"Oh no-- I don't want to read that story. . . .Why do we have to read this poem? I think it's boring. . . . Can't we read this play instead?. . . I wish that we could choose which stories we read. . . "

How many times have you heard your classmates comment on the literature that they are reading in their English classes? How many times have you wished that the teacher would assign a different story?

Sometimes, wishes do come true. . .
 

The Quest

Congratulations! Your group of four students is about to be presented with quite an opportunity! You are going to create a short textbook anthology of 19th and 20th century literature. Your textbook should supplement the novels that you have already read this year:

• Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
• Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
• Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights
• Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
• James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
• Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
• Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse
• E.M. Forster, A Room With A View

The textbook anthology should:

• meet the standards for resource materials in the State of Virginia.
• contain short story selections, poetry, dramatic works, and excerpts from the novels that you have read over the course of the year for this class (listed above).
• be preceded by a brief introduction which presents the relevance of the material.
• contain an organized table of contents, submitted in a format that would be suitable for submission to the publisher.
• The table of contents should contain a carefully selected variety of British works.
• be visually appealing, containing artwork which both enhances the literature and presents pictures of the authors and their society.
• present biographical information on both the authors and the artists whose work is cited.
• Each selection should be followed by several thought-provoking questions, intended to initiate discussion among students.

Part of America's recent education reform projects have included plans to reformat textbooks. Some educators believe that the textbooks which are currently being used in America's schools do not provide students with a variety of resources and selections. (I.e. Including information by and about both men and women of various races, ages and beliefs.) Therefore, the first part of your assignment is to decide which selections to put in your textbook.

1. Contact the VA Board of Education. Ask about the standards used in selecting textbooks for VA public schools. Contact 3 local public schools-- other than your school. What does the principal and/ or superintendent look for when selecting textbooks for the school? Divide the four phone calls among you and your teammates; each student should make one of the phone calls.

 
2. Go to the On-line Eric article on Censorship. Read the article entitled "Challenges to and Censorship of School Guidance Materials."

 
3. Next, you need to choose your selections. Each member in your group must select one dramatic work, two short stories, and five selections of poetry from the 19th and 20th century literary canon. Think about the information on standards that your group has just acquired. Will your textbook contain selections from both male and female authors? Do you have an equal amount of selections from both the 19th and 20th centuries? Have you included works from Irish and Scottish writers?

 
4. Remember, you are using these selections to compliment the novels that you have already read during the year. Therefore, this next step asks you to choose excerpts from these novels-- scenes which you believe should be present in your anthology. These eight novels are to be divided among your group of students-- two novels per student, so that all eight novels are represented. From each novel, you are to select a passage (between 4 and 10 pages long) which you feel is a significant scene in the book. "Significant" can mean a number of things: the passage may embody the author's unique use of language, it may be the turning point in the plot, maybe it was your favorite part. For each selection, give a 2-3 sentence introduction for the excerpt, explaining the reason that you chose the passage. Tell the reader why this passage is important-- why you choose to put it in your anthology.

 
5. This textbook is being compiled for use in a classroom. With this in mind, consider the next step in the project: composing discussion questions for the literary selections. For every one of the contributions that you are making to the textbook anthology, formulate 2-4 questions which will follow the literature and initiate discussion in the classroom. Some things to consider:
• Focus on areas of the text which may not have a right or wrong answer. Example: Why did the poet use references to mythology in his sonnet? Do you feel that it adds or detracts from the poem?
• Ask about technique (Why did Virginia Woolf choose to use water imagery in this scene?), instead of plot (What was the name of the painter in To the Lighthouse?)
• Speak with your teacher if you need more ideas or sample questions.

You worked as a group to assemble your selections. Now you will each assume an unique role in order to perfect your textbook.  Click on your role for more information.

Role: Artist

Role: Education Expert

Role: The Biographical Historian
 

Role: The Publications Expert
 






Resources


Resources for All Group Members: Choosing Your Anthology Selections

• Collections of Short Stories:
• Classic Short Stories
• Collections of Poetry:
• The British Poetry Collection
• Twentieth-Century Poetry in English
• British Poetry 1780-1910: A Hypertext Archive of Scholarly Editions
• General Collections of Literature:
• Nineteenth-Century English Literature
• Literary Resources--Twentieth-Century British and Irish
• British Literature and Anglophile Resources
• Voice of the Shuttle: English Literature--Victorian
• On-line References for Writing
• A Student Guide to Research With the WWW
• Strunk and White's Elements of Style




Evaluation


This is a two part project, therefore your grade for this assignment will reflect both your individual and group work. For more information, read the evaluation guidelines.
 
 




Conclusion

Ideally, this project has served several purposes. It has:

• presented you with the opportunity to play an active role in both your own education and that of your classmates--you were able to choose which literary works to read and evaluate.
• introduced you to some of the many ways in which literature studies can cross into many other disciplines: art, history, education, business.
• increased your knowledge of 19th and 20th century literature, from various sources and multiple genres.
• fostered an environment for both collaborative-learning and independent assignments.
• encouraged you to use technology as a resource.
You have completed a complex project. Be proud of the work that you have done to complete this assignment.
Now that the project is finished, take some time to relax. Curl up with a good book ... I can think of at least one that you will enjoy-- it has your name on it.





This document was created by Jennifer Rutkoski, a student at the University of Richmond studying in the department of Education. She completed the original version of this document as a project for the class EDUC 343: Technology in Education, during the spring semester of 1999.

Assistance for this project was provided by Dr. Patricia Stohr-Hunt. She has maintained and revised this document as an interactive resource for educators, students and parents. All inquiries and comments regarding this document should be mailed to her at the following address: pstohrhu@richmond.edu