Unit 10  American literature

possible list  
themes works writer
antislavery and civil war uncle tom’s cabin
the slave harriet beecher stowe richard hildreth
native american the adventure of tom sawyer
life on the mississippi   mark twain
western pioneers shane jack schaefer
neuter leaves of grass walt whitman
common life the gift of the magi o. henry
… … …
step iii speaking
t: from what you did just now, i believe you’ve known much about the american literature. you know the major themes in the literature of a country reflect important events or periods in the history of the country. there are four pictures here about american literature. look at them and use your history knowledge about the  usa. work in pairs and discuss what kind of stories you’d like to read, using the useful expressions on page 84. a few minutes 1ater, i’ll ask some of you to present your ideas in the form of dialogues to the class. ok?
ss: yes!
the students start to have a discussion in pairs, while the teacher goes among them to see if they have any questions and directs the students’ activities.
a few minutes later.
t: are you ready?
ss: yes.
t: who wants to be volunteer?
ss: (the first pair) let us have a try.
possible dialogues
picture 1
a: do you know who was the native of america before european came?
b: i think, it’s indian, american indian. there are a lot of stories about them, and some are very interesting, especially some about the relationship between indians and white persons.
a: really? i feel the urge in my heart to know something about them. do you know any famous novels about them?
b: sorry, but i have seen a film named “dancing with the wolves”, it’s a story about a captain, an english white man, who went to the west part of america, when a lot of people had gone there and indians were discriminated and killed by white persons. he made friends with a group of indians and helped them not be hurt by white people. it’s a very sad story.
a: there must be an exciting plot! i won’t miss it.
b: i hope you can enjoy it.
picture 2
a: i like cowboy very much and i even dream that i can go to america and be a cowboy one day.
b: well, it is really a wonderful dream. but how much do you learn about the life of cowboy in america?
a: very little, that is what i want to know.
b: i think i can tell you something about it. when the population of settlers became larger and lager in the 1800s, many people went to the west land. they were attracted by the low price of the land and the chance to earn money. at that time, cows were more than people, so cowboys were needed. to run after the cows, cowboys rode horses and wore leather boots. they created their special songs, stories, lifestyles and special characters. if you want to know more about them, you can read some books, for example, life on the back of horse and the notorious jumping frog of calaveras county.