- 1 -

MODULE 2: THE RIGHT PERSON FOR THE RIGHT JOB

RECUERDE QUE PARA PODER ENTENDER UN TEXTO:

1. NO ES NECESARIO CONOCER TODAS LAS PALABRAS. POR LO TANTO,

ANTES DE BUSCAR PALABRAS EN EL DICCIONARIO, SE DEBE REALIZAR

UNA LECTURA GLOBAL DEL TEXTO SIN DETENERSE EN LAS PALABRAS

DESCONOCIDAS PARA OBTENER LA IDEA GENERAL DEL MISMO. SE

DEBE TRATAR DE RELACIONAR A TRAVÉS DEL CONTEXTO UTILIZANDO

LAS PALABRAS CONOCIDAS Y LAS QUE SE PARECEN AL ESPAÑOL.

2. ES IMPORTANTE REALIZAR LA ACTIVIDAD DE PRE-LECTURA (BEFORE

READING) PARA ACTIVAR LOS CONOCIMIENTOS PREVIOS DEL TEMA O

HIPOTETIZAR SOBRE EL CONTENIDO DEL TEXTO.

3. ADEMÁS, MIENTRAS SE LEE, SE DEBE TENER EN CUENTA EL OBJETIVO:

¿PARA QUÉ SE LEE? OBVIAMENTE, EN NUESTRO CASO, ES SIEMPRE

PARA RESPONDER A CONSIGNAS, CON LO CUAL DEBEMOS TENERLAS

MUY EN CLARO Y BUSCAR LA INFORMACIÓN ESPECÍFICA EN UNA

SEGUNDA LECTURA MÁS DETALLADA.

4. DESPUÉS DE LEER, SE REALIZAN ACTIVIDADES QUE PUEDEN ESTAR

RELACIONADAS, POR EJEMPLO, CON VOCABULARIO, TIEMPOS

VERBALES, ORGANIZACIÓN O CUALQUIER OTRO ASPECTO DE LAS

HISTORIAS.

Section 2: Time for Fiction II

- 2 -

BEFORE READING

The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde

a) Do you know the story? If you do, read and tick the best answer/s

to each of these questions (✓). If you don’t, try to guess them.

1. Who are the other characters in the story apart from the Giant /’dʒaɪənt/?

a monster a small boy an ogre some pets a witch a group of children

2. Where does the story take place?

in a castle’s lawn in a big garden by the seaside in a terrifying house in a school yard in the mountains

3. When does it happen?

in summer in autumn in winter in spring

4. What is the story about?

An evil Giant who eats children in winter. A bad-tempered Giant who changes his character for the better. A generous Giant who loves playing with children in the streets.

5. What is the ending of the story like?

sad happy moving unexpected

- 3 -

WHILE READING

a) Read the story and check your answers to the previous exercise. Part 1 Every afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children went and played in the Giant's garden. It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and there over the grass stood beautiful flowers, and there were twelve peach-trees that in the spring-time broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn had rich fruit. The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children stopped their games to listen to them. One day, the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend, the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. After the seven years, he had decided to return to his castle. When he arrived, he saw the children playing in the garden. "What are you doing here?" he cried angrily, and the children ran away. "My own garden is my own garden," said the Giant, "anyone can understand that and I will not allow anybody to play in it." Therefore, he built a high wall all round it, and put up a notice-board:

TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED

He was a very selfish Giant and now the poor children had nowhere to play. They tried to play on the road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones, and they did not like it. They wandered round the high wall when their lessons were over, and talked about the beautiful garden inside. Then, the Spring came, and all over the country there were little blossoms and little birds. However, in the garden of the Selfish Giant, it was still winter. The birds did not sing in it as there were no children, and the trees forgot to blossom. The only people who were pleased were the Snow and the Frost. The Snow covered up the grass in white, and the Frost painted all the trees silver. "I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming," said the Selfish Giant as he sat at the window and looked out at his cold white garden; "I hope there will be a change in the weather." But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant's garden she gave none. “He is too selfish,” she said. One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music. It was only a little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since he had heard a bird sing in his garden that it seemed the most beautiful music in the world. A delicious perfume came to him through the open casement. “I believe the Spring has come at last,” said the Giant, and he jumped out of bed and looked out. What did he see?

