Module 8 Unit 1 The written word

Word power Literature

南京市第三十四中学田萌

Try to answer several questions ：

⑴Are you interested in books?

⑵What kind of books are you particularly fond of?

⑶How many categories of literature can you name?

Discuss those questions in small groups, then write down all the categories said by students on the blackboard.

Read the article about different categories of literature in part A.

Find out all the types mentioned in text.

Fill in the chart below

poetry

drama

Short story

romance

Science fictionnovel

News article

biography

autobiography

Category of literature Description

Fiction

Non-fiction

• has a repeated rhythm• focuses on feelings

• tells a story through action and speech• first written and then performed on stage

• only a few characters• a simple plot

• many characters• a complex plot• popular

• in a newspaper• reports factual information

Describes the life of a person

Describes the author’s own life

Charles Dickens Dickens, Charles John Huff

am (1812-1870), English novelist and one of the most popular writers in the history of literature. In his enormous body of works, Dickens combined masterly storytelling, humor, pathos, and irony with sharp social criticism and acute observation of people and places, both real and imagined.

Keats ， John （ 1795-1821 ）， English poet ， and an influential figure of the romantic movement. Keats was born in London. In 1816 he became a licensed druggist ， but he never practiced the profession. Keats's first published poems appeared in 1816 in the Examiner ， a literary periodical edited by the essayist and poet Leigh Hunt. Keats's first book was Poems by John Keats （ 1817 ）。 His second volume ， Endymion （ 1818 ）， was attacked by two of the most influential critical magazines of the time ， the Quarterly Review and Blackwood's Magazine.

John Keats

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564 on April the 23rd. His father was an important man in town so Shakespeare had a good upbringing. Shakespeare probably went to school but not university. Shakespeare wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets (a sonnet is a kind of poem). He began working in his home town of Stratford but by 1592 was writing in London. He became rich enough to buy a house in the capital and one in Stratford.

William Shakespeare

Katherine Mansfield was born in Wellington, New Zealand, into a middle-class colonial family. At the age of nine she had her first text published. As a first step to her rebellion against her background, she withdrew to London in 1903 and studied at Queen's College, where she joined the staff of the College Magazine. Back in New Zealand in 1906, she then took up music, and had affairs with both men and women. In 1908 she studied typing and bookkeeping at Wellington Technical College. Her lifelong friend Ida Baker persuaded Mansfield's father to allow Katherine to move back to England, with an allowance of £100 a year. There she devoted herself to writing. Mansfield never visited New Zealand again.

Katherine Mansfield

Match the writers with suitable works according to part B

Katherine Mansfield

William Shakespeare

John Keats

Charles Dickens

Great Expectations

Miss Brill

Ode to Nightingale

Romeo and Juliet

Answers to part C

1.fiction 2.poetry

3.poet 4.drama

5.playwright 6.short story

7.novel 8.romance

9.genres 10.non-fiction

11.biography 12.autobiography

Finish part C on page 7 in pairs, using part A and B as reference

Complete part D in pairs. You may consult a dictionary when you have questions.

Part D:

1

2

3

4 5

67

r e w r i t e

w r i t e

c o m p o s ec o m

p l

c o r c t

d a f t

d i t

1.It is widely believed Jordan is a famous basketball player all time.

2.Science fiction and romance are popular novel genres which are often found best-seller lists.

3.Mr Bean’s performances tell a story or a joke facial expressions and actons.

Consolidation Exercises:

Fill in the blanks with suitable preps

of

on

through

4.Poetry often focuses feelings, so people say those who are in love can writepoems nicely.

5.Do you know John Keats, famous the beautiful poem Ode to a Nightingale?

6.We call a book a person writes his/her own life an autobiography.

on

for

about

Complete the sentences below with these words:

fiction drama poet novel news biography story genres

1.Literature that is not true or factual is called .

2.Science and romance are popular novel .

3. is writing that tells a story through action and speech.

4.A like War and Peace has many characters and a more complex plot.

5.Li Bai, a famous Chinese ,wrote many poems about nature and life.

6.A book about the life of someone is called a .

7.Ashort work of fiction with only a few characters and a simple plot is called a short .

8.I like non-fiction literature, especially articles in newspapers.

fiction

genres

Drama

novel

poet

biography

story

news

Group Work:

Try to find more information about different categories of English literature and some literary figures. Then share them with your partner.

Homework:

Do the part A and B on page 106, of the workbook then complete the review in part C.