Comparative 2012 advice...

sarahbrite

Hello!
I recently secured a job teaching English and am a little daunted by the prsopects of the L.C course and getting everything covered. Any tips on how to tackle the comparative (as to not frighten the students too badly!)?? Two texts which I'm to cover are My Sister's Keeper and The Great Gatsby...
Any advice/tips/links would be appreciated!

Feeded

sarahbrite wrote: »

Hello!
I recently secured a job teaching English and am a little daunted by the prsopects of the L.C course and getting everything covered. Any tips on how to tackle the comparative (as to not frighten the students too badly!)?? Two texts which I'm to cover are My Sister's Keeper and The Great Gatsby...
Any advice/tips/links would be appreciated!

i'm not familiar with those two texts but what i will suggest is asking the kids to keep a response journal. Something like an A4 copy. . . In this journal they can keep an account of significant moments or perhaps where a theme is best explored etc . . . All it means is that they end up having their own notes and interpretations of material covered in class. . . It will be their own set of notes so it will help when putting their final questions together for exams.

UnLuckyAgain

sarahbrite wrote: »

Hello!
I recently secured a job teaching English and am a little daunted by the prsopects of the L.C course and getting everything covered. Any tips on how to tackle the comparative (as to not frighten the students too badly!)?? Two texts which I'm to cover are My Sister's Keeper and The Great Gatsby...
Any advice/tips/links would be appreciated!

Definitely try to pick a film or play as your third text - not only would 3 novels be hefty to get through (and slightly boring), it also encourages students to read across a range of literary forms and to become aware of how different forms convey different themes, contexts etc.

It also helps to keep everyone interested (including yourself!) as there's scope for example, for the class to see the play in person.

As someone already mentioned, a response journal is a great idea - particularly for those all-important key moments.

sarahbrite

Thanks a mill for that tip - journal idea is great because it will ensure they keep up with the reading too. Definitely going to include a film too for the comparative.

Stewie Griffin

Have you any wriggle room on the choice of texts? Two novels does add to your workload and limits what you can write about in the Lit Genre mode. Tbh I can't recall offhand if LG is even on the 2012 course but it's something to keep in mind.

sarahbrite

Stewie Griffin wrote: »

Have you any wriggle room on the choice of texts? Two novels does add to your workload and limits what you can write about in the Lit Genre mode. Tbh I can't recall offhand if LG is even on the 2012 course but it's something to keep in mind.

Yup LG is on the 2012 and the 2013 course alright. My two novels have been selected by school already so that's set in stone! Just re-read My Sister's Keeper which I love personally and will look forward to teaching. The themes are diverse and I think they should spark good debate among the students! Gatsby is my next mission. And then trying to decide on a film that would serve as a good accompaniment!!

UnLuckyAgain

sarahbrite wrote: »

Yup LG is on the 2012 and the 2013 course alright. My two novels have been selected by school already so that's set in stone! Just re-read My Sister's Keeper which I love personally and will look forward to teaching. The themes are diverse and I think they should spark good debate among the students! Gatsby is my next mission. And then trying to decide on a film that would serve as a good accompaniment!!

Haven't read Gatsby myself but if there is anything along the lines of love/devotion in it, you could try My Sister's Keeper/Gatsby/Casablanca (film).

The different timeframes could be interesting too.

sarahbrite

UnLuckyAgain wrote: »

Haven't read Gatsby myself but if there is anything along the lines of love/devotion in it, you could try My Sister's Keeper/Gatsby/Casablanca (film).

The different timeframes could be interesting too.

Ooh ya Casablanca could be good. Tackling Gatsby this week so will see how that unfolds! Different time frames will definitely be something I'll be noting alright

kirwanco

Don't be too daunted by the comparative. The Casablanca option sounds excellent to me, the three texts seem to match up well. Keep in mind that all your students have to do is link the texts, they (or you) don't need to have exhaustive knowledge of the texts, except for a few key moments where you can focus on similarities and differences between them.

On another note, in my opinion, I would avoid covering literary genre at all costs and stick to theme and issue and general vision/viewpoint with your class. I find that the latter two are closely linked and easier modes of comparison to introduce to a class. Weaker students especially struggle with the idea of literary genre as a mode of comparison and struggle with the technical aspects of different kinds of texts and what is appropriate. Good luck.

implausible

kirwanco wrote: »

Don't be too daunted by the comparative. The Casablanca option sounds excellent to me, the three texts seem to match up well. Keep in mind that all your students have to do is link the texts, they (or you) don't need to have exhaustive knowledge of the texts, except for a few key moments where you can focus on similarities and differences between them.

On another note, in my opinion, I would avoid covering literary genre at all costs and stick to theme and issue and general vision/viewpoint with your class. I find that the latter two are closely linked and easier modes of comparison to introduce to a class. Weaker students especially struggle with the idea of literary genre as a mode of comparison and struggle with the technical aspects of different kinds of texts and what is appropriate. Good luck.

+1 on the first bit. Avoid getting too bogged down in the detail.

However, I'll have to disagree with you on avoiding LG. I find GVVP quite vague for study, whereas LG can be divided into easily explained and discussed in chunks - the weakest HL student can distinguish between the structure of a play and a novel, between linear chronology and using flashback, between an omniscient narrator and an unreliable one who is involved in the story. It has the added bonus of being completely different from Theme, avoiding confusion.

Personally, I avoid covering GVVP when I can, but that's possibly because I have a system for LG that's tried and tested.

kirwanco

deemark wrote: »

+1 on the first bit. Avoid getting too bogged down in the detail.

However, I'll have to disagree with you on avoiding LG. I find GVVP quite vague for study, whereas LG can be divided into easily explained and discussed in chunks - the weakest HL student can distinguish between the structure of a play and a novel, between linear chronology and using flashback, between an omniscient narrator and an unreliable one who is involved in the story. It has the added bonus of being completely different from Theme, avoiding confusion.

Personally, I avoid covering GVVP when I can, but that's possibly because I have a system for LG that's tried and tested.

I guess that as long as it works in your own classroom then it's the way to proceed. I do find that my stronger students benefit from studying GVVP as it gives them more room to flex their creative muscle - something that the comparative study in general so sadly lacks.

implausible

kirwanco wrote: »

I guess that as long as it works in your own classroom then it's the way to proceed. I do find that my stronger students benefit from studying GVVP as it gives them more room to flex their creative muscle - something that the comparative study in general so sadly lacks.

Unfortunately, my crowd's creative muscles can be somewhat puny:o, that's why I prefer to go with something more structured. The creativity can certainly be absent, it's soul-destroying to mark tens of comparative essays making the same points in the same places, where the students are obviously working off their teacher's notes.

Oh, to see an original thought...

/sighs

Feeded

I miss The Remains of the Day. . . It was a great novel to have on the Comparative and they just discarded it. . . I'd love to be a fly on the wall when they're sitting around the table selecting the texts. . .

Stewie Griffin

That's an interesting perspective kirwanco.

It's my experience that students find GVV very restrictive- every aspect is basically judged as positive or negative and my better students found it very dull.

The good students can be very creative with LG- there is no limit on the things they can talk about. There is room for individual flair because they see things and make observations the other students don't, even if every student in the class has paragraph topics that are broadly similar.