The tiger is an endangered species. Soon we will be able to see it only in pictures. We must share our planet with animals and not eliminate them. Man has no right to kill animals for his own selfish gains. We the human beings cannot be humane if we don't feel for other beings who share this earth with us. We should stop tiger poaching by not buying products which encourage tiger slaughter.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Lesson plan : Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind
Purpose
The aim of this lesson plan is to make the students understand the poem and to make them aware of the concept, nuance and the meaning underlying it... Pain caused by a friend is more pitiful than the biting of the winter’s wind.
Objective
Students should be able to comprehend and write comprehensively about the meaning of the poem. Point out the gist of the poem. Learn the language and new words.
Resource Materials
William Shakespeare’s As you like it
Teaching Methodology
Anticipatory set
What is your idea of friendship?
Have you been ever betrayed by a friend?
How did you feel? Would you feel sad if your friends turned against you?
What was your reaction?
Did you try to reunite again with your friend?
How friends cheat? Give examples?
What is your opinion about such friends?
Have you cheated a friend?
What would you be as a friend?
Enemies are better than cheating friends. At least they don’t stab behind your back! Do you agree?
Friend’s betray more than enemies. Do you agree?
It is friends who become enemies. Isn’t it?
Elements of the poem
Setting- pastoral
Forest of Arden
Tone- neutral
Literary devices
Personification is representation of a thing as if it were a person. In this poem the wind is addressed as if it is a person. So wind is personified as a living person which it is obviously not.
Lyric is a poem meant to be sung originally with a musical instrument called lyre. Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind is a lyrical poem.
Refrain is a line or a set of lines that are repeated in every stanza like a chorus. The last four lines of this lyrical poem form a refrain.
Brief Account of the Author
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon, in the country of Warwick. His father John
Shakespeare was a prosperous businessman. He got his education in a good grammar school.
His father’s business failed due to neglect so he couldn’t attend the university.
At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathway and had 3 children. He was said to arrive in London in 1592. He became an important member of a renowned theatre company called Lord Chamberlains men later changed to King’s men. From 1509 the group performed his plays at the globe theatre and later in 1608 took over the Black friar’s monastery. Shakespeare by his publications of Venus and Adonis and Rape of Lucrece had earned considerable fame in 1594. The theatre’s which were considered low class entertainment before 1595, began to be attended by them and the qualities of plays improved. After acquiring a lot of property in Stratford, he retired to his house in New Place.
The Tempest was his last play written around 1611.
On 23rd April, 1616, Shakespeare was buried in Stratford church the same church he was christened!
His tombstone is inscribed with the following epitaph;
Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare
To dig the dust enclosed heare
Blessed by y man y spares hes stones
And curst be he y moves my bones
His plays and sonnets have become world famous.
Some of his works are
Plays
Comedies
As you like it
The tempest
Twelfth night
Tragedies
Othello
Macbeth
Julius Caesar
Romeo and Juliet
Poems
Shakespeare's Sonnets
Venus and Adonis
The Rape of Lucrece
The Passionate Pilgrim[e]
The Phoenix and the Turtle
A Lover's Complaint
A brief note on As you like it
This poem is taken from William Shakespeare’s As you like it act 2 scene 7
The lines are sung by Amiens (an attending lord and musician)when duke senior asks him to sing
Duke senior also known as Duke Ferdinand who loses his dukedom to his younger brother, Duke Fredrick by force. He retires along with his loyal courtiers to the forest of Arden during his exile. He is presented as Robin Hood, he doesn’t even grieve the loss of his dukedom.
As You Like It follows its heroine (Duke senior’s daughter)Rosalind as she flees persecution in her uncle's court, accompanied by her cousin Celia and Touchstone the court jester, to find safety and eventually love in the Forest of Arden.
Direct Instruction
Vocab checkpoint
Unkind -Cruel
Tooth- biting cold of winter
Rude- rough, coarse
High-ho- An expression of joy
The green holly- An evergreen bush or tree which is a symbol of the everlasting friendliness of nature.
Feigning- Pretending, deceiving
Bite so nigh- Bite sharply or deeply (to the bone)
Nigh- near
Waters warp- Referring to the wind curling and ruffling the sea. Water turns to ice.
As benefits forgot- as the attitude of those who, after receiving favours, prove thankless.
As friend remember’d not- as is a man’s ungrateful behaviour in forgetting a friend.
Blow, blow, winter wind.
You aren’t as harsh
As men’s ingratitude.Your teeth aren’t as sharp,
As you are invisible,
Even though your breath is an assault.
Heigh-ho! Sing, heigh-ho! Sing to the green holly.
Most friendship is false, most love simply foolishness.
Then heigh-ho, to the holly.
This life is really jolly.
Freeze, freeze, you bitter sky,
Your bite isn’t as painful
As when good deeds are forgotten.
Even though you can freeze water
Your sting is not as sharp
As the friend who is forgotten.
Heigh-ho! Sing, heigh-ho! Sing to the green holly.
Most friendship is false, most love simply foolishness.
Then heigh-ho, to the holly.
This life is really jolly.
Synopsis
The poem entitled ‘Blow! Blow! Thou Winter Wind’ is a song sung by the character named Amiens in the drama written by William Shakespeare. Amiens is one of the lords who have by their own choice come with Duke Senior, who had been banished by his brother. Amiens sings this song commenting upon the ways of the world, and human ingratitude which is more biting than the piercing cold winter wind.
The poet in the very beginning addresses the winter wind and says that it can blow as much hard as it likes because it is not so harsh and rude like man’s nature of being ungrateful. The attack of the winter wind is not so sharp because it is not visible although it is bitingly cold.
The poet asks the frosty sky to freeze because it won’t cause him deep pain as caused by his friends who forget his favours instead of being thankful. The poet says that although the waters are frozen they don’t cause sharp pain like one caused by his friend, who doesn’t even bother to remember him. Thus, the frozen faces of the world are more painful than the frozen waters.
We should always be singing throughout the year like ‘holly’ (an evergreen plant). The poet here says that the friendship is only a pretence and loving is nothing but absurdity and foolery. He again tells that life is very wonderful and should be fully enjoyed. It is like a song and should be sung.
The poet here projects a harsh reality through his song. The celebrated poet Shakespeare is known for his wise words. He is his same self here. His statements are weighty, pithy and precisely correct.
Themes
Man’s inhumanity to man.
Man is so ungrateful and selfish that he does not care for those who were his close friends. He doesn’t remember them once his purpose is served.
Harsh winter
The harshness of the winter’s wind is not as bitter as man’s ingratitude to man.
Closure
The main idea of the poem is that man’s ingratitude to man is more painful than the harshness of the winter. Pain caused by a friend is more pitiful than the biting of the winter’s wind. The men of the world are so insane that even brothers don’t recognize each other in their hate. Friends steep so low to reach high. People use each other for their own advantage and when their purpose is over they act like strangers to one another. Mankind is so intoxicated with anger that there is no humanity left.
Guided practice
Checks for understanding
Questions
1. Who is the speaker is addressing to?
2. Why is friendship false?
3. Why is love foolish?
4. Why does the speaker ask the sky to freeze?
5. Why is the winter’s wind tooth not so sharp?
6. Which is more unkind- the winter wind or man’s ingratitude?
Independent practice
Assessment and follow up
Writing exercises
1. Enemies are better than cheating friends. At least they don’t stab behind your back! Do you agree?
2. Friend’s betray more than enemies. Write an essay.
3. Friends turn foes. Elaborate.
4. Write about your own experience with an unfaithful friend.
5. What is your idea of friendship? What would you be as a friend? Would you feel sad if your friends turned against you?
Other interesting activities
Read the unabridged play As you like it. Enact it.
Write your own review of the play and poem
Compare cheating friends to some elements of nature or anything you can imagine. Write a short note or a poem about it.
