Advanced - Short Reading and Vocabulary Lesson

Classic way to turbo-boost the brain

Julie Henry
January 14, 2013

PUT down those self-help books, ditch the trashy novels and read the greatest writers in the English language if you need a lift. The works of Shakespeare and Wordsworth are ''rocketboosters'' to the brain and better therapy than selfimprovement guides, researchers have discovered. Academics at Liverpool University found that reading the works of the Bard* and other classical writers had a beneficial effect on the mind, by catching the reader's attention and triggering moments of self-reflection. Using scanners, they monitored the brain activity of volunteers as they read pieces by Shakespeare, Wordsworth, T.S. Eliot and others. They then ''translated'' the texts into more ''straightforward'', modern language and again monitored the readers' brains as they read the words. Scans showed that the more ''challenging'' prose and poetry set off far more electrical activity in the brain. Scientists were able to study the brain activity as readers responded to each word and noticed how it ''lit up'' as they encountered unusual words, surprising phrases or difficult sentence structure. This ''lighting up'' of the mind lasted longer than the initial electrical spark, shifting the brain to a higher gear and encouraging further reading. The research also found that poetry, in particular, increased activity in the right hemisphere of the brain, an area concerned with ''autobiographical memory'', helping the reader to reflect on and reappraise their own experiences in light of what they had read. The academics said this meant the classics were more useful than self-help books. Philip Davis, an English professor who has worked on the study with the university's magnetic resonance centre, will tell a conference this week: ''Serious literature acts like a rocket-booster to the brain. The research shows the power of literature to shift mental pathways, to create new thoughts, shapes and connections in the young and the staid alike.'' The study went on to test how long the effect lasted. It found that the ''peak'' triggered by the unfamiliar word was sustained into the following phrases.
http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/life/classic-way-to-turboboost-the-brain-20130113-2cnnr.html#ixzz2I24y7l7O

Advanced - Short Reading and Vocabulary Lesson

Vocabulary Match - match the word to its meaning

turbo boost ditch trashy trigger prose set off reappraise in light of staid sustain

written language in its ordinary form rather than poetry to cause a device to explode or a signal to start cause/allow sth. to happen for period of time/keep alive serious, boring and slightly old-fashioned to get rid of something or someone that is no longer wanted because of to cause something bad to start to improve or increase something (dramatically) to examine and judge something or someone again of low quality; with little or no value

Fill in the blanks with a word from the vocabulary list:

1. _________ of recent poor sales figures, the company wont be paying Christmas bonuses this year. 2. We have to continually _____________ the websites we recommend, as they change all the time. 3. My grandmother was such a fun old lady, nothing like the ___________ old grannies of my friends. 4. The recent terrible unemployment data has ____________ massive demonstrations throughout the country. 5. I generally love reading classic literature and works by the best contemporary writers, but my guilty pleasure is reading __________ magazines!!! 6. When I was at highschool my teacher always told me I should stick to ______________ as my poems were very unimaginative! 7. Dont touch that!!! You could _____ it ______!!!!

Advanced - Short Reading and Vocabulary Lesson

8. The coachs inspiring speech gave the players a real _____________________ and they went on to win the game easily. 9. Didnt you hear? She ____________ Jack and shes going out with his best-mate, Tom!!! 10. He cant ___________ this fast pace for the whole race. Hes going to exhaust himself.

Write your own example sentence. Choose 4 words and try to use them in a sentence (1 word per sentence, not all 4 words in 1 sentence!) 1.

2.

3.

4.

Advanced - Short Reading and Vocabulary Lesson

Read the article quickly - 2 minutes and then try to write a one sentence summary of it. _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________

Read the article again, a little more carefully and underlining what you think are the main points of the article. When youve finished reading, compare your text to your partners text and see if youve underlined the same things. Help each other with any unclear words/sentences. Have a brief chat about the article. Did you find the information interesting? (un)surprising?

Follow Up Activity - Read a classic poem Read a poem from one of the 3 famous writers mentioned in the article. Dont expect to understand everything but note: what do you understand? what is your reaction to the poem? what emotions/feelings are conveyed? do you like this poem? Why/why not?

Follow up discussion:
Do you have a favourite poet? Have you ever written a poem? Do you twitter? What do you know about twitter? Can you try to translate one of the poems into a tweet? (140 characters)

Advanced - Short Reading and Vocabulary Lesson

TEACHERS NOTES: Pre Reading Activities: Write the following Shakespearian quote on the WB and ask Ss if they a) recognise it? and b) understand it? All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/ william_shakespeare.html#M5B2haERTl7dsR8C.99 If music be the food of love, play on. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/ william_shakespeare.html#M5B2haERTl7dsR8C.99 What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/ william_shakespeare_2.html#EXulozqfhkp2Sjmf.99 Lead-in conversation questions:
Who are the classic writers in your country/language? What classic literature do you remember reading at school? Are you a fan of classic literature or do you prefer modern fiction? Do you think school students should be made to read classic literature at high school? What do you think the benefits or otherwise might be?

Advanced - Short Reading and Vocabulary Lesson

Wordsworth - Daffodils (1815)

I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they Outdid the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: I gazedand gazedbut little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.

(you can find this poem at http://allpoetry.com/William_Wordsworth)

Advanced - Short Reading and Vocabulary Lesson

T S Eliot - Ash Wednesday (rst part) (1930)

Because I do not hope to turn again Because I do not hope Because I do not hope to turn Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope I no longer strive to strive towards such things (Why should the agd eagle stretch its wings?) Why should I mourn The vanished power of the usual reign? Because I do not hope to know The infirm glory of the positive hour Because I do not think Because I know I shall not know The one veritable transitory power Because I cannot drink There, where trees flower, and springs flow, for there is nothing again Because I know that time is always time And place is always and only place And what is actual is actual only for one time And only for one place I rejoice that things are as they are and I renounce the blessd face And renounce the voice Because I cannot hope to turn again Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something Upon which to rejoice And pray to God to have mercy upon us And pray that I may forget These matters that with myself I too much discuss Too much explain Because I do not hope to turn again Let these words answer For what is done, not to be done again May the judgement not be too heavy upon us

Advanced - Short Reading and Vocabulary Lesson

Because these wings are no longer wings to fly But merely vans to beat the air The air which is now thoroughly small and dry Smaller and dryer than the will Teach us to care and not to care Teach us to sit still. Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.

you can find this poem at (http://allpoetry.com/poem/8453709-Ash_Wednesday-byT_S__Eliot)

Advanced - Short Reading and Vocabulary Lesson

Shakespeare - All the Worlds a Stage

All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slippered pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side; His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
you can find this poem at (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/all-the-world-s-a-stage/)

Advanced - Short Reading and Vocabulary Lesson