creating a DIY LITERATURE DEGREE 📖

[@SharonReads]

I'm doing this for myself following the Literary Life Podcast. Excellent to help look deeper into books and start building connections!

[@mitzireadsandwrites]

You have no idea how exciting this makes me!! I have been thinking about this for years now and I just couldn't figure out the best way to do it! I even picked up all those Norton anthologies for English Literature. You have given me such a great skeleton for this process and I can't wait to get started!! Thank You!!!

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Yay, so glad this was helpful!

[@ericawallace526]

We would love to hear your process, Mitzi! ❤ I'm excited to give it a go as well.

[@cynthiakrysak4461]

A great victorian classic is East Lynne by Ellen Wood . Highly recommend! Its almost like a victorian soap opera but it's really good 😊

[@dianalee9228]

The Moonstone is considered one of the first English mystery novels.

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Ooh, I didn't know that!

[@amyofhearthridge]

“Now I’ll let Tolkien out,” sounded perfect in a literature talk. 😂 I LOVE this idea, Chantel. A blog that I’ve followed for years did a really cool series called “Homeschool MFA” for herself and I loved it!

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Ha, thanks Amy!

[@amyremington381]

Chantel, please give Alice's Adventures in Wonderland a chance! Do not base your judgment on those terrible Tim Burton movies! They are abominable! Alice is funny and charming. Full of silliness and wisdom at the same time. Any Victorian children's lit would not be complete without it! It was key to the beginning of books for children! Please give it consideration!!!!

[@parkerandme6506]

I think this is such a fantastic idea - and something that I would love to do! I did an English Lit degree (but whilst I was working full time!) and don’t think I really enjoyed the texts as much as I could have, because of the pace of the course. I think I am going to start with some A Level (I’m in the UK - so these are pre-degree qualifications) reading lists and work my way up to something like this. The possibilities are endless! Thank you for sharing!

[@rachelpalmer5185]

I love this idea!! I’ve been trying to learn more about Bible theology and church history and I’d love to set it out kind of like your doing in an academic but yet chill way! ❤

[@sandyokey1019]

The Victorian period was my first choice but I want to include American authors along with UK, as my author deep dive will be centered on Edith Wharton. I think this is a fantastic idea, Chantel, and a thought that in some form or other has interested me for years. I would never have come up with the structure you’ve put together, and I’m in awe of what you’re sharing with us. Thank you very much!❤️

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

American author's during the Victorian period would be great as well! Apparently I just collect a bunch of British authors, lol. I hope you enjoy this!

[@CoffeeQueen90]

soo fun!! I'm thinking of participating in it, starting this Summer or Fall. Love the themes/categories. Soo Fun!!

[@pinabaker8339]

Hi Chantel, I’m a first time viewer and I love this idea so much! ❤ I’m always wanting to improve my knowledge of literature and this is a good step by step guide to do it other than just read ad hoc. I love women’s literature and the golden age especially. Thank you so much 😊🙏🏼

[@evamatlach1986]

Wow, this is a great idea! I will try to start this in german because I am from Austria! I was hooked with the idea just reading the title of your video! I love reading English books so maybe my Special topic will be English literature! 😅 thank you for sharing this idea with us! 🙏

[@ElizabethAnneReads]

This is so well thought out! I really want to do this someday, now is probably not the time but I will be eagerly following your progress

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

I hope you enjoy it if you ever get to it!

[@humblyhaley]

I can’t wait to follow along with you and create a curriculum for myself with this framework. Thank you for sharing! 😄

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Yay, have fun with it!

[@barbaramanickas6580]

I am so excited to get started!!! Thank you so much for getting the framework organized. CS Lewis is a great idea for a mentor author. (Although there are many to choose from on my list).

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Yay, I hope you have fun with it! I would love to hear who your other possible mentor authors would be, I'm going to need some more ideas down the road!

[@elisabethprice4697]

the Great Divorce is amazing!

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

I hope to get to that one! Ideally I would work through all eight of the books in the Signature Classics bind up, The Great Divorce is in there, but I also want to make sure I don't get overwhelmed.

[@msguinevere3702]

The Moonstone is awesome! (As is The Woman in White) Go for it!!

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Glad to hear The Moonstone is also great! I feel like I only hear about The Woman in White.

[@Cooper9281]

This is amazing! Thank you for all this information. I have been wanting to do my own studies for a while and this is very helpful. I really want to study fairytales and folklore stories.

[@pylesofbooks]

I've been waiting for this video! I am so excited to map out my own plan using your framework. Thanks for all the time you put into this!

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

I hope it works out well for you!

