Teach the class about one of the following topics. Your goal should be to present the topic in a way that will help your classmates understand the novel more fully.
Create an activity that engages the students. Ideally, this activity will be the focus of your lesson.
Force students to ask questions / discuss your topic.
Presentation Topics:
Mental Hospitals and the study of psychology in North America circa 1850.
The upper and lower Canada rebellions of 1837.
Give the class a lesson on Victorian manners. How should a lady or gentleman behave when in company?
Victorian fashions for men and for women circa 1850. / Shirin (Upper Class)
Victorian spiritualist movement.
The Irish potato famine
The Byronic Hero
Northern Ireland vs. Southern Ireland: A brief history leading up to the 1850s.
The American Civil War
Slavery in Canada
Industrial Revolution
Be sure to examine the rubric for full grading details.
Question 1: “What kinds of feelings those women can possess who flocked from far and near through mud and rain to be present at the horrid spectacle, we cannot divine. We venture to say they were not very delicate or refined.”pg. 11 –Toronto Mirror, November 23rd, 1843
Is society blind to what women are, and what they’ve always been?
Question 2: Compare Grace Marks, her crime, and subsequent punishment to the case of Karla Homolka.
Note: It is not expected that you will begin this assignment knowing anything about Karla Homolka so be sure to cite your sources using MLA format. Plagiarism will result in a grade of zero.
Question 3: “Miss Lydia tells me I am a romantic figure; but then, the two of them are so young they hardly know what they are saying.” pg. 29-30
In what ways does Grace fit the literary archetype of the Romantic Hero? Be sure to support you thesis with examples from the text.
Question 4: “A woman like me is always a temptation, if possible to arrange it unobserved; as whatever we may say about it later, we will not be believed.”pg. 35
Discuss this imbalance of power as it exists in the book, and relate it to modern incidents in the media; such as Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToomovement.
Note: It is not expected that you will begin this assignment knowing anything about Harvey Weinstein or the #MeToomovement so be sure to cite your sources using MLA format. Plagiarism will result in a grade of zero.