Unit 10  American literature

a: thank you very much. i will go to the library.
picture 3
a: you have been to the library, haven’t you?
b: yes, i’ve just borrowed some interesting books.
a: well, let me see. er… you seem to like mark twain.
b: not very much, but i really like his novel adventures of huckleberry finn, his well-known book.
a: it sounds interesting. what is it about?
b: the story happened during american civil war. a clever and kind-hearted boy named huckleberry finn helped his friend, a slave, escape from his owner’s garden. they traveled along the mississippi, and finally they got to the north part of america. during their incredible trip, they built a friendship. as the slave got freedom, the story got a happy ending. the story shows us some facts of the war and tells us that the slaves should be treated fair.
a: it is really interesting. i hope i can read this book when you finish reading it.
b: no problem!
picture 4
a: do you know something about the great depression at 1933-1937?
b: it’s a terrible event for the whole world. no one can forget it. millions of businesses went bankrupt, millions of people lost their jobs, and millions of people could not support their children’s food. it was also one reason of the world war ii. if you want to know it, you can read the book “live of roosevelt”. it describes this event.
a: no, i don’t want to read this kind of books. i want some stories at that time, just for pleasure. it needs interesting characters, exciting plots and so on, you know?
b: oh, would you like to read novels? you’ve found the right person! you can read some stories written by francis scott fitzgerald such as the great gatsby, tender is the night and the last tycoon. his works lay out the bleak visage in spirit in american upper class during the great depression. i also advise you to see some films of chaplin, his films reflect the lowest-class life at that time and they are very interesting and can give you a lot of advice to fight with terror.
t: very good and wonderful job! thank you and sit down, please!
step iv talking (workbook on page 218)
let the students work in groups of four. choose one of the groups of the authors and have the discussion about why such books are popular or not popular in china. while the ss do their group work, go among them to see if they have any questions and direct them. a few minutes later.
t: would you like to make the class know the outcome of your discussion?
ss: yes!
t: who’d like to be the first?
ss: (the first group) we’ll try first. we’d like to talk about edgar snow.