A Year of Listening

As I had to spend about 3 hours per week driving Moozle to dance lessons, and various competitions this past year, I made sure we had some decent audiobooks to listen to while we were in transit. Our local library is very good generally but abysmal when it comes to children's audiobooks. Not that they don't have any - they actually have a good size collection - but most of it is tripe, so in desperation, I decided to try out some classics which I had read myself. Although I was comfortable about their content, I wasn't sure that Moozle would find them interesting, especially the first:

I enjoyed Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte, but I know many who find it rather tedious. Anyhow, I put it on and Moozle didn't complain. I had to turn it off at one point because it was scratched and kept repeating on a section. Moozle wasn't happy about that because, 'We just got to the good bit!' I gave the CDs a bit of a clean & we listened to the rest of it over the following weeks.

Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon is the unabridged semi-fctionalised biography of Anna Leonowen, narrated by Anne Flosnik. The story, published in 1944, was based on diaries kept during Leonowen's five year stay as a governess to the King of Siam's many children. The narrative goes into some detail regarding Buddhist beliefs and practices - there's a review here of the story. The King's use of  "etc..." was quite extensive, which Moozle thought was hilarious. There is also a fairly heavily abridged version of the book with the title, 'Anna and the King.'  Benj also listened to this one.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - Anton Lesser narrates this so well. We so enjoyed listening to the voices of the multitudinous characters in this story. Dickens combines tragedy and humour in such a masterly fashion.The boys in the family have never been keen on Dickens but well done audiobooks are helpful for reluctant Dickens' readers; especially if you're in the car and they are a captive audience. Martin Jarvis is my very favourite Dickens narrator.

The Wombles by Elisabeth Beresford is just a delight. I vaguely remembered something about The Wombles of Wimbledon from way back so I grabbed this when I saw it, hoping it would be enjoyable. The narrator, Bernard Cribbins, is excellent. Even though the stories are recommended for ages 5 to 7, they are suitable for anyone who would be happy to listen to Pooh Bear or Wind in the Willows. It reminds me a little of Redwall minus the battles and the baddies; the Wombles are a gentle lot. You can have a listen here.

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. Juliet Stevenson is another excellent narrator who is well suited to portray Jane Austen's characters. Moozle can now do a pretty good imitation of Lady Bertram after listening to this audio. The Naxos website has short audio clips if you want to listen to a narrator's voice & make sure they are not going to drive you mad.

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen is narrated by Emilia Fox, who played the part of Georgiana, Mr. Darcy's sister, in the wonderful 1995 miniseries of Pride & Prejudice. She isn't as dramatic as Juliet Stevenson but she is also very good. I've read P & P a number of times but listening to this audio gave me a greater appreciation for Jane Austen's razor sharp wit. I've been surprised a number of times when my 10 year old daughter caught the satire in Austen's words and looked across at me, smiling, to see if I also understood.

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle; narrated by Christopher Cazenove. We hadn't heard this narrator before and he does a brilliant job of this book. I've read this book aloud in the past and Moozle & Benj know it well, but listening to it was a treat.
'Marry, come thither sweet chuck!' Wot!'

Cue for Treason by Geoffrey Trease, read by Clive Mantle. This is a good adventure story set in Elizabethan England and was first published in 1940. A 14 year old boy is on the run after throwing a rock at heartless Sir Philip Morton. He makes his way to London where he is befriended by William Shakespeare. Suitable for around ages 7 ish and up.

Persuasion by Jane Austen (1775-1817)

'She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she had learned romance as she grew older - the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning.'

Jane Austen began her last novel, Persuasion, in 1815 and finished it a few months before her death in 1817. Published posthumously in 1818, Persuasion is my favourite novel by Jane Austen, with Pride & Prejudice a close second. Although still replete with Austen's wonderful wit and irony, (she caricatures Sir Walter Elliot brilliantly) Persuasion is overshadowed by a sombreness not found in her other writing.

The heroine, Anne Elliot, is a woman in her late twenties - almost an 'old maid' by the standard of those days - unlike Austen's other books where the protagonists are younger women. They too suffer disappointments and heartaches, but these are of short duration and misunderstandings are soon overcome.

Anne Elliot had her chance at an early marriage and didn't take it. Eight years later, she is still single and as far as most people are concerned, will in all likelihood remain so.

When Anne was fourteen years old her mother, Lady Elliot, died leaving her conceited and silly husband, Sir Walter Elliot to care for Anne and her two sisters, Elizabeth, then aged sixteen and Mary, aged ten.

Before her death Lady Elliot was assured that her intimate friend, Lady Russell, would help maintain the principles and instruction she had been so anxious to instil in her daughters, and that sensible lady had been true to her promise.