Reflection
Interest-Did the story engage the student’s curiosity, interest and attention, why and why not?
Participation-Did the children participate eagerly and actively in the activities given to them? What factors encouraged or discouraged them?
How did the children respond to the mime and acting? Did they feel for the character’s they portrayed?
Collaboration-Did the children collaborate and work well together?
Enjoyment-did the children enjoy the story and related activities?
The aim of this lesson plan is to make the students understand the poem and to make them aware of the concept, nuance and the meaning underlying it... Pain caused by a friend is more pitiful than the biting of the winter’s wind.
Objective
Students should be able to comprehend and write comprehensively about the meaning of the poem. Point out the gist of the poem. Learn the language and new words.
Resource Materials
William Shakespeare’s As you like it
Teaching Methodology
Anticipatory set
What is your idea of friendship?
Have you been ever betrayed by a friend?
How did you feel? Would you feel sad if your friends turned against you?
What was your reaction?
Did you try to reunite again with your friend?
How friends cheat? Give examples?
What is your opinion about such friends?
Have you cheated a friend?
What would you be as a friend?
Enemies are better than cheating friends. At least they don’t stab behind your back! Do you agree?
Friend’s betray more than enemies. Do you agree?
It is friends who become enemies. Isn’t it?
Elements of the poem
Setting- pastoral
Forest of Arden
Tone- neutral
Literary devices
Personification is representation of a thing as if it were a person. In this poem the wind is addressed as if it is a person. So wind is personified as a living person which it is obviously not.
Lyric is a poem meant to be sung originally with a musical instrument called lyre. Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind is a lyrical poem.
Refrain is a line or a set of lines that are repeated in every stanza like a chorus. The last four lines of this lyrical poem form a refrain.
Brief Account of the Author
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon, in the country of Warwick. His father John
Shakespeare was a prosperous businessman. He got his education in a good grammar school.
His father’s business failed due to neglect so he couldn’t attend the university.
At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathway and had 3 children. He was said to arrive in London in 1592. He became an important member of a renowned theatre company called Lord Chamberlains men later changed to King’s men. From 1509 the group performed his plays at the globe theatre and later in 1608 took over the Black friar’s monastery. Shakespeare by his publications of Venus and Adonis and Rape of Lucrece had earned considerable fame in 1594. The theatre’s which were considered low class entertainment before 1595, began to be attended by them and the qualities of plays improved. After acquiring a lot of property in Stratford, he retired to his house in New Place.
The Tempest was his last play written around 1611.
On 23rd April, 1616, Shakespeare was buried in Stratford church the same church he was christened!
His tombstone is inscribed with the following epitaph;
Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare
To dig the dust enclosed heare
Blessed by y man y spares hes stones
And curst be he y moves my bones
His plays and sonnets have become world famous.
Some of his works are
Plays
Comedies
As you like it
The tempest
Twelfth night
Tragedies
Othello
Macbeth
Julius Caesar
Romeo and Juliet
Poems
Shakespeare's Sonnets
Venus and Adonis
The Rape of Lucrece
The Passionate Pilgrim[e]
The Phoenix and the Turtle
A Lover's Complaint
A brief note on As you like it
This poem is taken from William Shakespeare’s As you like it act 2 scene 7
The lines are sung by Amiens (an attending lord and musician)when duke senior asks him to sing
Duke senior also known as Duke Ferdinand who loses his dukedom to his younger brother, Duke Fredrick by force. He retires along with his loyal courtiers to the forest of Arden during his exile. He is presented as Robin Hood, he doesn’t even grieve the loss of his dukedom.
As You Like It follows its heroine (Duke senior’s daughter)Rosalind as she flees persecution in her uncle's court, accompanied by her cousin Celia and Touchstone the court jester, to find safety and eventually love in the Forest of Arden.
Direct Instruction
Vocab checkpoint
Unkind -Cruel
Tooth- biting cold of winter
Rude- rough, coarse
High-ho- An expression of joy
The green holly- An evergreen bush or tree which is a symbol of the everlasting friendliness of nature.
Feigning- Pretending, deceiving
Bite so nigh- Bite sharply or deeply (to the bone)
Nigh- near
Waters warp- Referring to the wind curling and ruffling the sea. Water turns to ice.
As benefits forgot- as the attitude of those who, after receiving favours, prove thankless.
As friend remember’d not- as is a man’s ungrateful behaviour in forgetting a friend.
Blow, blow, winter wind.
You aren’t as harsh
As men’s ingratitude.Your teeth aren’t as sharp,
As you are invisible,
Even though your breath is an assault.
Heigh-ho! Sing, heigh-ho! Sing to the green holly.
Most friendship is false, most love simply foolishness.
Then heigh-ho, to the holly.
This life is really jolly.
Freeze, freeze, you bitter sky,
Your bite isn’t as painful
As when good deeds are forgotten.
Even though you can freeze water
Your sting is not as sharp
As the friend who is forgotten.
Heigh-ho! Sing, heigh-ho! Sing to the green holly.
Most friendship is false, most love simply foolishness.
Then heigh-ho, to the holly.
This life is really jolly.
Synopsis
The poem entitled ‘Blow! Blow! Thou Winter Wind’ is a song sung by the character named Amiens in the drama written by William Shakespeare. Amiens is one of the lords who have by their own choice come with Duke Senior, who had been banished by his brother. Amiens sings this song commenting upon the ways of the world, and human ingratitude which is more biting than the piercing cold winter wind.
The poet in the very beginning addresses the winter wind and says that it can blow as much hard as it likes because it is not so harsh and rude like man’s nature of being ungrateful. The attack of the winter wind is not so sharp because it is not visible although it is bitingly cold.
The poet asks the frosty sky to freeze because it won’t cause him deep pain as caused by his friends who forget his favours instead of being thankful. The poet says that although the waters are frozen they don’t cause sharp pain like one caused by his friend, who doesn’t even bother to remember him. Thus, the frozen faces of the world are more painful than the frozen waters.
We should always be singing throughout the year like ‘holly’ (an evergreen plant). The poet here says that the friendship is only a pretence and loving is nothing but absurdity and foolery. He again tells that life is very wonderful and should be fully enjoyed. It is like a song and should be sung.
The poet here projects a harsh reality through his song. The celebrated poet Shakespeare is known for his wise words. He is his same self here. His statements are weighty, pithy and precisely correct.
Themes
Man’s inhumanity to man.
Man is so ungrateful and selfish that he does not care for those who were his close friends. He doesn’t remember them once his purpose is served.
Harsh winter
The harshness of the winter’s wind is not as bitter as man’s ingratitude to man.
Closure
The main idea of the poem is that man’s ingratitude to man is more painful than the harshness of the winter. Pain caused by a friend is more pitiful than the biting of the winter’s wind. The men of the world are so insane that even brothers don’t recognize each other in their hate. Friends steep so low to reach high. People use each other for their own advantage and when their purpose is over they act like strangers to one another. Mankind is so intoxicated with anger that there is no humanity left.
Guided practice
Checks for understanding
Questions
1. Who is the speaker is addressing to?
2. Why is friendship false?
3. Why is love foolish?
4. Why does the speaker ask the sky to freeze?
5. Why is the winter’s wind tooth not so sharp?
6. Which is more unkind- the winter wind or man’s ingratitude?
Independent practice
Assessment and follow up
Writing exercises
1. Enemies are better than cheating friends. At least they don’t stab behind your back! Do you agree?
2. Friend’s betray more than enemies. Write an essay.
3. Friends turn foes. Elaborate.
4. Write about your own experience with an unfaithful friend.
5. What is your idea of friendship? What would you be as a friend? Would you feel sad if your friends turned against you?
Other interesting activities
Read the unabridged play As you like it. Enact it.
Write your own review of the play and poem
Compare cheating friends to some elements of nature or anything you can imagine. Write a short note or a poem about it.
