Welcome to the course site of A Bird's Eye View of British Literature. In this course you are going to study British literature in a historic context and find out to what extent this still affects the world around you.
We hope that the course will inspire you to go on reading books and poetry even after you have finished. There is so much more to discover!
In the first meeting we will explain how this course works and where to find the necessary information. The latter you can find in the Introduction. However, if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask your teacher.
The English department
Goals of this course
After having finished this course you:
know the basics of British literature in a historical context;
know which literary genres are characteristic for which literary period;
can explain the most important features of different literary genres in different periods;
can analyse literary extracts and poems from different periods;
can write a modern Shakespearean sonnet;
can discuss your opinions and motivate them in English in your team;
can relate the literary extracts and poems to modern day life;
can express your opinion on the poems and extracts that you have read, and the literary periods you have studied.
Class activity: Introduction
What are we going to do in class?
Introduction to the project;
Hand out the materials (two readers);
Make groups for the group presentations;
Get familiar with the website on Wikiwijs
Form your team
Form a group of four peope (or if necessary three people).
With your team you are going to be expert on one of the literary periods and present your findings to your your fellow students in class.
Your teacher will assign the different periods to the groups.
How does this course work?
So, what do you need to do? Open the document by clicking on the link below and read the information carefully.
In this task you are going to focus on the old English epic poem Beowulf.
Assignment 1: The English language
Before learning more about the poem, you need to find out how medieval history has influenced the English language by watching these two short videos.
Mention two important historical events that influenced the English language.
Assignment 2: Alliteration
Now read the chapter about Beowulf in your Poems and Extracts reader.
What is 'alliteration' and what is its function?
Assignment 3: The story of Beowulf
Watch this classic animation of Beowulf:
What characterists of the Old English Period (see reader Bird's Eye View Periods) can you discover in this story?
Task 2: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
In this task you are going to focus on a completely different medieval work of fiction: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It is a late 14th-century chivalric romance, one of the best-known Arthurian stories.
Originally this was a long poem in four parts. For most people it is almost impossible to understand the Middlle English in which it was written, as you in the original text below. That is why most people read a modern translation.
Assignment 1: language
What writing technique does this extract have in common with the original version of Beowulf?
Assignment 2: Germanic versus Arthurian hero
Now read the background information on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in your Poems and Extracts reader. In what way is an Arthurian knight like Gawain different from a Germanic hero like Beowulf? Mention two differences and explain your answer.
Assignment 3: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Read the abridged version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in your Poems and Extracts reader, as well as the Code of Chivalry below.
1. How does Sir Gawain sin and what is his punishment?
2. Several of these codes can be applied to Sir Gawain. Make a list of the five most important codes and support your choices with examples from the text.
Theme 1b: The Middle English Period
Task 1: Life in the Middle Ages
What was British culture like in the Middle English period? What was the role of women and the role of the church? How were people punished? Try to find out about this by doing more researh. Click on the button to have a look on the following website:
6. Why did people go on pilgrimages in the medieval times? Give at least two reasons.
Task 3: The Wife of Bath's Tale
Read the extract from the The Wife of Bath's prologue in your Poems and Extracts reader.
1. How is the Wife of Bath characterized in this extract?
Read the Wife of Bath's Tale.
2. What is the role of women in this tale? Explain your answer by referring to the story itself.
3. How does the role of women in this story compare to the role of women in the Old English period and Middle English period (see information in Reader periods)?
4. Does this story suit its teller, the Wife of Bath? Explain why or why not.
Task 4: Write like Chaucer
Write a ‘tale’ like Chaucer might have done. See if you can win a free lunch in the school cafeteria, like the Pilgrims who were competing with their stories to win a free dinner.
Take the following steps.
Step 1: The Pilgrim’s profile
Your tale needs to be told by a pilgrim. That pilgrim will be based on you! To find out your medieval profile do the following test:
For what medieval job did you turn out to be best suited?
Briefly describe what this job & personality entails.
Step 2: Write a prologue to your pilgrim
Your pilgrim goes on a (modern) pilgrimage. Introduce your character in the prologue in 10 rhyming lines (minimum). Make sure that we get a picture of the pilgrim's position in society and his/her character.
Step 3: Write your Canterbury Tale
Your story (150-175 words) should include 2 of the 4 following elements:
Betrayal
A scam
A bit of classroom appropriate sex, lust, or violence
money
Make sure your story fits the character of your story teller (your pilgrim), has a clear plot and a life lesson!