[@christalleescholes1000]

I think this is the neatest concept, id love to do it too. Thank you for making the video.

[@robinkirk1821]

Chantel, I was rewatching this video to put together more of a plan and I thought I’d share a really cool resource you might be interested in. Hillsdale College offers a few free online courses that you might find beneficial. There are a few on C.S. Lewis, Dickens-A Christmas Carol, and several for literature in general, history, etc. I’m talking some now. I wish I would’ve known of this while my kids were still homeschooling. But my oldest is taking a few of the biblical courses now. Check it out when you get a chance. 😊

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

That's great to know! The C. S. Lewis Institute has a bunch of resources for Lewis too if you want!

[@robinkirk1821]

@@ChantelReadsAllDay Ok, thank you! I’ll definitely check it out.

[@joycejarrard6958]

I love your idea of a DIY Literature degree! I will turn 70 this year, but I feel sorely ignorant of literature. My degree was in business. I struggled in Literature class in high school, despite reading a lot as a child.

[@miriamelizabethreads]

Chantel, this is literally goals!! Just like you, I got a degree to check a box. I did NOT enjoy learning. I also majored in science and then took a diploma in nursing soooo... nothing literary or book-related. I hated it. This is goalsssss!!

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

I definitely think I would get a lot more out of post secondary education now! But I like doing my own thing so may as well do it this way!

[@lyddie8]

This is such a great idea! Regarding Tess of the d'Urbervilles- I have a love/hate relationship with that book but it is good.

[@ishah4714]

Thanks for sharing this. I really like the literary mentor idea (I kind of already do that in a way).

[@CarolAttrux]

Hi Chantel! I would love to join this quest! I will have to do some research, though because fields are so broad!

[@ericawallace526]

I have been looking alllll over the web for this! I can't thank you enough! 👏❤️

[@briannaw.1879]

I love this idea! I have an English degree but because my "early American Lit" class professor took the title literally (1400 and 1500s) and the next class in the trilogy the professor started with Huckleberry Finn, I missed 250 years of American Lit, and all of British literature (because I could only choose one set of courses.) Great idea :)

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Haha, so I'm going to guess you'll branch out and try a different time period?

[@bethsbookishreviews9374]

I'm a little late to the game, but I will be picking this up! I just need to figure out what I am doing! 😃

[@scintillationist]

Absolutely love this video and this idea! Awesome links to the university pages as well; thanks for finding and sharing those! Please keep us posted on your progress 😊

[@tammyd4208]

Chantel, this was so well done. Thank you for organizing each category so well, it is so easy to follow! I am definitely interested in doing this 😊

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Thanks, I hope you enjoy it!

[@jenniferm.2142]

Excellent idea! I love this so much! ❤

[@monicamoskovics8686]

Love the detective fiction focus! I took a class in university and it was a favorite - one of the few were I kept all the books! ;) Your authors are pretty spot on for what we studied a couple others from that class (we studied the origin of genre from Poe (Purloined Letter and Murders of the Rue Morgue) through the Hard Boiled (Dashiell Hammett and Rex Stout). A couple others that we studied were Ellis Peters, John Dickson Carr (really good!) and Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep). Those may be worth exploring too if you are interested in them. Happy reading!

[@LittlePrairieLibrary]

I am so impressed by how thorough this is, Chantel! I would love to dive into Victorian literature like this, I feel like there are so many amazing books from that time that I need to read. I've just scratched the surface with the Brontes, Dickens, Hardy, Gaskell, etc etc. Also wow, I am so the same with Lewis. I have SO many of his books and I've read so few of them. I need to read the last book of the Space trilogy, I really enjoyed the first two.

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Thanks Felicia, this was fun to make, now to just follow through!

[@CandlewickLibrary]

I wish I would have had that anthology that groups them in time periods when I was making the literature course for my daughter this year. It’s very similar to this and I broke the books up by time periods. That took forever to research. 😅 I love that you are doing this. I agree with the annotated books. I have introduced quite a few classics with the classic starts and the manga classics. My kids, especially my youngest understand them so much when they do this.

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Oh shoot, too bad I didn't have this out a little earlier! The anthology is great for short stories, poetry and plays!

[@sherribugd3799]

This sounds like such a wonderful way to direct your reading and learn as well! I’m super nerdy and might see if I can come up with my own degree program! Thank you!

[@MargaretM.]

The Brontes are so good! I would definitely recommend reading one of theirs! And I definitely think you should try Dickens. I would recommend beginning with Great Expectations because that one is very very interesting and engaging! Silas Marner I've read and it wasn't incredible, but still good. Its not long so you could try. The Importance of Being Earnest is hilarious!! That one's a must read! Enjoyed this video, thank you! I hope you have a fun and insightful journey!

