Miss Brill

• Engels
• Further Education (Key Stage 5)

Goals for today 

Considering some techniques that Mansfield uses 

Considering Modernism as a movement 

Looking closely at the character of Miss Brill 

Looking at some vignettes in "At the Bay" 

What are the main
features or conventions
of a short story?

Feedback and feedforward 

1. Read your work again 
   
2. Read your feedback 
   
3. Consider some ideas and annotations 
   
4. Complete the form in MB class feed 
   
5. Receive your grade 
   

New genre - short story 

What are the main features/ conventions of short stories?

What does the information linked in MB class stream state about these areas:  

• Plot
  
• Characters
  
• Setting
  
• Conflict
  
• Theme
  
• Freytag’s Pyramid
  

Narrative perspective 

What is told?

Who is telling it?

How is it being told?

Perspective impacts the effect the story has on the audience

Authors can choose to reveal as much or as little as they want through their use of Narrative Perspective

First Person (“I”, character as narrator)

Third Person – Limited & Omniscient

What are the pros and cons of each? Talk to your neighbour 

What do you know or
associate with the
term modernism?

www.tate.org.uk

Modernism in literature 

Modernist literature developed out of a sense that the art forms of the late 19th Century were inadequate to describe the condition in Europe after WWI 

Modernism is a rejection of Realism 

Realism: science will save the world; notion of science and social determinism is idealised.

Modernism: science explains everything, which makes the idea of God useless. Preoccupation with the meaning and purpose of existence (existentialism). In search of new values.

Modernism is a rejection of tradition; a hostile attitude toward the past. 

Goals for today 

Modernism and Mansfield's concerns background information Time & Space 

Free indirect discourse and stream of consciousness 

The concepts of this short story 

"Miss Brill"  

Rate the word 1 to 4

1. I do not know the word, and I have never seen it before. 

2. I've heard or seen the word before, but I'm not sure what it means. 

3. I know the word and can recognise and understand it while reading, but I probably wouldn't feel comfortable using it in writing or speech. 

4. I know the word well and can use it correctly in writing or speech. 

Soliloquy 

Word of the day

Soliloquy (n) - a speech in a play that the character speaks to himself or herself or to the people watching rather than to the other characters:

What is the difference between a soliloquy and a monologue? 

Hamlet's soliloquy starts "To be or not to be".

A monologue (other characters are present) is a long speech by one character, while a soliloquy is a specific type of monologue where a character speaks their private thoughts aloud while alone on stage. 

Modernism in literature contd.

Literature produced between the end of WWI and beginning of WWII 

Response to destruction and disruption caused by WWI: Which is why modernist literature and art is confusing and may not make sense at first read or view. 

Features of modernist literature 

• Nonlinearity of plot or sequence 
  
• Irony and satire: critique of society 
  
• Distinctive Voices for characters and the idea of stream of consciousness 
  
• Focus on the individual; on inner strength 
  

Mansfield as a modernist writer 

• Focus on the Individual and specific moments of experience and/ or insight. 
  
• Use of stream of consciousness to explore individual experience of gender and class.
  
• Use of epiphany to convey a pivotal insight or revelation for a character.
  
• Subverts the traditional short story format. Her plots do not always come to a clear resolution: leaves the reader thinking. 
  

Focus on the individual 

• Liked to explore a character's interior life rather than focussing on an elaborate plot in her stories. 
  
• Different from mainstream Victorian narratives that tended to provide an authoritative & sweeping portrait of a society. 
  
• She was interested in exploring the alienation or estrangement of a character from her known world – Autobiographical influences. 
  

Conflicts in stories

Two types - internal and external 

Read the short story "Miss Brill"&nbsp;<div>Write down what conflicts are addressed in this short story. pg 110 - 114</div>

How does this image relate to your reading?

What connotations do you have to this object?  

"Miss Brill"  

Miss Brill:

• Unmarried; Spinster
  
• Connotations?
  
• Brill: a kind of flat fish
  
• “Fried Whiting”
  
• Beige, brown: lacking excitement, perhaps? 
  

"Miss Brill"  

Consider the quotation given to you. 

Write a short paragraph response considering how your extract aids in the characterisation of Miss Brill and assessing any authorial choices made. 

What concepts or topics
do you think are addressed
in this short story?

"Miss Brill"  

Loneliness 

Human connection 

Alienation 

Youth 

Old Age 

Social invisibility 

Appearance vs reality 

 

Goals for today 

Revisiting your quotes and sharing findings 

Introduction to Free indirect discourse 

Mansfield's 'go to' stylistic choices - are they in this story? 

"The Garden Party" symbols and key passages. 

Rate the word 1 to 4

1. I do not know the word, and I have never seen it before. 

2. I've heard or seen the word before, but I'm not sure what it means. 

3. I know the word and can recognise and understand it while reading, but I probably wouldn't feel comfortable using it in writing or speech. 

4. I know the word well and can use it correctly in writing or speech. 

Colloquial&nbsp;

Word of the day

Soliloquy (n) - a speech in a play that the character speaks to himself or herself or to the people watching rather than to the other characters:

What is the difference between a soliloquy and a monologue? 

