You are hereThe Post-Victorian and Modern Era of British Literature
The Post-Victorian and Modern Era of British Literature
Lessons and projects by students and teachers on the works of Ernest Hemingway, especially his first collection of short stories, In Our Time.
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?" -
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.
Tear it all Down: A Group Work on Graham Greene's "The Destructors"
I must confess that I do not often get to this late of a period of British Literature - there are just too few days in the school year. With that in mind, this Group Work is nearly 10 years old -- but I still believe, relevant and useful in the classroom. Greene's story once moved one of my students to tears -- he wanted to become an art museum curator -- and he just didn't believe how anyone could be as destructive as the children in the story. This cooperative assignment tries to get to the bottom of that through the text -- it also links this work with Blake's Chimney Sweeper poems and some other texts that the students have read throughout the school year.
"Araby" by James Joyce - A Worksheet for a cooperative annotation
James Joyce's "Araby" has long been one of my favorite stories. This year I wanted to do something different. The students read the story the night before and after they took their quiz, I gave them the attached worksheet. Students can work with partners - and they essentially annotate the text (I had given them a printed copy of the story) and write those annotations down to later be published on the Antext (electronic annotated text) of Araby on this website. The two crucial parts of this group work ask the students to find the epiphany and the cllimax of the story. Towards the end of the period I showed them the brief Power Point presentation (also attached) - and there is an amazing chorus of recognition in what most of them already suspected.
Literary Criticism Day 5: Deconstructionism and Shooting and Elephant
This is, without a doubt, the most difficult of all of the concepts that the students will study during this week of Literary Criticism. In addition to their reading on an Deconstructionist's analysis of The Tempest - the students will also look at "Shooting an Elephant" from that same perspective. There are a some things that I have done to try to bring them to an understanding. The first is that I have given them two days to read and digest the ideas for todays collaborative exercise. I will usually go back to a straight examination of The Tempest - in the interim. The other thing that I have done is to try and give them practical explanations of Deconstructionism.
Senior English Final Presentation
This lesson is a final senior English presentation for the end of the year that asks students to chose a particular work they have studied, then relate it back to a modern times via a specific theme. The main point of the lesson is to teach students that literature, and its themes, are timeless and are consistently always relevant to any current situation. If you have not taught any of the attached pieces, then please replace them with what pieces and themes you have taught. Also, please feel free to adapt the lesson to fit your own curriculum.
The Portrayal of Nature in Ted Hughes' "To Paint a Water Lily"
This lesson can be used to introduce interpretation, analysis, and evidence. It does so by interpreting and analyzing "To Paint a Water Lily," which was written by the 20th century British poet Ted Hughes. This lesson uses multi-media, small group discussion, and writing to help students understand what it means to identify theme (interpret) and to explain how the poet uses analytic devices to express that theme (analysis). This lesson can be used during a 45 minute class. Please see attached documents for more details.
The Wart and the King: The Once and Future King - Group/Partner Work #2
An in-depth and critical thinking based partner work consisting of two handouts that asks students to look at some key quotes from T.H. White's The Once and Future King as well as Walt Whitman's "A Child went Forth," Burns's "To a Mouse," The Dark Knight (Batman) and more. It asks students to consider what happened to Arthur in his growing up - how this fits in with what else they have read (or will read) including the quote from The Tempest - "What's Past is Prologue." [There is now a revised version (2010) that does not have Batman, but does have more ties to Macbeth]
1984 Project
After reading 1984 by George Orwell, I have students complete this project to help them relate the book to the world today. I felt that students weren't really connecting the book to the world today and weren't taking an opinion on it for themselves. The project asks students to find connections between one main idea or theme from the book and what is happening in the world today. Those connections may be showing how Orwell's prediction has come true or an example of how Orwell viewed the world incorrectly.
The Dubliners by James Joyce - Etext Version with space for notes
This is an etext version of The Dubliners by James Joyce - formatted for Word with room on the right margin (and the top and bottom) of the page for the students and the teacher to take notes on. Eventually, there will also be a corresponding version that can also be annotated. The original version of this text comes from Project Gutenberg. This is not a complete set of the stories - but is instead, these are the stories that we will read and/or discuss in class.
Stephen Dedalus Facebook Project
This project combines James Jocye's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man with the popular social networking site Facebook.
Split the class into groups (2 - 5 should work) and give them the assignment guidelines (see attached). Be sure to provide them a weblink for the PowerPoint template (you can use the one I have created here).
Each group will create a mock Facebook profile for Stephen Dedalus as he progresses through each chapter in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (5 chapters - 5 phases - 5 profiles). The profiles will need to be created in PowerPoint (simply add images and text) and then either printed (slide handout) or submitted to the teacher electronically.
Utopia Project
After studying The Giver, The Wave, Brave New World, 1984, and other dystopian novels, students design their own Utopian society. Students will: 1)Name their society 2)Create a Declaration of Independence 3) Create a 3D map 4) List of Rules 5) Governing Body 6) Flag 70 Utopian Motto/Seal 8) Utopian Animal. The reasoning behind this lesson is that Literature often means nothing to students when it’s not grounded in a context that matters to them.
Sonnet 5-Introduction to Poetry
This activity is to introduce students to sonnets. I usually have them read the sonnet and ask for initial impressions. Most students think it is about lover or an affair. We then do a close examination of poetic techniques. The drawing is the fun part to see how well students interpreted the text. [I especially like the use of the drawing at the end to try and interpret what is happening in the poem - and the use of a modern poem to introduce students to the form. JRS]
Ten Connections: The French Lieutenant's Woman Group Work #3
As this group work is used at the end of the year, it asks the students to tie a number of ideas from earlier works in with this one. Originally I taught this novel as a required text, however as we have lost nearly 20 days to teaching in the school calendar it always ends up as being extra-credit. However, since it is the end of the year -- nearly half of the class end up reading the novel and doing these group work handouts -- often as solo work rather than working with a group. This group work asks them to find specific links with other texts that we have read.
Finding our Measure: A Class Discussion of James Joyce's "Counterparts."
LISTEN TO AUDIO. The discussion begins with a close reading of the beginning of the story -- the images that Joyce uses. Then we discuss the plot -- who is Farrington's counterpart(s). We also discuss the idea of transferance and how it relates to our lives -- who do we take out those bad things that happen to us every day. And since this story comes very close to the end of the school year we also talk about "counterparts" that we have seen throughout our readings - from the very first story, "The Night Face Up" to Song of Solomon.
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