Task 4 Read the following extract from The Great Gatsby, in which Gatsby is talking to Nick Carraway who Is the author’s ‘mouthpiece’; the whole story 1s seen through his eyes.. Umit
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1 Which of these statements are true, false or impossible to tell?
Gatsby was a German spy
Gatsby was related to one of Europe’s royal families
Gatsby was very rich
Gatsby was very well-known
Gatsby was married
Gatsby was in love with a married woman
2 What do these words from the second paragraph have in
common?
What impression ts their use in the ‘blurb’ intended to make?
fabulous
superb
amazing
remarkable
3 What is the ‘facade’ in the third paragraph that Gatsby had
created?
What does the description ‘bright and brittle’ suggest about
Gatsby’s life?
4 What appears to be the main factor motivating the way Gatsby
lived?
Task 4
Read the following extract from The Great Gatsby, in which Gatsby is
talking to Nick Carraway who Is the author’s ‘mouthpiece’; the whole
story 1s seen through his eyes
In this reading concentrate on the information which Gatsby gives
about his own life
‘Look here, old sport’, he broke out surprisingly, ‘what's your opinion of
me, anyhow”
A little overwhelmed, | began the generalized evasion which that
question deserves
‘Well, I'm going to tell you something about my life’, he interrupted ‘| 5
don't want you to get a wrong idea of me from all these stories you hear.’
So he was aware of all the accusations about him
‘I'll tell you God's truth.’ His right hand suddenly ordered divine
retribution to stand by ‘| am the son of some wealthy people in the
Middle West — all dead now | was brought up in America but educated 10
at Oxford, because all my ancestors have been educated there for many
years It’s a family tradition.’
He looked at me sideways, and | knew why Jordan Baker had believed
he was lying He hurried the phrase ‘educated at Oxford’, or swallowed it,
or choked on it, as though it had bothered him before And with this 15
doubt, his whole statement fell to pieces, and | wondered if there wasn't
something a little sinister about him, after all.
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‘What part of the Middie West?’ | inquired casually
‘San Francisco.’
‘| see.’
‘My family all died and | came into a great deal of money.’
His voice was solemn, as if the memory of that sudden extinction of a clan still haunted him For a moment | suspected that he was pulling my leg, but a glance at him convinced me otherwise
‘After that | lived like a young rajah in all the capitals of Europe — Paris Venice, Rome — collecting jewels, hunting big game and trying to forget something very sad that happened to me a long time ago.’
With an effort | managed to restrain my incredulous laughter The very phrases were so threadbare that they evoked no image except that of a turbaned ‘character’, leaking sawdust at every pore
‘Then came the war, old sport It was a great relief and I tried very hard
to die, but | seemed to bear an enchanted life | accepted a commission
as first lieutenant when it began In the Argonne forest | took my battalion
so far forward that there was a half mile gap on either side of us where the infantry couldn’t advance | was promoted to be a major and every Allied government gave me a decoration — even Montenegro.’
He reached into his pocket, and a piece of metal, slung on a ribbon, fell into my palm
‘Here’s another thing | always carry A souvenir of Oxford days — the man on my left is the Earl of Doncaster.’
Use the information in the extract to complete this factual account of Gatsby’s lite
Gatsby was bornin(]) His parents were very
because this was a family tradition He inherited a lot of money from his (4) when they died He spent a lot of time in Co) In the war he became a (6) and was decorated by every government, including (7) ; for bravery
Task 5 Gatsby provides two pieces of evidence to support what he says about himself What are they?
What unpression is Gatsby trying to make with these two pieces of evidence?
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Task 6
Read the extract again, this time concentrating on the parts that
describe how Nick Carraway responds to what Gatsby says
Underline the parts of the text in which the author describes how
Nick responded
Which one of the following statements best describes Nick’s overall
response?
(_] a Nick does not know whether to believe or disbelieve Gatsby
[_] b Nick is not sure about some of the details but is inclined to
believe Gatsby’s story
[J] ¢ Nick is totally disbelieving of Gatsby’s story
[-] d= Nick is totally convinced by Gatsby’s story
Task 7
The table below contains extracts from the text that describe Nick
Carraway’s responses to Gatsby’s story
Check that you underlined the right parts in Task 6
1 ‘A little overwhelmed, I began the generalized a Why was Nick surprised by Gatsby’s question? evasion which that question deserves.’ b Why did he evade giving a clear answer?
