Lesson Report on Teaching Gothic Literature at 7th Grade - The Painting of Anningley Hall (The Mezzotint) by M.R. James

Lesson developed during the course of the PRACTICUM FOR N.I. and EGB 1 and 2 at 7th Grade (St. Bartholomew's School)
Based on the reading of "The Painting of Anningley Hall" (The Mezzotint) by M.R. James
To be included in Research Paper for SEMINARIO DE INTEGRACIÓN Y SÍNTESIS

STAGE	ACTIVITIES AND TECHNIQUES	AVAS
ROUTINE	The T greeted Ss and built up the lesson menu. T: - Today we’re going to learn about some of the branches of the Arts. - What can we find in the category of the Arts? Ss: Sculptures! / Drama! / Music! T: Very good! And there are some more! She elicited other branches of the arts by means of drama techniques. (Dance, drawing, literature, painting, gastronomy, architecture, video games.) Ss: Video games are Arts too??? T: Yes, nowadays they are considered part of the visual arts Ss (The boys): (I love arts!!) T: Excellent, these are the branches of the arts and after the lesson we will see what we’ve learnt about.	Drama Techniques
ACTIVATOR	The T showed a logo. Ss: It’s Batman! T: That’s right and who’s Batman really? What does he do? Ss: He’s a superhero. He saves lives. T: And where does he live? Do you remember? Ss: Gothic City! T: Exactly, he lived in Gotham City. Why do you think it was called that way? What was Gotham City like? Ss: Because it was all dark. Gloomy, it had fog. T: That’s right, something gothic is something that has those characteristics, it is kind of scary and creepy. Ss: What’s creepy? T: It’s scary and frightening. And do you know what gothic architecture is? Ss: … T: I’m sure you know. The T showed a picture of Notre Dame. Ss: Notre Dame! / It’s in Paris! / El jorobado! T: That’s right, this is Notre Dame. And this is gothic architecture. Why do you think it’s considered gothic? Ss: Because it has creatures and monsters. T: - Very good! That’s one of the characteristics, those are gargoyles. And also what about the buildings? What are they like? Ss: Very tall. T: Very tall, and also sharp! Here’s another gothic building I’m sure you know. The T showed a picture of Westminster Abbey. Ss: Es una iglesia! / Es re-famosa! / It has the shape of a cross. / No es dónde coronan a los reyes? T: You are right! It’s Westminster Abbey, and something very important happened there just some time ago. The T showed a picture of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Ss (Mainly the Girls): Es donde se casaron el príncipe y Kate! T: I was sure you’d know that! Well now you know what gothic architecture is, tell me, do you think this is a gothic building? The T showed a picture of Westminster Palace and the Big Ben. Ss: Sí!! Es alto y gloomy. Es el Big Ben! (Juana and Linda): It’s the House of Parliament! T: You’re right, this is a gothic building as well, it’s Westminster Palace. Do you know what happened to this building? Ss: Sí!!! Se quemó! (Francisco Mezze): Someone wanted to blow it but he couldn’t because they caught him T: That’s right!! A very famous character wanted to blow it. Do you remember his name? Ss: Guy… Fawkes! T: That’s right! Guy Fawkes. “Remember, remember…?” Ss: The 9th/ The 12th of November! T: Not the 9th of November... A bit before. Ss: The 5th of November! T: That’s right. “Remember, remember, the 5th of November.” And you said something else, related to fire… Ss: Que se quemó! T: Ahh, yes, that’s right, it burnt down. It was in 1834 but it was rebuilt between 1840 – 1870, this was in the 19th Century, the Victorian Era. What was happening here in Argentina by that time? Ss: Estábamos independizándonos the España! T: We were having our revolutions. So while we were becoming independent, while Queen Victoria reigned in England and while architects were doing their art and rebuilding Parliament in the gothic style…There were other artists who were doing wonderful things as well. The T elicited the concept of writing by means of drama techniques. Ss: Writers! T: That’s right writers. And these writers were inspired by these gothic buildings so how do you think their stories were like? Ss: Scary / Horror Stories! T: That’s right, they wrote horror stories. You know many of them. Ss: El fantasma de Canterville! / Dracula! / Frankenstein! T: Exactly, all these stories share some characteristics. Which are they? The T will elicit characteristics of the gothic story. Ss: Que son de terror… Que son ficción T: Yes, they are all scary stories, and they are fiction, and what about the characters? Ss: Ghosts! Monsters! T: Uhu, they were monsters, ghosts, supernatural characters, were they sane people? Ss: Noo…they were crazy! T: Very good, they were mad people, and the themes in the stories had to do with death and violence. But later on, in the 20th century (1900) Ss: Empezaron a escribir cosas románticas! T; Oh, yes, some writers decided to write more romantic things, but others wanted to go on writing horror stories, just that no so violent… They started writing in a different style, less macabre and grotesque. They were scary stories but not so explicit, they became more psychical and related to supernatural events rather than creatures or people. One of those writers, was very famous…he was called Montague Rhodes James. And all his stories were similar: 1. The story was set somewhere in England, generally in the countryside and in a scary building, such as an abbey, a university or a mansion. 2. The protagonist was a professor at University or someone interested in the Arts and in collecting things. What do you think he could collect? Ss: Sculptures! Coins! Jewelry! Paintings! T: For example, yes…And the story always involved the discovery of some old antiquarian collectable object which was haunted or had some supernatural characteristic. You’ve read a story with these characteristics, which was it? Ss: …. T: It was in your Study books… Ss: Ahhh la que leímos!! / The Painting of Aningley Hall. T: That’s right, the other day you asked the T whether the story really existed and I found it on the Internet. It was written by Montague Rhodes James and it’s a part of a collection of horror stories, the original story was called “The Mezzotint” Ss: What’s a mezzotint? T: It’s a type of art that you do with wood and using sharp objects. Un grabado.	Batman Logo Picture of Notre Dame Picture of Westminster Abbey Picture of Westminster Palace and the Big Ben Drama Techniques Picture of M.R. James
CONTEXTUALIZATION – REVISION OF THE STORY	T: So, what was the story about? Ss revisited the story.
