LETTURE IN LINGUA

The Iron Heel will engage the reader in a political fiction story that is considered one of the most powerful inspirations to the genre of dystopian novels.

The events narrated by London chronicle the rise of an oligarchic tyranny in the United States. Avis and Ernest Everhard, the protagonists of the book try to overturn the unfair economic system based on injustices and social inequities through a class struggle, but things are far from being easy when the Iron Heel of the Capitalist class is determined to keep the power in its hands.

In the book, London’s socialist views are openly displayed as is his visionary prediction of a future in which a newly established order will eventually triumph. The novel poses the question about the existence of an Iron Heel in our society and its modern meaning.

The text includes a variety of activities for the four skills and dossiers to discover more about cultural and historical aspects and Mp3 files.

The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether is a dark short story centred on a naïve and unnamed narrator's visit to a mental asylum in the southern provinces of France.

This “Maison de Santé” is led by Doctor Maillard, known for a revolutionary new method of treating mental illness, called the “system of soothing”. The narrator is invited to dinner, and at the table strange things happen, shocking terribly the narrator. What kind of treatment is going on in this mental asylum? How will the story end?

The text includes four skills activities and dossiers to expand the cultural aspects associated with the story and connected to the setting.

The action takes place in London, in 1923, five years after the First War World and relates a single day in the life of Mrs Clarissa Dalloway, an upper-class woman, who prepares for one of her charming evening parties. On that day Clarissa’s life is affected by several people she comes into contact with, particularly with the life of Septimus Warren Smith, a mentally damaged war veteran. Virginia Woolf reveals the differences in the way people think and see and treat one another, particularly she recounts the thoughts, the doubts, the worries and the feelings of Mrs Dalloway.

The text includes a variety of activities for the four skills and dossiers to discover more about cultural and historical aspects and Mp3 files.

Who is this handsome young man with a generous heart and adventurous spirit? The country gentleman who found the baby boy in his large bed gave him the name Tom Jones and asked his sister to bring him up on their wealthy estate, Paradise Hall. Tom’s charm, vigour and trusting nature often get him into trouble and eventually he is forced to leave home and the woman he loves. He sets off on a journey that takes him along the dusty roads of the English countryside and into the vast city of London where he hopes to find his true identity. Along the way, he meets a number of unforgettable characters who all contribute to his destiny.

The text includes a variety of activities for the four skills, extra-readings to discover more about cultural and historical aspects and Mp3 files.

Seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland is the story’s unlikely heroine. Gothic novels help her to escape from her ordinary life in the countryside. During a short holiday in Bath with some family’s friends she falls in love with Henry Tilney.

Invited to visit Northanger Abbey, Henry’s estate, her obsession for Gothic novels and her tendency to confuse fiction and reality cause her several problems which will make her progress to maturity and self-knowledge. With this novel, Jane Austen parodies the improbabilities of Gothic fiction and criticizes its influence on women readers.

The text includes a variety of activities for the four skills and dossiers to discover more about cultural and historical aspects and Mp3 files.

A classic Shakespearean comedy, where the true nature of love and friendship is questioned. In a fast turn of events, both serious and funny, a smart woman’s plan will make a big difference in the battle between good and evil, saving an innocent from a cruel moneylender.

Shakespeare’s original work is enriched with a subplot, where a group of students studies the comedy to pass an important audition.

The text includes a variety of activities for the four skills and dossiers to discover more about cultural and historical aspects. The volume also comes with a set of recordings.

A mood of charm and loveliness envelops the fairy worlds of The Happy Prince,The Nightingale and The Rose,The Selfish Giant and The Devoted Friend. Moving and funny at once, Oscar Wilde’s witty touch pervades these tales, written for his children and first published in 1888. Indifference, selfishness, vanity and arrogance are met here by friendship, generosity, devotion and self-sacrifice. Even when it may appear excessive or undeserved, the gift asserts itself as the apt response to each cry for help; self-sacrifice becomes an act of beauty, redeeming an otherwise tainted world.

The volume, accompanied by Mp3 files, offers notes and activities aimed at supporting understanding. Reading breaks offer exercises to fix content, vocabulary and structures, and to exercise the four language skills, offering ideas for comparison with the language of images.

In Dubliners Joyce explores the lives of his fellow citizens in colonial Dublin, his native city, at the turn of the 20th century.

Through the power of astute observation and artistry, the writer reveals the deep-seated connections between the forces of family, religion and political subjection - forces that trap the characters into what Joyce called a moral paralysis.

The stories can be read independently or as part of an organic whole, a path from childhood to maturity which offers hidden clues to interconnections between characters, situations and themes.

Joyce’s innovative approach to the short story form has made this collection one of the most enduring masterpieces of European literature.

This volume includes an essential biography of the author, an extensive introduction, spot-on notes to the text and a wide range of activities for comprehension and analysis.

An eminent scientist, Dr Jekyll, his despicable alter ego, Mr Hyde, and a well-respected London lawyer, Mr Utterson are the main protagonists of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, one of the greatest classics of English literature. What lies behind the strange occurrences between Utterson's old friend Henry Jekyll and the evil Edward Hyde? The lawyer investigates and deciphers the mystery, which is not only a detective case but a reflection on the ambiguity of human nature and a criticism of Victorian hypocrisy.

This volume includes an essential biography of the author, an extensive introduction, spot-on notes to the text, and a wide range of activities for comprehension and analysis. Each section of activities also contains first-style exercises that promote language competence and cultural knowledge.

A misshapen superhuman embittered by societal isolation is the phenomenal output of an experiment never carried out before. The creator of this “patchwork human” is the science student Victor Frankenstein. The facts unravel mainly between the breath-taking sights of the Alps and the frozen expanses of the Arctic Ocean, both serving as optical emblems of endurance, unforgiving ordeals and relentless curiosity for exploration. In the background there is the story of a family: a hallmark among the shattered certainties of the tormented Victor, faced with his public and domestic responsibilities. He is a pioneering scientist, functional father to his nameless and identity-bereft “child” and treasured betrothed.

The text includes a variety of activities for the four skills and dossiers to explore and expand the cultural aspects associated with the story.