Smith, Charlotte

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Tools for creating a Learning Culture
enlightening concepts about leadership
The Fifth Discipline
A follow up to the legend
A second dose of Inspiration...

The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook
Peter M. Senge , Art Kleiner , Charlotte Roberts , Rick Ross , and Bryan Smith
Manufacturer: Currency
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Binding: Paperback

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The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization
The Fifth Discipline
The Dance of Change: The Challenges to Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations
Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society
Schools That Learn: A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares About Education

ASIN: 0385472560
Release Date: 1994-06-20

Book Description

Senge's best-selling The Fifth Discipline led Business Week to dub him the "new guru" of the corporate world; here he offers executives a step-by-step guide to building "learning organizations" of their own.

Customer Reviews:

Tools for creating a Learning Culture.......2006-09-11

Peter M Serge, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook

To quote the first few paragraphs at beginning of book:

Among the tribes of northen Natal in South Africa, the most common greeting, equivalent to "hello" in English, is the expression: Sawu bona. It literally means, "I see you." If you are a member of the tribe, you might reply by saying Sikhona, "I am here." The order of the exchange is important: until you see me, I do not exist. It's as if, when you see me bring me into existence.

This meaning, implicit in the language, is part of the spirit of ubuntu, a frame of mind prevalent among native people in Africa below the Sahara. The word ubuntu stems from the folk saying Umuntu ngumuntu nagabantu, which from Zulu, literally translates as: "A person is a person because of other people."

"I bow in honor and reverence that place within you where to the Universe resides, when you are in that place within you, and I am in that place within me, there is One." ~namaste

The five disciplines are at the CORE of a Learning Organization

1) Personal Mastery: expand your personal capacity and ability

2) Mental Models: see how our internal pictures of the world shape action and decision

3) Shared Vision: group commitment

4) Team Learning: group ability is greater than the sum of individual talents

5) System Thinking:

"When we try to bring about change in our societies, we are treated first with indifference, then with ridicule, then with abuse and then with oppression. And finally, the greatest challenge is thrown at us: We are treated with respect. This is the most dangerous stage." --A. T. Ariyaratne (Speech made at International Community Leadership Summit, Winrock, Arkansas, March 1983. This quote paraphrases and expands upon a well-known statement made by Mahatma Gandhi in his book Satyagraha in South Africa, 1982, 1979, Canon, Me.: Greenleaf books)

"An [organization] is not a machine but a living organism." --Ikujiro Nonaka /****
Fundamentals of epistemology: what is knowledge, the nature of knowledge, and what constitutes learning.
understanding is achieved after internalization.
Without experience, we cannot truly understand.
Internalization: transformation from explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge, habits and culture that we do not recognize in ourselves.
Innovation is a process to capture, create, leverage, and retain knowledge.
What is your belief? A belief about images of the world - you may call it a mental model - is a very subjective thing

information is the flow of a message, while knowledge is created by accumulating information. Thus, information is a necessary medium or material for eliciting and constructing knowledge.

The second difference is that information is something passive. When we switch on a TV set, information comes regardless of my commitment. But knowledge comes from my belief, so it's more proactive.

And the organizational knowledge or intellectual infrastructure of an organization encourages its individual members to develop new knowledge through new experiences.

This dynamic process is the key to organizational knowledge creation - that is, socialization (from individual tacit knowledge to group tacit knowledge), externalization (from tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge), combination (from separate explicit knowledge to systemic explicit knowledge), and internalization (from explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge) [...].

[...]

Three Guiding Ideas

1) The Whole. When you are pointing a finger at the problems, notice how many fingers are pointing back at you. If you fixed the symptoms and ignore the root causes, the problems have not gone away. Another way to look at this is treat the person, not the disease. Of course treat the disease if the patient is dying, but know that the patient will get sick again because the "root causes" are stil there.

2) Community. The self is "a point of view." "The essence of being a person is being in a relationship [with] other people." You will not believe this, but each person before you is there for a reason. The reason this person is there at this moment is for you to learn something about yourself. If you ignore the person, do not ignore or forget the lesson.

3) Language. The map is not the territory. We cannot contain every bit of information that comes to us in the world, so we have to create a "map of the territory" and then refer to the map for our information. By changing a person's map, we change their reality. Language is the map, not the reality.

enlightening concepts about leadership.......2005-10-26

It seems to me that The Fifth Discipline (the previous publication of the series) is more attacting to me. The second book can be more precise and concise in content. Generally speaking I still like these two books as a foreign reader.

