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Tom and Jerry cartoon gets racism warning (4th October, 2014)

The Reading / Listening - Level 3

The Internet giant, Amazon, has put a warning on some of the 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons it offers to its customers. Visitors who want to buy or download the series 'Tom and Jerry: The Complete Second Volume' get a warning that the cartoons contain scenes that are racist. The warning says: "Tom and Jerry shorts may [show] some ethnic and racial prejudices that were once commonplace in American society." It added that the scenes were wrong when the cartoons were made 70 years ago, and are still wrong today. People say the character of the black maid in the cartoon series is racist. Some of the cartoons were edited in the 1960s because of worries about racism.

Tom and Jerry were created in 1940 by cartoonists William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The show is about the lives of Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse, who live in the same house and are big rivals. Hanna and Barbera produced 114 Tom and Jerry cartoons from 1940 to 1957. The cartoons won the Oscar for the best Animated Short Film seven times. The shows have become one of the most popular cartoons in animation history. They are put on children's TV every day in many countries. Animation expert Steve Abrahart said the quality of animation in the early Tom and Jerry cartoons was "superb". Many people posted on Twitter to say it was "madness" for Amazon to put a warning on the cartoons.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 0, Level 1 or Level 2

Sources

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/1/amazon-adds-racism-disclaimer-to-tom-and-jerry-car/#ixzz3ExVKKSwH
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-29427843
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. CARTOONS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about cartoons. Change partners often and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?

Internet / giant / customers / racist / prejudices / wrong / cartoons / edited / society / cartoonists / big rivals / Oscar / popular / animation history / quality / warning

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. GOOD FOR KIDS?: Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Good things	Bad things	Warning?
Tom and Jerry
The evening news
Computer games
Music
Mobile phones
Facebook

4. WARNING: Students A strongly believe more warnings should be put on DVDs and music for children; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. ANIMATION: Rank these with your partner. Put the best cartoons at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• Tom and Jerry

• Wallace and Gromit

• Toy Story

• Mickey Mouse

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

• Pokemon

• The Simpsons

• SpongeBob SquarePants

6. RACIST: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "racist". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	Amazon has put a warning on all the Tom and Jerry cartoons it sells.	T / F
b.	The warning is on cartoons people can buy or download.	T / F
c.	Amazon said some scenes from the cartoons were wrong 70 years ago.	T / F
d.	The Tom and Jerry cartoons have never been edited.	T / F
e.	The Tom and Jerry cartoons were created in 1940.	T / F
f.	The original cartoonists made 114 shows between 1940 and 1957.	T / F
g.	The cartoons never won an Oscar at the Academy Awards.	T / F
h.	The article says people posted on Twitter to agree with Amazon.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	warning	a.	made
2.	contain	b.	well-liked
3.	commonplace	c.	concerns
4.	wrong	d.	enemies
5.	worries	e.	stupidity
6.	created	f.	caution
7.	rivals	g.	excellent
8.	popular	h.	include
9.	superb	i.	normal
10.	madness	j.	unsuitable

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	buy or download	a.	Animated Short Film
2.	scenes that	b.	racial prejudices
3.	ethnic and	c.	cartoons was "superb"
4.	once	d.	the series
5.	edited in the 1960s because of	e.	it was "madness"
6.	big	f.	commonplace
7.	won the Oscar for the best	g.	rivals
8.	the most popular cartoons	h.	worries about racism
9.	the quality of animation in the early…	i.	in animation history
10.	people posted on Twitter to say	j.	are racist

GAP FILL

The Internet (1) ____, Amazon, has put a warning on some of the 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons it (2) ____ to its customers. Visitors who want to buy or download the series 'Tom and Jerry: The Complete Second Volume' get a warning that the cartoons (3) ____ scenes that are racist. The warning says: "Tom and Jerry shorts may [show] some (4) ____ and racial prejudices that were once commonplace in American (5) ____." It added that the scenes were wrong when the cartoons were made 70 years ago, and are still (6) ____ today. People say the character of the black maid in the cartoon series is racist. Some of the cartoons were (7) ____ in the 1960s because of (8) ____ about racism.

wrong
contain
worries
giant
society
edited
offers
ethnic

Tom and Jerry were created in 1940 by (9) ____ William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The show is about the (10) ____ of Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse, who live in the same house and are big (11) ____. Hanna and Barbera produced 114 Tom and Jerry cartoons from 1940 to 1957. The cartoons (12) ____ the Oscar for the best Animated Short Film seven times. The shows have become one of the most (13) ____ cartoons in animation (14) ____. They are put on children's TV every day in many countries. Animation expert Steve Abrahart said the (15) ____ of animation in the early Tom and Jerry cartoons was "(16) ____ ". Many people posted on Twitter to say it was "madness" for Amazon to put a warning on the cartoons.

