IV. GEORGE ORWELL’S Burmese Days – English Literature II

IV. GEORGE ORWELL’S Burmese Days – English Literature II

Activities:

1.    Work collaboratively in groups. 

2.    What are your initial impressions of the characters in Burmese Days? Do they develop through the novel or are they static? If they are developing characters, how do they change and why? Are there any similarities or differences between this set of characters and those of E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India? As you make progress through the pages of this novel, take down notes on all the characters you encounter. 

In your notes, include

• Traits of personality
• Physical features
• Their philosophical outlooks ( how they see life, the “Others” ( in this case, the Burmese), their own countrymen, love, sex, their place in the world, the place where they are living at the moment, etc.
• Gestures, speech, and mannerisms that characterise them
• 3.Setting: How well does the writer help you to visualise the setting? Make a note of any descriptive passages which you think are particularly effective in creating a vivid sense of place and time. Does the setting seem to be just a background against which the action takes place – for example, because it is concerned with historical events or with the interrelationship between people and their environment? Can you make any connections between these settings and the ones in A Passage to India? (Even if the novels take place in different countries, India and Burma – now, Myanmar /mjanˈmɑː/– both countries were colonised by the same people and both are in Asia).

4. Themes: What themes seem to be emerging? Can you find links with those themes in Forster’s novel?

5.Style: Is the story told by a narrator who is also a character in the stories, referring to herself/himself as “I” (first person narrative) or is he/she anonymous and detached from the action (third-person narrative)

How is this novel inscribed within MODERNISM? What makes it modern?

Note down any interesting or striking uses of language, such as powerful words, motifs, metaphors, or images which evoke a sense of atmosphere. Compare and contrast them with Forster’s use of language. You will need to re-read the essays on A Passage to India to help you.

      6.Your personal response: 

Has the novel made you think about or influenced your views on its themes and characters? 

How has the novel informed your views on Colonialism and Post-Colonialism? What have you enjoyed or admired most about both novels (or least) and why?

In order to give your opinion, find critical essays on Burmese Days that can help you say what you want to say. Find information about George Orwell to help you understand his bitter satire against the British Empire. The essays on A Passage to India can be useful as well.

Blog: You are expected to write a summary of your findings for the Blog with your group. It should be no longer than 1,500 words. It must include all the items above and quotes from the novel to illustrate your conclusions. 

• Remember to include REFERENCES, with a list of sources quoted and the names of the members of the group at the end of your post. 
• Deadline : SAT 10th, NOVEMBER, 2018 - 11:00 A.M. 

3- Thomas Hardy's THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE

3. Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native

Instructions:

1. Divide yourselves into TWO groups.

2. Each group must answer at least 10 questions ( there are 21 questions in total).

3. Copy and paste the author/s and the questions you answer.

3. After you post your answers ( you will have to do so in different posts as you will not be able to do so in one post), write the names of the member of your group.

Deadline: FRI 12^th, Oct. – 16.00 p.m.

Criticism of Thomas Hardy’s Art

These critical essays help us analyse and understand the two novels by Thomas Hardy we are going to read: The Return of the Native and A Pair of Blue Eyes. You are required to use at least one of these essays when writing your paper on A Pair of Blue Eyes.

1.Johnson, Lionel. “The Characteristics of Hardy’s Art.” Thomas Hardy: The Tragic Novels.             Editor  R.P. Draper. London: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1991. 59-61. Print.

1. How is Hardy a typical modern novelist?

2. Where does the power of his art lie?

3. What common elements do all his novels show?

2.Lawrence, David Herbert. “The Real Tragedy.” Thomas Hardy: The Tragic Novels. Editor                R.P. Draper London: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1991. 66-74. Print.

     1. What peculiarities do Hardy’s characters share? Why are these important?

    2. How does Lawrence explain the concept of “self-preservation”? What are the consequences of         freeing yourself from it?

    3.  How is the heath the “real stuff of tragedy”?

    4. What makes Hardy’s novels wonderful?

3.Williams, Raymond. “The Educated Observer and the Passionate Participant.” Thomas                Hardy: The Tragic Novels. Ed.  R.P. Draper. London: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1991. 93-104.            Print.