The Fifth Discipline.......2003-02-08

This book is a collection of theoretical summaries, reports, analyses, and strategies all quite useful to anyone interested in generating some thinking and action around change. The team of five writers (Peter Senge, Richard Ross, Bryan Smith, Charlotte Roberts, and Art Kleiner) provide some original work, but also serve as editors to a vast quantity of material drawn from practitioners, theorists, and writers in the field of organizational improvement. According to Senge, "great teams are learning organizations - groups of people who, over time, enhance their capacity to create what they truly desire to create." (p.18) This book is really about creating and building great teams. The learning organization develops its ability to reflect on, discuss, question, and change its current and past practices. To do this, people and groups in the organization need to meaningfully pursue the study and practice of the five disciplines - personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning, and systems thinking.

The learning organization - Senge's vision for the productive, competitive, and efficient institutions of the future - is in a continuous state of change. Four fundamental questions continuously serve to check and guide a group's learning and improvement (see page 49): (1) Do you continuously test your experiences? ("Are you willing to examine and challenge your sacred cows - not just during crises, but in good times?") (2) Are you producing knowledge? ("Knowledge, in this case, means the capacity for effective action.") (3) Is knowledge shared? ("Is it accessible to all of the organization's members?") (4) Is the learning relevant? ("Is this learning aimed at the organization's core purpose?") If these questions represent the organization's compass, the five disciplines are its map.

Each of the five disciplines is explained, and elaborated in its own lengthy section of the book. In the section on "Systems Thinking" (a set of practices and perspectives, which views all aspects of life as inter-related and playing a role in some larger system), the authors build on the idea of feedback loops (reinforcing and balancing) and introduce five systems archetypes. They are: "fixes that backfire", "limits to growth", "shifting the burden", "tragedy of the commons", and "accidental adversaries". In the section on "Personal Mastery", the authors argue that learning starts with each person. For organizations to learn and improve, people within the organization (perhaps starting with its core leadership) must learn to reflect on and become aware of their own core beliefs and visions. In "Mental Models", the authors argue that learning organizations need to explore the assumptions and attitudes, which guide their institutional directions, practices, and strategies. Articles on scenario planning, the ladder of inference, the left-hand column, and balancing inquiry and advocacy offer practical strategies to investigate our personal mental models as well as those of others in the organization. In "Shared Vision", the authors make the case for the stakeholders of an organization to continually adapt their vision ("an image of a desired future"), values ("how we get to travel to where we want to go"), purpose ("what the organization is here to do"), and goals ("milestones we expect to reach before too long"). The section offers many strategies and perspectives on how to move an organization toward continuous reflection. In "Team Learning", the authors rely mostly on the work of William Isaacs and others, and make a case for educating organization members in the processes and skills of dialogue and skillful discussion.

This book is enlightening and informative. It has already found a place on my shelf for essential reference books.

A follow up to the legend.......2003-01-27

The Fieldbook attempts at making the esoteric concepts of the fifth discipline more down to earth and contains a treasure trove of strategies, tools, methods and explanations on how to make the learning organization into a reality.

Thus people who have read The fifth discipline will gain the most from this book. It's a must read for people who want to make their organizations transition into a 'learning organization'

A second dose of Inspiration..........2002-02-09

Senge's second serving of the Learning Organization is filled with practical tips and real-life examples from companies and organizations that have embraced the teachings of the Learning Organization successfully.

The Book is a collaboration of several writers who do a superb job of unraveling the web that is the learning organization. At times, it may seem to the reader that the book is a labyrinth of disjointed concepts and ideas. However, if you have read `The Fifth Discipline' you will find no problems following the concepts introduced. In fact, you will even understand why the writers have chosen to introduce them in that fashion. If you have not read "The Fifth Discipline', do not despair, it will take a little longer to get `the whole picture'.
The Book is divided into 8 main sections:

1) Getting Started addresses the basic concepts and ideas of the Learning Organization.
2) Systems Thinking (the fifth discipline) - Many people have argued that Senge should have delegated the fifth discipline until the end, however, without Systems Thinking, your vision is disjointed and incomplete.
3) Personal Mastery covers the area of individual development and learning. The chapters here are among the most valuable in the area of self-growth and self-improvement.
4) Mental Models - These are the pictures that you have in your head which represent reality.
5) Shared Vision - You've seen the whole picture, you've developed and you understand how you see the world. Now you need to find a common cause with the rest of the people in your organization, something that you all work for.
6) Team Learning - As you work with other people in teams or groups, you need to pass the stuff that you have learnt and the wisdom you've acquired to others. At this stage, the learning is no longer that of the individual, but the group.
7) Arenas of Practice - (Self explanatory)
8) Frontiers - Where do we go from here.