2 ‘So he was aware of all the accusations about c What do you think these accusations were? him.’
3 ‘He looked at me sideways, and I knew why d What does ‘looking sideways’ suggest?
Jordan Baker had believed he was lying He e What does ‘hurned swallowed choked hurried the phrase ‘educated at Oxford’, or on the phrase’ suggest?
swallowed it, or choked on it, as though it had f{ What does ‘his whole statement fell to pieces’ bothered him before And with this doubt, his mean?
whole statement fell to pieces, and I wondered
if there wasn’t something a little sinister about
him, after all.’
4 ‘His voice was solemn, as if the memory of that g What does ‘pulling my leg’ mean?
sudden extinction of a clan haunted him For a h_ Did Nick think that Gatsby was pulling his leg? moment I suspected that he was pulling my leg,
but a glance at hum convinced me otherwise.’
5 ‘With an effort I managed to restrain my i In what sense were the phrases ‘threadbare’? incredulous laughter The very phrases were In what way does Gatsby appear a ‘character’?
so threadbare that they evoked no image What kind of character ‘leaks sawdust at every except that of a turbaned ‘character’, leaking pore’?
sawdust at every pore.’
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Answer the questions about Nick’s responses, and then reconsider your choice in the last part of Task 6 Did you choose the statement that best describes Nick’s response to what Gatsby says or do you want to change your mind?
Task 8 Look back at the list of character types tn Task 1 and decide which seem to apply to Gatsby Complete the following table, giving evidence from the ‘blurb’ and the extract from the novel to support your opinions
The following are comments from critics about The Great Gatsby Read the comments and decide whether or not you agree with them
on the basis of the evidence you have available
1 ‘Fitzgerald’s characters are so real that you have an uncanny feeling
of having met them somewhere before
Minneapolis Sunday Tribune
2 ‘Mr Fitzgerald thinks that Gatsby is a great tragic figure, but he merely succeeds in making the reader see him as a rather unbalanced young man.’
Dallas Morning News
3 ‘In Gatsby, we have a figure who is from one point of view a hero of romance, but from another is more a comic figure.’
4 ‘Gatsby is a character who has never ‘grown up’, a kind of eternal adolescent who is unable to distinguish between dream and reality.’ Write your own description of Gatsby
Task 9 You should now have a fairly clear picture of the kind of person Gatsby is Try to explain how you formed this picture
Do you think the ending of the novel is a happy or an unhappy one? What do you base your prediction on?
What problems did you experience in reading the extract from The Great Gatsby? How did you try to overcome these problems?
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2 Skills training
Finding out about the characters
Task 1
Read the following description of Gatsby
Gatsby, J — born Middle West: wealthy parents; educated Oxford,
England; widely travelled; adventurer, decorated for bravery in First World
War; millionaire; socialite: died (suicide) 1925
Where might you find this description?
What is the purpose of such a description?
How does this account of Gatsby’s life differ from that in the extract
on page 73?
What is the difference in the impression created by the two accounts?
Task 2
There are a number of techniques that a wniter can use to develop
the reader’s understanding of a character in a novel The writer can
[ |} a tell the reader directly what the character is like
|] b let other characters in the novel say what sort of person the
character 1s
LÌ c let the reader infer what the character is like from the actions
he/she performs in the novel
LÌ đ usea description of the character s physical appearance to
suggest what kind of person they are
Which of the above ways are used in the extract from The Great
Gatsby on page 73?
Task 3
Here is another extract from The Great Gatsby In this extract Nick
Carraway is talking with Gatsby’s father after Gatsby has committed
suicide
What picture do you form of Gatsby’s father?
In what ways does the father appear to be very different from
Gatsby?
What techniques are used to develop the reader’s picture of Gatsby’s
father?
lt was Gatsby's father, a solemn old man, very helpless and dismayed,
bundled up in a long cheap ulster against the warm September day His
eyes leaked continuously with excitement, and when | took the bag and
umbrella from his hands he began to pull so incessantly at his sparse
grey beard that | had difficulty in getting off his coat 5
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Unit 10
| helped him to a bedroom upstairs; while he took off his coat | told him that all arrangements had been deferred until he came
‘| didn't know what you'd want, Mr Gatsby —
‘Gatz is my name
— Mr Gatz | thought you might want to take the body West.’ He shook his head
‘Jimmy always liked it better down East He rose up to his position in the East Were you a friend of my boy’s, Mr —?’
