1. Famous Short Short-Stories
English Novels
40CQ201
Textbook:
Famous Short Short-Stories
ISBN

2. "It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best
"It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.“ W. Churchill
"A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.“ "A book holds a house of gold.“ "If you do not study hard when young you'll end up bewailing your failures as you grow up." Chinese proverbs "To climb steep hills requires slow pace at first.“ W. Shakespeare

3. OBJECTIVES
To bring the best of the English stories to the language learners
To help students to see reading as an interesting activity
To improve reading and comprehension skills
To learn summarizing and reviewing, the plot of the story, useful vocabulary to describe a story

4. Learning Activities Preview a short-story
Prepare a biography of the author
Find the main idea of the short-story
Retell the story
Do character drawing
If possible: describe weather conditions, settings, and people’s appearance
Write a summary review

5. Course Methods Preview a short-story at home Home work
Teacher’s explanations
Pair-or group-work in class
Pair- or group-work in class
Pair-or group-work
Preview a short-story at home
Learn a biography of the author
Find the main idea of the short-story
Retell the story
Do character drawing
If possible: describe weather conditions, settings, and people appearance
Write a summary review

6. Instructions for a group-work
Prepare the author’s bio in written form
Write a summary of the short story
Both are home- and classroom activities
Hand-in both papers to the teacher
Classroom activities:
Do discussions with your classmates
and the teacher

7. Requirements and Grading
For Midterm and Final Tests the following is adjusted:
Attendance (presence in class) – 25%
Participation (classroom activity, homework) – 25%
Midterm test – 20%
Final test – 30%

8. Lesson plan in weeks Preview of the course
Washington Irving. The Wife (p.13)
Edgar Poe. The Oval Portrait (p.33)
Charles Dickens. The Pair of Gloves (p.39)
Herman Melville. The Fiddler (p.47)
Mark Twain. The Five Boons of Life (p.59)
Mark Twain. A Fable (p.63)
Midterm.

9. Lesson plan (continued)
Lafricadio Hearn. The Boy Who Drew Cats (p.91)
Oscar Wilde. The Selfish Giant (p.103)
Oscar Wilde. The Happy Prince (p.111)
O. Henry. After Twenty Years (p.127)
O. Henry. The Romance of a Busy Broker (p.133)
O. Henry. October and June (p.141)
Jack London. The Leopard Man’s Story (p.157)
James Joyce. Eveline (p.163)
Final Test.

10. Introduction of the Story
Activities:
Introduce the author of a short-story
Retell the story
Define the main idea of the story
Do character drawing of the main heroes
If possible: describe
weather conditions
settings and
people’s appearance

11. 1. The Author’s Biography
Who is the author of the story?
When did the writer live?
How did he become a writer?
Give a short characteristics of his literary creative activity.
(see sample descriptions in Chinese, pp. 198 – 219)

12. 1. The Author’s Biography: Useful Vocabulary
I have read the story entitled …
The title of the story is …
The author of the story is …
He was born in …
He lived in …
He was a famous American humorist (playwright, etc.)

13. 1. The Author’s Bio: Sample Description. Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known as Mark Twain, was a famous and popular American humorist, novelist, writer and lecturer. At his peak, he was probably the most popular American celebrity of his time. William Faulkner wrote that Twain was “the first truly American writer, and all of us since are his heirs”. In his life he worked as a steamboat pilot, a secretary to the governor of Nevada, a miner, a journalist in the newspaper in Virginia City, - he reported about his journey there. In 1865, Twain had his first literary success. He published his story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," that was reprinted nationwide, and called by Atlantic Monthly editor James Russell Lowell "the finest piece of humorous literature yet produced in America." After his success he started his lectures and soon Mark Twain was traveling up and down the state, lecturing and entertaining to packed houses. His first book The Innocents Abroad put its author in a spotlight he never willingly relinquished for the rest of his life.

