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Silvia Ballabio Alessandra Brunetti Pete Lynch
Roots
Culture, literature, society
through texts and contexts
libro
LiMmisto
© Casa Editrice Principato

Silvia Ballabio Alessandra Brunetti Pete Lynch
Roots
libro
LiM
misto

Roots
Il testo propone percorsi trasversali
alla civiltà e alla letteratura delle culture
di lingua inglese attraverso testi letterari,
documenti storici e di attualità,
e rimandi a film, video e canzoni.
L’organizzazione dei testi in aree tematiche
e la loro collocazione in contesti –
Nei capitoli di questa sezione vengono affrontate

problematiche sociali e culturali rilevanti attraverso
Themes una grande varietà di testi autentici di diversa tipolo-
gia. La rubrica The Literary Side propone testi let-
through texts and contexts terari che, per il loro contenuto e per il contesto nel
quale sono stati concepiti, risultano particolarmente
adatti a essere analizzati all’interno del tema.
I capitoli di questa parte offrono un panorama delle

diverse società di lingua inglese attraverso la storia,
Infoline la cultura, le istituzioni, l’economia con la stessa va-
rietà e tipologia testuale della sezione precedente.
Data and events Il testo letterario è trasversale e si ritrova in The
Literary Side come riferimento all’argomento trat-
tato.
Questa sezione propone temi motivanti per lo stu-

dente attraverso un’ampia scelta di opere di autori
The literary del XX e XXI secolo. Nelle due pagine iniziali di
ogni capitolo il tema viene attualizzato attraverso
heritage documenti di personalità rilevanti e l’analisi di due
opere d’arte (In the Arts) che avviano a una rifles-
Meaning through texts, sione sul tema. Seguono brani letterari di uno o più
autori scelti per la loro significatività in relazione al
contexts and themes tema affrontato, accompagnati da attività per la
comprensione e la riflessione personale (Discov-
ering meaning).
Direzione editoriale lingue straniere Ricerca iconografica Alessandra Brunetti ha curato le sezioni
Adriana Massari Eleonora Calamita Themes e Infoline.
Redazione Cartine Silvia Ballabio ha curato la parte The lit-

erary heritage.
Silvia Bisi Archivio Principato
Pete Lynch si è occupato della stesura
Contributi redazionali Referenze iconografiche della parti introduttive su arte e letteratu-
Manuela Zaini Archivio Principato, Icponline, Shutterstock ra del ’900 e della rilettura linguistica del
testo.
Progetto grafico e copertina La struttura e l’organizzazione generale
Enrica Bologni dei contenuti sono state elaborate di co- Gli autori desiderano ringraziare la dot-
mune accordo tra gli autori. toressa Silvia Bisi, l’ufficio grafico e tutti
Impaginazione coloro che hanno collaborato alla realiz-
Marinella Carzaniga Il lavoro di stesura è stato suddiviso zazione del progetto per la professionalità
come segue: e l’impegno profusi.
2
Roots on line
attraverso i quali lo studente si confronta Masterpieces in English literature
e scopre la trama dei “significati” – Le opere cardine della letteratura inglese da Shakespeare al ’900
Other English-speaking countries
rendono questo libro particolarmente The Republic of Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
flessibile per il lavoro in classe e motivante. South Africa, India
ROOTS - Resources
L’opera è suddivisa in tre sezioni: Per ciascuna sezione, materiali di approfondimento
Themes, Infoline, The literary heritage. e di espansione corredati di attività
MP3 scaricabili con gli ascolti proposti nel volume
Themes 1. English as a global

language 1. Read the text, then answer the questions.
1. What does the term “Anglosphere” refer to?
3. Try out this crossword to find out some of the Eng-
lish-speaking countries.
Ciascun capitolo si chiude con: BRAINSTORMING

Have you ever
heard the term
What is the “Anglosphere”?
“Anglosphere” is a new geopolitical term referring to those countries using
English as a first or second language, who have relatively similar backgrounds
and certain cultural characteristics. 2.The
Themes
Man
2. What do the Anglosphere countries have in
common?
3. Which documents are important for the
Anglosphere nations?
2. Fill in this dictionary definition of “Anglosphere”.

term
and“Anglosphere” (1)
The Literary Side
to that
Down
11. African country whose capital is Nairobi.
12. Mr Obama’s country (initials).
14. Country where both English and French are spoken.
15. Mr Mandela’s country.
17. Shakespeare was born there.
TODAY This “sceptred isle…”
• The Arts, due pagine dedicate alla presentazione

“Anglosphere”? 10. It became independent from Britain in 1948.
Nations comprising the Anglosphere enjoy a common language, a com- the environment
England, Shakespeare’s
What do you think portion of the (2) community that Across “sceptred isle” set in a sea of rubbish!
it refers to?
mon culture and share the common values stated in the Magna Carta and 13. Country in the British Isles whose capital is Edinburgh.
the American Bill of Rights.
The Anglosphere, as a network civilization without a corresponding po-
speaks (3)
principles of law and human (4)
King Richard II
and subscribes to certain
.
16. The “All Blacks” rugby team come from this country.
18. England, Scotland and Wales.
A snapshot of how the throwaway society is devastating British beaches.
litical form, has necessarily imprecise boundaries. by William Shakespeare

19. Nation which is also a continent. Shakespeare’s “sceptred isle... set in a silver sea” is now set in a sea of rubbish.
Geographically, the densest nodes of the Anglosphere are found in the 11. James Joyce was born there. Plastic debris is leaving beaches devastated.
Sand Bay in north Somerset is one of England’s most beautiful beaches, but this 3km
di opere d’arte significative per il tema;

United Kingdom and the United States, but also Ireland, Canada, Australia, Throughout its long history, England has been
1 a green and pleasant land. In his 1 2
New Zealand and South Africa are considered part of it. The English- play King Richard2 II (1595) Shakespeare called it a “sceptred isle”. The following stretch of coastline may soon have to be renamed. A five-metres-wide tide of litter and
speaking populations of South Africa, the Caribbean, Oceania, and India extract is a quotation from Act 2 Scene 1, where John of Gaunt, Richard’s uncle, consumer rubbish is swept on to it every day from the Bristol Channel, and apart from the
3
constitute the Anglosphere’s frontiers. 3
celebrates the beauty of his country. sand, pebbles and tree trunks, just about everything these days is plastic.
4 5 Yesterday the 100-metre beach near the village of Kewstoke revealed seven empty plastic
4
6 7
bottles; three fullish ones; several yards of plastic wrapping ; four Coke cans; several jam
5
William and sauce containers; many yards of plastic rope ; and a square metre of fishing net. There
6
Shakespeare John of Gaunt This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, was also a plastic balloon attached to a plastic line, a Sainbury’s plastic bag urging its owner
• Smart faces, figure che si sono distinte nell’af-

(1564-1616) 8
to recycle it, a car wheel and unidentifiable pieces of plastic.
Shakespeare’s rep- This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
Unlike most beaches, Sand Bay is cleaned of litter every three months by a team of local
utation as drama- This other Eden, demi-paradise, 7
tist, poet and actor is unique and volunteers, but they can barely keep up with the rising tide of rubbish.
This fortress built 9by Nature for herself
he is considered a genius in Eng- A report from the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) shows that
lish literature and the greatest Against infection and the hand of war, 10
plastic debris is inexorably rising all round Britain’s coast. “Litter levels
1
playwright of all time. Most of This happy breed of men, this little 11 world,
have increased by 90% since 1994” says Sue Kinsey of the MCS. “373,048
Shakespeare’s sonnets were prob- This precious stone set in the silver sea,
frontare le problematiche legate al tema;

ably written in 1593-94, while his 2
items of litter were found on a single day.”
early plays (which include Henry Which serves it in the office of a wall, “The litter is accumulating,” says Dr Kinsey. “ What we see on our
3
VI, Titus Andronicus, A Midsummer Or as a moat defensive to a house, coastline at any time is just a fraction of the vast amount that is out to
Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Against the envy of less happier lands; sea just waiting to come in. The trouble is that this sea of rubbish
Venice and King Richard II) all date 4
from the mid to late 1590s. Some This blessed plot , this earth, this realm, this England… never goes away. The plastic never breaks down. It just gets smaller
of his most famous tragedies and smaller until it becomes microscopic and then it is ingested by
(from W. Shakespeare, King Richard II, Act 2, Scene 1, 1595)
were written in the early 1600s oysters and fish, which then get eaten by others, and then by us.”
including Hamlet, Othello, King (abridged from “The Guardian”)
• Grammar Focus, pagine per il rinforzo linguistico;

Lear and Macbeth. 1. breed: stirpe
2. in the office of: a guisa di, come
Roots on line 1. stretch: estensione, distesa 5. rope: corda
3. moat: fossato
2. tide: ondata 6. Sainbury’s: a supermarket chain
Author’s biography. 4. plot: lembo (di terra)
3. pebbles: sassi 7. barely keep up: farcela appena
4. wrapping: involucri
DISCOVERING MEANING b. simile:

9. 5 Read and listen to the text. Then complete 13. Look at the article title and the photos. What do 16. Summarize the text by completing these sentences.
the paragraph. you expect the text to be about?
• Developing competences, attività di autovalu-

c. metaphor: 1. The article is about the problems that rubbish
(1) has built England to serve as a
14. Read the text through. Are these statements true .
(2) against war; the island is so (T) or false (F)?
d. repetition: 2. On Sand Bay, for example, a beautiful beach in Som-
(3) that it is envied by the less lucky 1. Sand Bay will soon change its name. T F
2. Sand Bay is full of plastic rubbish. T F erset,

(4) .
3. Volunteers clean this beach regularly. T F .
12. How does Shakespeare convey the idea of beauty/ 4. According to the Marine Conservation Society
10. Now answer these questions.
tazione delle conoscenze e competenze acquisite.

