SECRETS OF THE OCEAN OF N. GAIMAN (A LESSON BASED ON THE NOVEL «THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE»)

Abstract

The lesson is devoted to understanding the problems of modern fantasy — the novel by N. Gaimann «The Ocean at the End of the Lane». The lesson focuses on the study of the foundations of myth creation by N. Gaimann and his moral philosophy, which pivots around the memory as a sine qua non of existence of mankind. The understanding of the whole specter of the problems in the novel (multidimensionality of the world, personal responsibility for all that happens, memory and its absence) is effected via the analysis of the spatial structure of the novel (the images of the Home, Farm, Strange Place, Ocean). The triad Memory — Heart — Name functions as a concept significant for the artistic literary philosophy of N. Gaimann, interpreted by him as a complex relationship between the person’s individuality, the realm of their spiritual self, and their memory. The creation of the graphical chart of the novel by the children becomes an additional structural element of the lesson, which is motivated by the specificity of perception of literary texts by contemporary teenagers. The organization of the lesson combines frontal work on the key episodes of the novel with the activity of the focus group — the pupils who have previously read the novel.

Keywords

• fantasy
• literature lessons
• the topic of memory
• children’s literature
• novels
• methods of teaching literature at school
• english literature
• english writers