Using graded readers in the Classroom

Themes in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Women and Femininity

Female characters in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde seem to be passive and weak. The firstone to appear is a young girl trampledover by Mr. Hyde. Although she is "not much the worse, more frightened,"she still shouts and people come to help her. The next woman is a maid who is a witness to Carew's murder. After witnessing the murder, she faints, awakening long after the murderer is gone. She is a passive spectator. There is much speculation as to the reasons for the absence of females in the story; one particularly compelling argument is that women function as moral bedrocks in most Victorian novels. They’re supposed to be beacons of good moral influence. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde therefore, women may have unnecessarily complicated the story.

Religion

God and Satan figure prominently in this text, as well as many general references to religion and works of charity. As part of their intellectual lives, the men in the novel discuss various religious works. One sign of Mr. Hyde’s wickedness, for example, is his defacing Dr. Jekyll’s favorite religious work. Mr. Hyde is also frequently likened to Satan.

Violence

This novel details two crimes of violence against innocent and helpless citizens: first, a little girl, and second, an elderly man. The violence in the novel centers on Mr. Hyde, and raises the question as to whether or not violence is an inherent part of man’s nature.

Lies and Deceit

In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the plot is frequently driven forward by secrecy and deception; Mr. Utterson doesn’t know the relationship between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and he wants to find out. Also, by omitting the scenes of Mr. Hyde’s supposedly crazy debauchery, Stevenson allows our imaginations to run to wild and eerie places.

Curiosity

In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, curiosity drives the characters to seek knowledge. This curiosity is either suppressed or fulfilled in each character. Curiosity lacks any negative connotation; instead, characters who do not actively seek to unravel the Jekyll and Hyde mystery may be viewed as passive or weak. Finally, the characters’ curiosities are, to some degree, transferred over to the reader; we seek to solve the puzzle along with Mr. Utterson.

Appearances/Reputation

Appearances figure in the novel both figuratively and literally. Dr. Jekyll definitely wants to keep up a well-respected façade, even though he has a lot of unsavory tendencies. In a literal sense, the appearances of buildings in the novel reflect the character of the building’s inhabitants. Dr. Jekyll has a comfortable and well-appointed house, but Mr. Hyde spends most of his time in the "dingy windowless structure" of the doctor’s laboratory. Other disreputable quarters of London are described as well, the stomping ground of Mr. Hyde.

Friendship

Friendship in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde serves to drive the plot forward. Aside from human curiosity, Mr. Utterson is compelled to uncover the mystery of the evil man because of his friendship with Dr. Jekyll. In trying to unravel the secret, his many friendships deliver crucial pieces of information. In this sense, friendship acts as both a motivator and an enabler. As for the friendship between Dr. Lanyon and Dr. Jekyll, it’s certainly not as unconditional as the loyalty Mr. Utterson bears for Dr. Jekyll. Instead, it’s fraught with competition, anger, and eventually an irreconcilable quarrel. We see that friendships can be ruined by differences of opinion.

Repression

Repression is indisputably a cause of troubles in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The repression here is that of Victorian England: no sexual appetites, no violence, and no great expressions of emotion, at least in the public sphere. Everything is sober and dignified, and you’re really not supposed to be happy. (That would somehow take away from your focus on morality). The more Dr. Jekyll’s forbidden appetites are repressed, the more he desires the life of Mr. Hyde, and the stronger Mr. Hyde grows. This is clearly demonstrated after Dr. Jekyll’s two-month hiatus from donning the visage of Mr. Hyde; Dr. Jekyll finds that the pull to evil has been magnified after months of repression.

Good vs. Evil

Good vs. evil is basically the novel’s biggest theme. More specifically, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is easily viewed as an allegory about the good and evil that exist in all men, and about our struggle with these two sides of the human personality. In this book, then, the battle between good and evil rages within the individual. The question is which is superior. Since Hyde seems to be taking over, one could argue that evil is stronger than good. However, Hyde does end up dead at the end of the story, perhaps suggesting a weakness or failure of evil. The big question, of course, is whether or not good can be separated from evil, or whether the two are forever intertwined. 

Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Theme of Women and Femininity. Retrieved November 11, 2018, from https://www.shmoop.com/jekyll-and-hyde/women-femininity-theme.html

From Hell: Film analysis

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

From Hell - Film Analysis

From Hell

Choose ONE task to carry out while watching the film and select a scene to analyse. 

