The History Boys: Lessons P. 28-p. 41

Learning lessons: mindmap What lessons have the boys learnt from each teacher? What lessons do they need to learn? Can the word 'lessons' have more than one meaning? What lesson to do think Bennett is trying to teach us, if any?

P Remind yourself of Louisa Mellor's argument that the references to WW1 and WW2 mirror the boys' battles. How is this idea developed in these pages? What is your response to the treatment of Fiona in these pages? Might your response differ from someone in the 1980s?

P : Hector's Second Lesson At the beginning of the scene Posner is singing 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, a showtime from the 1940s. It was written by Lorenz Hart who was a Jew and rumoured to be gay. Look at the lyrics to the song on your iPad. Why do you think Bennett chose to use this song?

T: Sir, I don't always understand poetry. H: You don't always understand it? Timms, I never understand it. But learn it now, know it now and you'll understand it whenever. T: I don't see how we can understand it. Most of the stuff poetry's about hasn't happened to us yet. H: But it will, Timms. It will. And then you will have the antidote ready! Grief, happiness. Even when you're dying. Annotate this section closely. What is Bennett suggesting, do you think?

Alan Bennett on poetry I think everybody wants to have learnt poems by heart at school. They look back to an age when their parents, or maybe their grandparents, could recite verse. My mother could recite very garbled and over-dramatised bits of poetry she'd learnt at school. And whenever she went into poetry-reciting mode, the pose she took up was exactly the one she'd taken up when she was 10 years old. But people do feel that they ought to have this ingrained knowledge of poetry and regret not having it. It seems to me, in Hector's words, it is a kind of "insulation for the mind". And when you do come across people who have literature at their fingertips and can quote things off by heart, then it is very impressive and enviable.

H: 'O villainy! Let the door be locked! Treachery! Seek it out.' This is a quotation from Hamlet (said immediately after Gertrude has been poisoned). What do the quotation and the reference suggest, particularly about Hector? Read the next few lines, (until 'And, of course, opportunity'). What is the dramatic significance of Irwin's visit? Where have we seen a similar encounter? What do you know about Thomas Beckett? Why does Bennett use this reference?

Pages Now Voyager is a 1942 film in which a neurotic heiress meets and falls in love with a married man on a cruise. They enjoy a brief tryst before the cruise ends; the heiress then struggles to forget him. Why do you think Bennett includes film references, and why this film in particular? What do you make of the game the boys and Hector are playing here?

P : Rudge What do you know about Rudge so far? What do you think of the fact that he doesn't get involved in the game? At the end of page 32 '[the boys and Hector] go, leaving Rudge working.' What impression does this give you of the character? Rudge is 'grateful for [Mrs Lintott's] lessons.' Why do you think this is? What do you think of the relationship/ conversation between Mrs Lintott and Rudge?

Critic on Rudge Read and make notes on the article on Rudge from eMag (on the Learning Space). To what extent to do you agree with the ideas raised in the article? Try to make references to pages (and the rest of the play) in your answer.

P.35-39: Irwin's second lesson At the beginning of the lesson, who sees to have power? Why? Why do you think the boys ask Irwin about him personal life? Why doesn't he tell them about himself? Annotate Irwin's speech on p. 35. What points does he make? Consider his use of rhetoric: how and why is this effective? What do you think he means by 'History nowadays is not a matter of conviction. It's a performance'? How does this portray him as a character?

Look at Scripps' narrative on p. 35. How is Irwin's '2004' character presented? How do you respond to this? To what extent is Irwin presented as a spin doctor here?

P : 'Why does [Hector] lock the door?' What do you think of the boys' response to Irwin's questions about Hector's lessons? To what extent they show loyalty to Hector? Why do you think Irwin asks these questions? What do the boys seem to think about Hector's teaching style? What do you think is meant by the quotation '...so long as it's words, sir. Words and worlds'?

W. H Auden Read about Auden here: Why do you think 'Mr Hector [likes] Auden?' What are the similarities between Auden and Hector (try to go beyond the obvious)? Why do you think the boys ask if Irwin likes Auden? Read this article on Bennett's inspiration for Hector: mceachran-real-life-model-history-boys-star-hector and make notes. mceachran-real-life-model-history-boys-star-hector

Auden's 'Musee des Beaux Arts' (referenced on page 36) is a poem about a painting in which everyone goes about their day which Icarus drowns in the sea. The last stanza reads: In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry, But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green Water, and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky, Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on. What do you think is the significance of this reference?

pages Why do you think the scene ends in this way? What do you think Akthar means by 'It's not education, it's culture'? Do you agree with this distinction?

Brief Encounter Brief Encounter (1946) is a social melodrama about the quiet desperation involved in an illicit, extra-marital love affair between two married, middle-class individuals over seven weekly meetings, mostly against the backdrop of a railway station. Looking for escape from her humdrum life and sterile marriage, Laura (Celia Johnson) meets a dashing doctor and they have a brief, clandestine affair (meeting at the station and never consummating their relationship. At the end of the film she returns to her husband, Fred (Cyril Raymond). This is the scene in which she returns home and shows her remorse. Can you see any connections between the plot of the film and the characters/ relationships in the play?

Teaching and learning Look back over what we have read/studied so far and find any references to the teaching styles of: Hector Irwin Lintott How do they differ in their styles, intentions and the ways the boys respond to them?

'But I think you ought to know this lesson has been a complete waste of time.' What do you think Irwin means by this? Do you agree that this lesson has been a waste of time?