IES La Puebla
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Erasmus + Project
“The Transnational Adult
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LITERATURE
UNIT 1
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Material developed by Teachers and Members
belonging to the project
Marina Martínez Aguilera & Manuel Alberto Domínguez Vega
IES La Puebla
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“The Transnational Adult
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1.- Literature as an expression of humankind.
What is Literature? We are sure you have heard this word many
times but, what is the definition for the word “Literature”? According
to Webster`s New Elementary
Dictionary, Literature is “the
production of written works having
excellence of form or expression and
dealing with ideas of permanent or
universal interest”. (pg. 294).
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Ideas of permanent or universal interest are, no doubt, those
cultural values that contribute to the way we are and behave, the
rituals that we have learnt from our ancestors and that we are willing
to pass on to future generations. In the next section, you have the
opportunity to see how we can do all that by reading or writing
literary texts.
Activity: What are ideas of permanent or universal
interest, in your opinion? What literary works do you know?
Discuss your ideas with your partner in the Activity 1.1 Forum.
IES La Puebla
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1.1.- Cultural values.
What about the cultural values? Are there any examples of
literary works that represent the cultural values of your community?
Cultural values can be simple
things in our ordinary lives,
such as the way we eat, the
way we dress, or our lifestyle
in general. Read the following
text by Juana Vázquez Gómez:
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“For my grandmother, the kitchen was a sacred place. There
she spent most of her time, cooking or teaching the cook how to
prepare old and difficult Mexican dishes.
Thanks to her willingness to share those secret recipes, my
mother and I can keep up the traditions of delicious, refined, and
elaborate Mexican cuisine.”
“the Making of a Modern Mexican Cook” The Angeles Times
Sometimes, we can even find food references in book titles
such as the following:
 The particular sadness of lemon cake is a tale by Aimee Bender
(The United States)
 Black Coffee is a play by Agatha Christie (Great Britain)
 The House on Mango Street is a novel by Sandra Cisneros (The
United States)
 Driving Over lemons: An Optimist in Andalucía is a novel by
Chris Steward (Great Britain)
 The Flounder is a novel by Günter Grass (Germany)
IES La Puebla
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“The Transnational Adult
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 Under Milk wood is a radio drama by Dylan Thomas (Great
Britain)
 Like water for Chocolate is a novel by Laura Esquivel (Mexico)
As you can see, it is very easy to identify basic elements of our
daily lives in literary samples. Through Literature, just by observation
and a certain degree of analysis, we can learn more about our own
culture and about other cultures.
In conclusion, Literature is a
fundamental way of expression for human beings.
Activity: Now, you can identify other possible cultural
aspects present in World Literature by looking at this wordpuzzle and finding 6 words that refer to a person´s cultural
heritage.
discuss them in the Activity 1.3 Forum.
Discuss them in the Activity 1.2 Forum.
IES La Puebla
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To Know More:
For more information:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5668.Food_In_Book_Titles
Literature is also a way to express emotions of different kinds,
ranging from happiness to sorrow. In the next section, you will have
the chance to discover some of them.
1.2.- Expression of emotions
As humans, we express our emotions in many ways and
Literature has been one of these ways for centuries. Sometimes, we
need to express sadness or
despair, but sometimes we feel
happiness and fulfillment.
The elements present in
poetry
contribute
expression
of
to
the
personal
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emotions, thanks to the poet´s emphasis on the images evoked, the
rhyme and the rhythm expressed in just a few lines, which we call
verses. The best way to enjoy a poem is to read it slowly and to read
aloud, being also aware of the sounds and the images in it. There is
IES La Puebla
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no need to rush or to get all the ideas the first time you read it, just
relax and read it a few times.
Activity: Now, identify in the following stanza (group of
verses) the emotions expressed in this poem written
by Lionel
Johnson and discuss them in the Activity 1.3 Forum.
Sombre and rich, the skies;
Great glooms, and starry plains.
Gently the night wind sighs;
Else a vast silence reigns.
The splendid silence clings
Around me: and around
The saddest of all kings
Crowned, and again discrowned.
Comely and calm, he rides
Hard by his own Whitehall:
Only the night wind glides:
No crowds, nor rebels, brawl.
Gone, too, his Court: and yet,
The stars his courtiers are:
Stars in their stations set;
And every wandering star.
Alone he rides, alone,
The fair and fatal king:
Dark night is all his own,
That strange and solemn thing.
68
Which are more full of fate:
The stars; or those sad eyes?
Which are more still and great:
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Those brows; or the dark skies?
