Hello students. I’m proud of you for completing years 1 and 2 of our American English course. In order for you to become a strong intermediate American English learner, you need to be able to read, understand, and discuss abridged American English short stories. In this lesson, throughout Year 3 of your studies, you will read, listen to, and write about popular American English short stories. Please follow the directions below closely.
- Study the American English vocabulary below.
Words in This Story
broomstick – n. the handle of a broom
pesky – adj. making someone annoyed or irritated
pumpkin – n. a large, round, orange vegetable used as food and sometimes as a decoration — often used before another noun
scarecrow – n. an object that looks like a person and that is placed in a field to scare birds away from crops
puff – v. to breathe smoke from a cigarette, pipe, etc., in and out of the lungs
- Listen to the story.
- Watch the video and read along.
- Take the short story quiz.
Take the quiz: https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/feathertop-by-nathaniel-hawthorne-/2880107/p1.html?isEmbedded=True
- Write a summary of the short story you just read and listened to in the comments section below. Click here to read an article that teaches you how to summarize a story. Remember to let us know who the characters of the story are, what they do, and what the story is about.
Thanks to all.
Headmaster of Muradpur Adarsha High School, Dhaka-1204
Lesson 3.1.2: year 2
” Feathertop”
A short story,” Feathertop” written by Nathanial- Hawthrone was about an old cunning witch in New England, named Mother Rigby. She was the main character of the story. Polly, a little beautiful girl, her brother and scarecrow are the other characters of the story. It was the later week of the May, Mother Rigby did not want that crow and black birds destroy her corn path, when corn just peeping out the soil. she was proud of her handiwork. Mother Rigby started making a scarecrow with her magic broom to protect her corn field… Read more…
Mother Rigby decorated her magic broom stick with feathers, pumpkin and dressed him purple color coat. After finishing her work about making a scarecrow, when she intended to put in the middle of her corn path, she went on another plan and sent scarecrow toward the town with a pie of cigar in his mouth. While roaming street to street, he met a little beautiful girl standing out of her house along her brother. Scarecrow looked her and fell in love, little girl also impressed by her, but her brother pointed her that he is not a real man,” look, his head is a pumpkin’ ‘Scarecrow got heart and came back with broken heart. Very heart touching story !
Greetings Maestro Sersea
The long cold winter ended up and the cold nights it was abridged. At last the plants corn started to growth and get out of the soil, and the big black birds flown down to eat the corn plants. Mother Rigby saw that and she was so angry than she decided to make a scarecrow, she was a hard worker farmer. She was known to flew on the tops of houses in the village on a long wooden sticks, she was able to turn change a woman on a white horse or to make the waters to flow uphill. Many people believed that she had strange powers, so early one morning she jumped out to the bed took a quick breakfast and then, she took a broomstick straight and crossed it with other peace of stick, already it started to look seemed like a man, she thought, i will puts a pumpkin as a head, after, she did two small holes as eyes and lower down, she cut a hole like a mouth. After that, she dressed it up with a purple coat, white silk stockings and covered with fake hair. she puts on his head a fine hat with a feather of bird on the top and she puts it a pipe on the left hand. After she had seen the scarecrow she thought she could better and better, so she decided to give it life and she puts a pipe into the scarecrow mouth and she shouteds it puff and smoke started to get out to his mouth. When she saw that Feathertop seemed like a man and he was so beauty, she decided gave him money and sent it to the town. At the town the people saw it like a man with fine face and someone who seemed of importance a leader of men
Through the town streets Feathertop saw a young pretty girl laughing in front of a red brick house stand with a boy next to her, for first time he felt something that he never had known, the love had entered into his heart, but the boy pointing his finger toward Feathertop and he said look it at Polly his face is a pumpkin, Feathertop not closer more and turned around and took his way to her home.
Mother Rigby saw Feathertop puffing with difficulty and excitement, he said to her I am nothing, I am not a man, I am only a puff of smoke and then Feathertop took his pipe crashing it against the ground he fell down to the ground like a heap of sticks. Mother Rigby said i will make again as a scarecrow to stand it beside to the corn plants to scared the big black birds at the summer crops.
Thank you so much.
Lesson 3.1.2: year 3
A short story ” Feathertop” was written by Nathanial- Hawthrone.
An old monther Rigby was a crops planter.
Black birds like eating her crops especially corn. She was very angry with those blacks birds, and she planned to stop them from eating her corn. She was planning to make something which would look like a man. It would fears the birds. She used her broomstick straight, tied other pieces of wood across it, made arms, wear clothes with put a pumpkin on the top as a head. It really like a person could fear to birds as well, and it was called scarecrow. Based on well decorated and it useful for protecting crops Mother Ringby named him Feathertop. He will be happier standing near the corn farm all summer and protecting it from birds.
Thank you, good bye.