‘We were close friends.’
‘He had a big future before him you know He was only a young man, but
he had a lot of brain power here.’
He touched his head impressively, and | nodded
‘If he'd of lived, he'd of been a greater man He'd have helped build up the country.’
‘That's true.’ | said uncomfortably
He fumbled at the embroidered coverlet, trying to take it from the bed, and lay down stiffly — was instantly asleep
Task 4 The Great Gatsby is a novel wnitten in the first person That is, the writer doesn’t speak directly to the reader, but communicates through one of the characters In this case the ‘I’ of the novel is Nick Carraway
Use the information in the two extracts from The Great Gatsby to write a brief character study of Nick Carraway
In groups, prepare a set of questions that you would like to ask Nick Carraway about Gatsby
One student will be chosen to role-play Nick Carraway When other students ask their questions, he/she must try to answer them ‘in character’, using his/her imagination to think up appropnate answers.
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TEACHER'S GUIDE
UNIT 1
How to play ayo
1 Reading tasks
Understanding instructions
Task 2
Depending on the ability and knowledge of the students, it
mav be advisable to prepare a set of instructions for one
game orally in class before the pair work begins This will
ensure that all students will know a game to devise
written instructions for
Task 3
The ayo board looks like this:
Africans often scoop out holes in the ground
Players also need something to put into the cups, such as
seeds, small stones, coins, etc
Task 4
1 a board and 48 seeds or pebbles
2 usually two
3 to beat vour partner
4 the player with the most seeds wins
5 no; the seeds must come from the side of the player
who makes the move Also a player must select seeds
from a hole so that after moving, her/his opponent can
also make a move
6 no
7 distributes them one by one anticlockwise around the
board
8 when the last seed of a move ends on the opponent's
side in a cup which now contains two or three seeds,
including this last one When this happens the player
also wins the seeds from any consecutively preceding
cups on the opponent'’s side which also contain two or
three seeds
9 the opponent must, if possible, move to enable the
player to move next time Otherwise the game ends
10 when a player has no seeds to move or when there Is
no further possibility of any seeds being gained
Task 5
1 Amoves 7 seeds from cup three; 8 of B’s seeds will be
captured
2 B moves 16 seeds from cup four; 4 seeds will be
captured
3 A moves 3 seeds from cup five; 3 seeds will be
captured
Task 7
It is important to recognize that this account of how the
text was read is not intended as a model of good reading
but as a basis for discussion
You can help the students to descnbe and discuss their
own reading strategies if you provide them with a
checklist of points to consider:
e reading speed (whether the reading speed was
appropriate for the kind of reading required)
regression (whether some parts of the text were read more than once and how frequently this took place)
depth (whether an attempt was made to understand
everything or whether a general understanding was aimed for)
e use of a dictionary (when and how often)
e use of diagrams (whether the text was related to the
information in the diagrams and how this was done)
e use of previous knowledge (of other similar games)
2 Skills Training Relating text to diagrams
Task 3
Starting position
Lie on your back with legs bent, feet flat on the floor and knees (or legs) parallel about a foot apart Keep your arms behind your head with your elbows out to the sides
First posttion Lift your head and upper shoulders off the floor as high as
you can, using your abdominal muscles, not your arms
Keep your back flat on the ground
Task 4
1 How to stop a tap dnpping
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SO Teacher's guide
2 How to unblock a sink
UNIT 2
Looking after no 1
1 Reading tasks
Interpreting ideas and opinions
Task 2
It would be useful to be able to play the song after the
students have read it and tried to imagine the singer
Task 3
The first option in Task 3 could be made more challenging
if one person dictates a picture for another to draw
Let each student decide which activity to do If none of
the activities interest any of the students, they could
devise one for themselves
Task 4
Make sure that students form themselves into groups of
people who have done different suggestions from Task 3
It will be more interesting if at least two different kinds of
work can be discussed in each group
Task 5
A class discussion would be useful after the group
discussions Accept any logical explanation of what the
singer means but insist on reasons being given for each
