British Literature Class Notes -- Week 2 (January 25)

Greetings!

My apologies for the lateness of these Class Notes.  I usually send them out before the weekend is over, but it just didn't happen this week.  Unlike my other classes that have a variety of types of assignments, the homework is pretty straightforward for this class:  Read the assigned sections and come up with some thought-provoking discussion questions.

This past week we worked through the first part of the classic Beowulf.  I've chosen a prose version of this story rather than the epic verse version because I thought the story would be easier to understand.  If you are interested in reading a poetic version, Seamus Heaney has the best translation, and here is a link to a PDF version.  

During or last class, we used the questions from the study guide for our discussions.  These questions modeled the types of questions that I would like the students to write themselves.  Simple questions that help us make sure we have the basics down (i.e. who, what, when, where),  but I would like the students to go beyond comprehension questions, asking questions that start with "How" or "Why."  (If you're interested, Bloom's Taxonomy describes the levels of thinking abilities that progress from basic to higher order critical thinking, and this website has a great chart that I've used in composing study guides.)

We've only had two weeks together, but I'm pleased with our discussions.  Even with a small class, we've kept ourselves engaged up until the end of our time.  Way to go, students!  Below are some helpful and interesting short videos related to the story of Beowulf.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Finish Beowulf

-- Write 3 Discussion Questions (These must be written out and ready to hand in)

Links for This Week:

Class Notes

Beowulf, Summary & Overview -- 60 Second Recap

Beowulf, The Plot (Part 1) -- 60 Second Recap

Beowulf, The Plot (Part 2) -- 60 Second Recap

Beowulf, The Characters (Part 1) -- 60 Second Recap

Beowulf, The Characters (Part 2) -- 60 Second Recap

Beowulf, The Lego Version

Seamus Heaney's Beowulf

Bloom's Taxonomy Charts

Happy Reading & Stay Warm!

Mrs. Prichard

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 1 (January 18)

Greetings!

Welcome to British Literature.  We've had a great start to this class.  This is one of my favorite classes to teach; I love British literature, and I love discussing it with students  This is a small class this semester, only 3 students, but I have high hopes for the quality discussions that we will have!

We began our class with a Quick Write, in which I wanted the students to respond to the question, "What is your favorite book and why?"  We then discussed the elements of quality literature and determined that books that stand the test of time do so because of the story they tell and the style that they tell it in.  

Our first book is a prose version of the ancient story, Beowulf.  Written as heroic poetry, I have the students read a prose version because for the sake of this class, I choose to focus on the story rather than the poetic style that it was originally written.  Written some time between the 8th and 11th centuries, this work had been somewhat forgotten until J.R.R. Tolkein revitalized the study of it, not only because of its literary qualities, but also because of its linguistic and historic aspects.  One of the key parts of this class is our group discussions about the literature that we're reading.  My favorite aspect of these discussions is that students will bring discussion questions to class.  Rather than answer questions from a study guide that I provide, they are to read the material and come up with their own questions that they feel would be good to "mull over" in a discussion.  While we will talk about the specific details of the plot and characters, these questions should aimed at more critical thinking and analysis topics.  In other words, "how" and "why" questions.  As the students read the first portion of the book, they are also to pay attention the themes (see this page from Sparks Notes)  

For those new to my classes, I send out weekly Class Notes to let parents know what we did in class and to remind students about the assignments, along with any attachments for that week.  I also put the Class Notes and the content for any handouts on a blog for this class.  Finally, I have a Google Drive  folder that also has copies of the handouts.

I forgot to mention to the class that I have PDFs of coloring pages for the story of Beowulf on the shared Google Drive.  I will bring some copies to class next week, but students can follow this link to view the pages and print any that they want.

This week's links:

Class Notes

British Literature Spring Syllabus

BEOWULF RESPONDS TO UNFERTH
Beowulf Intro 

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read p. 1 - 30 of Beowulf

-- 3 Discussion Questions:  Either answer questions from the Beowulf worksheet or write your own questions.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Prichard

British Literature Spring Syllabus, 2018

	Literature Reading Assignment Due this Week	Writing Assignment Due this Week
Week 1 (1/18)	Brief timeline of British History; Introduce Beowulf
Week 2 (1/25)	Discuss Beowulf;	Read History of English Literature (I & II) Read p. 1 – 30; 3 Discussion Questions
Week 3 (2/1)	Discuss Beowulf; Introduce Much Ado About Nothing	Read History of English Literature (III) Read p. 30 – 57; 3 Discussion Questions
Week 4 (2/8)	Discuss Much Ado About Nothing	Read History of English Literature (IV) Read Acts I, II & III; 3 Discussion Questions
Week 5 (2/15)	Discuss Much Ado About Nothing Introduce Great Expectations	Read Acts IV & V; 3 Discussion Questions Read History of English Literature (VII)
Week 6 (3/1)	Discuss Great Expectations	Read p. 1 – 96; 3 Discussion Questions
Week 7 (3/8)	Discuss Great Expectations	Read p. 96 – 191; 3 Discussion Questions
Week 8 (3/15)	Discuss Great Expectations	Read p. 191 – 286; 3 Discussion Questions
Week 9 (3/22)	Discuss Great Expectations; Introduce Poetry	Read p. 286 – 380; 3 Discussion Questions
Week 10 (4/5)	Discuss Poetry (Romantic & Metaphysical Poets)	Read History of English Literature (VI) Poetry selections TBD; 3 Discussion Questions
Week 11 (4/12)	Discuss Poetry (Victorian Poets); Introduce Pygmalion	Read History of English Literature (VII) Poetry selections TBD; 3 Discussion Questions
Week 12 (4/19)	Discuss Pygmalion	Read Acts I, II & III; 3 Discussion Questions
Week 13 (4/26)	Discuss Pygmalion; Introduce 39 Steps	Read Acts IV & V; 3 Discussion Questions
Week 14 (5/3)	Discuss 39 Steps	Read p. 1 – 42; 3 Discussion Questions
Week 15 (5/10)	Discuss 39 Steps	Read p. 43 – 88; 3 Discussion Questions Reflection Paper

British Literature -- Spring Technology Information

Greetings!

