Hello! My name's Liliana. I'm a teacher of English (Language and Literature) to Italian teenage stu

domenica 30 aprile 2017

Fenella's stories


Students have read the first part of a story"The voyage" by Katherine Mansfield.


They were asked to write the second part, trying to figure out the reason why Fenella (a little girl) and her grandmother say hello to Fenella's father and sets off on a boat.....writing a letter to someone....


FIRST STORY


September 1st, 1921
Dear Tom,
how are you? I hope you're fine.
I've got a lot of things to write you; Now I'm with my grandma and my dad at the port, because I'm going to Picton!
Unfortunately, dad isn't coming with us and I'm so sad.
He wants me to leave for Picton because in this city I'll have a job, lots of friends, and especially a future.
My future is an important thing for him, but for me too. Anyway, the Picton boat leaves at half past eleven; I'm very excited!
I'm really curious to discover what there will be in Picton: new friends, a new house for me and granny. A new life!
Now I'm looking at the sky: it's full of bright stars as lighthouses and it's a magic moment for me.
I miss you a lot,do you know? I hope you'll come to Picton to see us.
There are a lot of people at the port,and now they're walking on the gangway.
It's a beautiful night. Before going to go to the port, dad cried because he was little bit sad to leave us. We're his family.. but he says that one day he will come to Picton to visit us.
To my surprise, he has taken off his hat! He hugged me and his mother five minutes ago.
Now it's time to go into the boat, and I don't write anymore but I'll promise you that when I arrive in Picton I'll write you.
Write soon,
Fenella.
SECOND STORY
Dear Jack
I'm  on a  boat  to  go to  Australia,  my  grandmather  is  with me.
I'm  sad  because  I'm  frightened  not  to  see  my dad.
He  has  given me  a  shilling and I  think  that  we  want to come  back  home.
I  hope  that  I' ll  be able  to  see  you again and  to  see  my  dad  again.
Love, Fenelle.


THIRD STORY 
25/03/2017
Dear Fenella,
Currently, I am in XXXXXX with my family because I live with them. XXXXXX is my hometown.

My parents have understood that here for me and my brothers there

is not any way in the future,so we have decided to leave for Germany, this month.
My father has already found a job and has just taken it because when he was young he served the army in Gorizia .
My mother said that as soon as we got there we would start to look for a job.
My brothers and I will go to the same school and take the bus to go there,and surely I will take care of them.
After school I want to look for any job and then  I will try to get the job that I want.
Tell me a little about you,see you soon!

FOURTH STORY 
                                                                         Hogwarts 10/09/1921
Dear Allie
How are you? I'm fine but now it is the time  that I describe my current situation.

Three days ago my dad said that my grandmother had sent a letter where she said that I would go with her.

I have never been to her house and I don’t know why. She was with my father when he has taken me to the port I saw that they spoke and I also saw that my father was sad and tired. When I asked when I would come home, he didn't answer, my grandmother said to him "God bless you, my own brave son". After that, my dad hugged me and my grandmother and I went to the boat. On the boat my grandmother told the truth, she and I are witches!
The boat stopped at Hogwarts, a school of magic. I was scared, but after I saw what the magic can do, and I was happy!

My grandmother also said that my dad was scared because my

mother  was killed 4 years ago by a witch.
I want to stay here because it is my home........
and yesterday I met a beautiful boy, his name is Tom Riddle, but 

 he is "Serpeverde" and I'm "Grifondoro", but say nothing!

Write soon, Fenella.