happiness and strength/majesty? Group the words that 3. The problem with plastic is
12 1. How many things is England compared with? 13 plastic litter has dramatically increased
refer to each concept in the table below. T F .
2. Why did Nature build “this sceptred isle”? since 1994.
Beauty/Happiness Strength/Majesty 5. Plastic slowly dissolves into water and finally
LET’S MAKE A POINT disappears. T F
11. In the extract Shakespeare makes use of different WRITING
figures of speech. Find evidence of them in the text. 15. Three words are used to refer to materials of no 17. Write a short text (about 100 words). Consider
a. alliteration: royal, throne, use that have been thrown away. Find them. Do you Shakespeare’s England and today’s England.
know any other words with the same meaning? Which How has the environment changed? Who is responsible
word is used to identify present consumer society? for that?
32 33
130° 50° 120° 110° 100° 90° 80°
UNITE D S TATE S OF AME R IC A
N
C. Flattery
C A N A D A
Infoline 1. The natural context Seattle
A
4392
R
M. Rainier W as h i n g t o n
Maine
Bi
L. of the
o
Portland Montana North
tte
Woods Augusta
b. The USA Salem Co lu Missouri Lake Superior

m bia Dakota
rro
c
Helena Minnesota N.H.
ot
Billings Bismarck Portland
e
e M
Yellowst on
k
ak
s
Concord
Ran
n ic
Anche in questa sezione, in chiusura di ogni capito-

C. Blanco Or egon Lake Vt.
n
h Boston
A T L A N T I C
Boise
y
Minneapolis ig Huron ario
ge
a i
Albany Ma.
o
South Dakota
elves are es se Ye llowstone C. Cod
L. OntNe w
es thems
L. Michigan
Wisconsi n
“
I daho N at. Park R.I.
ntially t
The United Stat
4317 Pierre
a
Yo rk
n t
he greatest poem.
Ct. 40°
a
40° M. Shasta
n
W yoming Rapid City Sioux Milwaukee Hartford
to e Buffalo
Miss i s
ange
en New York
o u
Falls Eri Erie
s
B a s in Detroit
S acram
(Walt Whitman, 1819-92) Reno R e g i o n Great Casper M iss Madison L. Cleveland N.J.
ch R
Iowa
C
Salt Lake our Philadelphia
sip
M
o
t
Nebraska Ohio Pennsylvani a De.
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Sacramento
i
Carson City Salt Lake Omaha Chicago
sat
Des Moines Columbus Baltimora
The Literary Side

BRAINSTORMING City
u
San Francisco Lincoln Indiana West Md.
Wa
n
R
1. What is the origin of Virgini a
i a
San Jose WASHINGTON D.C.
n
Nevada Indianapolis
Utah 4399
Denver Kansas City I l l i n o i s
Infoline
F
4418 Richmond
the word “America”?
a
M. Elbert
c h
왗 Los Angeles. Topeka Charleston
t
M. Whitney Virgini a
lo:
Califor nia o Colorado St. Louis Frankfort
2. What places do you ad Kansas
n
Las Vegas
O C E A N
Death Arkansa
l a
a
C. Hatteras
io
I
Kentucky
Colo
3. The economic Missouri s
Oh
Va lley Grand
The speedWichita
of industrialization Interpreting the stock market
g
associate the United Colorado North Car olina
a
Canyon Plateau Springfield
context
pi
i
Tulsa Nashville
p
C
States with? Santa Fe
issip
Oklahoma City Charlotte
p
Arizona Ark A r k a n s a s Ten n e s s e e
Los Angeles
n
“The Express” Smoke
an
A
Albuquerque
Miss
s as Memphis Cape Fear
Columbia
de
Phoenix Oklahoma Atlanta
s
Little Birmingham
Gran
San Diego New
Rock
South Car olina
Tucson Mexico 30°
Red River Alabama
P
30°
Rio
Mississippi Georgi a Ct. = Connecticut
by Stephen
Dallas Spender Montgomery D.C. = District of Columbia
De. = Delawer e
by Jay McInerney
Ed
Jackson Louisiana Jacksonville Ma. = Massachusetts
wa
ds T e x a s
• Grammar Focus;
Rio
Md. = Maryland
r
120° 110°
lat P N.H. = New Hampshir e
Gr a
Stephen 70° VI RG IN
ISLAND
60° 20°
The poem, written
nd in 1966,
e a u exalts the Express train in motion,
Baton Rouge Flowhich
r i d a can be
N.J. = New Jersey Jay Corrine and Russel are a WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) couple
Fl
RE P. PUERTO RICO (USA) VI RG IN ISLAND e R.I. = Rhode Island
Houston New Orleans
regarded not only as a symbol of industrialization but also asTampa
a human leading a middle-class relaxed life in New York Manhattan. Russel is an editor
or
Spender (USA)
DOMINICANA (U.K.)
Anguilla (U.K.) San Antonio Delta of the
Vt. = Vermont McInerney
id
San Juan Jacksonville
(1909-1995) ANTIGUA E
being, a woman moving and singing. Mississippi (1955–) for a publishing house and Corrine works in the Wall Street Stock Exchange.
a
Netherland Antilles BARBUDA
British poet ST KITTS AND NEVIS Guadeloupe(Fr.) Corpus Christi American nov-
M
Miami
In this passage the author introduces Corrine through her job and the uncon-
da
(U.K.) Montserrat
Padre Island
E
lo r i
and critic
Caribbean Sea
Aves
(Bird I.)
DOMINICA
Gulf of Mexico C. S able
B A H A M A S
elist, journalist
In the 16th century ventional idea she has of the stock market.
fF
(Ven.) Martinique(Fr.)
the lands of the

known for the vigour
Netherland Antilles ST VINCENT After the XfirstI powerful, plain manifesto
of hisSAINT LUCI A S tr a i t
o and screenplay writer.
progressive
(Neth.) ideas and for po-BARBADOS
AND GRENADINE
The black statementC of pistons,0 without
1
more600fuss800 1984: Bright Lights, Big City
western hemi- 200 400
• Developing competences.
sphere were named ems f ullLosof Roques imagery
La Banquilla
and
GRENADA
2 O km
C U B A
1985: Ransom
Lands of harsh contrasts rhythm. La Tortuga
I. de
Margarita But gliding like a queen, she leaves the station.
TRINIDAD
20°
“America” after the VENEZUELA
AND TOBAGO 3
1988: Story of My Life Corrine worked as an analyst in a brokerage house. If she had been a
Italian explorer America is the birthplace of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Miami,
10°
Without bowing and 100°
with restrained unconcern 90° 80°
1. waterlogged: 1947: Poems of Dedication 1992: Brightness Falls man, she would’ve had an easier time in her first year. She nearly quit
Amerigo Vespucci. impregnate 5 She passes the houses which humbly crowd outside, Roots
The former British
Boston and New York City – America is also the magnificent waterfront 1949: The Edge of Being 2006: The Good Life on line on several occasions. […] But gifted with mathematical genius and a
d’acqua The gasworks, and at last the heavy page Author’s
colonies then used of San Francisco, and the old quarters of New Orleans, still rising up 2. lush: lussureg-
1955: Collected Poems, 1928-1953
ThisbyLand Is Your Land 2009: How It Ended wildly superstitious nature, she found herself precisely equipped to understand the
biography.
the name of “Unit-
1
1971: The Generous Days Of death, printed gravestones in the cemetery.
from its waterlogged ashes (see page 37). It is the hillsides of the Great gianti In 1940, the American Beyond
folksingerthe
Woodie stock market. She felt near the center of things. The sweat and blood of labor, the
ed States of Amer- 2 town,Guthrie (1912-1967)
there lies the openwrote the folk
country 1
ica” for the first Plains, the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest and the scenic country Roots onsong
line This Land Is Your Land, inspired by the thousands of different people rise and fall of steel pistons, the test-tube matchmaking of chemicals and cells – all the productive
Author’s biography. Where, gathering speed, she acquires mystery,
time in the Declara- lanes of New England, a country of road trips and great open skies, he encountered on his travels. energies of the world, coded in binary electronic impulses, coursed through the towers of downtown
10 The luminous self-possession of ships on ocean.
tion of Independence where four million miles of highways lead past red-rock deserts and Manhattan, accessible to her at any moment on the screen of her terminal. […]
on July 4, 1776. 왔 Yosemite It is now she begins to sing — at first quite low 2
across fertile wheat fields that roll off toward the horizon. National Park, This land is your land, this landloud,
is my land I’ve roamed and rambled and I’ve followed my footsteps Corrine came to appreciate aspects of a style that had at first intimidated her. She started playing
Then and at last with a jazzy madness — 2 3
in California.
From California, to the New squash again, and began to enjoy the leatherly , wood-paneled , masculine atmosphere of the clubs
The York
songIsland To the at
of her whistle screaming sparkling
curves,sands of her diamond deserts
1
From the redwood forest, where she sometimes lunched with her superiors, under the increasingly benign gaze of dead rich
Oftodeafening
the gulf stream watersbrakes,And all around me a voice
. was sounding
4 5
tunnels, innumerable bolts 4
This land was made for men in gilt frames . […]
15 you
Andand me light, aerial, underneath,
always This land was made for you and me
6 “Symbols work in the market the same way they do in literature,” Corrine was saying.
As I went walking on thatRetreats
ribbon ofthe elate metre of her
highway Whenwheels. […]
the sun came shining as I was strolling
3
5
왘 Californian Frowning earnestly, Rick Cohen said, “I don’t follow you there.”
highway. I saw above me that endless skyway Thefrom
(abridged wheat fieldsPoems
Selected waving and the
of Stephen dust clouds
Spender, Faber &rolling
Faber 2009 Corrine considered, taking a thoughtful drag on her cigarette. “There’s like a symbolic order of things
I saw below me that golden valley a voice came chanting and the fog was lifting underneath the real economy. A kind of dream life of the economy that affects the market as much as
1. fuss:
This land clamore restrained unconcern: This
was made for you and3.me 4. deafening: assordanti
land was made elate metre: ritmo ine-
for you and6. me 6
2. gliding: scivolando fredda indifferenza 5. bolts: bulloni briante the hard facts, the stats . The secret urges and desires of consumers and producers work up toward the
surface. Market analysis is like dream interpretation. One thing stands for another thing – a new
1. redwood: di sequoie 2. I’ve… rambled: ho vagabondato e 3. I was strolling: stavo passeggian-
vagato do hairstyle means a rise in gold and a fall in bonds.”
DISCOVERING MEANING 14. Find examples of the following rhetorical tools in
13. 22 Listen to the poem. Then read it and the text: (abridged from J. McInerney, Smoke, in How It Ended, Bloomsbury Paperbacks 2009)
1.complete
Mapwork. Identify
the summary.the places mentioned and say in 3. What places do you think the following refer to?
what part of the country they are. a. alliteration: 1. test-tube: in provetta 3. wood-paneled: fatta di pannelli di 5. frowning: aggrottando le sopracci-
1. land:
louder • ships • cemetery • speed • whistle • b. metaphor: 2. leatherly: di cuoio legno glia
4. gilt frames: cornici dorate 6. stats: statistiche
2. queen • crowd
Read the song• lyrics.
leaves •What
sing •feelings
countrydoes Woody 2. golden valley:
• indifferent
c. simile:
왘 San Guthrie express in his song? Choose from the following. 3. sparkling sands:
Francisco.
The express train (1) the station gliding d. personification:
affection • reassurance • longing • confidence • 4. diamond deserts:
like a (2) nostalgia •ontrust
the rails,
• hope proud and (3) e. assonance: DISCOVERING MEANING LET’S MAKE A POINT
Roots on line 17. Read the text and say whether the following state- 18. Read the text again and answer the questions.
. It first passes the houses which seem to (4) Listen to Woodie
Guthrie’s song.
ments are true (T) or false (F). 1. What metaphors does the author use to describe
at its passage, then the industrial area 1. Corrine worked in the New York Stock the productive world?
122 123 Exchange. T F
and finally the (5) with its gravestones. LET’S MAKE A POINT 2. Which paragraph describes the world of finance?
2. She left her job various times. T F
The train is now in the open (6) which 15. In what way is this poem an exaltation of the de-
velopment of industrialization? 3. Superstition and maths skills are necessary 19. How would you describe Corrine’s working environ-
lays beyond the town; when it gathers (7) , in the stock trade market. T F ment? Choose among the following:
the express acquires the same mystery as do (8) SPEAKING 4. From her computer she felt at the centre of reliable • manly • exclusive • ephemeral • corrupt • re-
16. Discuss. the economic life. T F spectable • responsible • trustworthy • neutral • author-
on the ocean. When its speed becomes steady
• “The Express” has been defined “a living poem in mo- 5. Being a woman helped her in her job. T F itative • unreliable • trendy • intimidating • snobbish
the train begins to (9) ; quite low at first, T F
tion”, and some critics have interpreted it as the process 6. The real economy is full of symbols.
then (10) and louder with a wild rhythm, of writing; others have gone further comparing it to the 7. You have to be a psychologist to interpret the 20. What idea does the author convey of the financial
its (11) screaming as it enters the tunnels. rise of the proletariat to power. What is your opinion? market. T F world?
188 189
Ciascun capitolo si conclude con: The literary

