Virginia Woolf's short story,
Kew Gardens
written in 1919, describes the scenes of people passing by a flower–bed in Kew Gardens. It opens with a very detailed image of the flowers, their colors, and shapes while "stirred by the summer breeze."
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Different people, men and women, pass by and stop at this flower–bed while reminiscing about their past, discussing about a secretive project, eccentrically talking, or just chatting. Every time people stop or pass by the flower bed, the flower–bed life seems to stop too to observe and understand the newcomers, and what their discourses are about. A snail carefully studies its surroundings and all its various obstacles before it finally finds how to overcome whatever apparently interrupts its crawl. The resulting image is an extraordinary work of art where both men and nature become an integral part of a much more sophisticated world which makes no distinction between them.
AP English Literature Students
First of all we will read and analyze the short story. While they analyze Virginia Woolf's text, they will have to:
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Determine the purpose, the audience, and the theme or main idea
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Analyze the narrative technique (syntax, diction, imagery, and figurative language)
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Analyze the effect of the various literary techniques Virginia Wools uses to convey the theme and purpose.
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A second reading of the short story will follow. At this point, I also want the students to reread the notes they have taken while reading the biography of Roger Fry. Specifically, they have to focus on his reflections of his garden, his emotional reaction to the red color, and the eventual effect of his upbringing and education. Before concluding the analysis of Virginia's narrative style in
Kew Gardens
, my students will research and read excerpts or the entire work (they can choose the passages based on their argument for the unit final assessment) from Hermione Lee's
Virginia Woolf
.
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Once they have learned about Virginia's life and friends, we will reflect and determine how her writing style has developed. Specifically, I will make the students respond to the following questions:
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What is the extent of the Quaker faith influence on Roger Fry's vision of art?
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What are the main events which you think may have had a relevant effect on her writing style? Explain how these can be detected in her stylistic choices
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Compare Fry's vision of art with Woolf's narrative techniques
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Compare Woolf's narrative technique in
Kew Gardens
and in Roger Fry's biography. What is different and what is similar? Which of the two texts is more effective in creating strong emotions to the reader?
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Discuss the detailed description of the flower bed in the short story, the emotions, if any, it arouses and then compare these feelings to the reaction or emotions aroused by an Impressionist painting (you can choose any painting by Matisse or Cezanne).
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As final assessment for this session of the unit, the AP students will write an essay in class responding to one of the following prompts:
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In a well–organized essay, analyze how Virginia Woolf uses such techniques as point of view, selections of details, figurative language, and syntax to characterize the relationship between the flower bed and the people walking in
Kew Gardens
that day.
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In a well–written essay, analyze how Virginia Woolf establishes the characters' relationship to the setting through different literary devises.
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Read
Monday or Tuesday
, analyze the brief short story, and compare it to one painting by Matisse or Cezanne.
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