Dear Students,
In order to be ready for the Final Test (Summary), please, refer to the text "Letter to Daniel". (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/41784.stm)
Read/listen to it. Devide it into three parts. Write a summary. E-mail me.
Compare your summary with the one given here below:
A "Letter to Daniel" written by Fergal Keane at its most basic is a father’s expression of joy and hope at the birth of his first child. At deeper levels, it considers how fatherhood has changed the writer’s perceptions of the ‘rat-race’, the horror he has witnessed as a war correspondent and the relationship – or lack of it – with his own father.
There are three sections to the letter, each with its own mood and tone. The opening section (paragraphs 1–5) is full of hope and joy at the birth of this precious son.
The next section reflects on the desolation visited upon children in war-torn countries – as witnessed by Keane reporting for the BBC from various war zones. In this section he expresses his feelings of fear for, and protectiveness towards, his son.
In the final section he tells a ‘story’ which is clearly about his own origins – but from an omniscient narrative stance. This section should allow you to consider the issue of the real and the imagined in non-fiction, perhaps agreeing that, in non-fiction it is the facts that are conveyed which matter, regardless of how the descriptive or narrative detail might have been manipulated to creative effect.
In the final paragraph, the letter reverts to its opening mood of love and joy, as well evoking a powerful mood of hope and reconciliation.
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