Both AP student and College students will read excerpts from Virginia Woolf's novel,
Orlando
. I have chosen this text because it offers my students another excellent example of how the biographer selects the events he/she includes and how he/she describes them..
AP English and Literature Students
My AP students will read the entire novel and I want them to take the following notes:
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for each chapter they have to briefly annotate the time when the narrated events take place and where they occur
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they also have to annotate what or how the narrator relates about Orlando's life without recurring to a long list of dull biographical events
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take notes of the conflicts Orlando faces in each century
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take notes of the conflict(s) Orlando faces when he/she falls in love
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take notes about his changes as a man and when he becomes a woman.
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Once they have finished reading the novel, they will respond to the following prompts:
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analyze Orlando's love for Princess Marousha Stanilovska Dagmar Natasha Iliana Romanovitch
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compare Orlando's love for the Princess to the "old Queen's love for him"
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analyze Orlando when he becomes a woman, in particular compare and contrast his view of women when he is a man and her view of women when she is a woman
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discuss the main emotional conflicts Orlando has as a man and as a woman
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analyze the narrative techniques and explain how these techniques characterize Orlando and other characters in the novel
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discuss how Orlando is conflicted by compelling desires, ambition, obligations, and/or influences
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determine the central question which the novel raises and the extent to which it offers an answer
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analyze how Orlando conforms outwardly while questioning inwardly
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discuss how a specific setting in the novel plays a significant role
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discuss the overall effect of writing a spoof (think about what or who the narrator intends to mock)
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write a two–pages biography or autobiography
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rewrite the same as a spoof.
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College Students
My college students will read chapter one, three and four. In class, we will reread each of the assigned chapters and will take notes on:
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the main event occurring in each chapter
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their reflections and/or questions while they are reading
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the main traits they notice in Orlando
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the main characteristic of the setting in each chapter
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the main conflicts Orlando faces
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differences and/or similarities between Orlando, the man, and Orlando, the woman
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Phrases or statements that contribute to the tone and that, as the narrator says, create "life'.
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After rereading, we will have a class discussion based on their notes, reflections, and questions. In particular, we will focus on the change of sex and whether it plays a role on Orlando's belief. We will also discuss the role of the narrator and the suggestions she includes in reference to the writing of a biography. We will also spend some time comparing and contrasting passages from Roger Fry's biography and
Orlando
to understand what a spoof is.
To conclude, they will write a biographical page following the style Virginia Woolf has used for this novel. This assignment can refer to just one specific year in their life or a period of time, and has to be of substantial length. Once they have completed this creative piece, they can use it as a model or just a spring board for writing the personal statement for college admission. Before they start drafting their personal statement, I expect them to research Virginia Woolf's life (I will suggest them Hermione Lee's biography). They will read it and select three important events or encounters in her life. Once they have selected the excerpts, they will have to analyze the narrative techniques which they will share and discuss in class. (The details for the analysis of narrative techniques and the instruction for writing the personal statement/college essay are specified in the Lesson Plans Session).
