Listen10. Humour. Classic moments with Mark Twain
Listen 10.1. Eve’s diaries by Mark Twain 3 – 4 level 25-30 min.
GOAL. To grasp the humourous nature of the literary passage with gist of the situation.You will listen to a hilarious passage by MarkTwain, writer of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889). Click on the webpage below:
http://www.wiredforbooks.org/twain/
The 22-minute piece will be worked at a pace. At the end you may listen to it again while you read the transcript in the annex to check your answers.
WARMING UP. Grasping the gist and tone of the text.
TASK1. Click on the above webpage and listen to a couple of minutes of her story.
Q1. What day was she created? . ...........................................................
Q2. What is Eve concerned about? …………………………………………………………………………….
Q3. Are her thoughts simplistic or argumentative? ……………………..…………………
Q4. Can you find any humourus clues or hints in the pasage? …….......................................................
........................................................... .................................................................................... ......
SKIMMING THE PASSAGE. Getting inside the story.
TASK 2. Listen to the first 5 minutes of the passage and answer this questions.
Q1. What does she think of the experiment of Creation? ...........................................................
........................................................... ........................................................... ......
Q2. Does she feel to be part of an isolated experiment? …………………………………………………
Q3. While she thinks over her existence which stance does she take? Circle it.
a) her position is assured b) she has to watch it and take care of it c) she shows carelessness
Q4. Why does she think her sentence “Some instinct tells me that eternal vigilance is the price of supremacy.” is a good one? …………………………………………………………………….
Q5. What things seem improved from yesterday? ………………. …………….. …………………..
Q6. How does Eve describe the new world? ………………. …………….. …………………..
Q7. There seems to be some problems to the skies? Anyone a major one? …………….
Q8. How do we know Eve is pretty romantic? ……………………………………………………………….
“…..I should never get tired lying on the moss-bank and looking up at the moons.” STOP sound here.
TASK 3. Continue listening about her life on Sunday and explain these things:
Q1. Which were Eve’s first experiences with ...
a) the stars: ……………………………………………….……………….…………………………………………………………………………………………..
b) her feet at the end of the day: ……………………………………………………………………..
c) with the tigers in the wild: ……..…………………….……………………………………….
d) the physical appearance of ‘the other experiment’: ……………………………………….……
Q2. How did she change the approach to ‘the other experiment’? ……………………………………
…………………………….………………………………………………………………………………….…
Q3. How did the day ended? ………………………………………….………………………………………
TASK 4. Write the things she realises about Man in her next short three diary entries:
Sunday.a) ………………………………………………… b) ………………………………………….……
c) ………………………………………………………… d) …………………………………………………
Next week. a) ……………………………………………… b) ……………………………………………
Wednesday. a) …………………………………………… b) ………………………………………………
Listen 10.1 Eve’s diaries -Twain KEY
WARMING UP. TASK1. Click on the above webpage and listen to a couple of minutes of her story.
Q1. What day was she created? Friday (diary is from Saturday > “I arrived yesterday”)
Q2. What is Eve concerned about? time –loneliless - experiment
Q3. Are her thoughts simplistic or argumentative? they seem quite argumentative, don’t they?
Q4. Can you find any humourus clue or hint in the pasage? (open) rhetorical questions, irony in some remarks , etc
SKIMMING THE PASSAGE.
KEY -TASK 2. Listen to the first minutes of the passage.
Q1. What does she think of the experiment of Creation? interesting, will be historical, experimental.
Q2. Does she feel to be part of an isolated experiment? NO (she says “am I the whole of it? No, I think not … the rest of it has its share in the matter.” )
Q3. While she thinks over her existence which stance does she take? Circle it.
a) her position is assured b) she has to watch it and take care of it c) she shows carelessness
Q4. Why does she think her sentence “Some instinct tells me that eternal vigilance is the price of supremacy.” is a good one? a good phrase for one so young (she was born yeterday > smartness!!)
Q5. What things seem improved from yesterday? Everything looks better to-day (mountains, sky)
Q6. How soes she describe the new world? majestic (most) noble beautiful perfect
Q7. There seems to be some problems to the skies? Any major one? Moon’s disappeared.
Q8. How do we know Eve is pretty romantic? She would have liked to keep the missing moon to herself and to have 4 or 5 moons.
TASK 3. Continue listening about her life on Sunday and explain these things:
Q1. Which were Eve’s first experiences with ... a) the stars: wish I could get some to put in my hair / tried three different ways to reach them but they seem to be far off/ and at last I had to give it up;.
b) her feet at the end of the day: so tired I couldn’t drag my feet another step; and besides, they were sore and hurt me very much
c) with the tigers in the wild: nestled in among them / comfortable, with breath sweet and pleasant /never seen one before / skin would make a lovely gown
d) the physical appearance of ‘the other experiment’: thought it was a reptile / frowsy hair and blue eyes / has no hips
Q2. How did she change the approach to ‘the other experiment’? but felt curiosity about him but kept away at 20 metres / later she climbed a tree and waited … he gave up.
Q3. How did the day ended? the same thing over. she’s got it up the tree again.
TASK 4. Write the important things she realices about man in her next three diary entries:
Sunday. 1) rests all time , doing nothing / 3) goes fishing to the pool and soesn’t care about the little creatures!! 3) he can talk! great 4) perhaps not a reptile but a man > she will call it ‘he’.
Next week. 1) she was all time around him, casually, because he is shy, 2) she started to use the ‘we’, more sociable item, but she had to do all the talking.
Wednesday. 1) they are getting along very well indeed, / 2) He does not try to avoid her / 3) She feels pleased, and studies to be useful to him 
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