copyright 1999, Sirpa Grierson

Be sure and see the Reading Strategy/Unit Plan for this novel! Vocabulary from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen for VOCAB U Cook, Janice. Vocabulary from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen for VOCAB U. 13 Oct. 2000. http://www.vocabulary.com/VUctprideandP.html This fun site lists the SAT vocabulary words that are found in Pride and Prejudice so that vocabulary can easily be taught in conjunction with the novel. Real Regency Clothes Decker, Dr. Cathy. Real Regency Clothes. 13 Oct. 2000. http://locutus.ucr.edu/~cathy/rd.html For visual impact, this site has pictures of authentic regency dress, both formal and informal. The costume can be a great way to give students a feel for the era, spice up handouts, or show - instead of tell - what a pelisse or a kid slipper is. Radical Marriage Emsley, Sarah. "Radical Marriage." Eighteenth-Century Fiction 11 no4 (July 1999): 477- 98. This article was actually not written mainly about Pride and Prejudice, but in order to illuminate the nature of marriage in Eliza Fenwick's novel Secrecy, the author presents a thorough summary of the history of marriage in the period and then uses Pride and Prejudice as a comparison. It's a really great reference for understanding marriage in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. SparkNotes: Pride and Prejudice iTurfInc. SparkNotes: Pride and Prejudice. 13 Oct. 2000. http:www.sparknotes.com/lit/pride/ This is a site that is made specifically for teachers teaching Pride and Prejudice. It has summaries for each chapter with commentary, a character list with descriptions, a message board to post questions where other teachers can submit helpful information, study questions and various other resources. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Penguin Putnam Inc. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. 13 Oct. 2000 . http://penguinclassics.com/UK/resources/readers_guides/r_austen_pride.html I picked this site mainly because it has a few good discussion questions; most of the other information is repeated the basic information repeated at every other Jane Austen site. The Case of Pride and Prejudice Weisenfarth, Joseph. "The Case of Pride and Prejudice." Studies in the American Novel 16 (Fall 1984): 261-73. The author postulates that the novel, in scene after scene, presents a "case," similar to a court case, where false evidence is accepted without question. He asserts that the book specifically "makes the case for a prudent marriage and against a mercenary marriage" (268). Back to Top Reading Activities (compiled by Caroline Lund) |Pre-Reading | During Reading | Post-Reading | BEFORE READING ACTIVITIES 1. Biography of Jane Austen- http://www.jasa.net.au/jabiog.htm This website provides a look at Jane Austen’s life and who she was. It actually gives a timeline of her life so student’s can see when she was born, died, and when she wrote her novels. 2. Location of Towns and Cities in Regency England As the class reads the novel, I want them to mark where the major cities and town on a map of England. This will assist them in visualizing how far and how long people had to travel by stagecoach or horse when they wanted to go some where. This is also a website on the stagecoach and how it was started. http://www.georgianindex.net/horse_and_carriage/coaching.html 3. King George III- http://www.britainexpress.com/History/George_III.htm King George III (who was king during the American Revolution) ruled England during this time period. Students should have understanding of who was ruling England at that time because of the control the King had over society. 4. Regency Dress- http://hal.ucr.edu/~cathy/laha/laha.html; http://www.sensibility.com/vintageimages/1800s/ These websites provide information of how women dressed during the Regency period giving students a context of what people dressed like in the novel. 5. Food- http://www.chinet.com/~laura/html/recipes.html This is a world with no fast food, and entirely new concept for most students. The listed site provides some recipes of popular dishes in Regency England. It also give the reason why some of these dishes were so popular. 6. Activities in Regency England- http://www.georgianindex.net/cards/cardp.html This website includes games that might have been played at parties during the Regency period. 7. What does Regency England mean?- http://hal.ucr.edu/~cathy/reg.html This link is put together by a woman and some of her colleagues who are very into the Regency time period. If a student wants an in depth look of what the Regency period was like, this is the website to go to. 8. Anticipation Guide With an anticipation guide, the students will start to get a feel for what the novel is going to be about. They know that there are specific themes in there that they will need to look for while they are reading. 9. Speech during the Regency times- http://www.newandusedbooks.com/features2.cfm?feature_element=26 http://www.newandusedbooks.com/features2.cfm?feature_element=76 These websites offer a view into regency speech so students can actually understand what they are reading. 