14. Author’s Bio: Advanced
Later he wrote as an avid critic of American society. He wrote about politics with his Life on the Mississippi. Twain's greatest contribution to American literature is generally considered to be the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. As Ernest Hemingway himself said: "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. ...all American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since." Also popular are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and the non-fictional Life on the Mississippi. Twain began as a writer of light humorous verse; he ended as a grim, almost profane chronicler of the vanities, hypocrisies and acts of killing committed by mankind. At mid-career, with Huckleberry Finn, he combined rich humor, sturdy narrative and social criticism in a way almost unrivaled in world literature. Twain was a master at rendering colloquial speech, and helped to create and popularize a distinctive American literature, built on American themes and language.

15. 2. Retelling of the Story What is this story about?
How is the story introduced?
What happened in the story?
What is the moment of highest interest?
What is Conclusion of the story?

16. 2. Introduction Useful Vocabulary
The story begins with…
It rises up a question…
The author intends to discuss the questions (problems)…
The author wonders…
The author is curious about…
The story has a very unexpected ending.
The story ends unexpectedly.

17. 2. Conclusion Does the author give any recommendations?
What does the author propose?
What are the main arguments?
What comes in the conclusion?

18. 2. Conclusion: Useful Vocabulary
In conclusion it can be said that…
It is an outstanding piece of writing…
Valuable as it is, it is of even greater value to…
The most valuable aspect of the story is…
It is highly recommended…
It’s an outstanding achievement…
It is difficult to overestimate this text…
It is to be warmly welcomed…
In spite of minor faults, it should be recommended for reading
An invaluable aspect of the story is…
Incidental mistakes in no way prevent…

19. 3. The Main Idea of the Story
Here you have to answer questions like that:
Why has the author written his story?
What does he want to say?
What message does he want to deliver?
What are his intensions?
What does the author think about the reason of…?
Does the author see any way of solving the problem?
What does the author recommend to do?

20. 3. The Main Idea of the Story: Useful Vocabulary
The story deals with …
The story reveals…
The story rises up a question …
The story is devoted to the problem …
The author
a) …surveys, covers, discusses, presents, views, revises, emphasize, clarifies, suggests, comprises, wonders, handles, mentions, argues, summarizes, etc.
b) …is interested in, undertakes some steps, undertakes attempts, does not underestimate, pays attention to, gives ideas, illustrates with examples
According to the author of the story…

21. For the useful vocabulary see handouts
4. Character drawing
Who are the main characters of the story?
Describe them:
Appearance
Age
Positive Characteristic features
Negative Characteristic features
For the useful vocabulary see handouts

22. Written papers: Group work
Summarize your point of view on each short story following the scheme of analyses:
The story under review is entitled
The author of the story is
 The main idea of the story is
 The main characters are
 The action takes place in
 The summary of the story is as follows:
Don’t forget to write your English names
students numbers and
the date

23. Washington Irving. The Wife pp.13 - 24
Introduce the author of a short-story (p.199)
Define the main idea of the story
Retell the story
Do character drawing of the main heroes
If possible: describe weather conditions and settings
Home Work: Read the following short story:
Edgar Poe. The Oval Portrait (pp. 33 – 38)

24. Edgar Poe. The Oval Portrait pp. 33 - 38
Introduce the author of a short-story (p.201)
Retell the story.
What is the main idea of the story?
Do character drawing of the main heroes.
If possible: describe weather conditions and settings.
Home Work: Read the following short story:
Charles Dickens. The Pair of Gloves (pp. 39 – 46)

25. Charles Dickens. The Pair of Gloves pp. 39 - 46
Introduce the author of a short-story (p. 202)
Retell the story.
What is the main idea of the story?
Do character drawing of the main heroes.
If possible: describe weather conditions and settings.
Home Work: Read the following short story:
Herman Melville. The Fiddler (pp. 47 – 58)

26. Herman Melville. The Fiddler pp. 47 - 58
Introduce the author of a short-story (p.203)
Retell the story.
What is the main idea of the story?
Do character drawing of the main heroes.
If possible: describe weather conditions and settings.
Home Work: Read the following short story:
Mark Twain. The Five Boons of Life (pp. 59 – 62)