- 4 -

He saw a wonderful sight. Through a little hole in the wall, the children had crept in, and they were sitting in the branches of the trees. In every tree that he could see, there was a child. And the trees were so glad to have the children back again that they had covered themselves with blossoms. The birds were flying about and twittering with delight, and the flowers were laughing. It was a lovely scene, only in one corner, it was still winter. It was the farthest corner of the garden, and in it was standing a little boy. He was so small that he could not reach up to the branches of the tree, and he was wandering all round it, crying bitterly. The poor tree was still quite covered with Frost and Snow. "How selfish I have been!" he said, "now I know why the Spring did not come here. I will put that poor little boy on the top of the tree, and then I will knock down the wall, and my garden will be the children's playground for ever and ever." He was really very sorry for what he had done so he went out into the garden. But when the children saw him they were so frightened that they all ran away, and the garden became winter again. Only the little boy did not run because his eyes were so full of tears that he did not see the Giant coming. And the Giant took him gently in his hand, and put him up into the tree. And the tree broke at once into blossom, and the birds came and sang on it, and the little boy stretched out his two arms and put them round the Giant's neck, and kissed him. And the other children, when they saw that the Giant was not wicked any longer, came running back, and with them came the Spring. "It is your garden now, little children," said the Giant, and he took a great axe and knocked down the wall. And when the people were going to market at twelve o'clock they found the Giant playing with the children in the most beautiful garden they had ever seen. b) Unjumble the first part of the story by putting this sequence of

events in the order they occur in the story. The first one has been done for you.

A The Giant saw some children in his garden. They were sitting in

the branches of the trees which were now covered with blossoms.

B One day the Giant heard a bird in his garden. It was singing. He looked out of the window.

C Every day some children played in a beautiful garden. It was the Giant’s garden.

1

D The children were sad because they couldn’t play in the garden. E But in one corner of the garden it was still winter. There was a

little boy and he couldn’t climb the tree.

F One day the Giant came back from holiday. He saw the children in his garden.

- 5 -

G Now there were flowers in the tree in the corner and the birds were singing. The little boy kissed the Giant.

H He was angry because the children were in his garden. He told them to go away and built a high wall all around it.

I The Giant went into the garden, he picked up the boy and he put him in the tree.

J The Giant told all the children that they could play in his garden. They were all happy.

K It was always winter, and there were no flowers or birds in the Giant’s garden. The Giant didn’t understand why.

Part 2 All day long they played, and in the evening they came to the Giant to tell him good-bye. "But where is your little companion?" he said, "the boy I put into the tree." The Giant loved him the best because he had kissed him. "We don't know," answered the children; "he has gone away." "You must tell him to come here tomorrow," said the Giant. But the children said that they did not know where he lived, and had never seen him before. The Giant felt very sad. Every afternoon, when school was over, the children came and played with the Giant. But the little boy who the Giant loved was never seen again. The Giant was very kind to all the children; however, he longed for his first little friend, and often spoke of him. "How I would like to see him!" he used to say. Years went by, and the Giant grew very old and weak. He could not play anymore, so he sat in a huge armchair, and watched the children at their games, and admired his garden. "I have many beautiful flowers," he said, "but the children are the most beautiful flowers of all." One winter morning, he looked out of his window as he was dressing. He did not hate the Winter now as he knew that it was merely the Spring asleep, and that the flowers were resting. Suddenly, he rubbed his eyes in wonder, and looked and looked. It certainly was a marvelous sight. In the farthest corner of the garden was a tree covered with lovely white blossoms. Its branches were all golden, and it had silver fruit, and underneath it stood the little boy that he loved. Downstairs ran the Giant in great joy, and out into the garden. He walked across the grass, and came near to the child. And when he came quite close his face grew red with anger, and he said, "Who hath dared to wound thee?" For on the palms of the child's hands there were the prints of two nails, and the prints of two nails were on the little feet. "Who hath dared to wound thee?" cried the Giant, "tell me, that I will take

