British Women of the World Wars

Introduction

As you all know, we are approaching the end of our first unit in our Senior Seminar classroom. This unit is titled "British Women of the World Wars" and deals directly with the exchanging of gender roles between men and women at the turn of the 20th century (thanks to World War I and World War II). We have read the following novels written by three different 20th century British women authors:

Rebecca West: “The Return of the Soldier” (1918)

Penelope Lively: "Moon Tiger" (1987)

Pat Barker: "Regeneration" (1991)

Task

After our class discussion during the first week of class concerning the differences between "sex" and "gender," think of these biological and sociological traits and differences. You will research the historiography of post war gender roles and write a five page essay in which you make a connection through all three of our novels about the changing roles of men and women in society.

Process

1. Please use the links below to learn about the changing of gender roles in the U.S. and Britain after World War I and World War II:

2. After reading the above websites, think about how the characters in all three novels are coping with their new roles in society post war.

3. Write a five page essay including an MLA outline and Works Cited page in which you address the following:

How are the "traditional" gender roles of the characters in these texts changing?
How can you take this idea of changing gender roles and apply it to our 21st century viewpoint?
Can you find a connection between soldiers coming home after the world wars, and soldiers coming home from Afghanistan during the 21st century

Evaluation

Rubric for Changing Gender Roles Essay

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Organization	Information is very organized with well-constructed paragraphs and subheadings.	Information is organized with well-constructed paragraphs.	Information is organized, but paragraphs are not well-constructed.	The information appears to be disorganized
Mechanics	No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.	Almost no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors	A few grammatical spelling, or punctuation errors.	Many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors
Paragraph Construction	All paragraphs include introductory sentence, explanations or details, and concluding sentence.	Most paragraphs include introductory sentence, explanations or details, and concluding sentence.	Paragraphs included related information but were typically not constructed well.	Paragraphing structure was not clear and sentences were not typically related within the paragraphs.
Internet Use	Successfully uses suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Usually able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Occasionally able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Needs assistance or supervision to use suggested internet links and/or to navigate within these sites.
Quality of Information	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. No details and/or examples are given.	Information has little or nothing to do with the main topic

Conclusion

I hope that you've enjoyed this unit as much as I have! This unit has helped us to critically think about the roles that we accept and assign ourselves in society. By examining these women authors whom have lived through these groundbreaking changes and noting the shift in what was considered "normal" just one hundred years ago, it is interesting to think about what will be considered "normal" one hundred years from today!

Feel free to check out the biographies of the British women authors of the novels we explored for this unit in the following links:

Pat Barker: http://literature.britishcouncil.org/pat-barker
Penelope Ivy: http://literature.britishcouncil.org/penelope-lively
Rebecca West: http://www.rebeccawestsociety.com/about-us/aboutrebecca.html

Credits

Websites used for this WebQuest:

Pat Barker: http://literature.britishcouncil.org/pat-barker
Penelope Ivy: http://literature.britishcouncil.org/penelope-lively
Rebecca West: http://www.rebeccawestsociety.com/about-us/aboutrebecca.html

Teacher Page

This WebQuest is used to address the following 12th Grade CA Common Core Language Arts Standards:

3.0 Literary Response and Analysis

Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature that reflect and enhance their studies of history and social science. They conduct in-depth analyses of recurrent themes. The selections in Recommended Literature, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve illustrate the quality and complexity of the materials to be read by students.

1.0 Writing Strategies

Students write coherent and focused texts that convey a well-defined perspective
and tightly reasoned argument. The writing demonstrates students’ awareness of the
audience and purpose and progression through the stages of the writing process.

2.0 Writing Applications (Genres and Their Characteristics)

Students combine the rhetorical strategies of narration, exposition, persuasion, and
description to produce texts of at least 1,500 words each. Student writing demonstrates
a command of standard American English and the research, organizational, and drafting
strategies outlined in Writing Standard 1.0.