Pemberley Tutorials Course Offerings 2010-2011

We have offered two tutorials in the past:

Jane Austen’s England (2008-2009 School Year)

Course Description:

Enter the world of Jane Austen and discover how her novels brought the genre to the forefront of English literature. This year-long tutorial covers Austen’s novels and minor works as well as the history and literature surrounding them. Students will complete a brief reading guide with each novel to aid class discussion. Graded work will include creative writing assignments, a research project, and timed in-class essays over all the readings for each semester. This reading-intensive tutorial is open to junior high and high school students.

Class will meet on Wednesdays from 3-5 pm EST.

Required Texts:

The complete works of Jane Austen. The definitive collection of Austen’s works is the Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen, 3rd edition, edited by R. W. Chapman. This six-volume set contains all of Austen’s writings (Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, and Minor Works) and is available on Amazon or Half.com. I believe that this set is an investment for any family library, and we will refer to this edition in class.

If you do not choose to buy this set, please make sure that you have editions of Austen’s works that keep the original division of these books into volumes. Many modern editions change Austen’s intentional divisions and renumber the chapters.

Any complete edition of the supplementary novels will do, though I have linked the editions that I use. I do encourage utilizing your public library, as well!:

Cecilia by Fanny Burney (available on Amazon).

The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith (available on Amazon).

The Romance of the Forest by Ann Radcliffe (available on Amazon).

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell (available on Amazon).

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (available on Amazon).

The Warden by Anthony Trollope (available on Amazon).

Presenting Miss Jane Austen by May Lamberton-Becker (available on Bethlehem Books).

Syllabus and Grading:

This course consists of four graded areas.

40% Participation (including completion of Reading Assignments and preparation of Book Notes)
20% Two Creative Writing Assignments during fall semester
20% One Research Project during spring semester
20% Two Timed In-Class Essay Semester Exams

Because the tutorial is open to a range of abilities and ages, I will evaluate students relative to their potential. Diligence and a good attitude will result in a positive evaluation.

Please see my Policies page for more details.


A Survey of English Literature from the Medieval to Modern Periods (2009-2010 School Year)

Course Description:

Explore the prose and poetry of Great Britain, including Shakespeare, Austen, Wordsworth, and Eliot. Assignments will include poetry memorization, out-of-class essays, and timed in-class essays. Weekly reading questions will guide our discussions of the assigned texts. Two of the timed writings are semester finals which test students on the cumulative semester readings. Reading assignments are 50-100 pages per week. This tutorial is recommended for high school students and should be considered an honors-level course.

Class will meet on Wednesdays from 2-4 pm CST.

Required Texts:

Please purchase the 7th edition of the Norton Anthology, Volumes I and II. You can find the 7th edition new or used through Amazon (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2) or through Half.com (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2).

*Note: Please note that the seventh edition is not the most recent edition. Because used copies of this edition are still readily available and inexpensive, we will continue to use this edition in class. If you purchase a newer edition, it will cost more, and some of the selections may be different.

Supplementary Required Reading: Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves by Roy Maynard (available on Amazon).

Syllabus and Grading:

This course consists of four graded areas.

40% Participation (completion of Reading Assignments and preparation of Discussion Questions to prepare for in-class discussion)
30% Six Essays written out of class
20% Three Timed Writings written in class
10% Four Poetry Memorizations/Imitations

Because the tutorial is open to a range of abilities and ages, I will evaluate students relative to their potential. Diligence and a good attitude will result in a positive evaluation.

Please see my Policies page for more details.


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