Reflection
Interest-Did the story engage the student’s curiosity, interest and attention, why and why not?
Participation-Did the children participate eagerly and actively in the activities given to them? What factors encouraged or discouraged them?
How did the children respond to the mime and acting? Did they feel for the character’s they portrayed?
Collaboration-Did the children collaborate and work well together?
Enjoyment-did the children enjoy the story and related activities?
Thursday, May 13, 2010
LESSON PLAN FOR O HENRY’S THE LAST LEAF
LESSON PLAN FOR O HENRY’S THE LAST LEAF
Purpose
The aim of this lesson plan is to make the students understand the story and to make them aware of the concept, nuance and the meaning underlying it...The importance of our life and how it means to the people who love us. We should not give up on life at the most trying times.
Objective
Students should be able to comprehend and write comprehensively about the characters, events and the glossary of the story. Point out the gist of the story. Learn the language and new words.
Resource Materials
Teaching tools Images of winter snow flakes, Monalisa, the last supper, Venus sculpture and perhaps a picture of O Henry himself! (Displayed at relevant teaching time)
Source- Internet
Teaching Methodology
Anticipatory set
Are there artists in this class? What do you paint?
What is art?
What is a masterpiece? Give me some example?
What’s your masterpiece? Tell me about it and why it is your masterpiece?
Who are the people you care and concerned about most? Why
How far would you go to help them? Would you lay your life for them?
Have you done anything for them when they were ill?
Elements of the story
Setting
Have any of you been to New York?
The Last Leaf takes place in New York City, the largest city in America. The
location of the story is a small part of New York known as Greenwich Village (pronounced "grennitch",
It depicts New York in the light of struggling artists
Seasons
How many seasons are there in your country?
What are the main seasons?
What time of year do they occur?
Which season do you like best?
Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.
In which season is it easiest to fall ill?
Winter
Atmosphere
Cold, rainy, windy night
Tone- melancholy or sad.
Disease
Have you nursed a very ill person? How was his response? How was it like?
Have you been ill for a prolonged time? What did you suffer from? Elaborate
This story taps similar instances from life
Pneumonia is a dangerous disease which causes severe inflammation of the lungs.
Brief Account of the Author
O. Henry，pseudonym of William Sydney Porter，was born in Greensborn， North Carolina on September 11，1862. He worked as apprentice, pharmacist, cowboy, clerk, book keeper since fifteen years old. Accused of embezzling funds from bank, he fled to Honduras. On hearing his wife’s illness, he came back, but was sentenced to a three-year imprisonment. The tough life experience laid a deep foundation of his writing career. After released in 1901, he moved to New York, wholly devoted himself to literature. The ten years ever since is his last ten years and his splendid ten years. Writing at the rate of more than one story per week, he published ten collections of stories and over 600 short stories during his lifetime, all of which are about the life of ordinary people in New York City. "The Last Leaf”, first published in 1905, then edited into The Trimmed Lamp is one of them.
Direct Instruction
Vocab checkpoint
Approaches
To approach is to move towards. It is often used with seasons and special occasions (New Year, Christmas, birthdays) as in the example here, as well as with people and moving objects (vehicles, etc).
Becomes (verb) In this example, becomes has the same meaning as "gets". With illnesses, we often use "to fall", or "to be taken": Johnsy fell ill/Johnsy was taken ill
Pneumonia (noun) Pneumonia is a serious illness of the lungs.
Vine (noun) A vine is like a branch (of a tree), but is actually a stem of a climbing plant (it may also be used to describe the climbing plant itself, e.g. grape vine).
Braves (verb) To brave as a verb, means to face an adverse or difficult situation, even though the person may not be brave (as in the meaning of the adjective: courageous).
Survive (verb) To survive something is to overcome a problem, illness or adverse situation. It may also be, simply, to stay alive. The noun is survivor.
Masterpiece (noun) A masterpiece is a great work of art, like a painting, sculpture or piece of music or writing (poetry, fiction, etc.)
Artists are people who paint for a living.
Models are people who pose for artists to draw them.
Synopsis
The setting is Greenwich Village, New York, 1905. Johnsy, Sue and Behrman are three of the impoverished artists. One autumn, Johnsy suffers from Pneumonia that has killed so many people at that time. Johnsy is in despair that she depends her life on the ivy leaves outside the window. She believes that the moment the last leaf falls she will die. Her friend, Sue doesn’t know what to do except worrying and constant nursing. Then on a cold, rainy, windy night, when it is quite apparent that the last leaf is “dying”, Old Behrman, who regards himself as “special mastiff-in-waiting to protect the two young artists”, defies the cold, wet night to paint a leaf on the outdoor vine to restore the dying Johnsy's will to live. The doctor tells Sue that Mr. Berhman died of pneumonia during the night. "They found his body in your alley, next to a ladder and a lantern, and a palette of green and yellow paints. Heaven knows what he was doing out there." The last leaf, which raises Johnsy’s hope of living when she sees it the next morning, is Behrman’s masterpiece that eluded him in life.
Characters- Behrman, Johnsy and Sue are artists
Character sketches
Behrman
Though the hero appears only once and speaks twice in the whole story but he, successfully reveals his affection to two young artists and his noble spirit.
Though he was hard in the outside, he was full of gentle feelings in heart, His love towards Johnsy and Sue was fraternal or fatherly affections.
Johnsy
She suffers from pneumonia in this story. Her wish for death and her dialogues reflect her disparity for life. She refuses to cooperate with Sue because of her illness.When Johnsy spies through the window and counts backward the ivy leaves, dialogues between she and Sue reflect her disparity for life and wish for death. Johnsy doesn’t answer Sue but goes on counting. She is still talking to Sue, her words has no direct relation with Sue’s question, which shows her state of mind, the blank mind. It’s a vivid description of a dying Johnsy.
Sue who is caring nursing, tolerating, through perseverance and gentleness shows her fondness for her weak friend. She does her duty as a concerned friend.
Themes
Friendship, sacrifice, fraternal love, love, struggling artists, lower class society
The theme of the story is related to an abstract concept—friendship. According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, friendship is 1. A relationship between friends; 2. The feeling and behaviour that exist between friends. From these two explanations, one thing we are sure is that friendship is a kind of mutual behaviour. In the “The Last Leaf”, Johnsy is terribly ill that she is not able to have any other physical behaviour but speech .The dialogues between characters come to the most apparent and the most significant tool to reflect character relationship---friendship.
The last leaf—the masterpiece, sings the praise of the sincere friendship and the noble spirit---selfless sacrifice of ordinary people. They give support to each other, even without hesitation to sacrifice their own life. Their life will not be less splendid than that of the upper class because of poverty. On the contrary, they are great because of their fraternal love and the priceless friendship as the evergreen ivy leaf, which constitute their noble spirit.
Friendship between Johnsy and Sue
Sue and Johnsy, a pair of six-month friends gave mutual help and relief in time of poverty and that Sue have heartfelt eagerness to go through thick and thin with Johnsy.
Sacrifice
A sacrifice is the act of giving up something, or not having something or doing something yourself, to help somebody else. We saw how Mr Behrman gave his life to help Johnsy in The Last Leaf. He made the greatest sacrifice anybody could make. But sacrifices are not always as great as Mr Behrman's. We make small sacrifices almost every day.
Impoverished life of Artists
The three artists have the life of the improvised, unpublished, would-be “great artists”. They are at the lower class of the society and strive for success, strive to accomplish a great masterpiece.
Masterpiece
A masterpiece is a great work of art, like a painting, sculpture or piece of music or writing (poetry, fiction, etc.)
It is the height of someone’s artistic abilities. It is his highest achievement and the best in his ability as an artist. It’s a fantastic creation created at the peak of one’s career.
Give me some examples of master pieces?