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Great Expectations is the Dickens that I've started multiple times and have never gotten very far. 😬 I will finish it one of these days! I do enjoy the Brontes, Wuthering Heights has been my favorite thus far.

[@MargaretM.]

@@ChantelReadsAllDay Yeah, I guess Dickens may not be your thing... So that means you don't even have to try! But I do just want to let you know that, as a whole, the story is very interesting and even a page turner, especially and the end. I was pleasantly surprised with this book. It is definitely slow at parts but in the end I found myself finding it totally worth it :). Totally up to you though. Curious to see how your year goes! 💕

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

@@MargaretM. I do want to read finish the book at some point. I enjoyed Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol. A Tale of Two Cities not so much, so we'll see where his other books fall for me!

[@warrengilson1835]

Fascinating idea - best of luck with this! Re P G Wodehouse - not a mystery author in the way your other selections are - there might be a missing manuscript or a detective disguised as a butler to drive the plot along, but it is really the comedy aspect and the beautiful language and clever dialogue that keeps me coming back to his books (the plots are virtually identical but that's part of their charm) - i suggest finding one of the Jeeves and Wooster or Blandings series - so much fun!!!!

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

I've had my eye out for a Jeeves book for a long time but haven't come across one yet!

[@MLLatUtube]

I love CS Lewis and need to do some serious rereading. The annotated Screwtape Letters looks interesting. And I will look for those anthologies also.

[@boscarinoma2305]

I love this idea! ❤

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Thanks!

[@Amy_loopsandliterature]

I just love this idea, Chantel! Thank you for sharing this with us! You've inspired and encouraged me to put together a course for myself! I have many of the same books on my shelf that you mentioned from the Victorian Period, so i think I'll begin there as well!

[@ChristinaLorenzen]

Chantel, I am so glad I found your channel! I am an avid reader but one of my biggest regrets is not getting my English degree. It had been my dream to become an English teacher. I wandered off that path a LOT but I did end up homeschooling my children who went on to get their degrees. I am going to join in on your DIY Literature Degree. I would love to be a well rounded reader and this sounds like the perfect way to start. I've got all my screenshots so tonight I will sit down and put it all together. Thanks! ~ Christina

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Welcome here! Homeschooling is a great because it's like continuing your education, I'm sure I've learned more in our homeschool than I ever did in school. I hope you enjoy using this outline, I would love to hear what you plug in for the different sections!

[@ChristinaLorenzen]

@@ChantelReadsAllDay I agree. I learned a lot of things I missed in my school days. I am excited to use that outline. When I have it all organized I'd be happy to let you know what I add on for the different sections. I'm looking forward to it!

[@ReadBrucey]

I was an English Secondary Education Major so I had many more literature classes than I had education classes. However, that was so long ago. I would have to start over.

[@leah_terry]

I've been wanting to do this very thing for years. Thank you for sharing what your plans are and encouraging me to finally do it! The hosts of The Literary Life podcast have a series on The Importance of Being Earnest, if that interests you. As well as one on Out of the Silent Planet. I loved Till We Have Faces!

[@mitzireadsandwrites]

Have you read The Little Lame Prince and his Travelling Cloak, The Princess and the Goblin, Black Beauty? Those are Victorian children's classics I thought you might enjoy.

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

I have read The Princess and the Goblin and Black Beauty but I've never heard of The Little Lame Prince and his Travelling Cloak, I'll look for that one, thanks!

[@juliewells4310]

Such a great idea! I just might join you!

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Please do!

[@whatbringscorinajoy2724]

The golden age mystery era sounds amazing 😊 I have done this same thing but with the High School Literature units from Sonlight. I did half of church history I need to finish it and then I’m moving on to the Eastern Hemisphere one which will be mostly middle grade classics ❤️

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

I've eyed up the high school literature units from Sonlight before, they look great!

[@whatbringscorinajoy2724]

@@ChantelReadsAllDay yes I’d love to do them with my kids but it’s too overwhelming so since I like them so much I’ll just read for myself

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

@@whatbringscorinajoy2724 it's brilliant! I look there for ideas for my kids but have never thought of doing it for myself, love the idea.

[@AbdulHafeez-my3pd]

Great work madam

[@MamaKatFrog]

I just finished Mary Barton! I loved it!!!

[@carrieicanhasbooks]

I've been working on something similar myself , originally it was going to just be a focus on scifi and Fantasy from there origins. However I decided that I wanted to go back further and essentially dubbing the project "The History of Literature" It's nice to see others doing/wanting to this too.

[@elisabethprice4697]

also Nicholas Nickleby!!!