1. Define what eurocentrism is and mention its characteristics in form of binary oppositions. How is it made manifest in the film?
2. How is ethnicity presented in the film? Select a scene where the topic of conversation is ethnic differences. Analyse the dialogue using Foucault’s approach taking into consideration the definitions of power, discourse and the gaze.
3. How is femininity presented in this text? Using gender studies select a scene where the life of the prostitutes is depicted in relation to patriarchal ideology.
4. Analyse the context of culture presented in the movie. In order to do so you need to work on the following concept: imperialism. How is imperialism depicted in the film? Pay attentio to symbols carrying Queen Vicoria's image.
5. From Hell may be considered a hybrid from the perspective of genre classification. On the one hand, this text may be considered as a horror film. On the other hand, it may be considered as crime fiction/detective fiction. Taking genre theory into consideration elaborate two lists of what you consider are the textual characteristics of both genres.
6. How is the medical profession presented in this film? What kind of power do doctors exert on the female body? Use gender studies and Foucaut’s approach to analyse one scene where the manipulation of the female body at the hands of science is shown.

DOPPELGANGER

A recurrent motif in Gothic fiction, the doppelganger or double has
both symbolic and psychoanalytical implications. In the case of the former,
the duplication or division of a character may serve to emphasize
polemically the moral dilemmas or social disparities around which a didactic
or cautionary narrative may revolve—for example, the fate of one
who resists temptation, as opposed to one who succumbs to it; or, the
lifestyle enjoyed by a character born into privilege, set against the parallel
experience of another raised in poverty. In psychoanalysis, the motif may
emblematize the polarity of the unrestrained id against its ego and superego
counterparts. Thus, the doppelganger may become, variously, a figure
that enacts taboo desires, a seeker of arcane knowledge, or one who
pursues the drive of thanatos rather than that of eros. In both symbolic
and psychoanalytical incarnations (though these demarcations are, inevitably,
capable of definition as much by the critic as the author), the double
may be formed by duplication (where two entities effectively parallel
each other’s actions) or division (where a character is split, physically or
psychologically, into two alternating personalities). Situations such as
disguise, cross dressing, or mistaken identity may also produce contextual
implications that are analogous to doubling.

Hughes, W. (2012) Historical Dictionary of Gothic Literature

Victorian Age

Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution through Arts

Sebastian Pether (1820). This is an oil painting of a view of Manchester from Kersal Moor by artist Sebastian Pether. Kersal Moor is an area of moorland in Salford. This shows a pre industrial view before the skyline was filled with mills and chimneys. http://www.gmmg.org.uk/our-connected-history/item/view-from-kersal-moor/ [Accessed July 23, 2018]

William Wyld's (1852). Queen Victoria had first seen William Wyld's work in 1843 in the collection of her aunt Louise, Queen of the Belgians, when choosing some of these watercolours for her own collection, and Queen Louise subsequently ordered more works from Wyld to send to Victoria. The artist was invited to stay at Balmoral in September and October 1852. The Queen had visited Liverpool on 9 October 1851 and Manchester over the following two days, and commissioned a watercolour of each of the cities from Wyld soon after. Manchester was then the world's greatest producer of cotton textiles and, with Salford, had grown rapidly to a conurbation of almost 400,000 inhabitants by mid-century. The overcrowding and slum conditions of the workers' housing were a severe social problem, and the Queen noted in her Journal: 'The mechanics and work-people, dressed in their best, were ranged along the streets in their button-holes; both in Salford and Manchester, a very intelligent, but painfully unhealthy-looking population they all were, men as well as women'. Wyld's view of the city is however overtly romantic. The smoking chimneys serve only to accentuate the golden light of the setting sun, as in a painting by Claude, and the rustics and goats in the foreground are similarly reminiscent of the views of Italy produced in great numbers by the English watercolourists of the previous half-century. https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/920223/manchester-from-kersal-moor [Accessed July 23, 2018]

'The Progress of Steam - A View in Regent Park 1831, 1828. Humorous futuristic colour illustration by Henry Thomas. Science Museum Group Collection© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum. Colour print (reproduction). The Progress of Steam. Allen's Illustration of Modern Prophecy. A View in Regent Park, 1831. (Original print published by S and J Fuller at their Sporting Gallery, 34 Rathbone Place, London. 1828/02/20).
Science Museum Group. The Progress of Steam. 1979-8212. Science Museum Group. The Progress of Steam. 1979-8212. Science Museum Group Collection Online. https://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/co421078 [Accessed July 23, 2018]

Happy Students' Day!

Virtual Field Trip

Virtual field trips allow teachers to take students beyond the classroom walls without actually moving. They give teachers and students the possibility of visiting places around the world and learning about other cultures through videoconferences.