10. Society’s view of Marriage Today Students will research how our society views marriage. They will do this by looking up internet sites, magazine article, or newspaper articles about marriage. Afterwards, they will be presented to the class. BACK TO TOP DURING READING ACTIVITIES 1. Dancing- http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/musdi:@field(DOCID+@lit(M16810)) This website has some steps and moves of dances that were popular during Regency England. 2. Laws of Regency England- http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/adw03/c-eight/18chome.htm This will help students understand why Mr. Bennett’s daughters couldn’t inherit Longbourne as well as some other things that are brought up in the novel. 3. Etiquette- http://chuma.cas.usf.edu/~runge/MasonJA1.html The website has some of the rules of etiquette that ladies and gentlemen followed during that time period, allowing the students to know why everyone was so polite to each other back then. 4. Why woman wanted to marry up- http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/R/regencyhouse/history/smp.html This website (though about a television show) explains some of the reasons why women during the Regency period wanted to marry up and what it meant to their families. 5. Currency- http://www.georgianindex.net/banking_economics/banking.html This website explains about some of the currencies and the banks of England at the time so students can understand how much a pound was etc. 6. Life as a Gentleman- http://www.jasa.net.au/london/clubs.htm Gentlemen, during the Regency period, did not work as a living. This site will explain a little bit to students why so many men they meet in this novel do not work. 7. Balls- http://www.jasa.net.au/pp/dancing.htm#maincontent This site explains why balls were so important to the upper class. It was like the mall or our day. 8. Military- http://www.royalengineers.ca/HistBU.html Because the military plays a prominent part in the novel, I thought it would be good for students to know what the military was like. This site provides some good background knowledge for it. 9. Architecture- http://www.britainexpress.com/History/regency/regency-architecture.htm This site shares some of the designs that were pare of the Regency period’s architecture. 10. Character Traits Worksheet Because character’s personality traits change so much in the novel, I want students to keep track of it. Later, they will write a short paper on one of the characters and see if that character changed at all in the novel and if the student’s opinion changed on that character. BACK TO TOP AFTER READING ACTIVITIES 1. BBC’s Pride and Prejudice Directed by Simon Langton starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. Though the whole movie is too long to show in a classroom setting, bits and pieces can be shown while they are reading the novel, and at the end. I do want them to watch the Bingley/Darcy wedding when the preacher talks about how marriage should be. 2. Paper on Austen’s view of Marriage Students will try to figure out which marriage Austin agreed with most out of the five presented in the novel: the Bennetts, the Bingleys, the Darcys, the Collinses, or the Wickhams. They will use evidence from the book to support their answer. 3. Trial of Darcy and Elizabeth Students will put the two main characters on trial to see whose fault was greatest: his pride or her prejudice. Evidence from the novel will be used. 4. Write the ending from a different character’s point of view Students will pick a character from the novel and write the ending of the novel from one of the character’s point of view. This will be in first person. The students have to get into the character to do this assignment well. 5. Regency Day As a fun activity, we will have a regency day in the classroom. People will have signed up to bring in something that they took an interest in during the study of our novel. This could be food, architectural design, clothing, etc. 6. Taking a Vacation through Regency England Because of the map of England and are talk on travel, students will be able to plan a 2 month vacation through Regency England. They are only allowed to have the comforts of that time (so now driving around England or anything like that). 7. Pride and Prejudice in society today After reading the novel, students will analyze pride and prejudice in our own society. They may look at newspaper article, magazine article, or internet articles that cover anywhere from school to the world. Afterwards, a class discussion will be held on what happens when pride and/or prejudice affect our lives. 8. Letter from William Wirt to his niece Eliza Letter written in 1805 from Wirt to his niece about the idea of marriage. This fully illustrates what Austen wrote about in her novels. 9. Pride and Prejudice Sparknotes- http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/pride/ This is a wonderful guide to help students gather their thoughts after reading the novel. It helps them keep facts as well as events straight after reading so many pages at one time. It will help them with their projects after the novel is read. 10. The Modern Pride and Prejudice movie This movie is a modern take on the classic novel. Students might like this more than the original because they can relate to it. Pride and Prejudice Resources by Caroline Lund October 19th, 2004

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