Task Writing a literary review

Skills building 1: listening for key words

First, I’m going to read a paragraph aloud to you. After that, I’d like you to use your own words to summarize what I read. So please listen to me attentively, paying special attention to the emphasized key words.

Just as a proverb says, 'Life is filled with twists and turns.' One can't gain any success if he or she never experiences difficulty or failure. In other words, trouble exists from beginning to end during our lifetime. Students may fail in their exams, scientists may fail in their experiments, and players may be defeated in their matches.

Discuss in pairs: While listening to a lecture or a news report, do you always have to pay attention to every word the speaker uses?

What do you think are the most important words to pay attention to? Why do you think so?

Read the guidelines in Skills building 1 on Page 10. Try to give a speech, following the guidelines.

Step 1: recognizing key words

1. Suppose in your English class, your teacher is telling you how to write a literary review. Now listen to this speech, trying to fill the table in Part A on Page 10.

2. Listen to the tape again, and check the answers.

Answers

A

Paragraph 1

author, title, genre, setting

Paragraph 2

plot, characters, character development

Paragraph 3

themes, symbols

Paragraph 4

personal opinion, rate of the story

3. What role do you think friendship plays in our daily life? Now, let’s read a short story. After that, you may get a better understanding of friendship.

4. Read the story again and then complete the table with the key words in the short story.

Skills building 2: asking for and giving opinions

1. Group work: Discussion: How to ask for and give opinions?

What do you think of…?

How do you like/find…?

How do you feel about…?

Do you think that…?

In my opinion,…

I think that…

As far as I’m concerned,…

Personally,…

2. Pair work: Create a situation and make a dialogue, you’ll practice using the phrases you listed just now.

3. Read the guidelines on Page 12.

Step 2: giving your opinion on a literary review

1. Read the literary review of “The Attic” on page 12. Focus on the plot, characters and the theme of the story.

2. Have a discussion about the five questions listed below the review. Give your ideas freely.

3. Acting: Work in pairs, making a dialogue. One acts as the reporter and the other as the reader. Try to use as many questions as possible.

Skills building 3: writing a literary review

1. Read the guidelines at the top of page 13. Remember what should be included in a review.

2. Work in groups of four to write an outline of a literary review.

Step 3: writing your review

You are expected to write a literary review of “The home-made ball” based on the information you have collected in Steps 1 and 2 and through this to practice the skills you have learnt in Skills buildings 1, 2 and 3.

1. Review the information you have collected and the main points you need to include in writing a review.

2. Work in groups of four to write the review.

Possible example

‘The home-made ball’ is a short story written by Jerry Johnson. The story is set in modern-day America.

The main character of ‘The home-made ball’ is a boy called Kevin. Kevin and Mike are good friends who play soccer with their home-made ball every day, but when Kevin gets new sneakers and a soccer ball, things change.

Friendship is an important theme in this short story. The author, Jerry Johnson, uses the old and new things, like the old home-made ball and the new soccer ball, and the old bench and the new sneakers as symbols. The old things symbolize the most valuable thing, friendship, which needs to be cherished.

I think this story is really good and I give it a rating of four out of five.

Language points of Task

1…but Mike had made a ball out of old socks.

make sth(制成品) out of sth（原材料） …是由…做成的

make sth（原材料）into sth(制成品) 把…做成…

…old socks had been made into a ball

make out 看得清：搞得懂

make up for sth.

No amount of money can make up for the death of a child.

This year's good harvest will make up for last year's bad one.

make ends meet

to have just enough money to pay for the things that you need 使收支平衡

I make so little money that I cannot make ends meet.

make a fool of sb. 捉弄

to trick someone or make them appear stupid in some way

2. have talent for (P11)

talent

n. [C or U] (someone who has) a natural ability to be good at sth., especially without being taught: 天賦

Her talent for music showed at an early age.

His artistic talents were wasted in his boring job.

talented adj. a talented footballer/pianist

3. at the sight of (P11)

sight

n. [C or S or U] sth. that is in someone's view: 景色

The flowers at the annual flower show were a beautiful sight.

You should always keep sight of your bags (= have them where you can see them) while you're at the airport.

I dare not let the children out of my sight (= go where I cannot see them) in this park.

The castle came into sight (= started to be able to be seen) as we went round a bend in the road.

I caught sight of (= saw for a moment) my former teacher while I was out shopping today, but she turned a corner and I lost sight of (= could no longer see) her.

4. let out a sad sigh (P11)

Let out the secret=give away the secret

He let the air out of the balloon.

She let out a scream (= She made this noise).

5. Up it flew, higher and higher, until it was a small dot in the sky. (P11) 它越飛越高，直到在空中變成一個小點。

here, there, now, then, out, in, up, down, away或以象聲詞等開頭的句子用全部倒裝，以表示強調。注意：代詞作主語時，主謂語序不變。

完全倒裝結構通常用于下列場合：

1). 用于there be 句型。例如：

There are many students in the classroom.

