МУНИЦИПАЛЬНАЯ НАУЧНО-ПРАКТИЧЕСКАЯ

КОНФЕРЕНЦИЯ «МИР НА ЛАДОНИ»

МАОУ «ГИМНАЗИЯ № 3» 20.03.2019 г.

 O’ HENRY: LIVING IS LOVING

Секция: 

«Знаменитые люди»

английский язык

                                                                                                      Авторы:

Фокеева Алена, Шабаева Дарья, Манвелян Арсен

обучающиеся 11 «Б» класса

                                                                      МОУ «Гимназия № 34»

                                                                                            Руководители:

Недорезова Л.В.,

учитель английского языка

Чернышова Л. В.,

 учитель английского языка высшей категории

МОУ «Гимназия № 34»

Саратов 2019

Contents

1. Passport of the Project ……………………………………3
2. Introduction………………………………………………..4
3. Main Body:

Part 1. The Theoretical Part………………………………….5

1. The Unknown Author…………………………………5
2. Childhood. Early Years……………………………….5
3. “The Gift of the Magi”………………………………..6
4. “The Last Leaf”……………………………………….7
5. “The Furnished Room”………………………………..8
6. How It All Ended………………………………………8

    Part 2. The Practical Part ……………………………………..9

      2.1 The Survey………………………………………………..9

      2.2 The Book Trailer………………………………………….9

      2.3 The Extensive Reading Lesson…………………………..10

      2.4 The Results of the Project ……………………………….11

    4. Conclusion …………………………………………………...12

    5. Information Resources …………………………………….....13

    6. Application ………………………………………………….14

Passport of the Project

INTRODUCTION

         Good afternoon, everyone! We are students of the 11th Grade of “Gymnasia No. 34” Alyona Fokeyeva, Darya Shabayeva and Arsen Manvelyan. We would like to present our creative project “O’ Henry: Living Is Loving”.

We decided to take part in this conference on some reasons: firstly, we like English and Literature (both Russian and foreign) and we are keen on reading. Unlike most other teenagers we read a lot and enjoy O’ Henry’s short stories which usually have an exciting plot and are very wise and touching.  Secondly, we are worried about the fact that reading as an activity is becoming less and less popular nowadays. Young people prefer surfing the Net or chatting on-line. And finally, there is one more matter of our concern - the problem of gradual disappearing of such human qualities as love, kindness, empathy and understanding in our society. No one will deny that they are the basis of people’s relations.

While speaking about the famous American writer O’ Henry at one of our Literature lessons last year we understood that his short stories could make the situation better and get the youth interested in such activity as reading books. Moreover, O’ Henry’s biography and short stories could show the power of love and empathy to schoolchildren.

          So, the aim of our project is involving other students of our gymnasia into reading activity raising their interest in it through O’ Henry’s stories by different means, demonstrating the importance of the basic human qualities.         

         The main tasks are:

•    searching for correlative literature on the subject
•    analyzing the received information
•    carrying out a sociological survey
•    creating a book trailer
•    presenting the project to the 10th Grade students

          The practical value of the work is giving some useful information about the famous American writer O’ Henry and his short stories to other students of our gymnasia, increasing their interest in reading, upbringing of the basic human qualities.

MAIN BODY

PART 1. The Theoretical Part

1.1 The Unknown Author

Everything started with the fact that in 1901 somebody with the name “O’ Henry” began to send his stories to different New York newspapers. They were printed with great pleasure, but the editors wondered where that unknown author came from. However, the mysterious author did not hurry to satisfy their curiosity.

         At the end of 1903 O’ Henry signed a contract with the most published New York newspaper "World". All Critics admitted that thanks to his small masterpieces O’ Henry became a favorite author of the public. Nevertheless, he still did not give any interviews, did not allow printing his portraits and did not go to public at all. Newspaper editors supposed that behind the strange behavior of the famous writer there was some mystery and they vainly guessed what it was.

The answer was given only after his death. Only then his biography and real name were known - William Sydney Porter.

1.2 Childhood. Early Years

He was born in 1862 in the family of a rural doctor. His mother died very early and the father, after burying his wife, took to drink, gave up medical practice, and soon left for another world too. Through the orphan hood William had to stop studying at school and began working as an assistant in a pharmacy. At the age of 15, after receiving the profession of a pharmacist, he worked in the pharmacy for five years. His mother died of tuberculosis, soon the young man fell ill with the same disease.

His friends helped him move to Texas. A simple life in sunny prairies improved his health. When William was 23, he went to the local feast. There he met a charming 17-year-old girl, Etol Roch, and immediately fell in love with her. She was dark-eyed, thin, with a gentle complexion and a marvelous chestnut hair; she became a prototype of beautiful Della, the main character of his affecting novel “The Gift of the Magi”. The writer loved her very sincerely all his life and it gave him energy and inspiration to create his world famous stories!

1.3 "The Gift of the Magi"

… One dollar and eighty-seven cents… That was all. And the next day was Christmas. All the money which Della could spend on a gift for Jim. Her Jim… Della and Jim were proud of the two things: Jim's gold watch, which once had belonged to his father and was passed in his family from generation to generation; and Della's wonderful hair.

