Unit 1 The written word

Part One Teaching Design

第一部分 教學設計

Aims and requirements

Read a student’s essay about appreciating literature and a student’s report on Robert Burns

Listen to information on how to write a literary review

Discuss some classic literature and give your opinion on a literary review

Write a literary review

Recite a poem

Procedures

● Welcome to the unit

Step 1: Brainstorming

As we all know, reading plays an important role in our daily life and we often have chances to appreciate good books. They bring us pleasure as well as knowledge. So we’re always lost in good books, especially some world-famous works.

Can you name some of the books you’ve read?

Would you like to recommend your favorite book to your classmates?

For reference

Gone with the Wind. It was written by Margaret Mitchell in 1936 and set a sales record when 50,000 copies were sold in one day. By 1965, it had sold more than 10,000,000 copies and had been translated into 25 languages in 29 countries. It is one of the most successful best-sellers ever written. With Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell taught us, “Tomorrow is another day.”

For reference

安娜卡列尼娜》 ANNA KARENINA

------列夫托爾斯泰 Tolstoy, Leo

《環繞地球80天》 AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

------儒勒凡爾納 Verne, Jules

《懺悔錄》 A CONFESSION

------列夫托爾斯泰 Tolstoy, Leo

《雙城記》 A TALE OF TWO CITIES

------查爾斯狄更斯 Dickens, Charles

《茶花女》 CAMILLE

------小仲馬 Dumas, Alexander, Fils

《罪與罰》CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

------費奧多爾陀思妥耶夫斯基 Dostoevsky, Fyodor

《大衛科波菲爾》DAVID COPPERFIELD

------查爾斯狄更斯 Dickens, Charles

《堂吉訶德》DON QUIXOTE

------米蓋爾臺塞萬提斯 Cervantes, Miguel de

《歐也妮葛朗臺》EUGENIE GRANDET

------奧諾瑞德巴爾扎克 Balzac, Honore de

《高老頭》FATHER GORIOT

------奧諾瑞德巴爾扎克 Balzac, Honore de

《遠大前程》GREAT EXPECTATIONS

------查爾斯狄更斯 Dickens, Charles

《格列佛游記》GULLIVER'S TRAVELS

------瓊納森斯威夫特 Swift，Jonathan

《簡愛》JANE EYRE

------夏洛蒂勃朗特 Bronte，Charlotte

《悲慘世界》LES MISERABLES

------維克多雨果 Hugo，Victor

《包法利夫人》MADAME BOVARY

------居斯塔夫福樓拜 Flaubert, Gustave

《福爾摩斯回憶錄》 MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

------阿瑟柯南道爾 Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan

《霧都孤兒》OLIVER TWIST

------查爾斯狄更斯 Dickens, Charles

《傲慢與偏見》PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

------簡奧斯丁 Austen, Jane

《復活》RESURRECTION

------列夫托爾斯泰 Tolstoy, Leo

《魯濱遜漂流記》 ROBINSON CRUSOE

------丹尼爾笛福 Defoe, Daniel

《德伯家的苔絲》TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES

------托馬斯哈代 Hardy，Thomas

《基督山伯爵》THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO

------大仲馬 Dumas, Alexandre, Pere

《巴黎圣母院》THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME

------維克多雨果 Hugo, Victor

《湯姆索耶歷險記》THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER

------馬克吐溫 Twain, Mark

《浮士德》FAUSTUS

------歌德 Johann, Wolfgang, von, Goethe

《紅與黑》BLACK AND RED

------司湯達 Stendhal

《戰爭與和平》WAR AND PEACE

------列夫托爾斯泰 Tolstoy, Leo

《呼嘯山莊》WUTHERING HEIGHTS

------艾米莉勃朗特 Bronte，Emily

《三個火槍手》THE THREE MUSKETEERS

------大仲馬 Dumas, Alexandre, pere

《哈姆雷特》HAMLET

------威廉莎士比亞 Shakespeare, William

《羅密歐與朱麗葉》ROMEO AND JULIET

------威廉莎士比亞 Shakespeare, William

《威尼斯商人》THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

------威廉莎士比亞 Shakespeare, William

《灰姑娘》CINDERELLA

------格林兄弟 Grimm Brothers

《小紅帽》LITTLE RED － CAP

------格林兄弟 Grimm Brothers

《白雪公主》LITTLE SNOW－WHITE

------格林兄弟 Grimm Brothers

《皇帝的新裝》THE EMPEROR'S NEW SUIT

------漢斯C安徒生 Andersen, Hans C.

《賣火柴的小女孩》THE LITTLE MATCH－SELLER

------漢斯C安徒生 Andersen, Hans C.

《丑小鴨》THE UGLY DUCKLING

------漢斯C安徒生 Andersen, Hans C.

As is said above, literature plays an important role in our daily lives. We read books for pleasure, for academic purpose or for obtaining and sharing information with other people. In this unit we are going to deal with the topics of English literature. I’d like you to give me some information about literature.

Would you please list some genres of literature?

Drama, poetry, novels, short stories, science fictions and etc.

Nowadays, besides the traditional books, that is, books in print, do we have any other kinds of book?

For reference

E-books :

E-books are the books downloaded to your computer by Internet online, which are bought online and read online. Also if when you need to take a hardcopy of books then you can print them and enjoy with it. So e-book is an electronic (or digital) version of a book.

Now, let’s have a discussion:

What are the benefits of reading e-books?