2). 用于“here (there, now, then)+ 不及物動詞+主語 ”的句型中，或以out, in, up, down, away等副詞開頭的句子里，以表示強調。例如：

Here comes the bus.

There goes the bell.

注：代詞作主語時，主謂語序不變。例如：

Here it is.

Here he comes

. 當句首狀語為表示地點的介詞詞組時，也常常引起全部倒裝。例如：

South of the city lies a big steel factory.

From the valley came a frightening sound.

3). 用于so, nor, neither開頭的句子，表示重復前句部分內容。原句的謂語應與前句謂語的時態、形式相一致。例如：

He has been to Beijing. So have I.

Li Wei can’t answer the question. Neither can I.

6.P12 T he gravity of the situation led her to run away to Ireland.

lead sb to do sth 導致某人干某事

What lead you to resign?

lead sb +prep. (doing) sth帶領，領導某人干某事

He led us though the forest.

lead a simple life 過著簡樸的生活

● Project Reciting a poem

Part A: Reading

At the beginning of this period, let’s enjoy an English poem:….

look at the screen and listen to the tape, trying to grasp the theme of the poem.

It’s a romantic poem. As we all know, romantic themes tend to be emotional. Today, we’ll read and later recite a romantic poem about love by Robert Burns A Red, Red Rose. Let’s come to the reading part of Project.

1. Read the report on the poetry of Robert Burns, Skim for the main idea of this article and tell how it is organized.

Paragraphs 1-4 introduction of Robert Burns

Paragraphs 5-7 some information about a movement of poets called the Romantic Movement

Paragraphs 8-9 the poem ‘A Red, Red Rose’ with its introduction and explanation

2. Pair work: Rearrange the events in the order of time. Fill in the following table:

Time Event

1750 The Romantic Movement started.

1759 Robert Burns was born.

1794 The poem ‘A Red, Red Rose’ was published.

1796 Robert Burns died at the age of 37.

1870 The Romantic Movement ended.

1877 The monument to Burns was first publicly exhibited.

3. Read the article for a third time to get more information about this report, and then fill in the following table about Robert Burns.

Year of birth Place of birth Year of death Family status

1759 Alloway, Scotland 1796 Poor

His first love Name Nelly Kirkpatrick

Effect on him Encouraged him to start writing poetry

Main works ‘To a Mouse’; ‘The Holy Fair’; ‘A Red, Red Rose’

The movement

of poets Name of the movement Romantic Movement

Representative poets John Keats; William Wordsworth; Robert Burns

Features Romantic themes tend to be more emotional.

The poems are always about love, dreams or nature.

The way people

memorize him *All of Scotland mourned his death, and afterwards many people donated money to support his widow and children. The monument to him was first publicly exhibited in 1877 and about 30,000 people attended the first exhibition.

*The house in Alloway, where Burns was born, is now a museum of his life and work.

4. Read and recite the poem A Red, Red Rose, trying to understand the meaning of the poem.

Part B

1. Group work: Discuss the eight questions in Part B. Then prepare your project.

2. Present your project.

Language points of Project

1. After his first book of poetry was published, he transformed and became famous nationwide overnight. (P14) 在他的第一本詩集出版后，他的生活發生了變化，一夜之間全國聞名。

overnight

adj., adv. 1) for or during the night: 一夜之間

an overnight stop in Paris

You can stay overnight if you want to.

Don't forget to pack an overnight bag (= a bag for things that you need when you stay away from home for a night).

2) suddenly and unexpectedly: 突然,出乎意料的

She became a star overnight.

The book was an overnight success.

2. A hard life and a weak constitution shortened Robert Burns’s life. (P14)

艱辛的生活和虛弱的體質縮短了彭斯的生命。

shorten

v. [I or T] to become shorter or to make sth. shorter: (使)變短

As you grow older, your spine shortens by about an inch.

I've asked him to shorten my grey trousers.

The name” kathren' is often shortened to 'katel'.

3.belong to 屬于，無被動態,無進行時

The house belongs to his parents.

Belonging to the developing country, China needs greater improvement in economy.

4．Romantic themes tend to be more emotional 主題更加趨向于情感化

tend to do“易于，往往會”

Women tend to live longer than men.

Children tend to listen to their parents .But when they grow into teens ,they would more ofen turn to their friends for advice.

tend to +n. 照顧

We hired a girl to tend to the children for a few hours each day.

5.sb intend/mean to do sth 意欲干某事

sth be intended to do 某物被用來干…

Do you intend to make a long stay here?

Public Advertisements intended(which are intended) to educate people are of great value.