When Elvis read Don Quixote: World Book Day 2011

23 April was the date on which both Cervantes and Shakespeare died and the reason why Book Day is celebrated around the world. How much do you know about Shakespeare's life and works? What were theatres like at that time? Were Spanish theatres similar to Elizabethan playhouses? Click here to find some of the answers to these questions! This link will also help you.
The following video is the opening scene of Lawrence Olivier's version of Henry V, and still one of the greatest recreations of London and the Globe Theatre at Shakespeare's time:


And to check the powerful influence of eternal Don Quixote, just two interesting examples: The Female Quixote by Charlotte Lennox

and Elvis Presley's version of The Impossible Dream, from the musical The Man from La Mancha and remember: You can't judge a book by its cover...so fetch one and start reading!!!

NO MAN IS AN ISLAND

If you were an island, which one would you like to be? Well, the character played by Hugh Grant in About a boy, the film based on Nick Hornby's novel, has no doubts at the beginning of the story: He’d like to be Ibiza. However, as John Donne stated in his Meditation XVII, “every man is a piece of the continent”, and this is what both Literature and Life show us: we are all involved with each other. Since no human being is isolated, what affects any single man or woman miles away from you, does affect you. Next time you watch the news, think about this.

'No Man is an Island'

No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

John Donne, Meditation XVII

If you are still interested in islands, do you know that the British Isles are made up of quite a few islands? Click on the links below and learn about them!

http://www.visitchannelislands.com/ (Channel Islands)

http://www.islandsofireland.com/ (Ireland)

http://www.welshicons.org.uk/main/geography/islands-of-wales/ (Wales)

http://www.cornishlight.co.uk/scilly-isles.htm (Cornwall)

http://www.scottish-islands-federation.co.uk/ (Scotland)

40 - LOVE : ADVANTAGE LITERATURE

If you like tennis, you may be familiar with the quite peculiar terms used in tennis scoring system: “15”, “30”, “40”, and particularly “love” (0) and “deuce”.

What is the origin of these terms? What is the origin of tennis? Click here to learn more about this. Would you like to become a Wimbledon ball boy/ball girl? What do you know about the great classic champions? Here you will find all the information and much more. Next time Nadal wins at Wimbledon, the most famous lawn tennis temple will have no secrets for you!!




Now that you master tennis English, enjoy reading this poem by Roger McGough (Litherland (U.K.) 1937)

And for a memorable tennis-literature doubles final, watch the tennis balls scene of HENRY V, by William Shakespeare. The French ambassadors, representing the Dauphin (the son of the French king) sends tennis balls to Henry, laughing thus at the English king’s claim to his lands in France. The young English king will carry on his promise: “And tell the pleasant prince this mock of his /Hath turn'd his balls to gun-stones” ( Henry V, Act I, Scene II ) and declares war to France…..

Julian, Dick, Anne.....

The first contact many children in my generation (and older and younger ones) had with England and the English people came mainly through Enid Blyton’s books. In the beginning, it was Famous Five and their adventures, then it was the Secret Seven’s turn, and as we grew older the girls at Malory Towers and Saint Clare's fascinated us with that strange school world of common rooms, uniforms, lacrosse and dining halls long before Hagwarts was conceived…. But if anything at all stirred our imagination, that was, no doubt, the name of a (non-alcoholic) drink: GINGER BEER !!!Times are a-changing, and so are the Famous Five, as you can read here. If you still feel curious about ginger beer, try your own one with this recipe!.

If you want to go on reading about Enid Blyton and her books, browse the Enid Blyton society website by clicking here. What Enid Blyton character are you? Try this quiz and let us know and if you feel like singing, here's your chance with the Famous Five opening theme....

Descriptions: about heroes and villains

James Bond

"Name: Bond, James. Height: 183 cm, weight: 76kg; slim build; eyes: blue; hair: black; scar down right cheek & on left shoulder; all-round athlete; expert pistol shot, boxer, knife-thrower; does not use disguises. Languages: French and German. Smokes heavily (NB: special cigarettes with three gold bands); vices: drink, but not to excess, and women."

Ian Flemming From Russia with Love




Rosa Klebb

Rosa Klebb would be in her late forties, he assumed, placing her by the date of the Spanish War. She was short, about five foot four, and squat, and her dumpy arms and short neck, and the calves of the thick legs in the drab khaki stockings, were very strong for a woman. The devil knows, thought Kronsteen, what her breasts were like, but the bulge of uniform that rested on the table-top looked like a badly packed sandbag, and in general her figure, with its big pear-shaped hips, could only be likened to a 'cello.

Ian Flemming, From Russia with Love

Gala Brand

Hair: Auburn. Eyes: Blue. Height: 5 ft 7. Weight: 9 stone. Hips: 38. Waist: 26. Bust: 38. Distinguishing marks: Mole on upper curvature of right breast.
Hm! thought Bond.

Ian Flemming, Moonraker

Sometimes, objective descriptions are really good at expressing emotions. What do you know about James Bond?