Beauty(现代大学英语精读 6第十一课 beauty800 字 读书笔记)

第一篇：Beauty(现代大学英语精读 6第十一课 beauty800 字 读书笔记)

Beauty

Scott Russell Sanders

Beauty a delightful quality associated with harmony of form or color, excellence of craftsmanship, truthfulness, originality, etc.Sanders has won acclaim for his skill as a personal essayist.He is a contributing editor to Audubon magazine and won the John Burroughs Natural History Essay Award in 2000.A frequent public lecturer, his essay “The Force of Spirit,” which opens his 2000 book of essays by the same title, was first given as a lecture before the Orion Society's Millennium Conference in 1999.The essay later appeared in the Best American Essays 2000 and was the fourth essay of Sanders' to appear in the Best American series.He received the Lankan Literary Award in 1995 for his non-fiction writing and has received the Frederick Bachman Libber Award for Distinguished Teaching, the highest teaching award given at IU.Sanders is a distinguished professor of English at Indiana University, where he has taught since 1971.During his career, he has spent sabbatical years as a writer-in-residence at Phillips Exeter Academy, and as a Visiting Professor at University of Oregon, MIT, and Beloit College.He is married with two children, Eva and Jesse, both of whom he addresses in letters included in The Force of Spirit.Clumsy in my rented patent leather shoes and stiff black tuxedo, I stand among these gorgeous women like a crow among doves.He feels in his formal dress uncomfortable and awkward.He doesn’t by the shoes, he rents them.Because such formal shoes are only worn on very formal occasions and there is not much chance for the author to wear them.A crow with black feathers among white doves will present a sharp contrast.The author is in black and is stiff and awkward and maybe even appear quite out of place in the suit among those women dressed in silk with bright colors.The contrast is as sharp as the contrast between a crow and doves.But because the festival of marriage has slowed time down until, any fool can see their glory.I fear that I will stagger along beside my elegant daughter like a veteran wounded in foreign wars.The glow of happiness had to cool before it would crystallize into memory.It is the sharp excitement of beauty which filled me with joy when Eva held my arm during the wedding march.The same excitement of beauty fills me with joy when, on these September nights, I walk over dewy grass while the

crickets sing and when I stare at the Milky Way.The Basic Practice

The Navaho blessing “May you walk in beauty” catches the essence of this spiritual practice.Beauty is both a path you travel and what surrounds you on the path.In the splendor of the Creation, we see its outer forms.In morality and benevolence, we recognize its inner expressions.Start this practice with the assumption that beauty is everywhere just waiting for you to notice it.Allow yourself to feel its effect upon your soul.Some experiences will stop you in your tracks and take your breath away.Others will be more subtle but equally sublime.Then make your actions reflections of the beauty all around you.Why This Practice May Be For You

Clutter gets in the way of beauty.If we have too many things and tasks in front of us, we may not notice what is beautiful about them.The contrast is simplicity;by paring away excesses, we make an opening for splendor.Routine and rigid thinking also restrict our appreciation of beauty.If we are stuck in a rut, we never discover the refreshment waiting just around the corners of our daily schedule.If we have a narrow understanding of aesthetics, we are limited in our ability to recognize beauty's varied manifestations.Beauty is startling, stimulating, and soothing.Try this practice when you need to be pulled out of your habitual way of seeing and being.Its cultivation produces pleasure.At the end of Beauty the author say that beauty needs us to recognize it.And he explains it like this :“We can’t possibly be important to the universe because we eat and drink and procreate, since countless other species do as much.If we have a distinctive role to play—and I emphasize the if—it must have to do with what’s unusual about us, and that, surely, is our use of articulate language.I don’t mean speech alone, although that’s the source of all language, but also music, painting, mathematics, architecture—all the means of expression that we have invented.We take the world in through our senses, reflect on it, and give it back in some orderly form.That act of response and expression is just as vital to the gardener or dancer as to the writer or physicist.It’s what distinguishes us as a species, and it may be what justifies our existence.”