Visit Jefferson's Monticello

Learning Objectives

• Learn about Thomas Jefferson's ideas that helped shaped a nation
• Learn about Monticello as an architectural icon
• Find out about Monticello as a plantation that was supported by enslaved labor

Activity Description

Monticello was the home of Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and 3rdpresident of the United States of America. The revolutionary ideas of this man of the Enlightenment were instrumental in the creation of the United States. His home in Charlottesville, Virginia, is an architectural icon, with its neoclassical design drafted by Jefferson himself. But Monticello was also a working plantation, and the home to hundreds of enslaved people. The Founding Father who wrote “all men are created equal” was also a lifelong slave owner. Using images, props, and Google Streetview, a Monticello educator will introduce students to Thomas Jefferson’s world.


If you want to book a place to visit Monticello with your students, or any other field trip visit this site.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

By William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Industrial Revolution

IV Jornada de Lengua

The Chimney Sweeper by William Blake

The Chimney Sweeper
By William Blake

When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry " 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!"
So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved, so I said,
"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."

And so he was quiet, & that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping he had such a sight!
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black;

And by came an Angel who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins & set them all free;
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run,
And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.

Then naked & white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind.
And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father & never want joy.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark
And got with our bags & our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm;
So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

A lego stop-motion animation of William Blake's poem, "The Chimney Sweeper".

Composed Upon Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth

Composed Upon Westminster Bridge
By William Wordsworth

Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!

Darkness by Lord Byron

Gothic Literature

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray

This poem is often associated with the earlier "graveyard school"of poetry, which revel at great length in death -'that dread moment'-and morbidity; creating an atmosphere of 'delightful gloom'.

Thomas Gray's "Elegy" is considerably different in emphasis, although suffused with a gently humanistic melancholy. It is, in some sense, a life-affirming reconsideration of rural values, although the ending is often read as involving the poet's suicide.

Carter, R. and McRae, J. (1998) The Routledge History of Literature in English: Britain and Ireland London: Routledge (p. 196)

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

By Thomas Gray

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea,
The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.

Now fades the glimm'ring landscape on the sight,
And all the air a solemn stillness holds,
Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,
And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds;

Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tow'r
The moping owl does to the moon complain
Of such, as wand'ring near her secret bow'r,
Molest her ancient solitary reign.

Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade,
Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap,
Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.

The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn,
The swallow twitt'ring from the straw-built shed,
The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,
No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.

For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,
Or busy housewife ply her evening care:
No children run to lisp their sire's return,
Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.

Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,
Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke;
How jocund did they drive their team afield!
How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy stroke!

Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
The short and simple annals of the poor.

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike th' inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

Nor you, ye proud, impute to these the fault,
If Mem'ry o'er their tomb no trophies raise,
Where thro' the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.

Can storied urn or animated bust
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust,
Or Flatt'ry soothe the dull cold ear of Death?

Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;
Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd,
Or wak'd to ecstasy the living lyre.

But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page
Rich with the spoils of time did ne'er unroll;
Chill Penury repress'd their noble rage,
And froze the genial current of the soul.

Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flow'r is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast
The little tyrant of his fields withstood;
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood.

Th' applause of list'ning senates to command,
The threats of pain and ruin to despise,
To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land,
And read their hist'ry in a nation's eyes,

Their lot forbade: nor circumscrib'd alone
Their growing virtues, but their crimes confin'd;
Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne,
And shut the gates of mercy on mankind,

The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide,
To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame,
Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride
With incense kindled at the Muse's flame.

Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.

Yet ev'n these bones from insult to protect,
Some frail memorial still erected nigh,
With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd,
Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.

Their name, their years, spelt by th' unletter'd muse,
The place of fame and elegy supply:
And many a holy text around she strews,
That teach the rustic moralist to die.

For who to dumb Forgetfulness a prey,
This pleasing anxious being e'er resign'd,
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
Nor cast one longing, ling'ring look behind?

On some fond breast the parting soul relies,
Some pious drops the closing eye requires;
Ev'n from the tomb the voice of Nature cries,
Ev'n in our ashes live their wonted fires.

For thee, who mindful of th' unhonour'd Dead
Dost in these lines their artless tale relate;
If chance, by lonely contemplation led,
Some kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate,

Haply some hoary-headed swain may say,
"Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn
Brushing with hasty steps the dews away
To meet the sun upon the upland lawn.

"There at the foot of yonder nodding beech
That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high,
His listless length at noontide would he stretch,
And pore upon the brook that babbles by.

"Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn,
Mutt'ring his wayward fancies he would rove,
Now drooping, woeful wan, like one forlorn,
Or craz'd with care, or cross'd in hopeless love.

