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Listen&Learn: Charles Dickens

14th February 2024 by Jaksyn Peacock

Pre-listening vocabulary

  • financial: relating to money
  • inequality: a situation where some people have more rights, powers, or resources than other people
  • journalist: someone who writes news articles
  • pseudonym: a false name
  • serial: a type of novel that is published in parts
  • cliffhanger: a suspenseful ending that makes an audience want more of the story
  • celebrity: a famous person

Listening activity

Gapfill exercise

Charles Dickens was an English author. He is famous for some of the most well-known English , including Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. Dickens was born in Portsmouth in 1812. When he was growing up, his family had financial . This forced him to take a job in a factory at age 12, which made him interested in writing about social inequality. Dickens began his writing career as a journalist when he was 17 years old. Later, he began to publish short stories in magazines, using the pseudonym “Boz.” Dickens’s novels were originally released as serials, which meant that would publish only a few chapters each month. For this reason, Dickens wrote cliffhangers to keep his readers interested. He also used readers’ reactions to future chapters. During his life, Dickens became an international celebrity. His stories are still admired for their memorable and themes.

Comprehension questions

See answers below

  1. When Dickens was 12 years old, he worked
    a. on a farm
    b. at a printing house
    c. in a factory
  2. Dickens began his writing career as
    a. a poet
    b. a short story writer
    c. a journalist
  3. In his lifetime, Dickens was
    a. relatively unknown
    b. only known by other writers
    c. an international celebrity

Discussion/essay questions

  1. Do you think serial novels would be successful today? Why or why not?
  2. Dickens’s novels are often considered “classics.” What do you think makes a book a classic? What are some books that you consider classics, and why?

Transcript

Charles Dickens was an English author. He is famous for some of the most well-known English novels, including Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. Dickens was born in Portsmouth in 1812. When he was growing up, his family had financial difficulties. This forced him to take a job in a factory at age 12, which made him interested in writing about social inequality. Dickens began his writing career as a journalist when he was 17 years old. Later, he began to publish short stories in magazines, using the pseudonym “Boz.” Dickens’s novels were originally released as serials, which meant that newspapers would publish only a few chapters each month. For this reason, Dickens wrote cliffhangers to keep his readers interested. He also used readers’ reactions to edit future chapters. During his life, Dickens became an international celebrity. His stories are still admired for their memorable characters and themes.

Answers to comprehension questions

1c 2c 3c

Listen&Learn: Jane Austen

23rd August 2023 by Jaksyn Peacock

Pre-listening vocabulary

  • middle class: the group of people who have enough money to live comfortably, but are not rich
  • edition: a version of a book
  • satire: a type of storytelling that uses humour to criticize parts of society
  • reveal: to give new information to the public
  • credit: to say that someone is responsible for something
  • modern: new, recent

Listening activity

Gapfill exercise

Jane Austen was an English . She was born in 1775 in Steventon, Hampshire, to a middle-class family. She began writing when she was only eleven years old. In 1797, she started her first , Sense and Sensibility. When she published it in 1811, she didn’t use her own name. The first edition of the book simply claimed to be written “by a “. Austen wrote six novels, all of which used satire to criticize social expectations. She earned very little money for her work. Although many of her stories are about love and , Austen never married, which was very unusual for a woman in her time. Her brother, Henry, revealed that Austen was the author of her novels after her death in 1817. Many people credit her with helping to shape the way modern novels are written.

Comprehension questions

See answers below

  1. Jane Austen was born in
    a. 1775
    b. 1797
    c. 1811
  2. Her first novel was
    a. Sense and Sensibility
    b. Pride and Prejudice
    c. Persuasion
  3. The name Austen originally published under was simply
    a. “a writer”
    b. “a gentleman”
    c. “a lady”

Discussion/essay questions

  1. Why do you think Jane Austen published her novels anonymously? Why might a writer not want to be known?

Transcript

Jane Austen was an English writer. She was born in 1775 in Steventon, Hampshire, to a middle-class family. She began writing when she was only eleven years old. In 1797, she started her first novel, Sense and Sensibility. When she published it in 1811, she didn’t use her own name. The first edition of the book simply claimed to be written “by a lady“. Austen wrote six novels, all of which used satire to criticize social expectations. She earned very little money for her work. Although many of her stories are about love and marriage, Austen never married, which was very unusual for a woman in her time. Her brother, Henry, revealed that Austen was the author of her novels after her death in 1817. Many people credit her with helping to shape the way modern novels are written.

Answers to comprehension questions

1a 2a 3c