Anne had been in love and had been loved in return by Captain Frederick Wentworth when she was nineteen years old, but had been 'persuaded' against an alliance with a young man 'who had nothing but himself to recommend him, and no hopes of attaining affluence...' by Lady Russell, who valued and loved Anne most of all, seeing in her the qualities of her dear mother.

Wentworth, deeply hurt and embittered, consequently left the country after the engagement was broken.

Another proposal of marriage came for Anne at the age of twenty-two, but Frederick Wentworth still stood in her memory. She refused the offer and her suitor, Charles Musgrove, married her selfish younger sister, Mary, instead.

Lady Russell, not regretting her previous persuasive influence upon Anne's, was now anxious for Anne's future and lamented the fact she had refused Charles.

Captain Wentworth, meanwhile, prospered and made his fortune by distinguishing himself in the navy and as the story begins, he is about to return to England eight years after quitting the place. 

Anne, at the ripe old age of twenty-seven, has 'lost her bloom' and when circumstances bring them into each other's company again, Anne is mortified when she learns of Wentworth's remark to another upon seeing her again: 'she was so altered I should not have known her again.'

Anne does not think of him any differently but resigns herself to the fact that 'her power with him was gone forever.'

I read Persuasion about twelve years ago and since then I've discovered more of the author's background and partly because of that I've appreciated this book more the second time around.

G.K. Chesterton (an Austen admirer) said that, 

'The first use of good literature is that it prevents a man from being merely modern. To be merely modern is to condemn oneself to an ultimate narrowness.'

Persuasion is a glimpse back into another era, a pre-modern time, which we are inclined to look upon as narrow.

In the Penguin edition I have, there is a comment in the introduction by D.W. Harding which I think echoes Chesterton's ideas:

'Embodied and given life in the social realities of her own period, Jane Austen's satire still has currency in ours. The sense of the past which we need in reading it has two aspects, and the more familiar - the ability to enter into her social world and its outlook - counts for less than the other. The other is the ability to notice the people and the institutions of our own time on which her eye would have rested and her judgement been passed, and that means recognizing contemporary equivalents rather than seeking identities.'

Jane Austen was still working on Persuasion when she began to suffer from the illness which eventually took her life. In 1916, it became evident that her health was declining but although her body was losing its strength, her mind remained sharp and active.

She brought Persuasion to an end during this period but she was unsatisfied with the story. Her nephew, J. E. Austen-Leigh, in his Memoir of his aunt wrote:

'She thought it tame and flat, and was desirous of producing something better. This weighed upon her mind, the more so probably on account of the weak state of her health; so that one night she retired to rest in very low spirits. But such depression was little in accordance with her nature, and was soon shaken off. The next morning she awoke to more cheerful views and brighter inspirations: the sense of power revived; and imagination resumed its course. She cancelled the condemned chapter, and wrote two others, entirely different, in its stead.'

The new chapters include the touching conversation between Anne and Captain Harville, overheard by Wentworth, in which Anne reveals her heart:

'We certainly do not forget you, as soon as you forget us. It is, perhaps our fate rather than our merit. We cannot help ourselves...

All the privilege I claim for my own sex...is that of loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone.'

Film versions

I enjoyed both these film versions. The first (1995) has Ciarin Hinds playing the character of Wentworth and Amanda Root, that of Anne Elliot. It has an earthy feel and is a good reproduction of the story. I watched it some time ago and can't remember too many details but it was a faithful rendering of Austen.

Although still adhering to the basic story, this version with Rupert Penry-Jones and Sally Hawkins (2007) in the lead roles is all about atmosphere. There is a quiet sense of desperation running through everything. It's more of an emotional journey than anything else. It contained elements that were asynchronous - Anne Elliot wouldn't have run through Bath - but seeing both films certainly enhanced my enjoyment.

This review is linked to Back to the Classics 2015 under A Classic by a Woman and also to 50 Classics in 5 Years.

Charlotte Mason: How to Use Books

In Chapter 16 of School Education, Charlotte Mason gives us some hints about using good books in educating our children, while stressing that we should be careful not to let the devices we use
'come between the children and that which is the soul of the book, the living thought it contains.'

Putting aside a straight forward narration (the child or the teacher reads a given passage and then the child tells back what he has read or heard read) what other ways may be used to get a child to labour in thought over the ideas presented to him via a living book?

How do we get our children to
'generalise, classify, infer, judge, visualise, discriminate, labour in one way or another, with that capable mind of his, until the substance of his book is assimilated or rejected, according as he shall determine'?

I've had to learn much of this myself as I went along, filling in the gaping chasms left by my own interrupted schooling; picking up ideas along the way and putting them into practice with my own children; learning with them; challenging myself to read more widely.

