THAT’S ENGLISH! – MODULE 10 – UNIT 8 A GOOD READ A) GRAMMAR - MODALS FOR SPECULATION IN THE PAST https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FOuxPICcQo https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/es/quick-grammar/modals-deduction-past http://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/speculating-about-past-events http://www.headsupenglish.com/upperintermediate/grammar/modalsofspeculationtwoactivity.pdf B) VOCABULARY http://2.bp.blogspot.com/fi70ls1d0Lg/UE4CO0yS4fI/AAAAAAAACo0/pbtI7ZcC7wQ/s1600/Literary %2Bgenres%2B001.jpg http://www.manythings.org/vocabulary/lists/c/words.php?f=types_of_books http://www.manythings.org/vocabulary/lists/c/words.php?f=parts_of_a_book - Definitions
to be engrossed in: to be completely focused on one thing bedtime reading: something to read in bed before you go to sleep to be a big reader: someone who reads a lot to be based on: to use as a modal to be heavy-going: difficult to read the central character: the main person in a film or book a classic: of the highest quality to come highly recommended: to be praised by another person couldn’t put it down: wasn’t able to stop reading a book an e-book: a digital book an e-reader: a device for reading e-books to flick through: to look quickly through a book to get a good/bad review: to receive positive or negative feedback hardback: a book with a rigid cover (see ‘paperback’ below) a historical novel: a story set in the past a page turner: a book that you want to keep reading paperback: a book with a flexible cover (see ‘hardback’ above)
plot: the main events in a film or book to read something from cover to cover: to read a book from the first page to the last sci-fi: science fiction the setting: where the action takes place to take out (a book from the library): to borrow a book from the library to tell the story of: to outline the details of someone’s life or an event
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Match the words to the questions.
plot
theme
setting
main characters sequel series
screen play
genre
1 Where does the story take place? 2 Who is the story about? 3 Has the story been rewritten as the script for a film? 4 What big issue is the novel about? 5 What important events happen in the story? 6 Is there another book after this one with the same characters? 7 What kind of fiction is this? 8 Is the book part of a sequence of books with the same characters? Now think about your favourite book and answer the questions
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Complete this text about ghostwriters with the words
hardback
paperbacks
author
cover autobiographies
best-seller
blurb royalty publishers
Ghostwriters Walk into any bookshop and the shelves are full of 1… by celebrities. Actors, chefs and athletes all have their stories to tell. Or do they? In fact, 90-95% of those books are written by ghostwriters: professional writers whose name
never even appears on the 2… . And, if the book goes into the 3… Top 10 list, it is the celebrity 4… who gets a 5… or percentage of the sales and the ghostwriter just gets a fee. But most books are not immediate best-sellers whoever actually writes them. Most writers are rejected by 6… . Even JK Rowling was rejected several times, and her first book only sold 5,000 copies in the more expensive 7… edition before the Potter series became a phenomenon and the 8… flew off the shelves. So, the next time you read the 9… on the back of a book claiming the writer tells their story ‘with humour and honesty’, you might wonder whose words you are reading! -
Complete the sentences with the adjectives from the box.
heartbreaking spellbinding
unconvincing crucial
disappointing complicated
1 The actor gave a … performance because he lacked confidence. 2 We were all crying at the end of the film because the plot was … . 3 The special effects were worth every penny because they were … to the success of the film. 4 I didn’t believe that the characters would behave like that: I found the plot totally … . 5 The plot was too … so I couldn’t understand the story. 6 The show holds your attention from beginning to end, it is … . - QUESTIONS AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS: Examiner: Do you like to read books? Marie: Yes … I love reading … I like nothing more than to be engrossed in a good book … I regularly take out books from the library and usually read them from cover to cover in no time … and I can’t go to sleep at night without some good bedtime reading …
Examiner: Do you prefer reading books or watching films? Louisa: I’m not really a big reader … I find books quite heavy-going … so I much prefer to see a film … perhaps it’s the special effects or the soundtrack … I don’t know … I just prefer a film …
Examiner: Is reading as pleasurable in digital format? Alise: Personally I prefer reading a paperback or hardback … especially if I’m reading a classic which I don’t think feels right as an e-book … but I can see it can
be good for others … my grandmother has an e-reader and she loves the way you can enlarge the text …
Examiner: Do you think bookshops will survive the digital revolution? Thomas: I think so … at least I hope so … I love flicking through books in a bookshop … online shopping is useful … finding out on Amazon if a book you want has got a good review … maybe getting one that is difficult to find … but I still love the experience of being in a bookshop …
Describe a book you have read. You should say:
what this book was when you read it why you decided to read the book and say if you enjoyed it and why.