[@smartie1685]

I love this idea so much! I will have to keep an eye out for those Norton anthologies, I am in the same boat as you, I took English as a minor and only took a couple literature classes. I love the specialties that you picked and totally might try to read along a little or do my own!

[@divanext-doorcece5366]

This is a wonderful idea! I would love to do this. I always wanted a degree in children’s literature. I also love poetry. I look forward to your updates on this project. You always have such great ideas.

[@insearchofwonder]

Very cool idea, and I love how you structured it! I'm curious why you don't like Alice in Wonderland? It's not my favorite for sure, but you mentioned liking Edward Lear and I feel like his work has a similar feel to Alice.

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

I really dislike the "it was all a dream" trope and Alice was just too strange for me. Not sure why I don't like Alice but I like Edward Lear but that's just how it is . . .

[@insearchofwonder]

@@ChantelReadsAllDay It was definitely very strange! I appreciate it from a distance as a good work of art but it's not one I will reread.

[@carolynbennett1867]

What a fabulous plan. Thank you for sharing it. You should definitely just focus your speciality on Agatha Christie. ❤

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

I definitely could, I have enough books to do so, but I don't like to read too many of her books close together, I want to be able to keep the mysteries separate in my brain, which would be hard to do if I was reading a bunch of her books close together.

[@zachreads]

I read a play last month called A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, it was writen in 1879 and very good and the introduction called somthing like "The birth of modern drama" (not drama in a bad way) I take what I call "The kite without a string" approach and let myself drift through genre and time with almost no plan and almost no boundaries.

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look that up!

[@capturedbyannamarie]

Definitely check out the literary life podcast. They are so helpful in understanding harder books. They have lots of Lewis stuff and lots of golden age mystery stuff

[@vmestrada2822]

I have all three of the C.S. Lewis Sci-fi books. I got get back to them myself .

[@louisestgermain6428]

I have a side project that is kind of like this (side project, meaning that I haven't set any specific timelines - I just pick away at it)... except instead of being literature, I've downloaded the reading lists from a couple of Great Books programs: one at Carleton University, and the other at George Fox University. It's going slowly, but is something I want to do more of!

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

That sounds great, Louise!

[@faribareads]

The Maltese Falcoln is good. Definitely watch the film. It's a classic of Noir. Literature degrees today include film on their syllabi.

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

I hardly ever watch movies (I'd rather read, haha) but I'll have to try to watch some to go with my readings.

[@bytesofmemory]

I really liked The Moonstone when I read it w/ a friend 😀 I love this idea so much.. I'm not sure to what extent I can implement this w/ my life changes coming in January but I want to push myself to read harder books next year!

[@elisabethprice4697]

I would love to try this out I would do victorian to start because thats the one I have most of and boy do I own a lot of classics!

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Haha, have fun working through them!

[@jesstiara4351]

Ellie Dashwood is a great channel for a very deep dive in the romantic era (especially if you’re an Austen fan), and a little bit of the Victorian era.

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

I'll have to check that out, thanks!

[@maryadair-gd4gr]

Thanks for sharing this video Chantel! I'm going to try doing a something like you are doing but probably a little less academic!. CS Lewis as a mentor sounds great!💜🇱🇷🍁

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

I hope you have fun with it, Mary!

[@psalm19creations]

I love this idea! I've thought about devoting some time to reading Greek myths and their retellings, and also to French classics because I bought a few more this year and want get to all of them relatively close together. I may put something like this together for them.

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

That would be great! I definitely want to do some French classics as a specialty at some point, right now I only own The Three Musketeers so I thought I would wait until I've built up a few more. I'd love to hear some of your favorite French classics so I can keep an eye out for them.

[@psalm19creations]

@@ChantelReadsAllDay Of the ones I've read, The Three Musketeers is definitely high on that list. If you're interested in Victor Hugo, I would recommend Hunchback of Notre Dame first since it's much than Les Mis. Also, Phantom of the Opera and Candide, though keep in mind that the latter is satire. I would recommend Jules Verne too, though the only one I've read by him is Around the World in 80 Days and I want to read more of his books before recommending a specific one.

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

@@psalm19creations Haha, so I've totally read Around the World in 80 Days AND Journey to the Center of the Earth and stupidly it never dawned on me that they were translated. What a fail!

[@psalm19creations]

@@ChantelReadsAllDay I'm not sure it dawned on me right away either.

