English · Bac pro · B1, with Entry and Stretch tiers

Session 1: An icon in colour: Warhol's Dolly

Recap check
  1. Name three American states.
  2. What kind of music comes from Nashville, Tennessee?
  3. Name one famous singer you like and say why.
Answer key
  1. For example: Tennessee, Texas, California.
  2. Country music.
  3. Personal answers: I like ... because ...
Key question: What makes a portrait an icon?
Pop art portrait of Dolly Parton: big platinum blonde curls, green eyes, lilac eyeshadow, red lips and large turquoise earrings, on a pale peach background, above the Andy Warhol signature.
Andy Warhol, Dolly Parton, 1985. Affiche de la rétrospective, Museum Ludwig, 1989-1990. © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
What you need to say

In this session, you need to describe the portrait, say what Dolly looks like and what she is doing, and compare it with a photo.

To describe what is always true, we use the present simple: She has green eyes. To describe what we see in the picture now, we use the present continuous: She is smiling. To give an impression, we use She looks + adjective or She looks like + noun. To compare, we need comparatives: Her hair is brighter than in real life.

Words to say it

WordMeaningExample
a portraita picture of a personThis is a portrait of Dolly Parton.
pop arta style of the 1960s to 1980s that uses bright colours and famous imagesAndy Warhol was a pop art painter.
a silkscreena printing method that pushes ink through a screenWarhol used silkscreens to repeat images.
platinum blondea very light, silvery blondeHer curls are platinum blonde.
turquoise / mint greenblue-green / light greenShe wears big turquoise earrings.
lilaclight purpleHer eyeshadow is lilac.
scarletbright redHer lips are scarlet.
the backgroundthe part behind the personThe background is pale peach.
an icona famous person who represents an idea or a timeDolly became an American icon.
strikingvery easy to notice, impressiveThe red lips are the most striking detail.

The teacher's point

Teacher's point · present simple, present continuous, look and comparatives
Teacher script. Show the poster. Ask: What do you see? Write two columns on the board: always true in the picture / happening now. Students give examples, then you add look and look like. Finish with a comparison between the poster and a photo of Dolly.
Present simple: facts that are true in the picture
She has green eyes. She wears big earrings. The background is pale.
Present continuous: what is happening now in the picture
She is smiling. She is looking at us. be + verb-ing
look + adjective / look like + noun
She looks happy. She looks like a film star.
Comparatives
short adjectives: bright → brighter than; long adjectives: colourful → more colourful than; irregular: good → better, bad → worse
Superlatives
the brightest colour, the most striking detail

Quick check. Correct the mistake: She is having green eyes.

Answer keyShe has green eyes. (have for a feature is a state verb, not continuous)

Exercises

1. Colours and detailsEntryrecognition

Match the detail and the colour.

  1. her hair
  2. her eyes
  3. her eyeshadow
  4. her lips
  5. her earrings
  6. the background

a. lilac · b. scarlet · c. turquoise · d. platinum blonde · e. pale peach · f. green

Answer key

1d, 2f, 3a, 4b, 5c, 6e

2. look or look like?Entryguided

  1. She ... happy.
  2. She ... a film star.
  3. The colours ... very bright.
  4. The earrings ... two big sweets.
  5. The portrait ... a poster from the 1980s.
Answer key
  1. looks
  2. looks like
  3. look
  4. look like
  5. looks like

3. Present simple or present continuous?Coreguided

  1. Dolly (smile) ... in the portrait.
  2. She (have) ... big curly hair.
  3. She (look) ... straight at us.
  4. Warhol (use) ... bright colours in his portraits.
  5. The background (be) ... pale peach.
Answer key
  1. is smiling
  2. has
  3. is looking
  4. uses
  5. is

4. CompareCoreguided

Look at an official photo of Dolly (teacher's choice) and complete with a comparative.

  1. In the portrait, her hair is (bright) ... than in the photo.
  2. The colours are (artificial) ... .
  3. The photo is (realistic) ... .
  4. The red lips are the (striking) ... detail.
Answer key
  1. brighter
  2. more artificial than in the photo
  3. more realistic than the portrait
  4. most striking

5. Describe the posterCoreyour own production

Write six sentences: two in the present simple, two in the present continuous, one with looks or looks like, one comparative. Then say them to your partner in one minute.

Answer key

Model: Dolly has big platinum curls. She wears turquoise earrings. She is smiling. She is looking at us. She looks like a film star. The colours are brighter than in real life.

Passing the torch

Warhol turned Dolly into a pop art icon, like Marilyn Monroe before her. Years later, her goddaughter Miley Cyrus also became an icon for a new generation. Who are the icons of your generation? What do they look like?

Stretch · B1+

Go further with impressions: She seems to be enjoying the moment. The colours make her look like a doll. The portrait is far more colourful than a photo. Write a museum label of 60 words for the portrait: title, artist, date, what you see, the effect.

Model label

Andy Warhol, Dolly Parton, 1985. The singer looks straight at us with green eyes, lilac eyeshadow and scarlet lips. Her platinum curls almost fill the background. The colours are far brighter than in real life, which makes her look like a doll or a star on a poster. Warhol shows the image of a celebrity, not the private woman.

Homework
  1. Learn the ten words of the table.
  2. Describe a famous person in five sentences without saying the name. The class will guess next time.