Anne of Green Gables
By Iren Plastinina
Introduction
This is an informative paper about the children’s novel “Anne of Green Gables”. In my presentation I will give you some information about the author, and the book. In addition I will tell you whether this novel is suitable for an English class in Primary school.
The author
The Canadian author, Lucy Maud Montgomery, who lived between the years 1874 and 1942, wrote “Anne of Green Gables” during the first years of the twentieth century. Several times her novel was rejected by publishers. Montgomery, being discouraged, stored her work in an old hatbox until, in 1908, when she once again sent the novel to a publisher, and this time her book was accepted. By June the same year she held the first copy of “Anne of Green Gables” in her hand. Between 1909 and 1939 she wrote another 8 novels about Anne. She also wrote many other novels for children, mainly for girls. When she died in 1942 she had written almost 30 books, amongst them books of poetry and factual prose (faktabok), but first and foremost she was a writer of children’s literature.
Most of her work reflects that she was born under the Victorian period in literature. The author’s own childhood is used in the novels about Anne. They are not identical but there are many similarities. Her mother died when she was 2 years old and she went to stay with her maternal grandparents. “Green Gables”, the farm where Anne grew up with the Cuthberts, is almost a copy of her grandparents’ farm.
This farm is now a part of the Prince Edward’s Island Provincial Park, established in 1937. Lucy Montgomery took her teachers education in 1893 and she worked as a teacher till 1898. Then her grandfather died so she went home to live with her grandmother. It was when she stayed here she first started writing novels for children. She had been published earlier, in magazines, journals and newspapers, both short novels and poetry.
At the beginning of the twentieth century she also worked as a journalist in the Chronicle and Echo, two newspapers in Halifax, Canada. In July 1911 she married Presbyterian minister, Ewan Macdonald. In 1912, -14 and -15, their sons were born, however Hugh Alexander died shortly after he was born in 1914.
In 1923 Montgomery was the first Canadian woman to join the Royal Society of Arts in Britain. Amongst its members from the same time period we find Karl Marx, William Hogarth, Adam Smith and Samuel Johnson. In 1935 she became a member of the Literary and Artistic Institute of France and she was awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire. In 1943 Canada declared Lucy Maud Montgomery a person of national historic significance.
Despite all the glory she had enjoyed for many years, by the mid – 1930’s her professional and personal life was falling apart. Her books had lost their popularity. While she wrote “good” and “jolly” stories with happy endings, her personal life was nothing but. For many years she had been struggling with unhappiness. Her husband’s health was also problematic. In 1938 Montgomery suffered a nervous breakdown and took to pain medication to relieve physical ills. She died of a heart failure in Toronto in April 1942.
The book
“Anne of Green Gables” was published over a hundred years ago. These novels are still very popular. Probably because many girls still think and feel like Anne. Another reason might be that Anne is a very strong character in the book. I believe, it’s mainly a book for girls. It mostly deals with what girls think and do.
Over the years there have been films and television programmes about Anne. The first book, which I read, concentrates on her childhood after arriving in Avonlea and the farm “Green Gables”. The next 8 novels are about her being an adult with her own family. The book has a Victorian winkling, with its family values and how children were raised and so on.
It does not give us the reality of life, being a children’s book, it does not dwell much on suffering and death. Neither does it present any particular beliefs, like religion or politics nor does it deal with social issues. It is, what you can call, a “good” or “nice” book. Girls were expected to help out in the house, boys to help out, in this case, with the farm work outside, like the fields and in the barn etc. Correctly, as it is, for the time period.
The Cuthberts, William and Marilla, generally follow the rules for bringing up a child in many ways, but they are quite modern in some ways. I think Anne could speak more freely than most children and she got an education. Not many girls from this time period did. Of course, the answer to this might be the fact that, on “Green Gables”, there is only one child.
The novels about Anne have been re-discovered. For a long time they were forgotten. However, Sullivan Entertainment and Sullivan Movies have made the novels “big business”. On the Internet you can find many sites that have their origin in the books. These sites are not for free. You need a membership to be able to enter and of course, the Sullivan companies own the rights to them all.
Used in a classroom
The novel is perfect to work with in an English class in Primary school, in the 4th, 5th and 6th grade. The choice of words fit the English skills of children from the age of 9 till 12. At this point in their development they can relate to the story about Anne. To make it even better, there is a little glossary in one of the last pages in the book. After the glossary, you will find many activities for children:
From the simplest activities like:
- To recognize pictures from the book
- What you can find out about the novel by only reading the story introduction
on the first page and the back cover
And a little more difficult ones like:
- History quiz
- Recognize sentences from chapters
- Finish half sentences from the book
- Questions about the characters in the book
- Finish a letter, missing key words
- Word search
- Use imagination and write a little story about what happens, after the story
ends
By Iren Plastinina
Introduction
This is an informative paper about the children’s novel “Anne of Green Gables”. In my presentation I will give you some information about the author, and the book. In addition I will tell you whether this novel is suitable for an English class in Primary school.
