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Summary for Lesson 1
In today’s class we began our work on The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy thinking about the background of the novel and how Douglas Adams uses humour and genre. We started by discussing what we thought about the book before thinking about the genres utilised in the novel, digging deep into the concept of comedy and satire. The class then used this to come up with their own creative satirical ideas and Adams’ inspired characters. Fantastic work today class, well done for your fab contributions & detailed analysis of the book, which you all articulated beautifully. See you next week 🙂
Video we watched: https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/hitchhiker-tgar/hitchhiker-tgar/
Article for homework extension: https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/oct/12/hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-douglas-adams
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Summary for Lesson 2
In today’s lesson we continued our study of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. The powerpoint with all of the resources is attached below, which can be used to revise the lesson and also contains the thinking prompts they should consider for homework. The powerpoint contains all our work on the themes of the novel, our ideas on the rules of the universe Adams creates, the prompts the class used to create their own absurd Hitchhiker-esque rules, and our thoughts on absurdism and how it governs the world of the novel. Some good work today, well done for all your ideas about the themes and moral of the story. Keep it up and see you soon 🙂
Here’s the link to the audiobook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm_EjZnCvrk
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Summary for Lesson 3
In today’s lesson we completed our study of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. The powerpoint with all of the resources is attached below, which can be used to help write the paragraphs assigned for homework. The powerpoint contains all our work on the philosophical background of the novel, thinking about the meaning of the number 42 and what Adams is saying about the human drive for meaning. It also contains the students’ work on literary archetypes, thinking about where they can identify these in the novel, their thoughts on different types of humour in the novel, and finally the prompt for their work on Vogon poetry. Lovely work today class, well done for all your great ideas and thoughtful dissection of the humour in the novel. Keep up the great work 🙂
Character archetypes resource if you’d like to learn more: https://blog.reedsy.com/12-common-character-archetypes-every-writer-should-already-know/
Vogon poetry generator: http://spaceinvaders.epizy.com/vogon.html
Clip from the film we watched on the number 42: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZLtcTZP2js
Here is the pun website we looked at too: https://www.twinkl.co.uk/teaching-wiki/pun#cont-8
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Summary for Lesson 4
In today’s class we began our work on our next book The Machine Gunners. Today’s lesson focused on the history behind the book, particularly considering the context of the Home Front in Britain during the war. The class started with sharing some ideas about things they enjoyed and didn’t enjoy in the novel, before moving on to sharing ideas about WWII and its importance to the backdrop of the story. We learned about the Battle of Britain, thought about its influence on the plot and discussed in detail what it would have been like to live through this period. The students worked fantastically today, conducting some excellent independent research which I thought was really thorough and thought-provoking. Well done guys, see you next week 🙂
Battle of Britain summary video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D37-Xx58LUo
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Summary for Lesson 5
In today’s lesson we continued our work on The Machine Gunners, focusing on some character analysis and inference work. We began the class with a hot-seating exercise, designed to help the students get inside the author’s head, before moving on to some close textual analysis where they had to write P.E.E. or P.E.A.L. paragraphs that closely analysed a passage from the book about the character of Chas. We then compared these to an example answer, before the class spoke about particular characters in the book more broadly, debating the roles they play within the narrative and thinking about how they were surprised by certain characters. Good work today class, well done for your hot-seating questions in particular! Keep up the great work 🙂
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Summary for Lesson 6
In today’s class we completed our work on The Machine Gunners, working in both creative and analytical capacities to tie up our final thoughts on the novel. We began with the students creating their own characters to fulfill a particular role within the book, thinking about how they could look at the gaps in the novel and use those as inspiration. We then moved on to thinking about creative re-imaginings of the ending, which the class completed beautifully. Finally we spoke on a few points of debate to finish the class, summing up some ideas on the period. Lovely, imaginative work today everyone, you have all worked brilliantly today to use this novel to inspire your own ideas. Keep up the great work, see you next week 🙂
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Summary for Lesson 7
