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British Literature
Lessons and projects by students and teachers on the literature of the British Commonwealth.
Canterbury Tales Prologue Character Chart
This handout can also be started as a group work in school -- it lists attributes (physical, job, irony present) for each of the major characters in Chaucer's Prologue to The Canterbury Tales. It is useful for both studying the characters as well as laying the ground work for Group Work #2 on the Prologue. I do not make a big deal of having students copy what they are finding -- they will use the charts to study from and they will be working with partners in class. I have been known to initial what they finish in class though -- by the time the bell rings, I do want them to work on the rest of it on their own. If they didn't need to study from them, I would probably collect them at the end of the period.
"i carry your heart" by e e cummings an Illuminated Text
A presentation that I created to use in introducing students to the Illluminated Text concept during their studies of Renaissance Poetry. Though the poem is modern (and American), it is taught in conjunction with a poem by Sidney. After viewing the presentation, I ask that you either comment on the presentation (below) or leave a message on the Guest Book (above). There is also a Flash Version of this same poem that I created a few years after I made this Power Point version.
Beowulf, Heroism, and 9/11 - A Presentation
This brief slide show begins with the moving, translated words of Beowulf where he states that he would not race ahead of his friend Brecca, because he had promised him he would stay by his side. The presentation next recounts some of the heroes of 9/11while subtly (I hope) comparing it ideas of heroism from Beowulf. It ends with the fiery funeral of Beowulf and the casket of the last 9/11 firefighter being carried away on his fire truck. This is used with a group work on the same subject.
Canterbury Tales - The Prologue Group Work
A coooperative in-class assignment that has students start by comparing what they came up with for their Prologue Charts. From there, they try to figure out who the pilgrims are and why they are all going to this place, and what differentiates them. There is also one question relating the Prologue to Grendel and a question that briefly goes over Chaucer's deathbed retraction. When I am writing these group works I often wonder how universal they are to other classes because I try to relate and make connections from one work to the other. That is the main reason that I make them available in Microsoft Word Format -- so they may be modified by other teachers.
Ode on a Grecian Urn - the poem by John Keats
The poem by John Keats -- just the poem, no pictures, no notes -- with plenty of room for the students to write and take notes. As a lesson, I first divide the students into the number of stanzas in the poem. Then I give them about 10 minutes to plan out how to act out their particular stanza. The only rules are that they must somehow make clearer what the words are saying. They may have one narrator, or they may all take speaking parts -- whatever they think will help explicate the poem. I should say, the story of the poem -- rather than any deeper meaning.
William Blake - Songs of Innocence and Experience
This cooperative in-class exercise has students examine some of the poems from Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. In addition to doing a close reading of the poems, they are also asked to rethink the idea that all of the poems in Songs of Innocence are completely, well, innocent. In fact, they are shown sections of the poems that hint at the later, darker, more cynical readings of Songs of Experience.
Canterbury Tales - Character Analysis
One of my kids' favorite assignments... It's pretty basic, but it does help kids to get involved with the pilgrims of The Canterbury Tales since our textbook does not provide the piece in full. This "divide and conquer" method also helps the students gain exposure to all of the tales and pilgrims, not just the traditional Pardoner and Wife offered in the book. The presentation could be replaced with an illuminated text, which is what I think I'll do next year.Note: there are factors on here that will obviously need to be edited in MS Word. Please be advised. [It should be noted here what a complete and thorough job the handout that accompanies this lesson does - and it continually brings the students back to the text with specifics that don't let them drift away from Chaucer - JRS]
Eulogy for an Elegy: Thomas Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard Group Work
While this group work does engage the students in a close analytical reading of Gray's poem, it also asks them to consider some other issues "about" the very nature of the poem. The students are asked to look at the possibility that there is a patronizing attitude or tone in the poem towards the "simple" residents of the churchyard and comparisons are made with other literature whose authors looked at the "happy" lives of the people who lived their lives unnoticed. This poem plays an important part of the students' understanding of the "realistic" versus the "idealized" pastoral when they look at Wordsworth's "Michael."