The author
The Canadian author, Lucy Maud Montgomery, who lived between the years 1874 and 1942, wrote “Anne of Green Gables” during the first years of the twentieth century. Several times her novel was rejected by publishers. Montgomery, being discouraged, stored her work in an old hatbox until, in 1908, when she once again sent the novel to a publisher, and this time her book was accepted. By June the same year she held the first copy of “Anne of Green Gables” in her hand. Between 1909 and 1939 she wrote another 8 novels about Anne. She also wrote many other novels for children, mainly for girls. When she died in 1942 she had written almost 30 books, amongst them books of poetry and factual prose (faktabok), but first and foremost she was a writer of children’s literature.
Most of her work reflects that she was born under the Victorian period in literature. The author’s own childhood is used in the novels about Anne. They are not identical but there are many similarities. Her mother died when she was 2 years old and she went to stay with her maternal grandparents. “Green Gables”, the farm where Anne grew up with the Cuthberts, is almost a copy of her grandparents’ farm.
This farm is now a part of the Prince Edward’s Island Provincial Park, established in 1937. Lucy Montgomery took her teachers education in 1893 and she worked as a teacher till 1898. Then her grandfather died so she went home to live with her grandmother. It was when she stayed here she first started writing novels for children. She had been published earlier, in magazines, journals and newspapers, both short novels and poetry.
At the beginning of the twentieth century she also worked as a journalist in the Chronicle and Echo, two newspapers in Halifax, Canada. In July 1911 she married Presbyterian minister, Ewan Macdonald. In 1912, -14 and -15, their sons were born, however Hugh Alexander died shortly after he was born in 1914.
In 1923 Montgomery was the first Canadian woman to join the Royal Society of Arts in Britain. Amongst its members from the same time period we find Karl Marx, William Hogarth, Adam Smith and Samuel Johnson. In 1935 she became a member of the Literary and Artistic Institute of France and she was awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire. In 1943 Canada declared Lucy Maud Montgomery a person of national historic significance.
Despite all the glory she had enjoyed for many years, by the mid – 1930’s her professional and personal life was falling apart. Her books had lost their popularity. While she wrote “good” and “jolly” stories with happy endings, her personal life was nothing but. For many years she had been struggling with unhappiness. Her husband’s health was also problematic. In 1938 Montgomery suffered a nervous breakdown and took to pain medication to relieve physical ills. She died of a heart failure in Toronto in April 1942.
The book
“Anne of Green Gables” was published over a hundred years ago. These novels are still very popular. Probably because many girls still think and feel like Anne. Another reason might be that Anne is a very strong character in the book. I believe, it’s mainly a book for girls. It mostly deals with what girls think and do.
Over the years there have been films and television programmes about Anne. The first book, which I read, concentrates on her childhood after arriving in Avonlea and the farm “Green Gables”. The next 8 novels are about her being an adult with her own family. The book has a Victorian winkling, with its family values and how children were raised and so on.
It does not give us the reality of life, being a children’s book, it does not dwell much on suffering and death. Neither does it present any particular beliefs, like religion or politics nor does it deal with social issues. It is, what you can call, a “good” or “nice” book. Girls were expected to help out in the house, boys to help out, in this case, with the farm work outside, like the fields and in the barn etc. Correctly, as it is, for the time period.
The Cuthberts, William and Marilla, generally follow the rules for bringing up a child in many ways, but they are quite modern in some ways. I think Anne could speak more freely than most children and she got an education. Not many girls from this time period did. Of course, the answer to this might be the fact that, on “Green Gables”, there is only one child.
The novels about Anne have been re-discovered. For a long time they were forgotten. However, Sullivan Entertainment and Sullivan Movies have made the novels “big business”. On the Internet you can find many sites that have their origin in the books. These sites are not for free. You need a membership to be able to enter and of course, the Sullivan companies own the rights to them all.
Used in a classroom
The novel is perfect to work with in an English class in Primary school, in the 4th, 5th and 6th grade. The choice of words fit the English skills of children from the age of 9 till 12. At this point in their development they can relate to the story about Anne. To make it even better, there is a little glossary in one of the last pages in the book. After the glossary, you will find many activities for children:
From the simplest activities like:
- To recognize pictures from the book
- What you can find out about the novel by only reading the story introduction
on the first page and the back cover
And a little more difficult ones like:
- History quiz
- Recognize sentences from chapters
- Finish half sentences from the book
- Questions about the characters in the book
- Finish a letter, missing key words
- Word search
- Use imagination and write a little story about what happens, after the story
ends
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