John Wou
English 112B
Warner
9 December 2009
UNIT OF STUDY
FANTASY AND THE STUDY OF WORDS
INTRODUCTION
Reading can be a tedious activity for those who do not understand or appreciate the beauty of it. This unit focuses on ways to unveil the joys of reading in its most basic form: words. Through various works of fantasy, students will do in-class assignments, homework assignments, and group assignments to achieve this.
WORKS
o A Wizard of Earthsea
This novel, by Ursula K. Le Guin, takes place in a fantasy world, Earthsea. Like most works of fantasy, there are magic and dragons and quests. The protagonist, a boy named Ged, learns the importance and power hidden in the true name of things.
In studying this book, students will focus on the importance of names, and learn the role names play in many fantasy and folk settings.
o Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban
This novel, by J.K. Rowling, is about a boy name Harry Potter, who is enrolled in a school for sorcery. Through the series, he faces trials as well as faces the obstacles of growing from a child into an adult.
Rowling�s ability to convey meaning through colorful and rich use of words is but a small reason for the series� enormous popularity and success. Students will study they way in which Rowling uses her craft to create Harry Potter�s world. No name and phrase is chosen arbitrarily, as students will uncover the meaning of the names of the characters, objects, items, and places in this fantasy setting
o �Jabberwocky�
Originally found in Lewis Carroll�s Through the Looking-Glass and What Alive Found There, �Jabberwocky� is a well-known poem in which a large number of made-up words and phrases are used to make a grammatically correct work. Many of the words themselves have no meaning and exist in no other context, and students will study the poem and decide for themselves what the words could mean.
EXTENDING THE UNIT
This unit can be extended by expanding beyond works of fantasy. Students can dissect the words from popular songs, look up the names of characters from television shows, or look for references to other works from various works. As an example, students can link the novel A Heart of Darkness to the film Apocalypse Now.
The end-goal of this unit is to teach students to look beyond what is presented to them on the page or screen. If they are able to find hidden or deeper meanings in what they are presented with, their ability to enjoy and appreciate those works will expand by a large degree.
ASSIGNMENTS
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
NAMES AND WORDS, part 1
DIRECTIONS:
o Students go to the library and check out at least one book (to be brought to the following class) and look for hidden meanings or wordplay in the names or phrases in that book.
PURPOSE:
o Students learn to look beyond simply what is printed on the page. This process helps enrich their understanding of the English language. Also, making it an assignment to go to the library is just a way of getting students to the library.
EXAMPLES
o In A Wizard of Earthsea, knowing the true name of someone or something allows one to have control over it. Why is a name so important?
o In much fantasy and folklore, knowing someone�s true name is powerful (e.g. Rumpelstiltskin, The Hobbit).
DIRECTIONS:
o Students find out the meaning of their own name (either first or last) and present it to the class.
PURPOSE:
o It is extra credit, as some students may not be able to find any significant meaning to their names. However, it would serve as a good way for students to apply the concept that names are important.
EXAMPLE
o My own name in Chinese means �Big River.� I�m the youngest of 3 boys. My two older brothers� names are two variations of �Verdant Mountain.� My father�s name means �Snowy Mountain.� Our four names put together make an image. You take the eldest (my father) and draw a snowy mountain furthest away and highest. Just below that, on either side, you add two smaller mountains, rich with vegetation. Then from the snow cap of the snowy mountain, you start a river that flows all the way to the bottom (closest). That picture gives you an image of all of us, highest and furthest away to closest and lowest (oldest to youngest).
o My last name is from the Wu Kingdom, perhaps most well known from the 14th Century historical novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a story about the conflicts near the end of the Han Dynasty (circa 169-280AD).
CLASS ASSIGNMENT
FROM WORDS TO IMAGES, part 1
There wasn�t much room inside. Every inch of wall was hidden by cages. It was smelly and very noisy because the occupants of these cages were all squeaking, squawking, jabbering, or hissing. The witch behind the counter was already advising a wizard on the care of double-ended newts, so Harry, Ron, and Hermione waited, examining the cages.
A pair of enormous purple toads sat gulping wetly and feasting on dead blowflies. A gigantic tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell was glittering near the window. Poisonous orange snails were oozing slowly up the side of their glass tank, and a fat white rabbit kept changing into a silk top hat and back again with a loud popping noise (Rowling, Azkaban. 58).
MATERIALS:
DIRECTIONS:
PURPOSE:
o Students pay close attention to words used by author. They can think about the techniques the author uses to make those words come to life (alliteration, onomatopoeia, etc.).
HOMEWORK AND CLASS
ASSIGNMENT
FROM WORDS TO IMAGES, part 2
MATERIALS:
DIRECTIONS:
o At home, students use Rowling�s description of the Magical Menagerie as a model to describe their own bedroom (or any room they like). Have them focus on using literary devices to convey meaning effectively.
o In class, students get into pairs and exchange descriptions, each attempting to draw what is described.
o Compare and respond.
PURPOSE:
o Students pay close attention to words used by author. They can think about the techniques the author uses to make those words come to life (alliteration, onomatopoeia, etc.).
FINAL ASSIGNMENT
Jabberwocky
Lewis Carroll
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! and through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
DIRECTIONS:
o After having gone through Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and A Wizard of Earthsea and their subsequent assignments, students should have a good grasp on how to look into the meaning of words, phrases, and names.
o With this new knowledge, students read �Jabberwocky� and come up with meanings for the words, names, and phrases presented in the poem. They should explain why they define the words the way they do.
PURPOSE:
o �Jabberwocky,� a poem written with made-up words, is a good canvas for students to think creatively about words and meanings. The assignment puts together all the lessons on words and names and the different layers of meanings they can have hidden in them.
Reference
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. New York: Penguin, 2006.
Baum, L.F. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. New York: Penguin, 2006.
Carroll, Lewis. Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. London: Adamant Media, 2006.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Norton, 2006.
Crutcher, Chris. Whale Talk. New York: Random House, 2001.
Kubrick, Stanley. Apocalypse Now. Omni Zoetrope, 1979.
Maguire, Gregory. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. New York: Harper Collins, 1995.
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. New York: Scholastic, 2001.
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorceror�s Stone. New York: Scholastic, 1998.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit. New York: Houghtin Mifflin, 1994.