[Vwoolf] Query: on how to teach Orlando: what approaches work

[Pat Laurence]

Another way of approaching *Orlando* is through the genre of biography:
After Woolf finished *To the Lighthouse* in 1927,  she noted in her Diary,
“ it sprung upon me how I could revolutionize

biography is a night.” Discussing these "revolutions" would lead students
into contemporary notions of bio-fiction,  truth and "facts," and Woolf's
challenges to traditional notions of biography..

 What are challenges to notions of character  (instability in gender and
character in the transformation from hero to heroine); time (we whirl
through 300 years of literary history), notions of truth and

 fiction?

 Pat Laurence






On Fri, Nov 17, 2017 at 7:19 AM, Ellen Moody <ellen.moody at gmail.com> wrote:

> A hearty grateful thanks to Eileen Barrett, Anne Fernald, Roy Johnson,
> Lois Gilmore and Helen Southworth.  I now have the courage to do it as I
> now have a number of ways that seem to be very workable. It's not that I've
> not taught in colleges for decades -- I first taught in 1972, and was for
> say 8 years in the CUNY NYC system, and I taught in Virginia at George
> Mason for 17 years and before that (or during that time for a few years) at
> American University, but I've not tried with an older group of people this
> non-realistic book. Many older readers expect realism in their novels, and
> will be all at sea with long passages that don't conform either to
> traditional biography/ history r a traditional novel. I wanted ways to get
> round this. I did think of pictures: I have in my house Vita
> Sackville-West's book on Knoles with many black-and-white photos, and her
> child's book A Note of Explanation, which is a beautiful picture book that
> is said to be part of the inspiration for Orlando.
>
> I wonder if Lois could tell me which miscellany her article is in. I have
> a bunch going way back (paper copies) and could find it that way.
>
> I've saved all the methods suggested.
>
> I've been a member of the Society for several years now and only three
> days ago thought of finding this listserv, and joining it. Such a place is
> a wonderful resource for information.
>
> So another query: come to think of it, the one Woolf novel I've not been
> able to find a recorded audiobook available to an individual consumer is
> Between the Acts. There is one available to libraries. On Orlando, alas,
> there is only an abridged audiobook no unabridged one, and I regarde
> unabridged ones as worse than wastes of time. There are otherwise some
> beautifully read recordings of the books unabridged, most still available
> as CDs or MP3s. I love to listen to the books too.
>
> Ellen Moody -
>
>
>
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