Mini-lesson Monday (Part 1): I still have some childhood favourites on my bookshelf – books that I read and dreamt about so often as a young girl. One of those was Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess (1905), which I am looking forward to sharing with you today (at least a small part of it)! Today I’d […]
As promised, here are some observations on the passage from Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford, as referenced in the previous post: 🖋️ Gaskell’s approach here is more conversational than the style of other classic novels. This is because the story is told by one of the characters in the book. 🖋️ Gaskell uses the word ‘very’ several times
Lesson #119: Teatime Literary Reflections (and the Power of Good Storytelling) (Part 2) Read More »
Teatime! A light dinner eaten in the late afternoon or evening that is still popular in Britain and Ireland. I’m at home alone this evening, so I decided to serve my tea and scone on my Grandmother’s china, an heirloom passed down through the years. However, teatime is traditionally a time for the family (and
Lesson #119: Teatime Literary Reflections (and the Power of Good Storytelling) (Part 1) Read More »
Subject pronouns and possessive adjectives – those were just some of the pronouns we began to consider in my last post! 📒 We also looked at a paragraph from Elizabeth Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters; in which she used them artfully to describe a tense moment in the novel. As promised, here are my tips on how
Lesson #118: Using Pronouns Correctly to Prevent Repetition in Your Writing (Part 2) Read More »
Do you find it difficult, particularly when writing, to determine when to use English pronouns or the identified subject they are referring to? (Perhaps you can more easily indicate WHO you are talking about through your voice, simply by your body language or an obvious context). As I have mentioned before, writing English is quite
Lesson #118: Using Pronouns Correctly to Prevent Repetition in Your Writing (Part 1) Read More »
After admiring these acer tree leaves today, I was reminded of a memorable conversation among the Dashwood sisters in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (1811): “Dear, dear Norland,” said Elinor, “probably looks much as it always does at this time of the year. The woods and walks [are] thickly covered with dead leaves.” “Oh,” cried Marianne, “with
Mini-lesson Monday, Part 2: 2) While having the definitions of difficult vocabulary does help us to understand the passage, the most important thing when reading this paragraph from the opening pages of Bleak House ( as seen in the previous post) is to focus on the repetitive word ‘FOG’ particularly in the context of London’s setting, establishes
Another Monday, another mini-lesson (in 2 posts; this is part 1): My inspiration today comes from Charles Dickens, one of the most popular authors in the English language. Bleak House (1853) is a favourite of mine, a long, two-volume novel that interweaves two narrative voices in an intriguing story. I will quote from its opening pages:
This morning, we picked some flowers from our garden to brighten the kitchen. I think one of them is a carnation, the other a dianthus, but I am open to correction! It brought to mind a passage in one of my favourite books, Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South (1854): ‘… the sun-flower, shining fair, Ray
Lesson #113: Searching for the Best Words to Describe the Small Things in Life Read More »
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL Before the global pandemic, I had very different plans for Autumn 2020. As a matter of fact, this evening, I had planned to meet my fellow students and had had a special dinner that celebrated the beginning of a new academic year. (Have you noticed the past perfect tense in those sentences?) Being
Lesson #110: Being Focused and Intentional about Reading to Improve Ourselves Read More »
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL Sharing a short poem that I memorised in my childhood: O Rose thou art sick. The invisible worm, That flies in the night In the howling storm: Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy: And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy. – William Blake, ‘The Sick Rose’ (1794) Have you
Lesson #108: Why Reading Classic Poetry is Important: Blake’s ‘The Sick Rose’ Read More »
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813) is regarded as one of the most beloved classics in English literature. It is also a favourite of mine – I have re-read it yearly since 2010! But it is not limited to the English version only … I have read French translations several times, because I
Lesson #104: Favourite English Classics (in English and other languages) Read More »