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

@@psalm19creations that makes me feel a bit better 😊

[@whatbringscorinajoy2724]

Oh C.S. Lewis is such a good pick. I may be copying you in the future lol

[@StephanieMT]

Are you thinking of doing something like this for your oldest for high school when she gets there. Also would you put the book list on your blog

[@jenniferm.2142]

Links to screengrab info cards: Course outline 5:52 Time periods 6:29 Pick a specialty 8:01 Specialty options 9:43 Pick a mentor 10:30

[@robinkirk1821]

Chantel, this is so exciting and I’m definitely joining in! I think I will do Victorian Literature, too. I have collected many classics from that time era. I’m unsure about the speciality category. I think I need to look into that more. But would WW2 count for that? 🤔 Also, I love your idea about C.S. Lewis for the mentor and may use him too, as I am currently reading Mere Christianity. I started The Chronicles of Narnia this year and plan to finish it. Plus, he just represents all things “scholarly!” 😂 I’m going to look into more ideas and make plans with books. Thank you for doing this. This video has made my day! 🥰

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Yay, glad you enjoyed this, Robin! WWII would totally count as a specialty!

[@robinkirk1821]

@@ChantelReadsAllDay Oh good! I’m so glad because right now I have an obsession with learning about WW2. I’ve been reading a lot of historical fiction from that time period. And I recently bought a book about how books were used to encourage the soldiers during the war. I find it fascinating! Thank you for letting me know!

[@mandyc1280]

The Moonstone is so good. I actually preferred it to The Woman in White, though they are both great.

[@morghanpickens2088]

I absolutely love this idea! I think I would like to do a Lit degree in the History of Detective Fiction from 1841-???? 1941 mayne. Not sure yet on the ending time, but honestly I have already started looking up some books to add to my syllabus for this one!

[@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD]

I love this idea, but i know for myself, I'd do the research and then decide it was taking my joy out of reading. But i love that you and others may do this! I think if i just made lists of books to read it would be more my speed... and I'm not sure i want critical analysis because i like my own thoughts on the book.😅 Try Anthony Trollope (The Belton Estate)

[@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD]

Many love The Moonstone better than The Woman in White... now you can try one and decide if you want to try the other. Jude the Obscure... you'll hate it. 😅😅

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

I can 100% understand that, Penny. Often that's how it works for me too, but for some reason I'm in a season of wanting to learn this way, I figured I'd enjoy it while the season lasts, lol. As for the critical analysis, I'm going to take this loosely, I'll try a few and if I want to skip it for some, I'm totally allowing that. I do have The Belton Estate on my list to look for when I go to my favorite used bookstore with a note that you recommended it on an earlier video, if I can get my hands on it I'll add it to the list!

[@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD]

Wow so KZbin hates me telling you to look on other websites... they keep deleting my comments... I'm not sure how to tell you what I want to tell you. 😅 I will enjoy watching your journey. I haven't found many obscure Victorian novels like The Belton Estate in person. But I usually look online. That one that starts with E has reasonable prices. The Belton Estate is public domain and you send to your kindle.

[@rlewis9562]

How wonderful! What a great idea! Why shouldn't we liberate ourselves educationally (especially those of us homeschooling and trying to do that for our children?). I did a history degree at home through the Open University here in the UK, but you're so confined to getting the right credits in the 'right courses' (i.e the ones they choose) , that you actually have little choice exactly what you'd like to cover in a subject you otherwise enjoy. This is very inspiring! P.S What about Bran Stoker's Dracula? It's so Victorian and so gothic yet so well written!

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

I've read that one! I quite enjoyed it, there was a lot more to the story than I thought there would be.

[@pilgrimlearning9530]

This is brilliant! Why pay for a Literature degree as a WAHM? I'm doing this right away!

[@pilgrimlearning9530]

Totally going with Gothic literature as my specialty! Do you have any favourites in this category?

[@ChantelReadsAllDay]

Haha, JUST filmed that video, it will be up on Monday!!!

[@kurtfox4944]

I was sorry to hear that you won't like Thomas Hardy's _Tess of the D'..._ Thomas Hardy is a great writer who explores the deep insights in people and personality. If one word is used to describe his works, it would be "suffering." Just because it is painful, or suffering, does not mean it is not 'good' or you won't like it. If you are a Christian, it would be saying you won't like the Bible (New Testament) because Jesus suffers and dies. That does not even begin to define the injustices of prejudging a book and its contents based upon what others have said, or a single word description. Read it and judge for yourself. Gaskell, I suggest reading _Mary Barton_ and then _North and South_ in that order. Classic detective noir, you should read Raymond Chandler series, especially _The Big Sleep,_ _Farewell My Lovely_, to _The Long Goodbye_. Wodehouse is more comedy than mystery, Code of the Woosters was laugh out loud funny. Funniest thing I read in the last 5 years.