English For Today chapter 11: Reading from English Literature

Unit Eleven

Reading from English Literature

Learning outcomes

After we have studied the unit, we will be able to

• recognize and use English sounds, stress, and intonation
• understand and enjoy stories and other texts
• interpret, evaluate, and summarise literary texts.

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Lesson 1: Books

A . Ask and answer these questions in pairs.

1. Do you read any books other than your school textbooks?
2. If yes, what kinds of books do you read? (stories, poems, etc)
3. Now write one or two reasons why you read those books and share with your partner.

B . Read the poem.

Books

• Eleanor Farjeon

What worlds of wonder are our books! As one opens them and looks, New ideas and people rise In our fancies and our eyes.

The room we sit in melts away, And we find ourselves at play With some one who, before the end, May become our chosen friend.

Or we sail along the page To some other land or age. Here’s our body in the chair, But our mind is over there.

Each book is a magic box, Which with a touch a child unlocks. In between their outside covers Books hold all things for their lovers.

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C . Answer that following questions.

1. What does the poet say about the good things that reading a book can do to you?
2. What does the poet compare book to in the opening lines of the poem?
3. How does the poem describe the way books "fly" to us?
4. According to the poem, how do books provide comfort or companionship?
5. Do you agree with the poet's portrayal of books as magical and timeless? Why or why not?

Lesson 2: Two Mothers Remembered

A . Read the poem and answer the following questions

Two Mothers Remembered

• Joann Snow Duncanson

I had two Mothers – two Mothers I claim Two different people, yet with the same name. Two separate women, diverse by design, But I loved them both because they were mine.

The first was the Mother who carried me here, Gave birth and nurtured and launched my career. She was the one whose features I bear, Complete with the facial expressions I wear. She gave me her love, which follows me yet, Along with the examples in life she set. As I got older, she somehow younger grew, And we’d laugh as just Mothers and daughters do. But then came the time that her mind clouded so, And I sensed that the Mother I knew would soon go. So quickly she changed and turned into the other, A stranger who dressed in the clothes of my Mother. Oh, she looked the same, at least at arm’s length, But now she was the child and I was her strength. We’d come full circle, we women three,

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My mother the first, the second and me. And if my own children should come to a day, When a new Mother comes and the old goes away, I’d ask of them nothing that I didn’t do. Love both of your Mothers as both have loved you.

Questions

Answer the following questions:

1. How are the two mothers different from each other?
2. How are they the same?
3. What did the first mother do to the speaker?
4. Who was the speaker’s second mother? Describe her briefly.
5. What would be the speaker’s advice to her own children?
6. Who are the three women referred to in the poem? Briefly describe them.
7. What should children do to their mother and why?
8. Do you like this poem? Why?

Lesson 3: The Sands of Dee

A . Listen to the poem. Read it aloud in groups.

The Sands of Dee

• Charles Kingsley

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“O Mary, go and call the cattle home, And call the cattle home, And call the cattle home Across the sands of Dee!” The western wind was wild and dank with foam, And all alone went she.

The western tide crept up along the sand, And o’er and o’er the sand, And round and round the sand, As far as eye could see. The rolling mist came down and hid the land And never home came she.

“Oh! Is it weed, or fish, or floating hair, A tress of golden hair, A drowned maiden’s hair Above the nets at sea? Was never salmon yet that shone so fair Among the stakes of Dee.”

They rowed her in across the rolling foam, The cruel crawling foam, The cruel hungry foam, To her grave beside the sea: But still the boatmen hear her call the cattle home Across the sands of Dee.

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B . Answer these questions.

1. What was the weather like when Mary went to bring the cattle home?
2. Look at some words, phrases and sentences that have been repeated several times. Explain why the poet has done that.
3. How has the poet described the sea?
4. Narrate the story of Mary in your own words.
5. Suppose you were walking on the shore with a couple of your friends while Mary was drowning. Describe what you would have done.

Lesson 4: Time, You Old Gipsy Man

A . Read and answer the following questions.

1. Have you ever seen a gipsy? If yes, where?
2. Do gipsies live in our country?
3. In what ways are they different from the general people?

B . Now read the poem and answer the questions that follow.

Time, You Old Gipsy Man

• Ralph Hodgson

Time, you old gipsy man, Will you not stay, Put up your caravan Just for a day?

All things I’ll give you, Will you be my guest? Bells for your jennet Of silver the best, Goldsmiths shall beat you A great golden ring,

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Peacocks shall bow to you, Little boys sing, Oh, and sweet girls will Festoon you with may. Time, you old gipsy, Why hasten away?

Last week in Babylon, Last night in Rome, Morning, and in the crush Under Paul’s dome; Under Paul’s dial You tighten your rein— Only a moment And off once again; Off to some city Now blind in the womb, Off to another Ere that’s in the tomb.

Time, you old gipsy man, Will you not stay, Put up your caravan Just for a day?

Questions:

1. Why does the poet call time an ‘old gipsy man’?
2. Make a list of things the poet will offer time if it stays just for a day.
3. What else can you offer time if it stays for a day?
4. What does the poem imply about the human struggle to control or delay Time?
5. Is the poem's message about Time ultimately pessimistic or realistic? Discuss.

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Lesson 5: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

A . Ask and answer these questions.

1. Do you enjoy natural beauty like flowers, trees, woods, hills, etc.?
2. Have you ever been to a place where you enjoyed such beauty? If yes, briefly describe it.

B . Read the poem and say how the words in each stanza rhyme. For example,

in stanza 1 know (line 1) though (line 2) and snow (line 4) rhyme with each other.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

• Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

C . Answer the following questions.

1. Where do you think the poet is going? Why is he going there?
2. Why does the speaker stop by the woods on a snowy evening?
3. What does the speaker mean when he says, "The woods are lovely, dark and deep"?

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4. Guess what promise the poet had to keep before he would sleep.

Why did the poet stop by the woods though it was dark and he was alone?

5. Is the poem's ending hopeful or resigned? Discuss your interpretation.

6. Write an imaginary dialogue between the poet and his horse.