III. Post-reading

3.1. Storytelling.

Tell the story as if you were:

Whit, white, 10 years old;

Lymus, black, 10 years old;

Mattie, black, 28 years old;

Whit's father, white, 34 years old.

3.2. Historical words.

Explain the exact meaning of the following:

Master =

a Rebel =

the Yankees =

a Southerner =

the Confederate army=

3.3. Historical names.

Find the name of one important historical figure in the text. Who was that man? What other people gained fame during the Civil War in the United States?

3.4. Historical songs.

The lyrics of two songs are here for you. One is the famous Dixie, originally written for a minstrel show by'Daniel D. Emmett in 1859. It became popular with the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

I wish I was in the land of cotton,

Old times there are not forgotten.

Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.

In Dixie Land where I was born in,

Early on a frosty morning.

Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.

Then I wish I was in Dixie, hooray, hooray!

In Dixie Land I'll take my stand

To live and die in Dixie.

Away, aioay, away down south in Dixie!

Away, away, away down south in Dixie!

The other' song is part of American history, too. During the Civil War, in 1861, Julia Ward Howe heard the Union soldiers singing "John Brown's Body." The melody stayed with her and during the night she arose from bed and wrote the words of the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Mine eyes have seen the glory

of the coming of the Lord;

He is trampling out the vintage

where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loos'd the fateful lightning

of His terrible swift sword,

His truth is marching on.

Glory, glory, halleluja!

Glory, glory, halleluja!

Glory, glory, halleluja!

His truth is marching on!

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;

They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;

I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps,

His truth is marching on.

Chorus

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat.

O, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!

Our God is marching on!

Chorus

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me;

As He died to make men holy let us die to make men free,

While God is marching on.

Chorus

3.5. Project work: historical songs.

You know a lot of songs that are part of our national history. Could you introduce at least one of them to a native speaker of English? Sing the song and explain its message.

GRACE'S WHISKERS

by K.C. Tessendorf

I. Pre-reading

1.1. SHARE your childhood memories with a friend. Say if you ever wanted to write (or actually wrote) a letter to a celebrity. Why did you want to do that? How did it feel? Did you receive an answer?

1.2. CHOOSE the Right Person to write a letter to. Discuss your choice with a partner saying whom you would like to write a letter to, and with what purpose.

1.3. FIND OUT who the most popular celebrities are. Think of why anyone might like to write a letter to them.

II. Reading

2.1. IS THE TITLE A MISTAKE?

The title of the story sounds ambiguous. Grace is the name of some girl, so how could it be about whiskers? Read the beginning of the story, and prove that you see a big difference between Old Abe and Old Ape.

By the fall of 1860, it looked as though Abraham Lincoln might win the presidential election. However, the slaveholding South threatened to break away from the Union if that happened. Anti-Lincoln spokesmen sensed that they were losing and began to turn vicious — even in a rural New York classroom:

"Faugh! I say that Old Abe ... no, I mean Old Ape is so ugly that even the devil is afraid of him," ranted eleven-year-old Willy Jessup with a wink to his allies. "Oh, what a terrible,, cruel lie to say about our next president!" Classmate Grace Bedell's cheeks flushed with anger. "Willy, your mouth ought to be scrubbed with lye soap. Apologize!"

2.2. Reading for pleasure and enrichment.

Now read the rest of the story and say how Grace Bedell made history.

The following words will be helpful to understand the events better.

Vicious — cruel, trying to make somebody look bad

Gaunt — very thin and pale

Homely — unattractive or ugly

Throng — a crowd

Bashfulness — shyness

Adornment — something used as a decoration

Fiery — fire-like

Crucible — something in which the components are heated to a high temperature

Valiant Grace was defending her hero blindly, for she had never seen a picture of Abraham Lincoln. Shortly afterward, her father brought home a colorful poster from a campaign rally. Grace was upset when she saw what Lincoln looked like.

The artist had drawn a split rail fence around the faces of Abraham Lincoln and his vice-presidential running mate, Senator Hannibal Hamlin. In the gaunt, clean-shaven face of Lincoln, high cheekbones only emphasized the deep eye sockets above and the shrunken cheeks below. Next to the smooth fullness of Hamlin's features, Lincoln looked downright homely.

Grace began to worry. If too many people saw the naked features of Lincoln, he might not be elected. If only his face could be remodeled or covered... That was it —whiskers! Surely they'd hide the hollow cheeks. The next day after school, Grace sat down and wrote a letter to Abraham Lincoln, telling him that he could improve his appearance by growing a beard. Realizing how bold she was, Grace nervously misspelled "Chautauqua," wrote "A B" because she had not seen "Abe" in print, and even left out a few words.

Westfield Chatauque Co NY Oct 15,1860 Hon A B Lincoln

Dear Sir

My father has just home from the fair and brought home your picture and Mr. Hamlin's. I am a little girl only eleven, years old, but want you should be President of the United States very much so I hope you wont think me very bold to write to such a great man as you are. Have you any little girls about as large as I am if so give them my love and tell her to write to me if you cannot answer his letter. I have got 4 brothers and part of them will vote for you any way and if you will let your whiskers grow I will try and get the rest of them to vote for you would look a great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husband's to vote for you and then you would be President. My father is a going to vote for you and if I was a man I would vote for you to but I will try and get every one to vote for you that I can I think that rail fence around your picture makes it look very pretty I have got a little baby sister she is nine weeks old and is just as cunning as can be. When you your letter direct to Grace Bedell Westf ield Chatauque County New York I must not write any more answer this letter right off Goodbye

Grace Bedell

She addressed the envelope to Hon. Abraham Lincoln, Esq., Springfield, Illinois. Then she stuck on a penny stamp and hurried to the post office, handing her letter to the clerk just as he was closing

the wicket for the day.