Twenty dollars was the price of her chestnut hair. And Della found a gift - a gold chain for Jim’s watch. That was the best choice for her Jim.

Not immediately Jim noticed the change that had happened to his Della. With trembling hands he took out a gift for her. The comb which Della had been enjoying for many months passing by the shop window. Jim sold his watch to buy a gift for Della…

From the story we can see that both Jim and Della donated their greatest treasures that they owned for the sake of love. Everyone was ready to give away anything if it could make a person they love happy! The main motto of the story is “Loving means sacrificing". This idea is very important for all people who really feel love. Both Della and Jim acted as Magi bringing valuable gifts for Christmas. So, the story teaches us to be kind, gracious, loyal and sincere!

Jim and Della were painting the world in bright colors with their love, so that the reader did not experience a gloomy, uncomfortable feeling.

Just the same in the writer’s real life…

A trouble came almost at the same time. One day Porter was charged with embezzlement of $ 850. A few months later, Porter was considered to be a witness. During the family council it was decided that he should disappear for three years, as that term limited criminal responsibility for that crime.

Before parting with her husband for three years, the writer's wife Etol gave her husband her only value - a gold watch, so by selling it he could live for some period of time. Etol donated the dearest thing for her William as well as Della for Jim. Everything was so closely intertwined: real life and a written story!

1.4 “The Last Leaf”

William took any offers and was counting the days when he could return to his wife. But everything turned out to be tragic: in the beginning of 1897 Etol fell down with a serious disease.

The writer immediately rushed to Austin and put himself in the hands of justice. Etol was happy with returning of her husband. It seemed that the disease had pulled back. But the days of Etol were numbered. Two months later Etol died.

… The cold fingers of the chill didn’t only touch but also seized on Johnsy's body. "She has very few chances," said the doctor. “Johnsy stopped fighting with this disease. She decided that she would not recover”.

Sue went into her friend's room to cheer her up. Johnsy's eyes were wide open. Her lips were making some sounds, “… twelve, eleven, ten ...” The old, very old tree grew near the wall. “When the last leaf falls, I will leave after it.”

Having heard these words, Berman thought, “What nonsense? Do people die when the leaves fall off?” Berman was an artist, an unsuccessful artist who lived in the neighborhood. He was 6o. And he had been waiting for the right time for his masterpiece.

"To die with the last leaf of the tree" - a strange thought did not leave the old artist. The time did come. Time for his masterpiece! The leaf turned out very real, hanging near a branch on the wall. Neighbors found a helplessly sick old man dying in his room. His clothes were wet and cold as ice. Having created his masterpiece, Bergman gave the chance to a young girl to get out and continue her journey…

Each reader finds his own idea in this work: one more sketch, the last masterpiece or a page of life. It seems that the author says, “Let everyone choose their own!” But the main idea of the story is almost the same: “Living is Sacrificing” 

For the rest of his life the writer really missed his Etol. It seemed to him that he heard her voice, smelled her. He hugged her. He went to meet her. He loved her! He described his feelings in the story "The Furnished Room".

1.5 “The Furnished Room”

… A careful study of the room did not give any result. Then suddenly, while he was sitting there motionless, the room was filled with the strong, sweet smell of a flower, small and white, named mignonette. "She has been here!" he cried. This smell of flowers that was all around him – she had loved it and had made it her own. Where did it come from? He loved his wife more than anyone else and had tried to find her.

He looked in corners, searched the tables and the fireplace, the curtains and the locker in the corner. And then he thought of the owner. But she did not remember if his Eloise had lived there. He thanked her and went slowly back to his room. The room died. The young man had nothing to do but to finish his life like she did ... Another story and another sad situation. What is the point of living without love?

1.6 How It All Ended

Even when the glory came to him a terrible feeling of loneliness constantly seized William. That’s why he wandered through the bars and strange places in New York, talking with casual customers. His health worsened considerably.

He had many of diseases: cirrhosis of the liver, diabetes, weak lungs ... During the last months he did not leave the house, almost did not eat anything and was very weak. On June 6, 1910 O’ Henry died at the age of only 48 years.

It was really a hard labor without days off and holidays. During his literary career he published over 250 novels which were in separate collections.

O’ Henry's literary prize "The Gift of the Magi" was established in 2010 in New York to support Russian-speaking novelists from around the world.

So, what is it to live by O’ Henry? Living for the sake of others! Living means sacrificing! Living means loving!

PART 2. The Practical Part

To start with, we created a small group and worked out a plan of our project activities.

2.1 The Survey

First of all, we wanted to find out if students of the 10th Grade knew anything about O’ Henry and his literary works. We carried out a sociological survey and asked them three questions:

1. Did you read O. Henry’s stories?
2. Did they make great impression on you?
3. Which story is your favorite?

  24 students took part in the survey. You can see the results of it on the screen.

The first two diagrams show that only 37 % of the students (9) read O. Henry’s short stories. Those students who answered in the affirmative were greatly impressed by them.

In the third diagram you can see that the most favorite O’ Henry’s stories are “The Gift of the Magi” (5 students), “The Last Leaf” (3 students) and “The Furnished Room” (1 student).

