The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes

Grade 9 are studying The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes. A great read first published in 1914, which Hitchcock used as the basis for his first film in 1926. I have been sitting in again to observe, as the class work in pairs to learn about the processes of representation in the novel, in particular the symbols, images and motifs in the story. The students have been supported in their learning by the teacher who has given them questions to reflect upon, after they have identified the essential elements of the novel. By working in pairs, the students also support each other in their own understandings of the novel. The students, I am sure, take great pleasure in discovering examples of the different motifs that the teacher had not included in the framework that she gave them. The teacher also ensures throughout the lessons that indeed the groups are discussing the novel together, and not reading independently of one another. The questions mentioned earlier, all allow the students to make connections and show their understanding between what they have read, and the motifs in the novel.

In discussion with the teacher, as the provocation to introducing the novel, and building on the student's prior knowledge, she had the students delve into the culture of London as it was at the time of the setting of the novel - in the late 1800's. Students researched such topics as transport, sport, fashion, technology, lifestyle, music, politics, gender relationships, work in order to have a feel for the novel, and an understanding before they started reading the novel itself. Students had to submit a graphic organiser and shared their work with the teacher through using Google docs.

Lessons that followed have the students (working in different pair groups) spread out in the hall, with poster paper, rules, textas, in order to transfer their knowledge on to graphic organisers (format determined among themselves e.g. format/what happened), including incorporating quotes from the text to support their choice of language features and structures of the novel. The teacher observed that this particular activity has taken longer than she expected.

Dates: October 24, 25, 27

The Lodger: a story of the london fog

I have sat through half of the silent movie by Hitchcock, of The Lodger (his first film) which I came across on the Internet Archive. I should have read the comment, that told me the movie was incomplete. However, what I did see allowed me to reflect on the similarities and differences between the novel and the film. What struck me was how powerful music and symbolism is to achieve the drama and menace of the film. My preference is still for the novel. Film never seems to live up to the original book, as it is only one person's perspective versus the reader's perspective. For me, Hitchcock emphasized the romantic element too much and Mrs Bunting was nowhere near the character of the book...too much smiling!  It will be interesting to see if grade 9 students can sit through the entire movie with no text, or whether they will be squirming in their seats.