ACTIVITY N° 1 Building Up the Story ACTIVITY Nº 2 Memory Game (Follow Up)	Note: As stated before, this activity was not developed because the form T had previously done a similar exercise with the Ss. Here’s the lesson plan of this activity. T: So different people saw different scenes at different times. Here are the frames of the six pictures. And here I have the things that we could see in the pictures. Let’s build up the story together, you may go to your books and follow the story from there. So, the characters in the story were…? Ss: Mr. S Williams, John Garwood, Mr. Collins, Nisbet and Robert The T will stick flashcards of the names of the characters on the bottom of the bb. T: Excellent, now, let’s see if you remember which scene saw each character. Here I have flashcards of the elements in the picture. Let’s build the pictures! I need 4 volunteers. Some Ss will go to the front and will use the flashcards to build up the scenes of the portrait. T: So, which was the first scene in the portrait? Ss: Just the House. T: Who saw it? Ss: Mr. Williams. T: That’s right, what about the following scene? Ss: House + Tree + Shade of the man – John Garwood. House + Person crawling to the house – Mr. Collins House + Open window + Moonlight – Nisbet House + Person with baby – Robert Just the house – Williams again. T: So… Let’s play a game, let’s put the flashcards away and let’s see if you remember everything that happened in the story and who saw which scene. One member from each group will come to the front. I will keep the names of the characters. The team member will choose one of the lots and will build up the corresponding scene in the picture. If he does it correctly the team will get one point. Let’s do it together one trial round first and then we will play 4 rounds. Ss will play the game.	Flashcards with names of characters in the story. Flashcards with elements on the picture portrayed in the story.
ACTIVITY N° 3 Let’s solve the Mistery ACTIVITY Nº 4 Let’s reflect upon the story. (Discussion on some Literary, Ethical and Philosophical issues.)	T: So, remind me how does the story end? Ss: The baby in the picture was the son of the family that lived in the house and someone stole it. T: Uhu, and do we know why that happened or who made the painting? Ss: No…no se sabe. T: Well, after they last saw the painting, Mr. Williams and his friends didn’t know either, and so they decided to do some research and look for information. But they needed clues… Those clues are included in the original version of the story, here it is. The T handed out copies of the original story. If you read paragraph 2 you will find some clues. Who would like to read aloud? One of the Ss read paragraph 2. T: So? Which are the clues? Ss: The signature and the place. “A.W.F” and “-ngley Hall, -ssex.” (Ss started laughing after reading “-ssex”) T: It’s a funny suffix, huh? What does that suffix mean, have you ever heard of it? Ss: … Essex? T: That’s right!! We can find Essex, Wessex…so where do you think the house was? Ss: Algún lugar que termine con –ngley en Wessex o Essex. T: That’s right, Williams and his friends looked for some books and they found information in one called “A Guide to Essex.” Here’s the information they found. With these data we will be able to solve the mystery of the painting. The T handed out a copy of the article. T: Would someone read it aloud? One of the Ss read the article. T: So… Why was the baby kidknapped? Ss: Because a man was hanged by the owner of the house and his family wanted to take revenge. T: And who painted the portrait? What do you think? Ss: The father! T: How do you know? Ss: Because his name was Arthur Wilbur Francis and the signature in the painting was A.W.F. T: That’s right, very good! You’ve solved the mystery. The T lead a discussion on some literary, ethical and philosophical issues. The following questions were discussed by the Ss: - “Is it fair to take revenge in that or any other way?” - “Why do you think the father made that painting?” - “Do you like the painting? What do you like about it?” - “What was the effect of showing different scenes in one painting?” - “How would you feel if someone hurt someone you love?” - “Mr. Francis was angry as well…do you think it was a good idea to channel that anger in the painting?” - “What other thing could he have done?” - “Do you do something artistic? What do you do? How do you feel when you dance or paint?” - “Do you think art is important in our lives? Do we need artists in our society? Why / Why not?” - “This story was not completely gothic, although it was a horror story, why was this?”	Copies of the story. Copies of the article on “A Guide to Essex.”
CLOSURE	The T will ask: So what have we talked about today? Ss: Architecture, painting, stories and music. T: Wow, that’s a lot! Congratulations, you’ve worked very hard, it’s amazing to see how much you know and how much you’ve learnt and this has been a pleasure. Thanks for everything, see you soon. The T will thank the form Teacher and will say good-bye.