Theme 2: The Renaissance (compulsory)
Class activity: The Shakespeare webquest
Do a webquest to find out more about Shakespeare, his inventive language and acting in the Renaissance.
Your teacher will give you a worksheet. Do assignment 1, 3, and 4. Have fun!
Here you can find the links that are referred to in the workshop:
Activity 1: William Shakespeare: An introduction to his life
'To be or not to be, that's the question.' Many people know this line and even recognize this as a line from Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Shakespeare wrote many interesting plays in different genres, like comedies and tragedies. Next period we will study one of his plays and experience why many of them are still worth reading.
In this project, however, we wil focus on Shakespeare's sonnets, which are also interesting food for thought.
Study the section about Shakespeare's sonnets in your Extracts and Poems reader. There are two sonnets for you to read, but you can also choose to use the two videos below to hear them read out loud.
SONNET 18 & 130
Assignment 1
You could say that both sonnets are love poems, however, conveyed in opposite ways. Describe how in both sonnets the narrator expresses his love to the person described.
Assignment 2
An important part of the sonnet can be found in the final lines, the couplet. What message does Shakespeare try to get across in these final lines in both sonnets?
Class activity: Your own sonnet
Together with a classmate or on your own you are going to write a sonnet à la Shakespeare.
You can start from scratch or base yourselves on an existing lyrics. Mind that you use all the characteristics of a Shakespearean sonnet. Although it is difficult to use iambic pentameter, try to use it as often as you can.
If you work with a classmate, make sure you mention your classmate's name in your notes.
Click on this video for extra help.
You can also decide to rap your own sonnet during the Sonnet Club. Look at the following video for more inspiration:
Class activity: Sonnet Club
In today's Sonnet Club you are going to enjoy each other's sonnets. In groups you are going to read, assess and make a top 3; resulting in a class top 3.
Theme 3: The Neoclassical Period
Task 1: Gulliver's Travels
In this task you are going to focus on the novel Gulliver's travels by Jonathan Swift.
Assignment 1:
Read the following synopsis (from www.bookdrum.com) to get an idea of the complete story:
Lemuel Gulliver has wanderlust. He takes every opportunity to abandon his loving wife and children, setting sail as a ship’s surgeon on whichever ship will hire him. Unfortunately, every ship he joins is either shipwrecked or attacked by pirates. It is following these unfortunate incidents that Gulliver discovers his new lands: worlds that reveal the meanness, vileness, idiocy, and barbarity of life.
His first voyage sees him washed ashore in Lilliput, whose inhabitants are less than six inches tall. They manage to take him prisoner, but he is soon released and becomes an honoured guest. Although he helps the Lilliputians in a war with their neighbours, their gratitude soon fades and he is charged with treason. He manages to put out to sea where he is rescued and returned home.
On his second voyage, Gulliver finds himself abandoned in Brobdingnag, a land of giants. He is well treated as a pet and curiosity, and is soon adopted by the Queen. She provides him with a miniature house, and he enjoys a comfortable life – except when he has to battle giant wasps. Eventually his house is seized by a giant eagle and carried off to sea. Again, he is rescued and returned home.
Undaunted, Gulliver puts to sea a third time, only to find himself on the flying island of Laputa, whose learned citizens waste their time in pointless scientific endeavours such as attempting to soften marble for pillows. On the same trip, Gulliver meets a magician and a race of wizened immortals, condemned to suffer forever the miseries of old age. He even visits Japan, where he encounters the Emperor.
The fourth and final voyage takes Gulliver to the land of the Houyhnhnms, wise and dignified horses who rule over savage humans called Yahoos. Gulliver identifies with the Houyhnhnms rather than the Yahoos, but they ultimately reject and expel him. He is once again rescued and returned home.
Back in England, Gulliver is unable to fit into society, preferring to talk to horses. His eyes have been opened to the monstrosity of the human condition. He has experienced too much, both awesome and fearsome. It takes years for him to be able to enjoy the company of his wife and grown children. He writes his diary, Gulliver’s Travels, as a warning for all of humanity.
1. Why is this story typical of this period? In order to answer this question read the general information about this period in the Bird's Eye View reader.
Assignment 2: Trailers
Gulliver's Travels has always been a very popular work of fiction. Because of this there have been quite a lot of film adaptations. Watch these two official film trailers from respectively 1996 and 2010:
There is even a cartoon version from 1934: Gulliver Mickey.
