A tribute poem to Nelson Mandela by Maya Angelou

FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley. IT´S ALIVE!!!!

I busied myself to think of a story, . . . One which would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature and awaken thrilling horror. —Mary Shelley

What led Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein? Watch this video and find it out.

 

Before analysing some extracts and aspects of the novel let´s check some information about  Mary Shelley, the Romantic period and What Frankestein meant in that period:

Frankenstein updated 06 from wmallenoo

In Chapter 5  the monster  begins to take shape, and Victor describes his creation in full detail  being both "beautiful" and repulsive. The chapter is also full of grotesque, gothic elements. It is also a good study of the obsessed scientist and his psyche. Do you think he is evil or mad? 
After reading the chapter answer the following questions:
1. How did Victor feel before he gave life to the monster?
2. What were the first movements of the monster when it was brought to life?
3. How does Victor feel when he witnessed the horror of his creation?
4. The chapter is a story about dreams. What did Victor dream about? 
5. What kind of setting do we have? What adjectives would you use to describe the atmosphere created? Select those lines where there are gothic, horror elements.
6. Victor´s mood changes throughout the chapter. Look for the different states of his mind.
7. Why do you think Victor is so scared and feels so much repulsion for his creations when it was supposed to be his dream? Do you think he has exceeded some natural boundary with his creation?



 According to what you have read in Chapter 5 and the description you will hear in the next video. 
1. What is a monster?Pay attention to the following ideas:
- physical appearance.
- way of talking, walking, etc.
- Relation with the outside world
- Relation to other people.
2. Do you agree with what the creature says about what it means for him to be a monster?
3. Do you think Victor plays God and he makes a big mistake?



Frankenstein video. Read by Greg Vaughan

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Mark Haddon wrote this book in 2003 and it completely overshadowed what he did before! The novel was longlisted for the 2003 Man Booker Prize and won an award in 2004. The narrator (Christopher Boone) lives with his father in Swindon and suffers from autism. However no specific disability is mentioned in the book. He describes some aspects of his condition but he never gives it a label. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a kind of detective story that takes Chris beyond his own world and this will lead him to discover many things about himself and his family as well. All in all the novel is very funny but heartbreaking as well. By the end of the book, Christopher isn´t any more the same person as before and neither is the reader after finishing the book.
The novel is a bit unusual for several reasons:
- unusual main character
- unusual narrative techniques.
Do you agree? Can you explain why? Read the following notes to understand a bit better the structure of the novel.

 

The curious incident of the dog in the night from ajdk


Answer the following questions about the book:
1. Read the first paragraph of the novel. What do you learn about him? What is important to him? How does he see things?
2. Who is Siobhan? Why does Christopher tear the piece of paper that Shiobhan has drawn for him?
3. Why does Chris use footnotes, drawings, lists, pictures and so on?
4. What´s the setting in the story? Is it important in the story in itself? 
5. What kind of incident does he have with a policeman? What do you think of it? Do you think the policeman knows or understand something about Chris´ behaviour?
6. Why are prime numbers important to him^? What does he say about them?
7. Describe Chris´relationship with his father. What does he think about his father? What does his father think about Chris? What do you think about them?
8. In the novel there are some ideas about death. What´s Chris´opinion about that?
9.  What does he think about lies?
10. Who is Chris most important suspect in the murder case? Why?
11. Truth is important  in Chris´world. Why?
12. Why does He compare himself to Sherlock Holmes?
13. How does he use his memory to understand and interpret different situations?
14. In which way is he different from other people?
15. What type of language do we have in the book? Give examples
16. He also speaks about religions. What´s his opinion about this topic?
17. Who are the most important characters in the novel? In which way do they relate to each other?
18. Do you think we have some differences between the Chris who starts the novel and the Chris we have at the end of the novel? Justify your answers.
19. Did you like the novel? Who is your favourite character? What have your learnt?

JANE EYRE by Charlotte Brontë

After reading some extracts and working with Charlotte Bronte and her novel Jane Eyre. Let´s work with the film.
 Below you have the oficial  trailer. Watch it and summarize a little bit what you see:
1.What can you say about  her childhood? 
2.Some ideas about religion appear in the trailer as well. What do you think of them? 
3.The  play between light and darkness is very important as well to create the appropriate atmosphere. There´s some suspense in the story. What does the trailer suggest? 
4.What impression do you have about Jane and her character. How would you describe her according to the trailer? Make reference to some words she says.



