West Notes: Please do not resort to other translations; they tend to cause confusion in class.
Required:	*The Consolation of Philosophy [Edition required: 2]* Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius, tr. Victor Watts
Required:	*The Greek Plays [Edition required: 1]* Mary Lefkowitz, James Romm, edd. Notes: If you have already acquired the Lind Ten Greek Plays, that will suffice. The translations here are more up to date and more complete, however, and this should be useful.
Required:	*The Holy Bible: New International Translation [Any edition]* Various, NIV Commission (tr.) Notes: You need some translation of the Bible for this course, preferably a reasonably modern one; it need not be this edition or even this translation. I value the New International Version for its literal accuracy, though its language tends to be rather stiff and sometime slanted; the King James Version, while beautiful and a work of genius in its day, is laden with numerous pitfalls for the modern reader. The Revised Standard Version is reasonably sound, if you can get it; the New Revised Standard Version is riddled with politically motivated compromises of every sort. Other options would be the Jerusalem Bible or the New English Bible.
Required:	*The Iliad (Penguin Classics) [Any edition]* Homer, Robert Fagles Notes: Please do not resort to other translations; doing so makes referring to pages impossible, and creates unnecessary storms of opinion relating to translated forms. You may get any other edition of the Fagles translation required, though.
Required:	*The Nibelungenlied: Prose Translation [Any edition]* Anonymous, A. T. Hatto (tr.) Notes: Please do not resort to other translations of this work; they tend to create confusions in class.
Required:	*The Odyssey (Penguin Classics) [Any edition]* Homer, D. C. H. Rieu, Peter V. Jones, E. V. Rieu Notes: Please do not resort to other translations; they are likely to create confusion in class.
Required:	*The Portable Dante [Any edition]* Dante Alighieri, Mark Musa (tr.) Notes: Please do not resort to other translations of this: it tends to create confusion in class. In addition, many other translations of Dante's Divine Comedy are very stilted and awkward, creating tonal and dictional problems of their own.
Required:	*The Saga of the Volsungs (Penguin Classics) [Any edition]* Anonymous, Jesse L. Byock Notes: Please do not resort to other translations if possible: it tends to create confusion in class. (The translation by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson is very archaic in diction and hence quite difficult for many students to read.)
Required:	*The Song of Roland (Penguin Classics) [Any edition]* Anonymous, Glyn S. Burgess (tr.) Notes: Please do not resort to other translations if possible; they tend to cause confusions in class.
Required:	*Western Literature to Dante: A Parents' Guide [Edition required: 3]* Bruce A. McMenomy Notes: This is a handbook I have prepared for parents who have enrolled for the course, or who are considering it. It gives a complete rundown of course elements, pedagogical goals, study techniques, and background material on each unit to help parents evaluate the course's suitability or to guide their children through it.
Optional:	*Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes [Any edition]* Edith Hamilton Notes: Not required, but encouraged for those who have no background in mythology: have this read over the summer.
Optional:	*The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (Dover Storybooks for Children) [Any edition]* Howard Pyle Notes: Not required, but students who have no background in the Arthurian tales may benefit from reading this through before the second half of the course.

