What is the woman holding?

The Little Prince

The Little Prince was written and illustrated by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry who was a French aristocrat, writer, aviator and poet who lived from 1900 until 1944. The French author wrote and drew images for the manuscript when in exile in the US after France fell during World War 2. He had gone to the US, privately, to persuade the US to enter the war against Nazi Germany. His story, The Little Prince, is a tale of friendship, love and loss, and loneliness, told through a small prince who falls to Earth.This book has been voted the best French book of the 20th Century. More than one-million copies are sold each year, with 140 million copies already sold. The Little Prince has been adapted for audio, stage, screen, ballet and the opera stage, and has been translated into over 250 languages and dialects since 1943.

The Prince around the world…In Gyeonggi-do, in South Korea, there is a small village called ‘Petite France’. The village’s monuments and architecture reflect elements of the story of the little prince. In 2009, 500,000 people visited the village as tourists.

Before France started to trade using the Euro, pictures from The Little Prince were used on the 50-franc note. A 10-franc special edition coin was released in 2000, with author on one side and the Little Prince on the other.

http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=815994

Museum of ‘The Little Prince’, Japan

Where else in the world might you find a museum, statue or shrine to de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince?

[The first person to name 2 places gets a prize]

What does this suggest about the universality of the story’s message(s)?

[The best answer gets a prize]

Use your phones:

Recall:What nationality is the author?

Which century was The Little Prince written in?

How many languages has The Little Prince been translated into?

Is the book still ‘in print’?

Gap-filling exercise: the characters

The narrator The narrator is really the author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The reader hears his voice throughout the book as he relates the s____y (5) of the Little Prince and of his own friendship with ___m(3). The narrator says plainly that he is __(1) romantic who does n___(3) like adults, as he finds ‘too practical’; instead, he prefers children, whom he finds natural ___(3) delightful. The narrator writes this story of his encounter with the Little Prince in order to deal with the sorrow __f(2) losing his precious friend.

The Little Prince The novel is n_____(5) after the Little Prince, who is a mystical and loving person. He is the sole inhabitant of a small planet, which the narrator refers to as B-612. The Prince leaves his planet to visit other places and finally l_____(5) on Earth. In the Sahara D____(6), he meets the narrator and befriends him. The narrator tells of his encounter with the Prince and also relates the adventures of the Prince on the other asteroids that the prince has visited.

The fox The Little Prince m____(5) the fox in the desert. The fox is a wise creature, which teaches the Prince about t___(3) essence of life. After they become friends, the fox a___(4) the Little Prince to ‘tame’ him, which is what the latter does.

Let’s listen to the introduction to the story…

00:00 – 02:35 of the audio file: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTi536xVuw4

Reading for Understanding

Transcript (Ch.1 - http://www.monteforte.com/The%20Little%20Prince/01.htm): Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal. Here is a copy of the drawing. In the book it said: "Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it. After that they are not able to move, and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion."I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One. It looked like this: I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them.But they answered: "Frighten? Why should any one be frightened by a hat?"My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing: I drew the inside of the boa constrictor, so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained. My Drawing Number Two looked like this: The grown-ups' response, this time, was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of boa constrictors, whether from the inside or the outside, and devote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic and grammar. That is why, at the age of six, I gave up what might have been a magnificent career as a painter. I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.So then I chose another profession, and learned to pilot airplanes. I have flown a little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been very useful to me. At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable.In the course of this life I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence. I have lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn't much improved my opinion of them.Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted, I tried the experiment of showing him my Drawing Number One, which I have always kept. I would try to find out, so, if this was a person of true understanding. But, whoever it was, he, or she, would always say: “That is a hat."Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, or primeval forests, or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics, and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such a sensible man.

Which characters have we met?

What has happened so far?

What could be the purpose of this chapter?

Chapter 1 (setting the scene)The narrator explains that, as a young boy, he once drew a picture of a boa constrictor with an elephant in its stomach. However, every adult who saw the picture would interpret the elephant as a hat. Whenever the narrator would try to correct this confusion, he was ultimately advised to set aside drawing and take up a more practical or mature hobby. The narrator laments upon adults' lack of creative understanding.

Deductive Reasoning: what could these quotes mean?“All grown-ups were once children... but only few of them remember it.”

“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”

“Well, I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies.”

“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.”

“You're beautiful, but you're empty...One couldn't die for you. Of course, an ordinary passer-by would think my rose looked just like you. But my rose, all on her own, is more important than all of you together, since she's the one I've watered. Since she's the one I put under glass, since she's the one I sheltered behind the screen. Since she's the one for whom I killed the caterpillars (except the two or three butterflies). Since she's the one I listened to when she complained, or when she boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing at all. Since she's my rose.” (1)

_______________________

Just that," said the fox. "To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world....” (2)

“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.” (3)

“Grown-ups love figures... When you tell them you've made a new friend they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you "What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies? " Instead they demand "How old is he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make? " Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.” (4)

Again, what is the woman holding?

The audio files:

Chapters 1-9: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTi536xVuw4

Chapters 10-19: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA8Gpmds4FM

Chapters 20-21: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcKfMhXzZhI

Chapters 22-25: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqv1vnZL9tc

Chapters 26-27: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRsPvi567Pk