 In the Voicethread you have below and after watching the film, speak about the following ideas:
- Gothic elements. How is suspense and a gloomy atmosphere recreated? What elements does the director use to show us this?
- Dreams and visions are very important in the novel and in the film as well. How do they contribute to make the story more interesting and to create more suspense?
 - Victorian society and roles between men and women. How is this shown in the film? 
- Bertha Mason is one important character in the story. What kind of differences do you see between her and Jane? We can say Jane is a real modern character in the nineteenth century society. Why?
 - How would you compare and contrast Mr. Rochester and Sergeant John Rivers? 
- Who is your favourite character and why?
- What´s your personal opinion of the film? What did you like or dislike about it?

LEARNING ABOUT QUANTITY

Expressing quantity from Channy Leang

A brief approach to DICKENS and David Copperfield

Charles Dickens was the best-known novelist of his time, and is considered by many to be the greatest writer of the Victorian era. He was a writer who influenced people around him. The authorities had even to change some laws because of his books. He critisized and condemned the injustices of the Victorian society. 
Besides, some of his characters are still part of our culture today. Everyone remembers Mr. Scrooge, Oliver Twist or David Copperfield for example. We can say  he was a kind of social reformer in many aspects.

 Watch the following video to learn a bit more about his life and his background.



Last year, 2012,  was the bicentenary of his birth. Throughout that year lots of different activities were done to pay homage to him and remember his novels. Even though he is a 19th century writer his work transcends his time and even his language and culture, because his books still inspire films, series, literature, etc. 
Let´s watch the following video about why celebrating Dickens bicentenary and answer the questions below.



1. What was celebrated in 2012 and why?
2. What kind of things are going to be done?
3. What kind of connection does Lucinda Hawksley have with Dickens and what does she do?
4. What can you find at the Charles Dickens Museum?
5. What´s the aim of the celebrations of Dicken´s birth and how do they want to achieve that?

It is very difficult to select just one book to read because many of them are interesting. So in the end I have decided to read and work with David Copperfield and some "original" extracts. 
Dickens himself said about this book:

Of all my books, I like this the best. It will be easily believed
that I am a fond parent to every child of my fancy,
and that no one can ever love that family as dearly as I love them…
But, like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts
a favourite child. And his name is DAVID COPPERFIELD.

The novel is told from a first-person point of view, and it is considered his most autobiographical work. It is  a bildungsroman that shows us  a boy’s struggle to find his place in the world. The novel as many others, probes the social injustices of the time. Copperfield has a turbulent childhood at the hands of his cruel stepfather followed by a rough education. However he is also guided sometimes by unexpected goodness. Little by little as he grows up and he turns into a man, he will find love but also betrayal and harships.
David Copperfield is a story of memories. As an adult he goes back to certain moments of his past. If you had to write about your early childhood, what would you say? 

Let´s read chapter 4. I Fall into Disgrace:
- David remembers certain aspects about his education. Let´s analyze an extract and contrast it with education nowadays.
- Let´s analyze as well the figure of the narrator, setting and 
characters. 
- Cultural aspectos from the 19th century victorian society that we can see in the extract.

Below, you have one adaptation by the BBC where you can find actors such as Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith, Ian McKellen or Daniel Radcliffe ( Harry Potter) when he was very young. It was quite successful in 2000. You can watch it  to learn more about the period, the way people behaved, how class- conscious people were, how the relationship between adults and children or between men and women were, etc.






To finish off, here you have some games to learn more about the Victorians and  a bit more about Charles Dickens and his characters. 

1. Help Kit find his way in the Victorian London and learn about typical places of the time. You just have to follow the instructions and move him with you mouse. Have a go and Enjoy!!!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/multimedia/dickens/index_popup.shtml

2. Click on this link, then go to the games section and click on the ´"What the Dickens? game show." Spin the wheel, and do what you are going to be told.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/famouspeople/charles_dickens/#