“The Selfish Giant”By Oscar Wilde

”Every person in this universe is selfish.”

Discuss this statement. Do you think it is true??Find an argument for and an argument against the statement.

Listen to the story on page 80 – 82.Draw a picture of the garden.

•Share your picture with your neighbour and discuss:

•What you included – why?•Do you find any symbols?•What do you think the garden represents? •What are the main themes?•What is the author telling us?•Who is the child?•What kind of story is this?

Oscar Wilde 1854-1900• Irish author – born in Dublin

▫ Father surgeon and author, mother poet▫ Sister died when he was 13

• Studied at Oxford• Poet, essayist, dramatist and novelist

▫ One novel - The Picture of Dorian Gray▫ Several plays:

The Importance of Being Earnes, Lady Windermere’s Fan

• Aesthetic movement - “Art for art’s sake”▫ The idea that art was very important in life – just for its beauty – without moral or

social purpose▫ Oscar Wilde dressed the part – velvet jacket, silk ties and silk trousers,

• Married in 1884 – two sons• Accused of sodomy 1895• Homosexuality was a crime in Victorian England

▫ Found guilty▫ Sentenced to two years hard labor▫ 1897 released from prison – went to France – where he died

• "Oscar Wilde." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 07 Dec. 2009 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/643631/Oscar-Wilde>.