suggested explanation
Encourage groups to disagree (politely) with other groups
and to defend their explanations
Task 6
The expressions that describe the way the singer feels are:
“The world owes me a living’
‘I’m gonna take your money’
‘I’m lookin’ after no 1’
‘l’'ll step on your face, on your mother’s grave’
* I’m nobody's fool’
‘ It’s me that must come through’
‘Lalways get what [ want’
‘Don't wanna be like you’
‘I’m gonna be like me’
‘I’m an island’
Other answers are also possible as long as students can
justify their selection
Encourage the groups to think of as many possibilities for who they think ‘babe’ might be They must be able to justify their selection
Possible answers are his current girlfriend; a girl in the dole queue; the woman who gives out the dole money; a rich woman he plans to exploit in the future or even his teacher Or, it could be a symbol of the Establishment or
the Government
The singer could be talking to other people in the dole queue (verses 1 and 2); the civil servants who give out the dole money and/or the Government or Establishment that employs them (verse 3): a girlfriend (verse 5); the so-
called decent people in society (verses 4, 6, 9, 10); his
parents (verses 6, 7, 9, 10); his teachers (verses 6, 7, 9, 10); a vicar or the Church (verse 7) and all those people
who think that they are responsible for him and can tell him how to live
Some well-known phrases are:
‘Pm all right, Jack’
This is nonnally used by people who are gaining from the system and do not want any changes in the status quo Here it is used ironically by someone who suffers from the system but is determined to succeed despite tt
‘Love thy neighbour’
This is a quotation from the Bible He dismisses it as the kind of useless advice from priests, parents, teachers, etc., which prevents people like himself from exploiting others in order to succeed
‘I am an sland entire of myself This is a reference from a poem by John Donne called Devotions The actual words from the poem are: ‘No man
is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the
Continent, a part of the main.’
The poem says exactly what the songwriter is rejecting,
i.e that every person’s life is reflected in, and part of, the
rest of humanity
The songwniter turns the words around in an aggressive rejection of society, a society that the wniter feels has never given him anything and which he owes nothing He
is emphasizing his own self-sufficiency and determination
to take whatever he can, and in any way he can, from the society which has let him down
Trang 9Teacher's guide &1
‘And when I get old, older than today
[ll never need anybody's help in any way.’
These lines come from the Beatles’ song Help The writer
is making use of this catchy phrase to emphasize his
determination to be self-sufficient There is probably a
slight element of mockery of the sentimentalism in the pop
song which asks for help and which the wniter rejects as a
possibility for the person whose motto ts ‘to look after no
1’ (oneself) and not to be concerned with helping anyone
else The songwniter doesn't believe that one can expect
help or support from anyone else
Task 7
If you think your class might find this activity difficult you
could record the beginning of the interview (using a
colleague for one of the parts) and play it to the class to
get them started
e.g Journalist Are you making a personal statement in
this song? Is the singer you?
Writer Oh yes Definitely That’s what I believe
Journalist What exactly is it that you are saying in
the song? And who are you saying 1t to?
Task 8
Let students choose whether to write as individuals, in a
pair or in a group
Encourage the songwriters to sing or read their songs but
do not force them
Encourage the journalists to ‘publish’ their articles on the
wall (perhaps after some editing by you)
Task 10
We feel that b, c and d could all help but that a would only
frustrate and could hinder real global understanding of the
song d offers the most effective technique for reading and
understanding the song
2 Skulls training
Interpreting ideas and opinions
Task 1
It would obviously help if you took a collection of
newspapers, magazines and books into the classroom for
the learners to use in this task
Task 2
It would be useful for you to ask your learners to explain
the significance of each of the examples and possibly to
find or write other examples
Task 3
Mr Pnice and Mrs Newbrook are in favour of the
motorway being built through their town
1 We feel that the wnter is being facetious and ts
attacking people who attack modern education for being
too liberal ‘dictate’ is the main clue)
2 The wnter is attacking the students for abusing free
speech He/She is really saving ‘Why wasn’t the Prime
Minister also allowed free speech?’