"One morn I miss'd him on the custom'd hill,
Along the heath and near his fav'rite tree;
Another came; nor yet beside the rill,
Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he;

"The next with dirges due in sad array
Slow thro' the church-way path we saw him borne.
Approach and read (for thou canst read) the lay,
Grav'd on the stone beneath yon aged thorn."

THE EPITAPH
Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth
A youth to Fortune and to Fame unknown.
Fair Science frown'd not on his humble birth,
And Melancholy mark'd him for her own.

Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere,
Heav'n did a recompense as largely send:
He gave to Mis'ry all he had, a tear,
He gain'd from Heav'n ('twas all he wish'd) a friend.

No farther seek his merits to disclose,
Or draw his frailties from their dread abode,
(There they alike in trembling hope repose)
The bosom of his Father and his God.

Film: Mary Shelley

If you found Mary Shelley's life intriguing, you can watch this film based on her life.

Enjoy your Winter Holidays!

Gothic Literature

The Gothic novel, or in an alternative term, Gothic romance, is a type of prose fiction which was inaugurated by Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story (1764)—the subtitle denotes its setting in the Middle Ages—and flourished through the early nineteenth century. Some writers followed Walpole’s example by setting their stories in the medieval period; others set them in a Catholic country, especially Italy or Spain. The locale was often a gloomy castle furnished with dungeons, subterranean passages, and sliding panels; the typical story focused on the sufferings imposed on an innocent heroine by a cruel and lustful villain, and made bountiful use of ghosts, mysterious disappearances, and other sensational and supernatural occurrences (which in a number of novels turned out to have natural explanations). The principal aim of such novels was to evoke chilling terror by exploiting mystery and a variety of horrors. Many of them are now read mainly as period pieces, but the best opened up to fiction the realm of the irrational and of the perverse impulses and nightmarish terrors that lie beneath the orderly surface of the civilized mind.

Abrams, M, Harpham, G. (2012). A Glossary of Literary Terms. Boston: Cengage Learning

Winter Reading: Frankenstein

Reinterpreting Frankenstein through New Historicism / Cultural Studies

1. How is science portrayed in Frankenstein? Consider that this book was written in the midst of vast scientific advances and the advent of the Industrial Revolution.
2. You might have noticed some Christian influences in this text. To start off, there's the creator/creation paradigm. In addition, The creature is compared to Adam, but he is also compared to the fallen angel—Satan—and Victor takes on comparisons to God. You could even go so far as to call Victor's death a sacrifice that makes him a Christ figure. What might Shelley be saying about religion, and Christianity in particular?
3. In what ways does the novel present knowledge as dangerous and destructive? What does this tells us about society at that time?
4. Think about the motives that drive the protagonist to plumb into the depths of science in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. What does it indicate about the concerns of the author with the plight of man and society?

Reinterpreting Frankenstein through Narratology

5. The connection between science fiction and the Gothic is a longstanding  one, capable of being traced to Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Frankenstein conventionally demarcates the close of the first phase of the Gothic. Science fiction combines the imaginative innovation of fantasy with a semblance of a realist commitment to a world that is broadly recognizable in terms of, variously, its geography, species, politics, ethics, or technology. Find in the text examples of both genres.
6. Narrative in Frankenstein shifts from Robert Walton to Victor Frankenstein to the monster and finally back to Walton. What is the effect of presenting different characters’ viewpoints, especially those of Victor and the monster?
7. What is the role of the letters and written communication throughout the novel?

Reinterpreting Frankenstein through Gender Studies

8. Discuss the presentation of women in the novel. Do Victor and the monster differ in their view of women, and if so, how?
9. Do Victor and the monster differ in their view of women, and if so, how?
10. What Makes a Monster and What Makes a Man? Explore the Relationship between the Creator and the Creation in the Gothic Novel.


Reinterpreting Frankenstein through Psychoanalytic Criticism

11. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, could one interpret Frankenstein and his creature as two aspects of the same person? In other words, does the monster represent the evil side of the good doctor?
12. How did Mary Shelley explore the idea of a hidden or double self (doppelganger)? In what ways did these representations express changing ideas about sexuality, gender, and class?
13. In Frankenstein, Victor's rejection of the Monster metaphorically represents the ego's rejection of the unconscious. How is it represented in the novel?
14. The theory of Freud about the makeup of the human psyche could be applied to the interpretation of the text. To what extent does Frankenstein reflect Freud’s views of the id, the ego, and the superego? Is man hopelessly divided against himself? Does the author see any hope for one who seeks to keep the savage within under control?
15. What Makes a Monster and What Makes a Man? Explore the Relationship between the Creator and the Creation in the Gothic Novel.
16. Trace the similarities between Victor and the monster. Consider their respective relationships with nature, desires for family, and any other important parallels you find. Do Victor and the monster become more similar as the novel goes on? How does their relationship with each other develop?

