The Voice That Refused to Disappear
Grammar: Cleft sentences — full range
A Level 5 English lesson exploring society.
What's in this lesson
A Level 5 (advanced) ESL lesson on society, practising cleft sentences — full range. The worksheet has a reading, target vocabulary, a grammar reference with practice and discussion questions.
From the reading: The Voice That Refused to Disappear
It was not the record sales that made Amy Winehouse extraordinary — it was the sensation, shared by millions of listeners, that she was singing directly to them. When Back to Black was released in October 2006, British soul music was not supposed to sound like that: raw, orchestrated in the style of 1960s Motown, and fronted by a twenty-three-year-old from North London whose voice carried something older than her years. What the album achieved, in commercial and artistic terms alike, was a near-total demolition of the boundary between vintage American R&B and contemporary British pop.
Vocabulary
- commercial and artistic
- cultural aftershock
- deliberate throwback
- emotional weight
Grammar: Cleft Sentences
- It-cleft (emphasis)
- It was the voice that made her extraordinary. — stresses the subject
- Wh-cleft (what-cleft)
- What the data cannot show is the cultural impact. — fronts the unknown
Discussion questions
- Can a singer's personality become as important as their music?
- What makes a voice unforgettable?
- Does an artist's personal life change how we hear their work?
The Voice That Refused to Disappear
Grammar: Cleft sentences — full range
What's in this lesson:
Full lesson plan with reading, grammar, vocabulary, and discussion.
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