Examples-Da Vinci’s Monalisa
Edison’s bulb
Closure
When a patient is critically or chronically ill for a long time, he loses the jest for life and loses all hopes of recovery. He loses the will to live and survive. Ultimately it is faith that cures! You need to be cheery to make the atmosphere cheerful and positive and that will change his outlook towards life. You must make him look forward to speedy recovery.
Behrman kept sues hopes alive by painting the leaf in the tree. By doing this he saved Sue’s life and that was his master piece. He was not successful as an artist but he succeeded in saving a dear old friend and that was his master stroke!- It was not a greatest work of art but his greatest achievement as an artist was saving a friends life through his art. But in doing so he loses his life! This story makes us ponder about people who would go at any extent or length to save a dear friend. This story talks about the value of friendship. It is a greatest human value in it.
We become aware of how silly we are of not valuing our life and how important it is to our loved ones. We don’t give importance to our life and don’t think about what will happen to the people who love and care when we die.
This story points out that there are caring people in this world. Love is very much present in the most trying times.
Guided practice
Checks for understanding
A masterpiece is the greatest piece of art an artist creates. The Mona Lisa, for example, is Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece.
1. There are 3 painters in this story. What are their names?
2. How would you describe Mr Pneumonia?
The O' Henry Twist
O' Henry is famous for surprise endings or "twists" in his stories. In The Last Leaf, Johnsy seems to be dying of pneumonia when the story begins, but it is Mr Behrman who dies in the end, while Johnsy survives. Now we know how Mr Behrman died, think of his sacrifice and discuss them with a friend:
Give a new twist in the story.
2. Here are ten lines from the end of the story. Put them into the correct order to find out how Mr Behrman created his masterpiece.
a) There was a light he had taken outside. ___
b) Mr Behrman died of pneumonia today in the hospital. ___
c) There was green and yellow paint. ___
d) He was helpless with pain. ___
e) He painted his great masterpiece before the last leaf fell. ___
f) And they found some things. ___
g) The night had been so cold and wild. ___
h) Someone found him in his room. ___
i) There were materials for painting. ___
j) His clothes were as wet and cold as ice. ___
3. Questions
• What did Mr. Behrman paint before he died?
• Try to describe his masterpiece.
• What did Mr. Behrman's painting do for Johnsy to help her survive?
• What feeling did it give her?
• Why does Sue call "The Last Leaf" Behrman's masterpiece?
EXERCISES
4. Write new sentences using the following words.
Approaches
Becomes
Pneumonia
Vine
Braves
Survive
Masterpiece
Artists
Models
5.
Art and Artists: suffixes
6. What do you call the people who perform or create these arts?
There are five suffixes that we commonly use for artists.
-ist -er -or -ian -ess
• Sculpture ___________________________________
• dance ___________________________________
• Poetry ___________________________________
• Drama (acting) ___________________________________
• painting ___________________________________
• Music ___________________________________
• Fashion design ___________________________________
• Movie making ___________________________________
• Short stories ___________________________________
• Novels ___________________________________
• Photography ___________________________________
• cartoons (animation) ___________________________________
6.What kind of artist is...?
• What kind of artists are the following people?
• What are they famous for?
Choose one of these artists, or one of your own favorite artists and describe what you think their "masterpiece" is.
Steven Spielberg ___________________________________
O' Henry ___________________________________
Ralph Lauren ___________________________________
Michael Jackson ___________________________________
Pablo Picasso ___________________________________
William Shakespeare ___________________________________
Mozart ___________________________________
Leonardo Da Vinci ___________________________________
Harrison Ford ___________________________________
Independent practice
Read similar stories. E.G. Earnest Hemingway’s A day’s wait.
Assessment and follow up
Writing exercises
A Rainy Season Setting
1. Write a one page composition describing the following place and time: your home during the rainy season. Think of some of the sounds, smells and sights inside and outside your house, both during the day and during the night. Think of some of the real situations you have had to face. Alternatively, you could use some experiences that friends or family have had and still use them with you as the main character.
A Sacrifice
2. What is the greatest sacrifice you have ever made for your family or friends? An example of this may be when you have stayed at home to help your family instead of going out with friends. Write a short story about something you decided not to do, so that you could help somebody else.
3. Rewrite the story by giving it a new end.
Other interesting activities
Ask them to enact the story by giving it a new end in class. Role play help students know to use the language beyond the story and explore the issues, problems and moral dilemmas it contains.
Reflection
Interest-Did the story engage the student’s curiosity, interest and attention, why and why not?
Participation-Did the children participate eagerly and actively in the activities given to them? What factors encouraged or discouraged them?
How did the children respond to the mime and acting? Did they feel for the character’s they portrayed?
Collaboration-Did the children collaborate and work well together?
Enjoyment-did the children enjoy the story and related activities?
Purpose
The aim of this lesson plan is to make the students understand the story and to make them aware of the concept, nuance and the meaning underlying it...The importance of our life and how it means to the people who love us. We should not give up on life at the most trying times.
Objective
Students should be able to comprehend and write comprehensively about the characters, events and the glossary of the story. Point out the gist of the story. Learn the language and new words.
Resource Materials
Teaching tools Images of winter snow flakes, Monalisa, the last supper, Venus sculpture and perhaps a picture of O Henry himself! (Displayed at relevant teaching time)
Source- Internet
Teaching Methodology
Anticipatory set
Are there artists in this class? What do you paint?
What is art?
What is a masterpiece? Give me some example?
What’s your masterpiece? Tell me about it and why it is your masterpiece?
Who are the people you care and concerned about most? Why
How far would you go to help them? Would you lay your life for them?
Have you done anything for them when they were ill?
Elements of the story
Setting
Have any of you been to New York?
The Last Leaf takes place in New York City, the largest city in America. The
location of the story is a small part of New York known as Greenwich Village (pronounced "grennitch",
It depicts New York in the light of struggling artists
Seasons
How many seasons are there in your country?
What are the main seasons?
What time of year do they occur?
Which season do you like best?
Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.
In which season is it easiest to fall ill?
Winter
Atmosphere
Cold, rainy, windy night
Tone- melancholy or sad.
Disease
Have you nursed a very ill person? How was his response? How was it like?
Have you been ill for a prolonged time? What did you suffer from? Elaborate
This story taps similar instances from life
Pneumonia is a dangerous disease which causes severe inflammation of the lungs.
Brief Account of the Author
O. Henry，pseudonym of William Sydney Porter，was born in Greensborn， North Carolina on September 11，1862. He worked as apprentice, pharmacist, cowboy, clerk, book keeper since fifteen years old. Accused of embezzling funds from bank, he fled to Honduras. On hearing his wife’s illness, he came back, but was sentenced to a three-year imprisonment. The tough life experience laid a deep foundation of his writing career. After released in 1901, he moved to New York, wholly devoted himself to literature. The ten years ever since is his last ten years and his splendid ten years. Writing at the rate of more than one story per week, he published ten collections of stories and over 600 short stories during his lifetime, all of which are about the life of ordinary people in New York City. "The Last Leaf”, first published in 1905, then edited into The Trimmed Lamp is one of them.
Direct Instruction
Vocab checkpoint
Approaches
To approach is to move towards. It is often used with seasons and special occasions (New Year, Christmas, birthdays) as in the example here, as well as with people and moving objects (vehicles, etc).
Becomes (verb) In this example, becomes has the same meaning as "gets". With illnesses, we often use "to fall", or "to be taken": Johnsy fell ill/Johnsy was taken ill
Pneumonia (noun) Pneumonia is a serious illness of the lungs.
Vine (noun) A vine is like a branch (of a tree), but is actually a stem of a climbing plant (it may also be used to describe the climbing plant itself, e.g. grape vine).
Braves (verb) To brave as a verb, means to face an adverse or difficult situation, even though the person may not be brave (as in the meaning of the adjective: courageous).