Reinterpreting Frankenstein through Post-colonialism

17. Some critics have seen in the novel a parable of British colonialism, with civilized man seeking to control the savagery of uncultured man, but instead being fascinated by and eventually drawn into the savagery that he outwardly deplores. Which aspects of the story fit this reading and which do not? Support your answer with quotes from the story.

How to cite references

APA Citation Style

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition

Follow these color codes:
Author(s)	Date	Title of Book	Title of Article	Title of Periodical
Volume	Pages	Place of Publication	Publisher	Other Information

Book

Okuda, M., & Okuda, D. (1993). Star Trek chronology: The history
     of the future. New York: Pocket Books.

Book Article or Chapter

James, N. E. (1988). Two sides of paradise: The Eden myth according
     to Kirk and Spock. In D. Palumbo (Ed.), Spectrum of the fantastic
     (pp. 219-223). Westport, CT: Greenwood.

Website
(for more details, see the American Psychological Association's official site)

Lynch, T. (1996). DS9 trials and tribble-ations review. Retrieved
     October 8, 1997, from Psi Phi: Bradley's Science Fiction Club
     Web site: http://www.bradley.edu/campusorg/psiphi/DS9/ep/
     503r.html

Essay Writing

Introduction

Almost all students will at some time be expected to write an essay, or some other kind of argument, e.g. a review or discussion section, in a longer piece of writing. In English, an essay is a piece of argumentative writing several paragraphs long written about one topic, usually based on your reading. The aim of the essay should be deduced strictly from the wording of the title or question (See Academic Writing: Understanding the Question), and needs to be defined at the beginning. The purpose of an essay is for you to say something for yourself using the ideas of the subject, for you to present ideas you have learned in your own way. The emphasis should be on working with other people's ideas, rather than reproducing their words, but your own voice should show clearly. The ideas and people that you refer to need to made explicit by a system of referencing.

According to Linda Flower (1990, p. v), "students are reading to create a text of their own, trying to integrate information from sources with ideas of their own, and attempting to do so under the guidance of a purpose."

Organisation

Your essay should have the following sections:

1. Preliminaries: Title

2. Main Text: a) Introduction, b) Main Body, c) Conclusion.

3. End matter: References

Visit this website for more on this. 

References:

Gillet, A. (2009). Genres in academic writing: Essays. Retrieved from: http://www.uefap.com/writing/writframgenre_essay.htm [22ns September, 2017)

Frankenstein

Pride and Prejudice (Crash Course Literature)

"John Green talks about Pride and Prejudice as a product of Regency England, gives you a short biographical look at author Jane Austen, and familiarizes you with the web of human connections this book spins"

Pride and Prejudice, explained by a gansta'

Gender and Sex

It is necessary to make a distinction between the concepts of sex and gender. Sometimes, these terms are used interchangeably, but in fact, their meanings are different.

Anthony Synnott stated that “the body is not only a biological phenomenon, it is also a social creation of immense complexity.” (Synnott,1993:1). This phrase helps to clarify the difference between the two terms in question.

On the one hand, sex refers to biological differences such as chromosomes hormonal profiles, internal and external sex organs.

On the other hand, gender is a social construction of the characteristics and behaviours associated with males or females. The idea of what is to be a man or a woman is culturally determined, it differs from society to society and changes over time. For example, women are generally associated with the domestic sphere, i.e. cooking, cleaning the house and taking care of the children while men are associated with the public sphere, i.e. working and supporting the family economically.


Reference:

Synnott, A. (1993) The Body Social. London: Routledge

How to write a Literary Essay

Power Relations - Foucault

Power is a “network of relations, constantly in tension, in activity, rather than a privilege that one might possess; one should take as its model a perpetual battle… this power is exercised rather than possessed; it is not the ‘privilege’ of the dominant class, but the overall effect of its strategic positions – an effect that is manifested and sometimes extended by the position of those who are dominated.” (p. 26)

Foucault analysed how power shapes our behaviour.
efinition: the ability to make someone do something, very often without that someone noticing it.
Characteristics:

• Invisible 
• Omnipresent 
• Constant state of flax, always flowing. Nobody has power all the time. 
• Power is not hierarchical. It doesn’t come top down or bottom up, also can come from the sides. 
• It is not negative, it can help people grow. 

