Title of the class: Contemporary British Literature
Age of students: 19-20 years old (4th
year of study)
General Topic: Contemporary British
Literature: changes the novels underwent
Topic of the class: Peter Ackroyd “The
House of Doctor Dee”
Type of the class: seminar
Goals of the class:
- To discuss the most important events that took place in the life of Peter Ackroyd.
- To highlight the main topics of the works by Peter Ackroyd.
- To make an analysis of “The House of Doctor Dee” by Peter Ackroyd.
- To compare two different worlds that Peter Ackroyd created in “The House of Doctor Dee”.
Course of the lesson:
1The class starts with
the presentation made by one of the students about the life and main works of
Peter Ackroyd. Than the students watch a.
short video (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17790481)
and discuss what additional information they have heard.
2.
The students come up to
the discussion of the novel itself. They are to:
·
state the main symbols
described in the novel
·
discuss what traits of characters
Matthew and Dr. Dee possess
·
compare the way of
describing Matthew and Dr. Dee that P. Ackroyd used (pay attention to the difference
between the prints used by the author)
·
show the structure of
the novel (pay attention to the titles of the chapters)
3.
After discussing all
that is stated earlier the students have up to 10 minutes to create an entry in
their web-logs that should contain the information about two characters (Matthew
and Dr. Dee). The entry should be like this
Matthew
Dr. Dee
Intuition History Reason
NO personal past House wide range of
interests
NOT interested in
reading Knowledge
Lonely
feeling
Father
London
(in the middle the
students should write what they think both characters possess)
4.
After creating their
entries the students are to make conclusions on what they have discussed during
the seminar. The following issues should be mentioned:
·
The topic of creating a
homunculus
·
The changes in the
surroundings (the house and what was around it earlier and what is around it “now”)
·
The idea of the
investigations as one of the ways to underline the similarity between the
characters (Matthew and Dr. Dee).
5.
Home assignment for the
students is to write a 2-page essay on the topic “Two men but one destiny” in which
they have to confirm or deny the idea of Matthew being a “son=homunculus” for
Dr. Dee. They need to post it in their web-logs 3 days before the next seminar.
Furthermore the students are to make comments on the entries of their groupmates
(at least 3 comments).
The topic is directed on the thought expression and discussion. On my point of view, on the Internet students would express their ideas freely and can use their personal space, can stay alone with their own thoughts, be creative. At the class not everybody feels the same, but on the Internet they write as to themselves.
ВідповістиВидалитиI think the class is well-structured. Home task is logical continuation of the topic discussed during the seminar. I like the topic for the essay, but I think it would be more appropriate, if you provided several topics, so that students had a choice. But the general idea with the essay as a post is great - it can be start of somebody's writing career! :)
ВідповістиВидалитиVery good activity with the help of blog. I want to note time - I think it is quite enough for such a task. And work in blog will make the result of each student more individual and personal. Hometask is very good too, students will have an opportunity to express their thoughts and mention what wasn't mention during the seminar. Generally accessible post with an essay is a good thing to do because it may provoke further discussion in the comments. :)
ВідповістиВидалитиIt should be noted that the activity with the use of blogs (create an entry in web-logs that should contain the information about two characters)must be really helpful during the literature class, as it develops students' comparison and creativity skills. This task can also easily show who had read the text and who had not, because it requires some knowledge of the characters.
ВідповістиВидалитиHome assignment is closely connected with the topic of the lesson and its activities. This task gives students an opportunity to express themselves and their thoughts on the topic freely. It also gives an opportunity to answer and to get a good mark to EVERYONE, who is eager to do so.
I think that this kind of using web-logs during literature classes is quite unusual, because we are used to express our thoughts orally, which causes some problems, for example not every student has time to mention what he/she wants, or the ideas are pretty the same. With the usage of web-logs these problems are solved - students write their ideas freely. Moreover, the task with comparing two protagonists in the web-log is essential, because for many people it is easier to express their thoughts in written form.
ВідповістиВидалитиI want to agree that in comparison with English Language classes, the classes of literature usually do not contain such unusual tasks and modern techniques. It's great that weblogs are used in the process of text analyzing. What I liked most of all, is the structure of the lesson.
ВідповістиВидалитиStill it would be better to give students more options ad topics, that can provoke even more vivid discussions and brilliant ideas.
I like that from the very beginning of the class the students are aimed to work, because you are giving them a chance to make a presentation and, let us be realistic, the additional points are always a great motivation!
ВідповістиВидалитиAs to the class itself, I want to single out the structure that starts from the general discussion of a book and then goes into the details and logically it is finished with the home task to write an essay after everything that they learned at the class.
The task with blogs is also worth mentioning as a great plus, because it gives the students a possibility of cooperation!
I'd like to add to all the said above, that it's really a great idea not only to give a task "write an entry about two characters etc", but also provide the example of it and thus give clear directions to students what to do)I like that you really clarified all the tasks!
ВідповістиВидалитиPolina, that is really a good topic for the lesson. The novel is quite interesting and tricky, and it is good that you work with it in such details, especially with main characters. This lesson will help students understand novel better and really enjoy it!
ВідповістиВидалити