1. Which of these three trailers appeals to you most? Motivate your answer by giving two arguments.
Assignment 3:
Now read the extract from Gulliver's Travels in your Poems and Extracts reader and answer the following questions:
What are the main causes of war according to Gulliver? Give at least two examples.
Which wars does he say are the worst?
Jonathan Swift uses a lot of irony and satire in his work. Find at least three examples of this in the passage you have read and explain why these examples are ironic.
Task 2: The real Robinson Crusoe
You have probably heard of Robinson Crusoe: a man stuck on an uninhabited island who had to survive on his own. Of course, there is so much more to the simplified story that many people know.
This work of fiction, published by Daniel Defoe in 1719, was written like an autobiography. Defoe was, amongst others, a journalist, businessman, manufacturer and government spy. He wrote the novel in journalistic fashion: he gives the facts as fully and accurately as possible.
Although the story is fictional, Robinson Crusoe is based on the account of Alexander Selkirk, a Scotsman, who was left behind on the isle of Juan Fernandez, off the coast of Chile, and stayed there from 1704 till 1709.
In this task you are going to find out who this real Robinson Crusoe was by watching a History Channel documentary.
Write the following:
After having watched the documentary, write a brief summary of the contents in which you include Selkirk's childhood, life at sea, his rescue and his life in London afterwards (approximately 50-70 words)
What if you were on this uninhabited island? What would you do to survive? Mention two things that you would have done the same as Selkirk and two things you would have done differently. Motviate your answer. (30-50 words)
Read two of the early September entries. These were written during The Great Fire of London from 2 to 6 September 1666.
1. Briefly summarise the two entries that you read (don't forget to mention the two dates).
2. What is characteristic of his style of writing? Explain your answer by giving three examples from the entries that you read.
Be a chronicler yourself!
3. Now you're going to chronicle your world like Pepys did. You're going to keep a diary (in English) in which you write three entries.
Do not limit your diary to your own 'bubble', but also apply a broader view of the world around you.
Each entry should be at least 50 words.
Apply Pepys's style of writing, but give it your own personal twist as well.
Theme 4: The Romantic Period
Task 1: William Wordsworth
Two iconic romantic poets are William Wordsworth and Samual Taylor Coleridge. Their joint publication of poems in Lyrical Ballads in 1798 is seen as the start of the Romantic Period.
One of the most famous poems by William Wordsworth is I wandered lonely as a cloud. Read this poem in your Poems and Extracts reader. You can click on the video below for a reading of the poem.
Assignment: Wordsworth
The poet tries to draw a picture of what he has seen during one of his wanderings. However, he does not use factual language. Instead he uses a lot of figurative speech (=beeldspraak). Find at least three examples of this in the poem and try to explain what is meant by the phrases you have chosen.
What element(s) of poetry in the Romantic Period can you retrace in this particular poem?
The joy the sight of the daffodils gave him is not something that disappears. It is an experience of lasting value, to be recollected in a moment of peace while lying on his couch. We all have these kind of recollections of something that gave us joy in the past. What happy memory do you sometimes recall when you are on your own in peaceful relaxation?
Task 2: Percy Bysshe Shelley
Read and listen to the following poem by P. B. Shelley, called Ozymandias. You can also find this poem on page ??? in your Poems and Extracts reader.
Now answer the following questions:
1. Which lines/phrases in the poem help you to define Ozymandias's character?
2. Read the following lines again and explain the irony of this:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
4. This poem is about the transience or vulnerabilty of political power, which makes it still relevant to the world we live in today.
Find a photograph of modern day society that portrays the essence of this poem.
Write a caption for your photograph in which you describe the relation between your photograph and the poem.
Task 3: Be a romantic poet
If you enjoyed writing the Shakespearean sonnet, you might want to explore some more. Writing a poem like the Romantics did might be even considered easier because you do not have to apply strict rules!
As you have read on page 12 of the Bird's Eye View reader, your poem must have an individual, personal approach as it in some way or other tells the reader about your personal feelings. Themes that could be used are, for instance, the supernatural, dreams, children, nature, and morbid aspects of life.
So, try to find your inner voice and write a poem of at least 10 lines.
Theme 5: The Victorian Period
Task 1: What did the Victorians do for us?
Many people are unaware of the fact that the Victorian Period is closely related to our modern way of life.
Assignment 1:
From all the inventions on the whiteboard pick three that you think have been most influential.