It can be made manifest through:

• Building, we can’t move in the way we want. 
• Discourse: the things I say 
• The Gaze: the way people look at teach other 

Power can only be effectively exerted if people accept the legitimate right of someone to exert power.

Foucault, M. (1995) [1977]. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Pantheon.

Literary Theories

Assignment #1: Literary Essay

Language and Culture III – Literary Essay

Choose ONE of the following tasks and develop it thoroughly in an essay.
It should include an introduction, the main body and a conclusion.
Develop the corresponding theory, and account for it quoting from the novel.

1. “Pride and Prejudice” is a novel about women who feel they have to marry to be happy. Taking Charlotte Lucas as an example, do you think the author is making a social criticism of her era’s view of marriage?
2. Define what power is according to the theory of Michel Foucault. Describe the struggle for power between two characters throughout the play.
3. Explain how social class determines the decisions that people make in “Pride and Prejudice”.
4. Explore Austen's portrayal of the women in the novel
5. Explore Austen's portrayal of the women in the novel. In what ways does she sympathize with their plight, and in what ways is she unsympathetic?
6. How are gender roles represented in the novel within Patriarchal Society?
7. How can characters' behaviour or narrative events be explained in terms of psychoanalytic concepts (Id, ego, superego)?
8. How do Elizabeth Bennet's ideas on marriage differ from social ideas? Which characters in the novel share Elizabeth's views of marriage and which characters reflect society's perspective? Expand on this theme.
9. How do Elizabeth's simplicity and independence represent an attack on the conservatism of characters like Lady Catherine De Bourgh?
10. How do the characters in the text mirror the archetypal figures? (Great Mother or nurturing Mother, Whore, destroying Crone, Lover, Destroying Angel)
11. How does “Pride and Prejudice” criticize customs of the period?
12. How is patriarchal society represented through discourse in “Pride and Prejudice”? Choose two characters from the play to illustrate your point.
13. How is the relationship between men and women portrayed?
14. In what ways does Austen show that family and community are responsible for its members?
15. What conflict can be seen between the values the novel champions and those it portrays?
16. What does the work reveal about the operations (economically, politically, socially, or psychologically) of patriarchy?
17. What elements of the text can be perceived as being masculine (active, powerful) and feminine (passive, marginalized) and how do the characters support these traditional roles?
18. Which social class does the novel “Pride and Prejudice” claim to represent?
Any other: ____________________________________________________________

Nominalization

In English grammar, nominalization is a type of word formation in which a verb or an adjective (or other part of speech) is used as (or transformed into) a noun. Verb: nominalize. Also called nouning.
In transformational grammar, nominalization refers to the derivation of a noun phrase from an underlying clause. In this sense, an "example of nominalization is the the destruction of the city, where the noun destruction corresponds to the main verb of a clause and the city to its object" (Geoffrey Leech, A Glossary of English Grammar, 2006, as cited by by Richard Nordquist, 2017).

Follow this link to learn more about this.

References:

Gillet, A. (2009) Features of academic writing. Retrieved from
http://www.uefap.com/writing/feature/complex_nom.htm [19th September, 2017]
Nordquist, R. (2017) Nominalization in Grammar. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/nominalization-in-grammar-1691430 [19th September, 2017]

Literary Devices in Pride and Prejudice

Binary Oppositions

Claude Levi Strauss

All cultures, according to Structuralism, are organized around binary oppositions: animal/human, good/bad, rich/poor, man/woman. His theory of binary opposition suggests that all narratives progress due to conflict caused by a series of opposing forces. (He believed that the way we understand certain concepts depend not so much on their meaning but on the opposite word.)

· Good vs Evil
· Rational vs irrational
· Protagonist vs Antagonist

French Revolution

French Revolution

Kings and Queens - Part II

Kahoot

Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform, used as educational technology in classrooms and other learning institutions. 

The company was launched in August 2013 in Norway. Its learning games, "kahoots", are multiple-choice quizzes that allow user generation and can be accessed via web browser.

The Enlightenment
Regency England
The Scientific Revolution
Kings and Queens of England

The Enlightenment

Patriarchal Society

What is a Patriarchal System?

A patriarchal social system can be defined as a system where men are in authority over women in all aspects of society. In the past, men were often the established gender of authority and exhibited control in all situations.

The etymology of the word patriarchy allows us to understand the meaning of the term. The term patriarchy comes from the Latin words pater, which means “father”, and archein, “to rule”. Also, patriarchy derives from the Greek terms patriarches (“chief or head of family”) and patria (“family, clan”) Therefore, it refers to male political power within society and the father’s authority within his family.