If you are interested in development, learning, growth, leadership, gaining a competitive edge whether at an organizational or personal level, then this book is for you. In fact, I'd venture to say that this is book is for everyone.

The Dance of Change: The Challenges to Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations
Average customer rating:

A Little Exhausted

A good resource- should be used in conjunction with The Fifth Discipline

Ponderous

Great book to look at change from different lenses

Retread

The Dance of Change: The Challenges to Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations
Peter M. Senge , Art Kleiner , Charlotte Roberts , George Roth , Rick Ross , and Bryan Smith
Manufacturer: Currency
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook

The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization

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Ten Steps to a Learning Organization

Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society

ASIN: 0385493223
Release Date: 1999-03-16

Amazon.com

Since its release in 1990, Peter M. Senge's bestselling The Fifth Discipline has converted readers to its innovative business principles of the "learning organization," personal mastery, and systems thinking. Published nearly a decade later, Dance of Change provides a formidable response to businesspeople wondering how to make his programs stick. He outlines potential obstacles (such as initiating transformation, personal fear and anxiety, and measuring the unmeasurable) and proposes ways to turn these obstacles into sources of improvement. Senge--with considerable help from the team who worked on the follow-up development manual, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook--presents an insider's account of long-term maintenance efforts at General Electric, Harley-Davidson, the U.S. Army, and others who are learning organization, along with experience-based suggestions and exercises for individuals and teams. "We are seeking to understand how people nurture the reinforcing growth processes that naturally enable an organization to evolve and change," Senge explains, "and how they tend to the limiting processes that can impede or stop that growth." --Howard Rothman

Book Description

Since Peter Senge published his groundbreaking book The Fifth Discipline, he and his associates have frequently been asked by the business community: "How do we go beyond the first steps of corporate change? How do we sustain momentum?" They know that companies and organizations cannot thrive today without learning to adapt their attitudes and practices. But companies that establish change initiatives discover, after initial success, that even the most promising efforts to transform or revitalize organizations—despite interest, resources, and compelling business results—can fail to sustain themselves over time. That's because organizations have complex, well-developed immune systems, aimed at preserving the status quo.

Now, drawing upon new theories about leadership and the long-term success of change initiatives, and based upon twenty-five years
of experience building learning organizations, the authors of The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook show how to accelerate success and avoid the obstacles that can stall momentum. The Dance of Change, written for managers and executives at every level of an organization, reveals how business leaders can work together to anticipate the challenges that profound change will ultimately force the organization to face. Then, in a down-to-earth and compellingly clear format, readers will learn how to build the personal and organizational capabilities needed to meet those challenges.

These challenges are not imposed from the outside; they are the product of assumptions and practices that people take for granted—an inherent, natural part of the processes of change. And they can stop innovation cold, unless managers at all levels learn to anticipate them and recognize the hidden rewards in each challenge, and the potential to spur further growth. Within the frequently encountered challenge of "Not Enough Time," for example—the lack of control over time available for innovation and learning initiatives—lies a valuable opportunity to reframe the way people organize their workplaces.

This book identifies universal challenges that organizations ultimately find themselves confronting, including the challenge of "Fear and Anxiety"; the need to diffuse learning across organizational boundaries; the ways in which assumptions built in to corporate measurement systems can handcuff learning initiatives; and the almost unavoidable misunderstandings between "true believers" and nonbelievers in a company.

Filled with individual and team exercises, in-depth accounts of sustaining learning initiatives by managers and leaders in the field, and well-tested practical advice, The Dance of Change provides an insider's perspective on implementing learning and change initiatives at such corporations as British Petroleum, Chrysler, Dupont, Ford, General Electric, Harley-Davidson, Hewlett-Packard, Mitsubishi Electric, Royal DutchShell, Shell Oil Company, Toyota, the United States Army, and Xerox. It offers crucial advice for line-level managers, executive leaders, internal networkers, educators, and others who are struggling to put change initiatives into practice.

Customer Reviews:

A Little Exhausted.......2006-04-15

.

When 'The Dance of Change' was published in '99, Senge's work was already reaching the end of it's relevancy. A brilliant thinker, he's had difficulty sustaining creative thinking since 'The Fifth Discipline'. Not surprising. With such a brilliant, breakthrough book like his 1990 masterpiece, one tends to get trapped by one's own fame. Thus is born The Fifth Discipline Industry.