Survive (verb) To survive something is to overcome a problem, illness or adverse situation. It may also be, simply, to stay alive. The noun is survivor.
Masterpiece (noun) A masterpiece is a great work of art, like a painting, sculpture or piece of music or writing (poetry, fiction, etc.)
Artists are people who paint for a living.
Models are people who pose for artists to draw them.
Synopsis
The setting is Greenwich Village, New York, 1905. Johnsy, Sue and Behrman are three of the impoverished artists. One autumn, Johnsy suffers from Pneumonia that has killed so many people at that time. Johnsy is in despair that she depends her life on the ivy leaves outside the window. She believes that the moment the last leaf falls she will die. Her friend, Sue doesn’t know what to do except worrying and constant nursing. Then on a cold, rainy, windy night, when it is quite apparent that the last leaf is “dying”, Old Behrman, who regards himself as “special mastiff-in-waiting to protect the two young artists”, defies the cold, wet night to paint a leaf on the outdoor vine to restore the dying Johnsy's will to live. The doctor tells Sue that Mr. Berhman died of pneumonia during the night. "They found his body in your alley, next to a ladder and a lantern, and a palette of green and yellow paints. Heaven knows what he was doing out there." The last leaf, which raises Johnsy’s hope of living when she sees it the next morning, is Behrman’s masterpiece that eluded him in life.
Characters- Behrman, Johnsy and Sue are artists
Character sketches
Behrman
Though the hero appears only once and speaks twice in the whole story but he, successfully reveals his affection to two young artists and his noble spirit.
Though he was hard in the outside, he was full of gentle feelings in heart, His love towards Johnsy and Sue was fraternal or fatherly affections.
Johnsy
She suffers from pneumonia in this story. Her wish for death and her dialogues reflect her disparity for life. She refuses to cooperate with Sue because of her illness.When Johnsy spies through the window and counts backward the ivy leaves, dialogues between she and Sue reflect her disparity for life and wish for death. Johnsy doesn’t answer Sue but goes on counting. She is still talking to Sue, her words has no direct relation with Sue’s question, which shows her state of mind, the blank mind. It’s a vivid description of a dying Johnsy.
Sue who is caring nursing, tolerating, through perseverance and gentleness shows her fondness for her weak friend. She does her duty as a concerned friend.
Themes
Friendship, sacrifice, fraternal love, love, struggling artists, lower class society
The theme of the story is related to an abstract concept—friendship. According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, friendship is 1. A relationship between friends; 2. The feeling and behaviour that exist between friends. From these two explanations, one thing we are sure is that friendship is a kind of mutual behaviour. In the “The Last Leaf”, Johnsy is terribly ill that she is not able to have any other physical behaviour but speech .The dialogues between characters come to the most apparent and the most significant tool to reflect character relationship---friendship.
The last leaf—the masterpiece, sings the praise of the sincere friendship and the noble spirit---selfless sacrifice of ordinary people. They give support to each other, even without hesitation to sacrifice their own life. Their life will not be less splendid than that of the upper class because of poverty. On the contrary, they are great because of their fraternal love and the priceless friendship as the evergreen ivy leaf, which constitute their noble spirit.
Friendship between Johnsy and Sue
Sue and Johnsy, a pair of six-month friends gave mutual help and relief in time of poverty and that Sue have heartfelt eagerness to go through thick and thin with Johnsy.
Sacrifice
A sacrifice is the act of giving up something, or not having something or doing something yourself, to help somebody else. We saw how Mr Behrman gave his life to help Johnsy in The Last Leaf. He made the greatest sacrifice anybody could make. But sacrifices are not always as great as Mr Behrman's. We make small sacrifices almost every day.
Impoverished life of Artists
The three artists have the life of the improvised, unpublished, would-be “great artists”. They are at the lower class of the society and strive for success, strive to accomplish a great masterpiece.
Masterpiece
A masterpiece is a great work of art, like a painting, sculpture or piece of music or writing (poetry, fiction, etc.)
It is the height of someone’s artistic abilities. It is his highest achievement and the best in his ability as an artist. It’s a fantastic creation created at the peak of one’s career.
Give me some examples of master pieces?
Examples-Da Vinci’s Monalisa
Edison’s bulb
Closure
When a patient is critically or chronically ill for a long time, he loses the jest for life and loses all hopes of recovery. He loses the will to live and survive. Ultimately it is faith that cures! You need to be cheery to make the atmosphere cheerful and positive and that will change his outlook towards life. You must make him look forward to speedy recovery.
Behrman kept sues hopes alive by painting the leaf in the tree. By doing this he saved Sue’s life and that was his master piece. He was not successful as an artist but he succeeded in saving a dear old friend and that was his master stroke!- It was not a greatest work of art but his greatest achievement as an artist was saving a friends life through his art. But in doing so he loses his life! This story makes us ponder about people who would go at any extent or length to save a dear friend. This story talks about the value of friendship. It is a greatest human value in it.
We become aware of how silly we are of not valuing our life and how important it is to our loved ones. We don’t give importance to our life and don’t think about what will happen to the people who love and care when we die.
This story points out that there are caring people in this world. Love is very much present in the most trying times.
Guided practice
Checks for understanding
A masterpiece is the greatest piece of art an artist creates. The Mona Lisa, for example, is Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece.
1. There are 3 painters in this story. What are their names?
2. How would you describe Mr Pneumonia?
The O' Henry Twist
O' Henry is famous for surprise endings or "twists" in his stories. In The Last Leaf, Johnsy seems to be dying of pneumonia when the story begins, but it is Mr Behrman who dies in the end, while Johnsy survives. Now we know how Mr Behrman died, think of his sacrifice and discuss them with a friend:
Give a new twist in the story.
2. Here are ten lines from the end of the story. Put them into the correct order to find out how Mr Behrman created his masterpiece.
a) There was a light he had taken outside. ___
b) Mr Behrman died of pneumonia today in the hospital. ___
c) There was green and yellow paint. ___
d) He was helpless with pain. ___
e) He painted his great masterpiece before the last leaf fell. ___
f) And they found some things. ___
g) The night had been so cold and wild. ___
h) Someone found him in his room. ___
i) There were materials for painting. ___
j) His clothes were as wet and cold as ice. ___
3. Questions
• What did Mr. Behrman paint before he died?
• Try to describe his masterpiece.
• What did Mr. Behrman's painting do for Johnsy to help her survive?
• What feeling did it give her?
• Why does Sue call "The Last Leaf" Behrman's masterpiece?
EXERCISES
4. Write new sentences using the following words.
Approaches
Becomes
Pneumonia
Vine
Braves
Survive
Masterpiece
Artists
Models
5.
Art and Artists: suffixes
6. What do you call the people who perform or create these arts?
There are five suffixes that we commonly use for artists.
-ist -er -or -ian -ess
• Sculpture ___________________________________
• dance ___________________________________
• Poetry ___________________________________
• Drama (acting) ___________________________________
• painting ___________________________________
• Music ___________________________________
• Fashion design ___________________________________
• Movie making ___________________________________
• Short stories ___________________________________
• Novels ___________________________________
• Photography ___________________________________
• cartoons (animation) ___________________________________
6.What kind of artist is...?
• What kind of artists are the following people?
• What are they famous for?
Choose one of these artists, or one of your own favorite artists and describe what you think their "masterpiece" is.
Steven Spielberg ___________________________________
O' Henry ___________________________________
Ralph Lauren ___________________________________
Michael Jackson ___________________________________
Pablo Picasso ___________________________________
William Shakespeare ___________________________________
Mozart ___________________________________
Leonardo Da Vinci ___________________________________
Harrison Ford ___________________________________
Independent practice
Read similar stories. E.G. Earnest Hemingway’s A day’s wait.
