English For Today chapter 8: Relationships

Unit Eight : Relationships

Lesson 1

Family Relationship

A. Discuss the following questions in pairs.

1. What do you see in the picture? Can you guess the relationship among the people you see?
2. What type of relationship do you have in your family?
3. Who do you have the closest relationship within the family?

B. Read the following text and then discuss the questions that follow.

The famous Greek philosopher Aristotle said, Humans are by nature social animals.' What he meant was that human beings, by instinct, seek company of others and establish relationships, much like most animals of the wild, for companionship and for physical and emotional support. Unlike animals, however, human relationships give meaning to their existence and inspire them to do well in education, in workplace or in a profession.

Relationships are of different kinds. Some are familial and intimate, formed by blood and by marriage; some are social like the ones we have with friends and some are made in schools where we form close bonds with classmates and teachers. Relationships can also be fostered in workplaces, which may quickly change from professional to social. There are relationships also between human beings and animals, between children and their toys that they cannot part with.

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All these relationships keep us close to each other and provide us all kinds of support, love and affection. A person who has no family feels the pain of loneliness and isolation. There is no one to laugh or cry with him/her. When we share our joy with someone, it simply redoubles, and we when we suffer a loss and someone shares our sorrow, it lessens. Relationships are thus needed for our emotional health.

To build relationships, we need to have trust and respect for each other, and love where this is needed. We cannot be selfish and possessive if we want to establish an effective relationship. But quite often we see people quarrelling and fighting with each other which only brings misery and loss to all.

Now discuss the following questions in pairs.

1. Why is relationship so important?
2. What different types of relationships are there?
3. What happens to a person who has no family?
4. What are some of the preconditions of good relationship?

C. Think of a member of your family who is kind and caring. Write a paragraph in no more than 150 words about him/her. In your paragraph you should include the following:

• Who is the person?
• What does he/she do for you?
• What do you do to return his/her acts of kindness?
• Give one example of his/her caring attitude.

My family

Members in my family who live with me:

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………

Things my family likes to do for fun:

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………

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My family is different from other families because

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………

What I really like about my family is

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………

My favourite memory of my family is when

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Something I would change about my family is

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………

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Lesson 2

Warmth in Relationships

A. Discuss the following questions in pairs.

Figure

Description: A snow-covered house at night, painted in blue tones, with a bare tree on the left, snow on the roof and ground, and warmly lit windows.

1. What do you see in this picture? What is the weather like?
2. What do you do on weekend mornings – sleep a little longer or go to work?
3. Do you like to wake up early every morning?
4. Do you like to study on weekends?

B. Now read the poem and do the activities that follow.

Those Winter Sundays

- Robert Hayden

Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking. When the rooms were warm, he'd call, and slowly I would rise and dress, fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him, who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well. What did I know, what did I know of love's austere and lonely offices?

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C. Match the words and their meanings in the context of the poem.

D. Read the poem in a small group and discuss what the following phrases suggest.

• Line 5: "banked fires blaze"
• Line 6: "the cold splintering, breaking"
• Line 7: "the rooms were warm"
• Line 11: "driven out the cold"

E. There are good examples of alliteration used in the poem. According to Cambridge English Dictionary alliteration is the use, especially in poetry, of the same sound or sounds, especially consonants, at the beginning of several words that are close together. In this poem alliteration is first used in lines 2 and 3, with the harsh /k/ sounds in "clothes," "cold," and "cracked."

Find more examples of alliterations used in the poem following the clues given below.

• Line 4: "w", "w"
• Line 5: "b", "b"
• Line 7: "W", "w", "w"
• Line 14: "l", "l"

F. Discuss the following questions in pairs.

1. Who is the speaker in the poem?
2. What is meant by the phrase "Sunday too"?
3. Do you think that the speaker's father lived a life of toil? Which lines in the poem help you to answer this question?

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G. What is the main theme of the poem? Discuss in pairs. Then complete the paragraphs below that describe the main theme of the poem.

perspective regretful sacrifice appreciate childhood

The speaker of the poem realizes from his adult (a) _____ that he took his father for granted. Now in adulthood, he more fully understands what it means to make (b) _____ for others. Now, he can look back on his (c) _____ and appreciate the way his father was carrying out his duties and responsibilities. Most children can't fully (d) _____ their parents because they haven't had to be responsible yet for another human being. "Those Winter Sundays," then, has a kind of sadness to it that is equal parts nostalgic and (e) _____ . The speaker knows he can't travel back in time and show his gratitude to his father, but that he can at least record it in the poem.

About the poet: Robert Hayden was born into a poor family in Detroit in USA in 1913 and had a difficult childhood beset by eyesight problems. He was raised in part by foster parents and missed a father's caring love. But in the sonnet, which is about a childhood memory, he writes about a father – probably his own-- who is harsh and often angry, but does love his son in his own way. Hayden, a black American, wrote about black experiences and history. He died in 1980.

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