3 The article is obviously sarcastic and ts really saying the
resort 1s ugly, uncomfortable and unfinished
Task 4
In order to give an exact paraphrase of each of the texts it would be necessary to know more about their contexts
However, the following are possible interpretations
1 I don’t want to be alone I want to have connections
with other people
2 He hurts people by being verv sarcastic about them
3 Her father appeared to be a loving person but his
carelessness killed one of the people he was supposed
to love
4 How can you expect anything but a superficial, boring remark from someone who does not have a strong
character or personality Gust as the white of an egg
has no colour or particular taste, so is the person referred to rather weak, boring and ineffectual ) I’ve managed the huge task of giving up smoking (which was threatening my own and other people's lives); so if
1 can do that, [ can take on the other huge threat against life on earth — nuclear power Now I’m battling
to make the world see the dangers of nuclear power in
the hope that the world will reject it
6 The writer is probably suffering from a hangover and
isn’t able or willing to do what was decided when they
were drunk the night before
° w
UNIT 3
A Slight Ache
1 Reading tasks Reading a play
Task 1 Things to do to prepare for the play reading:
e read through the play silently
e try to understand the play’s theme
e try to forma picture of the different characters
e interpret the characters’ motivations
e practise reading different parts Skills needed to take part in the play reading:
e good, clear pronunciation
e ability to read ‘in character’
e ability to give emphasis to key words
e ability to pause for dramatic effect
e ability to vary voice quality (tempo, pitch, volume, etc.)
Task 2
There are three rooms in the stage set: the dining room, scullery and study, shown in the diagram on the next
page.
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The wasp crawls in the marmalade pot Edward puts the lid back on the pot The wasp tries to escape through
BACK OF STAGE the spoon hole Edward then pours some hot water down
the hole to kill it Finally he takes it out of the pot and
RenT / 35 LEFT
=
room
Seullory
Task 3
It might help to give the students a fixed time to read the
passage — not more than three minutes Don’t allow
dictionaries, and encourage them to ignore minor
problems
The questions are ‘interpretative questions’ (i.e there is
no single correct answer) The following are suggested
responses:
1 middle-aged (i.e forty plus)
2 conservatively dressed — slippers, tweed skirt,
stockings, blouse, jumper; greying hair; fairly small,
alert, happy face
3 conservatively dressed — suit, tie, white shirt; serious
looking face, worned looking, military demeanour
4 fairly content housewife; uncomplicated; long-suffering;
a little vague
5 rather tense and unrelaxed; bossy; businessman; easily
irritated; very correct in all he says and does
Task 4
Provide an example of what the students have to do by
asking a group of three students to go through the activity
in front of the rest of the class with your help In this way
you will be able to demonstrate how to complete the table
about the reading of the opening lines of the play
Task 5
1 wasps sting
Note: It is important that the students know this or they
will not be able to understand the exchange between
Edward and Flora
2 Edward is not certain what horseflies do Any of the
three verbs might be used, in fact!
3 aconservative, quality newspaper
4 The marmalade pot looks like d
Give the students plenty of time for the second reading
Let them use a dictionary if they want to
Task 6
The other topic mentioned is Edward's slight ache You
should try to get the students to suggest what they think
the slight ache signifies
Again this is an ‘interpretative question’ The main point of
the exercise is to make the students aware of the
contrasting natures of Edward and Flora Here is one
possible answer:
sensitive dogmatic caring irritable
inquisitive perfectionist
kind cruel understanding serious obedient critical jolly neurotic Task 7
Harold Pinter makes constant use of pauses One of their
major functions is to suggest the struggle for meaningful communication which is taking place In fact, all but one of the pauses come after something Edward has said; this might suggest a reluctance on Flora’s part to say something that she knows might displease Edward
Task 9
In the quick reading students should have gained a general idea of what the characters are talking about and the tense
kind of relationship that exists between them The purpose of the slow reading is a more careful study of the text: students should be checking the meanings of key
words and attempting to interpret the significance of individual lines
2 Skills training Making inferences about characters
Task 2
1 Edward is irritated by Flora’s lack of linguistic precision
2 Edward is very domineering He likes to take charge of
events
3 Clearly something is wrong Edward, however, asserts his total control over his life The inference is that he
refuses to face up to his personal problems
4 Flora’s role is to agree with Edward She is used to
Edward taking the lead so she does not suggest how to
kill the wasp, but leaves it up to Edward
Task 3
1 He was dressed in a ‘shabby suit’
2 The suit was ‘well-cut’
3 There are references to ‘ill health’ and ‘an unnatural glow’
4 The other man is visiting New York Sterrett says ‘I heard you were in New York’, suggesting that he himself lives there
5 He addresses him first as ‘Mr Dean’ They greet each
other in ‘half-embarrassed exuberance’