quality
won
history
cartoonists
superb
lives
popular
rivals

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	Amazon has put a warning on some of the 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons ______ customers
	a. it offends to its b. it offence to its c. it offers to its d. it offerings to its
2)	The Complete Second Volume' get a warning that the cartoons contain ______ racist
	a. scenes that are b. things that are c. themes that are d. sense that are
3)	The warning says: "Tom and Jerry shorts may [show] some ______ prejudices…"
	a. ethnic and racially b. ethnic and radical c. ethnic and racial d. ethnic and ray shall
4)	People say the character of the black maid in the cartoon ______
	a. serious is racist b. cereals is racist c. series is racist d. sear is is racist
5)	Some of the cartoons were edited in the 1960s because ______ racism
	a. for worries about b. if worries about c. off worries about d. of worries about
6)	Tom and Jerry were created in 1940 ______
	a. by cartoon its b. by cartoonists c. by cartoons its d. by cartoon nits
7)	…the lives of Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse, who live in the same house ______
	a. and are big libels b. and are big rivalries c. and are big rival is d. and are big rivals
8)	The shows have become one of the most popular cartoons ______
	a. in animator history b. in animation's history c. in animation history d. in animations history
9)	the quality of animation in the early Tom and Jerry cartoons ______
	a. was "superb" b. was "suburb" c. was "sue barb" d. was "soup bird"
10)	Many people posted on Twitter to say ______
	a. it was "mad nest" b. it was "madness" c. it was "mad this" d. it was "maddening"

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

The Internet giant, Amazon, has (1) ___________________ some of the 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons it offers to its customers. Visitors who want to buy or (2) ___________________ 'Tom and Jerry: The Complete Second Volume' get a warning that the cartoons (3) ___________________ are racist. The warning says: "Tom and Jerry shorts may [show] some ethnic and racial prejudices that were (4) ___________________ American society." It added that the scenes were wrong when the cartoons were made 70 years ago, and (5) ___________________. People say the character of the black maid in the cartoon series is racist. Some of the cartoons were edited in the 1960s because (6) ___________________ racism.

Tom and Jerry were (7) ___________________ cartoonists William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The show is about the lives of Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse, who live in the same house (8) ___________________. Hanna and Barbera produced 114 Tom and Jerry cartoons from 1940 to 1957. The cartoons (9) ___________________ the best Animated Short Film seven times. The shows have become one of the (10) ___________________ in animation history. They are put on children's TV every day in many countries. Animation expert Steve Abrahart (11) ___________________ animation in the early Tom and Jerry cartoons was "superb". Many people posted on Twitter to say (12) ___________________ Amazon to put a warning on the cartoons.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	What word meaning 'very big' did the writer use to describe Amazon?
2.	Which volume of cartoons did Amazon put its warning on?
3.	What did Amazon say about the scenes made 70 years ago?
4.	Who in the cartoon do people think is a racist character?
5.	In what decade were some Tom and Jerry cartoons edited?
6.	When did the cartoonists create Tom and Jerry?
7.	How many shows did Hana and Barbera make by 1957?
8.	How many Oscars did Tom and Jerry win?
9.	What did an animation expert say about the quality of the early shows?
10.	What did Twitter users call Amazon's warning?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	What word meaning 'very big' did the writer use to describe Amazon?	6.	When did the cartoonists create Tom and Jerry?
	a) huge b) monster c) giant d) gigantic		a) 1957 b) 1940 c) 1932 d) 1960
2.	Which volume of cartoons did Amazon put its warning on?	7.	How many shows did Hana and Barbera make by 1957?
	a) volume 2 b) loud volume c) volume 1 d) the lowest volume		a) 114 b) 141 c) 411 d) 144
3.	What did Amazon say about the scenes made 70 years ago?	8.	How many Oscars did Tom and Jerry win?
	a) they were wrong b) they were powerful c) they were poorly made d) they were boring		a) 5 b) 6 c) 7 d) 8
4.	Who in the cartoon do people think is a racist character?	9.	What did an animation expert say about the quality of the early shows?
	a) a white man b) the black maid c) Tom d) Jerry		a) they were soupy b) they were soppy c) they were suburban d) they were superb
5.	In what decade were some Tom and Jerry cartoons edited?	10.	What did Twitter users call Amazon's warning?
	a) the 90s b) the 70s c) the 50s d) the 60s		a) madness b) dangerous c) great d) unnecessary

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Drawings

You think animation using drawings is the best. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their forms of animation. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): clay, puppets or computer graphics.

