This world is a comedy to those that think,
a tragedy to those that feel.
Ethan participated in a class on Tragedies this past year. It's not an easy thing to focus on for an extended period of time and I'm rather proud of him for continuing to work through it with a good attitude. He almost seems to have enjoyed it. Barely. But when I told him that he could move on to a class on Comedies, he was very relieved, excited even. Apparently, the Tragedies course was wearing on him more than he let on.
We ventured on to a program offered by Hewitt Homeschooling Resources. This particular program focused on Shakespeare Comedies and Sonnets. We received the Student Guide and Teacher's Guide, but not the individual books, but that was okay because the plays are available online and on the Kindle
for free.
The course covers 4 Shakespeare Comedies (A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, As You Like It) and 8 Sonnets. While the elements are certainly taught, Comedy itself is not the primary lesson, but a focused study of these specific pieces as well as a study of Shakespeare, his styles, and his life. That said, the course is excellent for teaching students to read well, helping them pay better attention to details. While interesting for the reading content, it also aids in improving reading comprehension in general. The study is not a basic question and answer session. It involves study in comprehension, vocabulary, and writing. Even for a student with little writing experience, like my son, this is a helpful guide for developing college level writing skills.
The course is worth half of a high school credit. The guides conveniently outline schedules for completing it in your choice of a semester course or a full-year course. The Student guide contains comprehension questions, writing exercises and projects. It also includes reviews of movies of the plays, which is very helpful in helping to decide which versions are most appropriate for the family to watch if you plan to wrap up the study sections with a movie version of the plays.
If you'd like to get a glimpse of it, you can click here to view the Table of Contents and here to view a sample chapter. I think it is reasonably priced for an excellent semester credit. The prices run as follows:
Student Guide: $29.95
Teacher Guide: $2.95
Bundled set, including all of the plays studied: $52.12
Disclaimer: I received this material in exchange for my honest opinion as a member of the TOS Crew, and received no other form of compensation. For whatever they're worth, the opinions are mine and mine alone, as stated in my disclosure policy.
for free.
The duty of comedy is to correct men by amusing them.
The course covers 4 Shakespeare Comedies (A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, As You Like It) and 8 Sonnets. While the elements are certainly taught, Comedy itself is not the primary lesson, but a focused study of these specific pieces as well as a study of Shakespeare, his styles, and his life. That said, the course is excellent for teaching students to read well, helping them pay better attention to details. While interesting for the reading content, it also aids in improving reading comprehension in general. The study is not a basic question and answer session. It involves study in comprehension, vocabulary, and writing. Even for a student with little writing experience, like my son, this is a helpful guide for developing college level writing skills.
In every tragedy, an element of comedy is preserved. Comedy is just tragedy reversed.
The course is worth half of a high school credit. The guides conveniently outline schedules for completing it in your choice of a semester course or a full-year course. The Student guide contains comprehension questions, writing exercises and projects. It also includes reviews of movies of the plays, which is very helpful in helping to decide which versions are most appropriate for the family to watch if you plan to wrap up the study sections with a movie version of the plays.
In tragedy every moment is eternity; in comedy, eternity is a moment.
If you'd like to get a glimpse of it, you can click here to view the Table of Contents and here to view a sample chapter. I think it is reasonably priced for an excellent semester credit. The prices run as follows:
Student Guide: $29.95
Teacher Guide: $2.95
Bundled set, including all of the plays studied: $52.12
Life is neither comedy or tragedy, life is what you make of it.
Be sure to check out more reviews of Hewitt's many different curriculum options at the TOS Crew site:
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