Transcript My first experience of

Task C-1
My first experience of …
Teaching aim


Learn to use descriptions in narrative
writing
Learn to write descriptions
Teaching procedure



Turning-in activity
Focus on input reading
Focus on new writing task
Turning-in activity

Have you ever had any embarrassing /
unforgettable experiences? Discuss them
with your classmates, focusing on what
made them embarrassing / unforgettable.
Unity of style
In an article
Beauty in simplicity
an article by a high school
student in America
The snow
storm
Beauty in delicacy
An article by a university
student in America
Debut
Input reading - Debut

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Read through the article by yourself and try to
answer:
What type of article is it? (narration, description,
exposition …?)
What is the dominant compositional technique
used in the article?
What are described in Paras 1, 2 and 3?
Can you pinpoint the language used for
description?
What is the compositional technique used in the
last para?
What is the function of the last para?
Writing techniques employed

Narration
Description
Exposition
Giving comments

Dominant: descriptions



How descriptions are written




Review how:
Description of events, people, places,
objects, actions, thinking, and so on.
Use of senses: see, hear, smell, taste, feel.
Use of language - adjectives, verbs,
adverbs, figures of speech, and so on.
Examples from the article
1. The curtains slowly lifted and a hush fell
over the auditorium. (see, hear; verbs)
2. Three female dancers and I were on
stage, in different dance positions ready to
perform our routine. (see; adjectival
phrase)
3. The white-hot stage lights beamed down,
casting blue and white tones on our skin.
(see; adjectives, verb, present participial
phrase)
Some specific points (con’t)
4. Each of us was dressed in white snug-fitted
unitards and sky-blue satin skirts.
5. Still as statues, ready to give a grand
performance. (simile; adjectival phrase)
6. We waited and waited for the music to
commence. (narration)
7. I could feel the heat rise to the back of my
neck and face. (feel)
8. My heart beat uncontrollably and my calf
began to cramp tightly. (feel; verb, adverb)
Some specific points (con’t)
9. the audience below watched in anticipation.
(see)
10. I could hear the shuffling of papers, and
impatient whispers, mingled with a cough
now and then. (hear; adjectives)
11. Thoughts raced through my head about
the steps I had rehearsed over a thousand
times. (thinking; verb)
12. I wondered what my family thought,
sitting there feeling just as nervous as I.
(thinking; present participial phrase)
Some specific points (con’t)
13. My eyes wandered over to the face of the
other girls with eyes full of fear, lips tense
and still with fright. (action, see; adjectives)
14. By now, I knew my dance instructor was
probably have a massive coronary. (thinking)
15. I thought I was going to die of
embarrassment myself. (thinking)
16. Panic-stricken (and still no music), one of
the girls started to dance, slowly swaying
her body from side to side. (see; adjective,
present participial phrase)
Some specific points (con’t)
17. All three of us followed her lead. (narration
18. We improvised the best we knew how, but
it was awkward. (feel / see)
19. The audience found it quite humorous, as
stifled laughters echoed up to the stage,
amplified ten times in my head. (see , hear;
adjective, verb, past participle)
20. The music then started three minutes too
late. (narration)
21. This threw us off even more. (see; verb)
Some specific points (con’t)
22. We were all over the place, each of us out of
sync with the other. (see; independent structure)
23. I was leaping while another girl spun, skirts
flowling gracefully. (see; verb, independent
structure)
24. One girl danced right off the stage, and the other
two followed.
25. Unbeknown to me, I was left dancing alone,
floating around, leaping here, and playing there,
until I realized no one else was present. (past and
present participles)
Some specific points (con’t)
26. I stood mortified, then casually, but
gracefully spun off and exited the stage.
(adjective, adverb, verb)
27. The curtains quickly dropped. (see, “lift”)
28. I felt like crying.
29. The other girls calmly disappeared.
30 – 31. After the dance concert was over, we
found out that the instructor had actually
fainted. We never did discover what the
trouble was with the music. (exposition)
Some specific points (con’t)
32 – 35. I will never forget that day. I look
back at it now and find the whole event
comical. I learned that it’s not a bad but a
good thing to laugh at oneself, for life is full
of many embarrassing situations (lord know
I’ve been part of many of them). They have
added spice and vitality to my life and have
made a better huamn being of me.
(comment; present tense; highlight
significnace of the event)
Language - Use of ‘debut’




debut ['deibu:]
Meaning - a first appearance before the
public, as of an actor n. 初次登台, 初次露
面
Synonyms – first appearance, introduction,
launching, unveiling,
Antonym – farewell performance
Examples – translate into English
1.首次进入社交界，首次演出
2.歌手初次登台
3.首次出场,首次露面
4.初出茅庐
5.她初上荧幕。
6.她的初次进入社交界
7.她初次登台获得成功。
8.一个新的外交政策的出台
9.她第一次在音乐厅登台演出就把听众镇住了。
10. 1996年她初次登上国际赛场。

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
a social debut
a singer's debut
make one's debut
a beginner; a debut
This is her TV debut.
her debut into society
She made a successful debut.
the debut of a new foreign policy
Her debut took the concert hall by storm.
She made her international debut in 1996.
Writing task








Title: My first …
Instruction: Write a composition of at least 500
words with “My first …” as part of the title. Imitate
the writing style of the sample.
Requirements:
Try to use newly-learnt words
Underline good words, phrases, and expressions
Try to write concretely
Note down number of words
No delayed work
In-class fast writing training

Do brainstorming about the new writing
task, and produce a complete written
piece within 15 minutes. No more than 3
superficial errors.
Peer reading

Read your partner’s work, give comments
and detect errors.
Presentation of students’ work in
class

The teacher read students’ representative
written work to the class and give
comments.
Homework

Write a composition of about 400 words
with “My first experience of …” as part of
the title.