heritage 1. The quest
ey a
The journ s a metaphor
Humankind and outer space
After the Second World War the Soviet Union and the United States of America
entered the race to conquer space. Man was ready to leave his home planet for the 왔 Neil
• Let’s make a point, attività per considerare i testi

Armstrong’s
first time; manned space flight combined the heroism of hu- “small step”
in 1969.
BRAINSTORMING The journey metaphor is a commonplace for life and man’s quest for See for example man flight, inherited from pioneer aviation days, with the
Which of the identity; we often find it in modern advertising slogans , and also in road “Life is a journey, new romance of space travel into alien realms. In 1969
following words do you movies celebrating man’s eternally restless soul. Literatures and cultures travel it well” and
“Cape Horn is the Neil Armstrong planted the first human foot on another
associate with all over the world have always dealt with such metaphor, from Ulysses’ place where na- world and proclaimed: “That’s one small step for a man,
“quest”? ture’s forces clash:
• search • pursuit
wanderings through the Mediterranean in Homer’s Odyssey, to Dante’s one giant leap for mankind”.
where man meets
proposti in un’ottica sintetica e stimolare ulteriori

• journey • identity journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise in La Divina Commedia, himself. Travellers
• defeat • death from the Far West myth down to Australian Aboriginal songs, “the of the soul. Trav-
• exploration
• obstacle
labyrinth of invisible pathways which meander all over Australia”, as ellers of the
world”.
The literary
heritage 13. Tools for text analysis
July 1969. It’s a little over eight years since the flights of Gagarin
Bruce Chatwin, British novelist and travel writer, describes them. Each and Shepard, followed quickly by President Kennedy’s chal-
• knowledge 1
lenge to put a man on the moon before the decade is out . It
• self-awareness songline explains the route followed by the creator-being, in a fusion of
navigation and oral mythological storytelling; even in such a remote is only seven months since NASA made a bold decision to send Apollo 8 all Fiction Understanding
culture a journey is more than what meets the eye. the way to the moon on the first manned flight of the massive Saturn V rocket. Now, on the
spunti di riflessione personale e/o di classe; how fiction works

morning of July 16, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins sit
What is fiction?
2
atop another Saturn V at Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The three-stage
In the Arts 3
363-foot rocket will use its 7.5 million pounds of thrust to propel them into space and into history.
Fiction is defined by a series of elements: narrative, narrator, character
In a post-flight press conference, Armstrong calls the flight “a beginning of a new age”, while
왗 In this painting by the and narrative modes.
Collins talks Theabout
meaning of fiction
future journeys is “to
to form”,
Mars. “to shape” something.
German Romantic painter Over the next three Man’sand desire
a half of creativity
years, 10 astro- is satisfied through narra- Narrative
Caspar David Friedrich
• Links, indicazioni per proseguire il lavoro di

nauts will follow in their footsteps. tive,
Gene“theCernan,
telling of a story”: it is a uni- By narrative we intend the telling of fictive events by a narrator. The
(1774-1840), a man and a commander of the last Apolloversal act, to
mission, be found not only in literature
leaves
woman are sitting across
result is the creation of a diegetic world, a world where events are nar-
the lunar surface with these words: (for example
“We leave in myth, epic, drama, the novel rated, and not shown. Diegesis means “telling”; the term refers to Plato’s
the deck, ideally projecting as we came and, God willing, as and wethe
shallshort story) but also in other forms
return,
themselves forward to distinction between two ways of presenting a story, mimesis (showing or
with peace, and hope for all mankind”. of art (such as painting or the cinema) and in acting) and its opposite, diegesis.
their destination. In the 4
The bootprints of Apollo aredaily life, in
waiting forthe continuous flow of interaction
com-
background the sky en- The events in a narrative can be narrated either by:
pany. and conversation among people “narrating their
indagine e riflessione in altri linguaggi, in particolare

hances the two human fig- – a narrator, who sometimes speaks to a listener in the narrative, the nar-
everyday life”. There are two basic needs that ratee, frequently addressed to as “you”;
ures. (from http://www.nasa.gov
narrative
July 20, 1969: One Giant Leapsatisfies:
For Mankind) one is meaning, the other is con- – a character, who sometimes speaks to another character in the narrative.
flict.
왘 In the “second” picture 1. is out: is over 4.Meaning
bootprints:isthe footprints with the discovery of the cause
associated
inside the man the Bel- 2. atop: at the top left Narrator
of by the astronauts
things and their walk-
effect, that is the reasons for – and The narrator is the speaking voice that narrates the text. Narrators can
gian Surrealist artist René 3. thrust: energy, fuel ing on the moon
the consequences of – an action. Events in a cause- be classified by answering a few basic questions.
Magritte (1898-1967) de-
attraverso film e canzoni.

This is based on our
and-effect relation make sense to us: they acquire meaning . experience in life; for
picts a lit house in the
Conflict (the Greeks called it agon) is also essential in narrative, example if we call a
middle of the woods at DISCOVERING MEANING person’s name aloud,
night, which may stand because through conflict roles are defined and issues are debated and possibly
3. Read the text and choose the best option. • Where is the narrator? • How many narrators are there in the narrative?
he/she will turn
for the exploration of 1. Man’s firstsolved.
landingIton is the
fuelmoon
for the narrative, and it can either conform to our expectations
in 1969 round wondering – first-person/internal: the narrator If we find more than one narrator in
man’s internal and exter- a. 첸 put an orend
defy them,
to the so that
competition the effect
between the Amer-can be either suspense or surprise. With “Who’s calling me?”. is inside the narrative, he/she is part the same narrative, there are multi-
icanssuspense we believe we can predict the development of conflict (“Who will
and the Russians. We have caused an ef- ple narrators.
nal “space”. A new world fect and 11by telling it (I of the narrative, as opposed to
b. 첸 marked 왔 Apollo
marry
the Jane
beginningin the of end,
a newJohn
age in orhuman
Peter?...SPEAKING
Of course John will!” we say, as we
In chiusura di sezione, Tools for text analysis (Fic-

opens up as man moves called
rocket Mary and she – third-person/external: the narra-
Caspar David Friedrich, exploration. prefer John to Peter or4.know that Jane likes John better) turned round) we cre-
taking off. tor is outside the narrative, he/she is • Should we believe the narrator?
further on into himself. Discuss.
On Board a Sailing Ship René Magritte, c. 첸 was followed by manned missions to the moon ate narrative, that is not part of the narrative. If the narrator is narrating events with-
(1818-20). The Happy Donor (1966). while with surprise something • What do “goes wrong”
you look for when(“She’s going
you leave for a new place?
events with a meaning.
and Mars. out changing them and the reader is
to marry Albert, that Isperfect stranger!”)
this a quest for you? and our expecta-
2. Travelling into space is seen as (choose all the correct • Can we hear the narrator’s voice in the narrative correctly informed, the narrator is re-
statements) tions prove wrong. Allweb good narrative is a succession of liable. If the reader understands that
1. Read the texts and look at the pictures, then agree with your class on a common quest (as if he/she were a “character” in the narrative)?
definition of “quest”. How would you translate it into Italian? a. 첸 man’s reaching for the lastmoments frontier. of suspense and surprise right up to the final
5. Search the web for more information concerning hu- – If he/she directly addresses the reader the information he/she receives is not
b. 첸 an endless pursuit of new conclusion,worlds. where theman conflict is usu- of space, “the last frontier”. At
exploration and you can hear his/her voice, he/she correct or deliberately ambiguous, the
tion, Poetry, Drama) offre strumenti di analisi ed

web c. 첸 a development of the Second
quest allyWorld
solved.
War. http://www.nasa.gov you can also read the whole article is an intrusive narrator: he/she inter- narrator is non-reliable.
2. Search the web for information concerning explorations of unknown territories in d. 첸 the fulfillment of man’s desire to bring peace about the Apollo mission and watch the video of Arm- prets the narrative.
our times. What frontiers are still to be overcome? and hope beyond the Earth. strong’s stepping onto the moon. – If he/she never addresses the reader • Through whose eyes are we watching things?
directly, he/she is a non-intrusive / Focalization is the perspective in which
246 247
covert narrator: the reader is free to the narrated events are presented. It is
interpret the narrative. a sort of lens through which we see
the narrative. Frequently, the narrator
esercitazioni guidate per la decodificazione del mes-

