Teaching A Room with a View

Instructions for You

Objective: Today we're turning into tourist guide publishers. Or, your students are. For this activity they will create a Baedeker entry just like the one Lucy has in A Room With a View. They'll be focusing on the following three sites:

• Santa Croce
• Fiesole (in the countryside)
• A museum of their choosing

So we know that the Baedeker isn't really Miss Lavish's bag, but Lucy has a bit more common sense and knows that she don't know everything. Because these sites are important to the trip that defines Lucy's future, we thought it only appropriate to have students take a closer look at them.

This assignment is going to take some time and energy, and we don't recommend sitting down and making your students accomplish everything the first go round. We guestimate that you'll need a good two hours to have them do this one right—be sure to set aside some time in the computer lab, too.

Materials Needed: Copies of A Room With a View; a computer with Internet access and word processing, and this link.

Step 1: Since your class will be making Baedeker's, they should probably take a look at one. Here's a link you can share with them.

After they've had a few minutes to skim the book, ask your students the following questions:

• What do you notice right off the bat?
• What do you like about this book?
• What do you dislike about it?
• How could this book be improved (they'll be expected to make these improvements)?
• What kind of information can you find in this book?
• When there is an entry, how detailed is the information provided?

Step 2: Now that you have these basics hammered out, let your students know that they'll be making their own Baedeker entries, concentrating on the following:

• Santa Croce
• Fiesole 
• A museum of the student's choosing (they get to research this)

Set them up with computers and tell them to get cracking, first by reading up on Santa Croce and Fiesole (via the wonders of Google), and then by checking out this link and choosing one museum from the list.

As they go along, they should write down any pertinent information they find. Remind them to think back (or look back) to how the original Baedeker was structured. What information would the Baedeker folks include about these sites?

Students must remember to keep track of their sources in this step. We're reminding them, too, but you might want to give them an extra reminder.

Step 3: Task your students with finding one appropriate picture for each entry. Remind them that they need to cite the pics, too.

Step 4: Now it's time to pull it all together. Have your students make like Baedeker and create their travel guide. Here's where they can have a little fun (not too much, though, lest they shock someone from the novel).

This is the basic format they need to follow:

• Title of the attraction
• Brief description of the attraction itself
• Brief history of the attraction 
• Brief description of what a body can do there
• Picture

The biggie is to have them really harness the tone of the Baedeker and use information from the web to create Lucy's guide.

Step 5: Give your students time to look over their work and make sure things sound and look good before turning it in. Then they are free to go bathe in a lake that will shrink by tomorrow.

Instructions for Your Students

Objective: Feeling befuddled by the Baedeker? No fear, by the end of this activity you'll be a Baedeker champion. You're going to work on entries for your own little travel guide using Santa Croce and Fiesole and a museum of your choosing. You'll use the power of the Internet to create this highly accurate guide, improving on the original with your modern sensibilities.

Let's get going.

Step 1: Since you'll be making your own Baedeker's, you should probably take a look at one. Here's a link.

Pretty stuffy, eh? Take a few minutes to skim the book and then do your best to answer some of the following questions during class discussion:

• What do you notice right off the bat?
• What do you like about this book?
• What do you dislike about it?
• How could this book be improved (you'll be expected to make these improvements)?
• What kind of information can you find in this book?
• When there is an entry, how detailed is the information provided?

Step 2: Now that you've taken a peek at the infamous Baedeker, you should have some idea of what you'll be doing. You'll concentrate on building our own entries about the following:

• Santa Croce
• Fiesole 
• A museum of your choosing

Do a Google search for Santa Croce and Fiesole, taking notes about what you want to include in your entries. If you're feeling confused about what to write about, think back to the information from the original Baedeker. What types of things does that guide cover? Then get back to it.

Once you're done researching your first two entries, check out this link and choose one museum from its list.

Jot down some notes that you'll want to use in this entry as well, always keeping the original Baedeker in mind.

Warning: You must remember to keep track of your sources in this step.

Step 3: Take a little time to find pictures for each entry. You only need one, but as with your written content, it's imperative that you cite each image. It's the best way to keep out of the murky Cesspool o' Plagiarism.

Step 4: Now pull it all together, making like Baedeker and creating your travel guide. Here's where you can have a little fun (not too much though, lest you shock someone from the novel).

This is the basic format to follow:

• Title of the attraction
• Brief description of the attraction itself
• Brief history of the attraction 
• Brief description of what a body can do there
• Add a picture

The biggie is to really harness the tone of the Baedeker and use information from the web to recreate Lucy's guide.

Step 5: Look over your work and make sure things sound and look good before turning it in. Then you are free to bathe in a lake that will shrink by tomorrow if you really want to.