Although his whole heart yearn
In passionate tragedy:
Never was face so stern
With sweet austerity.
Vanquished in life, his death
By beauty made amends:
The passing of his breath
Won his defeated ends.
Brief life, and hapless? *Nay:
Through death, life grew sublime.
Speak after sentence? *Yea:
And to the end of time.
*Nay means “No”
*Yea means “Yes”
Armoured he rides, his head
Bare to the stars of doom:
He triumphs now, the dead,
Beholding London‘s gloom.
Our wearier spirit faints,
Vexed in the world‘s employ:
His soul was of the saints;
And art to him was joy.
69
King, tried in fires of woe!
Men hunger for thy grace:
And through the night I go,
Loving thy mournful face.
Yet, when the city sleeps;
When all the cries are still:
The stars and heavenly deeps
Work out a perfect will.
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To Should Know:
Lionel Johnson (15 March 1867 4 October 1902) was an English
poet, essayist and critic.
Activity: Now, find 7 words from the poem which can
express or describe emotions in the following word puzzle
Discuss them in the Activity 1.4 Forum.
Sometimes, words have a hidden meaning or a special impact
in certain contexts. All this has to do with the use of figurative
language that we will explain in the next section.
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1.3.- Figurative language.
Figurative language is the use of language to create a special
effect and embellish the normal meaning of words. The strategies to
obtain this effect are the “figures o
speech”. Look at the following list:
 Alliteration:
The
repetition
of
certain sounds.
Example: She sells seashells by the
seashore
 Simile: The writer compares two
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things that are not similar by means of the words like or as.
Example: As black as coal.
 Metaphor: The writer compares two things that are not similar
without the words like or as.
Example: The warm breeze was a blanket around us.
 Personification: The writer gives an object, or an animal,
human characteristics.
Example: The dog thought he was in danger.
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 Hyperbole: It is an obvious exaggeration.
Example: he was so hungry, he ate a cow.
 Onomatopoeia: The writer uses words that imitate a sound.
Example: The breeze whispered.
 Idioms: Phrases that say one thing but mean another
completely different.
Example: they buried the hatchet (meaning they forgave each
other)
Now, read the first stanza from Edgar Alan Poe´s poem “The
Bells” Which is the main figure of speech in it?
Hear the sledges with the bells—
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
how they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens, seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells-From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.
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Activity: Finally, why don’t you write a new title for this
poem? You can be as creative as you wish by using a figure of
speech. Share your title in the Activity 1.5 Forum.
IES La Puebla
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“The Transnational Adult
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To Should Know:
Edgar Allan Poe (19 January 1809 7 October 1849) was an
American poet, editor and critic.
References
 Bender, A. 2010. The particular sadness of lemon cake. New
York: Anchor Books.
 Christie, A. and C. Osborne. 1998. Black Coffee. London:
Harper Collins.
 Cisneros, S. 2004. The House on Mango Street. London:
Bloomsbury.
 Esquivel, L. 1993. Like water for Chocolate. London: Black
Swan.
 Gardner, H. (ed.). 1983. The New Oxford Book of English
Verse. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 Grass, G. 1997. The Flounder. London: Vintage Classics.
 Merriam, C. and G. Merriam. (ed.). 1976. Webster´s New
Elementary Dictionary. Springfield: Merriam-Webster.
 Poe, E. A. 2015. The Bells. London: Forgotten Books.
 Steward, C. 2009. Driving Over lemons: An Optimist in
Andalucía. London: Sort of Books.
 Thomas, D.2014. Under Milk wood. London: W&N.

Vázquez Gómez, J. 1995. “the Making of a Modern
Mexican Cook” Los Angeles Times. Available on the Internet:
http://articles.latimes.com/1995-09-21/food/fo-48266_1_modernmexican-cook (seen on February 2nd, 2016).
IES La Puebla
C/ Platón nº 5
04738 Vícar
Spain
Erasmus + Project
“The Transnational Adult
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Pictures
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01->https://pixabay.com/es/narrativa-la-historia-sue%C3%B1o-decir-794978/
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02-> https://pixabay.com/es/mujer-la-lectura-libro-leer-hamaca-945427/
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03-> https://pixabay.com/es/m%C3%A1scaras-personaje-dualidad-833421/
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04-> https://pixabay.com/es/molino-molino-de-viento-viento-208570/
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05-> https://pixabay.com/es/tel%C3%A9fono-pantalla-tecnolog%C3%ADa-1052023/
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06-> http://www.wartgames.com/themes/clipart.html
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07-> https://pixabay.com/es/campanas-bell-suena-la-campana-1028706/