American
Forum for Global Education
Asia 2001 Project
Introduction:
The lessons presented in this project are
designed to provide intermediate and advanced English as a
Second Language students with the framework for developing listening,
reading and language skills by studying, analyzing and responding to
multicultural literature. These lessons
are also suitable for students in middle schools who need to develop the same
skills in their English language arts classes.
The carefully selected readings are
Vietnamese. They are intended to expose
English Language Learners and middle school students to literature from other
cultures and especially from
The exercises have been divided into two
distinct sections. The first one
consists of comprehension, vocabulary and language exercises. These exercises are intended to measure
second language acquisition and cognitive development. The second exercises consist of English
Language Arts exercises geared towards development of the necessary skills for
listening and writing. They focus on the
literary elements and the authors' craft.
These lessons have been developed for the Asia 2001 Project, sponsored by the
American Forum for Global Education. The goal of the project is to disseminate
information about
Resources:
The book used for the poetry lessons is:
spring essence
The poetry of Hô
Xuân Huong
Edited and translated by John Balaban
The book used for the short stories lessons
is:
The Stars, The Earth, The River
Short Fiction Le Minh
Khue
Translated by Bac Hoai Tran and Dana
Sachs
Curbstone Press, 1997
Iris
D. Zucker
Assistant Principal Foreign Language/ESL
The
poetry of Hô Xuân Huong
Because
I was too easy, this happened.
Can
you guess the hollow in my heart?
Fate
did not push out a bud
even though the willow grew.
He
will carry it a hundred years
But I
must bear the burden now.
Never
mind the gossip of the world.
Don't
have it, yet have it! So simple.
l. Vocabulary Checklist
·
Find
the words in the poem
·
Define
each word by making use of the surrounding words in the stanza (context clues).
·
Write
a sentence for each vocabulary word.
1. hollow________________________________________________________________
2. willow________________________________________________________________
3. fate
__________________________________________________________________
4. burden
_______________________________________________________________
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The writer's tone in the
poem is
a) melancholic.
b) angry.
c) sad.
d) happy.
2. The main figure of speech in the poem is
a) hyperbole.
b) metaphor.
c) personification.
d) simile.
3. When the poet thinks of how people give
opinions
she feels
a) bitterness
b) disappointment
c) anger
d) sadness
4. The last line " Don't have it, yet have it! So simple
"
refers to
a) people's
opinion regarding unwed pregnancy
b) the
fate of unwed women
c) how
simple it is to resolve the unwed pregnancy problem
d) women
getting old
5. The theme in this poem is
a) about women's fate in society.
b) about unwed mothers.
c) people's opinions of others.
d) the fate of women who are unwed mothers.
ll lnterpretation
Answer
the following questions
1. What does the poet mean by
the sentence
"Because I was too easy, this
happened"? Explain
2. Do you think the speaker in
the poem is angry about
people gossiping?
Explain
lll. Poetry Analysis Questions
Answer
the following questions
1. Who is the speaker in the poem?
2. What message is the speaker sending?
3. What is the speaker's
attitude towards pregnancy out
of
wedlock?
4. Who is the speaker referring to when she says:
"He will carry it a hundred
years"? Explain
5. What is the burden the
speaker is bearing?
6. What theme is expressed in
this poem? Explain.
The poetry of Hô Xuân Huong
How
old are these two, anyway?
Big and little sister, equally lovely.
In a
100 years, smooth as two sheets of paper.
In
1,000, they still glow like springtime.
Will
the plum tree ever know the wind and moon?
Will
reed and willow accept their dull fates?
Why not
portray the other pleasures? Blame
The
artist, but a bit dim about love.
l. Vocabulary Checklist
·
Find
the words in the poem.
·
Define
each word by making use of the surrounding words in the stanza (context clues).
·
Write
a sentence for each vocabulary word.
1. willow:______________________________________________________________
2. dull:________________________________________________________________
3. fates:________________________________________________________________
4. dim:________________________________________________________________
5. portrait:______________________________________________________________
6. reed:________________________________________________________________
ll. Multiple Choice Questions
1. The
writer's tone in the poem is
a) Cheerful.
b) Angry.
c) Sad.
d) Happy.
2. The main
figure of speech in the poem is
a) Personification.
b) Hyperbole.
c) Metaphor.
d) Simile.
3. When the poet
thinks of aging, she feels
a) bitterness
b) disappointment
c) anger
d) indifference
4. When the poet
writes, "will reed and willow accept
their dull
fates?" she refers to
a) women
getting old
b) the
fate of all women
c) the
fate of willows and reeds
d) the
dullness of willows and reeds
5. The poem's
theme is
a) about women lack of love.
b) an artist's lack of love.
c) two sisters, one big and one small.
d) the fate of women becoming old.
lll.
Interpretation
Answer the following questions
1. What
does the poet mean by the question
"why not portrait the other pleasures"? Explain.
2. Do you
think the speaker in the poem is bitter about women turning old? Explain.
3. Why do
you think the poem is titled
On a Portrait of Two
Beauties? Explain.
lV. Poetry Analysis Questions
Answer the following questions
1. Who is the speaker in the
poem?
2. What message is the
speaker sending?
4.
What is the speaker's attitude
towards aging?
5.
What is expressed in this poem?
V:
Reader Response Activities
Answer the following questions
1. Rewrite the poem in your own words.
2. What does this poem remind you of?
by Le Minh Khue
"Everybody has a secret, a sorrow, a
memory"
PROCEDURE
Before reading "Fragile as a Sunray", the
teacher will highlight vocabulary from the selection for students to define and
to write sentences in context.
After reading the selection students will be asked to
answer questions to measure second language and cognitive acquisition.
A series of language arts exercises focusing on writing
and literary analysis will follow. Students will be asked to use graphic
organizers as a way of helping them in the pre-writing stages and in sequencing
the events.
Part l:
Language Acquisition Exercises
A.
Vocabulary
·
Find the words in the short story
·
Define each word by making use of the surrounding
words in the sentence (context clues).
·
Write a sentence for each vocabulary word.
1. Camouflaged:___________________________________________________________
2. Fatigues:________________________________________________________________
3. Pebbles:_________________________________________________________________
4. Despondent:_____________________________________________________________
5. Gaze:__________________________________________________________________
6.
Steely:_________________________________________________________________
B:
Questions
Active
1. Who is the narrator's mother and why is she so sad?
2.
Who did the narrator refer to
when she said, "you won't be lucky in life"?
3.
Why was the mother helping the
injured? What was her role and why?
4.
Who was the prisoner?
5.
Why was the mother afraid of her
feelings towards the prisoner?
Interpreting
1.The narrator states" Even
extraordinary people have secrets. The
heart is never at peace" Discuss how the mother's heart is not at
peace"
2.Explain and connect the
following quote to the feeling of the mother, " I believe that my mother
has been able to live until now because of such a secret, such a sorrow and
such a desire".
Critical Thinking
1. Explain
the kind of marriage the narrator's mother has.
2. How
does the narrator feel about her mother? Why?
"Fragile as a sunray"
by Le Minh Khue
Part ll: English Language Arts
Exercises:
Your Task: Summarize the story:
q Retell what happened in the
story by writing in the Story Sequence
Chart below.
q