You must be able to give arguments for your choice.
Write down your top 3 and your motivation in your personal file.
Assignment 2:
You are going to watch one episode of the BBC series What the Victorians did for us. While watching your episode you need to make a list of things that the Victorians left as a legacy for your generation. Which of the mentioned 'inventions' did you like best and/or find most influential and why? Make a personal top 3 and motivate each choice in 30 words.
Charles Dickens is one of the most famous writers of the Victorian Period. Many people might be familiar with the character Scrooge from his novel A Christmas Carol. However, Charles Dickens wrote many other novels that give a much more indepth insight in life in the Victorian Period.
Assignment: Charles Dickens
Watch the following video about Charles Dickens and answer the following questions:
What kind of message does Dickens want to get across to the reader?
What ways/methods does Dickens use to succeed in conveying his message? Mention three and explain.
Assignment: Hard Times
Read the excerpt from Dickens's novel Hard Times. You can find this text in your Poems and Extracts reader on page ????.
1. The city Coketown is almost described as a character. Write down five phrases from this extract that show the negative character traits.
2. Describe the city's character in you own words in one sentence.
3. Charles Dickens is famous for his use of irony. This is also used in this excerpt. Quote one example from the text and explain its irony.
4. In what way is this description of Coketown still relevant today?
Task 3: The modern Dickensian world
Dickensian
/dɪˈkɛnzɪən/
adjective
of or reminiscent of the novels of Charles Dickens, especially in suggesting the poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters that they portray.
Although many of us might feel happy in our own 'bubble', the world at large is 'on fire'.
Write a 'Dickensian' scene of a modern world city/situation that shows the bleakness, ugliness of Man's achievements. Mind the following:
write 75-100 words
use irony
use comparisons
be descriptive, so use adjectives/adverbs
The information from task 2 could come in handy.
Theme 6: Britain before and after World War I (Compulsory)
Class activity: War and Poetry
You are going to think about and discuss war and poetry in an international context and through the ages.
Imagine going to war as a 19-year-old British young man in 1915. Initially honoured to go off to Belgium or France to fight for your country, but then faced by the horrors of war: life in the trenches, gas attacks and the unrelenting sound of canons. The First World War (28 July 1914- 11 November 1918) was a war in which over nine million soldiers died. It was supposed to be a war to end all wars. Unfortunately, we know this to be untrue.
Assignment 1: WWI
Watch the first four minutes of this video to understand Watch the next video (3 minutes) about life in the trenches:
how the war started:
:
Describe in your own words what life in the trenches really meant.
Assignment 2: war poets
Some of these soldiers fighting at the front shared their experiences by writing poetry. At first these poems tended to be optimistic and patriotic, but as the war continued an angrier mood started to appear.
Read the poems In Flanders Fields by John McCrae and The Soldier by Rupert Brooke in your Poems and Extracts reader. You can use the following links to hear these poems read out loud:
Although you might not understand every detail of these two poems, try to understand the main idea.
Answer the following questions:
1. Describe what happens in both poems.
2. Explain for both poems whether they are patriotic or not. Explain your answer by giving examples from the poems.
Now read a third poem in your Poems and Extracts reader: To the Warmongers by Siegfried Sassoon. Answer the following questions:
3. What is described in the first part of the poem ("I'm back again .... pass them by.")?
4. "For you our battles shine". Who is or are meant with 'you'?
5. How does this poem compare to the two previous poems?
Assignment 3: Siegfried Sassoon
Sassoon is famous for his angry poems about the war. He even took one step further. He did not only protest by means of his poems, but also in another way. Find out on the internet what he did and what the consequences were. Write down briefly in your own words.
Task 2: Dulce et Decorum Est
Would you be willing to die for your country? Tough question!
Wilfred Owen might be considered one of the most famous War Poets ever. In 1917 he wrote the poem Dulce et Decorum Est. Before experiencing the poem, read a Dutch article by Anton van Hooff in NRC: NRC article
Now read (and listen) to the poem by clicking on the following button: Dulce et Decorum Est
Answer the following questions:
1. What impression do you get of the soldiers from reading the first stanza and why did they look like 'beggars under sacks' (line1)?
2. What happens in the second stanza and how does this affect the narrator later on in life?
3. What hypothetical case does the narrator put forward in the last stanza?
4. Would you be willing to die for your country? Motivate your answer.
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Auteur
Tamara Maas
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Laatst gewijzigd
2022-07-05 13:54:42
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