• How much does the narrator know about the is the focalizer; just as you hear his/her
narrative? voice, you see the events through
– omniscient narrator: the narrator his/her eyes. If the focalization is
practically knows everything about the through a “presence” in the narrative
(a character), it is internal (also called
narrative
character-focalization). Focalization
– non-omniscient narrator: the nar-
may shift continuously, especially in
rator deliberately limits his/her knowl-
saggio letterario.
modern novels.
edge of facts to what one or more char-
acters know.
352 353
ISBN 978-88-416-4298-6 dall’art. 68, commi 4 e 5, della legge 22 aprile 1941 ha provveduto a controllare la correttezza degli indi-
n. 633. rizzi web ai quali si rimanda nel volume; non si as-
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Prima edizione: febbraio 2012 economico o commerciale o comunque per uso di- potute intervenire successivamente.
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Ristampe a seguito di specifica autorizzazione rilasciata da
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3
Themes through texts and contexts
1. English as a global language 12
What is the “Anglosphere”? 12
ROOTS on line
Countries of the Anglosphere 14
• Professor David Crystal’s
English in the world 16 talk about Global English
A language revolution 17 • An English lesson
The origins and development of English 18 • G.B. Shaw:
Old English - Middle English - Early Modern English - biography
Late Modern English - Varieties of English
• The scene The rain in
The “oddity” of English 20 Spain from the musical
Our Strange Lingo - Two foreigners on the English language movie My Fair Lady (1964)
Smart faces Bob Nesta Marley 22
The Literary Side George Bernard Shaw

Pygmalion 24
GRAMMAR FOCUS Coordination DEVELOPING COMPETENCES
and subordination 26 27
2. Man and the environment 28
A broken equilibrium? 28
ROOTS on line
Man’s hand on Britain’s landscape 30
• How to take action
The first inhabitants - Stonehenge: an unsolved mystery
• William Shakespeare:
biography
The Literary Side William Shakespeare
• Al Gore: talk on global
King Richard II 32 warming
TODAY This “sceptred isle…” set in a sea of rubbish! 33
• William Wordsworth:
biography
The Lake District: the lost poetry of the lake 34
• H.D. Thoreau: biography
The harshness of nature 36
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer - Katrina: the biggest and the
least surprising disaster
Once upon a time in Australia 38
Smart faces Majora Carter 40 Al Gore 41
The Arts Figuring out nature 42
The Literary Side William Wordsworth

“Lines Written in Early Spring” 44
Henry David Thoreau
Walden 45
GRAMMAR FOCUS If-clauses and I, II DEVELOPING COMPETENCES
and III conditional 46 47
3. Identity and diversity 48
Who am I? 48
ROOTS on line
Personal identity 50 • Today - Identity theft
Being female, white and American - Am I English or Bangladeshi?
• J.A. Baldwin:
biography
The Literary Side James Arthur Baldwin
• How old is British
Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone 53 identity?
Britishness 54 • The haka by the All
Ten core values of the British identity - British identity in songs: Blacks
European Legacy by Jethro Tull - Political diversity in Britain • A scene from The Gold
Identity asserted Rush, by Charlie Chaplin
(1925)
Maori’s haka 58
Identity denied
The “stolen generation” of young Aborigines 59
4
American-ness 60 • R.W. Baker:
What are typical American values? - The “American Dream” biography
• Martin Luther King:
The Literary Side Russell Wayne Baker I have a dream
Growing Up 63 • Arthur Miller:
biography
Smart faces Emmeline Goulden Pankhurst 64 • Paul Auster: biography
Mahatma Gandhi 65 • Walt Whitman:
The Arts Figuring out identity and diversity 66 biography
The Literary Side Arthur Miller

Death of a Salesman 68
Paul Auster
Timbuktu 70
Walt Whitman
“Song of Myself ” 71
GRAMMAR FOCUS Tag questions 72 DEVELOPING COMPETENCES 73
4. Poverty 74
Poverty and well-being 74
ROOTS on line
Why poverty? 76 • Jonathan Swift:
The impact of poverty on education 78 biography
Focus The two Americas 80 • Frank McCourt:
The Arts Figuring out poverty 82 biography
Smart faces Iqbal Masih 84 • The film trailer of Angela’s
Ashes (1999)
The Literary Side Jonathan Swift
A Modest Proposal 85
Frank McCourt
Angela’s Ashes 86
GRAMMAR FOCUS used to / would / be used to / DEVELOPING COMPETENCES
get used to 88 89
5. Democracy 90
What is democracy? 90
ROOTS on line
Key elements of a democratic system 92
• Extracts from the
The documents 93 American, Italian and
The Magna Carta - The American Declaration of Independence: Spanish constitutions
a promise fulfilled? • Milestones in the history
TODAY The perils of Constitution worship of democracy
Democracy and the distribution of wealth 96 • George Orwell:
Aristotle and the perils of democracy biography
TODAY Are democracy and free markets compatible? • John Steinbeck:
Smart faces Rosa Parks 98 Nelson Mandela 99 biography
The Arts Figuring out democracy 100 • The Ghost of Tom Joad
• W.B. Yeats: biography
The Literary Side George Orwell • Today - “The Troubles”
Animal Farm 102 in Northern Ireland
John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath 104
William Butler Yeats
“Easter 1916” 106
GRAMMAR FOCUS Relative clauses 108 DEVELOPING COMPETENCES 109
5
Infoline Data and events
1. The natural context 112
a. The British Isles 112 ROOTS on line
Lands of variety - Great Britain - Ireland
• There’ll Always
The Literary Side Charles Dickens Be an England
Bleak House 120 • Charles Dickens:
TODAY London, a vital destination biography
• Global London
b. The USA 122 • Woodie Guthrie:
Lands of harsh contrasts This Land Is Your Land
The regions • El día de los Muertos
The Northeast - The Midwest - The Southwest - (The day of the Dead)
The South - The West 124 • America’s big cities
Focus Megalopolis, a very special region 130 • Washington Irving:
Focus Death Valley 132 biography
The Literary Side Washington Irving

Rip Van Winkle 133
GRAMMAR FOCUS The passive 134 DEVELOPING COMPETENCES 135
2. The social context 136

a. The United Kingdom 136 ROOTS on line
Population - Religion - Changes in British society
• British population estimates
The Literary Side James Graham Ballard • J.G. Ballard: biography
Millennium People 139 • Benjamin Zephaniah:
We Refugees
Multiculturalism 140
• J.M. Coetzee:
TODAY Recent attitudes to multiculturalism in Britain
biography
British youth 142 • Summerhill School:
Focus Street gangs 143 a special kind of school
The Literary Side John Maxwell Coetzee • Nick Hornby: biography
Youth 144 • Edward Corsi: I was
dreaming to come to
The British school system 146 America
Aspects of British culture 148 • Julia Alvarez: biography
Television and newspapers - British architecture: a brief survey - • Prom, a social event for
Music - Leisure time and sport - Changes in British food culture everybody
The Literary Side Nick Hornby • Bob Dylan:
Blowin’ in the Wind
Fever Pitch 153
• Jack Kerouac: biography
b. The USA 156
Population - Religion
Multiculturalism and immigration 158
From “melting pot” to “mosaic” - The face of the future
Focus Early 20th century immigration: Ellis Island 160
The Literary Side Julia Alvarez
“I, Too, Sing América” 161
The American education system 162
Aspects of American culture 164
Art and architecture - Literature - Music - Old and new trends
in American cuisine
Focus Obesity, a social problem 167
Focus Social changes in mid 20th century America 168
The Literary Side Jack Kerouac
On the Road 170
GRAMMAR FOCUS Modal verbs: a summary 172 DEVELOPING COMPETENCES 173
6
3. The economic context 174
An overview of the UK economy - Economic sectors • Charlotte Brontë:
Focus Has Britain lost its way? 178 biography
Focus Watching the debt grow 180 • US vs UK economy:
a parallel
The Literary Side Charlotte Brontë • Stephen Spender:
Shirley 181 biography
• Jay McInerney:
b. The USA 182 biography
An overview of the US economy - Economic sectors
Focus The 2008 economic crisis: origin and development 187
The Literary Side Stephen Spender

“The Express” 188
Jay McInerney
Smoke 189
GRAMMAR FOCUS The infinitive 190 DEVELOPING COMPETENCES 191
4. Institutions and history 192
Political organization - The Crown - Parliament and Government - • A Commonwealth
Political parties - What does it mean to be a constitutional monarch? of nations
A survey of British history 197 • Seamus Deane:
From Stone Age man to the Celts - From Roman Britain to the biography
Norman Conquest - From feudalism to the Tudor dynasty - From • Alex Haley: biography
Civil War to the House of Hanover - From the Industrial Revolution
• Life on Indian reservations
to the Empire - Britain in the 20th and 21st century
Focus The Celts 202 Elizabeth I 203 The Industrial Revolution 204
The Literary Side Seamus Deane
Reading in the Dark 205
b. The USA 206 on line

Political organization - Government, President and Congress - Other
State and local government - Political parties English-speaking
A survey of American history 210 countries
From the origins to Independence - From the “Move West”
to Civil War - From progress (1865-1918) to World War II • The Republic of Ireland
(1941-1945) - The Cold War era (1945-1991) - From the end • Canada
of Cold War to present time • Australia
The Literary Side Alex Haley
• New Zealand
• South Africa
Roots 214
• India
Focus No taxation without representation 215
Focus From the “Trail of Tears” to Indian reservations 216
A song: Trail of Tears 217
GRAMMAR FOCUS Reported speech 218 DEVELOPING COMPETENCES 219
5. The global context 220

