Seven good stories

1.

Seven
good
stories

2.

3.

Match a photo with one of the
stories from the list below.
What do you know about the
stories?
Macbeth
Aladdin
Cinderella
Jaws
The Wizard of Oz
Dracula
Harry Potter

4.

1.
Watch the introduction from 00:10 to 01:01. Why do people tell
stories?
2.
Watch again and fill in the gaps, using the words from the box.
storytelling
blockbusters
folk tales
main
educate
entertain
Stories can __________ and ___________, and tell us a lot about
who we are and where we come from.
After all, people have always told stories. Every culture in the world
has its own tradition of ____________, and from the moment we are
born stories are an important part of our everyday lives.
But did you know that many of these stories – from all over the world
– share the same basic story? In fact, some experts say there are only
seven _______ plots.
They say that all stories – from century-old ________to modern
________– fit into one of these categories.

5.

3. Match the words to their Russian equivalents.
a villain
/ˈvɪl.ən/
преодолеть препятствие
an enemy
разлучить
greed
запугивать
to overcome an obstacle
злодей
to face an obstacle
опыт
a play
жадность
to threaten
/ˈθret.ən/
столкнуться с препятствием
to defeat
/dɪˈfiːt/
враг/ неприятель/ противник
experience
/ɪkˈspɪə.ri.əns/
победить/ одолеть/ разгромить
keep apart
пьеса

6.

4. Watch the video till the end. Fill in the first column of the table
below. Write seven categories of plots.
Category
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Plot description
Example

7.

5. Read the description of the 7 plots. Fill in Column 2 and Column 3.
Category
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Plot description
Example

8.

There’s the ‘monster’
plot,
where
an
enemy threatens a
community until it is
defeated by a local
hero.
Examples of this
include Dracula and
Jaws.

9.

In the rags to riches
story a poor character
gets something and
loses something and
learns a life lesson as a
result.
Cinderella is one of the
most famous rags to
riches stories, but there
are many more, like
Aladdin and Harry
Potter.

10.

Tragedies are like
rags to riches in
reverse.
A villain starts with
everything but loses
it all, usually because
of their greed.
Greek tragedies are
particularly famous,
as are many
Shakespearean plays
such as Macbeth.
These villains usually
die at the end.

11.

The villain changes
and by the end of
the story they are a
hero.
This plot is called
the ‘rebirth’ plot.

12.

A lot of old sagas
follow the plot of ‘the
quest’. Here the main
character goes on a
journey in order to
find something or get
somewhere.
On the way they face
many obstacles, but
they usually get there
in the end.

13.

The ‘voyage and
return’ is similar to
the quest, but the
hero often returns
with nothing but
experience.
The Wizard of Oz is
a fantastic example
of that.

14.

Another category is
comedy, but these
comedies don’t always
make you laugh.
As a plot, the comedy is
really a love story. Two
characters are in love
but an obstacle keeps
them apart.
In the end, they
overcome the obstacle
and live happily ever
after.

15.

6. Can you name some other films that fit into each category?
7. Divide into two teams. Assign the following parts to all team
members:
1) Presenter (introduction and conclusion);
2) Overcoming the Monster;
3) Rags to riches;
4) Tragedy;
5) Rebirth;
6) Quest;
7) Voyage and return;
8) Comedy.
8. Watch the video again. Listen to the speaker and repeat the
sentences after each pause.
9. Practise reading your part of the video script.
10. Get ready to voice over your part of the video.

16.

https://www.veed.io/create/voiceover
-video-maker