Discussion

Ex. 1. Speak on the following points.

1. Today many American husbands and fathers babysit for their children and help with housework. Many wives and mothers are also breadwinners. How do you feel about this?

2. What is the role of the father in your native country? The mother?

3. Some people think that American children are too independent and outspoken. Do you agree? Do you believe that children respect their parents more or less in your native country than in the United States? Give some examples.

4. In your native country do you believe that daughters have as much freedom as sons? Is their role in the family different? If so, how?

5. At what age do children usually leave home in your native country? Do they ever go off to live in an apartment by themselves, as many young Americans do? What do you think of this custom? Why?

6. What role in the family do grandparents have in your native country? Do most older members of the family live with their children? Do they live more often with their sons or their daughters? How do you feel about older family members living alone?

Ex. 2. Agree or disagree with the following proverbs and quotations.

1. Man for the field and woman for the hearth;

Man for the sword and for the needle she;

Man with the head and woman with the heart;

Man to command and woman to obey;

All else is confusion. (Lord Tennyson)

2. Home is the girl’s prison and the woman’s workhouse. (G. B. Shaw)

3. The best wife is a housewife.

4. Men make houses, women make homes.

5. Man is the head but woman turns it.

6. It’s a sad house where the hen crows louder than the cock.

7. Where the mistress is the master, the parsley grows the faster.

Ex. 3. Read this letter and think of suggestions for Ms. X.

Dr. Wells writes a newspaper advice column. People write about their problems and Dr. Wells gives them advice.

Dear Dr. Wells,

I’m having a very terrible time and I don’t know what to do. Eight years ago I decided to interrupt my career as a successful woman to marry and have children. Our children are now both in school, and I have returned to work. I love my job but I am having trouble being a businesswoman as well as a wife and mother. My husband and children agreed to my returning to work but now seem upset with the situation. They help a little, but I still have to do most of the house work and cooking. I’m tired and resentful. What should I do?

Ms. X.

Ex. 4. Now think a problem that might be possible for a family man. Write to Doctor Wells for advice. Explain the problem as clearly as you can.

Ex. 5. Role play the following scenes with other members of your group. Each person plays a different role in the family. Make a decision as a family group.

1. An eighteen-year-old daughter has decided to leave home. She wants to live in an apartment so that she can be independent and live her own life. Her parents do not want her to go. Her younger brother and sister do not know what to think.

2. A mother has returned to school to finish her education. She has a lot of studying to do and cannot do all the housework anymore. Her husband and two teenaged children want her to be happy, but they are not used to helping with the housework very much. However, they do not like TV dinners and dirty clothes. What can they do?

3. A grandmother (the wife’s mother) is a widow. She lives alone in a large house which she cannot take care of alone. If she moves in with her daughter’s family, her two granddaughters will have to share a room. The husband does not like his mother-in-law’s friends. What can they do?

4. A teenaged son has long hair. His father wants it cut. His mother and little brother and sister think he should be free to decide for himself.

5. The wife has a full-time job and is angry because the husband does not help about the house. She also complains that the husband doesn’t pay enough attention to the children.