Corso di geografia turistica

WRITING

1. Refer to activity n.5 p.145: choose one of the hotels you found and prepare a brochure in English to advertise it for tourists coming from the USA.
2. Refer to activity n.2 p.149: prepare an English brochure advertising your tour.
3. Refer to activiy n.2 p.155: translate your offer in English and prepare a brochure advertising it.

GEOGRAPHY AND LITERATURE

One of Wordsworth’s most popular poems about the landscape of the Lake district is “Daffodils”, which describes a stretch of yellow flowers comparing them to stars and dancers. Read the poem and answer the questions.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
and twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
in such a jocund company:
I gazed – and gazed – but little thought
what wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

wander: walk or move around slowly, without a purpose
float: rest on the surface of water or other liquids, in this case the cloud moves in the sky like a ship in the sea
o’er: over
host: a large number
daffodils: yellow flowers
flutter: move restlessly
breeze: gentle wind
twinkle: shine intermittently
at a glance: immediately upon looking, all together
toss: move from side to side
sprightly: full of energy
out-do: be better than
sparkle: shine with flashes of light
glee: happiness
gay: happy
jocund: cheerful
gaze: look intently
wealth: richness
oft: often
vacant or pensive mood: relaxed, or thoughtful
flash: appear suddenly
inward: interior
bliss: moment of perfect happiness

1. Fill in the gaps
   The poet compares himself to a ……………, floating in the sky. Suddenly he sees a great number of ………………. and, because they are so many, compares them to the ……………… These flowers move like humans, in fact the poet uses nouns such as ………….., ……………… and verbs such as …………….. .
   The poet feels very …………… and when he returns home, lying alone on his couch, he remembers the flowers and this image makes him……………… again.
2. The poem evokes feelings of peace and happiness. The colours chosen by the poet contribute to this atmosphere: list the colours associated with the following words:
   cloud ………..
   vales and hills……..
   daffodils ………..
   lake ……….
   trees ………….
   stars …………
   waves …………
3. Another element contributing to the atmosphere of joy is light: underline all the words that can be associated with light.
4. Finally, underline the words that explicitly refer to feelings of joy.
5. Wordsworth believes that a poet truly understands the joy given by the experiences he had only when he remembers them in moments of peace and solitude. Do you agree? Why or why not? Make personal examples.