When Breath Becomes Air | Learn Advanced English with Books
If you want to improve your English through reading books that lead to deep, meaningful conversation, When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi is an incredible choice for advanced English learners.
This deeply impactful book explores huge human questions about identity, purpose, illness, ambition, love, and mortality in a way that is exquisitely moving and full of wisdom and love.
Speaking Activities:
- Which part of the memoir stayed with you most after reading?
- Did the book make you think differently about life or time? In what way?
- Why do you think Paul continued working and writing after his diagnosis?
- If you could ask Paul Kalanithi one question after reading the memoir, what would you ask him?
- Did the memoir change your perception of the field of medicine or of your own field of work?
- What do you think the biggest impact of the memoir was upon you?
Vocabulary Review:
Here is a review of some of the words that may be new to you from the video:
Memoir (noun) = a nonfiction book based on the writer’s personal experiences and reflections
“The book in question is a memoir called When Breath Becomes Air.”
Example sentence:
“She wrote a memoir about her experiences travelling alone.”
Synonyms: autobiography, personal account
Antonyms: fiction, novel
Chronologically (adverb) = arranged in the order that events happened in time
“He’s not telling his chronological life story.”
Example sentence:
“The story is told chronologically from childhood to adulthood.”
Synonyms: sequentially, in order
Antonyms: randomly, out of sequence
Collocations: arranged chronologically, chronological order
Terminal (adjective) = describing an illness that cannot be cured and will eventually cause death
“He became a terminally ill patient.”
Example sentence:
“She continued teaching after receiving a terminal diagnosis.”
Synonyms: incurable, fatal
Antonyms: curable, treatable
Collocations: terminal illness, terminal diagnosis
Barrage (noun) = a large amount of something arriving all at once, often overwhelming
“He describes the barrage of trauma medical professionals face.”
Example sentence:
“The actor faced a barrage of questions after the interview.”
Synonyms: flood, wave, onslaught
Antonyms: trickle
Collocations: barrage of questions, barrage of criticism, barrage of trauma
Epilogue (noun) = a final section at the end of a book that gives additional reflection or closure
“Lucy finished it effectively with the epilogue.”
Example sentence:
“The epilogue explained what happened years later.”
Synonyms: afterword, conclusion
Antonyms: prologue, introduction
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