I CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT!

After Rita surrenders, she decides to forget about her dreams and go to the pub where her husband and mother are.

But when she sees her mother crying and saying " We could sing better songs than those" she is reminded of why she goes to Frank´s office, why she goes to see Macbeth and so on. She knows she can do better than that, she can do others things apart from drinking and hanging out in pubs. Her mother reminds her of her main objective: HER NEW LIFE AND CHANGE.

She remembers her main objective and the reason why she gives up many things (having a baby, agreeing with his husband, etc): she WANTS TO BE BETTER.

Her first hopes appear again, reminding her that by studying hard, and putting all her body and soul into it, she can achieve anything she wants.

I can even say that, maybe next time, she will have the guts to knock on Frank´s door.

Question 2 - Act 1, Scene 7 & 8 - Educating Rita

Share with your Students!

From the very beginning of the scene, we see a very caring and worried Frank who is 1st concerned about the way Rita enters his office (then he knows it was because of excitement), then he is concerned about her health and how she eats: "Look, how about a proper lunch?" he asks her.

This attitude of sharing, in this case the apple and the can of soda, between student and teacher is the one that called my attention.

In my opinion, this is a clear example that there is more to teaching than just delivering the lesson to the students but caring about them, asking them about their lives is also part of it.

In fact, Rita learns something in this "lesson": the difference between Tragedy and Tragic but what is important is the fact that Frank asks Rita about Denny, he invites her to his dinner party at his house, and so on.

HUMANIZE YOUR TEACHING!

THINK OF YOUR STUDENT AS A PERSON AND NOT MERELY AS A LEARNER!

Act 1 - Scene 6, Question 3

Rita´s Expressions

Rita uses a couple of expressions to emphasize how important the course is to her:

-"(I´m) Busy finding meself"

-" I´ve begun to find me"

-(to Frank) - " You give me room to breathe"

- " You just , like feed me without expectin´anythin´in return"

-(about Literature) " It´s providing me with life itself"

-" Coming here, doing this, it´s given me more life than I ´ve had in years, an´he (Denny) should be able to see that"

- " If it´s all in my head, he (Denny) can´t touch it"

What I loved about this Scene, is the fact that in this struggle for starting to work, the roles changed. In this scene, Frank is the one that wants to talk about personal problems, he wants to get involved in Rita´s life to find a way to help her. Contrary to what I may expect, Rita wants to start working right away, she doesn´t want to be affected by her situation, she doesn´t want to give Denny the satisfaction of having succeed in getting Rita distracted.

I like her last quote: " If it´s all in my head, he can´t touch it". It is dead true. Nobody can get into our mind but ourselves. Fortunately, our thoughts are ours only.

Act 1, Scene 5 - Question 1

University: Game with its specific rules

Frank tells Rita the story of the theology student so that she can realize that learning and going to University has its rules.

Unfortunately, you cannot do whatever you want(or write in this case); you have to stick to the rules that the professor imposes so that you can pass.

Sometimes you need the skill to "blend in" because that is what the professors, the University is asking for.

As Frank says, playing to be smart or clever is not the answer: that can get you into trouble.

I believe this story helps Rita to understand life a little bit more and not about just the fact of how to write an essay.

She learns that life has its rules and in some subjects is no good to break them.

In mi opinion, wanting to learn is absolutely key to start University, having that motivation is absolutely important but there are other things to take into account to start learning: TO KNOW THE SYSTEM.

If you understand how the system works, you can get into this game that is called LIFE.

Act 1, Scene 3&4 - Question 2

Why does Rita want to study?

Rita wants to know everything. She wants to learn things. She wants something more out of her life rather than getting stuck in a mediocre life. What she wants is a CHANGE.

For that, she decides to study; even though she implies that she doesn´t want to become one of those snobs/show-off women whom Frank, her tutor, is so well familiarized with.

I have to give Rita a lot of credit: she knows exactly what she wants and how she wants it. She is a determined woman who decides to take some risks in her life. Even though she is nervous and her husband does not support her much, she is persevering.

I have only read 1 chapter so far but I already feel identified with Rita. I think that she decides her change to be dramatic for her life to truly take a spin: she starts University, changes her name from Susan to Rita, so that she can feel renewed.

After my trip, I also feel renewed.

I have not changed my name yet (haha), but what I can say is that exploring, visting new places and learning and more learning changes your life and that is what Rita is looking for.

Act 1, Scene 1 - Educating Rita