The European Union 220
ROOTS on line
EU’s activity - The “institutional triangle” - EU: a common single market
Focus The British vs the EU 224 • Ian McEwan: biography
The globalized world 226

How does globalization work? - The pros and cons of globalization -
Global friendship: Facebook - The anti-globalization movement
TODAY Education for Global Citizenship
The Literary Side Ian McEwan

Saturday 232
GRAMMAR FOCUS Present perfect 234 DEVELOPING COMPETENCES 235
7
TheMeaning
literary heritage
through texts, contexts and themes
Literature in English A twentieth century overview 238 ROOTS on line
The novel - Drama - Poetry • Activities
Art in Britain and America A twentieth century overview 242
From Britain - From the USA
1. The quest The journey as a metaphor 246 • Joseph Conrad -

T.S. Eliot: biography
Humankind and outer space
• The End by The Doors:
A quest for identity Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad 248 Italian translation
TEXT 1 The charm of exploration 248
TEXT 2 The journey upwards 250
A quest for true life The Waste Land by Thomas Stearns Eliot 252
TEXT 3 Commuting into Hell 252
Let’s make a point 254 Links 255
2. Being, or appearing? Addicted to fame 256 • After Jackson, Fame may

never be the same
Fame and merit today
• A video from America’s Got
The worth of lies The Importance of Being Earnest Talent
by Oscar Wilde 258 • Oscar Wilde - Graham
TEXT 1 What’s in a name? 259 Greene: biography
How to lie and Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene 262 • A scene from the film The
be happy TEXT 2 Lying rewarded 262 Importance of Being Earnest
(1952)
3. Anger and boredom Sides of the same coin 266 • London riots; this is no time
to be squeamish
London’s burning
• John Osborne - Samuel
Anger and rebellion Look Back in Anger by John Osborne 268 Beckett: biography
TEXT 1 An angry young man 268 • The film trailer of Look Back
in Anger (1959)
Boredom and Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett 271 • A scene from Waiting for
repetition TEXT 2 Killing time 271 Godot (2001 adaptation)
Let’s make a point 274 Links 275 • Don’t Look Back in Anger
by Oasis: Italian translation
4. Paralysis and change The heroic act of choice 276 • Depression as mental
disorder
A psychologist and emotional paralysis
• James Joyce - Emily
Paralysis Dubliners by James Joyce 278 Dickinson: biography
TEXT 1 Now and tomorrow 278 • Michael Jackson: Man in
TEXT 2 The epiphany 280 the Mirror
Change “Me, change!” by Emily Dickinson 282
TEXT 3 “Me, change!” 282
5. Friendship Still bowling with friends? 284 • Americans’ circle of

friends is shrinking
A writer and friendship
• The Four Loves
Who is my friend? The Caretaker by Harold Pinter 286
• Harold Pinter - W.H.
TEXT 1 Friends forever? 286 Auden: biography
• “For Friends Only”
The language “For Friends Only” by Wystan Hugh Auden 289 + Italian translation
of friendship TEXT 2 “For Friends Only” 289 • A scene from the 1963
Let’s make a point 291 Links 291 film adaptation
of The Caretaker
8
6. Love What’s love like? 292 ROOTS on line
A writer discovering love • Poets and love
Can love change? The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald 294 • F.S. Fitzgerald - Derek
Walcott: biography
TEXT 1 When love changes 294 • “Love After Love”:
Italian translation
Yourself in love “Love After Love” by Derek Walcott 297
• A scene from West Side
TEXT 2 “Love After Love” 297 Story (1961)
7. A changing family Family diversity 300 • Philip Roth: biography

Family types - The downfall of family
The downfall American Pastoral by Philip Roth 303
of family TEXT 1 Where do such kids come from? 304
and society
TEXT 2 Everything is different now 306
8. The Other Racism: a thing of the past? 310 • Barack Obama’s speech:
video and transcript
Obama and the fulfillment of a dream
• Do races really exist?
Equality: a promise “Telephone conversation” by Wole Soyinka 312 • Wole Soyinka - Nadine
still to be fulfilled TEXT 1 “Telephone conversation” 312 Gordimer: biography
The Lion and the Jewel by Wole Soyinka 314 • “Telephone Conversation”:
TEXT 2 A modern or a prejudiced man? 314 Italian translation
Blacks as whites July’s People by Nadine Gordimer 316

TEXT 3 No one is immune to racism 316
9. The web – Communication • Six years in the Valley

and privacy Privacy is dead - get over it 320 • George Orwell:
biography
Is communication booming or dying today? • The film trailer of The Social
The communication Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell 322 Network (2010)
blackout TEXT 1 Impossible privacy 323 • M.I.A.’s Internet
Let’s make a point 324 Links 325 Connection
10. The toll of war What can a man die for? 326 • Bush’s address to the
troops in Iraq
A journalist on the front line
• Ernest Hemingway -
Are courage and For Whom the Bell Tolls Wilfred Owen: biography
honour worth? by Ernest Hemingway 328 • “Anthem for Doomed
TEXT 1 A general and his orders 329 Youth”: Italian translation
TEXT 2 A soldier and his mission 330 • War poems by Wilfred
Owen read by Kenneth
The horror of war “Anthem for Doomed Youth” Branagh
by Wilfred Owen 331 • Pete Seeger: Bring ’em
TEXT 3 “Anthem for Doomed Youth” 331 Home
Let’s make a point 332 Links 333 • 10,000 Maniacs: Anthem
for Doomed Youth
11. The multicultural challenge Multiculturalism vs integration 334 • David Cameron’s speech:
David Cameron on multiculturalism video and transcript
A multicultural A Passage to India • E.M. Forster: biography
world • The film trailer of A Passage
by Edward Morgan Forster 336 to India (1984)
TEXT 1 The British seen by the Muslims 337
TEXT 2 Can different cultures meet? 338
9
The literary heritage
12. The future: our hope, or our fear? Our worst fears 342 ROOTS on line
Our fears are already with us • The 2004 tsunami
Facts and fakes Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? • New life at Chernobyl?
• The Fukushima disaster
by Philip K. Dick 344
TEXT 1 What am I? 345 • P.K. Dick - Cormac
McCarthy: biography
Can we believe The Road by Cormac McCarthy 348
in the future? TEXT 2 Fear and hope 348
13. Tools for text analysis ROOTS on line

Biographies:
Fiction 352 • Charles Dickens
What is fiction? 352 • Jerome D. Salinger
Understanding how fiction works 353 • Michel Faber
Narrative - Narrator - Character - Narrative modes
• Cormac McCarthy
Reading fiction 355 • S.T. Coleridge
TEXT 1 I am born Ch. Dickens, David Copperfield 355 • William Shakespeare
TEXT 2 Who cares about my birth? • T.S. Eliot
J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye 356 • Tennessee Williams
TEXT 3 Into the city M. Faber, The Crimson Petal and the White 357 • John Osborne
TEXT 4 The life I lost C. McCarthy, The Road 358 • G.B. Shaw
Poetry 360
• Samuel Beckett, Waiting for
What is poetry? 360 Godot: an extract
Understanding how poetry works 361 • Thornton Wilder, Our Town:
Line and metre - Layout - Sound devices - Figurative language - an extract
Repetition/Parallelism - Vocabulary • Interpreting fiction
Main poetic forms 368 • Interpreting poetry
Reading poetry 369 • Interpreting drama
TEXT 1 The beginning of the Mariner’s voyage
S.T. Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner 369
TEXT 2 Sonnet 116 W. Shakespeare, Sonnets 371
TEXT 3 Let us go then… T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 372
on line
Drama 374 Masterpieces
What is drama? 374 in English literature
Dramatic conventions • W. Shakespeare, Romeo and
Understanding how drama works 376 Juliet
The structure of a play: exposition, complication, crisis and • D. Defoe, Moll Flanders
resolution - The script: dialogue and stage directions -
Characterisation and language
• S.T. Coleridge, The Rime
Reading drama 379
of the Ancient Mariner
TEXT 1 A summary of Romeo and Juliet by W. Shakespeare 379
• J. Austen, Pride and Prejudice
TEXT 2 Meeting again T. Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire 380
• Ch. Dickens, Great
Expectations
TEXT 3 A world in a room J. Osborne, Look Back in Anger 382
• V. Woolf, To the Lighthouse
TEXT 4 A flower girl’s ambition G.B. Shaw, Pygmalion 383
• J. Joyce, A Portrait of the
Artist as a Young Man
• D.H. Lawrence, Lady
Chatterley
• A. Huxley, Brave New World
10
Roots
Themes
through
texts and contexts
1. English as a global language
2. Man and the environment
3. Identity and diversity
4. Poverty
5. Democracy
11
Themes 1. English as a global
language
What is the “Anglosphere”?
BRAINSTORMING “Anglosphere” is a new geopolitical term referring to those countries using
Have you ever English as a first or second language, who have relatively similar backgrounds
heard the term and certain cultural characteristics.
“Anglosphere”? Nations comprising the Anglosphere enjoy a common language, a com-
What do you think
it refers to?
mon culture and share the common values stated in the Magna Carta and
the American Bill of Rights.
The Anglosphere, as a network civilization without a corresponding po-
litical form, has necessarily imprecise boundaries.
Geographically, the densest nodes of the Anglosphere are found in the
United Kingdom and the United States, but also Ireland, Canada, Australia,
New Zealand and South Africa are considered part of it. The English-
speaking populations of South Africa, the Caribbean, Oceania, and India
constitute the Anglosphere’s frontiers.
12
1. Read the text, then answer the questions. 3. Try out this crossword to find out some of the Eng-
1. What does the term “Anglosphere” refer to? lish-speaking countries.
2. What do the Anglosphere countries have in
common? Down
3. Which documents are important for the 11. African country whose capital is Nairobi.
Anglosphere nations? 12. Mr Obama’s country (initials).
14. Country where both English and French are spoken.
2. Fill in this dictionary definition of “Anglosphere”. 15. Mr Mandela’s country.
17. Shakespeare was born there.
The term “Anglosphere” (1) to that
10. It became independent from Britain in 1948.
portion of the (2) community that Across
13. Country in the British Isles whose capital is Edinburgh.
speaks (3) and subscribes to certain
16. The “All Blacks” rugby team come from this country.
principles of law and human (4) . 18. England, Scotland and Wales.
19. Nation which is also a continent.
11. James Joyce was born there.
4 5
6 7
10
11
13
Themes
1. English as
a global language
Countries
of the Anglosphere
Around 400 million people in the world speak English as their first lan-
guage. The United States has the largest number of English speakers
with 280 million people speaking it as their mother tongue.
CANADA UNITED
Canada KINGDOM
EIRE
Population: 34,000,000 (28% Anglo-Saxon, UNITED STATES
23% French origin, 15% other European, OF AMERICA
The term Anglophone
2% Amerindian) Caribbean or Common-
wealth Caribbean also in-
Capital city: Ottawa cludes the current
Official languages: English and French BAHAMAS Caribbean British over-
TURKS
AND
CAICOS
seas territories, Anguilla,
Government: Parliamentary democracy - BELIZE ANTIGUA
AND
British Virgin Islands,
BARBUDA
Constitutional monarchy JAMAICA Cayman Islands, Montser-
DOMINICA
ST. LUCIA
GRENADA
BARBADOS rat, Turks and Caicos Is-
Head of State: British sovereign TRINIDAD
AND
TOBAGO
lands, Antigua and Barbu-
GUYANA da, The Bahamas, Barba-
dos, Belize, Dominica,
Grenada, Guyana, Ja-
maica, St. Lucia, Trinidad
and Tobago.
P A C I F I C
A T L A N T I C
O C E A N
O C E A N
The United States

