What is a tyrannical male?

What is a convention in literature?

What is a portent?

What is an inexplicable event?

What is overwrought emotion?

Gothic Literature

﻿I'm Miss Howell. Welcome to today's English lesson. All you'll need is a pen and a piece of paper. So take a moment to clear yourself of any distractions and make sure that you have everything you need at hand for today's learning. Our lesson today is going to continue our exploration of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". In particular today, we're going to focus on analysing structure. The text we will read contains reference to violence and death. For some people, this will be a very sensitive topic. If that applies to you, you may want to do the rest of the lesson with a trusted adult nearby who can support. Please take a moment to get down your title, learning count and my structure in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", pausing here to do that now. Now please put down your key word for the lesson, which is eerie and the definition. pausing here to do that now. In today's lesson, we will continue to look at how to analyse structure in a text and in particular focus on a new way of thinking structurally about a text. Traditionally, narrative structures followed a certain formula and this was identified by a theorist called Tzvetan Todorov. A Bulgarian-French historian and a structuralist literary critic. He discovered that narratives moved forward in a chronological order, with one action following after another. In other words, they have a clear beginning, middle, and end. This traditional story arc format is known as a linear narrative. Linear narratives present stories in a logical manner by telling what happens from one point in time to the next, without using, for example, flashbacks or flash forward and then returning to the present. We are going to explore Todorov's narrative theory in today's lesson, and then apply this to the extract we have already looked at from "Jekyll and Hyde". At any point, if you need to pause the video to take down any notes that you think would be useful for you, then please do so. But there will be an opportunity later in the lesson for you to do this. If I said anything in this explanation that is new to you, then please pause so you can just make a note of that. So for example, you may not have known what a linear narrative was. So we're looking at Todorov's theory. He argued that narratives move through different stages. He thought that no matter what genre, you can break a text down and analyse the narrative stages. This is what we're going to look at now. So he discovered that narratives move forward in a chronological order with one action following after another. In other words, they have a clear beginning, middle and end. Todorov also suggested that the characters in a narrative would be changed in some way through the course of the story and that this would be evident by the resolution. We will now explore the five stages of Todorov's narrative theory. Once we have gone through this, there will be time to pause the video so you can take down these notes. So the first stage is equilibrium. This is where the setting and character are usually introduced. Everything is balanced and as it should be, then that moves into disruption where some event happens to upset the first stage. Then he believed there would be a recognition of that disruption. So this is where the characters become aware of the problems and events and this often would cause tension or conflict. Then there's an attempt to repair the disruption, the highest point of tension, where there's a big effort to repair the damage. And then, finally, he argued there'd be a resolution and the reinstatement of the equilibrium, where the problems were solved and questions answered and everything would return back to normal. Here is a visual representation of those five stages. If you find this more useful to get down so you can understand cyclical demonstration of what Todorov argued narrative structures adhered to then please feel free to add this when you make your notes. It's now time to pause so that you can make a note of Todorov's narrative theory. Now we're going to apply our knowledge of Todorov's narrative theory to the extract that we've already read from Jacqueline Hyde. So you're going to reread the extract. Think about what stages of Todorov's narrative theory you can spot. Remember, this is just an extract from the story. It is not a complete narrative. Not all the stages will be apparent. Just take some time to reread and think carefully about which stages you think you can spot. So an example of what I'm looking for when you take down your notes is to make it very explicit and clear the stage of Todorov's theory you think you can spot within the extract, and then the reason why you think you have found that particular stage. So that could be a quotation from the extract to support you or a reference to the text. Pause here to reread the extract and then make a note of the part of the theory you think this section of story could be a part of. Pause here to reread and make a note of Todorov's narrative theory you think this part of the story could be a part of, remembering this may not be a new stage but it could be part of the same stage you identified on the previous slide so think carefully. Pause here to reread and make a note of the stage of Todorov's narrative theory you think this story could be a part of. And finally, for the last part of the extract, pause here and consider which part of Todorov's narrative theory you think this could be part of. Now we will review your answers. So switch to your different coloured of pen. That will enable you to see what you are able to achieve when you do the task independently and what you have learned from the feedback. So at the beginning of the extract, there is an equilibrium and all is balanced and well. The maid "fell into a dream of musing", suggesting feelings of peace and ease. Then in the second part of the extract, the equilibrium continues. The maid notices the two gentlemen having a conversation, but at this point all is still well in the text, as they seem to be addressing each other with a "very pretty manner of politeness". Then, as we move into the next section of the text, this is where we have the disruption to the equilibrium. As the maid recognises one of the gentlemen as Mr. Hyde, for whom she had "conceived a dislike" due to a previous encounter. Also Mr. Hyde is not reacting with the same politeness in the situation, but rather an" ill-contained impatience". This therefore disrupts the sense of ease that there was at the beginning of the extract. Finally, in the last part of the text we've looked at today that disruption continues as the peace and ease of the start of the extract have now been completely disrupted and the equilibrium shattered by Hyde's sudden violent outburst. He "hails down a storm blows" on the poor unsuspecting gentleman in such an aggressive manner that his bones "audibly shattered" As such, the extract has now moved into disequilibrium. Finally, in preparation for looking at some more specific structural techniques, in the next lesson, I would like you to recall the techniques that we have already looked at. You should have five. Pause here to complete that task now. Now we will review your answers. Using your different coloured pen, just mark your work and ensure that you have remembered all five techniques that we've already looked at in preparation for building on this in further lessons. So you should have character introduction, remembering that's what we learned about characters with how the writer introduces us to them. Setting, where we are placed as a reader, inside, outside. And let's not forget that we also need to think about how the setting adds to the tone of the text. Foreshadowing which is when the writer hints at what could happen later in the text. Shifts and this could be in tone, focus, topic, it could be location, so a spatial shift. So thinking carefully about where does the writer focus our attention and what is the tone? And then where does this shift to, and does that change, actually change the tone as well? And finally, you should have that repetition of an idea. So that's where particular ideas repeat throughout the text. And also considering very carefully with that one, why a writer might want to emphasise such an idea. Once you have done that, that brings us to the end of our learning today. Thank you for your focus and I hope you have enjoyed learning about Todorov's narrative theory.

What was the weather like on the evening of the murder?

What is the maid's opinion of Mr Hyde?

What does Hyde do to the old man?

Why can Hyde's motive not be to steal from the old man?

What are Hyde's actions likened to?

In this lesson, we will build on our ability to analyse structure by looking at Todorov's narrative theory.  Then, we will end on a quiz exploring what you have learned. 


Lesson overview:Analysing structure in Jekyll and Hyde (Part 1)

Core Content

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Supervision Level

Gothic Literature: