PREPARE SECOND EDITION LEVEL 6 LITERATURE 2: TEACHER’S NOTES

TEXT TWO ANIMAL POEMS

2 Suggested answers
AUTHOR Rabindranath Tagore
THEMES  usic (Unit 2), Getting Away (Unit 8),
M 1 The main similarity is that they are both about animals and
express ideas about being human. The differences are more
Challenging Fate (Unit 18)
varied and probably more interesting. Poem 1 is a single
VOCABULARY  elated to animals, wild, tame, caged etc.,
R poetic voice exploring ideas about how dogs behave and
abstract nouns. what they tell us about human beings and the purity of their
loyalty and trust. Poem 2 is a dialogue between a personified
WRITING  tudents write an email to a friend giving
S pair of birds whose concept of life are so different that they
information. cannot be together.
2 The main reason is the loyalty, trust and honesty the dog
SPEAKING  tudents debate an issue presenting for and
S shows to the man. We can extend this idea to the implication
against opinions. that human beings are sometimes inferior to animals, as we
can be dishonest and disloyal.
3 Ask for suggestions and ideas. For example, the bird in the
BACKGROUND INFORMATION cage might be happier because it is safer, doesn’t have to
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was a Bengali polymath, poet, worry about danger and is looked after. Or the wild bird
might be happier because it has freedom, even if it has a
musician, songwriter, artist, playwright and novelist. He was the
more dangerous way of life.
first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1913) 4 With the whole class, ask for suggestions and see which ideas
and was greatly admired by writers in the West, including WB are most popular.
Yeats, HG Wells and Robert Frost. Tagore travelled extensively 5 Ask for ideas and suggestions. You could write five or six of
and was welcomed by world leaders, artists and scientists all the best on the board and end with a class vote.
over the world. His writing is often meditative and spiritual,
as he explores what it is to be a human being in a world full of
variety and contrasts. VOCABULARY
3 Answers
WARMER 1 Richard believed it was his destiny to be King.
Quickly identify the animals in the picture and ask students 2 George sacrificed a job opportunity in London because his
to think of any stories, films, books or poems where these family needed him at home.
3 The tiger tried in vain to escape/ tried to escape in vain from
animals appear (Disney, Dream Works or Pixar movies for
the cage.
example). They might also be familiar with some books that 4 Many learned experts tried to explain the death of the
feature animals, e.g. Black Beauty, Warhorse, Aesop’s Fables, dinosaurs.
Watership Down, etc.
4 Answers
ABOUT YOU 1 ripples 2 longing 3 status 4 convey 5 sacrifice

The questions introduce some of the themes of the extract.

Animals and pets are often regarded differently in different MIXED ABILITY
cultures, so ask students to consider why people do, or The vocabulary exercises are fairly short, so stronger
students might finish them quickly. Give those who finish
don’t, keep pets. You can also ask students if they think quickly a third activity: writing their own sentences, using
pets are clean and hygienic. Use the questions to check the vocabulary in Activity 4, or searching for synonyms or
students understand the words cruel, tame and wild as antonyms of the words in the glossary.
these will come up later in the worksheet.
If you think students might be interested to know more
about Rabindranath Tagore use the Background WRITING
information box.
5 Go through the instructions and check students
1 Astudents
fter reading the poems, form small groups and ask
to compare their preferences and discuss
understand the task. They can use some of the ideas
they talked about in the discussion questions. It’s also a
their reasons. You should explain the metaphorical good idea to set a word limit of around 150 words.
use of the word ripple in the poem, a feeling that goes
through your body like ‘waves’ of emotion. Point out the
pronunciation of learned /ˈlɜːnɪd/ and explain that it is a SPEAKING
formal term.
6 Tinto
his can either be a whole class activity or organised
debates between smaller groups, depending on the
size of the class. You can structure the debate around a
specific proposition, for example, ‘Zoos should be closed
because they are cruel to animals’.

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