第二篇：现代大学英语精读

对《大学英语精读》教材进行评价

《现代大学英语精读》是我们大家熟悉的一本教材。精读课，也就是我们上的基础英语课，是高校英语专业基础阶段的一门核心课程，是帮助学生掌握听、说、读、写、译等基本语言技能的基础课。精读教材主要是培养学生的语用能力，使学生能够从书中有所感悟，把所学到的语言知识与生活实际结合起来，使学习过程生活化。该教材还能培养学生的英语思维能力和创新能力，而不是使学生拘泥于书本知识，主要的教学任务不是积累知识，而是开发学生的思维，该教材秉着以学生为中心的教学思想，教材的选材非常广泛,符合学生兴趣，是一本符合当代大学生的优秀教材。

一本好的教材有以下几点特征；(1)、教学内容和语言能够反映快速变化的时代(2)、要处理好专业知识，语言训练和相关学科之间的关系(3)、教材不仅着眼于知识的传授而要有助于学生的鉴赏批评能力、思维能力和创新能力的培养(4)、教学内容要有较强的实用性和针对性。而《现代大学英语精读》教材充分表现出一本好的教材的特点，在英语教学中起着积极的作用，主要表现在以下几个方面。

1、教材具有权威性。教材的权威性主要在于它努力体现新大纲的要求，任何教材的编写都要相对应的教学大纲作指导，而衡量教材的好坏的一个重要标准就是看他是否符合大纲的具体要求。大学英语精读教材是根据国家或地方教育部门颁发的教学大纲或课程标准编写的，能够较好的体现教学大纲或课程标准规定的教学目的、教学目标、教学内容以及教学方法，所以大学英语精读教材完全符合大纲中有关教材的规定，有利于教学大纲和课程标准的有效实施。教材的权威性还取决于编写人员的能力和素质。现代《 现代大学英语精读》教材是北京外国语大学多名教授共同研究而成，这些教授具有丰富的教学经验和深厚的语言功底，而且教材有国内著名的外语出版社出版，还是普通高等教育“十五”国家级规划教材。所以，现代大学英语精读教材在一定程度上能够保证教学内容、教学过程和教学方法的科学性和合理性，从而保证教学质量和教学效果。

2、教材具有系统性。从整体上看，教材体系完整，内容丰富，有利于学生系统的学习语音、词汇、语法等语言知识；材内容从易到难，是一个逐步推进的过程。第一年的教材主要任务是巩固高中所学的内容，这主要是考虑到大学新生需要时间来克服高中阶段应试教学的影响，要尽快帮助他们熟悉大学学习方法，养成良好的学习习惯，纠正他们的语音语调，鼓励他们克服汉语方言对应于发音的负面影响，同时，要让学生意识到学习英语的目的关键是运用，而不是为了做题。第二年的教材，主要是知识积累，要运用各种方法扩大词汇量，提高对语法的掌握和运用能力，还要加强写作和翻译的训练，因为这两种技能需要从实践中得到提高，而不是拘泥于书本知识，第三年的教材主要是培养学生的阅读水平，学生能够独立完成一个章节的阅读，教材增加了阅读的难度，这样有助于提高学生的阅读水平，第四年的精读教材主要是使学生的听、说、读、写、译这五种能力得到全面的培养，是学生对这几种基本技能同时得到训练。

3、教材选文具有多样性。《现代大学英语精读》教材克服了传统教学理念的缺陷，教材编写体现了以应用为本，听、说、读、写、译等多位一体的教材设计理念，把提高学生综合运用能力放在首位。该系类教材的指导思想就是在课堂上创造一个真实的语言教学环境，使学生得各种语言技能得到充分的训练。教材中覆盖的词汇量超过大学英语四六级的水平，在教材的使用中学生强化了对单词的复现率，该教材词汇丰富，词汇重复出现有助于强化记忆。阅读理解的任务活动可以帮助学生检测和深化对课文的理解，掌握各种阅读技巧。在每一章节的联系中还涉及了汉译英和英译汉的翻译练习，这样有助于训练学生的翻译能力。而且，教材中选取的文章题材多样，风格各异，内容丰富，涉及了政治、经济、文化语言、科技、体育、风俗人情等各方面。所以，该教材有利于学生更好地了解世界文化，培养跨文化意识和跨文化交际的能力。