Role B – Clay

You think animation using clay is the best. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their forms of animation. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): drawings, puppets or computer graphics.

Role C – Puppets

You think animation using puppets is the best. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their forms of animation. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): clay, drawings or computer graphics.

Role D – Computer Graphics (CG)

You think animation using computer graphics is the best. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their forms of animation. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): clay, puppets or drawings.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'ethnic' and 'racial'.

ethnic

racial

Share your findings with your partners.

Make questions using the words you found.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

giant
buy
contain
once
70
1960s

1940
live
114
seven
TV
posted

CARTOONS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about cartoons in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.

Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

CARTOONS DISCUSSION

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1)	What did you think when you read the headline?
2)	What springs to mind when you hear the word 'racism'?
3)	What do you think of Tom and Jerry?
4)	What do you think of Amazon's warning of racism?
5)	Do customers need a warning for Tom and Jerry?
6)	Should Amazon sell things they think are racist?
7)	Should the Tom and Jerry cartoons be updated?
8)	Do you think the Tom and Jerry cartoons are racist?
9)	Why has it taken Amazon 20 years to decide the cartoon is racist?
10)	What's your favourite cartoon (animation)?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

11)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12)	What do you know about the lives of Tom and Jerry?
12)	Why is the cartoon Tom and Jerry so popular?
14)	Who did you want to win in Tom and Jerry's battles?
15)	Do you think TV stations will stop showing Tom and Jerry?
16)	Which is better, animation like Tom and Jerry, or like Toy Story?
17)	What would you tell Amazon about its warning?
18)	What do you think of the quality of Tom and Jerry?
19)	Is the warning "madness"?
20)	What questions would you like to ask Amazon's boss?

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

The Internet (1) ____, Amazon, has put a warning on some of the 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons it (2) ____ to its customers. Visitors who want to buy or download the series 'Tom and Jerry: The Complete Second Volume' get a warning that the cartoons contain (3) ____ that are racist. The warning says: "Tom and Jerry shorts may [show] some ethnic and (4) ____ prejudices that were once commonplace in American society." It added that the scenes were wrong when the cartoons were made 70 years ago, and are (5) ____ wrong today. People say the character of the black maid in the cartoon series is racist. Some of the cartoons were edited in the 1960s because of (6) ____ about racism.

Tom and Jerry were (7) ____ in 1940 by cartoonists William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The show is about the lives of Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse, who live in the same house and are big (8) ____. Hanna and Barbera produced 114 Tom and Jerry cartoons from 1940 to 1957. The cartoons won the Oscar for the best Animated Short Film seven times. The shows have become one of the most popular cartoons (9) ____ animation history. They are put (10) ____ children's TV every day in many countries. Animation expert Steve Abrahart said the quality (11) ____ animation in the early Tom and Jerry cartoons was "superb". Many people posted on Twitter to say it was "(12) ____" for Amazon to put a warning on the cartoons.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	ogre	(b)	giant	(c)	robot	(d)	monster
2.	(a)	produces	(b)	makes	(c)	requests	(d)	offers
3.	(a)	decades	(b)	scenes	(c)	image	(d)	movies
4.	(a)	spatial	(b)	partial	(c)	racial	(d)	special
5.	(a)	remain	(b)	until	(c)	still	(d)	forever
6.	(a)	worries	(b)	worried	(c)	worryingly	(d)	worry
7.	(a)	birthed	(b)	created	(c)	appeared	(d)	drawing
8.	(a)	rivals	(b)	rivalries	(c)	libels	(d)	libraries
9.	(a)	on	(b)	in	(c)	to	(d)	at
10.	(a)	inside	(b)	in	(c)	on	(d)	on top of
11.	(a)	for	(b)	on	(c)	of	(d)	at
12.	(a)	angry	(b)	crazily	(c)	idiot	(d)	madness

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	The Internet ntiag, Amazon
2.	buy or download the sirees
3.	hitecn and racial prejudices
4.	the ecssne were wrong
5.	the ertrhacac of the black maid
6.	Some of the cartoons were tdeeid
Paragraph 2
7.	constrsatoi William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
8.	big larsiv
9.	the most aplupor cartoons
10.	in oniamtnai history
11.	the lytuqai…was superb
12.	people posted…to say it was ssendam