The Dance of Change contained nothing new in 1999. By 2006 the ideas contained in 'Dance' are so passe for most industry. Many others have built upon Senge's work in far more effective ways and your time is better spent with them. While you can skip 'Dance', 'The Fifth Discipline' still is a must read, especially if you're working on organizational change in education or human services, two industries that remain stubbornly stuck in the 80's.

.

A good resource- should be used in conjunction with The Fifth Discipline.......2006-03-04

This book is written as a resource book usable in conjunction with co-author Peter Senge's book, the Fifth Discipline. This book explores the challenges to sustaining momentum in a learning organization.

The authors of this book describe the processes that help to reinforce change and those processes that conflict with change, thereby limiting an organization's ability to make change. They begin this by reexamining and reviewing the "five disciplines" of learning from The Fifth Discipline: personal mastery, mental models, shared visions, team learning, and systems thinking.

In order to maintain the momentum for change, they expound on what they identify as the three fundamental reinforcing processes required sustaining real change: enhancing personal results, developing networks of committed people; and improving business results.

The main focus of this book is the ten challenges the authors see as the most likely challenges a company will experience when attempting to sustain change. These challenges are the challenges of:

1. control over time.
2. inadequate internal resources
3. relevance
4. management clarity and consistency
5. fear and anxiety
6. negative assessment of progress
7. isolation and arrogance
8. autonomy and power
9. the inability to transfer knowledge across the organization.
10. organizational strategy and purpose.

Ponderous.......2003-07-02

While I enjoyed this work and read it from cover to cover, it did begin to seem like too much of good thing. Some of the organization information seemed dated and some of the people who are offering advice are probably no longer held with such high regard in their former organizations. In any case, I would recommed it to anyone who is doing graduate or post-graduate work in organization and management or just wants some insight into how organizations really work.

Great book to look at change from different lenses.......2003-01-27

This book is touted as a "resource" to the Fifth Discipline, but my view is that it could itself stand on its own steam as a handbook for change management. With articles contributed by a variety of authors, the book looks at the challenges of triggering, initiating, aligning and sustaining change and the various diverse ways to confront and solve those challenges.
The challenges that the book identifies are the challenges of:

Orientation, Generating Profound Change, Not Enough Time, No Help, Not Relevant, Walking the Talk, Fear & Anxiety, Assessment & Measurement, True Believers and Non-believers, Governance, Diffusion, Strategy & Purpose.

The book is choc-a-block with tools, explanation of jargon and
references to other resources. An orientation to Systems Thinking and looking at organizations as complex systems would help in clarifying the book more. Hence it is desirable to read "the fifth discipline" before you read it.
However, the delightful nature of this book ensures that you can flip open any page, read a little bit and keep it back, and feel refreshed and not thirst for more.
For people who look at organizations as communities, as networks and as human systems in addition to just being an economic entity this book will delight and scare.
For others, this book will act as a provoking way to look at change and organizations in search of equilibrium.

Retread.......2001-10-17

Senge et al have done some wonderful work through time. But like many guru's they begin to sing the chorus of the song again and again with each new title. There are useful things to be found here but if you are looking to stretch your thinking beyond his early works you need to look elsewhere. However, if you are building a library of sound work in the area of change, organizational development and other assorted things then this will prove to be a useful resource. I discounted it simply because I was hoping to find a fresh breeze within.

Average customer rating:

Great Book

75 Readings Plus
Santi V. Buscemi , and Charlotte Smith
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75 Readings Plus is a version of the best-selling 75 Readings that supplies additional guidance for student readers. Both books are rhetorically arranged and collect the most popular essays for first-year writing. The readings represent a wide variety of authors, disciplines, issues, and interests, and at ten dollars less than most composition readers, 75 Readings Plus is an excellent value for students.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book.......2007-05-15

This book was a required reading for a course I'm taking, great reading.

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Review
I purchased for my husband....
On a withered tree, a flower blooms
Common sense zen
Disappointing

Everyday Zen: Love & Work
Charlotte Joko Beck
Manufacturer: HarperSanFrancisco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Everyday Zen offers a warm, engaging, uniquely American approach to using Zen to deal with the problems of daily living--love, relationships, fear, ambition, suffering. Beck shows how to live each moment to the fullest.

Customer Reviews:

Review.......2007-04-15

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I gained a priceless amount of wisdom and understanding by following the authors clear and rich writing style.

