Lesson Plan
School Subject: The Course of British Literature
Level: 10th form students
Topic: Charles Dickens
Subtopic: Dickens’s characters (Oliver Twist)
Aim: Introduce
the style of Dickens to describe his characters
Cultural and social objectives: by the end of the lesson studens will be able to express their attitude towards person's deeds, virtues and faults.
Oxford Bookworms, stage 6
DVD film cover “Oliver Twist” by Roman Polanski, 2005
References:
Lesson Outline
1. Greetings
2. Brainstorming (discussion of Dickens’s quote written on the board)
Teacher: Tell me please how do you understand these
words? Why do you think Dickens said them?
“… no one can ever believe this narrative in the
reading more than I believe it in the writing.”
3. Checking homework:
T.: Before we shall speak about D’s works I would like
you to tell me about the time (the life in England) when he lived.
A short report (2-3 min) “A Note About England in the Nineteenth
Century” presented by 2 students, the text is taken from “Oliver Twist”(Macmillan
Readers, intermediate level, page 5)
Student: Dickens’ story, Oliver Twist, takes place in
London in the 1830s. At that time, Great Britain was a very rich country and
London was the largest city in Europe. Many rich people lived in London. They had
expensive houses and they had the very best food and drink. They wore beautiful
and fashionable clothes….
T.: Thank you. At the previous lesson we discussed the
biography of Dickens. Now please look at the board. What can you tell me about
these dates?
·
Only the dates are written
on the board:
1812 – D. was born
1824 – D’s father was
imprisoned and Charles had to go to work
1830 – D. began to work as a
shorthand reporter in the courts which later led him to being a parliamentary
and newspaper reporter
1833 – D. began to
contribute short stories to periodicals
1858 – D. began the series
of paid readings
1870 – D. died
·
Questions based on the Dickens’s biography:
1.
What was the
first D’s job?
2.
What was D’s
pseudonym?
3.
Please name the
works written by D. that you know.
4.
What was the
reason of D. death?
5.
Where was he
buried?
4. Discussion of the plot summary:
Also at the previous lesson we’ve read the short
summary of the “O.T.” plot. Can you please tell me in a few sentences what this
story is about? (One or two students give their answers.)
5. Introduction of the material to the students
T.: Today I would like to discuss the D’s special
style of describing people and to speak about the characters of this particular
novel.
We can say without hesitation that D. was the greatest
novelist of his age. He wrote a tremendous number of works. In his works
written between 1833 – 1841 (and this is the period where OT belongs to) D. observes the individual in the society. He dwells
on how the man should behave when he finds
himself in difficulties, in awkward circumstances
or in some kind of danger. D’s heroes and heroines are remarkable for
their courage in the face of danger. They
never hesitate to remain true to the principles of honour. D. believed that this will be rewarded.
D’s characters are static
but at the same time they are varied, vivid, and distinct.
They may be divided into three types:
1.
heroes
2.
villains
3.
quaint people notable for their whims
These three types call up for three emotions:
1.
pathos (feeling of pity for the virtuous characters when they
are in awkward circumstances);
2.
contempt for villains (usually D.
describes them in satirical manner);
3.
a warm liking for the whimsical but generous persons
The
information given on the board:
Heroes
Villains
Quaint people
notable for their whims
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Pathos
Contempt for villains
A warm liking for the strange but generous people
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No writer of the time knew better than D. what child labour was. He also knew how terribly a
child could change in an unwholesome environment, he was too familiar with the
common misery, and knew how good can turn bad. (this can be given to students as the explanation of the quote at the
beginning of the lesson) Yet, in his
works D’s child heroes or heroines remain pure till the end. They pass through dirty crowded
streets and keep themselves unspotted.
This was D’s peculiar way of defending children’s innocence. And this we can clearly see in Oliver Twist
story.
6. T.: Now you
will watch 2 fragments of the film showing you the example for this. Please watch carefully as you will do some
tasks.
The first fragment is from the 25th to the 32nd
min of the film. Here Oliver arrives to London and meets Jack Dawkins (the
Artful Dodger.
While watching students fill in the gaps in the offered
sentences.
The second fragment is from the 42nd to 50th min
of the film. Here Oliver becomes the witness of the Artful Dodger
pick-pocketing, and meets Mr. Brownlow for the first time.
After watching this fragment students do the
True/False statements assignment.
7. T.: Now I would like you to listen to the extract
of the story. (Students receive the copies
of the text of chapter 14 from the book, so they can follow the listening.)
8. Feedback
T.: Ok, students, you have watched the part of the
film, you have listened to the extract from the book – please try to fill these
spider-grams with the personality characteristics to describe these three
characters (Oliver Twist, Fagin, Nancy)
In order to make it easier for you, I have written the
characteristics and you have simply to decide which hero or villain posses it.
The list of characteristics written on the board:
pure, naïve, greedy, selfish, honest, kind, responsible, cruel,
innocent, open minded, hard working, helpful, trustworthy, friendly, impatient
So, let’s once again repeat the main characteristic
features of Dickens’ style in describing
his heroes. (students one-by-one
read the information, and copy it into their copy-books, or you may present it
as a handout)
(here you either show the poster* with the list of the characteristics,
or show the slides* if you use computer instead the DVD-player)
9. Summary of the lesson, marks for the work
10. Home-task for the next lesson:
Write a descriptive essay about one of the characters from “Oliver Twist” , and give the written answers to the
questions given in the
“after-reading/listening task on the handouts. (the questions are copied from the book, page 109)
Handouts and additional materials:
1. While watching
the film fragment fill in the gaps.
