Lesson Plan

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I. Objectives/NCTE Standards

Students will understand the universal themes within Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and compare them (i.e. make connections) to their own lives and material within modern society. Students will read the novel, participate in multiple discussions, and write about the themes and their application in modern day material, including everyday life, movies and television, and other texts.

1. Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.


2. Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.


3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).


4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.


5. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.


6. Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.


7. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.


8. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Before Reading Activities

Prior to reading Austen's Pride and Prejudice, students should be familiar with the context of the novel葉he norms of the time period葉o understand and be able to defend the characters and their actions. Specifically, students should understand the role of marriage, the role of women, and the role of money and status on one's life and prospects for marriage. Students need this background knowledge to understand Austen and the heroine of her story, Elizabeth Bennett. By understanding the context for the story, they'll be able to appreciate the boldness of Elizabeth Bennett's character and Austen's novel as a whole. After students have received some background knowledge, a fun starter activity might be to have students define the two words that make up the title用ride and prejudice. Ask them what they think each word means, ask them how they might be related to one another, and ask them how they think those words might predict the story.

During Reading Activities

Throughout reading the novel, ask students to think about its universal themes. How is it that this story from 1813 is still being adapted and told today? Students will note that it is a love story with numerous obstacles, but that the love between characters, specifically Elizabeth and Darcy, ultimately conquers all of the obstacles that keep the characters apart. Throughout the novel, students should keep a record of characters and their first impressions of other characters. As the novel progresses, they should document how those impressions change, as the characters learn more about one another.

To make personal connections with the literature, students should examine their own first impressions of people and discuss an instance where they were wrong. Students generally have a lot to say about this topic, as they are often friends with someone whom they misjudged at an earlier point in time. Also, ask students to be thinking about how they can connect the characters and themes to characters and themes in books they've read or movies or television shows they've seen.

After Reading Activities

After reading the novel, students should apply what they've documented about the characters throughout the novel. There are many project possibilities as a result of the universal themes students can relate to, such as love, individuality, and misjudgment. For instance, students might take a scene from the book and update it within today's times by finding a parallel story from a book or movie. Students might also have the option to write a compare/contrast essay about the book and one of the many movie adaptations produced. Students might also compare characters to their modern-day counter parts in film or television. Each character in Pride and Prejudice can easily be adapted to a character or person students can relate to葉he foolish mother, Mrs. Bennett; the snobby and manipulative sister, Caroline Bigley; etc.

Assessment

Based on the project the teacher chooses to assign預 character-comparison, a comparison/contrast essay, a modern day scene adaptation葉he teacher should assess the students based on their ability to understand the characters and their story揺ow they change, their flaws, etc. Throughout the novel, the teacher might also use reading quizzes and writing assignments that ask students to apply their knowledge from the novel (e.g. a journal comparing their first impression to the first impression a character has in the novel).