The Grass is Singing

The Grass is Singing tells the unhappy story of Mary, whose marriage is a failure. Her story runs parallel to that of Rhodesia, where the understanding between white and black people was very difficult in the 1940s.

The books has a perfect structure. It begins with the news of Mary's murder and ends with the murder itself. The 267 pages needed by DL to tell her story are startling, because we can see how feelings and emotions are developed toward true tragedy as the protagonist is led to her own destruction as she neglects her responsibility towards herself to others: her husband, Tony Marston, the young British worker, or Moses, the back servant.

Both the characters and the events are true to life. The back servants are strong but lazy, the whites are organized in two groups: the successful Slatter and the losers: the Turner. On the other hand, Tony Marston represents the newly arrived intellectual, unable to apply his ideas to solve everyday problems.

The style is absorving, as the reader gets inside a tiresome atmosphere where the psychological landscape of the main character echoes in the veld. On the other hand the deafening cicadas with their cries seem to boost the neurastenic state in which all the action of the novel is held.

The Turners and specially Mary are affected by an illness which counfounds the soul. This sadness impregnates the events and lifes of the farmers and natives.

All the narrative is a fashback. The first page tells us the end. The rest of the book is about what happeded before and the way everything led to this unhappy and strage end.

Mary's story is a contemporary tragedy as it defines a woman's destiny. DL looks at married life face to face and says things for the first time that nobody wants to hear. The author shows how men and women's psychology differ up to a point in which communication between them is impossible. Mary becomes ill in her mind because she cannot adjust herself to the social preassures.

A compelling narrative which lets us uneasy about the roles of men and women in society. A landmark of twentieth-century narrative. A masterpiece of realism, full of Africa's mystery and beauty

Book Club

Hi everybody! I am sure you have had time to rest and study hard, even if you have a family to look after or a demanding job.

For the next days we are going to focus on a great writer: Doris Lessing. Her novel The Golden Notebook caused a great impression in my generation. This novel, which I strongly recommend, is also about societal and mental breakdown. I didn't choose it for the course because it is too long,but if you enjoyed The Grass is Singing, you will enjoy it as well.

Remember, successful reading results from the understanding you bring to a text, which is often based on previous knowledge. So try to read in order to understand the overall meaning of the text.

The process is double: bottom up and top down: Constructing meaning is not just understanding words and sentences in a text. It involves a connection between those words and sentences and the meanings which arise from your expectations and the knowledge you have about content and structure. So the best thing is to combine top down and bottom up processes and strategies. Discussing the topic, relating what happens in the book to what you know, to your own experiences and situations will help you to benefit from the reading.

Activities:
1. Provide a title for wach chapter
2. Summarize each chapter in three sentences.
3. Write a composition about what will happen next.
4. Write a composition about a different ending to the story.
5. Discuss what punishment to give to the criminal.
6. Discuss what advice would you have given Mary if you had had the opportunity.
7. Discuss each of the characters in the story.
8. Discuss significant bits of the story.
9. Discuss possible reasons for D.L. to write this book.
10. Give a reasoned opinion to another student who might read this book next year.
11. Write a book review.
12. Make a note of interesting expressions to learn and their meaning in English (quote page and paragraph). For example: Perhaps he had got cold feet and run away. (p. 14, par.3)

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PALE

Pale 2008 by Inma Garín

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PALE Course Assessment

A. Context:

1. Is the PALE programme appropriate?
2. Are the premises and timetable suitable?
3. Was the length of each lesson adequate?
   

B. Objectives:

1. Did the course meet the objectives?
2. Were the objectives suitable?
3. Why?
   

C. Content and Processes:

1. Was there enough content?
2. Was the content appropriate?
   
3. Did you find the materials and the teacher's approach interesting?

D. Outcomes:

1. Did you learn what you expected to learn?
   
2. Why?
3. Did you find the course suitable to your needs?
4. Will the course change your teaching practice?
   

E. Evaluation

1. Did you enjoy the course?
2. Why?
3. Did the teacher manage the group in a suitable way?
4. Was the teacher able to communicate with the students and create a suitable atmosphere?
5. Were activities balanced? (speaking-writing-listening)
6. Was the teacher able to stimulate your interest for the L3?
   

F. Future Directions:

1. What suggestions for improvement can you make?(any changes?)
   
2. What advise can you give to a future PALE student?
3. Would you like the course to stay as it is or be integrated in the current schedule at the EOI? Why?

Easter Homework

Three weeks and a half and the course will be over when we come back after the Easter Holidays, so there's lots to do to boost your English competences.

First, on the 22 and 27th of April we'll have the Book Club about The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing. In order to prepare for the Club, write a few interesting ideas or questions related to the characters and events in the book.
More about Doris Lessing at: Science Stage

As far as Face 2Face is concerned, we shall continue with lesson 11B, C and D, so study the vocabulary and the grammar. You can also do the reading exercises on page 90.

Finally, check the Progress Portfolio of the previous lessons to see what needs revising. Then get the workbook to revise those areas which need more work.

For those students who need more grammar work I recommend Grammar for First Certificate: Lesson 15 Passive Voice; Lesson 16 Reported Speech; Lesson 18 Phrasal Verbs; Verb complementation Lesson 17 and Linking words lessons 24 and 25.

For those who need more vocabulary work, please organize well all the vocabulary you have learned in an organised notebook, so as to revise it every week.

For those who need to practise listening, go to Event Blog (Language Learning). On the right-hand side you have all sorts of podcasts to listen to. Take notes on what you hear. Then open Audacity and record an audio file rephrasing what you have just heard. Try to recycle the language you have learned. Good luck!