English Literature Class
ПРОЕКТНАЯ РАБОТА С УЧАЩИМИСЯ СТАРШИХ
КЛАССОВ
Проектная технология используется в
10–11-х классах на уроках английского языка,
англо-американской литературы и мировой
художественной культуры.
Поэтапно отрабатываются элементы проектной
технологии, и учащиеся осваивают проектную
деятельность постепенно, от простых
микропроектов – 30–40 минут (1 урок), до
долгосрочных – исследовательских и
художественных, выполняемых по всем законам и
правилам данной технологии.
Один из проектов в курсе английского языка
связан с изучением темы “Вечные ценности”.
Команды, сформированные из трёх языковых
подгрупп, “защищали” свою систему непреходящих
нравственных ценностей в художественной форме,
творчески переработав результаты своей
исследовательской и практической деятельности.
Осуществлён проект по внеклассному чтению на
английском языке (романы А. Хейли) и теме
“Выбор профессии” в одной языковой группе, где
также использовалась исследовательская и
практическая деятельность учащихся, а защита
проходила в деловом, но творческом стиле.
На одном из уроков англо-американской литературы
учащиеся одной группы (14 человек) защищали
филологический проект, связанный с изучением
творчества современного английского автора
Дж. Арчера. На основании анализа ряда
произведений учащиеся вывели “формулу”
писателя.
Итоговым занятием в курсе мировой
художественной культуры на английском языке
стал большой проект “Азбука искусства”,
осуществлённый учащимися 11 класса (26 человек).
Защите предшествовал длительный этап поиска
материалов, написания рефератов, обсуждения
формы выступлений, репетиции и др.
Данные формы проектной работы оказались
плодотворными как для изучения указанных
предметов, так и для развития практических
навыков и умений учащихся, а также для их общего
развития, интеллектуальной, социальной и
психологической зрелости и укрепления
коллектива.
Сейчас в общешкольном проекте “Мир, терпимость,
ненасилие” заняты и восьмиклассники по предмету
“Страноведение”, и девятиклассники в курсе
“Введение в англо-американскую литературу”.
Form: project
Students: 11th formers, a group of 14 students
Place: classroom
Time: 90 minutes – a double period
Previous home assignment – to read the following short stories
by J. Archer, e.g. “Just Good Friends”, “Old Love”, “The Hungarian
Professor”, “Not the Real Thing”, “The Chinese Statue”, “The First Miracle”,
“Christina Rosenthal”, etc. (See the collections A Twist In The Tale, Twelve
Red Herrings, A Quiver Full Of Arrows, The Collected Short Stories,
Harper Collins Publishers, 1990s.)
Objective – to work out “The Archerian Formula”. Each of
the three teams is offered the same task. They should enrich each other.
Additional information – article on Genre Fiction (see Cambridge
Guide to Fiction in English, Ian Ousby).
Previous experience – stories by W. S. Maugham,
O’Henry, R. Dahl, K. Mansfield, E. M. Hemingway, G. Greene,
H. Munro (Saki), P. Lively, et al, and their literary analysis. Literary
analysis algorithm.
Among the conclusions about “the Archerian formula” (or his “tricks of the trade”,
or his basic methods of writing), drawn by the project-making students are those included,
but also the following: developed and intricate plots; unusual treatment of usual
situations; rich cultural background; the unbelievable in the common; brief, swift and
precise characterisation; humour; irony; glamour; wit; stunning surprise; suspense which
keeps you hanging on every word; variety of human emotion, intricacies of human nature;
etc.
Suggested summing-up by a teacher: with the ironic attitude and
moral imperative, the writer seems to say that yes, life is unpredictable and cunning, and
full of twists, but there is love and the Hungarian professor, and Colonel Bullfrog, and
Christina Rosenthal and her husband; the lonely homeless cat does find a friend and a
home; some businessmen are honest; it can be rare, overdone, burnt, a la point, though
seldom – 25%! But if we try hard, we’ll succeed and we might not just see light at the
end of the tunnel, but even the first miracle! (It’s a word play based on the characters
and titles.)
Jeffrey Archer (1940 –)
And His Place in Modern British Genre Fiction. A Few Peculiarities of Modern British
Mainstream Literature
 J. Archer is now the first name in the
best-selling British authors lists, and not only alphabetically: his books are truly a
memorable read, being well-written, they keep you hanging on every word. In all his novels
and stories he creates an enticing world of glamour, wit, and stunning surprise. He does
marvellous work at storytelling.
Many literary critics and analysts of today’s literary climate refer
J. Archer’s books to the so-called “genre fiction – written to
prototypical formulations of plot and subject” (The Twentieth Century Literature In
English, London, 1999).
Genre fiction is not a product of the 20th century, but nowadays in
Great Britain there is a boom in its popularity. Perhaps it is a universal tendency. It is
actually a social phenomenon connected with the general disappointment in the high-brow
and overly sophisticated literature which came after World War II. It was a turn towards
common sense realism, towards the real world, where the character should not only look
into himself (J. Joyce, V. Woolf,
D. H. Lawrence...), but watch the world and himself in it. Now it seems not so
important to shock to keep attention, but rather to make the reader think about
human behaviour and relationships: “You should try to be a good person in dark times.”
They often repeat the motto “to instruct in morals while it amuses” (A. Trollope
about W.M. Thackeray). Such books are not merely entertaining; many present
distinguished writing. They get high literary awards and are praised by critics.
The broken standards and faded values in 20th century society are
reflected in literature and bring about the moral imperative and ironic attitude to
human nature and to the world.
After the 1980s, when we lost such outstanding writers as
W. Golding, G. Greene, M. Spark, K. Amis, A. Burgess there came new
names. Among the most well-known men of letters of the 1990s in Great Britain are:
J. Archer, B. Bradford, A. Byatt, F. Forsyte, R. Ludlum,
T. Pratchet, J. Coetze, M. Bradbury, S. Naipaul, S. Rushdie,
K. Ishigura, D. Malouf, J. Bames, F. Weldon, S. Hill, and
P. Ackroyd, et al.
J. Archer seems to be the one to brilliantly develop the
traditions of W. S. Maugham, O’Henry, A. Hailey, R. Dahl, and P.
G. Wodehouse. If we use the definition of genre fiction, we could try and derive the
“Archerian formula”: a highly eventful plot; perfect knowledge of the subject; a
sense of place; “a twist in the tale” and “red herrings”; the reverse and surprise
endings; the romantic element, but the lack of sentimentality; irony; the themes of human
conduct under pressure; of false and real values; the play of luck, the game of chance,
and the acceptance of fate; circular composition; true-to-life characters, not idealised;
etc.
By N. S. Mikunis
School No. 1208, Moscow
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