Lesson video

Welcome to today's English lesson.

I'm Mrs. Crompton.

Before we begin our learning, let's make sure we have everything we need.

You will need a pen and paper.

Take a moment to make sure you've cleared any distractions away and have everything you need at hand.

So the idea of journeys are at the heart of lots of different narratives through time with heroes, battling to return to a given location and achieve that goal.

And what we are going to do, is to look at one particular tale.

And this is the Odyssey, Homer's Odyssey from Greek myth and legend.

And, this is particularly pertinent to our text, Cold Mountain.

And we know that this is something that Frazier has considered when he's come up with his characterization of Inman and also his consideration of our dual protagonist, Ada, who we are going to spend a little bit more time looking at today.

So before we begin, we need to have a better understanding of what actually happens in the Odyssey.

So Homer's Odyssey tells an epic tale of Odysseus' 10 year struggle to return home after the Trojan War.

During the journey, he faces trials from the Gods and battles mythical beasts.

Odysseus is devoted to his family.

He is determined to return home to his wife, despite all of the obstacles in his way.

Meanwhile, his wife Penelope and son Telemachus also have that own test in trying to protect Penelope from suitors and maintain the throne.

The moral values in the story include loyalty, compassion, self-control and perseverance.

So what we have, is a hero who is being tested.

We also have his partner, Penelope being tested in her own way in a very domestic setting, but we have our main hero physically on a journey, quest involved.

A quest involved to get back to his loved ones.

To get back to his prize of being with the family and returning to his rightful inheritance.

So that's the model that we are looking at.

And within that, we have certain features that we can identify under this category of quest narrative.

So let's have a look at these together.

You might want to pause at this point and jot some of this vocabulary down.

It will be helpful to you.

And when you come up against any more texts where there is a narrative of a journey at the heart of them, this will be really useful for you to measure what's going on with the new character in relation to this traditional pattern.

So a traditional pattern for a quest narrative is that we initially have the call to adventure.

We then have the hero crossing the threshold from the first point in the narrative where he hears that call to adventure where some sort of challenges presented to him.

And then he makes a decision to enter on the journey.

And therefore a threshold is crossed.

Once that threshold is crossed, we experience challenges and temptations.

Now along the way, they may have a sidekick.

Somebody who is going to help them so that this helper figure is often present in the journey.

The hero will experience a moment where they reach an abyss.

And that literally is a place where they've reached the absolute bottom of that journey in terms of that sort of likelihood of success.

And it looks like it's going to be a point that they cannot overcome.

This is like a climactic moment, isn't it? That right at the top of the action.

But rather than it looking as though it's going to keep climbing, it actually looks like they've dropped right to the bottom.

And they are in an abyss.

At this moment, it is a point where death is a likelihood.

But out of the situation, there will be a moment of rebirth and even revelation.

This idea of revelation is quite interesting because it suggests some sorts of spiritual awakening, some sorts of understanding of themselves as an individual.

Another really famous journey text, is a text called Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan.

And that is an allegory in which a character literally is called Christian.

And he faces various obstacles until he finds his true facts.

So this idea of a rebirth and revelation, is really quite crucial in a quest narrative.

The character is going to come out a better person.

We then see a period of transformation and atonement, an opportunity to then show the new awakening.

To gain a atonement for mistakes of the past before they reach their final test, that final ordeal.

And they are able to return home and reach that goal.

It's a really useful pattern, the quest narrative, a call to adventure, a hero crossing a threshold, they reach an abyss, there is a moment of transformation, atonement, and a return to victory at the end.

Okay.

The first thing that I would like us to do is to try and join some of that theory, some of that thinking, with what we know of Cold Mountain already.

And on the screen, you can see three images.

We have the window that was so prominent in the opening passage.

We have an image of a road, which we know that Inman was looking to and beyond, as he got closer to his window.

And then finally, we have a picture of Cold Mountain.

So we have three different images.

And what I would like you to do, is to think about how the three images link and how they also help us to understand Inman's particular journey.

These three images actually symbolise the journey that Inman is on.

So pause at this point, while you complete that task.

Once you have done, you can restart again.

Okay.

That's the task.

And there's the reminder to pause.