总体来说，《现代大学英语精读》教材合理的教学布局，能够使学生的综合能力得到全面的培养,听、说、读、写、译等各项语言技能在教材中得到了综合呈现,该教材注重语言技能的培养、注重学生独立学习能力的提高。但教材中也有一些不足之处，比如关于综合技能的整体训练,以及学习技能和学习策略的建议有些不足。但整体上该教材是目前最适合大学生学习的一本优秀教材。

第三篇：现代大学英语精读5Book

英语专业精读课教案（第五册）

Lesson One Where Do We Go from Here

Teaching aims:

To grasp the rhetorical device in the text

Teaching difficulties:

To identify the rhetorical deviceS in the sentence

Teaching procedure:

Step 1.Background information

Step 2.Organization of the text

Step 3.Detailed study of the article

I.Background information:

The 1960s were turbulent times for the United States.The anti-war movement, the Civil Right movement, the counter-culture movement, the feminist movement were all unfolding in this period of time.The civil Rights movement was a major movement which began with the Supreme Court decision of Brown v.Board of Education of Topeka in 1954 and the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955.Martin Luther King jr.(1929-1968), as a key leader of the movement, played a significant and irreplaceable role.His name is associated with the march on Washington in 1963 and his famous speech “ I have a dream”, delivered in front of the Lincoln Memorial.He was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.this speech, delivered in 1967, in more on the side of reasoning and persuasion and less on emotional appeal.Thus his analysis of riots and revolution in the united states in his speech is sound and convincing.On the night of April4.1968, King was shot dead, as he stood o the balcony of his hotel in Memphis, Tennessee.Structure of the text

Part i.Para.1—2 Martin Luther King link the theme of the speech with the question of “Where we are now”.That is, in order to know where we go from here we must first recognize where we are now.Without knowing our present situation, how can we design a policy for the future?

Part ii Para.3--5 This is a transitional paragraph to call for all the African-American must “rise up with an affirmation of his own Olympian manhood”.Part iii(Para.6--9)In this part the author puts forward the second task: how to organize the strength of the Negro in terms of economic and political power.Then the author goes on to define power and points out the consequence of the misinterpretation of power.Part iv(Paras.10--15)This part deals with economic security for the Negro Americans.The speaker advocates guaranteed annual income which he thinks is possible and achievable.He also deals on the advantages of this security.Part v(paras.16—20)In this part, Martin reaffirms his commitment to nonviolence.He explains why he thinks violence is no solution to racial discrimination.He refutes the idea of Black revolution.Part vi(para 21—25)In this part, Dr.King raises a fundamental question—the restructuring of the whole of American society.He points out that the problem of racism.The problem of economic exploitation and the problem of war are tied together.They are the triple evils of the society.Part vii.(para 26—28)This part serves as the concluding remark for the speech: we shall overcome.

第四篇：大学英语综合教程5 第十一单元Beauty 翻译

Unit 11 Beauty 对希腊人来说，美是一种品德，是一种出色的表现。拥有这种美的人在如今被我们当然又嫉妒的认为是一个完整的人。即使在希腊真的存在那种把一个人分成“内在”和“外在“，他们依然期望内在美能够有与之匹配的其他方面的美。那些出身很好的雅典年轻聚围在苏格拉底身旁，他们发现一个矛盾的事情，英雄们总是那么的智慧，勇敢，那么的令人尊敬又充满魅力，同时长相却那么丑陋。苏格拉底给这些无知的长相好看的门徒们上的其中最重要的一课就是，用自己的丑陋告诉他们生活中充满了矛盾。

也许他们不接受苏格拉底的教导，但我们不会。几千年后的今天，我们更加小心翼翼的对待美的魅力。我们不仅轻易的把“内在（品质，智慧）“于“外在（外貌）”分开来，而且我们还会非常惊讶于一个人既漂亮又充满智慧，有才干又善良。

主要是受到基督教的影响，美失去了在传统理想上的人类品德的中心地位。为了仅仅把其限制为道德方面的品德，基督教使美变为一种疏离的，任意的，肤浅的诱惑。使得美渐渐失去了它的地位。在近两个世纪中，美约定俗成的变为用于形容两性中其中一性：不管怎么公平对待，依旧是第二位。把美与女性联系起来，使得其总是饱受道德的攻击。