I purchased for my husband...........2007-02-09

I purchased "Everyday Zen: Love & Work" for my husband for Christmas (2006). He has enjoyed other Charlotte Joko Beck books in the past. So, I decided to buy another one of her books for him. This book is good, it has many interesting ideas and thoughts to convey but, my husband still favors "Nothing Special: Living Zen." I believe he would recommend that book, if a reader is interested in introducing themselves to or wants to read another one of Charlotte Joko Beck writings. Although, "Everyday Zen: Love & Work" is readable and worth checking out. A notation: to
readers, you may just want to start with one of her other works first, before reading this one.

On a withered tree, a flower blooms.......2006-08-14

Good book by a real practitioner. It lightly touches every significant aspect of life. Very easy read. It also explains what Zen practice is and what isn't. There are too many books on as quazi-buddhism, unnecessarily complicating Zen with self-invented garbage. Zen is simply about being.

It is written in simple language and may be read by anyone. Everyone is a beginner in Zen, anyway.

Most importantly, the author does not present her writings as the absolute truth. Zen is about questioning, and Beck repeats it over and over again.

If anything, the book requires an open mind. As it is said, "On a withered tree, a flower blooms".

Common sense zen.......2006-03-26

I found this to be a straightforward, clear, human account of zen as a practice of sitting and noticing your thoughts and moods as they arise, and the discipline and difficulties involved. It doesn't contain much history of zen, nor describe much about the posture of sitting, which seems to be important for some.

Disappointing.......2006-02-25

Like the reviewer Michael from Seattle below, I found this book ultimately dissapointing. Although it does have a lot of practical wisdom, in the end she basically says all we can hope for is a life of "hard work" and "practice", constantly navel gazing our issues "for years" in the hope of the final realization. She obviously has not stepped into "The Mystery" Itself and therefore isn't able to write about it. In the end she leaves the reader/seeker at a train station, watching from the sidelines as the train swishes by time after time. The seeker is never seemingly able to actually get on the train, reminding me of Harry Potter unable to find the portal into Reality. Dejected, the seeker is resigned to a life of "hard work" and "practice." If this is what Zen is, no thank you... One would be served better by reading books like Adyashanti's Emptiness Dancing, Leo Hartong's Awakening to the Dream and Eli Jaxon-Bear's Sudden Awakening.

Average customer rating:

Lots of content and two tables of contents

75 Readings
Santi V. Buscemi , and Charlotte Smith
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

75 Readings offers an outstanding collection of the most popular essays for first-year writing, at an affordable price. The readings represent a wide variety of authors, disciplines, issues, and interests, and at less than $20 net (half the price of most readers), 75 Readings offers an excellent value for students.

Customer Reviews:

Lots of content and two tables of contents.......2000-06-28

This collections of essays pack loads of different styles and ideas. Diverse and rich, 75 Readings lets me find texts by following either a thematic or a structural path: The two tables of contents are a smart idea.

Average customer rating:

An Ok read.
A book about reality
Beck at her best, as always
A Helpful Teaching
Great beginning... that was about it...

Nothing Special: Living Zen
Charlotte J. Beck , and Steve Smith
Manufacturer: HarperSanFrancisco
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ASIN: 0062511173

Customer Reviews:

An Ok read........2007-01-11

An Ok read - nothing special. There are no answers for life in this book, just guidance for sitting.

A book about reality.......2006-10-25

I purchased this book about 5 years ago and it has certainly changed my life. I keep it on hand daily, and turn to it when I find myself getting carried away with the "pressures" of life in modern America. Joko's words keep me grounded and remind me that none of the problems I experience are real - what is real is the experience of the moment. It's a lot easier to understand this than to do it on a regular basis, but at least there's a guide when the way seems lost.

This was my first (and favorite) book on Zen Buddhism and I can recommend it to anyone who wants to better understand what is really going on in our heads. It can be hard to accept if you're not ready, but following Joko's teachings has gotten me out of the Rat Race for good.

Lastly, I could not disagree more with the reviewer who gave it one star and only liked the first story. This book is full of great metaphors for understanding what Living Zen (real life) is all about.

Beck at her best, as always.......2006-08-14

I read "Everyday Zen" several times and loved it. Recently saw this book on the shelf, bought it immediately and was not disappointed.

I am not sure where one of the previous reviewers got the notion that there are no teachings in Zen. The very history of it is based on names of teachers, starting with Buddha. Rinzai, Boddhidharma, Suzuki - these are just a few that come to mind. Well, Beck is another name for that list.

And yes, it requires years of practice to get an undertanding. And even after years and years of sitting, old techers will tell you that they are just beginners in Zen.

