MEDIA RECLUSES IN THE ARTS
11.2
109
SPEAKING
4
Justifying opinions
In groups, discuss these questions.
1
Which of the three profiles did you think was
the most interesting? Why?
2
Which books, poems and inventions do you think
are the most impressive?
3
Do you think celebrities have the right to a private
life? Why?/Why not?
GRAMMAR
REPORTED SPEECH
5
a
Look at this example of how J.D. Salinger’s words
are reported. What two changes are there between the
two sentences?
‘I like to write but I write for myself.’
He told a reporter
that
he liked to write but that he wrote for himself.
5
b
Find other examples of reported speech from the
profiles of J.D. Salinger, Howard Hughes and Emily
Dickinson that match these direct quotes. Write them
down.
1
J.D. Salinger: ‘I like to write but I write for myself.’
He told a reporter that he liked to write but that he
wrote for himself.
2
A professor: ‘You are the worst English student in the
history of the college.’
3
Salinger’s daughter: ‘He also enjoys being with people.’
4
Howard Hughes: ‘I was born on 24 December,
1905.’
5
Emily Dickinson: ‘She is my most beloved friend,
influence, and advisor.’
6
a
Look at the examples of reported speech that you
have written and answer the questions.
1
What do you notice about verbs in reported speech?
2
Which verbs are used to report the statements in
Exercise 5b (e.g.
told
)? Write them down.
3
Look at the structures following the reporting verbs.
When do we use the infinitive with
to
instead of a
that
-clause?
4
Look at the verbs
say
and
tell
. Which one needs a
personal object (
him
,
her
,
them
, etc.)?
6
b
In reported speech we usually change the tense
of the speech we are reporting (e.g. present perfect
"
past perfect, present continuous
"
past continuous).
How do we change the present simple and
can
when we
report them? Look again at the examples in Exercise 5b.
GRAMMAR TIP
In reported speech, we often also make changes to
pronouns, e.g.
I
"
he/she, our
"
their
, and to adverbs,
e.g.
today
"
then/that day, yesterday
"
the day before
.
Ê
Language reference and extra practice pages 146–147
7
Change these sentences to reported speech. Use
the phrases in brackets to help you.
1
We expect our new release to be a big hit. (
The
band said …
)
The band said that they expected their new release
to be a big hit.
2
I am writing a new article today. (
He said he …
)
3
I have just finished writing a new book for my
publisher. (
She said …
)
4
Val refused to speak to the reporters yesterday.
(
He said Val …
)
5
We’ll finish the recording tomorrow. (
They said …
)
8
Think about the last interview you saw on TV with
a famous person (e.g. a musician, actor, film-maker,
writer, politician, sportsperson). Tell your partner as
much as you can remember about what was said.
However, because of the publicity, Salinger
changed his mind.
4
Strangely for a future writer, when he was at
college one of his professors insisted he was
the worst English student in the history of
the college. Before writing his famous book,
he had only published a few short stories in
magazines.
5
However, after writing a bestseller, Salinger
had established himself as one of America’s
greatest writers by 1951. He immediately
began to attract the interest of the media,
who were anxious to learn more about his
retiring artist and Salinger struggled with the
unwanted attention.
6
Salinger did not do much to help publicise his
work and the public attention which followed
his success book caused him to move from
New York to the far away hills of Cornish,
New Hampshire. From the late 1960s he tried
to escape publicity. In 1974 he told a reporter
that he liked to write but that he wrote for
himself and his own pleasure.
7
Later, he tried to stop publication of a
biography which included letters he had
written to other authors and friends. In 2000
his daughter published a biography. In it she
claimed her father was not a recluse. She said
he travelled often and had friends all over the
world. She added that he enjoyed being with
people and was friendly except where publicity
and celebrity were concerned.
8
Salinger refused to sell the movie rights to
any of his stories to Hollywood and did not
allow films of any of his works.
