Christmas Storms and sunshine Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskelll

Objectives Analyze the impact of author choices. Analyze the impact of word choices. Initiate and participate in discussions. Demonstrate the command of the English language while writing. Acquire and use academic vocabulary. Understand the point of view of third-person omniscient. Understand the impact of mood on a literary piece.

About the Author Gaskell was a literary troublemaker. She wrote about thing that were considered taboo for her time, like sexual exploitation, the poor, and political matters. She focused on the social ills of her times. Her novel, Ruth, shocked people because it dealt sympathetically with a main character and her child, born out of wedlock. Her time was full of political unrest, because the old aristocracy was dying and the roots of democracy were beginning to take hold. She supported the more liberal and democratic parties .

Opening Discussion Think about prejudices in our country. What are these prejudices and how are they affecting you?

Literary Analysis: Omniscient Point of View A story told from the third-person point of view features a narrator who is not a character in the story but an outside observer. In contrast to other types of narrators, some third-person narrators are omniscient, or all-knowing, and can reveal the thoughts of multiple characters. The third-person omniscient point of view was popular with Victorian authors, who used it not only to reveal their characters’ thoughts but also to express opinions on those characters and their dilemmas. As you read the following story, consider how the point of view affects both what you learn about the characters and how you react to their behavior.

Reading Skill: Identify Mood The mood of a literary work is the feeling or atmosphere a writer creates for the reader. Fiction writers can create mood through imagery, descriptive details, word choice, and setting.

Discuss Lines 1 -12: Consider what you learn about the two newspapers. How do the narrator's comments affect your impression of the papers? Lines 27 – 37: Omniscient narrators of the Victorian era are sometimes described as 'intrusive'. Do you believe that the narrator here is intrusive? How so? Lines 40 – 45: in setting up these two opposing families, what mood does the author set create? Lines 67 – 78: What does the narrator reveal about the motivations of each of these characters? How might this passage be different if the narrator were not omniscient? Lines 150 – 176: how would you describe the mood at this point in the story? Identify the descriptive details and word choices that allow Gaskell to build the mood to a crescendo. Lines 223 – 232: what do these lines reveal about Mary and Mrs. Jenkins that they don't say directly to one another?

Discuss How do the differing menus for the Christmas dinner portray the differences between the families? Do you believe that the narrator prefers one of the families over the other? Why do you say so? Recall: What do Mr. Hodgson and Mr. Jenkins do for a living? Clarify: Why does Mary Hodgson beat Mrs. Jenkins's cat? Summarize: How does Mrs. Jenkin's attitude toward baby Tom change over the course of the story? Draw conclusions. Explain why the two families are antagonistic toward each other at the beginning of the story. What causes them to overcome their prejudice against each other? Support with evidence.

Closing Question The word omniscient comes from the Latin words omnis, which means all, and scientia, which means knowledge. Identify at least two passages in the story that show that the narrator is omniscient. What insights provided by the narrator particularly affected you? Describe how the story might have been different if it had been told in the third-person limited point of view.