27. Mark Twain. The Five Boons of Life pp. 59 - 62
Introduce the author of a short-story (p.204)
Retell the story.
What is the main idea of the story?
Do character drawing of the main heroes.
If possible: describe weather conditions and settings.
Home Work: Read the following short story:
Mark Twain. A Fable (pp. 63 – 66)

28. Mark Twain. A Fable pp
Introduce the author of a short-story (p.204)
Retell the story.
What is the main idea of the story?
Do character drawing of the main heroes.
If possible: describe weather conditions and settings.
Home Work: Get ready for Midterm exam
2 semester begins with the story
Lafricadio Hearn. The Boy Who Drew Cats (pp. 91 – 96)

29. Midterm
Make a presentation of one of the short stories from the book “Famous Short Short Stories”
(except the ones from the lists on slides 6 – 7)
In your presentation pay attention to the following:
Introduce the author of a short-story
Read bits of the story
Define the main idea of the story
How does the author use the language?
Retell the story
Do character drawing
If possible: describe weather conditions and settings

30. Lafricadio Hearn. The Boy Who Drew Cats pp. 91 - 96
Introduce the author of a short-story (p.208)
Retell the story.
What is the main idea of the story?
Do character drawing of the main heroes.
If possible: describe weather conditions and settings.
Home Work: Read the following short story:
Oscar Wilde. The Selfish Giant (pp. 103 – 110)

31. Oscar Wilde. The Selfish Giant pp. 103 - 110
Introduce the author of a short-story (p.210)
Retell the story.
What is the main idea of the story?
Do character drawing of the main heroes.
If possible: describe weather conditions and settings.
Home Work: Read the following short story:
Oscar Wilde. The Happy Prince (pp. 111 – 126)

32. Oscar Wilde. The Happy Prince pp. 111 – 126
Introduce the author of a short-story (p.210)
Retell the story.
What is the main idea of the story?
Do character drawing of the main heroes.
If possible: describe weather conditions and settings.
Home Work: Read the following short story:
O. Henry. After Twenty Years (pp. 127 – 132)

33. O. Henry. After Twenty Years pp. 127 – 132
Introduce the author of a short-story (p.211)
Retell the story.
What is the main idea of the story?
Do character drawing of the main heroes.
If possible: describe weather conditions and settings.
Home Work: Read the following short story:
O. Henry. The Romance of a Busy Broker (pp. 133 – 140)

34. O. Henry. The Romance of a Busy Broker pp. 133 – 140
Introduce the author of a short-story (p.211)
Retell the story.
What is the main idea of the story?
Do character drawing of the main heroes.
If possible: describe weather conditions and settings. gs
Home Work: Read the following short story:
O. Henry. October and June (pp. 141 – 144)

35. O. Henry. October and June pp. 141 – 144
Introduce the author of a short-story (p.211)
Retell the story.
What is the main idea of the story?
Do character drawing of the main heroes.
If possible: describe weather conditions and settings.
Home Work: Read the following short story:
Jack London. The Leopard Man’s Story (pp. 157 – 162)

36. Jack London. The Leopard Man’s Story pp. 157 – 162
Introduce the author of a short-story (p.214)
Retell the story.
What is the main idea of the story?
Do character drawing of the main heroes.
If possible: describe weather conditions and settings.
Home Work: Read the following short story:
James Joyce. Eveline (pp. 163 – 170)

37. James Joyce. Eveline pp. 163 – 170
Introduce the author of a short-story (p.215)
Retell the story.
What is the main idea of the story?
Do character drawing of the main heroes.
If possible: describe weather conditions and settings.
Home Work: Get ready for the Final test

38. Final Exam
Make a presentation of one of the stories of English or American writers.
In your presentation pay attention to the following:
Introduce the author of a short-story
Read bits of the story
Define the main idea of the story
How does the author use the language?
Retell the story
Do character drawing
If possible: describe weather conditions and settings