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Summary for Lesson 1
In today’s class we began our work on My Family and Other Animals, thinking about the genre and historical context of the novel. We began with a wonderful discussion of what the class did and did not like about the book, reflecting on its humour and use of characterisation. We then spoke about the genre of autobiography and the challenges of writing a book in this genre, including the risk of false memory, the protests of real life people and deciding how truthful to be. The class then moved on to discussing the history that this book plays off- that of 1930s Corfu and 1956 Britain when it was published. We discussed what these key historical periods could reveal about the book, watching a short clip about the 1950s and thinking about what this reveals about why Durrell wrote the book when he did and in the way he did. Finally, the class thought about their own lives in an autobiographical way, discussing what the tone and themes of their autobiography would be and thinking of key events in their lives that they may tell and whether they would fictionalize parts of their story. Amazing work from the class today- they were all engaged and creative throughout our lesson and it was a pleasure to hear all their thoughts and ideas on the novel. Great job everyone, well done and see you next week 🙂
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Summary for Lesson 2
In today’s class we continued our work on My Family and Other Animals thinking today in depth about character and perspective. We began the class with discussing the notion of Gerry as a character vs. Gerry as the author, with the class completing a research task to aid their thoughts on how to distinguish between the two ideas. We then watched an interview with him, thinking about the questions it raised. We spoke about characters, and the notion of ‘writers are always selling someone out’, applying this to the novel and thinking about the family’s representation. We touched on the power dynamics of the family and how this may have influenced the tone of the novel, before finally the class wrote some excellent pieces reimagining a scene from the book from a different character’s perspective, ruminating on how they would present themselves to the reader and what would differ from Durrell’s original account. The class worked really well today and came up with some very thoughtful ideas in reponse to the debate question. Well done for all your hard work and focus class- keep up the great work & see you next week! 🙂
Gerald Durrell documentary we watched a clip of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1MK6BKrc-U
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Summary for Lesson 3
In today’s class we finished our study of My Family and Other Animals, today completing some creative tasks and thinking about Durrell’s writing style. We began by discussing the title of the book, identifying the centrality of animals and their personalities within the novel. We read an extract from the book and analysed its themes and humour, before coming up with some creative writing based upon Durrell’s presentation of animal/human bonds. The class spoke about the reference to Hunchback of Notre Dame, analysing its implications, spoke beautifully on the subject of personification and then finally wrote some interview questions for the author. Some good work today class- you all focused wonderfully and came up with some particularly good hot-seating interview questions and answers. See you next week everyone1 🙂
P.S. The article is the word doc below!
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Summary for Lesson 4
In today’s class we began our second book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn, thinking today about the historical context behind the book. We spoke about the use of racial slurs in the book and discussed how to treat 19th century language in the modern day with an understanding of the history it underscores. We spoke about US history in the 1870s and 80s and watched a video that detailed the context of the Reconstruction Era and Jim Crow laws. We learned about Twain’s life and linked this to the ideas he explores in the novel, and finally researched the three concepts of slavery, Sentimentalism and the Second Great Awakening, discussing what this tells us about the novel. Some good work from the class today, particularly in the research task which they completed wonderfully. Well done everyone- see you next week 🙂
Context video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZGaBrXSWi8
Mark Twain video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMtBPa7hpsA&t=1s
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Summary for Lesson 5
In today’s class we continued our work on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, thinking about character, genre and critical interpretations of the novels. We began with a discussion of character, which the class then used to inspire their own Twain-esque characters, before thinking about genre. We spoke about genres such as semi-autobiography, adventure and bildungsroman- honing in on this subject to think about how Twain subverts the genre of bildungsroman in order to criticise adulthood (and specifically what he thinks of it!). Finally we dug into some critical analyses of the two books, considering the idea of morality in Huck Finn and how powerfully it communicates Twain’s ideas (as much as he may not have wanted them communicated in this way!) and we spoke about which of the two books they preferred. The class then were introduced to the notion of ‘two worlds’ in the novels- the idea that the light and the dark that Tom and Huck contend with form the particular backdrop that makes Twain’s work part of the Great American novel canon. Fab and energetic work today class- well done for all the great ideas and concentration throughout. See you soon 🙂
Huck Finn video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXKgBIiP8IA
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Summary for Lesson 6
In today’s class we completed our work on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, thinking today about satire, place & time in the novel and Twain’s views of writing. We began with a discussion of the satire in the novel, thinking this to the themes of religion, racism, adulthood and the 19th century American South and thinking about the message Twain is sending. We learnt about the forward in the book that warns the reader against reading between the lines and discussed why Twain may have written this. We spoke about the character of Injun Joe and the xenophobia evident in his portrayal, learning about the history of Native Americans in the US at the time. Finally, we discussed what makes these books classic novels and the class completed a creative exercise where they created a plot based on Twain’s that utilised specific time and place. Good work today class, well done for all your ideas on satire which were particularly good. Have a great week and see you next lesson 🙂
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Summary for Lesson 7
In today’s class we started our next book, Oranges in No Man’s Land, thinking about the history and setting of the novel. We began with a discussion of what we liked and didn’t like in the novel, before moving on to thinking about the history of the Lebanese Civil War in the 1970s and 80s. We discussed what this book tells us about war and thought about the importance of the setting, analysing an extract from the novel to help us discuss this. We read a piece by the author about her experiences in Beirut and why she wrote this novel, and the class thought of some interview questions they would ask her. Finally we discussed how the presentation of war in this novel compares to war in other books they have read, and thought about the focus on WW2 of these books and why it was important to learn about history in different places too. Lovely work class- well done for your ideas on interviewing the author in particular. Just make sure to have the book fully read by next time. See you soon, and have a lovely week 🙂
Lebanon war video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q70bGTwk4VM
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Hi beth,
this is my homework for today! Sorry, it is late… (P.S sorry Beth! I don’t have anything else to write about on this topic! So it is a bit short!)