For reference

The main benefits of E-Books are:

1. When you need certain information, you can get it immediately, by downloading an e-book at your any kind of Computer like Mac, laptop, PDA and more...

2. In most cases, e-books are cheaper than paper books.

3. E-Books are free and easy to download from the internet.

4. E-books are quickly searchable and you can search it by topic and categories.

5. E-books take up less space so you can store hundreds and thousands of e-books in your computer.

6. E-books are portable and so you can carry it without worrying about their weight.

7. E-books can be printable, so that if you wish to read an e-book in the traditional way.

8. E-books are very simple and easy to purchase and download.

9. You can make a good library of all kinds of digital books that you need.

10. All lovers of e-books can enjoy them anywhere at anytime by using today’s technology. Because they can save their time, money and comprise searches by internet.

Step 2: Sharing information

Group work: Look at the four pictures at page 1. Let’s study them one by one and try to discuss. The following questions might help you.

Picture 1

Have you ever been a member of a reading club? What did you do in the reading club? Does our school have a reading club? Are you a member of this club? If you are, what do you think of the club?

What kind of activities does a book club usually hold? (In a reading club, people read books together and then discuss them. People can share information about books and authors, hold book fairs, write articles about the books they read and do other book-related things.)

Why might people want to join a book club? (They might want to join a book club because it provides a place for people with similar interest to find friends easily and share information about their favourite books and authors. In a reading club, people can always learn more.)

Picture 2

Do you think reading books in print is the only way to read? In what other ways can we read? (People now have more choices about the ways to read books. For example, we can browse online literature websites and read short stories on web pages. Some books are stored as Word files or PDF files on CDs or even posted online. We can use a computer to run the CDs or visit websites and read e-books. We can also store e-books on portable electronic gadgets like a PDA and read the books wherever we go. Recently, some telecommunication companies have begun providing a service where they send chapters of a book through text messages. That way, people can read books on their mobile phones.)

What are the advantages and disadvantages of e-books?

(E-books have a lot of advantages. They save a lot of space. A CD can store many books and it weighs just a few grams so that it is much easier to carry some CDs than to carry a heavy suitcase full of books in print when travelling or moving house. E-books provide people with a more personalized way of reading as the readers can set the pages, adjust the point size of the text or change the background colour. Some even provide a voice function so that people can ‘read’ their books by listening. Many people report that they read e-books faster than books in print. Besides, we can save a lot of trees because no paper will be used for e-books.

However, as many other electronic gadgets, e-books have disadvantages as well. To read e-books, people must first have an electronic device that can display them. Besides, when reading e-books, people cannot make notes or comments on the margin as they can with books in print. More importantly, e-books available online may hurt copyright holders.)

Have you tried reading an e-book? What was it like?

Are e-books popular? If not, do you think it will become popular?

Do you prefer reading books in print or e-books? Why?

Picture 3

What is science fiction? (Science fiction is a genre of literature that uses imaginary stories. The stories talk about things or adventures happening and are usually set in the future, with themes based on scientific theories.)

Do you like science fiction? Can you name one or two science fiction writers? Can you name any examples of science fiction books that are widely read now? (French writer Jules Verne is regarded as the father of science fiction. He wrote many famous science fiction stories which are still popular now, such as Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, Around the World in Eighty Days, Five Weeks in the Balloon and From the Earth to the Moon.)

Why do you think science fiction is so attractive to people?

Is science fiction popular in China? Can you name any Chinese science fiction writers?

Picture 4

Do you like reading or writing poems? Why or why not?

Which poem is your favourite? Why do you like it? Could you recite it for us?

Which poet’s work do you enjoy reading the most?

Step 3: Discussion

1. Do you think that e-books will replace books in print?

2. What are some of the differences between poetry and science fiction books?

Sample answers

1. In my opinion, e-books will eventually replace books in print. E-books have many advantages over books in print. First of all, they are much easier to carry. We can take many of our favourite books on a CD-ROM (or several) when travelling, while even one book in print may add too much weight to our suitcase. Besides, reading becomes easier on e-books as we can set point size of text and the paper size to what is most comfortable for us. In addition, storing e-books is much easier. You may put all the books on your bookcase in just one CD and you don’t have to worry that the humid air may destroy the books. Of course, it may be quite a long time before e-books replace books in print.

2. In my opinion, there are many differences between poetry and science fiction. To begin with, poetry uses much more concise language and special writing techniques like rhythm and rhyme. Next, poets often express their thoughts and feelings in poems, while science fiction writers often tell what may be possible in the future based on developments in science. Lastly, poems usually reflect life or society at specific times, while the main topics of science fiction books range from scientific discoveries, space travel, life on other planets to environmental changes.

For reference

Poetry

Poetry is a popular art form, which emphasizes rhythm, sound and imagery. Poems usually use language set up in lines, with a regular rhythm and often a definite rhyme scheme. Poets usually express their strong feelings through this art form. For more information about poetry, you may visit the following website:

http://eserver.org/poetry/

Science fiction stories

Science fiction stories often show what may be possible in the far future based on what we can already observe today. A popular theme of science fiction is what society might look like in the future. Scientific discoveries, space travel, life on other planets and environmental changes also are often discussed in science fiction stories. For more information about science fiction stories, you may visit the following website:

http://www.sfsite.com /fsf/

Step 4: Homework

1. Collect more information about literature.

2. Prepare the Reading part.