Amanda's Exposure To British Literature

Understanding the perspective of someone other than yourself is an important lesson for a young reader, as well as incorporating cross-curricular learning in one lesson for peak instructional efficiency. In an article titled “Why and How I Teach With Historical Fiction”, by author, Tarry Lindquist, she expresses the significant role that historical fiction literature has for young adult readers and students. This genre introduces readers to more serious topics and situations, that include both fact, such as actual events, but also fiction, such as characters and incidents that are not real but could have very well happened. This article applies to the novel “The Birchbark House,” by Louise Erdrich as well as “Salt to the Sea” by Ruta Sepetys.

Texts and their appropriations are related to particular historical periods, and the diverse perspectives they offer are significant to understanding the ways of thinking and the values held during that period. Discuss with close reference to Jane Austen's Emma and Amy Heckerling's Clueless.

The value of literature delineates an opportunity for humanity to achieve collective growth. The intellectual capability of both individuals and communities are affected by the importance assigned to literary works. Lack of such regard results in a limited capacity for sociological cohesion consequently shaping the discourse of an era. Austen inadvertently expresses the minimal regard for written material in her society through Pride and Prejudice. The exclamation “there is no enjoyment like reading!” highlights the passion felt for such an activity. However, this desire can be attributed to discourse. Austen exhibits this through the cultural expectation that a woman “must have thorough knowledge”, furthered by the dialogue of gaining cognizance

She does not understand why the older and well-known authors are not being read in high school. Prose uses a personal experience from her son’s sophomore English class. He had to read a “weeper and former bestseller by Judith Guest” (424), about a dysfunctional family dealing with a teenage son’s suicide attempt. “No instructor has ever asked my sons to read Alice Munro, who writes so lucidly and beautifully about the hypersensitivity that makes adolescence a hell,”(424). She again mentions books she approves of that should be read in English classes.

Amy Heckerling’s film ‘Clueless’ enhances our understanding of the transformation derived from Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’ and communicates the issues of rigid social status and confined attitudes to women despite contextual realignments. By adapting the genteel society of Highbury to the superficial microcosm of Beverley Hills, we gain an understanding of the restricted values placed on social status and the objectivity of women. Both Austen’s and Heckerling’s satirical reflections on Regency England and postmodern America respectively, showcases how studying the transformation process has enhanced our understanding of textual and contextual meaning. Through the amalgamation of Austen’s ‘Emma’ into a contemporary teen pic, ‘Clueless’, we see the texts as aesthetic replays of each other and gain an appreciation of the enduring ability to entrance future generations.

English Literature has enabled me to expand my capacity for independent thought, reflection and judgement through constantly reviewing and redrafting my coursework intensely. Studying “The Great Gatsby” allowed me to formulate my own view about the novel and about how 1920s America, optimism of the Roaring Twenties, and the period of The Jazz Age dissolved into the bleakness of the Great Depression. This has also allowed me to be more aware of my quality of work and time management, and has enabled me to broaden my vocabulary and ability to use critical terminology

Literature is in one sense immune to the passage of time, and in another sense exposed to it. Once put to paper, a story survives forever (unless it is carelessly lost or actively destroyed). But the era and the social context in which a work was written, while they can be studied and understood, cannot be preserved or recreated. It was context— the context of her time, the reality of Victorian life— that first ignited and then threatened to snuff out the flame of public intrigue towards Anne Bronte's second and final novel. And while The Tenant of Wildfell Hall— though it did not become as firmly entrenched in the canon of English literature as the works of Anne's sisters— survived, its flame is now dimmed by the context of our time, by the

IN NORTH CAROLINA, THE 2004 STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY FOR ENGLISH IV (twelfth grade) focuses on British literature. Textbooks begin with the Anglo-Saxon period, most prominently Beowulf, and move through the Middle Ages to The Canterbury Tales. Each textbook provides commentary about the oral tradition and Chaucer; each textbook explains the role of the epic hero and the structure of the frame story; each textbook tells us that these are great works of enduring literature. An epic and a pilgrimage — what more does a teacher need to enthrall seventeen-year-olds with two such esteemed works of art? The most famous pop culture line quoted about Beowulf is Woody Allen’s, "Just don’t take any course where they make you read Beowulf," from Annie Hall. Since most students are not familiar with Annie Hall, I have to feed them the line and then pose the question, "Why?" It is not a question we can answer to everyone’s satisfaction.