Go figure... Or just sit...

A Helpful Teaching.......2006-03-03

For years I was obsessed with Zen books. However, it wasn't until I came across Joko's books that I encountered the radical suggestion: OUR LIFE IS OUR PRACTICE!!! It was a real eye opener. I reread "Everyday Zen" three or four time in a row. My teachers in Rochester were pretty unimpressed; they thought that Joko was for people "who weren't ready for Zen." (One of them really did say that!) I thought otherwise; her work addressed the disconnect between a practice created for those in monasteries and the "self-centered dream" of our lives. It baffled me that people would be having "openings" in the Zendo and then treat their family like dirt after a retreat. She taught that working with our family "issues" (noticing our thoughts and resting in our physical experience) was not something separate from our practice on the cushions in the meditation hall. No duality.

I ended up working with Joko for about five years. She was (and is) every bit as remarkable in real life as she was in her book. There isn't a lot of drama in this practice. Our life becomes less of a soap opera and becomes more mundane. From that ordinariness emerge joy, compassion, love and all of the other aspects of our true nature. You might have fewer of the kind of lightening bolts of a traditional practice. Instead, you will have a grounded life that brings peace rather than pain into this world.

Great beginning... that was about it..........2006-01-11

I loved the opening of the first chapter, and the metaphor about what we call ourselves being nothing more than a whirlpool in the river of life. Great metaphor. Love it.

The rest of the book seemed to me to be teaching (and Zen specifically has no teaching and is the destroyer of teachings) and emotions. Beck's slant on Zen seems to me to be getting people to meditated for years (according to her it takes years) and work work work at it. But Zen is not about that, it is about "nothing to attain and no one to attain it" period. All this working at it that she recommends fosters a subtle sense of egoism, a belief that there is some goal to reach, something to gain.

Perhaps Beck is working with people whose lives are disasters and she is having to keep them busy in the hope that they will someday finally get it???

Average customer rating:

Just "OK"
Another wonderful novel
Great Read!
The Best of Bronte
A Delightful Read

Shirley (Oxford World's Classics)
Charlotte Brontë
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Binding: Paperback

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The Professor (Penguin Classics)
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Oxford World's Classics)
Agnes Grey (Oxford World's Classics)
Villette (Modern Library Classics)
The Life of Charlotte Bronte (Oxford World's Classics)

ASIN: 0192833782

Book Description

Following the tremendous popular success of Jane Eyre, which earned her lifelong notoriety as a moral revolutionary, Charlotte Brontë vowed to write a sweeping social chronicle that focused on "something real and unromantic as Monday morning." Set in the industrializing England of the Napoleonic wars and Luddite revolts of 1811-12, Shirley (1849) is the story of two contrasting heroines. One is the shy Caroline Helstone, who is trapped in the oppressive atmosphere of a Yorkshire rectory and whose bare life symbolizes the plight of single women in the nineteenth century. The other is the vivacious Shirley Keeldar, who inherits a local estate and whose wealth liberates her from convention.

A work that combines social commentary with the more private preoccupations of Jane Eyre, Shirley demonstrates the full range of Brontë's literary talent. "Shirley is a revolutionary novel," wrote Brontë biographer Lyndall Gordon. "Shirley follows Jane Eyre as a new exemplar--but so much a forerunner of the feminist of the later twentieth century that it is hard to believe in her actual existence in 1811-12. She is a theoretic possibility: what a woman might be if she combined independence and means of her own with intellect. Charlotte Brontë imagined a new form of power, equal to that of men, in a confident young woman [whose] extraordinary freedom has accustomed her to think for herself....Shirley [is] Brontë's most feminist novel."

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A work that combines social commentary with the more private preoccupations of Jane Eyre, Shirley demonstrates the full range of Brontë's literary talent. "Shirley is a revolutionary novel," wrote Brontë biographer Lyndall Gordon. "Shirley follows Jane Eyre as a new exemplar--but so much a forerunner of the feminist of the later twentieth century that it is hard to believe in her actual existence in 1811-12. She is a theoretic possibility: what a woman might be if she combined independence and means of her own with intellect. Charlotte Brontë imagined a new form of power, equal to that of men, in a confident young woman [whose] extraordinary freedom has accustomed her to think for herself....Shirley [is] Brontë's most feminist novel."

Customer Reviews:

Just "OK".......2007-06-14

After reading Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Tenant of Wildfell Hall, I have to say Shirley is a disappointment. It was long, drawn out and at times very BORING. I really had to work to finish it; the others I breezed through because they were so good. I won't go into a dissertation about the book but it does not stand up to the other Bronte work.

