jane austin; Activities

[mimififi]

Hi there you literary lot:

My daughter has just read Pride and Prejudice (fab!) and Sense and Sensability (even fabber) and we have watched the latest movie versions of both.

Now I'm after activities and essay titles that would work with Austin and in particular these too novels. I've googled, but only found things that are suitable for the classroom, and she is home educated so group work/drama is not really practical.

She is in year 7, but is working on a par with year 9 sometimes 10 with literature. Other texts we've done over the last 12 months are Steinbeck's The Pearl; The Island of the Blue Dolphin (can't remember authory) and Nigel Hinton's Buddy.

We are after some really good tasks that we could put into a scrap book to show our ed officer in the Autumn.

many thanks

mimififi

[jno]

don't know if you can get out of the house but these two places are worth a visit:

http://www.janeausten.co.uk/
http://www.jane-austens-house-museum.org.uk/

[mimififi]

I shall check them out, thank you jno, I appreciate it.


The museum sounds really good, it might be worth looking in to riding the train there.

Thanks again for your help!

[SaxyJag]

What about writing a modern day version (or part of). You could use "Bridget Jones' Diary" for inspiration.

Also, have you looked at the various books of notes you get on classic literary works? They often have ideas and essay titles in the back.

Also, you could look at different aspects of life in the period - fashions, social behaviour etc. In what way they were good or bad. You know, how attitudes to women and marriage differ today.

[dot.hawkes]

if this needs to be a practical piece of coursework, it might be interesting for a child to look at the hobbies and interests that are (sometimes) fleetingly mentioned in the text and then try to relate these to the particular social status of the families and compare in pictures how the various families may have spent their evenngs, social time. This was a particualar aspect of the Austin novel, how the young ladies became accomploshed in various needlecraft and artistic activities to enable them to attain a level of respectability.

[mimififi]

umm, they sound like good ideas I'll try some of them.

Can you think of any essay titles? I never touched on Austin when I was teaching, I'm a bit lost. I was thinking about doing something about the role letters play in the novels, but not sure what yet. Any ideas?

[dot.hawkes]

Consequences of Correspondence

[mike b]

Bath visit definitely recommended - don't miss the Museum of Costume. How about reading one of the 20th-century Regency novels of Georgette Heyer, who was an expert on the period? Compare treatment and themes, try to detect influence/inspiration?

[CLOWN TICKLE]

I used to be a teacher, there are several I can think of which will help, look at the following three plays all of which are really enjoyable fun to read aloud and only really involve two characters at a time,

JB Priestley An Inspector Calls

Hobsons Choice by H Brighouse

B Hines A Kestrel for a Knave

[Aschenbach]

P&P Quiz

S&S Quiz