So remember the imagery from our extracts, how do the three images link? How do they link into the concept of Inman's particular journey? So the first thing that I want to draw out are the comparisons between Inman and a Odysseus.

Now we've got both characters involved in a war.

We have the Trojan War, for Odysseus, and we have The American Civil War for Inman.

But interestingly enough, Frazier chooses to have our character Inman as somebody who is a deserter.

Somebody who has actually shunned the idea of being a soldier and gaining sort of victory and recognition from that role.

Both however, are brave figures.

So even though, a disease is famed as a soldier and a fighter and a warrior, that isn't how Inman gains his recognition, but he is brave in other ways.

And he demonstrates his heroic qualities in other ways.

I think we saw that even in the opening passage.

There was a resilience and a determination in Inman to take control of his situation.

He separated himself from the wounded on the ward, not just because he didn't want to fight with them, but because there was a strength to his character that is heroic in nature.

By that token, he also demonstrated perseverance.

So he knows he wants to get somewhere.

He knows that, that road is going to take him back to Cold Mountain.

And that seems to be, the way we've left at the moment, the quest that he is initiating upon.

Finally, both are trying to return to loved ones.

We have Penelope in the Odyssey and we have Ada Monroe, waiting for Inman.

So is that the draw that Inman feels to Cold Mountain? Well, let's have a look.

There's a section coming up now from Chapter 18 of the novel.

And this is Inman visualising where he wants to be.

Okay.

So, the call came to him as he looked out of the window and he remembered his childhood Inman telling him, you have to go.

And now, we see the dream that he has at the back of his mind at all times, as he's physically on his journey back to Cold Mountain.

And I'll read that with you.

He would come walking up the road into Black Cove, and it would be weary looking.

What he had been through would show in his face and in his frame, but only so much as to suggest heroism.

He would be bathed and in a clean suit.

Ada would step out the door onto the porch without knowing he was coming, just going about her doings.

She would be dressed in her fine clothes.

She would see him and know him in every feature.

She would run to him, lifting her skirts above her ankle boots as she came down the steps.

And it's quite a romanticised image.

Isn't it? He is the hero.

She is the damsel in distress.

And that seems to be, the ultimate classic quest.

We have the hero returning to his loved one.

Well, let's see if that is the case.

The interesting thing is, as you start to read further, Inman isn't just prompted by the desire to get back to Ada.

If we read the opening really carefully, it's the memory of Cold Mountain that creates the call to adventure.

It is the memory of Cold Mountain and his desire to be reunited with the nature that he experienced in his childhood, the innocence of the pastoral setting, and all that it represents that really prompts him to take his call.

So, Inman takes prompts from nature throughout.

For example, it's the crow that initiates the thinking.

As he travels home to Cold Mountain, he has a sidekick, but it's not a physical person.

It's a book.

And the book is bought from his travel, which is a spiritual and topographical guide.

So it basically tells you how to master the nature around you.

And that seems to be just as much of Inman's physical battle, as he goes through.

It's understanding his environment.

And then finally, coming to a point of being in harmony with nature again.

This is quite a complex idea.

But what I have done is pick out a quotation at the end, I think really tells you about the purpose of the novel.

"War's ravages can only be undone when people reattune themselves to nature's endless arc of the sun, wheel of seasons".

And that phrase is really trying to show is that despite what man might do to one another, the fighting that a Civil War in particular, creates where a nation is actually ripping themselves apart, nature is the constant, and nature is the guide, and nature is the quest that Inman is entering upon.

Now, I just want to give you a little bit of an opportunity to try and put some of those ideas together.

So we are going to do, various bits of reflective writing today.

I'm not necessarily going to give you lots of answers.

I'm going to try and guide you towards them.

And the first bit of reflective writing I have got for you, has two prompts to it.

And I want to see, how much you can jot down for yourselves.

So you are in control of this.

Try and give yourself the opportunity to give us comprehensive and as precise an answer as you possibly can.

So how does Inman's journey link to the Odyssey? Is the first point.

And then, what I'd really like you to do is to tackle that bigger idea, of the significance of nature.

And this idea that Inman's quest is not just to return to Ada.

That seems quite a shallow desire in the biggest scheme of things.

