The Happy Prince and Other Tales / written by Oscar Wilde

I.
Brief Introduction of the author: (the teacher can briefly introduce the author to motivate students.) Oscar Wilde(1854-1900) , a famous Irish dramatist, poet, and author, has published many outstanding works and dramas which influences the later generations. Oscar Wildes rich and dramatic portrayals of human conditions during the Victorian Era in the late 19th century. At that time, literature finally was not limited to the privilege noble class but also began to be embraced by the citizens, his poems and plays continued to inspire millions around the world. On May 29, 1884, Oscar married Constance Lloyd. She was well-read, spoke several European languages and had an outspoken, independent mind. With a family to support, Oscar accepted a job revitalizing the Woman's World magazine, where he worked from 1887-1889. The next six years were to become the most creative period of his life. He published two collections of children's stories, The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888), and The House of Pomegranates (1892). Of the two story books written by Wilde, the Happy Prince and other tales gained great publicity and was translated into many languages. Moreover, many of his scripts such as The Importance of being Earnest, Salome, An Ideal Husband The Woman of no importance, turned out to be huge success and built his status as a great playwright.

II.

Contents of the book: See the learning sheet on page 4-7 for the Summary of the 5 books.

III. Procedure of guiding study groups:

2. Watching the video related to the stories: In the language lab, the teacher play the video of the stories on the Utube website to visualize those words and description written in the books, thus increasing their intrinsic motivation. 1. The Happy Prince (Summary) part I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI92hDyI2HY (~) part II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twRgeQhVAFI&feature=related part III: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vy5OAU4Cg0</h2> 2. The Nightingale and the Rose (Summary) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfaU2Ldjg0k&feature=related ( ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xl2JGSwsRw&feature=related ( ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KGuhPLYNl0&feature=related ( +Q ) 3. The Selfish Giant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwkzo37nF-4 ( ) ~~ part I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBWURy1surI&feature=related part II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC8Gizdv3Go&feature=related part III: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xu8797m_D8&feature=related

4. The Devoted Friend Video : Sweet William and the Miller (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjiKdAC5jDs) ~ ~~~ 5. The Remarkable Rocket http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa-_2sWpAbk(~ video ) 3. Pop-quiz time: (See Page 8-11) Now the class is divided into 6 groups. The teacher will ask students some related questions, and then the representatives from every group need to answer the questions correctly to get points. The winner will be given extra points to their average in-class scores. To lower the anxiety of students, the teacher can ask students the following questions in Chinese, which was provided by the publisher. 4. Connotations of the stories: Every group is responsible for asking questions from one story to lead the whole class to ponder the connotations of the stories. And after researching the net for some explanations, they are required to propose their own idea and answers. For example: In the nightingale and the lover, (1) why does the bird would like to sacrifice his own life? (2) did the young man really know what true love means? In the remarkable rocket, (1) how do you describe the personality of the rocket? (2) what does the story tell us? (3) the rocket finally was let off, but no one notices him. What does this imply? (4) the frog kept talking without listening to the frog, but deemed that as a conversation. Do we sometimes make the same mistake? In the devoted friend, (1) will you do everything your friend ask for if you were little Hans? (2) can we say the miller the devoted friend? (3) what quality must a person have to be your devoted friend? 5. Short role-play: Time allowed, every group performs the short play according to the 5 stories in the book after one week so as to enhance their speaking and listening ability.

6.

Quizzes: (1) IWill reading test: Students registered in the Iwill website and take the reading comprehension questions. (2) They will take the pen-and-paper tests to see if they have the clear understanding of the whole story. (3) Fill in the blanks of the summary of the stories. 7. Written Assignment: All the students choose one story to write a 120-letter short essay regarding their own comments, reflections, and perspectives ****************************************************************************************

Learning Sheet:
After reading the stories, do you completely understand what the stories are about? Lets fill in the blanks and see how great your memory is!!*^_^ The Happy Prince (Summary) (adapted from Wikipedia)

The protagonist of the story is a gilt and bejeweled statue of a prince, who stands on a tall column overlooking a city. A swallow, who has delayed his migration to Egypt for the love of a reed, rests on the statue's plinth; the Prince is crying at the injustices he can now observe, having been isolated from the realities of his society while he was alive. The Prince asks the swallow to remove the ruby that adorns his sword, and give it to a poor seamstress with a sick child; the swallow does so. The swallow stays with the Prince over the ensuing weeks, distributing the jewels and gold from the Prince to the poor of the city. When the Prince is completely lack of gold, the swallow realizes he is dying from cold; the Prince asks the swallow to kiss him on the lips. The swallow dies, and the Prince's lead heart breaks. The next day, the Mayor of the city observes the state of the statue, and orders it to be removed and melted down. The Prince's heart does not melt in the furnace, and it is discarded on to the same dust-heap where the swallow's body is lying: "Bring me the two most precious things in the city," said God to one of His Angels; and the Angel brought Him the leaden heart and the dead bird. "You have rightly chosen," said God, "for in my garden of Paradise this little bird shall sing for evermore, and in my city of gold the Happy Prince shall praise me."

The Nightingale and the Rose

(Summary)

A nightingale overhears a student complaining that his professor's daughter will not dance with him, as he is unable to give her a red rose. The nightingale said, Here at last is a true lover. Night after night have I sung of him, though I knew him not...and now I see him. The nightingale thought, Here indeed is the true lover. Love is a wonderful thing. It is more precious than emeralds, and dearer than fine pearls. It cannot be purchased. (p36) The nightingale visits all the rose-trees in the garden, and said, Give me the red rose, and I will sing you the sweetest song. The first rose-tree can only grow white roses, and the second tree has yellow roses. And finally the nightingale came to the third white rose-tree, but it said, The winter has chilled my veins, and the frost has nipped my buds, and the storm has broken my branches, and I shall have no roses. The tree told her, If you want a red rose, you must build it out of music by moonlight, and stain it with your own hearts blood. You must sing to me with your breast against the thorn. The bird did so because it thinks, death is a great price to pay for a red rose. Love is better than life.It sang to the Student, All that I ask of you in return is that you will be a true lover. Love is wiser than philosophy. But the Student couldnt understand. The next day, the student takes the rose to the professor's daughter, but she again rejects him because another man has sent her some real jewels, and "everybody knows that jewels cost far more than flowers." The student angrily throws the rose into the gutter, returns to his study of logic and metaphysics, and decides not to believe in true love anymore.

The Selfish Giant The Selfish Giant of the title owns a beautiful garden, in which children love to play. On the giant's return from visiting an ogre, he takes offence at the children, and builds a wall to keep them out. As a consequence of this, the garden is condemned to perpetual winter. One day, the giant is awakened by a linnet, and discovers that spring has returned to the garden, as the children have found a way in through a gap in the wall. He sees the error of his ways, and decides to destroy the wall - however, when he appears from his castle, all the children run away, except for one boy, who is crying so much that he does

not notice the giant. The giant helps this boy into a tree that he wants to climb; the boy kisses him in return. The giant announces: "It is your garden now, little children," and knocks down the wall; the children once more play in the garden, and spring returns. But the boy that the Giant helped does not, and the Giant is heartbroken. Many years later, the Giant is old and feeble, and awakes, one winter morning, to see the trees in one part of his garden in full blossom. He descends from the castle, to discover the boy that he once helped lying beneath a beautiful white tree that the Giant has never seen before. The Giant sees that the boy bears the stigmata. He does not realize at first that the boy is actually the Christ Child. The Giant is furious at the idea that somebody has wounded him. "Who hath dared to wound thee?" cried the Giant; "tell me, that I may take my big sword and slay 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, to-day you shall come with Me to My garden, which is Paradise."

Shortly afterwards the happy giant dies; that same afternoon his body is found lying under the tree, covered in blossoms.

The Devoted Friend Hans is a gardener, little Hans, who is the devoted friend of a rich miller. On the basis of this friendship, the miller helps himself to flowers from Hans' garden, and promises to give Hans an old, broken wheelbarrow, to replace one that Hans was forced to sell so that he could buy food. Against this promise, the miller compels Hans to run a series of errands for him; one stormy night, the miller asks Hans to ask a doctor for his sick son. Returning from the doctor, Hans is lost on the moors in the storm, and drowns in a pool of water. After Hans' funeral, the miller's only emotion is regret, as he has been unable to dispose of () the wheelbarrow.

The story is told by a linnet to an intellectual water-rat, who fancies himself a literary critic; the water-rat is sympathetic to the miller rather than Hans, and it doesnt even know that the story has a moral. The Remarkable Rocket This story concerns a firework, who is one of many to be let off at the wedding of a prince and a Russian princess. The rocket is extremely pompous and self-important, and denigrates all the other fireworks, eventually bursting into tears to demonstrate his "sensitivity". As this makes him wet, he fails to let off, and, the next day, is thrown away into a ditch. He still believes that he is destined for great public importance, and treats a frog, dragonfly, and duck that meet him with appropriate disdain(). Two boys find him, and use him for fuel on their camp-fire. The rocket is finally lit and explodes, but (many people/nobody) observes him - the only effect he has is to frighten a goose with his falling stick. "Conversation, indeed!" said the Rocket. "You have talked the whole time yourself. That is not conversation." "Somebody must listen," answered the Frog, "and I like to do all the talking myself. It saves time, and prevents arguments." "But I like arguments," said the Rocket. "I hope not," said the Frog complacently. "Arguments are extremely vulgar, for everybody in good society holds exactly the same opinions."

Questions to ask in the Pop-quiz time:

The Happy Prince and Other Tales Reading Comprehension <The Happy Prince> 1. How did the people in the city feel about the statue of the Happy Prince? a) They thought he was very vain. b) They admired him and thought he was beautiful. c) They didnt like him because he was too rich. d) They liked him because he was useful. 2. Why did the Happy Prince cry in the story? a) He had no friend. b) He felt very cold. c) He felt sad for the poor people in the city. d) He was rich but unhappy when he was alive. 3. The Happy Prince gave out valuable jewels on himself to the people who a) asked him for the jewels. b) were his friends. c) were poor and needed help. d) bought them from him. 4. Why did the Swallow decide to stay with the Happy Prince? a) He loved the Happy Prince and didnt want to leave him. b) The Happy Prince told him fascinating stories, and he loved stories. c) The Happy Prince gave him a lot of valuable jewels. d) The Happy Prince asked the Swallow to stay with him forever. 5. The Swallow died in the end of the story because a) the weather was too cold for him. b) he was too tired after flying around in the city. c) the prince asked him to do too much work. d) he felt too sad for the Happy Prince. 6. In the end, what did the Mayor and the Town Councilors think about the Happy Prince? a) They were touched by his self-sacrifice and admired him. b) They thought that the Happy Prince was no longer useful. c) They were sad that the Happy Prince had become so shabby. d) They thought that the Happy Prince was brave.

<The Nightingale and the Rose> 7. Why did the young Student need a red rose? a) He was poor and the rose would earn him some money. b) The red rose could win him a chance to dance with the girl he loved. c) The rose could help him understand the mystery of love. d) Red roses were the subject of his study. 8. The Nightingale decided to help the young Student because a) she believed in true love. b) she loved the young Student. c) the young Student was her dearest friend. d) the young Student had helped her before. 9. In the story, what was the price to pay in exchange for a red rose? a) A huge amount of money. b) True love. c) The young Students life. d) The Nightingales life. 10. What did the young Student feel about the Nightingale? a) He loved the Nightingale for being his friend. b) He didnt like her because she sang too much. c) He loved the Nightingale because she sacrificed for him. d) He thought her singing was beautiful but not practical. 11. What made the rose red? a) The Nightingales singing. b) The blood in the Nightingales heart. c) Moonlight. d) The Students blood. 12. What happened to the Student in the end? a) He sold the rose to buy some jewels for the Professors daughter. b) He gave the rose to the Professors daughter and they danced together. c) The rose was refused and he lost his faith in love. d) The Student lost the rose but won true love. <The Selfish Giant> 13. The Giant didnt allow the children to play in his garden because a) he didnt want to share his garden. b) the children made a mess when they played there. c) the children were too noisy. d) he hated children.

14. Why did winter last so long in the Giants garden? a) The garden was located in a very high mountain. b) The Giant loved winter and invited it to stay there. c) The Spring did not like the children who played in the garden. d) The children were not allowed to play there, so the garden became a cold, lifeless place. 15. Why did the Spring finally come to the Giants garden after a very long winter? a) The children had crept in the garden and played there. b) The Winter was finally getting tired of the garden. c) The Spring was delayed by other business. d) The Giant prayed for the Spring to come. 16. The little boy the Giant had loved turned out to be a) an angel. b) the Spring. c) God. d) the Giants soul. 17. What happened to the Giant in the end? a) He was froze to death because the Winter lasted too long. b) He was punished by God for being selfish. c) He died and went to Paradise. d) He lived in his garden happily ever after, but never met the boy he loved again. <The Devoted Friend> 18. Who is The Devoted Friend in the story? a) The Linnet. b) The Water-rat. c) The Miller. 19. According to the story, the Miller was a) kind and modest. b) rich but mean. c) noble and smart. d) poor but generous. 20. Why did little Hans always do as the Miller asked? a) Little Hans considered the Miller as his best friend, and was willing to do anything for him. b) Little Hans was afraid that the Miller would bully him. c) Little Hans owed the Miller a lot of money. d) Little Hans never said no to peoples requests. 21. The Miller a) often invited little Hans to his house. b) taught his son to be generous to friends. c) talked about what true friendship should be all the time. d) loved to buy flowers from little Hans garden.

d) The Duck.

22. Did the Miller give little Hans his wheelbarrow? a) Yes, the Miller gave it to him as a gift in return for the flowers. b) No, the Miller sold his wheelbarrow finally. c) Yes, the Miller gave it to him after little Hans had helped him so much. d) No, the Miller still had the wheelbarrow at home. <The Remarkable Rocket> 23. Why didnt the Rocket go off on the Prince and the Princess wedding day? a) It rained and the Rocket could not go off in the rain. b) The Rocket was too proud to go off for the Prince and the Princess. c) The Rocket was wet with tears and could not go off. d) There was no gunpowder inside him. 24. The Rocket said, I know that I am destined to make a sensation in the world. What does this mean? a) The Rocket thought he was very sensitive. b) The Rocket believed that he would draw a lot of attention from people. c) The Rocket thought he was the best firework in the world. d) The Rocket planned to destroy the world. 25. Which of the following words could be used to describe the Rocket? a) selfless b) modest c) self-important d) patient

Answer Key Vocabulary and Phrases: 1. a 2. c 3. c 4. b 5. a 6. b 7. d 8. c 9. a 10. d 11. c 12. d 13. b 14. d 15. b 16. a 17. a 18. d 19. a 20. a 21. d 22. b 23. a 24. d 25. c Reading Comprehension 1. b 2. c 3. c 4. a 5. a 6. b 7. b 8. a 9. d 10. d 11. b 12. c 13. a 14. d 15. a 16. c 17. c 18. c 19. b 20. a 21. c 22. d 23. c 24. b 25. c