Charlotte Mason mentions a variety of ways we can use books:

Give the points of a description;

Give the sequence of a series of incidents; 
Give the links in a chain of argument; 
Enumerate the statements in a given paragraph or chapter; 
Analyse a chapter, divide it into paragraphs under proper headings, tabulate and classify series; 
Trace cause to consequence and consequence to cause; 
Discern character and perceive how character and circumstance interact; 
Get lessons of life and conduct; 
Let the pupil write for himself half a dozen questions which cover the passage studied.

'...until they have begun to use books for themselves in such ways, they can hardly be said to have begun their education.'

I'm often asked if I have a teaching background mainly because I've home schooled all the way through high school. I don't but I've found a few 'teacher's helps' along the way that have given me ideas and helped me to get my children to labour with their minds without destroying the enjoyment of learning.

Here are some of them:

A Philosophy of Education by Charlotte Mason

This was the first book in the series that I read and I can't praise it enough. If you're starting out with older children this book is the one to read. Go to The Curriculum, Chapter 10 and there you'll find a variety of examples of writing by the students of CM's time. I was really inspired after reading this and gleaned some ideas which went really well with my 17 year old at the time.

Outlining

I've used Rod and Staff Grammar to teach outlining. Following the Plan (English 5) covers it thoroughly. After they are comfortable with the process I get them to outline the chapters from a book or take notes during a sermon on a Sunday and then write an outline for it at the beginning of the week.
Knowing the basics of outlining will help a student develop the ability to use the first five ways that CM suggests above. 

 I think my eldest was about 13 years of age when she did this after taking notes from a sermon:


 


A simple less formal outline from 10 yr old girl:

Some books lend themselves well to using this tool, for example, How Should we Then Live by Francis Schaeffer (around the age of 15 years and up) and A Young Woman After God's Own Heart (good for girls about 13 years of age and older). After a chapter is read they write an outline or summary.

Plutarch Guides by Anne White

I couldn't come up with these questions for the life of me and they've been the catalyst for some interesting conversations and opportunities to write as Anne often suggests topics for narrations.

Shakespeare

Some Shakespeare guides are often too explicit in their sidebar comments so I generally don't give them to my children to use but they have some good ideas for writing and I can always find them cheaply second hand. We're currently reading through The Winter's Tale and the other week my 14 year old used a suggestion from the Oxford School Shakespeare:

'Archidamus is most appreciative of the reception and entertainment offered to Polixenes in Sicilia, and he reports the details back to Bohemia. Write his report, either in a letter to his family and friends; or in an article for the national newspaper.'

Other guides I've seen that offer writing ideas are the Cambridge School Shakespeare and the Heinemann Shakespeare.

The Brightest Heaven of Invention by Peter J. Leithart explores six of Shakespeare's plays and suggests writing topics for each one. This was one of my daughters' favourite books. An excerpt of the book is here.

Another book by the same author and done in a similar manner is Miniatures and Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen. Thoughtful questions which present opportunities for writing topics are included and an excerpt of the first chapter, Real Men Read Austen, is here. I found this when my second daughter was about 15 years old & she enjoyed it thoroughly. The boys have surreptitiously watched the BBC Pride and Prejudice and secretly enjoyed it and I said they had to read Northanger Abbey because it was an AO Year 9 free read. They did but that's about the extent of their Jane Austen immersion. 

Poetry

Writing a poetic narration using the rhyme scheme of a poem they know
Choosing a ballad poem and changing it to story form
Writing about a subject using alliteration
Writing acrostic poems

Composition

When I first started homeschooling my three older children (now 25, 23 & 21 years of age) I hadn't read any of Charlotte Mason's books but used what I'd gleaned from Susan Schaeffer Macaulay's book For The Children's Sake, and what I could source for a reasonable price here in Australia. I found the two books below and they worked well for us. The Creative Writing course can be adapted to make it CM friendly and the second book works well as is and for those with large families it's well priced, uncomplicated & non-consumable. I have the 1992 & 1996 editions respectively although they've been revised since.

Wordsmith - A Creative Writing Course for Young People by Janie B. Cheaney

The author states that creative writing is basically 'expressing oneself' and the book is designed to sharpen language skills and then apply them. It comes with a Teacher's Guide, is written to the student and is designed for about Grade 7 and up. 90 pages.

There are three parts to the course:

Part 1 - concentrates on word usage with a brief overview of grammar, choosing words, pronouns and antecedents. I like how the author connects good grammar with writing and shows its effects.

Part 2 - active and passive voice, sentence structure.

Part 3 - figures of speech, story structure, writing assignments, revision, proofreading.