在英语里我们说一个美丽的女人，但是会说一个英俊的男人。英俊是美丽的阳性对应，也是一种轻视，这种只把美丽与女性绑在一起的恭维实际上包含了侮辱贬低的弦外之音。在法语和意大利语中可以形容一个男人美丽，说明一些不同于的新教的基督教国家的天主教国家仍保留着对美丽的不一样赞美的痕迹。但即使存在，也只是程度上的，本质并没变化。在所有现代国家中，无论是基督教还是后基督教，女性都是美丽的性别，即伤害了美丽又伤害了女性。

希望被称为美丽被认为是女性品质和所关心的中心（不同于男性，强壮，高效，强竞争力被认为是中心）。是个女性都能看出来，女性被引导向美丽的过程中实际上助长了自恋主义，不独立和不成熟。每个人（不管男人女人）都明白这些。“每一个人“，也就是整个社会，把女性化等同于她的长相（不同于男性，是关心于他是怎样的，做的怎么样，然后才会关心长得怎么样）。因为这是思维定势，美丽毫无疑问是毁誉参半的。

当然，追求美本身没有错，错的是把追求美当成一种义务，一种尝试。被大多数女性接受的一种性别理想化的谄媚是，她们会觉得自己比真实的自己或者生来的自己低一等。为了去追求完美的美已经变成一种自我压抑。女性被变成分开来评价自己身体每一部分，胸部，腿，臀部，腰，脖子，眼睛，鼻子，肤色，头发等等，每一处都被焦虑的，难以满意的，几乎是极端绝望的观察评价。即使有些还说的过去，但也有不足的地方。不达到完美就不罢休。

对于男人来说，好看是对整体而言的，是看第一眼大致的感觉。不需要通过身体各部分的尺寸来评定。没人会让一个男人把自己切成一段一段的看。至于外表看起来完美是被认为不重要的，甚至被认为是缺乏男子气概的。实际上，一个男人外表上如果有一点瑕疵，反倒被认为是完美的。根据一位自称是Robert Redford粉丝的电影影评家（一名女性）的说法，恰恰是他脸上那一簇黑痣使他没有被认为是“小白脸“。由此可想暗含在这种判断里对女性和美的贬低。

Cocteau曾说，“美丽的特权是巨大的。”确实，美是一种力量。也理应如此。但悲哀的是这成为大多数女性所追求的唯一力量。而且这种力量总是与男人联系在一起，不是一种行动，而是一种取悦。是一种否定自身的力量。因为这种力量不是可以自由选择的，至少没办法经过社会的审查而选择不要。

精心打扮对于一个女性来说，不是一种享受的愉悦。而是一种职责。是她的工作。如果一个女人做了真正意义上的工作，甚至是位于政法界，医学界，商业界的诸如此类的领导地位，也会被迫承认仍努力使自己保持吸引力。但是如果她一直保持着很好的魅力，又会让人们怀疑她的专业素质，权威性和思维周密性。不做不是，做也不是。

要证明把一个人内在和外在分开来评价的危险性，除了那个没完没了的半忧半喜的对女性压迫的事以外，很难举出更加重要的证据了。人们非常容易认为女性是外表的关注者，然后再贬低她们（或者发现她们可爱）是“肤浅”的。这是一个赤裸裸的陷阱，并且存在很久了。要摆脱这个陷阱，女人需要与跟美相关的突出和特权保持距离，以能够看清美在多大程度上被削弱了来支持“女性化”。我们应该把美从女性中分离出来，这同时也是为了女性们。

第五篇：《现代大学英语精读5》教案

英语专业精读授课教案（第五册）

Lesson One Where Do We Go from Here

Teaching aims: 1.fully understand the article

2.grasp the rhetorical device in the text

Teaching difficulties: how to identify the rhetorical device in the sentence and understand the

implication for some sentences

Time distribution: eight periods

Teaching method: students-centered

Teaching procedures:

I.Background information:

The 1960s were turbulent times for the United States.The anti-war movement, the Civil Right movement, the counter-culture movement, the feminist movement were all unfolding in this period of time.The civil Rights movement was a major movement which began with the Supreme Court decision of Brown v.Board of Education of Topeka in 1954 and the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955.Martin Luther King jr.(1929-1968), as a key leader of the movement, played a significant and irreplaceable role.His name is associated with the march on Washington in 1963 and his famous speech ― I have a dream‖, delivered in front of the Lincoln Memorial.He was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.this speech, delivered in 1967, in more on the side of reasoning and persuasion and less on emotional appeal.Thus his analysis of riots and revolution in the united states in his speech is sound and convincing.On the night of April4.1968, King was shot dead, as he stood o the balcony of his hotel in Memphis, Tennessee.Part II.Details studies of the text

Part III.Structure of the text:

Part i.Para.1—2 Martin Luther King link the theme of the speech with the question of “Where we are now”.That is, in order to know where we go from here we must first recognize where we are now.Without knowing our present situation, how can we design a policy for the future?

Part ii Para.3--5 This is a transitional paragraph to call for all the African-American must ―rise up with an affirmation of his own Olympian manhood‖.Part iii(Para.6--9)In this part the author puts forward the second task: how to organize the strength of the Negro in terms of economic and political power.Then the author goes on to define power and points out the consequence of the misinterpretation of power.Part iv(Paras.10--15)This part deals with economic security for the Negro Americans.The speaker advocates guaranteed annual income which he thinks is possible and achievable.He also deals on the advantages of this security.Part v(paras.16—20)In this part, Martin reaffirms his commitment to nonviolence.He explains why he thinks violence is no solution to racial discrimination.He refutes the idea of Black revolution.Part vi(para 21—25)In this part, Dr.King raises a fundamental question—the restructuring of the whole of American society.He points out that the problem of racism.The problem of economic exploitation and the problem of war are tied together.They are the triple evils of the society.Part vii.(para 26—28)This part serves as the concluding remark for the speech: we shall overcome.Lesson Two Two Kinds

Teaching aims: 1.fully understand the article

2.present their viewpoint on generation gap

Teaching difficulties: how to identify the development of a story

Time distribution: eight periods

Teaching method: students-centered

Teaching procedures:

Part I.Background information:

The Joy Luck Club, from which ―Two Kinds‖ is taken, explores conflicts between two generations and two different cultures.Set in China and in the United States, the novel is woven by stories of four Chinese mothers and their four daughters.Four Chinese women, who have just arrived in the United States and who are drawn together by the shadow of their past—meet in San Francisco to play mah-jongg, eat dim sum and tell stories.They call their gatherings the Joy Luck Club.While they place high hopes on their daughters, the youger generation think of themselves as Americans and resist their mothers’ attempts to change them into obedient Chinese daughters.Only after they have grown up and become more mature do they realize that the legacy left by their mothers is an important part of their lives, too.The noivel stayed on the best-selling book list of The New York Times for 9 months.A finalist for the national Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, it has been translated into about 20 languages and made into a Hollywood movie.Part II.Detailed Study of the Text

Part III.The Structure of the text:

Part i(paras.1—3)the beginning part of the story provides the reader with some background information.It tells about the mother and her hopes for her daughter.This paves the way ofr the development of the conflict between the daughter and the mother.Part ii(paras.4—11)this part is about the mother’s unsuccessful attempt to change her daughter into a Chinese Shirley Temple.In the beginning the child was as excited as the mother about becoming a prodigy.At this point, the conflict between mother and daughter was not visible.Part iii(paras12—20)in this part we learn that the mother was trying very hard to train her daughter to be a genius.As the tests got more and more difficult, the daughter lost heart.She decided that she would not let her mother change her.This change of attitudes would lead to the gradual development of the conflict.Part iv(paras 21—28)while watching a Chinese girl playing the piano on an Ed Sullivan Show, a new idea flashed into the mother’s head.With the new plan introduced, the ocnflict would develop further.Part v(paras 29—46)it tells about how the girl was made to learn the piano under the instructions of Old Chong.The relationship between mother and daughter was getting more and more tense.Part vi(para.47—60)Jing-mei was to perform in a talent show held in the church.Jing-mei started all right and soon made a mess of her performance.Undoubtedly this was a heavy blow to her mother.The crisis of the story is about to come.Part vii(para 61—76)the girl assumed that her failure at the show meant she would never have to play the paino.Yet two days later her mother urged her to practice as usual.She refused and the mother insisted.They had the most fierce quarrel they had ever had.This is the crisis or climax of the story.Part viii(77—93)this concluding part is narrated from a different point of view.Now the daughter had grown up form a little girl to a mature woman.Part IV.Discussion about generation gap.Part V.Complete the exercises of the text.A report about generation gap

