Brit Lit Class Notes -- January 16 (Week 1)

Greetings!

It's good to be back at CHAT again!  British Literature is one of my favorite subjects to teach, and I'm glad to have some great students to share it with.  It's a small class of three, but I think smaller classes allow for more in-depth conversations.

For those new to my classes, I write a weekly class update after each class.  Usually, I try to do it on Wednesday.  Unfortunately, I returned home from classes not feeling too well; I'm just now getting back on track.  Another mode of communication that I use with my students is a blog, British Literature (www.chatbritlit.blogspot.com)  All of my class notes, copies of handouts, and additional resources will be listed on this site.  Most of the hyperlinks in these e-mails lead to pages with the pertinent information.

I handed out to the class a syllabus with reading and writing assignments.  We'll be reading Beowulf, Much Ado about Nothing, Great Expectations, Pygmalion, 39 Steps, and selections of Victorian and Romantic poetry. 

We began the class with a brief discussion of the literary history of England.  I handed out an information packet; we read about Old and Middle English and looked at a timeline.  Our first book, Beowulf, is the first recorded piece of literature in the English language.  Originally written in verse, we're reading a prose version.  This version is lacking in some of the artistic features, but the content is a bit easier to understand.  As an introduction and for background information, I gave the students some pages from Spark Notes.  I've also told them that using the online version of Spark Notes might help them to more fully understand the literature.  I would like them to read the portion from their book and then they may look at the summary and analysis from Spark Notes.  For some pieces of literature, especially older works, the what? and where? and who? and when? are difficult enough to figure out. Once we understand those, we can ask the deeper questions of how? and why?

You'll note the writing assignments listed on the syllabus.  There are short assignments; most of the students' work in this class will be reading and discussions.

Assignment for Next Week:
--- Read 1/2 of Beowulf. (up to page 28, stopping just before section XXIV)

Blogs for this week:
Syllabus
Brief History of English History
Class Notes


Happy Reading!
Have a great week!
Mrs. Prichard