In today’s lesson we began our work on Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, focusing on uncovering the history and context behind this book. The students discussed the things they enjoyed and the things they did not, before moving on to consider the impact of the context of the American Civil War and 1860s gender roles on the plot of the novel. We concluded the lesson by discussing whether the book is a feminist one, and what message Alcott was sending to young women at the time. Lovely ideas today class, well done for all your excellent ideas about feminism and its role in the novel. Remember to read part two (linked below) if you haven’t already. You’ve all done fantastically today- well done and see you next week 🙂
Link for Part 2 of the book: https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/36/little-women/431/part-2-chapter-24-gossip/
Here is the homework article: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/09/little-women-louisa-may-alcott/565754/
Video to watch on the Civil War: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKWrxZN5jmM&t=235s
Here is a helpful link that will tell you more about the author and background of the book: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/littlewomen/context/
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Summary for Lesson 8
In today’s lesson we continued our study of Little Women, thinking about some of the key literary elements of the book such as the themes, motifs and symbols. We started by thinking about the significance of the preface of the novel, considering how the moral messaging functions in the book and looking at Louisa May Alcott’s reluctance to write a book that instructs women how to be in society. We spoke about the connection between burning and non-conformity in the book and finally, the class wrote a beautiful review from the perspective of a 19th-century reader, carefully dissecting how someone from the 1800s would have felt about this novel and its characters. Some lovely work today class, well done for your thoughtful ideas on the theme of women and freedom in the book. See you next week 🙂
Video on the preface: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmCSF3lJYok
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Summary for Lesson 9
In today’s lesson we completed our study of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, focusing on creatively reinterpreting the text and discussing the characterisation in the novel. We opened by reading a Guardian article on how some of the feminism in the book is flawed. We looked at mirroring Alcott’s style when adding to character descriptions of the March sisters whilst using foreshadowing and symbolism to deepen the meaning of the passage. Finally, we looked at the notion of modernisation, with the class encouraged to imagine their own updated version of the book, particularly considering how gender roles would function differently. Fantastic ideas today everyone, you both were really attentive and engaged throughout and came up with some wonderful comments on the symbolism and issues of women’s rights in the novel. Keep up the stellar work and see you next week 🙂
The article we read: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/dec/22/little-women-bbc-version
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Summary for Lesson 10
In today’s lesson we began our final book of the course, The Light in Everything. We began today by thinking about likes and dislikes and discussing a review of the novel thinking about elements the students either agreed or disagreed with. We spoke about Tom’s past and the concept of trauma and how it affects his behaviour, before the class spoke about why there is so little dialogue in the book. They then wrote their own examples of dialogue, imagining a scene between Zofia and Tom, before concluding with ideas on the title of the novel. Some good work today and some fantastic creative re-imaginings of the scene between the two main characters. Well done, remember to think carefully about some of the major themes in the book, and see you next week 🙂
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Summary for Lesson 11
In today’s lesson we continued our work on The Light in Everything working today on theme and setting. We began by identifying moments where themes shone through in the story before digging into the theme of anger in detail. We then spoke about the importance of setting, using this to write character-informed descriptions of the seaside. We then thought of our own setting for the novel, considering what this would change and how it would work for the story. Finally, we thought about Zofia comparing herself to storm clouds and thought of a pathetic fallacy-based concept for Tom. Lovely work today everyone, you were all super switched on throughout our class and spoke beautifully on the importance of emotions in this novel. Keep up the fab ideas and see you soon 🙂
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Summary for Lesson 12
In today’s class we completed work on The Light in Everything and consequently completed our whole course. Today we looked at Katya Balen’s reasons behind writing this novel, digging into the interviews the class read for homework, before thinking about her use of literary techniques in the book. The class then completed some review work, reading reviews of the novel and coming up with their own versions, which they did fantastically, thinking carefully about lots of different aspects of the novel. Fab work today everyone, you did particularly well on identifying the sections of various reviews that spoke to your own opinion of this book and I really enjoyed hearing the different ways you had interpreted Katya Balen’s reasons for writing the novel. Well done for all the great work you’ve done over the past few weeks everyone, it has been wonderful to work with you all and I look forward to seeing you all in the future 🙂
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