quinta-feira, 12 de novembro de 2009

Literary Project (T6 and T7)- Final Activity

My dear students, this is the website that you are going to use to write your compositions. Now that we had a lot of debates about "The Little Prince", it is time for you to write about everything we talked about and studied together.

In this link you will find lots of famous quotes of the book.

http://www.generationterrorists.com/quotes/the_little_prince.html

You have to write a composition using these quotes. Choose two or three quotes to talk about (you have many options). Remember to write about the book, the story, how you feel about it and the connection between your life and the book or the quotes you have chosen.

Your composition must have at least 300 words.

Compositions can be given to me next week (on Monday or Tuesday) or they can be sent to my e-mail addres: wallaceju@hotmail.com

Enjoy it!

The Giving Tree 2008 - The best video clips are right here

Literary Project (R3 and Intensive 3)



The Giving Tree
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Giving Tree, first published in 1964, is a children's book written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. This book has become one of Silverstein's best known titles and has been translated into more than 30 languages.

Storyline
The Giving Tree is a tale about a relationship between a young boy and a tree in a forest. The tree always provides the boy with what he wants: branches on which to swing, shade in which to sit, apples to eat, branches with which to build a home. As the boy grows older he requires more and more of the tree. The tree loves the boy very much and gives him anything he asks for. In the ultimate act of self-sacrifice, the tree lets the boy cut her down so the boy can build a boat in which he can sail. The boy leaves the tree, now a stump. Many years later, the boy, now an old man, returns and the tree says, "I have nothing left to give you." The boy replies, " I do not need much now, just a quiet place to sit and rest." The tree then says, "Good! A tree stump is a great place to do just that! Come boy, sit down and be happy." The boy obliged and the tree was happy.

Analysis
Ever since the book was published, it has generated controversy and opposing opinions for its interpreted messages, on whether the tree is selfless or merely self-sacrificing, and whether the boy is selfish or reasonable in his demands of the tree. The story clearly shows childhood as being a time of relative happiness in comparison to the sacrifice and responsibility of adulthood. The story only uses the word "need" at the end to describe the "boy's"/old man's need of a place to rest- all of his other desires are "wants."

A review of The Giving Tree: A Symposium shows some academic readers describing the book as portraying a vicious, one-sided relationship between the tree and the boy: with the tree as the selfless giver and the boy as a greedy and insatiable entity who constantly receives, yet never gives anything back to the tree; a selfish love that could be misrepresented and imitated by its young readers. Indeed, some of these speakers single the tree out as an irresponsible parent whose self-sacrifice has left the boy ill-equipped. Other readers argue that the tree gives everything to the boy freely because she loves him, and its feelings are reciprocated by the boy when he returns to the tree for a rest. In this way, the relationship between the tree and the boy as he grows up could be viewed as similar to that between a mother and her child; despite getting nothing in return for a long time, the tree puts the boy's needs foremost, because it wants him to be happy. Indeed, the only time the tree ever seems to be sad is when it feels that it has nothing left to give the boy and that the boy might never return.[1]

As Ben Jackson, a professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University put it:

“ Is this a sad tale? Well, it is sad in the same way that life is depressing. We are all needy, and, if we are lucky and any good, we grow old using others and getting used up. Tears fall in our lives like leaves from a tree. Our finitude is not something to be regretted or despised, however; it is what makes giving (and receiving) possible. The more you blame the boy, the more you have to fault human existence. The more you blame the tree, the more you have to fault the very idea of parenting. Should the tree's giving be contingent on the boy's gratitude? If it were, if fathers and mothers waited on reciprocity before caring for their young, then we would all be doomed. ”

Jackson, linking the story to the human condition, asserts that readers ought to identify with both the boy and the tree.

R3 and Intensive 3

Literary Project, ASSIGNMENT 02 - GLOSSARY
ASSIGNMENT 02 - GLOSSARY

Make a list of 10 words you learnt or are important in the text. Each word will be used according to the following procedures:
* Word
* The word as the grammar component (verb/adjective/preposition/etc.)
* Meaning used in the text. (with pronunciation symbols)
* The word in a sentence from the book. Make sure the sentence is in quotation marks.
* Your own example with the word chosen.

Example:

Word # 1: Mild
Grammar component: Adjective
Meaning in the text: /maɪld/ not strong

Example (book): “ now we will make the lesson clearer with a mild
electric shock”
My example: The is no “mild” electric shock. A shock is always a shock.