English Literature (1832) • [2024] Bruce McMenomy

Required:	*England in Literature (Macbeth Edition) [Any edition]* Helen McDonnell, John Pfordresher, Gladys Veidemanis Notes: If you cannot secure the Macbeth edition, the Hamlet edition is acceptable as well - merely make sure that you also have the optional Folger version of Macbeth listed below. That accounts for the only differences between the two volumes. This book is now out of print, as Scott, Foresman has been assimilated by Prentice-Hall. Used copies are available.
Required:	*Much Ado About Nothing (Folger Shakespeare Library) [Any edition]* William Shakespeare Notes: Please use this edition only. Unannotated editions of Shakespeare usually spell disaster for student comprehension, while using different texts (which often vary substantively) will merely create confusion in class.
Required:	*Richard III (Folger Shakespeare Library) [Any edition]* William Shakespeare Notes: Please use this edition. Other editions are not acceptable for various reasons: chief among them the fact that unannotated texts tend to be impenetrable for the younger student.
Optional:	*A Tale of Two Cities (Penguin Classics) [Any edition]* Charles Dickens Notes: This or Great Expectations is required for the class. You do not need to acquire both, though you may. Any unabridged version of the novel will suffice.
Optional:	*England in Literature (Hamlet Edition) [Any edition]* Helen McDonnell, John Pfordresher, Gladys Veidemanis Notes: NOTE: This is presented as an alternative if you cannot find the Macbeth edition. It is not otherwise needed. If you get this volume rather than the Macbeth edition, please ALSO secure the Folger Library Macbeth given as optional below.
Optional:	*Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus (Penguin Classics) [Any edition]* Mary Shelley Notes: You may use any complete text of this book you have available. You should get either this or Pride and Prejudice, though you may read both.
Optional:	*Great Expectations (Penguin Classics) [Any edition]* Charles Dickens Notes: This or A Tale of Two Cities is required for the class. You need not get both, though of course you may. Any unabridged edition is sufficient.
Optional:	*Macbeth (Folger Shakespeare Library) [Any edition]* William Shakespeare Notes: NOTE: Not normally required. This is offered as an alternative for those who buy the Hamlet Edition of the textbook. If you have the Macbeth Edition, it is not necessary.
Optional:	*Pride and Prejudice (Penguin Classics) [Any edition]* Jane Austen Notes: This or Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is required for the class; you need not get both (though you are free to do so).

American Literature (1833) • [2024] Bruce McMenomy

Required:	*A Man for All Seasons (Vintage International) [Any edition]* Robert Bolt Notes: You may use any complete text edition of this play.
Required:	*Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Norton Critical Edition) [Edition required: 3]* Mark Twain, Thomas Cooley Notes: Please do not substitute another edition for this one. We will be using critical materials unique to this edition for class.
Required:	*Moby-Dick (Norton Critical Editions) [Edition required: 3]* Herman Melville, Hershel Parker (Editor) Notes: Please do not substitute any other edition. We will be using the special critical material unique to this volume, unavailable in other editions.
Required:	*The Crucible (Penguin Classics) [Any edition]* Arthur Miller, Christopher Bigsby Notes: You may use any complete edition of this play.
Required:	*The Old Man and The Sea [Any edition]* Ernest Hemingway Notes: You may use any available copy of this book.
Required:	*The Red Badge of Courage (Norton Critical Editions) [Edition required: 4]* Stephen Crane, Eric Carl Link (Editor), Donald Pizer (Editor) Notes: Please do not substitute another edition for this one. We will be using the unique materials available in this particular edition for class.
Required:	*The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings (Norton Critical Editions) [Any edition]* Nathaniel Hawthorne, Leland S. Person Notes: Please do not substitute another edition of this book. We will be using the unique critical material in this volume, unavailable in other editions.
Required:	*The United States in Literature (Three Long Stories) [Any edition]* James E. Miller Jr., Kerry M. Wood, Carlota Cardenas de Dwyer Notes: Please get this edition. If you cannot find the Three Long Stories edition, the other one will do, but you will need to track down those three stories in some other format.

