Unit4Truth and InterpretationPart I:Learning the SkillsActivity1Review the texts you have read in the previous units.Discuss with your partner which point of view is employed in each text and whether you would have different feelings about these texts if different points of view were employed.Suggestions for instructors:Discuss with students how the point of view change leads to the differences in the narration.Activity2Read the following four excerpts and discuss with your partner which point of view is employed in each excerpt,whether the difference gives you different feelings toward the same event and how your response is influenced by how much the narrator knows and how objective the narrator is.Activity3Narrate an incident in your childhood(either real or made-up)from several points of view: first from your own point of view;next from the point of view of your family;finally from the point of view of a stranger who witnessed the incident.Evaluate which point of view is easier to write and which point of view tells the story best.Suggestions for instructors:Another option:Read the following examples and ask the students to work in groups and rewrite from a different point of view(first person point of view,for instance)and share their writing with other groups.Leslie sat in front of Paul.She had two long,brown pigtails that reached all the way down to her waist.Paul saw those pigtails,and a terrible urge came over him.He wanted to pull a pigtail. He wanted to wrap his fist around it,feel the hair between his fingers,and just yank.He thought it would be fun to tie the pigtails together,or better yet,tie them to her chair.But most of all,he just wanted to pull one.---Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar At the pizza place,Tony the baker was getting the pizzas ready for baking.He flattened out a ball of dough into a large pancake and tossed it in the air.He spread tomato sauce on it, sprinkled it with cheese,and shoved it in the oven.Then the telephone rang.“A fellow from the factory wants a large pizza delivered in a hurry,”Tony’s wife called.“OK,I’ll get my coat,”said Tony.---Curious George and the Pizza by Margret ReyPart II:Case AnalysisActivity4Read the above two versions of“The Three Little Pigs”and consider the differences it makes when the narrator is different.Task1Understanding the textComplete the following sentences based on your understanding of the texts.1)The point of view in the first version is third-person limited omniscient point of view.2)The wolf in the first version was described as big and bad.3)The third little pig in the first version was described as smart.4)The point of view in the second version is first-person point of view.5)The wolf in the second version was described as innocent.6)The third little pig in the second version was described as impolite.Task2Responding to the textWrite your answer to each question in full sentences.Then discuss your answers with your partner.1)What leads to the different characterization of the wolf in the two versions?The different characterization of the wolf was created through the different points of view. 2)Which characterization of the wolf do you think is more reliable and what leads to your conclusion?The first was more reliable because the second version was using the first-person point of view.3)How does the change of point of view change the development of the story?The change of point of view leads to quite different interpretation of the same event.Text B A Day’s WaitSuggestions for instructors:The whole story was written from the father’s point of view.The students may be asked to work in groups and retell the story orally with the boy being the narrator.Activity5Read Text B and think about the story’s point of view.Task1Understanding the textFind out the following elements of the text.Character(s):a little boy and his fatherSetting:the little boy had a feverPoint of view:first person point of viewPlot:The little boy who had a fever thought he would die because he confused Fahrenheit and Celsius. Theme:It shows how death lets things appear in a different way.Task2Responding to the textWrite your answer to each question in full sentences.Then discuss your answers with your partner.1)Do you think the narrator is well chosen in the text?Why or why not?2)Was there any misunderstanding between the boy and his father?If yes,please find out the evidence.When the boy told his father that“…I mean you don’t have to stay if it’s going to bother you,”his father thought he would like to be left alone while the little boy thought he would die.3)What are the clues showing that the boy was very worried?4)Text B is mainly composed of dialogue.But there are two paragraphs used to describe what the father saw and did(“It was a bright,cold day,the ground covered with…We flushed a covey of quail under a high clay bank with overhanging brush…”).What functions do these two paragraphs play in developing the story?5)What does the author try to reveal through the boy’s struggle with his fever?6)Suppose you were going to die in a week.How would you spend the last week of your life?To what extent would this change your view of life?Part III:Language StudyActivity6The following is an excerpt from“The Selfish Giant.”Read and discuss how the words and phrases create the image of a harsh winter.Then the Spring came,and all over the country there were little blossoms and little birds.Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it was still winter.The birds did not_______to sing in it as there were no children,and the trees forgot to______.Once a beautiful flower put its head out from the grass,but when it saw the notice-board it was so sorry for the children that it______back into the ground again,and went off to sleep.The only people who were_____were the Snow and the Frost.“Spring has forgotten this garden,”they cried,“so we will live here all the year round.”The Snow______up the grass with her great white_______,and the Frost______all the trees_______.Then they invited the North Wind to stay with them,and he came.He was____in furs,and he_____all day about the garden,and blew the chimney-pots down.“This is a delightful spot,”he said,“we must ask the Hail on a visit.”So the Hail came.Every day for three hours he_____on the roof of the castle till he broke most of the slates,and then he ran round and round the garden as fast as he could go.He was dressed in grey,and his breath was like ice. Activity7Read the following excerpts and discuss with your partner how many kinds of tenses are used in each excerpt and what the functions of tenses in narrative writing are.Mary______(like)to look at her mother from a distance and she_______(think)her very pretty, but as she______(know)very little of her she could scarcely have been expected to love her or to miss her very much when she was gone.She did not miss her at all,in fact,and as she was a self-absorbed child she gave her entire thought to herself,as she had always done.If she had been older she would no doubt have been very anxious at being left alone in the world,but she________(be)very young,and as she had always been taken care of,she supposed she always would be.She_______(get)up very early in the morning and_____(work)hard in the garden and she______(be)tired and sleepy,so as soon as Martha________(bring)her supper and she_______(eat)it,she was glad to go to bed.As she laid her head on the pillow she murmured to herself:“I’ll go out before breakfast and work with Dick on and then afterward—I believe—I’ll go to see him.”She thought.Activity8Read the following passages and fill in each blank with the given verb in its appropriate tense.He1)remembered the books of poetry upon his shelves at home.He2)had bought them in his bachelor days and many an evening,as he3)sat in the little room off the hall,he4)had been tempted to take one down from the bookshelf and read out something to his wife.But shyness had always held him back;and so the books5)had remained on their shelves.At times he6) repeated lines to himself and this consoled him.The Secret Garden1)was what Mary called it when she2)was thinking of it.She liked the name, and she liked still more the feeling that when its beautiful old walls shut her in no one knew where she was.It3)seemed almost like being shut out of the world in some fairy place.The few books she4)had read and liked had been fairy-story books,and she had read of secret gardens in some of the stories.。