I need to get back into the swing of things! I just knew that there was something that I was forgetting to do this morning, and I could NOT remember what it was. Now, I remember...post your journal! Yikes! Here it is -- late (or at least later than I would have liked to have posted it).
Let's do a pre-reading activity: What do you know about British culture, literature, and history? Why do you think senior year is devoted to British literature? Discuss!
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I will be completely honest with my answer, and that is that I know absolutely nothing about British culture, literature, or history. My knowledge begins and ends with those awful British comedies on PBS. Not that I watch them religiously, but they are hard to understand! The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere? Is that British? And senior year is probably devoted to British Literature because it is IMPORTANT. I assume we will find out why. With that, I am definitely excited to learn about British Literature and expand my knowledge a bit. :)
ReplyDeleteSarah Mac
I too, do not have a wide expansive memory filled with British culture facts. I do know that tea is a very important social aspect to the British. Oh! Pocahontas married John Ralph! A stereotype on the Brits is that they have gnarly teeth. I have also heard that London/England in general is a very rainy place...not that the weather really has to do with the culture. Or does it? Perhaps that is why they started to enjoy the warmth of a nice spot o' tea. Britain also has a royal family with Queen Elizabeth being the head honcho. Having an understanding of British culture is important because most of the great "pioneering" literary works were composed by classic British authors...Shakespeare for example. However, whenever I imagine British culture, aside from the lovely tea and London social life, I picture pale robust men jousting around a dinner table with turkey legs dangling from their hands. Meanwhile a meek pauper boy adorned in old leather and potato sacks awaits his weekly earnings outside with his trusty stray, Muffy.
ReplyDelete^^Erinn Springer^^
ReplyDeleteHonestly i don't know a whole lot about anything British. I went to London and seen somethings and have seen things on tv but other than that i'm compleatly clueless. I know that the british culture is in a lot of American liturature due to the fact that they founded America. I'm guessing that its also the reason we're learning about it. I mean i'm most likely wrong but we'll see tomorrow i guess. I am very excited to learn about this though.
ReplyDeleteI honestly do not have a lot of knowledge about British culture, literature, and history. There are a few tidbits about the culture and history that I’ve learned in past history classes, but I haven’t really dipped my toes into a ton of British literature. I do know that the British have wicked cool accents, drive their cars on the opposite side of the road, and also spell quite a few words differently than we do here across the giant pond (i.e. aeroplane, centre, colour, etc.). Oh! And they also call soccer ‘football,’ which honestly makes more sense to me.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the books by British authors that I’ve read, the ones that I can think of off the top of my head are Jane Austen, Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens, C. S. Lewis, J. K. Rowling, William Shakespeare, and J. R. R. Tolkien. Obviously there are a lot of British authors out there, which is why I’m really looking forward to reading more material by them this year.
As to why our senior year of English is devoted to British literature, I think it is because we never really spend the time to actually study it as much as we study, for example, American literature. Now that we’ll soon be heading off to college, it’ll be extremely important to have a good idea about Britain’s past and how the literature has changed over time there. I’m pretty sure that there will be a ton of references to British literature in the English courses at college. Not to mention that British literature has had quite an impact on literature all over the world.
I don't know hardly a thing about British culture. However, the one thing that I do know is the British have awesome hedge mazes and the reason I know this is because a British woman came out to Pleasant Valley Tree Farm and complained about our pathetic corn maze in her snotty British accent. She preceded to argue with my grandma and wanted her money back. The British woman continued to tell my grandma how much better Britian was than the United States, and my grandma put an end to the argument by reminding her that we did win the war. That was my closest encounter with British culture. I hope to learn a little more about the Brits and the way they live and lived in the past through their literature.
ReplyDeleteChristina
I really don't know much about British culture, but I would really like to know more about it. I do enjoy reading British literature, i.e. Alice in Wonderland. I know some things about British history, but I wouldn't say I'm an expert. (: As far as to why senior year is devoted to British literature, I believe that seniors are more mature and developed than the underclassmen. We can tolerate more "grotesque" stories. When it comes to inappropriateness, we don't laugh about the words or scenes that show up in books or readings.
ReplyDelete-Caitlin
Honestly, I know nothing about British culture, literature, or history. It seems to be a very big topic of interest though in English classes it seems. I do know that the British were almost always at war with countries. Many things were introduced and began there! I am just kind of rambling on, so I should maybe just stop. I'm definitely open to learning more about British literature, history, and culture so if we ever need to discuss it more I can actually add something to it and know what I am talking about!
ReplyDeleteKortney
I always found the Middle Ages quite interesting. I was always fasinated by the weaponry of that time period as well as the statistics of the plague. It's really interesting to hear about battles and disputes. One of my favorite types of weaponry of the Middle Ages is the trebuchet, which is like a catapult that fires big pots of burning materials at the enemy. I also know about the Great fire of London, but that was in 1666 so its a little later then the time we are currently talking about. I think we are talking about British literature because alot of it, if not all of it was the base of the literature we know of today. I always thought if I could visit any time period, i would visit the middle ages, so i think i'm really going to enjoy this unit
ReplyDeleteBenjamin
I do not know a lot about British culture, literature, or history. Other than occasionly catching a few movies that just happen to have people speaking in a British accent! I would love to learn more about British culture, literature, and history mainly so I am not completely clueless about it all. I think we are learning about it becuase it takes mature readers and just plain mature people to be able to read and understand it. :)
ReplyDeleteJenni
*occationally*
ReplyDeleteI don't really know about British culture or history that much. I know a few classics in British literature but that's about it. Hopefully I'll learn more this year.
ReplyDeletesierra
I'm sure I know a few things about British literature and history, but nothing off the top of my head. Since I have been in London, I'm sure there are some things I will recognize or remember as we talk more about British culture and history. I think we are learning about British literature our senior year because of how sophisticated the language is.
ReplyDelete-Liz
I don't know much about British history. I think I know a little but I can't think what it is. I think senior year English is devoted to British literature is because it is an important thing from our past that we should learn at some point in our lives.
ReplyDeleteMcRae
Maybe we learn about British culture because we never learned (very much) about it before! The first thing that pops into my mind is "THE BRITTISH ARE COMING! THE BRITISH ARE COMING!". Some messenger ran into town to warn everyone of a Brittish attack, and I think he died after that. But that's pretty much all I know about British history. I find the way people lived in the middle ages sparks an interest to me. It's difficult for me to believe there was life before technology...etc. So I know there's a ton to learn abou British culture, and I hope it's some-what easy to absorb.
ReplyDeleteI don't really know anything about Britsih Literature. I'm sure a little refresher would help me remember anything that I think I know about it. I think senior year is devoted to British culture, literature, and history because of the influence all of them have had on our cutlure, literature and history.
ReplyDelete