16 DECEMBER - DAY OF READING IN ANDALUSIA
Hi
everyone! 16 December we celebrate the Day
of Reading in Andalusia. It
is a beautiful day to celebrate the importance of reading and to remember the
most significant authors of our culture. In the English class, we can also
carry out different activities related to this event.
This time, I decided to work
with my students on a fragment of Washington's Irving Tales of the
Alhambra. I gave them a worksheet to introduce the topic,
and then the different scenes of the tale. After reading it together, students,
in groups, interpreted the different scenes for the rest of the class. It was
very funny. Here I show you the activities:
TALES OF THE ALHAMBRA - WASHINGTON
IRVING
My name is Washington Irving. I was born in New York in 1783.
I am an American author, essayist, biographer, historian and
diplomat. I am best known for my short stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip
Van Winkle and Tales of the Alhambra.
I also wrote the biography of George Washington.
I travelled to Spain in 1826 and became attached at the US
embassy in Madrid. While in Spain, I researched for my biography of Christopher
Columbys and mi works on Granada and the Alhambra. Then, I wrote Tales of the Alhambra in 1832.
When I saw Granada for the first time, I described it as
"the most picturesque and beautiful city, situated in one of the loveliest
landscapes I have ever seen".
Immediately, I asked the governor permission to visit the
Alhambra's Palace. A 35-years old guide called Mateo Xiemnes helped me. This
experiene inspired me to write Tales of
the Alhambra.
Now, we are just at the Square of the Cisterns (Plaza de los
Aljibes). This is the exact place where my tale The Moor's Legacy begins. I will be silent now! Enjoy the tale!
P.S.: A reader lives a thousand lives before he/she dies...
the person who never reads lives only one!
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