Another wonderful novel.......2007-01-27

This might be my favorite Charlotte Bronte yet. The plot involves so many characters, a long book, but I couldn't put it down! If you like her other books, you won't be disappointed.

Great Read!.......2005-05-25

An unpredictable plot, excellent character development, and many elements of wisdom from Charlotte Bronte. I greatly enjoyed this novel, much as I did Jane Eyre and Villette. In all honesty, this is a book that would not be for everyone. However, for those who greatly like Charlotte Bronte's works, it is a great read.

The Best of Bronte.......2004-09-04

I usually prefer Jane Austen over Charlotte Bronte, So I was surprised at how much I liked "Shirley". I definetly think that "Jane Eyre" and "Villette" are given undue credit, while "Shirley" is underrated. Though "Shirley" was a strange choice for a title, because the main character is Caroline. This was a perfect book with just the right amount of romance, tragedy, and happy endings.

A Delightful Read.......2003-03-05

The reason for the four stars is that I think it is not as good as Charlotte Bronte's best, the incomparable Jane Eyre. But it is, compared with most novels of today, very good indeed. The character of Shirley is wonderful. It is clear that Caroline is the protagonist, and that she is based on Charlotte herself and is therefore given the lion's share of attention. I consider this one of the book's few faults. The character of Robert Moore is beautifully drawn and I disagree with the editors that Louis is not. Although the device of the diary is a bit clumsy, the dialogue between Louis and Shirley is enthralling. Highly recommended.

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I cannot say it better...
Introducing Charlotte Bronte - Beyond Jane Eyre
Another lovely tale from Bronte
One of the Best!
Strong

Villette (Oxford World's Classics)
Charlotte Bronte
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Oxford World's Classics)
Agnes Grey (Oxford World's Classics)
The Professor (Penguin Classics)
The Life of Charlotte Bronte (Oxford World's Classics)
Daniel Deronda (Penguin Classics)

ASIN: 0192839640

Book Description

'I am only just returned to a sense of the real world about me, for I have been reading Villette, a still more wonderful book than Jane Eyre.' George Eliot Lucy Snowe, in flight from an unhappy past, leaves England and finds work as a teacher in Madame Beck's school in 'Villette'. Strongly drawn to the fiery autocratic schoolmaster Monsieur Paul Emanuel, Lucy is compelled by Madame Beck's jealous interference to assert her right to love and be loved. Based in part on Charlotte Bronte's experience in Brussels ten years earlier, Villette (1853) is a cogent and dramatic exploration of a woman's response to the challenge of a constricting social environment. Its deployment of imagery comparable in power to that of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, and its use of comedyDSironic or exuberantDSin the service of an ultimately sombre vision, make Villette especially appealing to the modern reader.

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Left by harrowing circumstances to fend for herself in the great capital of a foreign country, Lucy Snowe, the narrator and heroine of Villette, achieves by degrees an authentic independence from both outer necessity and inward grief. Charlotte Brontë's last novel, published in 1853, has a dramatic force comparable to that of her other masterpiece, Jane Eyre, as well as strikingly modern psychological insight and a revolutionary understanding of human loneliness.

Customer Reviews:

I cannot say it better..........2007-06-02

"All these weary days, I have not for one hour forgotten you." -- Lucy Snowe in Charlotte Bronte's Villette.

Introducing Charlotte Bronte - Beyond Jane Eyre.......2007-05-16

I think it's safe to say that most of the people who have read "Villette" probably read "Jane Eyre" first. I know that I did. In such cases, "Villette" may come as a slight surprise. While still like "Jane Eyre" in the sense that much of the story tells of the character's history, includes a strange sort of "love" story, and has a series of fascinating characters, "Villette" feels less about the narrator (Lucy Snowe) than about the other characters.

Let me clarify. While the story IS about Lucy Snowe, there are parts that revolve around her friends. These parts are thoroughly enjoyable as these characters are all so vivid and clear. Everything is easy to imagine and written in such a clear fashion. The plot is intriguing, and parts actually made me laugh aloud in surprise. It's a surprising book. The way everything ties in is done so well. "Villette" deserves a wider audience and greater fame than it has. It rivaled "Jane Eyre", and perhaps surpassed it.

While the ending is the place where most people lower their scores, I personally find it brilliant. It is a vague, ambiguous ending that leaves the reader confused, disoriented, and intrigued. What better way to end a book than mystery? Perhaps not a mystery, but we're left trying to figure it out. Unfortunately, there is no answer, so the romantics will choose a happy ending, and the pessimists a sorrow-filled one.