Students in Ontario taking English should only study Canadian literature because we are completely swamped by the American culture around us. This is a Canadian tradition because we have always been a “branch plant” of another country starting with England and France meaning that our own culture has never had the chance to develop since we have always been under the thumb of a more powerful foreign culture. So, for years, a student in Ontario would study Shakespeare and other British writers: today they may also study American authors such as Fitzgerald. But many schools limit a student’s exposure to the Canadian novel to ISP reading lists. In this sense, Canada is an attic in which we have stored American and British literature without considering our own. 1 No wonder a Canadian student has problems appreciating their culture.

Our cohort is nearing the end of its secondary education and therefore it is important that we reflect on the ways in which it has shaped our attitudes, values and beliefs. For example, over the past five years, we have read, analysed and evaluated various literary works such as novels, plays, poems and films in our English studies. These texts have expressed various ideologies, explored interesting themes and introduced us to fascinating characters. These elements have left a lasting impression on our attitudes, values and beliefs. In addition to this, English literary texts have provided us with historical knowledge as well as a thorough understanding of the role that aesthetic devices

As students grow older, they are expected to take on a heavier load in school. In this development, they can struggle with understanding certain aspects of their studies. For many, analyzing literature can be difficult. These students might suffer from distractions outside of school, such as family issues, finding time to study, or just simply having problems understanding the material. Jack London’s writing however can help with these types of issues. London’s works are very easy to grasp with his straightforward writing style and explicit themes which contain storylines that students may find engaging and even relate to. More of his works should be taught in schools because they are easy to understand, and help lead students through certain

Pairing up classic and modern novels can cause readers to become more interested in learning messages that are still valuable today, even if the works are older classics. Whether a novel was written many generations ago or this year, the effect of those stories and literature overall is the same. The option I chose for the summer assignment included the works: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. Although these works share a time gap of over 160 years, they share similar messages within their stories.

Historical fiction is a fun yet informational genre for people to read. “Reading historical fiction provides students with a vicarious experience for places and people they otherwise never know” (Rycik, Rosler,

The Victorian Era, in which Austen’s Pride and Prejudice; and Dickens’s Hard Times were written, saw a significant shift in the form of writing through a novel. The form began in the Romantic Period, with novels reeling under the category of “pop” literature (Greenblatt, 2012a). However, under the edifice of the Victorian Era, novels not only gained popularity, but began to be viewed as much more reputable in literary circles (Greenblatt, 2012b). In addition, the subject matter of literature changed during this time. According to the Glossary of Literary Terms, almost all writings published during that time, inspired or moralistic,

High school has been my most treasurable experience so far; a time where I have learnt about a range of topics and developed the skills to view things from a personal perspective. For this, I owe a great thanks to all my English teachers; especially Mrs Hinds, who is here with us today and Mrs Lyndon, who helped prepare us for our final stretch of school. While preparing for this speech, when I read the assessments from the past two years, it surprised me to realise how much I had missed the point of each of the tasks. Only now while nearing the end this twelve-year part of my life, have I realised the importance of each individual topic. I realised that no other subject has delved into such a range of diverse matters from the present and past. Just as in Harper Lee’s quote from ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’: “People generally see what they look for and hear what they listen for”. What I missed were the fascinating features of our culture, encapsulated in varying English literature; which of course, were obvious when studying the works of Shakespeare or of the Romantic poets of the eighteenth and nineteenth century. But only after my interest in the subject spiked was I able to understand that I was missing deeper aspects hidden within all types of literature.