What he really wants to do, is to return to Cold Mountain.

What is the significance of nature in the text? When you feel that you've got your ideas down, then you can move on with the next part of our learning today.

Now the next part of our learning, is to bring into play this other protagonist.

And we met Penelope at the beginning, very briefly when I talked to you about the Odyssey and Penelope's role was to sit and wait for her man to return.

But it was suggested that she also experienced a test.

So we are going to find out about Penelope's test.

We are then going to have a look at Ada in comparison to Penelope.

So again, at this point, what I would recommend you are doing, is absorbing the information, pausing if needs be, and jotting down notes.

Particularly thinking about the different test that the women are experiencing, in contrast to their men.

So, Penelope is a symbol of fidelity and perseverance.

In order to keep suitors away, she tells them she will not re-marry until she has finished weaving a shroud for her dead father-in-law.

Every day she weaves and every night she unravels her work.

When she is found out, she then devises other delaying tactics until finally, Odysseus returns.

He is dressed as a beggar therefore has to prove his identity to her before she accepts him.

So, we might have thought Penelope was in quite a weak situation, but we've got the story here of a woman who takes charge.

Maybe of quite a limited situation, but she takes control of it.

She looks all of these delaying tactics.

And even when a Odysseus returns, he has to prove himself to her again.

She's not just going to accept him.

Her fidelity, her perseverance, has been so long standing 10 years, she's been waiting, that she is not just going to accept this man who doesn't look like her husband anymore without being absolutely sure.

And Penelope shows great strength and determination in this act.

What of Ada then? Well, let's remember about Ada.

Ada has had a privileged upbringing in Charleston but six years ago her preacher father moved them to Cold Mountain.

Now her father has died and she's on her own.

So like Penelope, she is also in a domestic setting and she's also on her own.

However, this is where we see some differences.

She cannot cope with her life on Black Cove Farm.

Ada has also not known Inman long and is not married to him.

At this stage, she is presented as a damsel in distress.

She needs a male figure back in her life to save her from her situation.

So it's quite interesting that Ada is presented as a very different figure.

So just taking those ideas on board, absorbing those, jotting down your nerves.

Now the next activity I would like to do, is to try and activate something that we looked at last week.

And this is really important for me that we are always taking into account every possible idea that we could have when we approach a new text and thinking about.

Uh, that reminds me of, or that could link to, or maybe I could bring this idea in.

And what I'm going to do, is just prompt you with a little bit in that direction.

Don't panic if you can't remember anything.

I am going to help you in a moment.

But I would like you if possible, to pause at this point.

And I would like you to write down for me, what you can remember about The Angel in the House, and then, think about the 'space' that was assigned to women in literature in Lesson 3 of last week.

So we did a session on women, and the domain that they are meant to inhabit.

What can you remember about that? So pause and restart once you are done.

So you should have something like this.

The female 'space' in literature.

Women are designated the 'house' and a domestic sphere, as their 'space'.

Ada finds herself not able to manage what is beyond the house-ie.

the farm.

This is a 'male' space that she has no skill to manage.

Okay.

So we are now building on the initial idea.

And here again, it's an opportunity for you to start to take notes.

So Ada finds herself not able to manage what is beyond that domestic sphere.

And the farm represents the male space.

She now needs to move from the domestic to a new space in order to activate her own 'journey', which is one of survival because she needs to wait.

She can't manage on her own.

Ada, initially, is a damsel in distress, but with the guidance of another female, Ruby, she becomes independent and able to welcome Inman back because she wants them in her life rather than needs him.

So these are the ideas that I would now like to explore a little bit further with you.

So Ada, initially, is a damsel in distress, but with the guidance of another female as her sidekick is going to be a character called Ruby.

And it's really interesting that we have a female community coming together, in order to redefine that outside space.

Let's break that down a little bit more.

Okay, so I'm going to guide you through this, talk you through these ideas.

And again, you are taking notes, You are thinking about these ideas, and there will be a pause point for you to reflect and consolidate our discussion.

So, Ada's conflict.

How is it that she's on her own 'journey'? We are now contrasting our second protagonist, our dual protagonist's journey.

First of all, Ada can't do anything on her own.

She hasn't really chosen the call.

It's a call that has been forced upon her.