The teacher's guide has a suggested plan of study which covers 36 weeks and a short section called 'Writing all over the Curriculum' which I like and have gleaned ideas from. I used this for two of the girls who loved writing and they breezed through it. They published a newsletter with another home schooled friend for many years and wrote stories, poems and a variety of other newsworthy material, sending it out to family members scattered across the country and to others who asked for a copy, about 4 or 5 times a year. Although the writing assignments in the book could be substituted with others of your own making to make it more usable in a CM context, it is probably better only to use it with a child who loves writing.

Inspired after listening to Mozart's Sleighride:

Wordsmith Craftsman

This was written as a self-directed programme for Grade 10 and up. The book has suggested schedules for students starting in Year 9, 10, 11 or 12 and also has three parts.

Part 1 - writing every day: note taking, outlining, letters, summaries

Part 2 - paragraphs, writing techniques

Part 3 - the essay: structure, brainstorming, the topic, thesis statement. I think it walks through the essay writing process in a clearer way than some other books I've seen.

A short appendix contains a note taking form, a summary writing form, summaries of the steps used in the four types of essay writing and a list of common fallacies of argument with brief descriptions and examples.

93 pages.

Inspired by Ten Fingers for God: The Life and Work of Dr Paul Brand by Dorothy Clarke Wilson:

Presenting Miss Jane Austen

My introduction to Jane Austen didn't occur until I was an adult. Even my husband had read Pride and Prejudice before I had. It was a different story for my two older girls. When JJ was about 12 years old, she was bemoaning the fact that there was nothing to read, even though we have wall to wall books, and Dad, upon hearing this, suggested she read Pride and Prejudice. She wasn't keen at first because the title suggested to her some sort of morality tale about avoiding pride but my husband set her right and told her it was one of his favourite books.

Zana was fortunate in that the BBC production of Pride & Prejudice came out when she was at an age to enjoy it and that was her first introduction to Jane Austen.

I probably have good reason to dislike this movie. A number of years ago six of our seven children became sick with chicken pox. I was house bound for about six weeks by the time it went through everyone. The 13 and 15 year olds were absolutely miserable and one night Zana, the younger one, came out of her room crying because she felt so terrible. We were just about to go to bed and I didn't know what to do with her, until Dad suggested that I watch P & P with her to help take her mind off her misery. Six hours later, I felt disgusting but Zana was a bit better so we both went to bed.

When she was about 14 years old I discovered Presenting Miss Jane Austen by May Lamberton Becker, which was originally written in 1952 and re-published by Bethlehem Books in 2006. By this time she'd read and re-read just about everything Jane Austen had written but this biography, written for ages 12 and up,  was another link to Jane Austen's world and she found it very interesting and enjoyable.

Miss Becker's biography gives us a lively and intimate account of Jane's childhood, her closely knit family and the literary atmosphere that enveloped them and which was such an influential part of her life.

Through poetry new and old Jane's father guided her reading; better still, he read aloud to the family - history, travel books, lively essays...

The whole family read The Vicar of Wakefield...whose people were spoken of in the family as if they lived just around the corner - as Miss Jane Austen's people are spoken of now.

Quotations from Jane Austen's correspondence with her beloved sister Cassandra and other family members give us an insight into her personal life and the background that formed the fabric for her novels. Her immediate family were as familiar with the various characters in her writing as though they had been real people.

For the people in this blessed book did not come to life on the first page and dissolve on the last. They were alive before Chapter One, and they went on living after the book left them, and Jane knew very well what they were doing, before and after. She knew what Mr. Collins was like in his clumsy school days, long before he made his pompous, peerless proposal to Elizabeth, and where he had picked up, on the way towards the patronage of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, that, "mixture of pride and obsequiousness, self-importance and humility" that makes him so great a comic character. I am convinced that she knew what Lady Catherine de Bourgh looked like in her perambulation, though she spares us that grim sight.

No one outside of her family knew of her writing ability, let alone that she had already published a book, until her brother let the cat out of the bag and her secret was uncovered. Her nephew, James Edward who had read and enjoyed the earlier novels, unaware that his Aunt was the author, wrote to her when the secret was revealed:

No words can express, my dear Aunt, my surprise 

Or make you conceive how I opened my eyes, 

Like a pig Butcher Pile has just struck with his knife, 

When I heard for the very first time in my life 

That I had the honour to have a relation 

Whose works were dispersed through the whole of the nation.

This book is a perfect introduction for anyone who is interested in Jane Austen's background whether they've read her novels or not. The age 12 recommendation is certainly suitable content wise but some children might enjoy it more when they are around 14 years of age and have a bit more maturity to appreciate the minutiae the author includes.