La Casa Bernarda Alba Study Help!

As you have time on your side, it might be worth investing in one or both of these books and reading them as you progress through the book.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Modern-Languages-Study-Guides-level/dp/1471891968/ref=sr_1_14?dchild=1&keywords=house+bernarda+alba&qid=1594502114&s=books&sr=1-14

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Literature-Companions-CASA-BERNARDA/dp/0198418361/ref=sr_1_17?dchild=1&keywords=house+bernarda+alba&qid=1594502114&s=books&sr=1-17

I like Lorca, he's very interesting - I've done some of his work as part of my MA.

Something I find useful is to have some of those coloured record cards you can get in places like Ryman's.

You can have a card for each character, a card for each chapter, a card for recurrent themes in the book, whatever you think is appropriate.

You can do something similar on a tablet or laptop, of course, but I like to have the little cards in my bag - wherever I am, I can fish them out, say on the train and read through my notes about each character etc.

Hey guys. Hope you’re all good. I’m doing A level Spanish, and we’re studying La Casa de Bernarda Alba and Volver. I’m trying to read La Casa and make notes from it before we start studying it next year. Does anyone have any note-taking methods and ways of studying that they found useful? Do you have any notes you’d be able to share, and what methods did you use for annotations? Thanks in advance x

Hi,

I can help, this is what I recommend my students do (edit this as you see fit, everyone’s learning styles are different so take what applies, that’s what I say):

1. La Casa de BA - analyse the introduction and explanatory notes in the text, there is some really good critical analysis before the chapter starts.

2. I’d recommend you annotate the text using highlighters, use a different colour for a different purpose. Eg, you can use yellow for important quotes, orange for important events etc.

3. Watch the film (you’ll find it on YT) – have your notepad and pen to hand. Watching the film version awakens your senses and allows you to put faces to names and you really notice features such as: clothing, weather, sound etc.

4. Research Lorca and his upbringing, influences, idols etc.

5. Familiarise yourself with the Themes – that’s how you segment the text and answer exam questions. Eg, el feminismo, el machismo, la sociedad, la represión, la familia, la Guerra Civil, La transición a la democracia etc. Explore the political, social and cultural contexts of that time.

6. Quizlet – use it for vocab, quotes, characteristics of the women and summarising themes.

La Casa de BA and Volver (as well as Pan’s) are the most popular texts and films my students study, year after year, so there's a lot that I could say about this but this should get you started!

Hey! Thanks so much for your help! This was really useful. I just wanted to ask how you would advise I make notes? Mind maps? Bullet points? Also, I’m studying Volver too. What would you recommend for this as well? For Volver, I’m mainly struggling to remember quotes and confused about how to revise in general. Thanks for all your help in advance x

Hola,

Just sent you a DM as had a bunch of recommendations, hope that helps! Btw, Casa and Volver are my favourites to study, they're really interesting and there's a lot you can write about the texts

Drew

Hi there! I just read your comment. I am currently studying La Casa and Volver as well, and was wondering whether you'd mind sharing the tips you learnt/were sent to me via messages? I would appreciate it very much.

Many thanks,

Sam