Abraham Lincoln's campaign office occupied a large room staffed only by Lincoln and two secretaries. The candidate was available to any visitors who came to wish him well, offer advice, or ask for a government job. The postman delivered a great pile of mail each day, including letters from people who did not wish him well.

The secretaries answered the important letters in longhand, ignoring those that were filled with hate. Lincoln had little time to write letters himself, but he read as many as he could, and his staff informed him of the contents of the rest.

Grace's letter probably came into Lincoln's possession right away. A ray of sunshine would be welcome, especially after a letter demanding a job or a grim note warning that a rifle bullet would stop him before he ever reached the White House. Grace's appeal touched Lincoln so much hat he immediately wrote a reply in his own hand.

Meanwhile, although she didn't really expect an answer, hope directed Grace's footsteps to the post office each day after school. One afternoon the postmaster himself approached her with an envelope marked Private. The return address was that of A. Lincoln, Springfield, Illinois!

The postmaster was brimming with curiosity, but Grace did not stay to satisfy it. She darted outside and ran home to tell her family the incredible news. Eagerly she read:

Springfield, 111. Oct 19. 1860 Miss. Grace Bedell

My dear little Miss,

Your very agreeable letter of the 15th is received — I regret the necessity of saying I have no daughters — I have three sons — one seventeen, one nine, and one seven, years of age — They, with their mother, constitute ray whole family — As to the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece of silly affection if I were to begin it now? Your very sincere well-wisher A. Lincoln.

Grace read her precious letter each night in bed until Lincoln won the election. Believing he would not grow a beard, she didn't respond to Lincoln's question, as she might have done. Yet in Springfield in early December, Lincoln told his barber, "Billy, let's give them a chance to grow." And when the rail journey east to his inauguration was scheduled, the little town of Westf ield was surprised to learn that the president-elect's train would halt

there briefly.

"I'll bet Old Abe's making a special stop here just to see you,

Grace," people teased.

Whenever Grace heard that, she blushed and denied it. But her older sisters were going to see the president, and they promised to take her with them. A neighbor made a bouquet of yellow paper roses for Grace to carry just in case...

When the train arrived, Grace stood on the platform, her heart thumping. Though the throng of adults blocked her view, she heard Lincoln remark that it was a special treat to see so many attractive ladies. Then he said crisply, "I have a little correspondent in this place, and if she is present, will she please come forward?"

The Bedells were stricken by surprise and bashf ulness. People near Lincoln raised their voices. "Who is it? What is her name?"

"Grace Bedell."

A sister's boyfriend first led, then carried Grace through the crowd. Smiling, Abraham Lincoln stepped down onto the station platform. He shook hands with Grace and bent to kiss her. Tongue-tied, she raised a hand to touch the scratchy beard brushing against

her face.

Lincoln pointed at his full-grown adornment and said, "You see

I let these whiskers grow for you, Grace."

The crowd began cheering. Face flaming with embarrassment, Grace ran away, scraping beneath close-parked buggies and dodging between horses' legs. She was home before she noticed that she still grasped the battered rose bouquet, most of its petals now missing.

President Lincoln continued on to Washington, D.C., where he began the grave task of preserving the Union in the fiery crucible of civil war. During those difficult years, his whiskers made him seem more fatherly, presidential. And that is how we best remember him.

When she grew up, Grace married a Civil War veteran and moved out to frontier Kansas. Sixty years later, as an eighty-year-old grandmother, Grace heard from a collector who had bought her Lincoln letter. Amid all the accumulation of wartime papers, he told her, the president had kept her letter in a special place.

She remembered: "As he bent down to kiss me, he seemed so very kind but looked very sad."

2.3. True or false?

According to the story, Abraham Lincoln was...

1. a horrible-looking man.

2. given to occasional whims and flights of fantasy.

3. ready to answer a young lady's letter in his own hand.

4. deprived of the children's attention as he was single.

5. ready to do just anything to win the seat in the White House.

6. a popular president who managed to preserve the Union.

2.4. Understanding points of view.

Scan the story and try to explain what the characters meant.

"Faugh! I say that Old Abe ... no, I mean Old Ape is so ugly that even the devil is afraid of him."

"Billy, let's give them a chance to grow."

"You see I let these whiskers grow for you, Grace."

"As he bent down to kiss me, he seemed so very kind but looked

very sad."

2.5. Letter writing.

Reread Grace's letter again. Find what indicates it was written by a child. Was Grace an experienced letter-writer?

2.6. Vocabulary.

Paraphrase the following using the words and expressions from the list below.

1. He did all the tasks with unbelievable speed and accuracy.

2. The child blushed and seemed completely unable to utter a word.

3. It was a really brave attempt to break the world record.

4. The puppy moved quickly between the cars and was soon out of danger.

5. The girl's eyes were full of tears, and not without reason..

Choose from: to flush red, to brim loith, incredible, valiant, tongue-tied, to dodge.

2.7. Grammar.

Try to imagine what would have happened, had some small events never taken place. Let us take Lincoln's whiskers as an example.

Had Lincoln not grown whiskers,

he would have never________

he wouldn't have been able to_________

his voters________

his looks________