Teacher-Student Relationship in “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” ا ا و ا
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Teacher-Student Relationship in “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” ا ا و ا روا " ا ودي" Prepared by: Najeh Isa Abuzahra The Supervisor Dr. Fatima Jafar A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment for the Degree of Master of Arts in English Language and Literature Department of English Language and Literature Faculty of Arts and Science Middle East University Amman – Jordan 2012 II III IV Acknowledgement I am grateful to Almighty Allah for his bounty that helped me complete this work. I would like to express my sincere gratitude and deep appreciation to my supervisor Dr. Fatima Ja’afar for her encouragement, generous support and valuable suggestions, which made this thesis appear in its final form. I am deeply indebted to her and have enjoyed working with her. I placed on record, my deep thanks to the head and staff of the Department of English Language and Literature at Middle East University for Graduate Studies for their help and cooperation. Special thanks are extended to committee members for their useful help. I also thank my friends for their continuous encouragement and support. And also to those, who directly or indirectly, have lent their helping hand in this venture, specially my students. V Dedication I dedicate this work to my great parents and siblings. To my courteous wife, my cute son “ Moody ” and sweet daughter “ soso” for they have awaited me counting days and nights. VI Table of Contents Title Page Authorization ……………..………………………… ii Thesis Decision ……………………………………. iii Acknowledgement ……………………………………. iv Dedication ……………………………………. v Table of Contents …………………………………….. vi Abstract …………………………………….. viii Chapter One. Introduction …………………………………… 1 Background ……………………………………….. 2 Statement of the Problem ……….…………..…………………… 3 Questions of the Study ………...……………………………… 4 Objectives of the Study ………...……………………………… 4 Significance of the Study ……………………………………….... 5 Definition of Literary Terms ………………………………… 5 Chapter Two. Review of Literature ………………..……………….. 6 Literature about the Novel ……………………..…………. 6 VII Literature about the Teacher Student Relationship …………………... 8 Chapter three Methodology ………..………..………………... 14 The Method ………....……..……………………….. 14 Sample of the Study ………………….……………………… 14 Instrument of the Study …………….………………….… 15 Procedures of the Study ……..………….……………….. 18 Chapter Four Findings and Discussion …..…..……………..…….... 19 Answers to the Questions ………………………………… 45 Chapter Five Conclusions and Recommendations ………………… 47 The Recommendations ………………………………….. 50 References ……………………………………. 52 VIII Abstract This study aims at investigating the teacher-student relationship inside and outside the school, in this particular novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie . Because of the big importance of the teacher’s influence on the students Spark has pointed to this universal and everlasting educational problem. The teacher is the milestone in the class. This novel was studied through examining some situations from it and comparing them to an educational model developed for this study. These situations were applied to the model, to find out whether or not Miss Brodie matches its fundamentals. It was found that Miss Brodie has broken the boundaries. The investigation and the evaluation of the situations finally answered the following three questions: 1) To what extent did Miss Jean Brodie keep the boundaries in her relationship with her students? Miss Jean Brodie did not keep the boundaries between herself and her students . 2) What are the influences of Miss Brodie on her students? There were many influences of Miss Brodie on her students: positive and negative influences. IX 3) What are the positive and the negative consequences for her actions? There were many positive and negative consequences to Miss Jean Brodie’s actions and behaviors, an example of the positive ones: Miss Brodie followed a pretty good practical technique and referring to nature education. On the other hand the negatives, presenting one significant example: Miss Brodie has failed to prepare her students to be beneficial members in their society. Finally, the study asserted that the teacher should keep the boundaries between him/her and the students, and must accomplish the expected goal from him/her during the set time, to keep their respect toward him/her as a good model. The family and the school have their responsibilities, they have to fulfill throughout the continuous observation and control during this educational process. Key Word: Teacher-Student Relationship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hapter One Introduction Novels tell stories, which are typically defined as a series of events described in a sequence. The novel has been a part of human culture for over a thousand years, although its origins are somewhat debated. Regardless of how it began, the novel has risen to prominence and remained one of the most popular and treasured examples of human culture and writing. The novel has its elements, just like any other genre of literature. These elements build it up, and make its significance, its main elements are; plot, characters, dialogue, time and place of action, style and a stated or implied philosophy of life (Hudson, 2006: 131). The novel is best known for depicting life, so that it must shed light on a certain issue in life (Devasia and Tharu, 2005), and presenting real or fictive people to an idealized royalty in a less realistic way (Upham, 2000). Every novelist has his/ her own concerns, and so the novels vary and may be beneficial for the society. Some novelists care for nature and saving it, others religion and spiritual aspects, while others are concerned with the educational side. The novel of the present study is one of those which are about the educational aspects; it is about a teacher’s relationship with her students. It was written by Muriel Spark. 2 1.1. Background of the novel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and the novelist Muriel Spark. Dame Muriel Spark, in full Muriel Sarah Spark, was born in 1918 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and died on April 13 th 2006 in Florence, Italy. Spark is a British writer best known for the satire and wit with which the serious themes of her novels are presented. Critic Page, (1990) has mentioned in his Macmillan Modern Novelists: Muriel Spark that Spark was educated in Edinburgh and later spent some years in Central Africa; the latter served as the setting for her first volume of short stories, The Go-Away Bird and Other Stories (1958). She returned to Great Britain during World War II and worked for the Foreign Office, writing propaganda. She then served as General Secretary of the Poetry Society and editor of The Poetry Review (1947–49). She later published a series of critical biographies of literary figures and editions of 19th-century letters, including Child of Light: A Reassessment of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1951), John Masefield (1953), and The Brontë Letters (1954). Spark converted to Roman Catholicism in 1954, a move that had significant influence on her novels. Before 1957 Spark published only criticism and poetry (Page, 1990) Her first novel The Comforters saw light in 1957, in which she “ … wrote a novel to work out the technique first, to sort of make it all right with” herself “to write a novel at all. …”, as she stated in an interview quoted in Macmillan Modern Novelists: Muriel Spark ( 1990: 10). After this novel came Robinson (1958), Memento Mori (1959), The Ballad of Peckham Rey (1960), The Bachelors (1960), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), and The Girls of Slender Means (1963). All these novels were written in the early period (Page, 1990) 3 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is known as her masterpiece. Some critics assume that it refers to her own life, part of her life, whereas others do not. This novel is the work intended to be studied in this thesis. It deals with more than one topic; it mirrors the environment, it somehow documents a period of time. This novel could be read by teachers, most often, perhaps teachers of girls. What is important is that it contains an important educational topic worth studying in detail. It represents historical, artistic, touristic, sexual and educational information. Miss Jean Brodie is a teacher in a girls school, she has a group of girls; Brodie Set, and dominates them and their lives emotionally and psychologically. Miss Jean Brodie is a single woman who lost her beloved in World War I, and lives alone. She traveled many times, so she has wide knowledge. As a teacher at a girl’s school, she neglects the standard curriculum, claiming that she is following the “lead out” style in teaching, and feeds the girls’ heads with information on emotional, social, political, and ideological interests of her own. One of her students commits suicide, another is involved in a sexual relationship with her teacher whereas another one spies on them. This spy (Sandy), the antagonist of Miss Brodie, is the one who betrays