Work in groups and discuss the following:
Why marry?
Why do people marry-or decide to live together?
Because:
- they love each other?
- it's better financially to share a home?
- they are expecting a baby?
- one of them wants to leave home?
- all their friends seem to get married?
- the idea of a wedding is fun?
- their parents want them to?
- they feel secure together?
- the idea of growing old together is attractive?
- it's a deal?
- their parents have decided their "child" should marry?
Summarize your ideas and present them to the other groups.
Getting married
Who decides that it's time to marry?
How is it done today?
How was it done 100 years ago?
Understanding
Do one of these tasks.
A.
What actually happens in the text?
Tell the story in your own words.
B.
Summarize the story using the following key words.
get married at once - propose - admirable opportunity - little experience - practice - i am engaged, mamma - inform - surprise - inquiries - smoke - age - income - country house - town house - politics - parents - misfortune - carelessness - found - handbag - cloak-room -Victoria station - no basis for a recognized position in society - advise - acquire relatives - not form an alliance with a parcel.
C.
Pair or group work.
What is your impression of the three main characters: Miss Gwendolen Fairfax,
Mr. Ernest Worthing , and Lady Bracknell?
Think of behavior, language, social position etc. Try to give positive as well as negative
opinions.
D.
Pair work: role play.
Imagine a conversation between Lady Bracknell and the Duchess of Bolton.
Student A is the Duchess being visited by Lady Bracknell who is feeling very upset after
her talk with Ernest. The Duchess is very curious.
Student B is Lady Bracknell who answers the questions a little bit unwillingly.
Prepare the conversation carefully. Remember that two ladies have a special way of talking
And their opinions could be old-fashioned .Pay attention to intonation and body language.
Write about it
Dear Sarah
Gwedolene writes a letter to her old friend, Sarah Prendergast, telling her of the embarrassing situation she finds herself in.
Word formation
1.
Complete each sentence with the correct form of the word in bold type.
Think about the form of the word.
admire
Ernest is so handsome! I've been : him for years.
The teacher's treatment of the matter was :
The young man gazed at the pretty girl in :
She looked back :
admit
When I asked him, Jack : that he was in love.
They don't charge : at this museum.
He sent in an article to the newspaper with an : of his guilt.
adore
Look at the baby! Isn't it just:
The girl's : of her fiance was almost too much for them to stand.
She looked at him:all the time.
"I'll never stop: him, she said.
approve
The professor nodded his head in:
Lady Bracknell did not : of their engagement.
The husband watched: while his wife changed the punctured tyre.
determine
Jim's lack of: was rather frustrating.
He was:to go through with his enterprise.
The only thing he was: about was sleeping late.
Only a medial examination could : whether he was seriously ill or not.
inform
Gwendolen : her mother of her wish to marry Ernest.
Patrick's talk on his country's foreign policy was very:
Most people present were well: on the subject.
It says in the paper that the secret police used him as an:
inquire
Can I help you, sir? She looked at him :
I'd like to make some :about Mr. Worthing.
The old lady: whether it was possible to send the parcel by fast delivery.
Don't be so:! It's rather rude.
permit
Dad will never:you to leave early.
In the end she was...to leave.
As he got his work :without difficulty, Jim considered himself lucky.
We will dine outside on the lawn tonight, weather:
require
The job: are very demanding.
Firstly, we: you to be here at 6 am.
The position also: you to be fluent in Chinese.
2.
Pick out 6-8 words from this exercise and write your own sentences.
Check each other.
Famous lines.
Work in groups. Read quotations aloud and discuss the contents.
Can you find lines that you might like to use in a certain situation?
Married couples who love each other tell each other a thousand things without talking.
Chinese Proverb.
Successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.
German Greer.
The secret of a happy marriage remains a secret.
Henry Youngman.
In married life three is a company and two is none
O.Wilde.
I can resist everything except a temptation.
O.Wilde.
All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does .That is his.
O.Wilde.
Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.