What is British Literature? Although this question seems benign and simplistic, if one questions the basic terms "British" and "Literature," one quickly moves into a set of generic, political and philosophical debates. What are the hallmarks of literature? What kinds of writing must be excluded from the canon in order to make "literature" have specific meaning within a culture? How does "British" function as an adjective? Are works written before the advent Great Britain truly British? Does one have to be born in Britain in order to qualify as a British Author? Or, more provocatively, is the American Declaration of Independence a British document?
These kinds of questions continue ad nauseam, but it may be sufficient to say that we will spend the majority of this year helping you to generate your own individual, complex understanding of the writing described by the term British Literature.
11.16.09: Romantic Poetry Day One: Getting an Understanding of your Knowledge Hi guys, I'm doing a presentation at Masconomet High School and am out of school today. That notwithstanding, we are going to begin poetry: Part 1: Partner up. You will be sharing computers today because we cannot get into the integration lab. Go to our Ning site. There in the discussion forum you will find two new discussion threads for each class. Each thread contains a short poem with no biographical or author information. Discuss each poem with your partner and write an analytical paragraph that renders a reading (or the beginning of a reading) and post it as a reply. Make sure that the name of each partner appears at the top of the post so that credit can be given. **Note: This is a formal piece of writing (even if it is short). please try to do a presentable job. If it were me, I'd compose as a google doc and then I'd have a draft. Also, then I could make sure I could spell check the piece before I posted it. We should end up with 13-15 response for each poem for each class. If you finish early, you may begin your homework. Homework: On our Ning site, go to your own page and post a blog on the following subject--even if it seems a little childish. Are you ready for the prompt? To me, poetry is... Finish this statement thoughtfully and honestly, PG13 rating please. Reading Assignment: Read first 20 pp. of John Hollander's Rhyme's Reason for our next class meeting. Note: If your laptop screen isn't wide enough to view this PDF, then download it to your computer and open it from there. Then you can right click on the image and rotate it clockwise until the pages are readable. Also, this PDF is searchable! Pretty cool, isn't it? Remember that we are attempting to adhere to academic fair usage guidlines, so please don't distribute this beyond our password protected group and remove it from your computer when we finish the unit. Mr. Lister's Filing Cabinet: Check here for stuff that used to be photocopied or handed out in class:
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Welcome! Mr. Eric Lister
English Department
Winchester High School
80 Skillings Road
Winchester, MA 01890
781.721.7020
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Honors British Literature |