The Unicorn in the Garden Reading Activity
(Intermediate Level)
Purpose(Intermediate Level)
In this activity, you will engage in a pre-reading discussion, read the story "The Unicorn in the Garden," learn new vocabulary and engage in a post reading discussion.
Pre-reading Discussion
Discuss the following ideas with your classmates:
- Describe the appearance of a unicorn.
- Do you have a name for this mythical creature in your language?
- What does the unicorn represent?
- Compare how American husbands and wives relate to one another with husbands and wives in your culture. How are the relationships similar? How are they different?
- What are common jokes or funny stories about husbands and wives in your culture?
- What is a straitjacket? What is its purpose?
- What happens to the mentally ill in your country?
Reading
Read the story “The Unicorn in the Garden” by James Thurber and note unfamiliar words and expressions.
Vocabulary
Before you check the meanings of the words, try to guess the meaning by the context it is used in the sentence or passage.
- booby: in this context, a crazy person (probably from the name of a stupid extinct bird).
- booby-hatch: a mental institution, a place where the insane are kept.
- breakfast nook: a little side room for eating breakfast.
- browsing: sampling or tasting here and there.
- "crazy as a jaybird": extremely crazy or hopelessly insane
- cropping: clipping or cutting close to the root.
- cursing: using dirty or obscene speech.
- "Don't count your boobies until they are hatched": from the American expression "Don't count your chickens before they are hatched", meaning "Don't count on things to turn out exactly as you planned them."
- gloat: a look of malice or greed.
- institution: a mental institution, an insane asylum.
- moral: in this context, the "lesson" of the story.
- mythical: relating to a myth, hence not real.
- psychiatrist: a mental doctor
- solemn: grave or serious
- strait-jacket: an armless belted jacket used to confine the violently insane
- subdue, subduing: capturing, seizing
- unicorn: a mythical beast which looks like a horse with a horn in the center of the head.
Post Reading Discussion
Discuss the following questions with your classmates:
- What is a moral?
- What does the moral of the story mean?
- Do you agree with the moral of the story?
- Do you have a similar moral in your culture?
