Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jajdude]

I have an advanced class. The students are between grade 6 and grade 8 and have spent at least a year overseas. They are nearly fluent. I've been given "The Great Gatsby" to teach them. We have two 40-minute classes per week, and ten weeks to cover the novel. It's only 140 pages. I don't know the novel that well. I looked up some stuff on the internet, like character analysis and chapter summaries.

I guess I'm supposed to teach it like it's a high school class in Canada. I could focus a good bit on some of the difficult vocabulary. There are some words in there I barely know and need to look up for an accurate definition. (peremptory?)

I don't think we need to spend much time reading it aloud in class. These kids have already read Harry Potter and Raold Dahl. I just think some things will be hard to explain as the novel isn't really for young readers.

Any suggestions are welcome.

[gypsyfish]

Why don't you a copy of the Cliff Notes. Pretty sure I've seen them at Bandi & Luni's or Kyobo.

[voth]

Have them read it in sections, at the end of each section ask them a few questions. In addition assign them some vocabulary that reference the period of the piece and add the more up to date vocabulary associated with them.

Reference links:
http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/3844/
http://www.homework-online.com/tgg/index.asp
http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/gatsby/section11.html
http://www.novelguide.com/thegreatgatsby/index.html
http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/f/fitzgerald/f_scott/gatsby/

[jajdude]

Thanks for the links voth.

[Cheonmunka]

Type in 100 literacy ideas or something like that on Google. Should find lots of student centred activities on characterisation, theme, .... Then make some of them for your Gatsby characters.

[jajdude]

We're about to finish up and have an exam. It went pretty well. Lots of focus on vocabulary and summarizing chapters.

Now we're looking to choose a new novel, around 140 or under 200 pages. Of the Oxford Classics I can think of a few:

Frankenstein
Treasure Island
Candide
The Red Badge of Courage

or maybe one by Jules Verne or George Orwell ---- not sure of length.

I like Frankenstein but maybe any of them are OK.

[casey's moon]

Did they enjoy Gatsby? I would imagine it would be boring at that age... anyway, Animal Farm might be too quick of a read, but it is definitely entertaining and there are lots of things you can do with it.

Sounds like a great class to be teaching. I'm trying not to be jealous....

[ilovebdt]

[Ya-ta Boy]

In your place, I'd have someone back home give the local middle school a call and ask the lit teacher for some recommendations for that age level.

[Hanson]

I just did something with adult students with short stories. They're great because there's more variety and they don't take long to read.

I suggest you type in: "The Lottery" Discussion Questions into Google and you'll get great lesson plans almost already made out (That's what I did). The Lottery is a short story by Shirley Jackson (my faev!) by the way.

[jajdude]

Our new novel is "Around the World in 80 Days."

They've seen the Jackie Chan movie.

I found a good site for summaries:

www.thebestnotes.com

which has a bunch of books.

Some vocabulary is difficult.

A good bit of geography/culture in the story.

[steroidmaximus]

I regularily teach (*) or have taught these books and short stories:

Frankenstein *
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde *
The Oval Portrait *
The Picture of Dorian Gray *
The Cask of Amontillado *
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Red Badge of Courage
Silas Marner *
A Tale of Two Cities *
Oliver Twist *
The Scarlet Letter *
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Far From the Maddening Crowd
Brat Farrar
Sense and Sensibility
Jane Eyre *
The Old Man and the Sea *
A Farewell to Arms *
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn *
Tom Sawyer *
To Kill a Mockingbird *
Catcher in the Rye *
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
Animal Farm *
1984
Something Wicked this Way Comes
Farenheit 451 *
Brave New World *
We *
Things Fall Apart *
The Lottery *
Their Eyes were Watching God *
Praisesong for the Widow
Siddhartha
The Chrysalids *
Flowers for Algernon *
Jonathon Livingstone Seagull *
The Ugly American *
Count Zero
Neuromancer
Do Andriods Dream of Electric Sheep?

To name a few. I can reference important passages and events in several of these novels from memory.

Read the book several times, make up some questions, read or have them read important passages in class that stimulate discussion or relate to a writing topic, draw up some comparative thematic essays that use 2 or 3 novels i.e. try to follow a thematic (or periodic) pattern when teaching your novels. Make units that group the various novels together under similar themes or time frames, for example: Individual and Society, Intellectual Honesty and Responsibility, Science and Ethics, Diversity and Culture, 19th Century American literature, Technology and the Changing Cultural Landscape etc. and make them write research papers that draw the novels together and which follow a citation system. Make sure you present them with important events that occured in the author's life whether personal or societal that either influenced or are referenced in the book. Teach them a citation system and how to do basic research.

In other words, teach novels that follow some rhyme or reason and not simply novels chosen at random. Teach the class as you would a literature class following a periodic or thematic pattern. Keep lots of notes so you can teach it better the next time around.

[tomato]

When we covered that novel in English class, I read a few journal articles on the subject, but my favorite was one which interpreted the novel as a modern retelling of the Phaeton myth.

Just as Phaeton borrows his father Apollo's golden chariot, the narrator borrows Gatsby's yellow car. Just as Phaeton ends up in a body of water, the narrator ends up in a body of water.

You can get a few other interpretations here:

http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001519303

[krats1976]

If you're willing to shell out a few bucks, there are tons of teacher's guides available from companies like The Garlic Press. Type in the name of the novel and 'teacher's guide' into Amazon and you'll come up with a couple for sure.

I've gotten a couple from whattthebook.com for novels I've been teaching this year.

There's also enotes.com. Their teacher's guides are pretty comprehensive, but they're also around $20.

[jajdude]

now I'm over 30 I realize what a great novel Gatsby is.

Try it with kids... not the same appreciation

Around the world is OK.