of America
Population: 302,476,000
(European American, African and Asian
American, Hispanic, Native American)
Capital city: Washington DC
South Africa
Languages: English, Spanish Population: 44,344 million (77% black African, 11% white,
Government: Parliamentary democracy - 9% “coloured”, 3% Indian/Asian)
Federal Republic Capital cities: Pretoria (administrative), Cape Town
Head of State: President of the USA (legislative), Bloemfontein (judicial)
Languages: English, Zulu,
Xhosa, Afrikaans
Government: Parliamentary
democracy – Republic
Head of State and Government:
The leader of the majority party
14
Eire India
(the Republic of Ireland) Population: 1,190,000,000
Population: 4,670,000 (Celtic, English) (Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Mongolian)
Capital city: Dublin Capital city: New Delhi
Official languages: English and Irish (Gaelic Languages: Hindi, English, plus 18 other
or Gaeilge) languages
Government: Parliamentary democracy - Government: Parliamentary democracy -
Republic Republic
Head of State: President of Eire Head of State: President of India
P A C I F I C
O C E A N
INDIA Australia
Population: 20,2 million (92% European,
7% Asian, 1% Aboriginal)
Capital city: Canberra
Languages: English (official) and Aboriginal
dialects
I N D I A N Government: Parliamentary democracy -
O C E A N Constitutional monarchy
Head of State: British sovereign
AUSTRALIA
SOUTH AFRICA
The United Kingdom
of Great Britain NEW
and Northern Ireland ZEALAND
Population: 60,000 million (Anglo-Saxons, New Zealand

Scots, Welsh, Irish, West Indians, Pakistanis,
Indians) Population: 4,180,000 (70% European, 10%
Capital city: London Maori, 6% Asian, 14% other)
Government: Parliamentary Capital city: Wellington
democracy - Constitutional Official languages: English and Maori
monarchy Government: Parliamentary democracy -
Head of State: British sovereign Constitutional monarchy
Head of State: British sovereign
15
Themes
1. English as
a global language English in the world
English has without doubt become “the” global language. It is believed that over
one billion people worldwide are currently learning it. Whenever we turn on the
news to find out what is happening in East Asia, or the Balkans, or Africa, or South America,
or practically anywhere, local people are being interviewed and telling us about it in English.
English is used in over 90 countries as an official or semi-official language. Over 80 per cent
of the world’s electronically stored information is in English and English is the working lan-
guage of 98 percent of international research physicists and chemists. It is the official language
of the European Central Bank, even though the bank is in Frankfurt and Britain is not a
member of the European Monetary Union. It is the language in which Indian parents and
black parents in South Africa wish their children to be educated.
As a lingua franca English is spreading from northern Europe to the south and is now firmly
1
entrenched as a second language in countries such as Sweden, Norway, Netherlands and
Denmark. Although not an official language in any of these countries if one visits any of
them it would seem that almost everyone there can communicate with ease in English.
Indeed, if one switches on a television in Holland one would find as many channels in
2
English (albeit subtitled), as there are in Dutch.
(abridged from “The Guardian”)
1. entrenched: trincerato 2. albeit: quantunque
4. Read the text and fill in the grid by adding either a number/percentage or a
caption.
1,000,000,000 (1)
(2) countries where English is an official or semi-official language
80% (3)
international research physicists and chemists who use English at

(4)
work

1. In what European countries is English a second language?
2. Why do you think Indian and South African parents want their children to be
educated in English?
16
A language revolution
In English as a Global Language David Crystal presents a lively account of the
rise of English as a global language and explores the history, current status and
future potential of English as the international language of communication.
David Crystal is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales and world
authority on the English language.
1
In 1950, any notion of English as a world language was but a dim , shadowy,
theoretical possibility, surrounded by the political uncertainties of the Cold War.
Fifty years on, World English exists as a political and cultural reality. How could such
2
a dramatic linguistic shift have taken place, in less than a lifetime? And why has English,
and not some other language, achieved such a status? These are the questions which this
book seeks to answer. […]
I firmly believe in two linguistic principles.
• I believe in the fundamental value of multilingualism, as an amazing world resource which
enables us to reach a more profound understanding of the nature of the human mind and spirit.
In my ideal world, everyone would be at least bi-lingual. I myself live in a community where two
languages – Welsh and English – exist side by side, and I have cause to reflect every day on the
benefits which come from being part of two cultures.
• I believe in the fundamental value of a common language, as an amazing world resource which
presents us with unprecedented possibilities for mutual understanding, and thus enables us to
find opportunities for international cooperation. In my ideal world, everyone would have fluent
command of a single world language.
The first principle fosters historical identity and promotes a climate of mutual respect. The second
principle fosters cultural opportunity and promotes a climate of international intelligibility.
(abridged from D. Crystal, English as a Global Language, 2003)
1. dim: flebile 2. shift: cambiamento
6. Read the text. Are these statements true (T) or false (F)?
1. In the 1950s the possibility of English becoming a global language
seemed unlikely. T F
2. This was also due to the Cold War. T F
3. It has taken more than a lifetime to change things. T F
4. The author lives in Wales. T F
5. He believes that one should know at least one foreign language. T F
6. Being part of a two-culture environment has some disadvantages. T F

1. What principles does David Crystal believe in?
2. What do these principles promote?
SPEAKING
8. Personal response.
1. How many languages do you speak?
2. Do you agree or disagree with what Mr Crystal thinks?
3. How important is the knowledge of English for you?
9. Listen to David Crystal’s talk about Global English.

Roots on line Why has English become a global language?
17
Themes
1. English as
a global language The origins and
development of English
The English language developed through four main stages over about 1,500 years.
450-1100 A.D.
Old English
The history of English started with the arrival of
Germanic tribes (the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes)
who invaded Britain during the 5th century A.D. and
crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark
and northern Germany. At that time the inhabitants
of Britain spoke a Celtic language but most of the
Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the
invaders – mainly into what is now Ireland, Wales
and Scotland. The invaders spoke Anglo-Saxon (or
The Anglo-
“Englisc”), a branch of the Indo-European language family that developed Saxon Chronicle,
into what is known as Old English. Old English was spoken until around 11th century.
1100. About half of the most commonly used words in Modern English
have Old English roots.
1100-1550
Middle English
In 1066 William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, conquered England.
The new conquerors (the Normans) brought with them the French lan-
guage, which became the language of the royal court, and of the ruling
and business classes. For a period there was a sort of
linguistic class division, where the lower classes spoke
English and the upper classes spoke French, while
the clergy used Latin. In the 14th century Middle
English became dominant in Britain, but with the
William
Shakespeare, addition of many words of French and Latin origin.
the third quarto
of Hamlet, 1605.
In 1476 William Caxton set up the first printing press
in England. Caxton refused to print regional varia-
tions in English, thus leading to the standardization
of the English language and its spelling.
1550-1750
Early Modern English Geoffrey Chaucer,
Ellesmere manuscript
Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in of The Canterbury
pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) began, with vowels being pro- Tales, 14th century.
nounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century many new words
and phrases entered the English language. This was due to Britain’s
trade expansion all over the world. Spelling and grammar became
fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishing houses
were, became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary
was published.
18
1750 onwards
Late Modern English
From the second half of the 18th century Current Stan-
dard English developed.
The main difference between Early Modern English and
Late Modern English resides in vocabulary. A lot of new
words were introduced, and this was mainly due to two
factors. On one hand the Industrial Revolution created a
need for new lexis connected with technology, and on
the other, with the British Empire at its height covering
one quarter of the earth’s surface, a number of foreign
words from exotic countries were adopted by the English
language.
Varieties of English A detail of Samuel

From around 1600, the English colonization of North America resulted Johnson’s Dictionary
of the English
in the creation of a distinct American variety of English. Some expressions Language, 1755.
called “Americanisms” are original British expressions, for example trash
for rubbish, loan as a verb instead of lend, and fall for autumn. Spanish and
Indian words entered English through the settlement of the American
West. French words (through Louisiana) and West African words (through
the slave trade) also influenced American English.
Today, American English is particularly influential in the field of cinema,
television, popular music, trade and technology (including the Internet).
But there are many other varieties of English around the world, including
for example Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian Eng-
lish, South African English, Indian English and Caribbean English.
10. Fill in the table with the missing information.
Old English rooted in (1) , the language of the settling in-

(450-1100 A.D.) vaders
Middle English influenced by Norman (2) and by ecclesias-

(1100-1550) tical Latin
Early Modern English the Great (3) Shift and the addition of new
(1550-1750) words due to British (4) expansion.
Late Modern English the development and spread of Current (5)
(1750 onwards) English with the contribution of foreign and (6)
terms
11. Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?

