Reading Appreciating literature
Step1: Lead-in
Let抯 enjoy a section of film. Is it wonderful? Do you know something about the film?
It抯 based on Dickens抯 famous novel 揙liver Twist? It抯 an example of classics. Classics are the antiques of the literary world. In this unit, we抣l have the chance to get more information about classic literature.
Resources
Charles Dickens was born on 7 February 1812 in Portsmouth, England. He had a happy childhood after his family moved to Chatham. At the age of 12, Dickens had to leave school because his father was imprisoned for debt. The poverty and adversity Dickens experienced as a child greatly influenced his later views on social reform. Before his death on 9 June 1870, he wrote about 15 major novels and many short stories, most of which are famous for their surprising endings. If you want to learn more about this great novelist, you may visit the following website:
http://www.helsinki.fi/kasv/nokol/dickens.html
Step 2: Fast reading for general ideas
Go through the passage as quickly as possible and try to find answers to the three questions in part A on Page 2. Just focus on and identify the information needed to answer these questions.
Answers
A 1 Classics are the antiques of the literary world including novels, plays and poems that were written a long time ago and were well written and received.
2 England抯 greatest writer.
3 Seven years old.
Step 3: Detailed reading for important information
1. Let抯 read the passage a second time and complete Parts C1 and C2 on page 4.
Answers
C1 1 Because they think they are old-fashioned and boring, and have nothing to do with life today.
2 She doesn抰 think that they are old-fashioned or boring.
3 Joe is a kind and simple man.
4 On his gravestone it reads, 態y his death, one of England抯 greatest writers is lost to the world.?br>5 A stranger.
6 Because he thinks Joe is not clever enough and far from being a well educated gentleman.
7 He learns that wealth does not buy happiness and that friends are more important than a fancy education.
8 An example of character development is the change in Pip from being concerned only with money to seeing that money is not the most important thing in life.
C2 1 d 2 c 3 a 4 b 5 e
2. Listen to the tape and try to complete Part D and Part E.
Answers
D 1 c 2 d 3 e 4 a 5 g 6 f 7 h 8 b
E (1) authors (2) Pip
(3) husband (4) England
(5) symbol (6) novel
(7) fortune (8) gentleman
(9) shallow (10) theme
3. Read the text again and choose the best answers according to the text.
1. Some people think that classics are old-fashioned because of the following statements except __________.
A. they were written a long time ago.
B. the language used in them is quite different from the language used today.
C. they are difficult for people to understand.
D. They can only be found in bookshops and libraries.
2. Which of the following statements is wrong?
A. Clueless, the award-wining film is based on Charles Dickens抯 novel.
B. The film based on Great Expectations was released in 1998.
C. At first, Charles Dickens published many novels in newspaper.
D. Good classics are examples of great writing and wisdom.
3. When and where is Great Expectations set in?
A. In the USA in the 1800s. B. In England in the early 1800s.
C. In England in 1812.. D. In the USA in 1870.
Keys: D A B
Step 4: Post-reading activities
1. Pair work:
Pay attention to the Reading strategy of the article, focusing on the way the author tries to convince the reader to adopt a certain point of view. Point out these places in the essay:
1. However, if this is true, why do we still find classics in bookshops and libraries?
2. Why else would many films based on them be successful?
3. I do not think that these classic novels would be made into films if they had nothing to do with life today.
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2. Let抯 come to Part F. Work in pairs and share your opinions with each other.
3. Discussion: What makes a good persuasive essay?
In persuasive or argumentative writing, we try to convince others to agree with our facts, share our values, accept our argument and conclusions, and adopt our way of thinking.
Elements toward building a good persuasive essay include
?establishing facts to support an argument
?clarifying relevant values for your audience (perspective)
?prioritizing, editing, and/or sequencing the facts and values in importance to build the argument
?forming and stating conclusions
?損ersuading?your audience that your conclusions are based upon the agreed-upon facts and shared values
?having the confidence to communicate your 損ersuasion?in writing
Step 5: Language points
Vocabulary Words classics, literary, received, wisdom, dust, work, chapter, harm, simple, tension, twist, plot, generous, fortune, abrupt, constant, reminder, shabby, shortcoming, shallow, prejudice, civil, bent, theme, wealth, fancy, settle, educated, acquaintance
Useful expressions have something to do with, have a place, in the world, be based on, be made into, at a time, on stage, be set in, have a kind word to sb., a symbol of, set sb. free, before long, be kind to, in the early 1800s, be bent on
Sentence patterns 1. They are novels, plays and poems that were written a long time ago and were so well written and well received that people still read them today.
2. But Joe is a kind and simple man, who would rather die than see any harm come to Pip.
3. Excited by his move to London, Pip can hardly wait to begin his new life.
Step 6: Homework
1. Read the text again and again. Try to memorize the language points.
2. Read the review of the famous novel Les Miserables in part B on page 105 of the Workbook.