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L - Unit 9 - A2


My favourite writer

Part 1 Tom talks about Charles Dickens

I = Interviewer, T = Tom

I Tom, you chose Charles Dickens as your favourite writer. Can you tell us a little about him? When was he alive?

T He wrote in the nineteenth century. He was born in England in 1812 and died in 1870.

I What did he write? What sort of books?

T He wrote novels and short stories.

I And tell us... why is he famous?

T At the time he was writing there was a lot of inequality between the rich and the poor. Dickens wanted to change society. He wrote about people who were poor, and hungry, or ill, or who were unfortunate in some way. Dickens created some of the most famous characters in English literature.

I What are his best-known books?

T There are quite a few, but possibly David Copperfield, which has a lot of autobiography in it, and Oliver Twist, and after that A Christmas Carol. In this book we meet a character called Scrooge ...

I Ah! The man who hated Christmas!

T That's right. At the beginning of the story Scrooge is a miserable character who refuses to spend any money to help his poor family. But by the end he is a changed man kind, generous, and full of love for people around him.

I What was Dickens' personal life like?

T Mmm. A mix of good and bad. His parents were poor. Dickens became very rich. He married and had ten children

I Ten!

T Yes. But he left his wife because he fell in love with an actress. He didn't get divorced in those days it was impossible, absolutely out of the question. So there was a lot of sadness in his life.

I Oh, dear! Poor Mr Dickens!

Part 2 Alice Talks about Robert Louis Stevenson

I = Interviewer, A = Alice

I Now, Alice. You chose Robert Louis Stevenson. Tell us about him. When was he writing?

A Well, he was born in 1850, and he died in 1894, so he was writing just after Dickens, in the second half of the nineteenth century.

I And ... what did he write?

A He wrote novels, and poetry, and he was also a travel writer.

I Oh! Quite a lot! Tell us ... why is he famous?

A Well, he isn't as famous as Dickens. But he's very popular because he's a great storyteller. His stories are about adventure, danger, and horror. His heroes are pure, and his villains are dark.
I What are his best-known books?

A There's a children's book called Treasure Island, and there's a travel story about going around France, but the most famous is The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

I And they, I suppose, are his most well-known characters?

A Yes. The book was an immediate success. It's about a man who has two sides to his character, one good and one bad. The man, Dr Jekyll, has a battle inside himself between his good side and his evil side.

I This is the psychological idea of someone with a split personality?

A Yes. In everyday speech we say about someone 'Oh, he's a real Jekyll and Hyde', meaning there are two sides to their personality.

I Fascinating! Tell us about his personal life.

A As a child he was often ill. He married an American woman who had children from an earlier marriage, but they didn't have any children together. He travelled a lot, to Europe and the United States. He died very young, when he was just 44.

I Well, thank you, Alice, for telling us about Robert Louis Stevenson.