We're doing it too. Yippee.
The whole module seems rather...I don't know, redundant to me. When it says connections I automatically assumed it meant to look for similarities. The few there are seem painfully obvious, along the lines of 'The sky in modern Australia is a similar shade of blue to Georgian England' and the differences (which are still classed as connections) - while important enough in their own right, seem to be - once again - pointing out the obvious. Women were repressed in 19th Century culture. Women have more political, sexual and cultural freedom in the 21st Century. This is good. I agree with all of those things, but an average 10 year old student could tell you any of those things.
As for the novels themselves, Pride and Prejudice just didn't 'do it' for me. Austen's style of writing grates on my nerves and while I understand the Literary significance of her work, it seems like a documentary would have done a more thorough job.
As for Fay Weldon; that pretentious hag can drown in a well. It's all well and good to be proud of your gender, but if I have to read one more sexist comment towards men (after listening to her harp on about how men treat women badly; no hypocrisy there) to have the 'Men just can't stand not being heroes' argument thrown in my face again, I'm going to burn her publishing agents house to the ground. It may be a facade adopted for the purpose of the novel, but until that's proven, fire is the only option.
Weldon and rambling aside, have a missed something crucial here?