1LLCE -The Island in British literature

From Paradise to Prison

The Island in British Literature

Start

1- Survival Island – Role Play Activity

Let the adventure begin

Instructions

Role cards

Conclusion

Key question for this chapter

Island survival vocabulary kit

Wrapping up

2 — The Island as a mirror or Laboratory of Human Nature

Warm-up – Survival Choices & Key Vocabulary

Bridge to literature

Different islands, different visions of human nature

Shakespeare, Thomas More, Daniel Defoe, William Golding, R.M Ballantyne, H.G Wells

Present

Correction

Groupwork

Lesson summary

Which Vision of Humanity Is the Most Convincing?

3- The Utopian Island

Anticipation

Let's discover one of the first imagined "perfect island"

Sir Thomas More, Utopia, 15164 extracts: Geography, Gardens, Equality, Justice

Read

Group Report

Answer key

Grammar focus

Second and Third conditional

Utopia < Greekou-topos (no place) eu-topos (good place)

Controlled practice

Observe

Now think!

Your task: designing a better world

Write 5–8 sentences imagining a better society. Use at least: 4 second conditional sentences 1 contrast (however / whereas / unlike Europe)

4- The Island as Fear, Mystery and the Uncanny

Lesson summary

Translation workshop

5- The Island as Colonial Space

Anticipation

Why should you read the Tempest by William Shakespeare

• Who controls the island? • Who claims ownership? • How is Caliban described? • What questions about justice are raised?

The Tempest, Act 1 scene 2

British "received pronunciation"

If language is power… can accent also be power?

Final project

Open me

Wrapping up

1. You cannot take with you more than 3 items. Which one do you take? Justify your choices using at least 5 key words from the Survival Toolkit 2. What are the things you would do first if you were stranded on a desert island? Rank your priorities (1-5) and explain your reasoning.

Observe

a. Underline the verbs in the if-clause AND the main clause b. Highlight the modal auxilary c. What do you notice about the verb forms? d. What kind of situations do these sentences describe?

A- If Utopia were part of the continent, it would be vulnerable to invasion.B- If European cities were organised like Utopia, poverty would disappear.C- If gold were not admired, people would not be obsessed with wealth. D- If everyone worked only six hours a day, society would function differently. E- If laws were simpler, justice would be more accessible. F- If crime were treated as a social failure, punishment would change.

In groups, classify these texts according to a logic of your choice. Be ready to justify it.

Let the adventure begin...

You were on a plane from London to a remote island. In the middle of the flight, the engines failed. The plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Everyone died. Everyone… except you and a small group of passengers. After hours of swimming, exhausted and terrified, you reach the shore of a beautiful island. At first, it feels like a miracle. There is fresh water. There are fruits. There is shelter. You believe you can survive. But after a few days, doubt begins to grow. Food is not as abundant as you thought. The weather is unpredictable. Tension rises within the group.Some begin to whisper that the island cannot sustain everyone. That survival may require sacrifice. That difficult choices must be made. After a long and painful debate, a terrible decision is reached: Not everyone can stay. One person must leave the island. You have received a role card. You must prepare a speech to convince the group that you are essential to their survival.Be persuasive.Be strategic.Your life depends on it.

Reflect on the experiment

1. What happened? Who took the lead? Did someone naturally become more powerful? Who was sacrificed? Why? Did anyone change alliances? Did someone lie? Did emotions influence decisions? 2. Social dynamics: Did you choose based on usefulness or morality? Was the weakest automatically in danger? Did physical strength matter more than intelligence? Did you vote democratically or did someone impose authority? Did fear influence your choices? Did anyone feel excluded? 3. What does this experiment reveal about human nature? Instinct, Power, Morality, Cooperation, Self interest , Leadership, Justice, Survival

A. Social Dynamics• leadership • authority • hierarchy• power structure • dominance • influence • obedience • rebellion • alliance • exclusion • scapegoat • majority vote

B. Human Nature• instinct • self-preservation • selfishness • altruism • cooperation • solidarity • moral dilemma • survival instinct • manipulation • empathy • rational decision-making

C. Moral Vocabulary • fairness • justice • sacrifice • responsibility • ethical choice • greater good • moral conflict • utilitarianism • collective interest

D. Conceptual Language Human nature may be… • inherently good • inherently violent • socially constructed • fragile • shaped by power • dependent on institutions The island becomes… • a mirror of society • a laboratory of human behaviour • a space of moral testin

Survival Island – Role Play Activity

🗣️ Round 1 – Convince the group

🎭 Your role

⚖️ Round 2 – The sacrifice

⏱️ 5 minutes preparation • Secretly choose one person to sacrifice • Write a few reasons why this person is not essential 🗣️ Debate • Explain your choice to the group • If someone chooses YOU, you may defend yourself 🗳️ Final vote • Count the votes • One person is sacrificed.

• ⏱️ 10–15 minutes preparation • Prepare bullet points only (no full sentences) • Think about: • your skills • how you help the group survive 🎤 Speaking time • Each student speaks in turn • Listen carefully to the others

• You will receive a role card (your character). • Invent: • a name • a short background story • extra skills if you want • Your goal: 👉 Convince the group that you are ESSENTIAL to survival.

💡 Remember

There is no “right” answer. This activity is about: • persuasion • values • power •survival choices

- What makes a place perfect?- What would a perfect society look like?- Can perfection really exist?- Do you think perfection is natural… or organised?

Pay particular attention to the pronunciation of the sounds underlined in bold in your extract.

- <r> in: mother Water burn first art honor more curse power - <o> in: not, rock, honor, lodged, - <t>: water - long vowels in: first, burn, hard, taught, more, curse, art - diphthong in: showed, own, toads, known - intonation (falling? rising?)

