高中英语第三册(全一册)Unit 10 American LiteraturePeriod 2 Le

高中英语第三册(全一册)Unit 10 American LiteraturePeriod 2
Let’s read
Part 1 Sample Teaching Plans
Goals
◆Talk about American literature
◆Practise predicting and describing what a story might be about
◆Review all the verb tenses
◆Write a book review
Period 2 Let’s read!
(A SACRIFICE FOR LOVE ( 1)）
Goals
●Read about a short story
●Practise analyzing a story
Procedures
Step 1: Telling a story about Christmas
Do you know anything about a prisoner who was anxious about a Christmas gift for his daughter?
He is O. Henry, a well-known short story writer.
欧·亨利O. Henry (1862-1910)
O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter
(September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), whose clever use of twist
endings in his stories popularized the term “O. Henry Ending.”
His stories are famous for their surprise endings and ironic
coincidences, but do not lose their interest after the surprise is
known. His best are full of genial warmth and wistful sadness.
The great ones, such as “The Gift of the Magi”, “The Last Leaf”, “The Skylight Room”, “Springtime a la Carte”, “The Third Ingredient”, and “The Green Door”
seem to get better with repeated readings.
His most famous story, “The Gift of the Magi” concerns a young
couple who are short of money but desperately want to buy each other
Christmas gifts. Unbeknownst to Jim, Della sells her most valuable
possession, her beautiful hair, in order to buy a platinum fob chain for
Jim’s watch; unbeknownst to Della, Jim sells his most valuable
possession, his watch, to buy jewelled combs for Della’s h air.
The Ransom of Red Chief concerns two men who kidnap a boy of ten. The boy turns out to be so
obnoxious that the men ultimately pay the boy’s father two hundred and fifty dollars to take him
back.
O. Henry said “There are stories in everything. I’ve go t some of my best yarns from park benches,
lampposts, and newspaper stands.”
The O. Henry Awards are yearly prizes given to outstanding short stories.
Step 2 Reading and answering
Now let’s go to the text and start s kimming to answer the questions.
1.What is the setting of the story? Think about time and place.
2.
Questions to answer
1.◆How much did Della save for months? (One dollar and eighty-seven cents)
2.◆Why did Della cry after counting the money she had been saving? (With one dollar and
eighty-seven cents, she couldn’t buy a fine and rare gift for Jim.)
3.◆Why did tear fall form her eyes while Della was standing in front of the mirror? (She decided to
cut off her hair and sold it to get money.)
4.◆How much did Della get from the Madame in the barbershop? (Twenty dollars)
5.◆What did Della look like after cutting off and doing her hair? (Her head was covered with tiny
curls that made her look like a little schoolgirl.)
Decide whether the following sentences are true or false.
1.James Dillingham Young was Della’s husband. (T)
2.Della lived in a neighborhood with many trees and flowers. (F)
3.Della had a large sum of money to buy Jim a Christmas gift. (T)
4.There were two possessions of this family—Jim’s gold watch and Dell a’s hair. (T)
5.Della thought having a haircut would make Jim happy. (F)
Step 3: Reading and underlining
Now read the text aloud to the tape and underline at the same time all the useful collocations or expressions in the
Useful expressions from A SACRIFICE FOR LOVE
in pennies, at the bakery and the butcher’s, a furnished flat, the next day, at 8$ per week, next
to…, attend to… , look out at…, plan for…, worthy of…, the honor of being owned by…, take
great pride, lost its color, within twenty seconds, pull down, to its full length, a cascade of brown
waters, do up, stand still, on the worn red carpet, put on…, run out of the door, one flight of stairs,
take off…, have a look at…,search for…, turn sb. out, as soon as…, be anxious about…, be
covered with…,for a long time
Step 4: Discussing questions
Were Della and Jim both foolish to sell their favorite possessions?
A possible answer: O. Henry wants to tell us that they were not foolish. They were wise because they had each
sacrificed their most valuable possessions for the person they loved. They were like the three wise men—the Magi—who brought presents for Jesus Christ after he was born. Keep in mind, that this is why Christians still give presents on Christmas Day: to remember the gifts the Magi brought Christ on that very first Christmas.。