TE21 – engelska – magisterwernegren

The Raven

The Poem in popular culture

Full reading by Christopher Walken

Study guide questions for The Raven

Do you think this poem is supposed to be funny? Do you find the speaker’s tale intense and dramatic, or ridiculous and over-the-top?
Do you talk to animals? Do you ever imagine them saying something back? Why do you think humans speak to animals?
On that note, do you think the speaker of this poem has really lost his mind, or does he just seem very, very sad to you? What makes you think that?
Do you trust the speaker? Do you think he gives us an accurate version of reality, or is it possible that he is making up or distorting some of these things? Any clues in the poem that points you in any direction, on this?
Have you ever known someone (or been someone) whose love turned into obsession? Does this poem make you think about that experience? What do you think about obsessive love?

The novella A Christmas Carol (1843) by Charles Dickens is one of the most well-known and important Christmas-themed stories in the English-speaking world. It was written in Victorian times when the modern Christmas celebration was beginning to take form with Christmas trees, Christmas cards, and, of course, Christmas carols.

While the animation above is a fast-paced telling of the original story all of the key elements and points of Dickens’ novella remains intact.

Questions to discuss:

Why did Dickens choose Christmas as the setting for this story?
What is the purpose of the story?
Is Scrooge’s transformation believable?
What could a modern take on A Christmas Carol look like?

// Jonatan

The Best Book?

Dear student,

Today, we will have a look at the first few pages of Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card and City of Thieves by David Benioff.

Ender’s Game has 1,215,663 ratings on Goodread.com. It’s average rating is 4.3 stars.

Andrew ”Ender” Wiggin thinks he is playing computer simulated war games; he is, in fact, engaged in something far more desperate. The result of genetic experimentation, Ender may be the military genius Earth desperately needs in a war against an alien enemy seeking to destroy all human life. The only way to find out is to throw Ender into ever harsher training, to chip away and find the diamond inside, or destroy him utterly. Ender Wiggin is six years old when it begins. He will grow up fast.
Review of Ender’s Game

City of Thieves has 133,133 ratings on Goodreads.com. It’s average rating is 4.24 stars.

During the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad, Lev Beniov is arrested for looting and thrown into the same cell as a handsome deserter named Kolya. Instead of being executed, Lev and Kolya are given a shot at saving their own lives by complying with an outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful Soviet colonel to use in his daughter’s wedding cake. In a city cut off from all supplies and suffering unbelievable deprivation, Lev and Kolya embark on a hunt through the dire lawlessness of Leningrad and behind enemy lines to find the impossible.
Review of City of Thieves

Easter egg in Last of Us 2