MY STUDENTS GIVE THEIR LESSONS : THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

Giulia, Nico e Sara closed the series of lessons my 5scB students gave to the rest of the class after reading a 19th century novel of their choice during summer. This morning it was the turn of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. The three students in the group used pictures and Power Point slides to visually support their very informative speech about the author, the characters, the story and the themes in the novel.
Since we are not working on the Victorian Age yet, they didn't try to contextualize Oscar Wilde's work. They instead made very interesting points analysing the themes .
While listening, their mates took notes. I sadly noticed that some of them were rather "surprised" at discovering  Oscar Wilde's troubles and tragic end due to his homosexuality. The mentioned some were rather judgemental and, I'm afraid,  I can't bear that. Unfortunately,  in my experience, young people are sometimes much less tolerant and less understanding than adults. I must work on that. Promise.

(The power point presentation used in this lesson is in the widget_box on the right - Dorian Gray 2012)

MY STUDENTS GIVE THEIR LESSONS: JANE EYRE

Federica, Valeria e Veronica read Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre in the summer and prepared a very interesting lesson  about the author and the novel.

They presented their points and analysis with power point slides that you can download from the widget_box on the right (Jane Eyre 2012) and they also proposed us a scene from the latest movie adaptation of the story with Michael Fassbender as Mr Rochester and Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre. 

They said they liked reading this novel  and I hope they will also like studying Victorian literature from January on.

For now, in our lessons,  we are working on the different genres of fiction between the end of 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century (Mary Shelley, Jane Austen, Walter Scott)

Tomorrow we'll work on Pride and Prejudice. "It is a truth universally acknowledged that ..." a teacher fond of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte and great classic literature is having and will have great fun.

 Will her students ever share her passion?

MY STUDENTS GIVE THEIR LESSONS: PERSUASION BY JANE AUSTEN

The book Elena, Eleonora, Elisabetta, Emi e Valentina read last summer was Persuasion  so they prepared their lesson on Jane Austen's last novel , introducing also The Novel of Manners as a genre . They carefully chose information, videos and pictures to report to the rest of the class with the help of a power point presentation.

They carefully analysed the characters and the themes in the story, proposed their favourite scenes from the 2007 adaptation of the book and introduced to their mates the woman question referring to authors like Mary Wollstonecraft and Margaret Fuller to finally discuss the fact if Jane Austen can be considered a feminist writer.

 You'll find their work in a folder in the widget_box on the right sidebar. 

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE - PART II

In Pride and Prejudice Part I we stopped at the the unexpected turning point that is Mr Darcy's marriage proposal to Elizabeth Bennet. 

1. What happened? 

2. How did Elizabeth react? Why?

3. Did Mr Darcy expect her refusal? 

JANE AUSTEN & THE NOVEL OF MANNERS: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE - PART I

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”.

This is the widely popular sentence opening the widely popular story of the five Bennet sisters  written by Jane Austen between October 1796 and August 1797. Its original title was FIRST IMPRESSIONS but it was published only in 1813 with the title, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.

The opening scene is set in Hertfordshire, a county that nowadays has practically become part of Greater London, as suburban development stretches even further northwards. In the late 18th century, however, it was still well-wooded countryside.

The story opens early in September, when Jane Austen takes us straight into Longbourn House to listen to the Bennets’ conversation after dinner. Mrs Bennet is making plans for husband –hunting on her daughters’ behalf. Five daughters and an estate worth £2,000 a year were not an easy situation to cope with, especially if your husband (Mr Bennet) is not very good at saving. The urgent need for husbands is also due to the fact that the estate of Longbourn is “entailed” – a legal arrangement whereby the property could descend only to a male heir.