🧪 Laboratory: The Island Allows Humans to Be Transformed or Reconstructed

⚖️ The Island Changes Social Roles and Power Structures⚖️

🪞Mirror: The Island Reveals What Humans Truly Are

Power shifts, authority is challenged, hierarchy is questioned.

Humanity is physically and morally altered.

Humans are naturally violent and instinct-driven.

Humans are naturally cooperative and moral.

Humans are rational and capable of organising the world.

Society is redesigned to improve humanity.

Synthesis

Utopia - reading activity

Step 1 – Read Carefully Each group receives one extract from Utopia. 👉 Read your extract together. 👉 Make sure everyone understands the general meaning Step 2 – Global Comprehension (Lexical Strategy) Follow the highlighting instructions given on your sheet. Step 3 – Detailed Comprehension Complete your analysis table: • Use precise quotations. • Move from description to interpretation. • Answer the guiding questions together. ⚠ You are now the “experts” of this dimension of Utopia.

Step 4 – Share Your Findings Each group presents: 1. How this dimension of Utopia is organised. 2. What it rejects (in European society). 3. What vision of human nature it suggests. Other students: 👉 Take notes. 👉 Complete your global synthesis table.

You are a professional literary translator. A publishing house has asked you to work on a new French translation of Peter Pan.

I don’t want to go to school and learn solemn things,” he told her passionately. “I don’t want to be a man. O Wendy’s mother, if I was to wake up and feel there was a beard!” “Peter,” said Wendy the comforter, “I should love you in a beard;” and Mrs. Darling stretched out her arms to him, but he repulsed her. “Keep back, lady, no one is going to catch me and make me a man.” “But where are you going to live?” “With Tink in the house we built for Wendy. The fairies are to put it high up among the tree tops where they sleep at nights.” “How lovely,” cried Wendy so longingly that Mrs. Darling tightened her grip. “I thought all the fairies were dead,” Mrs. Darling said. “There are always a lot of young ones,” explained Wendy, who was now quite an authority, “because you see when a new baby laughs for the first time a new fairy is born, and as there are always new babies there are always new fairies. They live in nests on the tops of trees; and the mauve ones are boys and the white ones are girls, and the blue ones are just little sillies who are not sure what they are.” “I shall have such fun,” said Peter, with eye on Wendy.

J.M Barrie, Peter Pan and Wendy, 1904

Present your organisation of the texts. Explain your logic, your criteria and your categories. Be ready to justify your choices.

Lesson Summary

1°) The Island as a Space of Suspension

2°) The Island as a Space of Otherness

3°)The Island as a Psychological Space

• The island is cut off from the mainland. • It follows different rules. • It creates a separate community. • It may feel primitive, ritualistic, archaic. ➡ The island becomes “the Other”.

On the island: • Normal rules are suspended. • Social structures collapse. • Adult authority disappears. • Violence becomes possible. ➡ The island removes civilisation.

• Fear is amplified. • Inner violence emerges. • Childhood becomes dark. • Identity becomes unstable. • Collective hysteria ➡ The island reveals what civilisation hides.

Create Your Own Literary Island

Create an island that reflects a specific vision of human nature. Position your island on the axis studied in class. Justify your choices using at least two texts from the sequence.

Format:You may present your island in one of the following forms:• A detailed map • A visual poster • An illustrated concept board • An AI-generated image with explanation

Your island must include: • A clear social organisation • A political system (or absence of one) • A structure of power and leadership • Rules (or the deliberate absence of rules) • A reflection on how individuals behave on your island

Positioning: You must position your island on the axis studied in class: Does your island reveal human nature… or transform it?Literary Justification: Your project must include references to at least two texts studied in class. Explain: • How your island is inspired by them • How it differs from them • What vision of humanity you agree or disagree with

Key question

for this chapter?

Based on this experiment, what central question about human nature and society could British writers explore through the motif of the island?

Collaborative key question(s) (=problématiques) =>

Choose the vision of humanity you find the most convincing and be ready to report.

Clear statement → We believe humanity is… Justification → This vision is convincing because… Textual support → In [novel], we can see that… Counterpoint → However, some may argue that…

Reflect

British writers have explored "the island" for centuries. Why do you think the island is such a powerful setting?

Lesson Summary

Is the island a mirror of humanity... or a laboratory of transformation?

Answer key - Utopia - Thomas More

What do these islands reveal?

What happens to normal society once characters arrive on the island? ➡ Authority collapses? ➡ New power structures appear? ➡ Hidden violence emerges? How is the island presented as different from the mainland? ➡ Separate rules? ➡ Isolated community? ➡ Rituals / magic / superstition? Is the island a place of freedom… or a space of domination? ➡Freedom (...........) ➡Violence (............) ➡Religious power (............) ➡ Psychological control (............) Does the island transform human beings… or reveal what was already inside them?

Language, power and domination

Imagine you arrive on an island. You teach the inhabitants your language. You organise society. Are you helping… or controlling?

Close Reading:

Language, Power and Domination

Read the extract carefully. Highlight: • Words showing moral superiority • Words showing dehumanisation • Words linked to language and civilisation • Words showing resistance and ownership

Prospero’s logic:

I taught you language. I showed you kindness. You are savage. Therefore, I control you. 👉 Is this education… or justification for domination?

Caliban's answer:

“This island’s mine.” “You took it from me.” “You taught me language… and I use it to curse.” ➡ Who is the invader? ➡ Who owns the island? ➡ Who defines civilisation?

From fiction to history

Who is at the centre of the image? Who is placed lower? How is Britain represented? Does this image reflect Prospero’s logic? Prospero says: • I civilised you. • I taught you language. • You are savage. • Therefore I rule. Does Britannia suggest the same? “This island’s mine.” => Who would say this in the image? (Caliban ? Prospero ? Britannia ?)