                                                                     

                                     



martedì 11 aprile 2017

THE MIDDLE AGES

THE MIDDLE AGES


THERE WERE THREE LANGUAGES
FRENCH was used by the Norman nobles (LAW;FOOD;ART;MEDICINE;LITERATURE)
LATIN was used by the CHURCH and as the language of learning
MIDDLE ENGLISH (1100-1450) The language of COMMON PEOPLE

14th century
THE GROWTH OF THE MIDDLE CLASS (NEW JOBS: shoemakers,carpenters,bakers,clothmakers,tradesmen)
They formed a new URBAN MIDDLE CLASS

They were SKILLED ARTISANS
·         They organized themselves into GUILDS ( da GELD-payment)
·         They controlled the quality of goods
·         They regulated prices and wages
·         They held fairs
·         On particular feast days, they performed scenes from the Bible



14th century
THE GROWTH OF THE GENTRY(people of good social position, specifically the class of people next below the nobility in position and birth)
A class of landowners who was becoming rich


lunedì 3 aprile 2017

BALLADS





BALLAD form the LATIN “ BALLARE” to dance
Definition An oral narrative poem which was often sung, it belongs to the ORAL TRADITIION
What it is about? One single situation, one story
Origins? ENGLAND and SCOTLAND between the 13th and the 15th century
Authors?  Anonymous
Structure? Usually short stanzas of two or four lines
Narrative technique? Mixture of narration and dialogue (no detailed descriptions); rapid flashes; no continuous sequence of events
Narrator? impersonal,never intruding or moralizing
Language? concrete,simple, musical and repetitive; use of stock phrases and refrains
Refrain? some words or lines which are repeated at intervals, usually at the end of a stanza
Incremental repetition? a line or stanza is repeated but with some addition advancing the story
Rhyme Scheme?  usually ABCB
Themes?  love (unhappy love), death,jealousy,revenge,war betrayal, the magic and the supernatural


Characters? not described in detail; no psychological complexity
Interest in ballads? Ballads were written down in later periods; in 1765 Thomas Percy assembled and published the famous collection Reliques of Ancient English Poetry. In the Romantic period poets wrote literary ballads
BALLADS of MAGIC
BORDER BALLADS
BALLADS of LOVE and domestic tragedy


BALLADS of OUTLAWS with the cycle of ROBIN HOOD
( a great folk hero who probably lived in the 12th century)

domenica 2 aprile 2017

 THE RISE OF THE NOVEL  
WHEN  1st half of 18th century in England (Robinson Crusoe 1719)
An early example Aphra Behn’s Oronooko, or The Royal Slave (1688)

CAUSES
  • ·                        emerging middle class with new tastes and interests, having  leisure time to read and money to buy books
  •                             literacy rates increased
  •                  public interest in the human character led to the popularity of autobiographies, biographies, journals, diaries 
  •          the rise of newspapers (The Spectator, The Tatler, The Examiner….talking about morals, fashion, urban change and foreign affairs)
  •          the spread of lending or circulating libraries . They were  libraries with books lent for a small fee to subscribers; the first circulating library was set up in Edinburgh in the early 18th century, and in the 18th and 19th centuries the system proved extremely popular. Usually they were out of stores that sold other items such as newspapers and books. Sometimes they were in stores that sold items completely unrelated to book.


  •         the novelists wanted to satisfy the needs of the middle class (shopkeepers, tradesmen, successful farmers)

THE READERS Members of the middle and lower class. (Women were good readers… they had spare time….they were interested in a  short escape from the prison of  their house.)

STORIES they were not taken from history, legends or ancient myths. The novelists created their own stories. Credibility and probability are essential qualities
CHARACTERS realistic, having contemporary names, struggling for survival or success

THE NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE the narrator is omniscient and he is often intrusive. The narration is in the third or first person narrator. The story is told in chronological order. A logical cause-and-effect sequencing is followed

THE SETTING lots of references to time (particular times of the year or of the day) and place (detailed descriptions of things, interiors and places)

MESSAGE if you have faith in God, if you work hard, if you respect a strict code of values you’ll deserve to be saved and also to have your social and economic situation improved. You mustn’t ask god for salvation: You must rely upon your own work and have the gift of self-help. The sense of reward and punishment, which was the “message” of the novel itself, was related to the Puritan ethics of the middle classes.

VALUES temperance, economy, sobriety, modesty, hard work, self-reliance

LANGUAGE simple, realistic, concrete

Daniel Defoe is  generally   regarded  as the first true novelist and the creator  of realistic  fiction