1. English is a member of the Germanic family of languages. T F
2. Old English developed from a Celtic language. T F
3. After 1066 Old English was used by the aristocracy. T F
4. Middle English was full of words from Latin and French. T F
5. The invention of printing contributed to the standardization of English. T F
6. With the Great Vowel Shift new words were introduced into the English
language. T F
7. New technical words were added thanks to the Industrial Revolution. T F
web WRITING
quest
12. What about the origin of your own language? Surf the net to find out and write
a paragraph about it.
19
Themes
1. English as
a global language The “oddity” of English
Our Strange Lingo
English is such a strange language that words aren’t always pronounced
the same. Nor do they have the same meanings!
When the English tongue we (1)

Why is (2) not rhymed with freak?
Will you tell me why it’s true
We say sew but likewise (3) ?
And the maker of the verse,
Cannot rhyme his (4) with worse?
Beard is not the same as heard
Cord is different from (5) .
Cow is cow but low is low
(6) is never rhymed with foe.
Think of hose, dose, and lose
And think of goose and yet with choose
Think of comb, tomb and (7) ,
Doll and roll or home and some.
Since pay is rhymed with (8)
Why not paid with said I pray?
Think of blood, food and (9) .
Mould is not pronounced like could.
Wherefore done, but gone and lone –
Is there any reason known?
To sum up all, it seems to me
Sound and letters don’t (10) .
(attributed to Lord Cromer, 1841-1917)
13. 2 Listen to the poem and fill in the gaps with the missing words.
14.  3 Now try to pronounce these sentences. Then listen and check.
1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
2. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
3. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
4. I did not object to the object.
5. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
6. They were too close to the door to close it.
7. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
Roots on line
Fun at learning English? Listen to and watch
an English lesson.
20
Two foreigners on the English language
Below are two extracts from books written by two people who lived in Britain for many years.
George Mikes (1912-1987) was a Polish jour- Beppe Severgnini (1956–) is a writer, a
nalist who worked for the BBC, and a writer. columnist for “Corriere della Sera” and was
How to Be an Alien (1946) was his best- Italy’s correspondent for “The Economist”
seller. for many years.
Nobody speaks it perfectly! The vitality of English

When I arrived in England I thought I knew The British attribute the success of their lan-
English. After I’d been here an hour I realised guage to three factors, two obvious and one
that I did not understand one word. In the first less so. The first is the extreme simplicity
week I picked up a tolerable working knowl- of their grammar and syntax, at least as far
edge of the language and the next seven years as language is concerned. The second is
2
convinced me gradually but thoroughly that I British colonial expansion coupled with
1
would never know it really well, let alone per- American economic expansion. When the
fectly. This is sad. My only consolation being first ended, the second began. The third rea-
that nobody speaks English perfectly. son for the success of the English language
Remember that those five hundred words is its great elasticity. In Britain linguistic pro-
an average Englishman uses are far from be- tectionism doesn’t exist in any form. If peo-
ing the whole vocabulary of the language. ple want to take the English language and
3
You may learn another five hundred and yet rough it up to the point where it is unrecog-
another five thousand and yet another fifty nisable, they are free to do so.
thousand and still you may come across a One proof of the vitality of the English lan-
further fifty thousand you have never heard guage is the way it has been able to absorb
before, and nobody else either. certain foreign words, like the German
kindergarten, the French chauffeur, the Spanish
(from G. Mikes, How to
Be an Alien, Penguin
patio, the Italian pizza. Today, of all the lan-
1973) guages in the world, English is the richest.
(from B. Severgnini, An Italian in Britain, BUR 2003)
1. let alone: men che meno 2. coupled with: unita a

3. rough it up: maltrattarlo
15. Read the extract by George Mikes and answer the questions.
1. What is the author’s idea about English?
2. What did he realize after seven years in England?
16. Read the second extract and list the three factors for the success of English.
SPEAKING
17. Discuss.
• Does George Mikes’ experience with the language in some way reflect yours? Why? / Why not?
21
Themes
Smart faces
1. English as
a global language
Bob Nesta Marley
Preacher in the Jamaican national idiom
of reggae
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Bob Nesta Marley (1945-

1981) grew up in a slum suburb of the Jamaican capital
Kingston and became the most popular and beloved reggae
artist in history. Marley was a charismatic sensitive soul
who had a gift for translating the pain of oppressed people
1
into uplifting songs delivering messages of love and unity.
His poetic worldview was shaped by the countryside, his
music by the tough West Kingston ghetto streets.
Coming from a mixed-race family – his father was a Ja-
maican-born white man of British nationality and his
mother a black Jamaican – Marley as a child struggled to A creed popular
among the im-
come to terms with the duality of his racial identity. His poverished people
conversion to the Rastafarian religion , a faith originating of the Caribbean,
from early Christianity and Judaism in Egypt and Ethiopia, who worshipped
the late Ethiopian
A music genre helped him find truth in a world filled with injustice and emperor Haile
that originated in
Jamaica in the late
racism. Selassie I as the
During the mid-1960s, influenced by popular African Amer- African redeemer
1950s which com-
foretold in popu-
bined elements of ican music, Bob Marley formed The Wailers, who at first sang lar quasi-biblical
Caribbean music “ska” and rock songs. After becoming a Rastafarian Marley prophecy.
(mento and calyp-
so) with Ameri- emerged in the 1970s as a prophetic musician promoting
can jazz and peace and higher consciousness and turning reggae into an
rhythm and blues. electrifying rock-influenced hybrid that made him an inter-
Ska is considered
the precursor to national superstar.
reggae. (abridged from http://www.britannica.com/)
1. uplifting: edificanti
The language of Jamaica

Jamaica demonstrates its melded culture in language.
The main ingredients of Jamaica’s linguistic stew
are Spanish, African, English, including Irish, British
and American idioms, and even Rastafarian terms.
The language also has roots in slavery, as the slaves
combined the language of their owners with their
own African tongues.
18. Read the information about Bob Marley

and answer the questions.
1. Where did he grow up?
2. Where did his music come from?
3. What message did his songs contain?
4. Where did he find his own truth?
WRITING
19. Use Bob Marley’s biography to write the biography of your favourite pop star.
22
Get up, Stand up
The following song, written in 1973, is one of Marley’s most popular songs.
Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!

Get up, stand up: don’t give up the fight!
1
Preacherman , don’t tell me,
Heaven is under the earth.
I know you don’t know
What life is really worth.
It’s not all that glitters is gold;
’Alf the story has never been told:
So now you see the light, eh!
Stand up for your rights. Come on!

Get up, stand up: don’t give up the fight! Get up, stand up! (Get up, stand up!)
Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights! Don’t give up the fight! (Life is your right!)
Get up, stand up: don’t give up the fight! Get up, stand up! (So we can’t give up the fight!)
Stand up for your rights! (Lord, Lord!)
Most people think, Get up, stand up! (Keep on struggling on!)
Great God will come from the skies, Don’t give up the fight! (Yeah!)
Take away everything
2
And make everybody feel high . We sick an’ tired of your ism-skism game – This expression
refers to the op-
But if you know what life is worth, Dyin’ ’n’ goin’ to heaven in-a Jesus’ name, Lord. pressors’ use of
You will look for yours on earth: We know when we understand: race and religion
And now you see the light, Almighty God is a living man. to keep people
3 subdued.
You stand up for your rights. Jah! You can fool some people all the time,
But you can’t fool all the people all the time.
Get up, stand up! So now we see the light (What you gonna do?),
Stand up for your rights! We gonna stand up for our rights! (Yeah, yeah, yeah!)
(from the album Burnin’, 1973)
1. preacherman: predicatore
2. feel high: sentirsi felice, alle stelle 3. fool: prendere in giro
20. Read the lyrics and answer the questions.

1. Who is the song addressed to?
2. What does Marley encourage them to do?
3. Why doesn’t he believe in what the preacherman says?
4. What shouldn’t people wait for?
5. Can people be fooled for long? web
quest
Look for Bob Marley’s song and
listen to it.
23
Themes
The Literary Side
1. English as
a global language
What a difficult language!
Pygmalion
by George Bernard Shaw
George Pygmalion is considered Shaw’s masterpiece, and certainly his

Bernard Shaw funniest and most popular play. Based on classical myth, Pyg-
(1856-1950) malion is apparently a didactic drama about phonetics but the
Irish playwright, lit-
erary critic, and so-
play is first of all a comedy on human relationships and the
cialist propagandist, English class system. The play is about the training lessons that
winner of the Nobel Phonetics Professor Higgins gives to a Cockney flower seller,
Prize for Literature Eliza Doolittle. After hearing Eliza speaking with a horrible
in 1925.
Cockney accent, Professor Higgins bets his friend, Colonel Pick-
ering, that he can change her into a lady.
Roots on line The passage below is Eliza’s first pronunciation lesson. She is in
Author’s biography.
Higgins’ study together with Higgins and the colonel.
HIGGINS. Say your alphabet.

ELIZA. I know my alphabet. Do you think I know nothing? I dont need
to be taught like a child.
1
HIGGINS [thundering ] Say your alphabet.
PICKERING. Say it, Miss Doolittle. You will understand presently. Do
what he tells you; and let him teach you in his own way.
ELIZA. Oh well, if you put it like that — Ahyee, Bɘ-yee, Cɘ-yee, Dɘe-
yee —
HIGGINS [with the roar of a wounded lion] Stop. Listen to this, Pickering.
This is what we pay for as elementary education. This unfortunate animal
has been locked up for nine years in school at our expense
to teach her to speak and read the language of Shakespeare
and Milton. And the result is Ahyee, Ba-yee, Ca-yee, Da-
yee. [To ELIZA] Say A, B, C, D.
ELIZA [almost in tears] But I’m sayin it. Ahyee, Bɘ-yee,
Cɘ-yee —
HIGGINS. Stop. Say a cup of tea.
ELIZA. A cappat-ee.
2
HIGGINS. Put your tongue forward until it squeezes
against the top of your lower teeth. Now say cup.
ELIZA. C-c-c — I cant. C-Cup.
PICKERING. Good. Splendid, Miss Doolittle.
HIGGINS. By Jupiter, she’s done it at the first shot. Pick-
ering: we shall make a duchess of her. [To ELIZA] Now do
you think you could possibly say tea? Not ta-yee, mind: if
you ever say ba-yee ca-yee da-yee again you shall be dragged round the
room three times by the hair of your head. [Fortissimo] T, T, T, T.
1. thundering: tuonando 2. squeezes: preme
24
3
ELIZA [weeping] I cant hear no difference cep that it sounds more genteel-
like when you say it.
HIGGINS. Well, if you can hear that difference, what the devil are you
crying for? [...]
PICKERING. Never mind crying a little, Miss Doolittle: you are doing
very well; and the lesson won’t hurt. I promise I won’t let him drag you
round the room by your hair.
4
HIGGINS. Be off with you to Mrs Pierce and tell her about it. Think
about it. Try to do it by yourself: and keep your tongue well forward in
your mouth instead of trying to roll it up and swallow it. Another lesson
at half past four this afternoon. Away with you.
Eliza, still sobbing, rushes from the room.
(from G.B. Shaw, Pygmalion, Act 2, Scene 2, 1913)
3. cep (= except): a parte che 4. be off with you: andate
DISCOVERING MEANING
21.  4 Listen to and read the extract. Then read the summary of Higgins’
unusual lesson and fill in the gaps with the words in the box.
stops • pronunciation • alphabet • imprecations • weep • lesson • right • accent
Eliza’s first (1) is very disconcerting for her. Higgins asks her to say the
(2) and she begins reciting it with a strong (3) . Higgins
(4) her and asks her to say “cup of tea”. As the girl can’t say it correctly,
he suggests the proper placement for her tongue to produce better (5) .
She gets it (6) on her next try. Higgins’ intense lesson is characterized
by (7) and threats, and poor Eliza begins to (8) .
22. Now answer.

