Verbs

1. Read the text about J. K. Rowling’s life story.

2. Correct mistakes in verb forms in the underlined sentences. Leave them the same if you think there are no mistakes.

3. Find 2 examples for each of the following verb forms: (1) transitive verbs, (2) intransitive verbs, (3) action verbs, and (4) stative verbs.

“By every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.” 

J. K. Rowling

PHOTO CREDIT: TELEGRAPH.CO.UK

Failed, then succeeded

Rowling’s life is one of the most inspirational success stories. Many people know as the author of Harry Potter. However, her life was not peaches and cream. Rather, there was a tremendous struggle she had to go through.

In 1990, Rowling first had the idea for Harry Potter. She told that the idea came into her mind while she was on a train. She started writing. Later that year, since her mother died, Rowling got depressing, and she stopped writing. In the hopes of digging herself out of depression, she moved to Portugal and taught English. She became married and was having a daughter. A year later, her marriage life ended up. At that time, she had three chapters of Harry Potter in her suitcase. 

Rowling saw herself as a failure at that time. She was becoming jobless, divorced, and penniless. The numerous setbacks made her to feel exhausted, but she could still find solace in writing. She was thinking that the little she had was enough to be moderately happy. In 1995, she found another challenge—she got the 12 major publishers consider the Harry Potter script. Unfortunately, she received rejection—Her mailbox filled up rejection letters. Nevertheless, she never gave up. A year later, a small publishing house, Bloomsbury, accepted.

Today, Rowling becomes one of the bestselling authors. The Harry Potter series has earned over $400 million in book sales, and the last movie earned $476 million dollars in ticket sales. Looking back, we see that her story is not an overnight success, but it is constant struggle. So, if you keep running into failure, don’t let that stop you. Who knows, there might have a miracle!

Adopted from https://www.wanderlustworker.com/12-famous-people-who-failed-before-succeeding/

http://blog.uncollege.org/failure-rejection-success-j-k-rowling