1.
Oliver has
been travelling to London for ____ days.
2.
The first
person he meets in London was ______.
3.
When Oliver
first came to Fagin’s house, the boys were sorting the ___.
2. After watching
the second fragment of the film mark the statements T(true) or F(false):
1. Oliver
Twist has stolen books from Mr. Brownlow.
2. Mr.
Brownlow was charged for stealing the book from the bookshop.
3. Mr.
Brownlow took Oliver to his house because he wanted to punish him.
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3. Fill in the spider-grams: Oliver Fagin Nancy
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Answer the following questions:
1.
What
relation was Monks to Oliver?
2.
What happened
to the will that Oliver’s father had left?
3.
What relation
was rose to Oliver?
4.
What happened
to the money that Mons had inherited?
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Poster
Dickens’ style of describing
characters
·
Observes the individual in the
society
·
Dwells on how the man behave in
difficult, akward situstions
·
Belives that remaining true to the
principles of honour will be rewarded
Dickens’ characters are static but varied,
vivid and distinct
Characters can be divided into
three types:
1. Heroes
2. Villains
3. Quiant people notable for their whims
Child heroes pass through
misery, dirty streets, unhealthy society but they remain pure till the end of the story.
|
Background
Information
At the previous lesson we discussed biography of
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens (Charles John Huffam Dickens) was born in
Landport, Portsmouth, on February 7, 1812. Charles was the second of eight
children to John Dickens (1786–1851), a clerk in the Navy Pay Office, and his
wife Elizabeth Dickens (1789–1863). The Dickens family moved to London in
1814 and two years later to Chatham, Kent, where Charles spent early years of
his childhood. Due to the financial difficulties they moved back to London in
1822, where they settled in Camden Town, a poor neighborhood of London.
The defining moment of Dickens's life occurred when he was 12 years old. His father, who had a difficult time managing money and was constantly in debt, was imprisoned in the Marshalsea debtor's prison in 1824. Because of this, Charles was withdrawn from school and forced to work in a warehouse that handled 'blacking' or shoe polish to help support the family. This experience left profound psychological and sociological effects on Charles. It gave him a firsthand acquaintance with poverty and made him the most vigorous and influential voice of the working classes in his age. After a few months Dickens's father was released from prison and Charles was allowed to go back to school. At fifteen his formal education ended and he found employment as an office boy at an attorney's, while he studied shorthand at night. From 1830 he worked as a shorthand reporter in the courts and afterwards as a parliamentary and newspaper reporter. In 1833 Dickens began to contribute short stories and essays to periodicals. A Dinner at Popular Walk was Dickens's first published story.
He adopted the soon to be famous pseudonym Boz.
Dickens's first book, a collection of stories titled Sketches by Boz,
was published in 1836. In the same year he married Catherine Hogarth,
daughter of the editor of the Evening Chronicle. Together they had 10
children before they separated in 1858.
Although Dickens's main profession was as a novelist, he continued his journalistic work until the end of his life. His connections to various magazines and newspapers gave him the opportunity to begin publishing his own fiction at the beginning of his career. In 1842 he travelled with his wife to the United States and Canada, which led to his controversial American Notes (1842). Dickens's series of five Christmas Books were soon to follow; A Christmas Carol (1843), The Chimes (1844), The Cricket on the Hearth (1845), The Battle of Life (1846), and The Haunted Man (1848). After living briefly abroad in Italy (1844) and Switzerland (1846) Dickens continued his success with Dombey and Son (1848), the largely autobiographical David Copperfield (1849-50), Bleak House (1852-53), Hard Times (1854), Little Dorrit (1857), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), and Great Expectations (1861). In 1856 his popularity had allowed him to buy Gad's Hill Place, an estate he had admired since childhood. In 1858 Dickens began a series of paid readings, which became instantly popular In the closing years of his life Dickens worsened his declining health by giving numerous readings. During his readings in 1869 he collapsed, showing symptoms of mild stroke. He retreated to Gad's Hill and began to work on Edwin Drood, which was never completed. Charles Dickens died at home on June 9, 1870 after suffering a stroke. Contrary to his wish to be buried in Rochester Cathedral, he was buried in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey.
Oliver Twist
One of Dickens’ most
enduringly popular stories is Oliver Twist, an early work published
1837-8. Like many of his later novels, its central theme is the hardship
faced by the dispossessed and those of the outside of ‘polite’ society.
Oliver himself is born in a workhouse and treated cruelly there as was the
norm at the time for pauper children, in particular by Bumble, a parish
council official or ‘beadle’. The story follows Oliver as he escapes the
workhouse and runs away to London. Here he receives an education in villainy
from the criminal gang of Fagin that includes the brutal thief Bill Sikes,
the famous ‘Artful Dodger’ and Nancy, Bill’s girl. Oliver is rescued by the
intervention of a benefactor – Mr. Brownlow - but the mysterious Monks gets
the gang to kidnap the boy again. Nancy intervenes but is murdered viciously
by Sikes after she has showed some redeeming qualities and has discovered
Monk’s sinister intention. The story closes happily and with justice for
Bumble and the cruel Monks who has hidden the truth of Oliver’s parentage out
of malice. Accusations were made that the book glamorised crime (like the
‘Newgate Group’ of the period) but Dickens wisely disassociated himself from
criminal romances. His achievement was in fact in presenting the underworld
and problems of poverty to the well-off in a way rarely attempted previously.
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