Malpas and Wake (2006) claim that:

Patriarchy is a term used – especially but not exclusively in feminist theory – to analyse male dominance as a conventional or institutionalized form. Literally the ‘rule of the father’, patriarchy historically describes systems in which the male has absolute legal and economic control over the family. The patriarch is the male head of a tribe, religion or church hierarchy. (...)

Patriarchy was stablished as a system, defeating the ‘mother right’ and controlling women’s sexuality in order to establish paternity and protect private property. (Malpas and Wake, 2006: 237)

Characteristics of a Patriarchal System 

(male dominance, male centeredness, obsession with control, male identification)

Firslty, a patriarchal society is male dominated, which does not mean that all women are powerless, but the most powerful roles in most sectors of society are held by men,whereas the least powerful roles are held by women. 

Secondly, it is organized with men at the center, while women occupy the margins. This is so because of the assumption that women need men's supervision, protection, or control because they are fragile or vulnerable. 

This takes us to the thrid characteristic, which is the obsession with control. Men living in a patriarchal system or society must be in control at all times. They have a desire to control all social and family situations and must make all decisions regarding finances and education.

Finally, it is important to mention those aspects of society and personal attributes that are highly valued and which are generally associated with men, while devalued attributes and social activities are associated with women. Men are concerned with identification that includes qualities of control, strength, forcefulness, rationality, strong work ethic, and competitiveness.

Reference:

Malpas, S. and Wake, P. (eds.) (2006) The Routledge Companion To Critical Theory. London: Routledge

Transmedia Storytelling: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

Transmedia storytelling represents a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. Ideally, each medium makes it own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story.

By Henry Jenkins

(Find out more about this topic here)

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is an American single-frame web series which has been adapted from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The story is conveyed in the form of vlogs (video blogs). It was created by Hank Green and Bernie Su. It also has Twitter and Tumblr accounts.

Regency England: Key Concepts

Created with Padlet

Jane Austen's life

Be Careful!
Videos may contain spoilers...

Kings and Queens - Part 1

Meet the Stuarts....

 

Metre: Poetry

Poem: Metrical Feet - A lesson for a boy

Derwent Coleridge, the third child of Samuel, started learning ancient Greek before he was even seven years old. In 1807, Samuel sent his young son a letter in which he wrote: "I am greatly delighted that you are so desirous to go on with your Greek; and shall finish this letter with a short lesson of Greek"; about a month later, Samuel sent Derwent another letter in which he enclosed the poem "Metrical Feet – A Lesson for a Boy." Coleridge wrote the poem in order to help his son learn about some of the different types of "metrical feet" in ancient Greek poetry (which an also be found in English)

Metrical Feet: a lesson for a boy

By Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1806)

Trochee trips from long to short;
From long to long in solemn sort
Slow Spondee stalks, strong foot!, yet ill able
Ever to come up with Dactyl's trisyllable.
Iambics march from short to long.
With a leap and a bound the swift Anapests throng.
One syllable long, with one short at each side,
Amphibrachys hastes with a stately stride --
First and last being long, middle short, Amphimacer
Strikes his thundering hoofs like a proud high-bred Racer.

If Derwent be innocent, steady, and wise,
And delight in the things of earth, water, and skies;
Tender warmth at his heart, with these meters to show it,
WIth sound sense in his brains, may make Derwent a poet --
May crown him with fame, and must win him the love
Of his father on earth and his father above.
My dear, dear child!
Could you stand upon Skiddaw, you would not from its whole ridge
See a man who so loves you as your fond S.T. Coleridge.

Poem: A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed

Jonathan Swift composed this poem in 1731 and he subtitled it (ironically) “Written for the Honour of the Fair Sex,”. It reflects the persistent, unromantic, and satirical vision that marks the later years of Swift’s writing. This most unpoetic of poems presents the terrible process by means of which an eighteenth century London prostitute gets ready to go to sleep after her job—a process which involves her divesting herself of those various artifices she uses to disguise both her physical and moral corruption. The poet offers three different moments in Corinna's night: her preparations for bed (lines 1-38), her fitful dreams (lines 39-59), and her waking to personal disaster (lines 58-64).

The “I” of a first-person narrator (could it be Swift himself) intrudes at the end to provide moral commentary on the whole situation described (lines 65-74).

Scientific Revolution

Revolution: (Latin revolutio, "turn around") It is a fundamental change in political power or organizational structure that takes place in a relatively short period of time when the population rises up in revolt against the current authorities.

The Scientific Revolution refers to the historical changes that unfolded in Europe between 1550 and 1700. Those changes included developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology, and chemistry, which transformed the views and beliefs of society about nature, religion paving the way to modern science.

Happy Easter Holidays!