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Summary for Lesson 8
In today’s class we continued our work on Oranges in No Man’s Land, thinking about character and narrative. We began with a discussion of the class’s favourite characters in the novel, moving on to discussing the way the narrative voice functions in this book. We spoke about how Ayesha as the narrator affects the way the story is told, thinking about how the sides of the civil war are portrayed. The class then completed a great hot-seating exercise, conducting an imaginary interview with Samar, before writing a passage of the book from her perspective. Finally, we discussed how we would change the ending to make it more fulfilling- which the class did a fantastic job of. Wonderful work class, well done! I particularly liked your questions and answers for Samar, which were super intuitive. Lovely job, see you next time 🙂
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Summary for Lesson 9
In today’s class we completed our work on Oranges in No Man’s Land. We began with a discussion of what the class would call the book if they could choose, thinking about creatively interpreting the story with their own spin on it. We then completed some comprehension, discussing how Laird creates the vivid and powerful setting she does within the book and analysing the language, including examples of pathetic fallacy. Then, in the final twenty minutes, the class designed their own plays based on the novel, identifying elements they had to include (i.e., costume, set design, actors, dialogue) and planning a play around this. They shared these fantastically and then reflected on how to write a book review in preparation for the homework. Brilliant ideas today class, well done! Keep up the great work everyone and see you next week 🙂
Book review video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhYF3v3zTeo
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Summary for Lesson 10
In today’s class we began work on Trash, our final book of the winter course. We began by discussing what we liked and disliked in the novel before thinking about the setting of the book and what we could ascertain from where the book is set about life in these communities. We spoke about the poverty shown in the story and how Andy Mulligan wanted to draw attention to poverty throughout the world. We watched a video about people who live on landscapes filled with trash like the characters in the novel and spoke about how we never find out exactly where the story takes place. We then read an article about why Mulligan wrote the book and discussed this, thinking about how we can help people in these communities. Finally we discussed the big issues explored in the book, from corruption to homelessness to violence- which the class did a wonderful job of thinking about. Amazing work everyone- well done for all your interesting and astute observations and your attentiveness to big issues in the novel. Great work all round 🙂
Homework article: https://eco-business.shorthandstories.com/child-scavengers-casualties-of-the-philippines-war-against-waste/
Video we watched: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiVhL047t9w&t=2s
Guardian article we read: https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/feb/03/andy-mulligan-trash-movie-stephen-daldry
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Summary for Lesson 11
In today’s class we continued our work on Trash, thinking today about genre, characters, narrative and structure. We began by discussing the homework article, linking this to the context of the book, before discussing the genre of the book and how it uses tension to propel the plot forward. The class thought about the structure of the book, thinking about how the tension rises and falls throughout the storyline. We spoke about the impact of the narrator’s voices and the use of multi-narration and finally, the class honed in on an issue from the novel, writing persuasive letters using the story as inspiration. Lovely work today everyone, your writing was fantastic and I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts about the power of the story’s happy ending. Amazing work, see you all next week 🙂
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Summary for Lesson 12
In today’s class we finished our work on Trash, completing our winter course. Today we spoke about the moral framework of the novel, thinking about the notion of the Senator’s corruption in the novel and linking this to the characters and the role of the police in the book. We spoke about the crimes committed in the book and the notion of the boys’ giving back to the community the money was originally stolen from. We discussed some big questions in the book such as what are children’s rights, what is corruption in the book, what role the police play in the story and what is tension. Finally we hot-seated the characters at the end, thinking about what their lives might be like after the end of the novel. Amazing work today everyone, well done for all your great ideas and all your hard work over the past twelve weeks. It has been wonderful teaching you all! I will see you all again very soon for our next course and hope you have a lovely break! Well done class 🙂
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