CHAT classes started again this week, and I'm excited to start the spring semester of classes.  We're going to have a great semester!

Below are explanations of my online sources that I provide as a resource for families.  

Class Updates:  Weekly, following our class, I will send out an e-mail that explains what we covered in class and what the assignments are. Occasionally I will include links to interesting or pertinent sites that pertain to our class discussion.  Any handouts from the class will be attached to these e-mails.  Double check to make sure these e-mails are making it to your Inbox and not the Junk/Spam folder.

British Literature Blog:  The weekly updates and copies of most messages are also posted on this site.  If you need to see a number of the updates at once, this is an efficient way to do it. Copies of the handouts (with the exception of those that are pdfs) will be posted on this blog.  Also, photos, images, videos, and links to other websites will appear on this site.  If you're curious, you can peruse the blog for past posts in order to get a feeling for what to expect this year. (That's where you will find this post!)

Google Drive.  This is an online storage site, and I have folders with all of the documents that I use in a folder for this class.  If a student is missing a worksheet or a handout, he/she can find it there.  You can click on this link for the following folders related to the class:   Writing, Grammar, Literature.

My GradeBook:  This is the online grade book that I will be using this year.  It is new to me, but since it is similar to the one I had previously used, I don't anticipate any problems.  My paper grade book is up to date with every assignment, but it may take a week or so to get the grades onto this site.  That said, it should be a pretty accurate picture of what homework is missing and ongoing scores for the work.  

Long story short:

-- If a student isn't sure of an assignment, he/she can check

     -- the syllabus that was handed out

     -- the Class Update

     -- the blog

-- If a student is missing something that I handed out, he/she can find it 

     -- as an attachment to a Class Update

     -- on the blog

     -- in the Dropbox folder.

-- If you have questions about grades or missing homework, you can

     -- check My GradeBook

     -- send me a personal e-mail.

If you have any questions, let me know.  

I'm looking forward to teaching this great group of students!

Mrs. Prichard

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 15 (May 11)

Greetings!

We had a wonderful final class for our British Literature class.  We finished our last reading selection, The 39 Steps by John Buchan.  While the book is full of implausibilities, the action of the plot made it a fun read.  The discussion questions that the students brought not only had us talking about the book but about all of our literature selections this semester.  We rated their our reading selections.  All of the students agreed that Beowulf was the least favorite book and Great Expectations and Pygmalion were the more favored books.

We only took about a third of our class time to discuss the book because I had planned a final exam.  It was a Jeopardy game and the class divided themselves into two teams..  (You can go here and play it for yourselves.)  The students did well!  

My goal is to have grades out by the end of the weekend..  I have to say that this is one of my favorite classes to teach. 

Assignments for Next Week:

-- ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!

Links for this week:

Class Notes

Jeopardy Game

Have a wonderful summer!

Mrs. Prichard

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 14 (May 4)

Greetings!

We are on our final book, the 1915 espionage/thriller The 39 Steps by John Buchan.  The class seems to like the book.  Not only is it shorter, it has an engaging plot and feels more contemporary in its style.  In class we discussed the the questions that each student brought to class.

If students are interested, they might want to watch excerpts from a 2008 BBC version of the book or a scene from a stage play.  The movies made from this book follow the serious, dangerous tone found in the book while the plays are more farcical.   We will finish the book for the last week in class.

This week, our final week together, we will finish our discussion of The 39 Steps and will also have a final exam. This exam will look more like a game of Jeopardy.  No studying will be required; on the other hand, students have mentioned that treat would be nice, so they may bring something to share with the class.

Assignments for this week:

-- Finish The 39 Steps

Links for this week:

Class Notes

The 39 Steps (BBC version)

Drury Lane stage version of The 39 Steps

The Value of Reflection Papers

Looking forward to our class,

Mrs. Prichard

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 13 (April 27)

Greetings!

We enjoyed another good discussion about our literature this week.  We've reached the end of a classic from the turn of the century, Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw.  As we read  quality works, we not only discuss themes, character development, and plots as they appear in the literature, but we also talk about the same ideas and how we see them reflected in our own lives.

I appreciate the discussion questions that they bring to class.  Every week, each one of them has a good set of insightful questions that promotes our lively discussions and helps us unpack our reading selection.

We are beginning our final book for this class:  The Thirty-Nine Steps.  This adventure novel written by Scottish author, John Buchan, is one of the first espionage thrillers.  His main character, Richard Hannay, has been described as a cross between Sherlock Holmes and James Bond.  It first appeared in 1915 as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine.  According to one commentary, this book would not have been a success "without Buchan's brisk characterization, loving evocation of Scottish landscape and his switchblade prose."    

I forgot to mention in class that for the last week I will be assigning the students a reflection paper.  This is their only writing assignment for the semester.  Also, we will have a final test on the last day.  But no worries, it will be in the form of a game!

Assignment for Next Week:

-- Read p. 1 - 42

-- Write 3 Discussion Questions

Links for this week:

Class Notes

Pygmalion -- 1938 film

My Fair Lady (with Rex Harrison & Audrey Hepburn)

The Thirty-Nine Steps (Alfred Hitchock, 1935)

The Thirty-:Nine Steps (Full Audio Book)

The 39 Steps (BBC, 2008)

The Thirty-Nine Steps Teacher's Guide

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard