Unit2CharlieChaplin.docVIP

Unit 2 Charlie Chaplin I. Pre-reading Activities: Perhaps being born into extreme poverty, having an unstable early family life and his mother’s mental illness helped Charlie Chaplin create “The Tramp”. Certainly Chaplin appeared to be a man with an exceptionally strong desire to succeed. Unusually, his personality combined a strong need to be loved with a contradictory distrust of people. Perhaps this is why his early marriages failed. When he was 54, he married a girl of 17 who provided him with the peaceful life he so desired. His bride, Oona O’Neill, coming from a large family, had the life skills from her own childhood that helped her comfort Chaplin when their own large family argued. II. Background Information: Charlie Chaplin: Charles Spencer Chaplin was born on 16th April 1889 in Walworth, London, and lived a Dickensian childhood, shared with his brother, Sydney, that included extreme poverty, workhouses and seeing his mothers mental decline put her into an institution. Both his parents, though separated when he was very young, were music hall artists, his father quite famously so. But it was his mother that Charlie idolised and was inspired by during his visit of the backstage while she performed, to take up such a career for himself. Dickens: Charles Dickens, 1812—1870, an English novelist, considered by many to be the greatest one of all. His many famous books describe life in Victorian England and show how hard it was, especially for the poor and for children. They include The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities. Hollywood: an area of Los Angeles which is known as the center of the American film industry. In terms of geography, Hollywood refers to an area consisting of the City of West Hollywood III. Text Structural Analysis: How is the text organized? In this reading passage the author introduces us a famous figure — Charlie Chaplin from different aspects: the introduc