1.  “…the real Hardy country,…, is the border country so many of us have been living in: between custom and education, between work and ideas, between love and place and an experience of change.” (Williams 93). What does Williams mean?

2. What parallels does Williams draw between Hardy the man and Hardy the novelist?

3. What theme or idea seems to be recurrent in Hardy’s making of his characters?

4. Where does the difficulty of the returned native lie? How is this related to Hardy’s view of tradition?

5. Why does Williams consider Hardy’s depiction of Dorset and its people as extremely accurate

4.Paterson, John. “An Attempt at Grand Tragedy.” (1966). Thomas Hardy: The Tragic Novels.            Ed. R. P. Draper. London:Macmillan Press Ltd., 1991. Pp.107-115.

     1.What features of classical tragedy does The Return of the Native have?

     2.Where does Hardy fail in writing a great tragedy according to Paterson?

     3.Which are the novel’s best features?

     4.What was fateful in Eustacia’s choice of the role of the Turkish knight?

5.Casagrande, Peter J. “Son and Lover: The Dilemma of Clym Yeobright.” (1982). Ed. R.P.              Draper. London:Macmillan Press Ltd., 1991. Pp.115-130.  

    1.Which was the truth Hardy wanted to convey to us in The Return of the Native?

   2.What was the original purpose of the St. George play and how does it connect with the novel?          Why does it fail?

   3.In which way is Mrs. Yeobright a pernicious influence?

   4.Which minor characters act as Clym’s foils and for what purpose?

   5.In which ways are Clym and Thomasin both alike and different? 

L. P. Hartley's THE GO-BETWEEN

L. P. Hartley's The Go-Between

Instructions:

1- Divide yourselves into 2 GROUPS. 

2- Each group should answer 11 questions.

3- When posting your answers, don't forget to copy and paste the author and the questions you're answering. Finally, write the names of the members of your group. 

Deadline:  SAT 6th, October -12.00 p.m. 

Critical Essays on The Go-Between

Source 1: Jay, Betty. “Method and Myth in L.P. Hartley’s The Go-Between.” Studies in Literature and Language. Vol. 5,

     No 3,2012,pp.1-9. Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture. Jan 14 2017.

     <www.cscanada.net/index.php/sll/article/viewFile/j.sll.../3469>

Questionnaire:

1.Read the definition below of T.S. Eliot’s mythic method. How does Hartley use this method in The Go-Between?

2.What is the brand new 20^th Century for Leo Colston? How and Why is he disappointed in it?

3.What makes Leo’s experience in the adult world of Brandham Hall so damaging in the end?

4. Leo says that he excels in “his undertaker’s art.” What does this view imply?

5.”His aspiration leads Leo, in turn, to discover the terrible power of language…” (Jay 2). Explain what this quote means.

6.”Doubly estranged, Leo will struggle to decipher the complex exchanges to which he is party.” (Jay 3) Why does Leo fail in all the strategies he uses (curses, letters to his mother, sabotage, Black magic)?

7.Although he’s somewhat a snob, Leo Colston is unmistakably middle-class. How does he try to fit in in Brandham Hall and who helps him?

8.”Unable to comprehend these elevated figures [the adults at the Hall], Leo instead chooses to associate them with one of the principle structures through which he gives ‘shape and significance’ to the world.” (Jay 4) Why can’t he understand the adults? Which structures does he use to give meaning to the world?

9.How is Leo both like and unlike Icarus/ˈɪkərəs/ [Greek Mythology-The son of Daedalus, who escaped from Crete using wings made by his father but was killed when he flew too near the sun and the wax attaching his wings melted]?

10.”Although Leo undergoes a sexual awakening at Norwich/ˈnɒrɪtʃ/, his experience there also entails a more materialistic element which in turn, leads him to interpret the wealth and privilege of the Hall in a particular way.” (Jay 5). Explain this quote.

11.”The spiritual importance of the Zodiac, which Leo describes as his ‘favourite religion’ (Hartley 62) depends upon the female figure, the Virgin (or Maiden), and is therefore built on illusion.” (Jay 6) How important is Marian in Leo’s psycho-sexual development? How does she disrupt all his epistemological [Relating to the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope, and the distinction between justified belief and opinion] structures? What event makes Leo try to intervene in Marian and Ted’s affair and why does he do this?