Lesson Three

Goods Move.People Move.Ideas Move.And Cultures Change.Teaching aims: 1.fully understand the article

2.How to develop an argument

Teaching difficulties: how to develop an argument

Time distribution: eight periods

Teaching method: students-centered

Teaching procedures:

Part I.Lead-in : Globalization has become one of those words with the highest frequency of appearance but at the same time it is also a most controversial issue in terms of content, implication and consequence.Since the early 1990s, globalization has developed rapidly and brought great changes to the world.However, groups of people for various reasons oppose globalization and point to the negative effects of globalization.So when we face an article of such an important and sensitive issue, we are apt to ask:

What is the author’s attitude towards globalization? What makes her adopt such an attitude? How does she present her argument?

Part II.Detailed study of the text

Part III.Structure of the text

Part i(para 1—3)Globalization is a reality but it is not something complietly new.What is new is the speed and scope of changes.Part ii(para 4—6)this part deals with different views on globalization.Part iii(para 7—9)three points are made in this part:

a.Westernization is not a straight road to hell, or to paradise either.b.Cultures are as resourceful, resilient, and unpredictable as the people who compose them.c.Teenagers are one of the powerful engines of merging global cultures.Part iv(para 10—13)this part tells of the author’s experience with Amanda Freeman.Part v(para 14—19)in order to prove fusion is the trend, the author used Tom Soper and mah-jongg as an example.Part vi(para 20—24)this part describes the cultural trends in Shanghai.Part viii(para25—28)the author used the experience at Shanghai Theatre Academy to illustrate the point that the change is at the level of ideas.Part ix(para 29—34)the author in this part introduced Toffler’s view on conflict, change and world order.Part x(para35—36)the main idea is there will not be a uniform world culture in the future;the cultures will coexist and transform each other.Part xii(37—39)the author again used an example in Shanghai to illustrate the transformation of culture.Part IV.Complete the exercises in the textbook

Part V.collect their viewpoints about attitude towards globalizaion.Lesson Four

Professions for Women

Teaching aims: 1.fully understand the article

2.grasp the rhetorical device in the text

Teaching difficulties: how to understand the poetic and symbolic sentences in the article

Time distribution: eight periods

Teaching method: students-centered

Teaching procedures:

Part I.Background information: Virginia Woolf is generally regarded as one of the greatest writers of modernism as well as one of the pioneers of women’s liberation from patriarchy.She is known for her experimentation and innovation in novel writing.In her novel, emphasis is on the psychological realm of her characters and the moment-by-moment experience of living, which are depicted by the techniques of interior monologue and stream of consciousness.In this essay, Virginia Woolf gives a clear and convincing presentation of the obstacles facing professional women.Part II.Detailed study of the text

Part III.General analysis of the text

Para 1: In the profession of literature, the author finds that there are fewer experiences peculiar to women than in other profession because many women writers before her have made the road smooth.Para 2: the author responds to the host’s suggestion that she should tell the audience something about her own professional experiences.So she now tells her own story –how she became a book reviewer when she was a girl.Para 3.the speaker focuses on the first obstacle to becoming a professional women writer.She uses a figure of speech ―killing the Angel in the House‖ in describing her determination to get rid of the conventional role of women in her writing.Para 4.after the Angel was dead, the question which remains to be answered is ―what is a woman?‖ it is a transitional link between the quthor’s first and second experience.Paragraph 5.In this paragraph the author talks about her second experience in her profession of literature.As a novelist, she wished to remain “as unconscious as possible” so that nothing might disturb or disquiet the imagination.But she was faced with the conflict between her own approach to art and the conventional approach expected of her by male critics.She believed that sex-consciousness was a great hindrance to women's writing.To illustrate this point, she employs a second figure of speech, “the image of a fisherman lying sunk in dreams on the verge of a deep lake.”