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	that the scenes were wrong when the cartoons were made 70 years ago, and are still
( )	ethnic and racial prejudices that were once commonplace in American society." It added
( 1 )	The Internet giant, Amazon, has put a warning on some of the 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons it offers
( )	wrong today. People say the character of the black maid in the cartoon series is
( )	racist. Some of the cartoons were edited in the 1960s because of worries about racism.
( )	a warning that the cartoons contain scenes that are racist. The warning says: "Tom and Jerry shorts may [show] some
( )	Tom and Jerry were created in 1940 by cartoonists William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The show is about
( )	"superb". Many people posted on Twitter to say it was "madness" for Amazon to put a warning on the cartoons.
( )	rivals. Hanna and Barbera produced 114 Tom and Jerry cartoons from 1940 to 1957. The cartoons won
( )	popular cartoons in animation history. They are put on children's TV every day in many countries. Animation
( )	expert Steve Abrahart said the quality of animation in the early Tom and Jerry cartoons was
( )	to its customers. Visitors who want to buy or download the series 'Tom and Jerry: The Complete Second Volume' get
( )	the Oscar for the best Animated Short Film seven times. The shows have become one of the most
( )	the lives of Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse, who live in the same house and are big

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	who buy the Visitors to download want or series.
2.	are that scenes contain cartoons The racist.
3.	once prejudices were commonplace Racial that.
4.	were the made scenes when were The wrong cartoons.
5.	1960s worries the of racism in because about Edited.
6.	the show Mouse Cat lives is and of about The Jerry Tom.
7.	the cartoons history of popular animation One most in.
8.	They TV are every put day on children's.
9.	in the early cartoons was superb The quality of animation.
10.	on say 'madness' posted to was People Twitter it.

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

The Internet monster / giant, Amazon, has put a warning on some of the 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons it offers / requests to its customers. Visitors who want to buy or download the serious / series 'Tom and Jerry: The Complete Second Volume' get a warned / warning that the cartoons contain scenery / scenes that are racist. The warning says: "Tom and Jerry shorts may [show] some ethnic and racial / racially prejudices that were once commonplace in American society." It added that the scenes were wronged / wrong when the cartoons were made 70 years ago, and are still / remain wrong today. People say / speak the character of the black maid in the cartoon series is racist. Some of the cartoons were edited / editions in the 1960s because of worries about racism.

Tom and Jerry were created / creative in 1940 by cartoonists William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The show is around / about the lives of Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse, who live in the same house and are big rivalries / rivals. Hanna and Barbera produced / produces 114 Tom and Jerry cartoons from 1940 to 1957. The cartoons won / winner the Oscar for the best Animated Short Film seven times. The shows have become / became one of the most popular cartoons in animation history. They are put on / in children's TV every day in many countries. Animation expat / expert Steve Abrahart said the quality of animation in the quick / early Tom and Jerry cartoons was "superb". Many people posted / pasted on Twitter to say it was "madness" for Amazon to put a warning on the cartoons.

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

INSERT THE VOWELS (a, e, i, o, u)

Th_ _nt_rn_t g__nt, _m_z_n, h_s p_t _ w_rn_ng _n s_m_ _f th_ 'T_m _nd J_rry' c_rt__ns _t _ff_rs t_ _ts c_st_m_rs. V_s_t_rs wh_ w_nt t_ b_y _r d_wnl__d th_ s_r__s 'T_m _nd J_rry: Th_ C_mpl_t_ S_c_nd V_l_m_' g_t _ w_rn_ng th_t th_ c_rt__ns c_nt__n sc_n_s th_t _r_ r_c_st. Th_ w_rn_ng s_ys: "T_m _nd J_rry sh_rts m_y [sh_w] s_m_ _thn_c _nd r_c__l pr_j_d_c_s th_t w_r_ _nc_ c_mm_npl_c_ _n _m_r_c_n s_c__ty." _t _dd_d th_t th_ sc_n_s w_r_ wr_ng wh_n th_ c_rt__ns w_r_ m_d_ 70 y__rs _g_, _nd _r_ st_ll wr_ng t_d_y. P__pl_ s_y th_ ch_r_ct_r _f th_ bl_ck m__d _n th_ c_rt__n s_r__s _s r_c_st. S_m_ _f th_ c_rt__ns w_r_ _d_t_d _n th_ 1960s b_c__s_ _f w_rr__s _b__t r_c_sm.