- 6 -

my big sword and kill him." "Nay!" answered the child, "but these are the wounds of Love." "Who art thou?" said the Giant, and a strange awe fell on him, and he knelt before the little child. And the child smiled on the Giant, and said to him, "You let me play once in your garden, today you will come with me to my garden, which is Paradise." When the children ran in that afternoon, they found the Giant lying dead under the tree, all covered with white blossoms. AFTER READING LET’S REFLECT UPON THE STORY a) Think of the organization of the story. Complete the chart.

Context/Setting

Who are the characters of the story?

Where are they?

When does the story take place?

What’s the weather and/or the place

like?

First problem/ solution

What was the problem?

Sequence of events that follow

What happened after that?

Unexpected event

What was the most surprising event?

Ending

How did the story end? Think about

feelings, reactions and/or results.

- 7 -

b) Relate these pictures to the moments in the story. Are all of them

illustrated below?

1)

2)

3)

- 8 -

c) Are these ideas true or false? When false, provide the correct version.

1. The village children played in the Giant’s garden once a week. ___

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. The Giant built a small wall around his garden. ___

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. The Giant prohibited the entrance of children into his garden. ___

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4. The children climbed over the wall into the garden. ___

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. The Giant asked the children to come back into the garden. ___

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

d) Answer these questions.

1. What is the Giant like at the beginning of the story? Are his personality

traits favourable or unfavourable?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Why do you think he behaves like this with the children?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. When does his attitude change? Is there any special action?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4. Who is the little boy? Account for your answer.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. In your opinion, why does he change for the better?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

- 9 -

ANWER KEY

BEFORE READING (No hay respuestas correctas o incorrectas.)

WHILE READING (Estas respuestas deben ser chequeadas con lo respondido en la sección “Before Reading”.)

Exercise A

1. A small boy / An ogre / A group of children

2. In a big garden

3. In winter / In spring

4. A bad-tempered Giant who changes his character for the better.

5. Sad / Moving / Unexpected

Exercise B

A. 7

B. 6

C. 1

D. 4

E. 8

F. 2

G. 10

H. 3

I. 9

J. 11

K. 5

- 10 -

AFTER READING

Exercise A

Context/Setting

The giant – A group of children

The giant’s garden

In spring

It was cold (It snowed./The wind blew.)

First problem/ solution

The giant didn’t want the children to play in his garden.

He built a wall.

The children couldn’t play in the garden.

Spring didn’t come to his garden.

Unexpected event

The giant helped a small boy to climb a tree.

The boy kissed him.

The giant changed.

Ending

The giant died but as he had changed, he went to heaven.

Exercise B

- Context/Setting: Picture 3

- Unexpected event: Picture 2

- Ending: Picture 1

Not all the parts of the story are illustrated.

Exercise C

1. False. They played every day.

2. False. The Giant built a high wall.

3. True

4. False. They made a hole in the wall.

5. True.

- 11 -

Exercise D (Respuestas sugeridas. Hay otras posibilidades.)

1. The Giant is selfish and ugly at the beginning of the story. They are

unfavorable because he is alone and it is always winter in his garden.

2. Perhaps because he doesn’t know them.

3. He changes his attitude when he sees the little boy in his garden. The

special action is when the little boy kisses him.

4. The little boy represents “Jesus” because he appears to make him change

and then, in the end, to take the Giant to paradise.

5. Because he understood that good actions bring good consequences.