British Literature Class Notes -- Week 6 (February 20)

Greetings!

We had shortened classes at CHAT this week due to the impending blizzard.  Since I had to travel south into the "blizzard zone" after classes, I was glad to get an early start for my ride home.  Even with the shortened class, we were able to accomplish quite a a bit.  These are hard-working, conscientious students.

We've started our Dickens book, Great Expectations.  This is the longest book that we'll read -- I encourage the students to set aside plenty of time for reading.  One reason for not having many writing assignments is that the reading for this class is more challenging.  For those who enjoy hearing their books, LibriVox has a recording and so does Lit2Go.  Some libraries also have audio versions.  After a student gets a "feel" for an author's writing style, the reading goes more quickly.

Even though our class was short, we had a great discussion about the first section of the book.  The students are developing into careful, analytical readers.  This week we talked about Pip and his character, the morality of some decisions, Mrs. Joe's abusive temperament, and the influence of the setting among other topics. 

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read up to page 191 in Great Expectations

-- Come to class with 3 Discussion Questions.

This weeks blog:

Class Notes

Have a great weekend!  Stay safe and warm.

Mrs. Prichard

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 5 (February 13)

Greetings!

We had a great class this week.  Honestly, these are a great group of students who have done some careful reading of the assigned works.  Each week they bring to class great questions that are not only interesting but offer up fresh insights.

We finished with Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.  We talked of politics, love, and male/female equality.  We liked some characters, and others we found weaker. I brought to class my copy of the Kenneth Branagh version of the film, and we watched a couple of scenes.  The sparring between Beatrice and Benedick on the movie is just as I would imagine it.  

Our next book is another favorite of mine, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.  I gave the class handouts as introductions to the book, but we didn't have much time leftover to talk through them.  This is our longest book, and we've set aside 4 weeks to read it.  

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read to page 90 of Great Expectations.

This week's blog

Class Notes

Great Expectations at a Glance

Plot and Themes of Great Expectations

Victorian Literature

Have a great weekend.  Make the most of this winter wonderland!

Mrs. Prichard

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 4 (February 6)

Greetings!

We had another good class.  This is a group of students who are willing to think critically and to discuss the literature. Each student came to class with 3 discussion questions.  Writing on the white board one question from each student, they took some time to jot down their thoughts about each of those questions.

With the students determining the direction of our conversation, we began our look at Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.  This is a delightful play with multiple layers of themes and character development.  For this past week we read the first two acts.  We'll finish the final three acts next week.  Next week, I will also introduce Great Expectations by Dickens.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read Acts III, IV, and V of Much Ado.

-- Bring to class 3 discussion questions

This week's blog:  Class Notes

Have a great weekend,

Mrs. Prichard