Teaching the Novel "Animal Farm"
Here is a lesson plan which makes use of technology to help students understand what goes beyond the text and to motivate them to do intensive and extensive reading. [A very good lesson plan for a teacher to follow - this one asks a lot of great questions and has students go far beyond the obvious answers. For example, at one point Virginia states that ;"the essential question of Animal Farm is NOT "Could it happen again?" The essential question is "Do I realize that it IS happening everyday all around me?" And beyond that question is, perhaps the more important question, "What are MY responsibilities to do something about it?" -
Grendel Group Work #2 - Chapter 5 - The Dragon - Connect the dots...
A very different kind of group work. The students are given a sheet filled with ideas and quotes from Grendel (and the poem "Auto Wreck"). They must then take extensive notes (before joining a group) and draw lines and arrows connecting the ideas. The student then joins a group and must come up with a thesis or overiding idea(s) between the quotes and boxes (and poem). It is interesting that some students (to be honest -- a smaller percentage, but significant nonetheless) actually do much better at this kind of unstructured assignment -- while the majority seem to want the guidelines found in most of the group works on this site (all the more reason to shake things up).
Oppressing the Oppressor: George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" group work.
I believe that George Orwell's story/essay "Shooting an Elephant," is one of the most important works written in the 20th Century. It is also a work that helps students understand the subtle and the surprising nature of much of great literature. This group work, designed to be done in 40-50 minutes by 4-5 students, examines that subtle nature while asking students to find specific pieces of text to back up their answers. The last part of the group work also connects it to Shakespeare's The Tempest -- though it would not be necessary to read that work in order to understand that question. We reference this work throughout the rest of the year - and in senior year - with those students who have had me for British Literature, as well.
Frederigo's Falcon (from the Decameron) - Group Work
Though this work is Italian, I usually teach it directly after we study The Canterbury Tales, as Chaucer was influenced so heavily by The Decameron. This is a cooperative exercise designed to be completed by 3-4 students in one class period. The assignment has the students do a close reading of the story while answering fairly directed questions that lead to bigger and bigger (I hope) moments of critical thinking. It also looks at the idea of what happens to Frederigo and his love, and how that theme of not knowing what you want till it's gone (yes, the song by Joanie Mitchell is part of the group work and I play it while the students are working) is repeated throughout literature (as in "The Gift of the Magi).
Deor - the poem, Old English and Modern Translations
Deor is the most important poem that I teach all year, and it is taught on the first day of school. It is important not only for its content ("This too shall pass"), but perhaps even more so for the idea that though this poem is one of the oldest poems written in English (Old English), it still packs an awesome punch -- that resonates today. The poem is read after I talk to the class about how I often have arguments with colleagues who believe that we shouldn't teach any work older than the 20th century
A Valediction forbidding Mourning by John Donne
The poem along with a picture of a compass. This poem and its in class discussion usually gets one of the biggest "ah ha" moments from students. Especially when I show the over-sized chalk board compass and create a circle on the blackboard -- illustrating the last lines of the poem. As of late, the past few years, I have actually been leaving the picture of the compass off of the handout - as I like them to be as surprised at the end. I have also gone over the poem that past two years without them having read it the night before - which also leads to a different discussion. There is an audio of the class discussion available on the website.
The Wife of Bath's Tale - Group Work
Though I have always believed that The Wife of Bath's Prologue is more significant than her Tale - I do believe that her story is still important for a number of reasons. One reason, of course, has to do with how it fits in with her Prologue. She seems to be vilified by many of the Pilgrims (and society at large) so the her Tale's thesis of "what a woman wants" seems particularly appropriate. There are some ironies and subtlties in her story that become even more appearant in the context of the Tales in General and her Prologue in specific. All the more reason, for my concern that many text books are giving shortened versions of her Prologue or leaving it out all together (I give my students a complete copy).