Para 6.This paragraph sums up the author's two experiences, pointing out that the second obstacle is more difficult to overcome than the first.Women have many prejudices to overcome in the profession of literature and especially in new professions that women are entering.Para.7.In this last paragraph Woolf concludes her speech by raising some important questions concerning the new role of women and the new relationship between men and women.Part IV.Complete the exercise of the text

Part V.a report on the professional women in China

Lesson Five

Love Is a Fallacy

Teaching aims: 1.fully understand the article

2.grasp the rhetorical device in the text

Teaching difficulties: how to identify the rhetorical device in the sentence and understand the

implication for some sentences

Time distribution: eight periods

Teaching method: students-centered

Teaching procedures:

Part I.Lead-in:

This is a humorous essay in which the narrator tells his failure to win the heart of a young woman with the force of logic, which therefore proves to him that “love is a fallacy”--“it is inconsistent with logic.”

Part II.Detailed study of the text

Part III.Question on Appreciation:

1.How did the narrator describe himself? What does it show? How does the author bring out the pomposity of the narrator? What makes the satire humorous?

2.why was the narrator interested in Polly Espy? What kind of girl was she.3.How did the narrator's first date with Polly Espy go?

4.How does the language used by Polly strike you? Find some examples from the text and explain what effect her language creates.5.Why did the narrator teach Polly Espy logic? Did he succeed?

6.Did the narrator love Polly Espy? How did he try to “acquaint her with his feeling”?

7.How did Polly respond to the narrator's arguments for going steady with her? Why did she reject him? What does it show? As the story progresses, Polly turned out to be smarter than the narrator had previously thought.How does this contrast contribute to the humor of the piece?

Part IV complete the exercise in the text

Lesson Six

Life Beyond Earth

Teaching aims: 1.fully understand the article

2.learn to analyze the text

Teaching difficulties: how to learn to analyze the text and understand the implication for some sentences

Time distribution: eight periods

Teaching method: students-centered

Teaching procedures:

Part I.General introduction:

The author deals with recent developments in the search for alien organisms.He discusses various arguments about alien civilization.He does not think that such belief and search is irrational or even crazy.He writes that most people with such belief ―operate from the same instinct, which is to know the truth about the universe‖.At the same time he maintains a scientific attitude, pointing out that although there are many persuasive arguments, there is still no hard evidence to prove the existence of alien life.Yet he does not stop there.He further points out that since the world we live in—the only inhabitable world in the universe so far—is still far from perfect, people in the world need to direct more energy to making it better.Life on Earth is his greater concern.Part II.Detailed study of the text:

Part III.Organization of the piece:

1.Analysis of the text:

(1)Paras.1--2

the emergence of life

(2)Para.3

(transition)What else is alive out

(3)Paras.4--10

search for life

(4)Paras.11--23

search for intelligence

(5)Paras.24--42

Mars.(6)Paras.43--45

Dyson's argument

(7)Paras.46--52

conclusion

2.Questions to discuss:

1)What do you think of the opening paragraph? Does the author begin the article in a forceful way?

2)What role does this paragraph play? What is meant by “the enveloping nebula of uncertainties”? What is the contrast involved as imroduced by “despite”?

3)What new idea is introduced in Paras.17--19?

4)Comment on the first sentence in Paragraph 21.5)Comment on the role of Paragraph 35.6)What is the conclusion of the author? What would the author expect of people investigating extraterrestrial life?

Lesson Seven

Invisible Man

Teaching aims: 1.fully understand the article

2.grasp the implied meaning of some sentences

Teaching difficulties: how to identify the implied meaning in the sentence

Time distribution: eight periods

Teaching method: students-centered

Teaching procedures:

Part I.Background Information: 1.about the author

2.about the article

Part II.Detailed study of the text

Part III.Analysis of the text:

Para 1.From this opening paragraph we readers can learn a number of important things:

(l)By saying “It goes a long way back, some twenty years,” the author tells us that the story took place in the past.(2)The “I' here is the narrator, not the author, of the story, and the author is using the first-person narration in telling the story.As we read On, we will find this narrator is also the main character, the protagonist, of the story.(3)Words like ”I was looking for myself“ and ”I am nobody but myself“ point out the central theme of the novel--searching for self-identity.Para.2