Senior English (Literature) (1834) • [2024] Bruce McMenomy

Required:	*An Experiment in Criticism [Any edition]* C. S. Lewis Notes: Any edition of this book will do.
Required:	*Anton Chekhov's Selected Plays (Norton Critical Editions) [Edition required: 2]* Anton Chekhov, Laurence Senelick (Translator) Notes: Please get this edition specifically. We will be using the unique critical materials in the back for various class activities. Cited in some places as "Second revised edition"
Required:	*Billy Budd and Other Tales [Any edition]* Hermann Melville, Joyce Carol Oates
Required:	*Copenhagen [Any edition]* Michael Frayn
Required:	*Emma (Norton Critical Edition) [Edition required: 4]* Jane Austen Notes: Please get this edition specifically. We will be using the unique critical materials in the back for various class activities.
Required:	*Ethan Frome: Authoritative Text Backgrounds and Contexts Criticism (Norton Critical Editions) [Edition required: 1]* Edith Wharton, Kristin O. Lauer, Cynthia Griffin Wolff Notes: Please get this edition specifically. We will be using the unique critical materials in the back for various class activities.
Required:	*Fathers and Children (Norton Critical Edition) [Edition required: 2]* Ivan Turgenev, ed. Michael R. Katz Notes: It is essential to get this edition of the book. Other versions are not going to provide the correct critical material for our class discussions.
Required:	*Hamlet: An Authoritative Text, Intellectual Backgrounds, Extracts from the Sources, Essays in Criticism (Norton Critical Editions) [Edition required: 2]* William Shakespeare Notes: Please get this edition specifically. We will be using the unique critical materials in the back for various class activities. There are two apparently separate track versions of this text, and it's very confusing. What you want is the one edited by Cyrus Hoy. The other one is full of politicized nonsense.
Required:	*Heart of Darkness (Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism) [Edition required: 3]* Joseph Conrad, Ross Murfin (Editor) Notes: Please get this edition specifically. We will be using the unique critical materials in the back for various class activities.
Required:	*Henry IV, Part 2 (Folger Shakespeare Library) [Any edition]* William Shakespeare Notes: Please get this edition specifically. We will be using the unique critical materials for various class activities.
Required:	*Henry IV, Part I (Folger Shakespeare Library) [Any edition]* William Shakespeare Notes: Please get this edition specifically. We will be using the unique critical materials for various class activities.
Required:	*Henry V (Folger Shakespeare Library) [Any edition]* William Shakespeare Notes: Please get this edition specifically. We will be using the unique critical materials for various class activities.
Required:	*Ibsen's Selected Plays (Norton Critical Editions) [Any edition]* Henrik Ibsen, Brian Johnston (Editor) Notes: Please get this edition specifically. We will be using the unique critical materials in the back for various class activities.
Required:	*Iphigenia; Phaedra; Athaliah (Penguin Classics) [Any edition]* Jean Baptiste Racine Notes: Any complete text of this play in a reasonable translation will suffice.
Required:	*Measure for Measure (Folger Shakespeare Library) [Any edition]* William Shakespeare
Required:	*Perrine's Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry [Edition required: 15]* Thomas R. Arp, Greg Johnson Notes: It is imperative that you get and use this edition only. It is signficantly changed from previous editions.
Required:	*Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (Anniversary Edition) [Any edition]* Tom Stoppard Notes: Any complete edition of this play will suffice.
Required:	*Ten Greek Plays in Contemporary Translations [Any edition]* Levy Lind (ed.)
Required:	*The Cid, Cinna, The Theatrical Illusion (Penguin Classics) [Any edition]* Pierre Corneille, John Cairncross Notes: Any complete edition of this play will suffice.
Required:	*The Complete Greek Tragedies: Euripides I [Any edition]* David Grene (Editor), Richmond Lattimore (Editor)
Required:	*The Great Gatsby [Any edition]* F. Scott Fitzgerald
Required:	*The House of the Seven Gables (Norton Critical Edition) [Edition required: 2]* Nathaniel Hawthorne, Robert S. Levine (Editor) Notes: Please get this edition specifically. We will be using the unique critical materials in the back for various class activities.
Required:	*The Life of the Drama [Any edition]* Eric Bentley
Required:	*The Misanthrope and Other Plays (Signet Classics) [Any edition]* Jean-Baptiste Moliere, Donald M. Frame Notes: Any complete edition of the play will suffice.
Required:	*The Remains of the Day [Any edition]* Kazuo Ishiguro
Required:	*The Rhetoric of Fiction [Edition required: 2]* Wayne C. Booth Notes: A reasonable search online or through Amazon’s secondary dealers can often turn up inexpensive used copies of this volume.
Required:	*The Sorrows of Young Werther (Penguin Classics) [Any edition]* Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Michael Hulse (Translator)
Required:	*The Waste Land (Norton Critical Editions) [Edition required: 1]* T. S. Eliot, Michael North (Editor) Notes: Please get this edition specifically. We will be using the unique critical materials in the back for various class activities.
Required:	*Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold [Any edition]* C. S. Lewis Notes: Any edition of this work is fine.
Required:	*War and Peace [Any edition]* Leo Tolstoy, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, tr. Notes: Any complete version will suffice, but I strongly recommend this version or the Dunnigan version (from Signet) for readability. The Maude translation is very dated and rather painful to read.
Required:	*Wuthering Heights (Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism) [Edition required: 2]* Emily Bronte, Linda H. Peterson Notes: Please get this edition specifically. We will be using the unique critical materials in the back for various class activities.
Optional:	*100 Words Almost Everyone Confuses and Misuses [Any edition]* Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries Notes: Highly recommended for writing guidance on questions of usage. Not strictly required.

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