12.Why does Leo suffer a breakdown at the end? What elements contribute to this?

Source 2: Mulkeen, Anne. Wild Thyme, Winter Lightning: the Symbolic Novels of L P Hartley. London: Hamish

     Hamilton,1974. Print.

     <duneizum.ru/tuheh.pdf>

Questionnaire:

1.How is the book structured? What is Hartley’s aim in using such a structure?

2.”Leo’s childlike vision was unreal,.. Leo goes off [to Brandham Hall] totally unprepared.” (Mulkeen 2-3) Explain why this is so.

3.What does Leo think of the heat and why? What is the heat linked to?

4.What do Ted and Marian represent and why?

5.What’s the symbolism behind Leo’s destruction of the belladonna?

6.Which of the author’s favourite motifs do we find in The Go-Between and what does it mean?

7.What type of characters does Hartley favour in his fiction?

8.”Hartley’s novels are peculiarly experiential…” (Mulkeen 5). Explain what this means. What consequences does Leo’s experience have for him?

9.”…the choice of identities or ideals of masculinity open to Leo (to man) at the beginning of the twentieth century is inadequate…” (Mulkeen 5). Explain this quote.

10.”In the figure of Ted… Hartley explored one of his favourite themes: the duality of the natural,…”(Mulkeen 6). Explain this quotation.

  

Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility & Persuasion

4.JANE AUSTEN’S Sense and Sensibility & Persuasion 

1.Work in groups of 6 students

2. There will be about 6 groups in total so 3 groups should work on Sense and Sensibility and the remaining 3 in Persuasion.

3. Find  2 instances of:

A) Free Indirect Discourse  

B) Irony & Understatement

C) a relevant theme explored in the novels

4. As a group, you must justify your choices of extracts, i.e., why you think the extracts chosen are examples of FID, etc.

5.After you’ve written your post, please write the list of the group members.

DEADLINE: SAT. 29^TH, SEPTEMBER – 13.00  

2-Romeo and Juliet – Different Performances

2-Romeo and Juliet – Different Performances

Instructions:

1    1-Watch the video clip assigned to your group. Pay particular attention to the actors’ costumes, the set, the stage and the actors’ performance.

    2-Read the notes on Performance, Psychoanalytic and Post-modern Criticism and write at least 2 paragraphs evaluating the performances.

      3- Post your comment as a group, signing as GROUP 1 : plus the names, at the end.

DEADLINE: Friday 8^th, June – 13.00 p.m.

GROUP 1: Loana Galarza, Candela Castillo, Ludmila Bergamini, Marcela Vera and Yanina Nuñez

Romeo and Juliet, directed by  Baz Luhrman (1996)

Romeo and Juliet Baz Luhrman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsUi42iYSzY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beV56hp4T3w

GROUP 2: Nahuel Benítez Maglier, Mariano Paniagua, Daniela Alcaráz, Ana Paula Àlvarez and Diego Flores

Romeo and Juliet 2013 Broadway theatrical production . The play ran on Broadway at Richard Rodgers Theatre from September 19 to December 8, 2013 for 93 regular performances after 27 previews starting on August 24 with Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashād in the starring roles.

Romeo and Juliet 2013 Broadway   (Watch the ball, the balcony scene and the end, in particular)

GROUP 3:  Bárbara Amherdt, Magalí Docteur, Agustina Maglier and Camila Mercado

Romeo and Juliet, The Globe Theatre, London, 2009.

Romeo and Juliet 2009 The Globe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dhJFMvlcAs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WiVaQheUfE&t=29s

3. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE & The English Renaissance (16th Century) – English Literature I

3. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE & The English Renaissance (16^th Century) – English Literature I

Instructions:

1.      Work in the assigned group.

2.      If you have a video assigned to you, watch it carefully and take down notes. Put all the notes of each of the members of the group in a Google Doc so that ALL of you can work at editing it. You are expected to write a summary of the information provided in it and post it as a group (no individual posts are necessary). You will see that next to your video, you have a PDF with the same title. The PDF is the script of the video, i.e. you can read the PDF first, and then watch the video for a better understanding of what Professor Jonatan Bate says. 
     Your text should not exceed 2 medium-sized paragraphs. When you start your summary, specify who the speakers in the video / podcast are. 