When we understood that the teenagers read very little and didn’t know much about O’ Henry we searched for some interesting information to present it to the students at one of the English Extensive Reading lessons. We analyzed the most famous stories of the writer and prepared some extracts to read aloud in the class.

2.2 The Book Trailer

In addition, we thought it would be more vivid and exciting to show what the main characters in O’ Henry’s stories feel with the help of music and dancing. So, we decided to make a book trailer based on the most popular short story – “The Gift of the Magi”. So, Arsen and Sonya, his partner, made a dancing composition for the story being greatly impressed with it. It took them about two weeks to work out all dancing movements and show them on the dance floor. Then it was the operator’s and lighting manager’s turn to work (the part of the operator was given to Max and Anton was responsible for the right light!). They made a video of the wonderful dance! All the team was pleased with their work – the dancing was very original and expressive like the story itself!

2.3 The Extensive Reading Lesson

         When all the material was ready we worked out a script “O’ Henry: Living Is Loving” to present it to the students of the 10th Grade trying to introduce the most interesting things from the writer’s biography and the most impressive episodes from his stories accompanied by wonderful music. Also, we demonstrated our book trailer, it had great success!

        We did our best to get the students involved into the exciting atmosphere of O’ Henry’s masterpieces, to get them feel the power of love, empathy, sincerity and self-sacrifice together with the main characters. We tried to show the beauty and unusual twists of the plots using different means of expression: literature, music and dancing. The schoolchildren listened to us with great interest!      

        In a few weeks we asked the students of the 10th Grade the same three questions. The new results were very pleasant: 21 students out of the 24 read O’ Henry’s short stories with great interest and of course they got a lot of positive emotions!

        We asked them to share their emotions with us and to write their opinions of the stories. Here are some of their answers:

“O’ Henry’s stories are stories that are read in the early years but remembered for many years during your life!”

                                                                  (Julia Alexeeva, 10 “A”)

“I liked the story of O’ Henry "The Last Leaf", it is very tragic, it makes you feel empathatic for the girl Johnsy, who could die after the last leaf fell from the tree. If the artist Berman did not paint that leaf, Johnsy would die. I recommend reading it to everyone; you will not regret your time.”

                                                                   (Darya Balandina, 10 “A”)

“The work is really good! The author writes very well. So this story took my fancy!!! I was deeply impressed with what I had read”.

                                                                    (Kseniya Korolyova, 10 “A”)

“It is a very bright and at the same time  sad story. The author put his heart and soul into his work. He taught us not to give up under any circumstances”.

                                                                      (Egor Troshin, 10 “A”)

2.4 The Results of the Project

The results of our project showed that the largest part of the students got interested in O’ Henry’s literary works and improved their knowledge of the American literature being involved into reading activity. We are sure that teenagers felt true human emotions while reading and listening to the extracts from O’ Henry’s short stories and could realize the importance of such people’s qualities as kindness, loyalty, sympathy, compassion! We hope that now they will try to follow the main O’ Henry’s motto “Living is Loving!”

That’s why we can say that our project work was very useful: it had practical value - we could raise the students’ interest in reading! We touched not only upon students’ feelings but their minds too! Moreover, we had good practice in English before taking the Russian National Exam in this school subject!

CONCLUSION

          While doing the project we learned a lot of new facts about O’ Henry’s life and work, got the skill of choosing necessary information from different sources and analyzing short stories. Moreover, we learned how to make a book trailer and had practice in presenting our project to the audience. Also, we improved our knowledge of English and foreign literature! It will be useful for our Russian National Exams in these subjects!

All things considered, we came to the following conclusion:

1. O. Henry is the master of writing short stories, which always raise great interest in reading and teach people to be kind, sympathetic, loyal and helpful. They teach people to appreciate love, to sacrifice for the sake of true feelings.
2. The stories of this American writer teach people not to give up under any circumstances and always hope for the best.
3. O. Henry’s real life and his short stories are closely connected: some of the important events of the writer’s life are reflected in his literary works. The writer loved his wife very sincerely and their relations are similar to those of the main characters of the story “The Gift of the Magi”.
4. If someone wants to get interested in reading, they should start with O’ Henry’s short stories! They always have a very interesting plot and an unexpected ending.

        We give our thanks to everyone who helped us to realize this project work: our English teachers, our Literature teacher and our families, of course!

INFORMATION RESOURCES

• 100 Selected Stories O. Henry. - London: Wordsworth Classics, 2010 - 738с.
• И. Левидова «Писатели США». Краткие творческие биографии. Москва, «Радуга», 1990
• О. Генри Сборник рассказов. - М.: «Художeственная литература», 1989
• http: //ru.wikipedia.org
• http: //www.henryo.net.ru/
• http: //o.henry.ucoz.ru/

APPLICATION

1. Some Photos of O’ Henry’s Life and Literary Work

  (1862 – 1910)

  Childhood. Early Years

     William and His Friends                                Etol Roch, his wife

“The Gift of the Magi” (1906)

“The Last Leaf” (1907)

How It All Ended: The Writer’s Gravestone

2. The Diagrams Showing the Results of the Survey