Assessment and follow up
Writing exercises
A Rainy Season Setting
1. Write a one page composition describing the following place and time: your home during the rainy season. Think of some of the sounds, smells and sights inside and outside your house, both during the day and during the night. Think of some of the real situations you have had to face. Alternatively, you could use some experiences that friends or family have had and still use them with you as the main character.
A Sacrifice
2. What is the greatest sacrifice you have ever made for your family or friends? An example of this may be when you have stayed at home to help your family instead of going out with friends. Write a short story about something you decided not to do, so that you could help somebody else.
3. Rewrite the story by giving it a new end.
Other interesting activities
Ask them to enact the story by giving it a new end in class. Role play help students know to use the language beyond the story and explore the issues, problems and moral dilemmas it contains.
Reflection
Interest-Did the story engage the student’s curiosity, interest and attention, why and why not?
Participation-Did the children participate eagerly and actively in the activities given to them? What factors encouraged or discouraged them?
How did the children respond to the mime and acting? Did they feel for the character’s they portrayed?
Collaboration-Did the children collaborate and work well together?
Enjoyment-did the children enjoy the story and related activities?
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
LESSON PLAN FOR O HENRY’S THE LAST LEAF
LESSON PLAN FOR O HENRY’S THE LAST LEAF
Purpose
The aim of this lesson plan is to make the students understand the story and to make them aware of the concept, nuance and the meaning underlying it... The value of a gift is not weighed by its size or cost but the love, sacrifice and effort in giving that precious gift.
Objective
Students should be able to comprehend and write comprehensively about the characters, events and the glossary of the story. Point out the gist of the story. Learn the language and new words.
Resource Materials
Teaching tools
Presents and DVD of Rain Coat (Hindi)
Source-
Teaching Methodology
Anticipatory set
Activity 1(The good will behind giving gifts)
a) Ask children to exchange among themselves any of the things they have brought in class.
Discuss
Did you give anything that you valued most?
Are you happy with the gifts you received?
Did you get what you expected to get?
b) Ask the children to list out theirs and their friend’s wish list for gifts on any of the special occasions.
Compare the list and discuss whether they would part with the things they treasure most for a friend or a dear-one.
Activity 2 (How well you know your friend?)
Discuss with your friends what gift you would give to a special friend. Write it down on a piece of paper but don’t show it to the recipient. Ask him to guess. Discuss how well you know each other?
Discuss (The story behind Christmas)
What are the ways in which you celebrate Christmas?
What were the 3 gifts the Magi gave?
Discuss Christmas has become very commercial and we have forgotten the true meaning of the celebration. What is its true meaning?
Which is the most important celebration for you?
What are the other occasions in which you exchange gifts?
What is the best gift you have ever received?
Elements of the story
Setting
A rented meagre apartment in New York during the Christmas time.
Atmosphere
The time of Christmas. Last minute struggle before the festivities begin.
Tone- Contemplative.
Brief Account of the Author
O. Henry，pseudonym of William Sydney Porter was born in Greensborn， North Carolina on September 11，1862. He worked as apprentice, pharmacist, cowboy, clerk, book keeper since fifteen years old. Accused of embezzling funds from bank, he fled to Honduras. On hearing his wife’s illness, he came back, but was sentenced to a three-year imprisonment. The tough life experience laid a deep foundation of his writing career. After released in 1901, he moved to New York, wholly devoted himself to literature. The ten years ever since is his last ten years and his splendid ten years. Writing at the rate of more than one story per week, he published ten collections of stories and over 600 short stories during his lifetime, all of which are about the life of ordinary people in New York City. "The Last Leaf”, first published in 1905, then edited into The Trimmed Lamp is one of them.
O Henry wrote about 300 short stories. He was famous for surprising twists at the end of his stories. The Gift of Magi was perhaps the most well known.
It is about the selfless love of the two people Della and Jim. They were poor but they had something more valuable than wealth-their love for each other. It is not the value of gift that counts but the love that comes with it.
Read the lesson aloud for e.g. mime for different characters and voice surprise or suspense. Ask questions to encourage the children to show their understanding or predict what’s going to happen next. Allow the children to mime and read aloud the lesson as well.
Ask the students to tell what they understood.
Can you predict the end? Is your prediction correct?
Explain whenever there is need for elaboration. Analyse the story.
Direct Instruction
Vocab checkpoint
Cut back (verb)
To cut is to reduce to reduce salary and company expenses usually done in the times of slow business.
Groceries (noun)
Groceries are food provisions like milk, eggs, vegetables and rice.
Watch Chain (noun)
A watch chain is a chain usually attached to an old fashioned pocket watch. The other end of the chain was attached to the button of a waist coat so that it won’t get lost.
Too bad (adjective)
Too bad is a phrase that denotes shame or it’s a pity.
Wigs (noun)
A wig is a false hair covering for the head. Wigmaker pay for real hair by its length.
Shocked (adjective)
To be shocked is to extremely taken aback by surprise.
Strange (adjective)
Strange implies something unusual or uncommon.
Possession (noun)
Possessions are personal belongings.
Sacrificed {verb}
To sacrifice is to give away something valuable in order to help someone.
Valuable (adjective)
When something is valuable it means it is either worth a lot of money or it has strong emotional worth.
Synopsis
Jim and Della are husband and wife who live struggling life in a rented apartment in New York. Jim just had salary cut of 20 $ a week. They have monetary problems. After rent and other expenses the couple have very little money left. Christmas is only one day away. They don’t have any fancy for anything but they are happy with what they have. Della loves her beautiful long hair, but she wants to present Jim a gold chain for the watch he is so proud of for Christmas. She has only 1.87 $.So she sells her hair to a women who makes hair wigs to buy Jim the present. She goes home and prepares dinner for Jim and waits for him to come home. She was worried how Jim would react to her hair cut off. When Jim returned, he did react and looked shocked seeing Della’s short hair. She tells her how she had sold her cut hair to buy Jim his Christmas present. Jim told her not to worry as nothing can change his love for her. The reason he is shocked is that he too has brought a set of beautiful set of combs to suit her long hair by selling his treasured watch. Della gives Jim his present and Jim gives Della hers. Both the gifts were useless for their purpose could not be served. O Henry asks, “Were they foolish to sell their favourite possessions?” Then he tells that no they were wise because they sacrificed their most valuable possessions for the love of one another. They were like the three wise men who brought presents for Jesus Christ when he was born. Christians still give presents to their loved one to remember the gifts that Magi brought on the first Christmas.
Characters- Della, Jim and a woman who makes hair wigs.
Character sketches
Della
Della is the proper loving wife who waits for her husband, Jim and makes food for him. She would do anything to please him. She loves her Jim dearly and she can’t bear to displease him. Della becomes worried that Jim would stop loving her seeing her beautiful long hair cut short. She sacrificed her most precious hair to give him the gold chain for his watch on the occasion of Christmas. She is a true Christian and adheres to its customs.
Jim
Jim too is a loving husband. He was shocked to see Della’s hair cut short. But he would not love her less because of that. He was shocked that there Christmas gifts would be now useless because their purpose could not be served. He sacrifices his most treasured watch to buy Della a set of combs for Christmas. He is so concerned that he would do anything to remove the anxiety from her face. He changed the subject in their conversation because it would bring sorrow to Della.
Themes
Theme of Christmas
The Gift of Magi implies the expensive gifts the three wise men brought for Jesus Christ when he was born. They were called the Magi.
They were priests who travelled to Bethlehem from Mesopotamia (ancient Babylon), who fore saw the birth of a new king in an unusual star. The gifts that they gave had special significance. They were prophetic. The three gifts were gold (symbolised Christ’s Kingship on earth), Frankincense (an incense sticks symbolised his role as a priest) and Myrrh (an embalming substance symbolised his crucifixion on the cross).
