Listen&Learn: A Wrinkle in Time

Posted by: Jaksyn Peacock

A science fiction novel loved by children and adults alike.

Pre-listening vocabulary

protagonist: the main character of a story
rescue: to save someone from a dangerous place
entity: an existing being
literary critic: a person who analyzes books
praise: to express a positive opinion of something
conformity: the act of following others without original thought

Listening activity

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:14 — 1.1MB)

Gapfill exercise

A Wrinkle in Time is a 1962 science fiction novel by American author Madeleine L’Engle. The protagonist of this book is a girl named Meg Murry who lives with her mother and her three siblings. One day, Meg, her younger brother Charles Wallace and their friend Calvin meet three women. Their names are Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which. The women claim that Meg’s father is in and that they need the children’s help to rescue him. The story follows the group as they travel through space and time to find Meg’s father. Along the way, the characters discover new to explore and evil entities to defeat. Literary critics have praised this book because it explains complex themes in a way that children can . Some of the themes in this novel are the nature of evil and the danger of conformity.

Comprehension questions

[wp_quiz id=”20039″]

Discussion/essay questions

Although A Wrinkle in Time is loved by critics now, Madeleine L’Engle originally had trouble finding a company that would publish her book. L’Engle believed that one reason for that was the book’s female protagonist, which was uncommon in science fiction at the time. How has society’s view of female characters changed since then?

Transcript

A Wrinkle in Time is a 1962 science fiction novel by American author Madeleine L’Engle. The protagonist of this book is a teenage girl named Meg Murry who lives with her mother and her three siblings. One day, Meg, her younger brother Charles Wallace and their friend Calvin meet three mysterious women. Their names are Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which. The women claim that Meg’s father is in danger and that they need the children’s help to rescue him. The story follows the group as they travel through space and time to find Meg’s father. Along the way, the characters discover new planets to explore and evil entities to defeat. Literary critics have praised this book because it explains complex themes in a way that children can understand. Some of the themes in this novel are the nature of evil and the danger of conformity.

Written and recorded by Jaksyn Peacock for EnglishClub

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16 comments

abdolmonem says:

The view of society change because people growth
English Club Indonesia says:

Female protagonists are really common nowadays, not only in books but also in movies. An example of this is ‘The Hunger Games,’ which stars Jennifer Lawrence, and it’s one of the best movies in the survival dystopian genre.
rosybell says:

This thing is intersting it gave us a good work
Ayat says:

Great article ! Thank you
Cathy says:

I love the article that is easily and understand for me.
Caridadgomo says:

this is a fantastic theme for a book or film.
mari carmen says:

it’s very interesting. thank you
PILAR says:

I am really enjoying everything. It´s been very useful.
Thank you!
Khilola Khodzhaeva says:

Very useful task. Thank you
Mohamed says:

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Olena says:

Wow!
Siomara de Cássia Miranda says:

I really, really, loved this article!!! Thank you for sharing!
wissam says:

thank you it is very important way to learn and understand English
lucifer says:

Good work.
Jeanette says:

I am SO Grateful for your work. Your site is marvelous and has given me great exercises for my Adult ESOL classes and a lot of enjoyment in the breadth of literature you offer.

(A grateful American)
Jeanette LaVoy
CLAU says:

Congratulations very useful and entertaining.