Wolmer s Boys School 6B CAPE Literatures in English Course Outline Unit Topic: Prose Primary Text: Hard Times Teacher: Miss C.

Transcription

1 Wolmer s Boys School 6B CAPE Literatures in English Course Outline Unit Topic: Prose Primary Text: Hard Times Teacher: Miss C. McCleary RATIONALE: Literature contains most of the available knowledge about humanity our beliefs, concerns, feelings, self-perception, philosophy, assumptions and interaction with the world at large. The study of literature exposes the student to this valuable information; and cultivates in them indispensable analytic, organizational and communicative skills. This unit will emphasize the analysis of prose as a discrete literary mode, through general study of a wide variety of prose extracts and the specific study of Hard Times, in preparation for the CAPE, Literatures in English Examination. DATE TOPICS STUDENT ASSIGNMENT Week 1 Week of September Revision of the Elements of Prose 2. Textual Analysis of Book 1: Chapter 1 a. Characterization Thomas Gradgrind b. Theories of Education Write a character sketch and present to the class. Week 2 Week of September Introduction: a. Dickens Biography b. Dickens Motifs & Style c. d. 19 th Century England e. The Industrial Revolution/ Industrial Towns f. Victorian Education 2. Book the First: Sowing Chapters 1 4 a. Characterization: Mr Gradgrind, Louisa, Thomas (Tom), Sissy Jupe, Mr Bounderby b. The School and the Factory c. Themes: Fact vs Fancy, Education, Industrialization, d. Plot: Exposition Group Presentations Critical Appreciation Week 3 Week of September 24 Chapters 1 4 a. Characterization: Mr Gradgrind, Louisa, Thomas (Tom), Sissy Jupe, Mr Bounderby b. The School and the Factory 1 A Re-Creation of Coketown: Word/Art/Image/Movement

2 Week 4 Week of October 1 Week 5 Week of October 8 Week 6 Week of October 15 c. Themes: Fact vs Fancy, Education, Industrialization, d. Plot: Exposition Chapters 5 9 a. Setting: Coketown (dystopia, soulless rationalism and deadening regularity ) vs the Circus b. Themes: Fact vs Fancy, Class, Industrialization, Mrs Sparsit, Louisa, Tom, Sissy Jupe, Significance of Names and Portmanteau d. Plot: Rising Action 2. Book the First: Sowing Chapters a. Characterization: Stephen Blackpool and the Use of Metonyms, Rachael, Mr Bounderby, the Old Woman, b. Themes: Class, Marriage Chapters a. Characterization: Tom, Louisa, Mr Bounderby b. Themes: Family Relationships, Marriage c. Significance of Names and Titles 2. Essay Writing Workshop: a. Interpreting the Question b. Choosing the Best/ Most Relevant Details c. Creating an Essay Outline d. Writing the Essay Section Review a. Narrative Perspective b. Dicken s Style c. Coketown: A Symbol of the Destructive Machinery of Industrialization d. Narrative Technique: Suspense/Cliffhangers, 2 Character Sketches Individual Presentations: 1. Ajae Meredith, Chapters Kevon Blair, Chapters Nathaniel Norton, Chapters Shemar Salmon, Chapters Divorce Worksheet 1. Ryan Webb, Chapters Essay 1 Revision

3 Allusions e. Methods of Characterization: Names, Speech, Physical Description, Education, Caricature 2. Departmental Examination Departmental Exam Week 7 Week of October Review Exams/Consultation Week 8 Week of October 29 Week 9 Week of November 5 Week 10 Week of November Book the Second: Reaping a. Plot: Rising Action b. Theme: Greed, Exploitation James Harthouse Chapters 4-6 a. Plot: The convergence of plot strands, Rising Action b. Characterization: Stephen Blackpool, James Harthouse, Tom, Louisa c. Theme: Power Relationships (Unionization) a. A Series of Traps b. Plot: The convergence of plot strands, Rising Action James Harthouse, Mrs Sparsit d. Theme: Power Relationships (Unionization) Chapters a. The Utilitarian Product b. Symbolism Mrs Sparsit s Staircase 3 Individual Presentations: 1. Ajay Yankana, Debate Pair Presentation: 1. Oral Connickie & Romario Bailey, November 2: Select Genre 1. Brandon Simpson, November 9: Select Topic 1. Jean-Claude Walters- Dunn, Chapters 10 12

