Sons and Lovers Paul falls in love with Miriam Leivers who lives on a farm not too far from the Morel family. They carry on a very intimate, but purely platonic, relationship
Reading and Writing Workshop: Tracing Emotional Conflicts Through an Early 20th Century Novel
Begin by reading the work either in groups or as a class. If group reading, divide the work into sections and assign each group a section. As groups, they will read their section, write a summary of each chapter, and then each group reports on their chapters sequentially. As students read, they should complete the Novel Tracker. After reading and reporting on the entire novel, the workshop might consist of a single session or more. The goal is to engage participants in an exploration of life in an American religious colony through primary sources, and writing exercises that foster a deeper understanding of concepts such as English society, cultural norms, conflict, and resilience.
Objective: This workshop is divided into structured sessions, each focusing on reading, discussion, and writing activities to support student learning and context. The workshop incorporates public domain primary resources to deepen understanding and inspire creative expression. Students will also 1) Analyze the themes and character dynamics of the novel, 2) Examine primary sources to contextualize the novel's setting and societal norms. and
3) Develop creative writing pieces inspired by the novel and its historical context.
*This workshop follows a structured approach integrating reading, writing, and discussion based on Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence. It incorporates public domain memoirs, real-life stories, fiction, poetry, and scripts to deepen comprehension and inspire creative writing.
Workshop Structure
Implementation Notes
Begin by reading the work either in groups or as a class. If group reading, divide the work into sections and assign each group a section. As groups, they will read their section, write a summary of each chapter, and then each group reports on their chapters sequentially. As students read, they should complete the Novel Tracker. After reading and reporting on the entire novel, the workshop might consist of a single session or more. The goal is to engage participants in an exploration of life in an American religious colony through primary sources, and writing exercises that foster a deeper understanding of concepts such as English society, cultural norms, conflict, and resilience.
Objective: This workshop is divided into structured sessions, each focusing on reading, discussion, and writing activities to support student learning and context. The workshop incorporates public domain primary resources to deepen understanding and inspire creative expression. Students will also 1) Analyze the themes and character dynamics of the novel, 2) Examine primary sources to contextualize the novel's setting and societal norms. and
3) Develop creative writing pieces inspired by the novel and its historical context.
*This workshop follows a structured approach integrating reading, writing, and discussion based on Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence. It incorporates public domain memoirs, real-life stories, fiction, poetry, and scripts to deepen comprehension and inspire creative writing.
Workshop Structure
- Opening Focus Lesson
- Introduce the key theme: Industrialization and Family Dynamics
- Interactive Read-Aloud: Read an excerpt from Sons and Lovers that describes the Nottinghamshire mining community.
- Discussion: How does Lawrence depict industrialization’s impact on family life?
- Purposeful Independent Work
- Reading Workshop: Participants read selected sections of Sons and Lovers alongside primary resources, such as:
- The Making of a Coal Miner by Joseph Husband (1911) - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48179
- Child Labor in the Coal Mines (1906) - https://archive.org/details/childlaborincoal00unit/page/n1/mode/2up
- Writing Workshop:
- Participants write a character journal entry from the perspective of Paul Morel or Gertrude Morel, imagining their internal struggles.
- Option to compose a short story inspired by real-life accounts of coal miners.
- Reading Workshop: Participants read selected sections of Sons and Lovers alongside primary resources, such as:
- Small Group Instruction & Conferences
- Remediation Groups: Support for understanding dialect and historical context.
- Strategy Lessons: Comparing primary texts with Sons and Lovers to analyze literary realism.
- 1:1 Conferences: Personalized feedback on writing pieces.
- Peer Collaboration (Partner Time)
- Reading Partners: Compare Sons and Lovers with memoirs of working-class families, such as:
- Life in the Iron Mills by Rebecca Harding Davis (1861) - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/876
- Autobiography of Mother Jones by Mary Harris Jones (1925) - https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofm00jone/page/n7/mode/2up
- Writing Partners: Exchange and refine character journal entries.
- Reading Partners: Compare Sons and Lovers with memoirs of working-class families, such as:
- Reflection and Share-Out
- Participants share insights from their reading or writing.
- Options:
- Quick verbal reflection.
- Short written response on how industrialization influenced family life.
Implementation Notes
- Public domain texts provide historical context for Sons and Lovers.
- Writing tasks encourage creative engagement with primary sources.
- Small group instruction tailors support for different reading levels.
- Collaboration fosters discussion on literature and real-life parallels.