You are hereLiterature
Literature
Lessons and projects by students and teachers on every aspect of Literature (that we have on the site anyway). This is the parent view for British, American, World Literature and Shakespeare.
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.
Cat in the Rain by Jenny Lee
The Illuminated Text that convinced me of the power and potential of the medium. This project explicates the short story "Cat in the Rain" from In Our Time. About a year and a half after this site opened, someone asked me how I got the idea for Illuminated Texts -- the answer for that one is easy: I saw Jenny Lee's "Cat in the Rain." Note: We now have a movie version of "Cat in the Rain" in case any of you were having problems viewing the Power Point version.
Click Here to View the QuickTime (video) Version of Cat in the Rain
Click Here to View the Power Point Version of - Cat in the Rain Read more »
"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.
Macbeth Made Easy - Group Work
A lesson as tied to the idea of the "text centered classroom" as anything else you will find at this website. It also owes most of its ideas to Stephen Booth. This group work (designed for 4-5 students) tries to show students in three parts (one done in front of the other) -- exactly why it is not a good idea to paraphrase Shakespeare --and why the actual words (as opposed to the ideas, plots, or themes) of Shakespeare's works are paramount.
Each part of the lesson is designed to be done before the other. It helps if you have a color printer to print out the last part which shows the rich word textures present in Shakespeare (and absent from paraphrases). This lesson is also a good way to prepare students for some of the "text-centered" ideas that will come later in their unit on Literary Criticism. Read more »
The House on Mango Street Group Work #2 - Through Page 65
From first job to her aunt's advice about writing and all the connections in-between that a close-reading can muster. Specifically, this assignment has students look at aspects of Esperanza's character - what we can tell from the text - her dealing with her papa's reaction to the death of her mother, and the wonder sense of empathy that is seen in Esperanza here and throughout the book. The group work also has students start connecting her longing for her perfect "house" with the other "house" that she is building - her writing. Reading Log for Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama
The reading log is a method I learned at Northwestern from Dr. Dagny Bloland and have observed in practice from Ms. Jenni Higgs. The goal is to honor the close-reading process by giving class time and to offer individual instruction. The question range from fairly obvious to higher level analysis, which both challenges and breeds confidence in their reading skills. Student must do all work in class; the logs are collected after each class time. This eliminates cheating, and spark notes, while providing a self-paced experience for all students.
The House on Mango Street - An Illuminated Text example
A short example, appropriate for demonstration (we now have a Flash Video version of this presentation) -- showing students how and what an illuminated text is, using The House on Mango Street. It focuses on what Esperanza sees herself as and what she wants to become. One thing that this presentation also shows, I hope, is that it is not the technology, but the ideas that are the greatest contributor to making an Illuminated Text successful (though I would never be presumptuous enough to say that this one is). It is interesting that the year that I created this - and was so proud of my work - a student created an Illuminated Text on similar lines that blew this one completely away.
"Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God": Rhetoric and Imagery
Concept: Teach about rhetorical effect and the use of persuasive techniques through "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards. Also, examine the imagery presented throughout the sermon.
General Goals: Students will learn about the rhetorical effects of occasion, audience, ethos, and pathos. Students will also examine the persuasive techniques of repetition and emotional appeal through the literary work. Students will examine the concept of imagery and create visual representations of various images presented throughout "Sinners."
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.
Illuminated A & P by John Updike
This is an illuminated text for John Updike's "A & P" using a literary 3X3 collaboratively created by 12th grade AP Lit students. [In order to hear this Power Point Illuminated Text, you must use Internet Explorer as your browser and choose open rather than save. JRS] I created the Powerpoint in order to model the student assignment of illuminating one story from a month-long short story unit. I am now able to tutor students on how to use Powerpoint (2007) after I spent about 4 hours constructing "A & P". [We now have a Flash Video version of this Illuminated Text - if you've had any problems hearing the sound - click on the link below.]
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.
Ideas for Teaching Macbeth
If you have a cool idea to use in teaching Macbeth - and you don't have a handout or there isn't enough for a full-blow teacher lesson - post it here.
"i carry your heart" by e e cummings - An Illuminated Text in Flash
This is the second Illuminated Text that I have created using this poem. As my students transition from Power Point to Adobe Flash -- I wanted to go through the process and acquaint myself with what they were going through for myself. I chose this poem because I love it dearly- and, to me, it is an ideal candidate for a text-based animation -- the words are rich, beautiful, and multi-layered. When I was writing this Illuminated Text - it occurred to me how much these presentations are like essays or writing in general - you need to have some kind of overriding idea or thesis and each piece must support and play off of the other.
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.