4 Week 11 Week of November 19 Week 12 Week of November 26 Week 13 Week of December 3 c. Significance of book & chapter titles d. Plot: Climax a. Questioning the Utilitarian Ideology b. Significance of the revised chapter title (1) Sissy Jupe a. Plot: Falling Action a. Plot: Resolution 2. Essay Writing Workshop: a. Interpreting the Question b. Choosing the Best/ Most Relevant Details c. Creating an Essay Outline d. Writing the Essay 1. Donté Bennett, Chapters 1-3 Classwork: Essay 2 1. Nathaniel Webb, November 29 (Drama)/30 (Prose): Introduction and Outline Pair Presentation: 1. Geovani Lewin & Jamiel Ward, Essay 3 Departmental Exams Week 14 Week of December 10 Extratextual Presentations Extratextual Presentations GRADED TASKS: a. Three Essays b. Two Presentations c. Two Departmental Examinations d. Paper 1 December 13: First Draft SBA DEADLINES: 1. Select Genre November 2, Select Topic: November 9, Creative Piece/Introductory Paragraph and SBA Outline: November 29/30, First Draft: December 13, Final Draft: March 4,

5 PRESENTATIONS You will do two (2) graded presentations this term, the grades of which will be averaged for a final grade. Presentations will be graded for content (10 marks) and style (5 marks). 1. Presentation 1 is based on the chapters of the novel you have been assigned. The presentation must cover the elements of the genre: plot, narrative perspective, setting, character, theme, narrative technique and style. 2. Presentation 2 is based on the extratextual reading you have been assigned. You will: a. Identify the thesis statement. b. Identify the supporting ideas. c. Write a summary of the essay. d. Identify 3-4 sentences or phrases that can be cited in students essays. Extratextual Essay Assignments Essay Student Assigned A Tropology of Realism Hard Times Ajae Meredith & Kevon Blair Dialect as Realism: Hard Times and the Industrial Novel Nathaniel Norton Dickens and the Pleasure of the Text: The Risks of Hard Times Shemar Salmon Dickens s Genera Mixta: What Kind of Novel is Hard Times? Donté Bennett Dickens s Omniscience Ryan Webb Manufacturing Novels: Charles Dickens on Hearth in Coketown Jamiel Ward Martha Nussbaum on Dickens Hard Times Oral Connickie Melancholy Elephants: Affect and the Animal Machine in Hard Times Romario Bailey Rhetorical Technique and Moral Purpose in Dickens s Hard Times Brandon Simpson The Circus in Hard Times Nathaniel Webb The Imagination of Charles Dickens: Some Preliminary Geovanni Lewin Discriminations Walking on Flowers: The Kantian Aesthetics of Hard Times Jean-Claude Walters- Dunn & Ajay Yankana ESSAYS Writing Workshop, Essay 1 Either The novelist s style is a crucial element in successfully depicting society s class differences. With reference to ONE British, American OR Postcolonial work of fiction that you have studied, discuss the extent to which you agree with this statement. or Story titles heavily influence the meaning and significance of narratives. With reference to ONE British, American OR Postcolonial work of fiction that you have studied, discuss the extent to which you agree with this statement. Writing Workshop, Essay 3 Either The exploration of conflict hinges on the writer s choice of narrative strategies. With reference to ONE British, American, OR Postcolonial work of fiction which you have studied, discuss the extent to which you agree with this statement. or Writers carefully craft their narratives to explore social ills. With reference to ONE British, American, OR Postcolonial work of fiction which you have studied, discuss the extent to which you agree with this statement. 5