British Literature Class Notes -- Week 5 (February 15)

Greetings!

We had a great discussion this week as we finished up Much Ado About Nothing.  Many of the topics covered the previous week re-emerged as the plot unfolded.  We watched some scenes from the 1993 film version with Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Robert Sean Leonard, and Denzel Washington.  (This is my favorite version of the play!)  We discussed honor & virtue, double standards between men and women, deceit, love, and communication.  It should be noted that most contemporary romantic comedies follow the pattern set down by Shakespeare:  boy meets girl; boy and girl can't stand each other; boy and girl eventually fall in love.

This week we also had our first student discussion leader, Daniel.  He did a great job, and I am looking forward to future classes in which students take a more active role in our discussions.

Our next piece of literature is going to be our hardest, primarily because it's the longest.  We will take the next four weeks to read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.  Students will need to read at least 90 pages a week.  To do this, I recommend they read a little bit each day.  They won't want to leave it until the day before class.  If it helps, they can listen to audio versions of the book.

I handed out to the students some background information about our book and about Charles Dickens.  I also gave them some explanations about the Victorian era of literature.

We don't have class next week.  Our next class is on March 2.

Assignments for March 3:

-- Read p. 1 - 96 of Great Expectations

-- 3 Discussion Questions

Links for this week:

Class Notes
Great Expectations -- Plot, Theme, and Style
Great Expectations at a Glance
Charles Dickens -- Biography
Much Ado About Nothing (full version on Youtube)

Audio Versions of Great Expectations

Have a great weekend and a good break!

Mrs. Prichard