Писатели Британии и Америки.
учебно-методический материал (английский язык, 8 класс) по теме

Писатели Англии и Америки.

1. Read about these famous people. Writers

William Shakespeare: 1564-1616

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, where he received an excellent classical education. At the age of eighteen he married Anne Hathaway, and they had three children. Shakespeare was playwright and poet. As he rose in popularity, he wrote plays for the famous Globe Theatre, a round, open-roofed building that housed approximately 2,000 spectators. Later Shakespeare became one of the owners of the Globe Theatre. Unlike many writers who never live to enjoy their fame, Shakespeare achieved great recognition during his lifetime. He wrote three types of plays: comedies, tragedies and histories. He also wrote narrative poems, sonnets and lyric poetry. He is acknowledged as one of the greatest writers of all time, and has remained popular with readers around the world.

Charles Dickens: 1812-1870

Charles Dickens was a novelist who provided Victorian England with one of its greatest champions of reform. Dickens used his novels to identify and address many problems of the nineteenth century, such as child abuse, unfair labour practices, unjustices in the legal system, and weaknesses in education. Dickens had experienced many of these problems in his own childhood, and so he dedicated his life to bringing about social reform. Some of his most popular novels include, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations.

Rudyard Kipling: 1865-1936

Rudyard Kipling was an English novelist, short-story writer and poet. He is most widely known for his works for children, especially the "Jungle Book." Kipling was born in Bombay, India, in 1865 but attended school in England. After completing his education, he returned to India where he worked as a newspaper reporter for several years. Many of Kipling's stories and novels reflect his experiences in India and convey the importance of duty and unselfishness. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1907.

Washington Irving: 1783-1859

The first American writer to gain international attention was Washington Irving. He was bom to a wealthy New York family and received an excellent education. He began his writing career by creating satires about New York society. He later wrote about the Dutch influences upon the city in its early days. He attempted to give America a sense of a romantic past like that found in Europe, and he recorded some of the important developments in the exploration of the western regions of the country. His most popular work by far was The Sketch Book, which contains two of his most beloved stories, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: 1807-1882

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was one of the most widely read American poets of the 19th century. From 1835 to 1854 he was Smith Professor of Modern Languages at Harvard. In 1884, 2 years after his death, he became the first American to be honoured with a bust in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey, London. He is best remembered for poems such as "The Song of Hiawatha" and "Paul Revere's Ride."

Mark Twain: 1835-1910

Mark Twain left his hometown of Hannibal, Missouri at the age of eighteen. His real name was Samuel Clemens, but he took his penname from a term used by the men who operated the river boats. They would call, "By the mark, twain!" This meant that the river was two (twain) feet deep. Mark Twain began his career as a newspaper writer. Later in life he used memories from his childhood to create some of his most popular novels, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain used humour to develop many serious themes in his novels and to help society see itself more clearly.

O'Henry: 1862-1910

O'Henry is a well-known American short-story writer. He had to earn his living from the age of fifteen and he educated himself with the help of friends.

O'Henry knew people very well, especially the ordinary people of New York. In his stories you can feel satirical criticism of the American way of life. Most of his short stories are full of warm sympathy for ordinary American people.

O'Henry was the penname used by author William Sydney Porter. Porter was a great admirer of another American writer, Edgar Allan Рое, and he was influenced by Poe's style. O'Henry wrote many popular stories and earned a reputation as the master of surprise endings. He was especially talented at developing his characters, and at portraying city life accurately. He wrote over 600 stories.

abuse  — оскорбление

accurately  —точно

achieve recognition  — получить признание

admirer  — поклонник, обожатель

approximately  —приблизительно

attend  — посещать

be acknowledged  — быть признанным

contain  —содержать, зд. Включать

convey  — выражать

developing  — создание

Dutch  — голландский

earn  — заслуживать

educate  —давать образование, воспитывать

ending  — конец

gain international attention — получить международное признание

identify  — отождествлять

influence — оказывать влияние (на)

narrative  —эпический

ordinary  —обычный, обыкновенный

playwright  —драматург

portray  —описывать

satire  — сатира

spectator  —зритель

surprise —неожиданный

sympathy— сочувствие, симпатия

unselfishness  —бескорыстие

wealthy — состоятельный

Author Review.  Match

Telling about a writer or a poet.

1. I know that many people like to read books.
2. As for me, I … like / don`t like to read books.
3. I read books … (when I have free time; when my teachers give us a task).
4. My favourite … (writer, poet) is…(name). / I would like to tell you about… (name).
5. …is a great ….(Russian, English. American) poet/writer.
6. He / she is a … (well-known, famous, world-known) person.
7. He / she was born in …(place), …(year).
8. He / she spent his/her childhood in … (place).
9. His / her parents were …(rich/ poor, intelligent, peasants/ workers/ doctors…).
10. His / her mother was a… (pretty, nice, beautiful, kind) woman.
11. His / her father was a … (handsome, kind, severe) man.
12. He/she studied … (at school, university, academy).
13. He/she began writing his/her … (stories, novels, poems) when he/she was … years old.
14. He / she wrote …(many stories, novels, poems).
15. He /she wrote about … (people’s lives, adventures, historical events, magic things).
16. The best known of them are … .
17. I … like/don`t like his/her …(stories, novels, poems).
18. They are … and … (interesting, exciting, boring, thrilling).
19. I  … (would /wouldn`t ) recommend them to everybody.
20. I think that we should read more if we want to be well-educated.