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is giving up something which is dear to you for someone else. It is the main theme of the story. Both Della and Jim sacrifice their most treasured things to gift each other on the occasion of Christmas.
Generosity
They sell what they treasure the most in order to boost the treasure of one another.
Love
Della’s love for Jim is effectively captured in the lines-
“Whenever Mr. James Dillingham Young came home and reached his flat above he was called "Jim" and greatly hugged by Mrs. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Della. Which is all very good.”
Jim sums up his love for Della beautifully in the following line-
“They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs.”
After learning that Della has cut off her hair to trade a chain for his watch Jim says that
The gift is nice not only for the amount it cost but also for the sacrifice it cost. He too had traded his watch for her comb! This statement also highlights the uselessness of the gift because their intended purpose had become meaningless.
The lead characters are so drawn to each other that they sacrificed the things they valued the most in order to buy each other Christmas present. Even though their gift’s purpose could not be served, their sacrificial love for each other is the most valuable present on earth.
In this story the author pays homage to Christmas by emphasising the real purpose behind giving gifts during celebrations.
Wisdom
The precious possessions of Della and Jim are not the things they own but each other. Of all the gifts the gift that comes with love, sacrifice and generosity is the wisest gift one can give.
Things to ponder
Who made greater sacrifice and why? Is it Della by selling her hair or Jim by selling her watch? Write a short paragraph.
Discuss why the story is titled The Gift of Magi? Is it the right title for it? Suggest more titles for the story.
Poverty
From the first line itself the author introduces us to the lead characters as very poor-
“One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied.”
Jim and Della have very little money to exchange Christmas gifts. Even as they struggle for every dime of money the couple did not forget to gift each other on Christmas Eve.
Biblical reference
“Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered," she went on with sudden serious sweetness, "but nobody could ever count my love for you. Shall I put the chops on, Jim?"
Della says this to Jim to make him understand that she cut off her hair. She says that the number of hair she possess is nothing compared to her love for him He means so much to her that It doesn’t matter if she loses her hair for it. This shows the depth of Della’s love for Jim. The author takes a direct reference from an incident in Bible-“Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.” Luke 12:6-7 6
It means God doesn’t forget sparrows worth two farthings and even the number of hair in our head are not forgotten. God values everyone.
Discuss other themes like identity, family, giving and beauty.
Guided practice
Checks for understanding
Who are the two children?
Why does O Henry refer to them as children?
Why are they unwise?
Why are they wise?
Which character speaks the following lines?
What each line tell us about the character?
2. Which character speaks the following lines?
What each line tell us about the character?
“And now suppose you put the chops on."
“Will you buy my hair?”
“I sold the watch to get the money to buy the combs.”
“You have cut off your hair?”
“What could I do with a dollar and eighty-seven cents?”
“Don’t you like me now?”
“You won’t care will you?”
3. Arrange the above sentences in order as it appears in the story.
Assessment and follow up
Evaluation through a quiz game
Divide the students into two groups. A representative from each group (turn by turn) is given a dialogue from the story to say aloud for the opposition group. The opposition group has to answer which character says the following lines and why?
"Take yer hat off and let's have a sight at the looks of it.”
“Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered,"
“I'm me without my hair.”
"Please God, make him think I am still pretty."
“If you'll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going a while at first.
""You say your hair is gone?"
"Let’s put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while.”
“They're too nice to use just at present.”
4. Surprise ends
Surprise ends are unexpected ends. There are always surprise ends in O Henry’s stories. E.g. “The last leaf”.
Where is the surprise end or twist in this story? Which other story had such surprise ends?
Independent practice
Writing exercises
1. Write new sentences using the following words:
Cut back
Groceries
Watch Chain
Too bad
Wigs
Shocked
Strange
Possession
Sacrificed
Valuable
2. Write a story with similar themes for homework.
Plot a new ending to the story
Imagine Della trying to buy back Jim’s watch!
How will she raise money?
How would Jim react to it?
Other interesting activities
Ask them to enact the story in class by giving each student a turn to play the role of the narrator, Della and Jim. Role play help students know to use the language beyond the story and explore the issues, problems and moral dilemmas it contains.
Watch a movie which has a similar theme (of sacrifice) such as Rain Coat (If not in class at home).
Reflection
Interest-Did the story engage the student’s curiosity, interest and attention, why and why not?
Participation-Did the children participate eagerly and actively in the activities given to them? What factors encouraged or discouraged them?
How did the children respond to the mime and acting? Did they feel for the character’s they portrayed?
Collaboration-Did the children collaborate and work well together?
Enjoyment-did the children enjoy the story and related activities?
Purpose
The aim of this lesson plan is to make the students understand the story and to make them aware of the concept, nuance and the meaning underlying it... The value of a gift is not weighed by its size or cost but the love, sacrifice and effort in giving that precious gift.
Objective
Students should be able to comprehend and write comprehensively about the characters, events and the glossary of the story. Point out the gist of the story. Learn the language and new words.
Resource Materials
Teaching tools
Presents and DVD of Rain Coat (Hindi)
Source-
Teaching Methodology
Anticipatory set
Activity 1(The good will behind giving gifts)
a) Ask children to exchange among themselves any of the things they have brought in class.
Discuss
Did you give anything that you valued most?
Are you happy with the gifts you received?
Did you get what you expected to get?
b) Ask the children to list out theirs and their friend’s wish list for gifts on any of the special occasions.
Compare the list and discuss whether they would part with the things they treasure most for a friend or a dear-one.
Activity 2 (How well you know your friend?)
Discuss with your friends what gift you would give to a special friend. Write it down on a piece of paper but don’t show it to the recipient. Ask him to guess. Discuss how well you know each other?
Discuss (The story behind Christmas)
What are the ways in which you celebrate Christmas?
What were the 3 gifts the Magi gave?
Discuss Christmas has become very commercial and we have forgotten the true meaning of the celebration. What is its true meaning?
Which is the most important celebration for you?
What are the other occasions in which you exchange gifts?
What is the best gift you have ever received?
Elements of the story
Setting
A rented meagre apartment in New York during the Christmas time.
Atmosphere
The time of Christmas. Last minute struggle before the festivities begin.
Tone- Contemplative.
Brief Account of the Author
O. Henry，pseudonym of William Sydney Porter was born in Greensborn， North Carolina on September 11，1862. He worked as apprentice, pharmacist, cowboy, clerk, book keeper since fifteen years old. Accused of embezzling funds from bank, he fled to Honduras. On hearing his wife’s illness, he came back, but was sentenced to a three-year imprisonment. The tough life experience laid a deep foundation of his writing career. After released in 1901, he moved to New York, wholly devoted himself to literature. The ten years ever since is his last ten years and his splendid ten years. Writing at the rate of more than one story per week, he published ten collections of stories and over 600 short stories during his lifetime, all of which are about the life of ordinary people in New York City. "The Last Leaf”, first published in 1905, then edited into The Trimmed Lamp is one of them.
O Henry wrote about 300 short stories. He was famous for surprising twists at the end of his stories. The Gift of Magi was perhaps the most well known.
It is about the selfless love of the two people Della and Jim. They were poor but they had something more valuable than wealth-their love for each other. It is not the value of gift that counts but the love that comes with it.
Read the lesson aloud for e.g. mime for different characters and voice surprise or suspense. Ask questions to encourage the children to show their understanding or predict what’s going to happen next. Allow the children to mime and read aloud the lesson as well.
Ask the students to tell what they understood.
Can you predict the end? Is your prediction correct?
Explain whenever there is need for elaboration. Analyse the story.
Direct Instruction
Vocab checkpoint
Cut back (verb)
To cut is to reduce to reduce salary and company expenses usually done in the times of slow business.
Groceries (noun)
Groceries are food provisions like milk, eggs, vegetables and rice.