1. How does Higgins behave with the girl? He is
a. convincing c. shouting e. praising
b. ridiculing d. threatening f. reassuring
2. How does Eliza feel?
a. self-conscious c. nervous e. upset
b. bored d. distressed f. reassured
3. Eliza uses some funny examples of non-standard English. What are they?
LET’S MAKE A POINT

23. Eliza is of humble social origins. How is this aspect focussed on by
Shaw? Find examples in the text.
24. The scene presents a number of comic elements. Can you identify
an example?
The successful musical movie My Fair Lady (1964) was based on

Roots on line Bernard Shaw’s classic. Watch the scene The rain in Spain.
25
Themes GRAMMAR Focus
Coordination and subordination
COORDINATION Below is a list of the most common conjunctions
Coordination is a way of connecting sentences
SIMPLE CONJUNCTIONS MEANING
through coordinating conjunctions such as
- because/since
as
• and to join clauses that contain additional infor- - when/while
mation
after - later in time
• or to join clauses that contain alternatives
• but to join clauses that contain opposing ideas although/though - in spite of the fact that
• so to join clauses that contain ideas of cause before - earlier than
and effect
because - for the reason that
if - providing or provided
SUBORDINATION
- from a past time
Subordination is another way of connecting sentences since
- as, because
but the subordinate clause depends on the main clause;
it supports the ideas of the main clause or provides ad- - consequently
so or so that
ditional information. - in order that
Subordinate clauses may be introduced by: unless - except when, if not
until or till - up to the time when
• simple conjunctions: when, whenever, where, because,
if, unless, until, while, etc. whereas - while / on the other hand
when - on the moment that
• conjunctive expressions: as soon as, even though, so
as to, etc. whenever - every time
where - the place in which
whether - if
- at the time when
while
- on the other hand
CONJUNCTIVE EXPRESSIONS MEANING
1. Write four sentences using coordinating conjunc-
even though - in spite of the fact that
tions.
as long as - while
1.
as soon as - immediately when
2.
as if / though - in a similar way as
3.
so as to - in order to
4.
2. Complete the sentences using the proper conjunction.

1. The upper classes spoke French the 6. one switches on a TV in Holland one
clergy used Latin. will find many channels in English.
2. English is the language of the official Eu Central 7. In Pygmalion Phonetics Professor Higgins teaches
Bank, bank is in Frankfurt. Eliza good pronunciation he has heard
3. The dialect of London, publishing hous- her Cockney accent.
es were, became the standard. 8. Eliza can’t pronounce correctly Higgins
4. we turn on the news, local people are tells her how to place her tongue.
interviewed in English. 9. He interrupts her several times she is
5. I arrived in England I thought I knew practising.
English. 10. He treats her she were a stupid girl.
26
DEVELOPING COMPETENCES
Refer back to the texts of this section and carry out the following tasks.
1. Choose the definition that best applies to the “An- two principles he insists on are: (4) and a
glosphere”. Then write your own definition.
common language.
“Anglosphere” is a term which refers
a. to all English-speaking countries. In Crystal’s ideal world, everyone would be at least
b. to those nations which share a common language (5) because multilingualism helps
and common cultural characteristics.
c. to those countries that speak English and consider people to understand one another and promotes
principles of law and human rights as fundamental. a climate of mutual respect.
A common language is an amazing world resource and
a further opportunity for mutual (6) at
international level.
4. Read Bob Marley’s Get up, Stand up again and com-

plete the sentence summarizing its content.
Marley urges those suffering oppression
2. True (T) or false (F)?
1. Over one billion people worldwide are learning
English. T F
2. English is the official language of the European
Central Bank, even though the bank isn’t in
Britain. T F
3. English is a second language in northern and 5. Refer back to the text from Pygmalion by Bernard
T F Shaw and answer the questions.
southern Europe.
1. Where is the scene set?
4. The Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights are
two American constitutional documents. T F
5. India and the Caribbean are considered part 2. Who are the people involved?
of the Anglosphere. T F
6. David Crystal teaches English in Wales. T F
7. The origin of English dates back to the 3. How does the lesson start?
Anglo-Saxon period. T F
3. Complete the summary of English as a Global Lan- 4. What is the problem with Eliza?
guage by inserting the correct words.
bi-lingual • future • multilingualism • 5. What follow-up of the scene would you imagine?
understanding • global • language
In his book English as a (1) Language

David Crystal explores the past, present and WRITING
6. Refer back to the texts by Mikes and Severgnini and
(2) potential of English as the
write a short essay (about 100-150 words) about their
international (3) of communication. The experience as language learners.
27
Themes 2. Man
and the environment
A broken equilibrium?
BRAINSTORMING
The environmental condition of our planet is getting worse; the negative
How many words impact of climate change, the biodiversity loss caused by the extinction of
related to the many plants and animals, the cutting down of forests and rainforests are
“environment” only a few of the dangers the environment is exposed to.
can you make
from these
Throughout its history mankind has been shaping the environment, but
letters? only recently increased human activity has caused such damage as pollution,
RPNSLWA that is an undesirable change in the physical, chemical or biological char-
GOMUBTI acteristics of our land, air and water, harmfully affecting human life.
Nowadays mankind is slowly realizing that the care of the environment
is a problem which must be faced if the human race is to survive in its
current state. The best way to help our environment is to develop a global
ecological conscience and establish a new set of values where the environment
and nature in general rank above money and power.
28
1. Read the text and
a. list the dangers our environment is exposed to;
b. say how we can help.
2. Read the definitions below and match them with the corresponding concept.
1. Biodiversity a. It is defined as the sum of the surroundings of a
living organism. It provides conditions for develop-
2. The environment
ment and growth as well as danger and damage.
3. Nature
b. It refers to everything that was not made by
man, including stones, animals, plants, natural
events like the wind or the rain, and unpredictable
events like earthquakes, hurricanes, volcano erup-
tions, etc.
c. It refers to the variety of life on Earth. We depend

on it for our food, energy, raw materials, air and
water.
Roots on line
Read How to take action.
29

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Silvia Ballabio Alessandra Brunetti Pete Lynch

© Casa Editrice Principato

© Casa Editrice Principato

Nei capitoli di questa sezione vengono affrontate

I capitoli di questa parte offrono un panorama delle

Questa sezione propone temi motivanti per lo stu-

Redazione Cartine Silvia Ballabio ha curato la parte The lit-

Themes 1. English as a global

Ciascun capitolo si chiude con: BRAINSTORMING

2. Fill in this dictionary definition of “Anglosphere”.

• The Arts, due pagine dedicate alla presentazione

litical form, has necessarily imprecise boundaries. by William Shakespeare

di opere d’arte significative per il tema;

• Smart faces, figure che si sono distinte nell’af-

frontare le problematiche legate al tema;

• Grammar Focus, pagine per il rinforzo linguistico;

DISCOVERING MEANING b. simile:

• Developing competences, attività di autovalu-

2. Sand Bay is full of plastic rubbish. T F erset,

tazione delle conoscenze e competenze acquisite.

130° 50° 120° 110° 100° 90° 80°

UNITE D S TATE S OF AME R IC A

b. The USA Salem Co lu Missouri Lake Superior

Anche in questa sezione, in chiusura di ogni capito-

The Literary Side

the lands of the

Ciascun capitolo si conclude con: The literary

• Let’s make a point, attività per considerare i testi

proposti in un’ottica sintetica e stimolare ulteriori

spunti di riflessione personale e/o di classe; how fiction works

• Links, indicazioni per proseguire il lavoro di

indagine e riflessione in altri linguaggi, in particolare

attraverso film e canzoni.

In chiusura di sezione, Tools for text analysis (Fic-

tion, Poetry, Drama) offre strumenti di analisi ed

esercitazioni guidate per la decodificazione del mes-

The Literary Side George Bernard Shaw

The Literary Side William Wordsworth

The Literary Side Arthur Miller

The Literary Side Washington Irving

2. The social context 136

The Literary Side Stephen Spender

b. The USA 206 on line

5. The global context 220

The globalized world 226

The Literary Side Ian McEwan

1. The quest The journey as a metaphor 246 • Joseph Conrad -

2. Being, or appearing? Addicted to fame 256 • After Jackson, Fame may

5. Friendship Still bowling with friends? 284 • Americans’ circle of

7. A changing family Family diversity 300 • Philip Roth: biography

Blacks as whites July’s People by Nadine Gordimer 316

9. The web – Communication • Six years in the Valley

13. Tools for text analysis ROOTS on line

The United States

and Northern Ireland ZEALAND

Population: 60,000 million (Anglo-Saxons, New Zealand

(2) countries where English is an official or semi-official language

international research physicists and chemists who use English at

5. Now answer these questions.

1. dim: flebile 2. shift: cambiamento

7. Now answer these questions.

9. Listen to David Crystal’s talk about Global English.

Varieties of English A detail of Samuel