"Villette" has a whole host of characters. It starts out with children - laughing, teasing, quite adorable children. Later there are the wealthy snob characters, the generous, yet suspcious, motherly characters, the handsome, kind young men, the sweet, and beautiful young women, and the annoying yet lovable colleague (one of my favorites!). Each character has their own spark, their own flaws, and their own crowning virtue and reason for attention. Lucy, in the center of this all, is also an interesting character, though occasionally weak and sometimes a little too fluttery for my taste. Then again, tastes vary. You'll have to see for yourself. (M. Paul is totally the coolest, by the way)

WARNING: Much of this book is in French. Keep a French dictionary handy.

"Villette" is a purely enjoyable book. While some parts seemed to drag on and needed extra attention and patience (not to be read while tired! You'll find yourself skimming over pages, yawning), the final, overall impression is a favorable one. This book deserves the name, "classic". It's a great read, and you're sure to enjoy it, especially if you liked "Jane Eyre".

Enjoy!

Another lovely tale from Bronte.......2007-03-25

Another semi-autobiographical tale from Charlette Bronte, based upon her time spent teaching in Belgium. This is not a novel of page turning excitement, but a lovely tale of one woman's battle to maintain her independence.

It's very interesting how the author brings characters in and out of her tale, and ties them all together in the end. Along with that, Bronte's gorgeous prose and all those large words that make you want to go running for the dictionary.

A lovely tale, one to savour like a fine red wine or chocolate, and an old classic worth rediscovering (or to discover for the first time). If you enjoyed Jane Eyre this is worth checking out.

One of the Best!.......2007-02-02

I don't know why people are complaining about the ending--though it doesn't spell it out, it's a happy one, and doesn't seem controversial at all if you read it carefully a few times. I've read Villette about four times--once in college (ok, but I didn't really get it then) and more recently after going through a Bronte/Austen marathon. If you love the character of Jane Eyre, you will love Lucy Snowe. If the idea of making your way successfully in the world through challenges, finding love after experiencing a past unrequited love, and plot twists all over--then read on. I used to think that the Austen books and maybe Jane Eyre were the books I enjoyed rereading. Villette has easily made it to that winning list.

Strong.......2007-01-30

Excellent story, highly recommend to anyone, especially young ladies. Miss Snow is a very strong character, a fighter with feelings and moral strength.

Growing, Growing Strong: A Whole Health Curriculum for Young Children

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Growing, Growing Strong: A Whole Health Curriculum for Young Children
Connie Jo Smith , Charlotte Mitchell Hendricks , and Becky S. Bennett
Manufacturer: Redleaf Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Active Experiences for Active Children: Science (2nd Edition) (Active Experiences for Active Children Series)
Beginning Reading and Writing (Language and Literacy Series (Teachers College Pr))
Reaching Potentials: Transforming Early Childhood Curriculum & Assessment (Naeyc)
Teaching Numeracy, Language, And Literacy With Blocks
Developing Number Sense, Grades 3-6

Accessories:

Braun IRT 4020 ThermoScan Ear Thermometer
philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer

ASIN: 1884834361

Book Description

Learning to live a healthy lifestyle begins during the early years of life. For many children, the need for health and safety education becomes a significant reality much too early. Each day approximately 37 children die from accidents. Most accidents and many of the unhealthy lifestyle choices involving children can be prevented when safe and healthy habits are integrated into the classroom curriculum in a nonthreatening, natural way.

Created to support the busy teacher who wants to integrate health education into the early childhood curriculum, Growing, Growing Strong is packed with exciting ideas and activities that make health-education fun for children and their families. Concise information and practical ideas are presented for eight health related themes that encourage childrens curiosity about themselves, others, and the world around them.

Emmeline
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Emmeline
Charlotte Smith
Manufacturer: Broadview Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Celestina (Broadview Editions)

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Evelina (Oxford World's Classics)

ASIN: 1551113597

Book Description

The plot of Charlotte Smith's autobiographical first novel Emmeline (1788) includes the usual thrills of the eighteenth-century courtship novel: abduction, duels, and a "fairy tale princess." At the same time, the novel satirically reworks such literary conventions by focusing on the dangers of early engagement and marriage, and challenges a social and legal system in which woment are inherently illegitimate subjects.

The Broadview edition includes primary source material relating to the novel's reception; women, marriage and work; and landscape in eighteenth-century fiction. Mary Hays's biographical writing on Smith is also included, as is selected correspondence.

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