Watch Chain (noun)
A watch chain is a chain usually attached to an old fashioned pocket watch. The other end of the chain was attached to the button of a waist coat so that it won’t get lost.
Too bad (adjective)
Too bad is a phrase that denotes shame or it’s a pity.
Wigs (noun)
A wig is a false hair covering for the head. Wigmaker pay for real hair by its length.
Shocked (adjective)
To be shocked is to extremely taken aback by surprise.
Strange (adjective)
Strange implies something unusual or uncommon.
Possession (noun)
Possessions are personal belongings.
Sacrificed {verb}
To sacrifice is to give away something valuable in order to help someone.
Valuable (adjective)
When something is valuable it means it is either worth a lot of money or it has strong emotional worth.
Synopsis
Jim and Della are husband and wife who live struggling life in a rented apartment in New York. Jim just had salary cut of 20 $ a week. They have monetary problems. After rent and other expenses the couple have very little money left. Christmas is only one day away. They don’t have any fancy for anything but they are happy with what they have. Della loves her beautiful long hair, but she wants to present Jim a gold chain for the watch he is so proud of for Christmas. She has only 1.87 $.So she sells her hair to a women who makes hair wigs to buy Jim the present. She goes home and prepares dinner for Jim and waits for him to come home. She was worried how Jim would react to her hair cut off. When Jim returned, he did react and looked shocked seeing Della’s short hair. She tells her how she had sold her cut hair to buy Jim his Christmas present. Jim told her not to worry as nothing can change his love for her. The reason he is shocked is that he too has brought a set of beautiful set of combs to suit her long hair by selling his treasured watch. Della gives Jim his present and Jim gives Della hers. Both the gifts were useless for their purpose could not be served. O Henry asks, “Were they foolish to sell their favourite possessions?” Then he tells that no they were wise because they sacrificed their most valuable possessions for the love of one another. They were like the three wise men who brought presents for Jesus Christ when he was born. Christians still give presents to their loved one to remember the gifts that Magi brought on the first Christmas.
Characters- Della, Jim and a woman who makes hair wigs.
Character sketches
Della
Della is the proper loving wife who waits for her husband, Jim and makes food for him. She would do anything to please him. She loves her Jim dearly and she can’t bear to displease him. Della becomes worried that Jim would stop loving her seeing her beautiful long hair cut short. She sacrificed her most precious hair to give him the gold chain for his watch on the occasion of Christmas. She is a true Christian and adheres to its customs.
Jim
Jim too is a loving husband. He was shocked to see Della’s hair cut short. But he would not love her less because of that. He was shocked that there Christmas gifts would be now useless because their purpose could not be served. He sacrifices his most treasured watch to buy Della a set of combs for Christmas. He is so concerned that he would do anything to remove the anxiety from her face. He changed the subject in their conversation because it would bring sorrow to Della.
Themes
Theme of Christmas
The Gift of Magi implies the expensive gifts the three wise men brought for Jesus Christ when he was born. They were called the Magi.
They were priests who travelled to Bethlehem from Mesopotamia (ancient Babylon), who fore saw the birth of a new king in an unusual star. The gifts that they gave had special significance. They were prophetic. The three gifts were gold (symbolised Christ’s Kingship on earth), Frankincense (an incense sticks symbolised his role as a priest) and Myrrh (an embalming substance symbolised his crucifixion on the cross).
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is giving up something which is dear to you for someone else. It is the main theme of the story. Both Della and Jim sacrifice their most treasured things to gift each other on the occasion of Christmas.
Generosity
They sell what they treasure the most in order to boost the treasure of one another.
Love
Della’s love for Jim is effectively captured in the lines-
“Whenever Mr. James Dillingham Young came home and reached his flat above he was called "Jim" and greatly hugged by Mrs. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Della. Which is all very good.”
Jim sums up his love for Della beautifully in the following line-
“They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs.”
After learning that Della has cut off her hair to trade a chain for his watch Jim says that
The gift is nice not only for the amount it cost but also for the sacrifice it cost. He too had traded his watch for her comb! This statement also highlights the uselessness of the gift because their intended purpose had become meaningless.
The lead characters are so drawn to each other that they sacrificed the things they valued the most in order to buy each other Christmas present. Even though their gift’s purpose could not be served, their sacrificial love for each other is the most valuable present on earth.
In this story the author pays homage to Christmas by emphasising the real purpose behind giving gifts during celebrations.
Wisdom
The precious possessions of Della and Jim are not the things they own but each other. Of all the gifts the gift that comes with love, sacrifice and generosity is the wisest gift one can give.
Things to ponder
Who made greater sacrifice and why? Is it Della by selling her hair or Jim by selling her watch? Write a short paragraph.
Discuss why the story is titled The Gift of Magi? Is it the right title for it? Suggest more titles for the story.
Poverty
From the first line itself the author introduces us to the lead characters as very poor-
“One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied.”
Jim and Della have very little money to exchange Christmas gifts. Even as they struggle for every dime of money the couple did not forget to gift each other on Christmas Eve.
Biblical reference
“Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered," she went on with sudden serious sweetness, "but nobody could ever count my love for you. Shall I put the chops on, Jim?"
Della says this to Jim to make him understand that she cut off her hair. She says that the number of hair she possess is nothing compared to her love for him He means so much to her that It doesn’t matter if she loses her hair for it. This shows the depth of Della’s love for Jim. The author takes a direct reference from an incident in Bible-“Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.” Luke 12:6-7 6
It means God doesn’t forget sparrows worth two farthings and even the number of hair in our head are not forgotten. God values everyone.
Discuss other themes like identity, family, giving and beauty.
Guided practice
Checks for understanding
Who are the two children?
Why does O Henry refer to them as children?
Why are they unwise?
Why are they wise?
Which character speaks the following lines?
What each line tell us about the character?
2. Which character speaks the following lines?
What each line tell us about the character?
“And now suppose you put the chops on."
“Will you buy my hair?”
“I sold the watch to get the money to buy the combs.”
“You have cut off your hair?”
“What could I do with a dollar and eighty-seven cents?”
“Don’t you like me now?”
“You won’t care will you?”
3. Arrange the above sentences in order as it appears in the story.
Assessment and follow up
Evaluation through a quiz game
Divide the students into two groups. A representative from each group (turn by turn) is given a dialogue from the story to say aloud for the opposition group. The opposition group has to answer which character says the following lines and why?
"Take yer hat off and let's have a sight at the looks of it.”
“Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered,"
“I'm me without my hair.”
"Please God, make him think I am still pretty."
“If you'll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going a while at first.
""You say your hair is gone?"
"Let’s put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while.”
“They're too nice to use just at present.”
4. Surprise ends
Surprise ends are unexpected ends. There are always surprise ends in O Henry’s stories. E.g. “The last leaf”.
Where is the surprise end or twist in this story? Which other story had such surprise ends?
Independent practice
Writing exercises
1. Write new sentences using the following words:
Cut back
Groceries
Watch Chain
Too bad
Wigs
Shocked
Strange
Possession
Sacrificed
Valuable
2. Write a story with similar themes for homework.
Plot a new ending to the story
Imagine Della trying to buy back Jim’s watch!
How will she raise money?
How would Jim react to it?
Other interesting activities
Ask them to enact the story in class by giving each student a turn to play the role of the narrator, Della and Jim. Role play help students know to use the language beyond the story and explore the issues, problems and moral dilemmas it contains.
Watch a movie which has a similar theme (of sacrifice) such as Rain Coat (If not in class at home).
Reflection
Interest-Did the story engage the student’s curiosity, interest and attention, why and why not?
Participation-Did the children participate eagerly and actively in the activities given to them? What factors encouraged or discouraged them?
How did the children respond to the mime and acting? Did they feel for the character’s they portrayed?
Collaboration-Did the children collaborate and work well together?
Enjoyment-did the children enjoy the story and related activities?
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