history of Novel

http://www.nvcc.edu/home/ataormina/novels/history/default.htm
FOCUSING ON THE LITERARY ELEMENTS


SETTING 地點

Austen sketches the settings of the novel very briefly, leaving it to readers to visualize the places in which the events occur.

Divide the class into groups, assigning each group one specific location in the novel. Have groups collect details from the text as they read so the group can produce visual representations, such as drawings or models.


• Netherfield Park, Bingley’s residence

• Pemberley House, Darcy’s estate

• The Derbyshire countryside

• Rosings, the home of Lady Catherine

Other settings students may select include Longbourn, Hansford, and Meryton.

Afterwards, you may want to show clips from a film adaptation of the novel to allow students to compare their models or drawings to the representation of the setting in the film.

Discuss:

How do the film representations differ from those the students produced? What details are significant in both? How do the details of setting give a sense of the characters that inhabit them? As an alternative to film, you may use the following link to photographs of places used as models for the settings or as settings for film adaptations: http://www.pemberley.com/jasites/jasites.html.

Have students locate details from the novel that place the story firmly in 18th century England and provide hints about cultural values different from their own. For example, Miss Bingley derides Elizabeth’s “brown and coarse” complexion (257).

Note that at this time ladies protected their skin from the sun, so working class women were often more easily distinguishable by their complexion.

Discuss how such details provide important information about class difference, such as the difference between the Bennets’ lifestyle and the lifestyle of more wealthy families, such as the Bingleys.

What details convey a lifestyle of leisure? Consider how little mention is made of work (even by Mr. Bennet) and how much time is spent in leisure-time activities, such as playing games and musical instruments?

Which of the cultural differences between the Regency Period of the novel and today seem merely superficial? Which point to significant differences of values and lifestyle?


POINT OF VIEW 觀點角度
1. As students begin to read the novel, review the different choices authors can make concerning point of view, such as first or third person, objective or editorial, and total or limited omniscience. Ask students to locate evidence of Austen’s choice of point of view for this story.
2. During the close reading of the first four chapters, ask students to locate the passage at which they pinpoint the protagonist (or heroine) of the story. Discuss with students:

• How does Austen shift the focus to Elizabeth? (10)

• Why does the author wait to introduce Elizabeth herself until the second chapter?

• What clues in earlier dialogue hinted at Elizabeth’s importance in the story?

This novel is told in third person with limited omniscience, and readers are most often presented with Elizabeth’s perspective and experiences.

As they read, ask students to note in their journals examples of the occasional shifts from Elizabeth’s perspective to brief insights into Darcy’s thoughts and feelings.

In pairs, have students locate examples of passages that clearly present Elizabeth’s point of view through third-person narration and passages that present Darcy’s perspective.

In their reading journals, ask students to discuss the effect the author produces by allowing readers, but not Elizabeth, an early glimpse into Darcy’s abrupt change of feelings toward her.

CHARACTERIZATION個性

Austen provides few details of the characters’ physical characteristics.

Elizabeth, notes Darcy at first, is “tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me” (11), and only later does he remark on her “pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman” (25). Darcy is described as a “fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien” (10).

Instead, the characters become real through their dialogue, thoughts, and actions. Assign one of the characters (such as Elizabeth, Jane, Darcy, Mrs. Bennet, Lydia, Wickham, Collins, Charlotte Lucas, Lady Catherine de Bourgh) to groups of three or four students and have them build a character sketch based on the character’s actions, words, thoughts, the responses of others to the character, and the narrator’s description.

You may suggest they use a graphic organizer, filling in the different kinds of details posted in separate quadrants:

What the character says What the character thinks

What the character does What other characters say about the character

Divide students into groups of 3-4 and assign each group one of the pairs of couples in the novel: Jane and Mr. Bingley, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth and Wickham, Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, and Lydia and Wickham.

Ask students to collect details about the relationship of the couple and how it develops and changes over time. Students can create and post a chart for the class representing the stages in each couple’s relationship. These charts can provide useful review and opportunities for anticipation questions as the class continues to read the novel.



TONE口氣



The ability of readers to recognize tone is central to understanding a novel.



Choose one or more passages from the selection assigned to make students aware of clues to the tone of the speaker or the narrator. Possible examples for whole-class discussion:



• Mr. Bennet’s reaction to Elizabeth’s refusal to marry Collins (107).

• Collins’ preparation for meeting Lady Catherine (155).

• The exchange between Lady Catherine and Elizabeth concerning the possibility of an engagement (336-338).



In their journals, ask students to identify and record lines of dialogue that produce an effect, intentional or not, on the audience. They should describe the impact of the conversation, note passages that seem to have an intended meaning that differs from the literal meaning of the words, describe the effects the words have on the characters, and describe the effects of the words’ meaning on readers’ understanding of the characters.



For example, Mr. Bennet tells his daughter, “An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents—Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do” (107). Rather than presenting her with a dilemma, he is actually surprising his wife and relieving Elizabeth by making clear his distaste for such a marriage. Elizabeth smiles at her father’s agreement with her decision, but her mother is “excessively disappointed.”



These lines remind the reader that Mr. Bennet often takes his daughter’s side in disagreements against his wife. He supports her rejection of the proposal, preferring Elizabeth’s happiness to a miserable security.



Have students reword selected passages, transforming the scene to a modern situation without changing the tone.



Here is one example:



“And is this all?” cried Elizabeth. “I expected at least that the pigs were got into the garden, and here is nothing but Lady Catherine and her daughter!” (153).

“Is that what all the fuss is about?”cried Elizabeth. “I expected to find the house was on fire, not just Mrs. de Bourgh and her daughter.”



After discussing the selected passages, you may wish to show clips of the scene from the film version of the novel to compare student interpretation to the actors’ interpretation.