3.      If you have a document or podcast assigned to you, proceed in the say way as with a video (see Step 2 above).

4.      The students who must do the make-up tasks – Gustavo Duarte and Melina Delbón- have to talk about their group summary in class. They are expected to study it and be ready to tell the class about it on THU 31ST, MAY.

5.      

       DEADLINE:  Wed 30th, May - 12.00 p.m.

Group 1: Loreley and Ariana Rubianes – Carolina Corti – Priscila Quiroz – Mailén Borda – Rodrigo López – Katerina Banegas. "How did Shakespeare get so popular?"

Group 2: Micaela Valiente – Paula Quatrín – Giuliana Vittori – Luciana Mandel – Mailen Aguirre-Lionela Velázquez – Cecilia Montini."Where did Shakespeare live?"

Group 3:Paula Rivera – Diego Bogado – Micaela Ramírez – Brian Segovia – Luisina Tourn – Malena Lodi – Leandro Altamirano.Understanding Shakespeare's Sonnets

Group 4: Paulina Gómez – Emanuel Massín – Rocío Altamirano – Laura Gómez – Gimena Fernández – Mariel Spesot – Yamila Moschén  The Parish Register

Group 5: Melina Delbón – Gabriel Malagueño – Gustavo Duarte – Natalí Aguirre – Leisa Martínez.

The Gold Ring

Group 6: Guiliana Mathieu – Daiana Solari – Ludmila Suligoy – Fabio Moreyra – Diego Emanuel Ledesma .Acting and Writing

2. English Literature I : “The Wife’s Lament” – Anglo-Saxon Poetry

2. English Literature I : “The Wife’s Lament” – Anglo-Saxon Poetry

Instructions:

In groups, paraphrase your lines. Use Dictionaries and Thesaurus to help you.

DEADLINE: THU 10^TH, MAY -13.00 p.m.

“The Wife’s Lament”

Group 1

1.I make this song of myself, deeply sorrowing,

2.my own life’s journey. I am able to tell

3.all the hardships I’ve suffered since I grew up,

4.but new or old, never worse than now-

5.ever I suffer the torment of my exile.

6.First my lord left his people

7.for the tumbling waves; I worried at dawn

Group 2

8.where on earth my leader of men might be.

9.When I set out myself in my sorrow.

10.a friendless exile, to find his retainers,

11.that man’s kinsmen began to think

12.in  secret that they would separate us,

13.so we would live far apart in the world,

14.most miserably, and longing seized me.

Group 3

15.My lord commanded me to live with him here;

16.I had few loved ones or loyal friends

17.in this country, which causes me grief.

18.Then I found that my most fitting man

19.was unfortunate, filled with grief,

20.concealing his mind, plotting murder

21.with a smiling face. So often we swore

Group 4

22.that only death could ever divide us,

23.nothing else-all that is changed now;

24.it is now as if it had never been,

25.our friendship. Far and near, I must

26.endure the hatred of my dearest one.

27.They forced me to live in a forest grove,

28.under an oak tree in an earthen cave.[or “earthen grave” or barrow]

Group 5

29.This earth-hall is old, and I ache with longing;

30.the dales are dark, the hills too high,

31.harsh hedges overhung with briars,

32.a home without joy. Here my lord’s leaving

33.often fiercely seized me. There are friends on earth,

34.lovers living who lie in their bed,

35.while I walk alone in the light of dawn

Group 6

36.under the oak-tree and through this earth-cave,

37.where I must sit the summer-long day;

38.there I can weep for all my exiles,

39.my many troubles; and so I may never

40.escape from the cares of my sorrowful mind,

41.nor all the longings that have seized my life.

42.May the young man be sad-minded (*)

Group 7

43.with hard heart-thoughts, yet let him have

44.a smiling face along with his heartache,

45.a crowd of constant sorrows. Let to himself

46.all his worldly joys belong! Let him be outlawed

47.in a far distant land, so that my friend sits

48.under stone cliffs chilled by storms,

49.weary-minded, surrounded by water

Groups………   &   ………..

50.in a sad dreary hall! My beloved will suffer

51.the cares of a sorrowful mind; he will remember

52.too often a happier home. Woe to the one

53.who must suffer longing for a loved one.