Hamlet's soliloquy starts "To be or not to be".

Are these authorial choices seen in "Miss Brill"? 

Find some evidence 

• Most stories reflect the point of view of women: many who feel isolated from mainstream society. 
  
• Mostly uses third-person narrative style along with stream of consciousness and free indirect discourse, which allows her to present a character's perspective effectively. 
  
• Use of epiphany: many of her stories feature a character who has a dramatic insight, which marks a shift in their developmental arc. 
  
• Use of vivid, detailed imagery & symbolism 
  
• Her characters usually find it hard to clearly articulate their experience: there is a gap between experience and language. 
  

Analysis and comprehension questions "Miss Brill" 

In MB files, download the analysis and comprehension questions. 

Complete in your class notebook. 

Read "The Daughters of the Late Colonel" for Tuesday 15th September. 

Are these authorial choices seen in "Miss Brill"? 

Find some evidence 

1. They did not speak. This was disappointing, for Miss Brill always looked forward to the conversation. She had become really quite expert, she thought, at listening as though she didn’t listen, at sitting in other people’s lives just for a minute while they talked round her.

Common themes and topics  

• Entitlement of the wealthy
  
• Divisions of social classes; the gap between rich and poor; class consciousness
  
• Marginalization of people by society
  
• Coming of age
  
• Alienation and self-deception (Appearance vs. Reality)
  
• The patriarchy and male entitlement; marriage and unhappy marriages
  
• Female sexuality (in society and in social norms)
  

Goals for today 

10th March collapsed timetable 

Ideas for presentation construction 

Example activity for class engagement - and complete activity 

Reading introduction and short stories 

1. The content of the short story is summarised.

2. A Global Issue is identified for the assigned short story

3. A key passage from the short story is chosen of no more than 30 lines

4. The extract is shared with the class

5. The textual features of the extract are taught to the class

6. During the teaching, at least one textual feature is communicated through an interactive activity whereby the class engage with the extract to discover a textual feature and consider how this links to the global issue. (https://pz.harvard.edu/thinking-routines)

7. The importance of this short story for the work as a whole is identified (the collection of short stories)

8. The extract is linked to other short stories or events in the assigned short story that display the Global Issue and this relationship is discussed.

9. The theme of this short story is presented.

10. The presentation is concluded

"Miss Brill" 

AI generated images 

"Miss Brill" 

AI generated images 

Global issue 

The social isolation and marginalisation of the elderly within modern society.

Extract 

...And Miss Brill ... p. 113

to 

heard something crying" p. 114 

Techniques 

Symbolism 

Contrast and Juxtaposition

Dialogue

Imagery and Sensory Detail

Setting

Dramatic Irony 

Motif of performance 

Imagery and Sensory Detail

"honey cake" 

"crying" 

"singing" 

"fried whiting" 

"almond" 

Sweetness of inner life and hope vs 

Social opinion "fried whiting" 

The social isolation and marginalisation of the elderly within modern society.

Common themes and topics  

• Entitlement of the wealthy
  
• Divisions of social classes; the gap between rich and poor; class consciousness
  
• Marginalization of people by society
  
• Coming of age
  
• Alienation and self-deception (Appearance vs. Reality)
  
• The patriarchy and male entitlement; marriage and unhappy marriages
  
• Female sexuality (in society and in social norms)
  

Free Indirect Discourse 

Group A 

"On her way home ... dashing way." 

"Just at that moment ...prepared to listen"

objective third-person narration only

- Describe actions only.

- No internal commentary.

- No emotional colouring.

- Make it sound like a factual report."

Group B

"On her way home ... dashing way." 

"Just at that moment ...prepared to listen"

Miss Brill’s internal perspective add more:

- her interpretations

- emotional reactions

- imaginative embellishments 

- her longing to belong

Share your rewritten versions 

1. Which version feels colder?
   
2. Which version feels more connected to Miss Brill’s emotions?
   
3. Which reveals isolation more clearly and why?
   

Mansfield uses free indirect discourse to show how Miss Brill constructs an inner world of belonging to protect herself from social exclusion.

" The Daughters of the Late Colonel" 

"Sunday after Sunday, and - Miss Brill had often noticed - there was something funny about nearly all of them. They were odd, silent nearly all old, and from dark little rooms or even - even cupboards!" p. 111

Common themes and topics  

• Entitlement of the wealthy
  
• Divisions of social classes; the gap between rich and poor; class consciousness
  
• Marginalisation of people by society
  
• Coming of age
  
• Alienation and self-deception (Appearance vs. Reality)
  
• The patriarchy and male entitlement; marriage and unhappy marriages
  
• Female sexuality (in society and in social norms)
  

Possible themes 

Expose how aging women are socially sidelined and rendered invisible.

Reveal the psychological harm caused by casual cruelty and exclusion.

Highlight the fragility of identity when society refuses to acknowledge someone’s humanity.

Demonstrate how marginalisation forces individuals to retreat into inner worlds and rituals.

Introduction 

1. If you have not already read it, read the introduction to our short story collection and take any relevant notes. 

2. Make sure you have read the short stories that wil be presented next week. You can see in MB when each one will be taught in class.