T_m _nd J_rry w_r_ cr__t_d _n 1940 by c_rt__n_sts W_ll__m H_nn_ _nd J_s_ph B_rb_r_. Th_ sh_w _s _b__t th_ l_v_s _f T_m C_t _nd J_rry M__s_, wh_ l_v_ _n th_ s_m_ h__s_ _nd _r_ b_g r_v_ls. H_nn_ _nd B_rb_r_ pr_d_c_d 114 T_m _nd J_rry c_rt__ns fr_m 1940 t_ 1957. Th_ c_rt__ns w_n th_ _sc_r f_r th_ b_st _n_m_t_d Sh_rt F_lm s_v_n t_m_s. Th_ sh_ws h_v_ b_c_m_ _n_ _f th_ m_st p_p_l_r c_rt__ns _n _n_m_t__n h_st_ry. Th_y _r_ p_t _n ch_ldr_n's TV _v_ry d_y _n m_ny c__ntr__s. _n_m_t__n _xp_rt St_v_ _br_h_rt s__d th_ q__l_ty _f _n_m_t__n _n th_ __rly T_m _nd J_rry c_rt__ns w_s "s_p_rb". M_ny p__pl_ p_st_d _n Tw_tt_r t_ s_y _t w_s "m_dn_ss" f_r _m_z_n t_ p_t _ w_rn_ng _n th_ c_rt__ns.

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

the internet giant amazon has put a warning on some of the 'tom and jerry' cartoons it offers to its customers visitors who want to buy or download the series 'tom and jerry the complete second volume' get a warning that the cartoons contain scenes that are racist the warning says "tom and jerry shorts may [show] some ethnic and racial prejudices that were once commonplace in american society" it added that the scenes were wrong when the cartoons were made 70 years ago and are still wrong today people say the character of the black maid in the cartoon series is racist some of the cartoons were edited in the 1960s because of worries about racism

tom and jerry were created in 1940 by cartoonists william hanna and joseph barbera the show is about the lives of tom cat and jerry mouse who live in the same house and are big rivals hanna and barbera produced 114 tom and jerry cartoons from 1940 to 1957 the cartoons won the oscar for the best animated short film seven times the shows have become one of the most popular cartoons in animation history they are put on children's tv every day in many countries animation expert steve abrahart said the quality of animation in the early tom and jerry cartoons was "superb" many people posted on twitter to say it was "madness" for amazon to put a warning on the cartoons

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

TheInternetgiant,Amazon,hasputawarningonsomeofthe'TomandJe
rry'cartoonsitofferstoitscustomers.Visitorswhowanttobuyordownlo
adtheseries'TomandJerry:TheCompleteSecondVolume'getawarnin
gthatthecartoonscontainscenesthatareracist.Thewarningsays:"To
mandJerryshortsmay[show]someethnicandracialprejudicesthatwer
eoncecommonplaceinAmericansociety."Itaddedthatthesceneswere
wrongwhenthecartoonsweremade70yearsago,andarestillwrongtod
ay.Peoplesaythecharacteroftheblackmaidinthecartoonseriesisracist
.Someofthecartoonswereeditedinthe1960sbecauseofworriesaboutr
acism.TomandJerrywerecreatedin1940bycartoonistsWilliamHanna
andJosephBarbera.TheshowisaboutthelivesofTomCatandJerryMous
e,wholiveinthesamehouseandarebigrivals.HannaandBarberaprodu
ced114TomandJerrycartoonsfrom1940to1957.Thecartoonswonthe
OscarforthebestAnimatedShortFilmseventimes.Theshowshavebeco
meoneofthemostpopularcartoonsinanimationhistory.Theyareputon
children'sTVeverydayinmanycountries.AnimationexpertSteveAbra
hartsaidthequalityofanimationintheearlyTomandJerrycartoonswas"
superb".ManypeoplepostedonTwittertosayitwas"madness"forAmaz
ontoputawarningonthecartoons.

FREE WRITING

Write about cartoons for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

It's better for children to watch documentaries and not cartoons. Discuss.

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google's search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about Amazon's warning. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. CARTOONS: Make a poster about cartoons. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. TOM AND JERRY: Write a magazine article about Tom and Jerry getting a warning from Amazon for being racist. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against the warning.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on cartoons. Ask him/her three questions about Tom and Jerry. Give him/her three of your opinions on it. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

Buy my book

$US 9.99

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

F

b

T

c

T

d

F

e

T

f

T

g

F

h

F

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	warning	a.	caution
2.	contain	b.	include
3.	commonplace	c.	normal
4.	wrong	d.	unsuitable
5.	worries	e.	concerns
6.	created	f.	made
7.	rivals	g.	enemies
8.	popular	h.	well-liked
9.	superb	i.	excellent
10.	madness	j.	stupidity

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	Giant
2.	Volume 2
3.	They were wrong
4.	A black maid
5.	The 1960s
6.	1940
7.	114
8.	Seven
9.	They were superb
10.	Madness

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

c

2.

a

3.

a

4.

b

5.

d

6.

b

7.

a

8.

c

9.

d

10.

a

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)

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Tom and Jerry cartoon gets racism warning (4th October, 2014)

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