Retrieved from: http://www.lovethispic.com/uploaded_images/248359-Pretty-Happy-Easter-Eggs.jpg

The Mask of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe

Enjoy this version created by students at the University of Technology, Sydney for Media Arts and Production

Director: Mat Van Rhoon 

Producer: Evangeline Aguas

Poem: A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General

A satire is a genre which "can be described as the literary art of diminishing or derogating a subject by making it ridiculous and evoking toward it attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn, or indignation". (Abrams: 2012)

A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General

By Jonathan Swift

(1722)

His Grace! impossible! what dead! 

Of old age too, and in his bed! 

And could that mighty warrior fall? 

And so inglorious, after all! 

Well, since he’s gone, no matter how, 

The last loud trump must wake him now: 

And, trust me, as the noise grows stronger, 

He’d wish to sleep a little longer. 

And could he be indeed so old 

As by the newspapers we’re told? 

Threescore, I think, is pretty high; 

’Twas time in conscience he should die 

This world he cumbered long enough; 

He burnt his candle to the snuff; 

And that’s the reason, some folks think, 

He left behind so great a stink. 

Behold his funeral appears, 

Nor widow’s sighs, nor orphan’s tears, 

Wont at such times each heart to pierce, 

Attend the progress of his hearse.

But what of that, his friends may say, 

He had those honours in his day. 

True to his profit and his pride, 

He made them weep before he died. 

Come hither, all ye empty things, 

Ye bubbles raised by breath of kings; 

Who float upon the tide of state, 

Come hither, and behold your fate. 

Let pride be taught by this rebuke, 

How very mean a thing’s a Duke; 

From all his ill-got honours flung, 

Turned to that dirt from whence he sprung.

Abrams, M. (2012) A Glossary of Literary terms. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage learning.

Poem: The Two Trees by W. B. Yeats

William Butler Yeats

DN-0071801, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum
Retrieved from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-butler-yeats

He was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1865. He was the eldest child of John Butler Yeats and Susan Mary Pollexfen. Yeats spent his early years in London since his father was studying art, but he often returned to Dublin.

After returning to London in the late 1880s, Yeats met writers such as Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. He also became acquainted with Maud Gonne, a supporter of Irish independence. This revolutionary woman served as a muse for Yeats for years. He even proposed marriage to her several times, but she turned him down.

Language Change - A Diachronic View

Let's see how language has changed throughout history by looking into literature.

Fundamentación del área

El espacio de Lengua y Cultura III corresponde al tercer año de estudios, es correlativo a Lengua y Cultura II y es pre-requisito para cursar Lengua y Cultura IV.

El propósito de esta cátedra, como herramienta instrumental y formativa, es ofrecer a los futuros docentes la posibilidad de estimular una sensibilidad estética, adquirir un bagaje cultural, y de desarrollar estrategias de lectura crítica y de análisis discursivo que les permitan lograr un entendimiento más acabado sobre la estilística, la cultura y el uso de la lengua en cada uno de los textos a trabajar. Se propone entregar al alumno herramientas para la (re)construcción y (re)creación de significados, tanto en el contexto de producción como recepción, inmediata y posterior. Lengua y Cultura III apunta a la creación de un perfil profesional crítico y reflexivo no solo a través del lenguaje, sino en él.

De esta manera, esta asignatura tiene como objetivo acercar a los futuros docentes al ámbito de las expresiones artísticas, los acontecimientos históricos, los fenómenos culturales y literarios acaecidos durante los siglos XVIII y XIX. Para ello, se proveerán redes referenciales, un marco crítico y técnicas de análisis que hagan más accesible la cosmovisión de la relación entre el sujeto, el mundo y el lenguaje.

Lengua y Cultura III tiene como finalidad seguir desarrollando las múltiples habilidades adquiridas por los futuros docentes mediante el enfoque de los fenómenos históricos y literarios por estudiar, para así contribuir a sus propias prácticas críticas y reflexivas como lectores, escritores, comunicadores y futuros formadores.

El estudio de la lengua y la cultura será abordado desde dos perspectivas diferentes pero integradas: por un lado se analizarán los principales eventos, ideas y movimientos que tuvieron lugar durante los siglos XVIII y XIX. Por otro, se analizarán manifestaciones y fenómenos literarios y contextualizados en período a estudiar. Estas piezas ofrecerán a los alumnos la posibilidad de apreciar la belleza de las mismas así como también de tener una exposición intensiva y extensiva del idioma inglés Además, la discusión de las problemáticas, los argumentos, los personajes y los hechos apuntan a ejercitar la lengua oral.

Language and Culture III - 2018