Friday, April 25, 2014

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 13 (April 24)

Greetings!
Another great class this week!
We have finished another classic of British literature, Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw.  Arriving at the end of this drama, we were able to discuss the whole of Higgins's and Eliza's relationship and respective personalities. When a reader gets to the end of a piece of fiction, he/she is able to determine of the final outcomes match what they perceived about the characters as they were presented by the author.  We discussed whether Eliza made the right choice at the end and whether Higgins had a romantic bone in his body. 
This is a delightful play -- the language and characterization are clever and witty.  I encourage everyone to not only read it, but to find My Fair Lady to watch.
Our next book is The 39 Steps by John Buchan.  This is one of the first espionage novels written.  Of a similar time period as Shaw, Buchan's story is nothing like Pygmalion.   This book could be considered a precursor of books such as Ian Fleming's James Bond series or Robert Ludlum's Bourne books.  Happy reading!
Assignments for Next Week:
-- Read through Chapter 6 of The 39 Steps
-- Bring 3 discussion questions
-- Bring to class some article about the book or about the author.
This week's links:
Class Notes
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Prichard

Saturday, April 5, 2014

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 11 (April 3)

Greetings!

We had another poetic day in British Literature.  I recognize that not all students love poetry, but they were all troopers as we worked through our selections of Victorian poetry.  I often equate unraveling and analyzing poetry to looking at an oil painting by a great artist.  Many times with paintings, artists use layers of paint to produce a single effect.  With poetry, as we look closely at the various elements (rhyme scheme, imagery, rhythm, word choice, enjambment, etc.) we are often able to see into the depths of the poets intent.  (A note for the students:  When we take time to dig deeply into a poem, the inner meanings almost appear magically to us ... if we are distracted, the image seems to fly out the window, and the reflection of the poet's thoughts and emotions are broken. Hmm... sounds like a poem I read by Tennyson.)

We read "The Lady of Shalott," line by line.  Many times, Victorian poetry uses a narrative structure, which makes the poems a little easier to read and to understand on a surface level.  We also read aloud Browning's "My Last Duchess," the nonsense poems of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll, and the deeply spiritual poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins.

We are now done with poetry.  In class this week, I handed out to the students their final books:  Pygmalion, which we will read next, and The 39 Steps, our final selection.  

Assignments for Next Week
--  Read Pygmalion (Acts 1, 2, 3)
-- Write 3 discussion questions for the assignment sections
-- Read the handouts on the book and author

This week's links
Class Notes

See you next week!
Mrs. Prichard