And in order to meet the call, Ada needs a sidekick.

So Ruby is a local girl who moves in with Ada to help her out when she cannot cope.

The agreement Ada and Ruby reached on that first morning was this: Ruby would move to the cove and teach Ada how to run a farm.

I think it's really interesting that Frazier has the knowledge of how to conquer this outside space coming from another female.

And I think that's an interesting angle that we need to bear in mind as we continue.

What's Ada's conflict with.

Well it's with nature and it's with the space that she now been asked to inhabit.

Ada is going to have to re-locate herself from the domestic sphere of the home to tackling her environment and mastering 'nature'.

Unlike Inman, she doesn't feel in tune, does she? This is an area that she's not familiar with.

So therefore she has a genuine test here.

She genuinely needs to conquer this environment.

She too is on a journey, but rather than physically travelling on a road like Inman, her journey is going to be about geographically shifting from inside to outside and taking control of her own situation.

And not a massive journey, if you think about it literally.

But it's quite huge for Ada.

And it's quite huge in terms of this characterization of the female.

She's going to move over the threshold of the domestic into the public sphere.

Her 'journey' would be better described as a bildungsroman.

And I want you to write that word down, bildungsroman.

It's German origin, and it means, a process of coming of age and maturing as an individual through the tests that she faces.

This is a really interesting sort of offshoot of the journey narrative.

It's where, a character goes through a process of maturing.

They learn fundamentally about themselves.

That test is to concur their own obstacles in order to grow up, to mature, and to also understand themselves as an individual who can therefore be in control of that own situation.

And that's what we get with Ada.

So, it's a very different journey.

In some respects, it's more mental in terms of her coming to terms with what's going on in her life.

But equally is a quest, equally is a test of her resilience.

Okay.

Let's try and bring all of these ideas together.

I've done quite a bit of talking today.

So now it's over to you.

What I'm going to get you to do today, is the following.

If you look down the left hand side of the screen, you are going to read the passage, and you are going to respond to the prompt questions that I've positioned around the screen.

I want you to pause between slides, and I want you to take notes and select evidence.

Just short supporting quotations.

Now this is fundamentally a reading exercise.

I'm not going to ask you to do anything other than gather notes, so that when you come to the reflection point at the end of today's session, you have got all of the information that you need.

You've got all of the detail in order to complete that activity.

Okay? So, on the right hand side of the screen, let's go through what we are doing.

You are going to read the passage, You are going to reflect on our prior learning from this lesson and also activate any other ideas as you've seen that we are linking in from previous week's learning.

And your main task at this point is to gather evidence in order to support your thinking.

Control is over to you.

Pause as you need to in order to be able to get down the information that you need, and I will be waiting for you at the other side.

Welcome back everybody.

So to complete our learning today, and it's the learning that has been very much about synthesising ideas, bringing different thinking together, activating new learning, drawing on prior learning.

What we are going to do in this final exercise is bring all of that together.

And it's all about your personal response.

And in your final reflection, I have three prompt questions to tie everything together for us today.

First of all, how does Ada's characterization borrow from her literary predecessor, Penelope? And you can think about similarities and differences in your response.

How does Ada's goal contrast to Inman's quest? What are the key differences? And I'm hoping that you are going to be able to activate some of the new vocabulary that we've looked at to really pin that interpretation down.

And then finally, how does nature link the two plots? How does nature link the two plots? This is going to be a thoughtful piece of work.

It could take 15 to 20 minutes to complete.

Please do not worry about that.

Take your time.

At all times.

Now we've got to this stage of our learning.

It's really important that you reflect on the quality of your expression, trying to use all of the correct terminology.

Think about all of the key words that we've had today for quest narratives.

Think about the bildungsroman, and tie and all of that in.

And make sure that you are really taking care over the refinement of your sentences and how everything is linking together.

Once you have completed, restart.

And I will be there.

To finish the learning for today, you have a recap quiz to complete.

All that remains for me to say is, thank you for your focus today.

It's been a challenging lesson and deliberately so, we are ready for this now.

It is time for you to really start exploring all of the links between the different sessions that we are doing.

Thank you again.

Enjoy the rest of your learning today.

And I will see you very soon.