Pauline I like reading … especially English novels … it’s a great way to improve your vocabulary and there are so many fantastic authors to choose from … one book that came highly recommended by my teacher was The Mayor of Casterbridge … I was studying at a school in The UK at the time and she said it would give me a picture of what life was like years ago in the area I was living … well I have to say I absolutely loved it … it was a real page-turner … it’s a historical novel and the setting was a fictional town called Casterbridge … but actually it was based on a town near where I was studying called Dorchester … it had such a great plot … to cut a long story short it tells the story of the downfall of a man called Henchard the central character who lives during a period of great social change around the time of the industrial revolution … the reason I enjoyed it so much … apart from the great story … it gave me a picture of what life had been like in the place I was studying at the time … I really couldn’t put it down … a fantastic story …
C) READING -
THE DEATH OF POETRY: http://fullspate.digitalcounterrevolution.co.uk/archive/poetry1.html
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- BOOKS DON’T GROW ON TREES: http://www.rong-chang.com/qa2/stories/story019.htm - A FESTIVAL OF BOOKS: http://www.rong-chang.com/qa2/stories/story024.htm -
Phone novels: http://www.elllo.org/english/Step/Q004PhoneNovels.html
(Listening : http://www.elllo.org/english/Step/T004Phone.htm) D) LISTENING - FARENHEIT 541: http://academicearth.org/electives/tldr-fahrenheit-451/ OR : http://isabelcota.blogia.com/2016/060101--farenheit-451-by-ray-bradbury.php Fahrenheit 451 is set in a homogenous, ……………………, war-obsessed America, where books are…………………, intellectualism scorned and the entire population exists in a state of dull …………………and sensory overload. Ring any bells? Guy Montag, the……………………………., is an impressionable fireman. His job is to burn books, which have been denounced as emotionally upsetting and…………………………………………... Montag starts to question his actions after meeting an ………………………… young woman, even going so far as to steal a book from a house as he burns it down. Montag becomes steadily more ……………………….of his miserable life, and resolves to take action against the ……………………….ruling society. With the help of a former English professor, Montag learns that books allow for selfexamination and …………………thought. Montag is then caught with the stolen books and must become a………………….. After a harrowing chase, Montag escapes and joins up with a group of roving ………………………..in the countryside. They watch as enemy planes bomb the city, and the group resolves to construct a new, better………………………….. Major Characters “Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal.” Montag: Guy Montag is a firefighter, and the book plots his movement from mindless drone to ……………………….. book-lover. He struggles with independent thought, and is often swayed by people’s rhetoric, making him something of an archetypal citizen in Bradbury’s ……………..future. Beatty: The fire chief, Beatty is brilliant, and very…………………………….. He is well-read, and can …………………..famous literary works at will, but he finds the written word dangerous and upsetting. He represents the more …………………..side of censorship.
Faber: Faber is a former English professor who is Montag’s intellectual mentor. Faber teaches Montag that ………………….and reason are the true paths to a more …………………..life. Themes, Motifs and Symbols “If you hide your ignorance, no one will hit you and you’ll never learn.” Fire: Fire destroys contraband, but it also entertains and delights people—Montag notices that almost all fires are at night, when they will look……………. Eventually, Montag comes to view fire as a ……………..not just for destruction or entertainment, but for sustenance as well. Mirrors: Clarisse, the young woman, is described as a mirror, and one of Montag’s eventual friends in the countryside claims the new world needs a mirror………………….. Mirrors represent inquiry and………………... Censorship: Bradbury argues that the population censors itself by ignoring ……………..or positions that make it………………………….. Reading books, he says, encourages beneficial…………………………….., while ……………………..only deludes people into being superficially happy. Analysis “Everyone must leave something in the room or left behind when he dies.” Farenheit 451 is a bleak ……………….of a world that’s too ……………….being…………………. By wiping out the written word, the world is supposedly free from …………………and upsetting information, but the only thing this brings is more…………………. The suppression of books is the suppression of……………………………………, which will slowly destroy any society. - http://www.elllo.org/english/0151/167-Mark-Reading.htm - http://elllo.org/english/1251/1295-Sarah-Books.htm - http://elllo.org/english/Mixer101/T105-Books.htm E) WRITING Think about a book or film you would like to review and make notes about the following: 1 Background information: title and author or director. 2 Location and setting: find adjectives to describe the setting and atmosphere. 3 Main characters: write two adjectives to describe each character. 4 Plot or story: summarise the main story in not more than three sentences. 5 Strengths: what did you like best about it? What adjectives describe your reaction to the book or film?
6 Weaknesses: what aspects were less successful? What adjectives describe these aspects? 7 Recommendation: what kind of people would like this film or book? Make your recommendations.
Write your review (175-200 words). Remember to include the following: � a brief description of the plot, characters and / or actors: but don’t spoil the ending! � a description of what you liked most and least and explain why � your recommendation F) SPEAKING TELLLING A STORY https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/exams/speaking-exams/tell-story-orpersonal-anecdote http://www.engvid.com/how-to-tell-a-story-like-a-native-english-speaker/ http://britishenglishcoach.com/how-to-tell-anecdotes-in-english/