The Uncommon Reader

The Uncommon Reader

• Genre: Fiction; novella; satire
• Originally Published: 2007
• Reading Level/Interest: College/adult
• Structure/Length: Approx. 126 pages; approx. 2 hours, 27 minutes on audio
• Protagonist/Central Conflict: When the Queen’s corgis wander into a mobile library near Buckingham Palace, she feels duty-bound to borrow a book, unlocking a joy of reading that changes her routines—and her worldview, which impacts the entire country.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: References to sexual intercourse      

Alan Bennett, Author

• Bio: Born in 1934; English playwright, author, actor, and screenwriter; attended Oxford University and graduated with a degree in history; performed with the Oxford Revue; taught and researched medieval history at Oxford; rose to fame with the stage revue Beyond the Fringe, where he wrote and performed with Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller, and Peter Cook; spent the rest of his career writing and acting in plays for the National Theatre and BBC television; treated for colorectal cancer in 1997, which he called a “bore”; plans to donate his entire archive of work to the Bodleian Library as a thank you to the British welfare state for subsidizing an education he wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise
• Other Works: Beyond the Fringe (1962); The Lady in the Van (1990); Untold Stories (2005); A Life Like Other People’s (2009); Keeping on Keeping On (2016)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• ​​The Duty of the Monarch
• The Power of the Written Word
• The Queen and Public Opinion

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Develop an understanding of the historical and political contexts regarding the British monarchy that impact people’s ability to progress from traditional forms of thought.
• Analyze paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of The Duty of the Monarch, The Power of the Written Word, and The Queen and Public Opinion.
• Draft and present a text-based creative writing piece that demonstrates an understanding of satirical forms of writing.