Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on 19 January 1946 in Locust Ridge, in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. She was the fourth of twelve children. Her parents were farmers and the family lived in a one-room cabin. In her autobiography she wrote: “I grew up poor, very poor.” Her mother sang old ballads and church songs, and music was everywhere in the family.
One winter, her mother had no money for a coat, so she made one with scraps of fabric. She used the brightest colours she could find and told Dolly the Bible story of Joseph and his coat of many colours. Dolly was proud of her coat, but at school the other children laughed at her: they said it was a bunch of rags. Years later, Dolly wrote a song about that day. It was a top five country hit in 1971, and she said it was still her favourite song.
Watch or listen: Dolly Parton, Coat Of Many Colors (Official Audio), Dolly Parton channel
Dolly always joked about her look:
She called her style “a country girl's idea of glam”.
In this session, you need to tell the story of her childhood and describe her look, then and later.
To tell a story, we use the past simple: She grew up in a cabin. To talk about habits in the past, we use used to: She used to walk to school. To describe an outfit precisely, we put the adjectives in the right order: a long sparkly pink dress.
| Field | Words |
|---|---|
| Hair and wigs | wig, hairpiece, big hair, curls, waves, bouffant, volume, platinum, bleached, teased, updo |
| Bling | rhinestones, sequins, glitter, sparkle, beads, studs, jewels, hoop earrings |
| Make-up | foundation, blush, lipstick, eyeshadow, eyeliner, false lashes, nail polish, long nails |
| Clothes and outfits | rhinestone suit, jumpsuit, gown, fringe, high heels, cowboy boots, patchwork, rags, tight, flashy |
| Colours and shades | hot pink, baby blue, gold, silver, ivory, pastel, bright, pale, shiny, sparkly |
| Opinion | glamorous, over the top, eye-catching, tacky, elegant, bold, timeless |
Quick check. Put the words in order: dress / pink / a / sparkly / long
Find the past simple of these verbs in documents 1 and 2: be, live, sing, make, use, tell, laugh, write, say.
was, lived, sang, made, used, told, laughed, wrote, said
Put the events in order.
e, b, d, a, c
Put the adjectives in the right order.
Write eight sentences: four about Dolly as a child (past simple and used to), four about her stage look (wigs, rhinestones, make-up, outfits). Give your opinion with one adjective from the Opinion line.
Model: As a child, Dolly lived in a cabin. She used to wear clothes made by her mother. Later, she wore big blonde wigs and sparkly rhinestone suits. I think her look was glamorous and a bit over the top, but it was her own style.
Dolly wrote her own story into her songs. Miley Cyrus first sang Dolly's songs on stage as a teenager and created her own bold stage looks. What did Miley keep from Dolly's style: the bling, the big hair, the humour?
Explain the joke: It costs a lot of money to look this cheap. What is the contrast between money and cheap? Write 60 words: I think she means that... This joke shows that she...
I think she means that her look seems cheap and flashy, but in fact wigs, rhinestones and stage make-up are very expensive. The joke shows that she was not ashamed of her style: she laughed at it first, so the critics could not hurt her.