Pride & Prejudice

A few years back, my then 13 year old fell in love with Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet while staying at my mother's. My mother has never been much of a TV watcher instead she offers adventures outside and a modest library from my dad. She finally settled in with a good book. Little did she know that day she would fall in love. At first it was a bit of a struggle to read through but she persevered because she was fascinated with this couple. Over the years we have used this classic in our school.



Last year in British Literature one of her exam questions was "How does the author (Jane Austen) catch and hold the reader's attention (pertaining to Pride & Prejudice)?" Prior to the exam we discussed this question and mapped out possibilities. For my daughter, she decided that is was Austen's ability to bring these characters to life and the varied qualities they posessed. She chose three to discuss in detail on the exam.
We also used Pride & Prejudice for our dictation exercises. I asked her to pick a favorite book, although I was pretty sure I knew which one she would chose! ;-) From there I asked her to pick a selection for our studied dictation. This was her first time doing dictation and so she looked at me and said, "You're going to read it to me flat, right? You're not going to read it in funny voices." I asked her why that mattered and she replied, "I just don't want you to ruin it for me." I knew from that conversation that we had made a wise choice.

This week we are sharing it with friends for movie night!