This paragraph tells us a bit about the historical background against place.It also introduces a new character--the narrator's grandfather.On his deathbed, he said something that alarmed and puzzled the whole family.Para 3

This paragraph is about the tremendous effect of the grandfather's words upon the narrator, Those words became a constant puzzle for him.As the old man said these words ironically, the boy couldn't understand him.Although the grandfather did not appear in the battle royal scene or any other events in the rest of the book, his words haunted the narrator at every important moment in his life.Para 4

It tells us about the setting of the battle royal.The narrator was to give his speech at a smoker in a leading hotel in the town.The time is round 1950, the place is a hotel in a Southern town, and the occasion is a gathering of the leading white men of the town.Bearing these in mind will help us readers understand why things happened that way and what was the meaning of all this.Para.5 Besides giving more details about the place, this paragraph introduces the people involved in the incident the town's big shots, who were ”wolfing down the buffet food, drinking beer and whisky and smoking black cigars,“ and the other black boys who were to take part, who were ”tough guys".Para 6 to 9

The main body of the battle royal incident is from Paragraph 4 to paragraph 9.It can be further divided into 4 subsections: the naked white girl's dance;the fight itself;the grabbing for the prize money;the narrator's speech.Paragraphs 6 to 9 form the first subsection in which the author describes the white girl's dance.Paras.10--28 They form the second subsection of the battle royal incident violent and brutal fight itself.Pay attention to the use of specific words narration realistic and vivid.Paras.29--46 They describe how the white men further humiliated the black boys even after the battle royal was over.Instead of giving the money the boys were supposed to get for their performance, the white men made fun of them by making them scramble for the money on an electrified rug.This part adds to the general chaos of the whole scene.Para 47--90 They form the last subsection of the whole battle royal incident.In this part the narrator finally got his chance to deliver his well-prepared speech.However, in the middle of his speech, he made a mistake, but everything went well in the end and he was given an award--a scholarship for college.Para.91—94 They bring the story to a final end.The narrator was overjoyed with his triumph, and that night he dreamed of his grandfather and awoke with the old man’s laughter rining in his ears.Part IV.Complete the exercise in the text

Part V.Do some translation work.Lesson Eight

The Merely Very Good

Teaching aims: 1.fully understand the article

2.grasp the development of the text

Teaching difficulties: how to analyze the development of the article and the implied meaning for some sentences

Time distribution: eight periods

Teaching method: students-centered

Teaching procedures:

Part I.Information on the author:

Jeremy Bernstein(1929-): professor of physics and writer.After getting his Ph.D.in physics at Harvard, he spent time at the institute for advanced study in Princeton and at the National Science Foundation.He taught physics for 5years at New York University and then at Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey.But Jeremy Bernstein has also spent more than 30 years on the staff of The New Yorker magazine, writing mostly about physics, computers, and other topics in physical science.He moves as comfortably among sentences and paragraphs as among equations.Part II.Detailed study of the text:

Part III.Questions about the article

1.Oppenteimer is called ― Father of the Atomic Bomb‖ and had been in charge of the Los Alamas nuclear laboratory for many years.Yet the author considers him as merely very good.Do you think the author is right and fair in relegating Oppenheimer to the merely very good?

2.Do you think it is right to say to be highly focused or not is the cause separating the great ones from the merely very good? What is your view?

3.How does the author manage to bring the people he wants to compare into the article?

Oppenheimer’s anecdote: Oppenheimer and dirac meeting

Gottingen, talking about poetry and physics

His decision to go to the conference

Spender’s being at the conference—Spender’s obsession with Auden—great versus merely very good.4.How does the author develop the article?

He uses the 1981 conference as the benchmark and goes back to earlier times and in the last two paragraphs returns the scene to the time of writing.This technique of montage is used largely in cinema.For example:

The 1981 conference and the author’s indecision—(flashback to 1925—1927)earlier life of Oppenheimer and his relations with Dirac—(back to 1981)the author’s decision: Spender and Auden—(flashback)Spender and Oppenheimer(1956)—(1958)Oppenheimer, Dirac and the author—(back to 1981)meeting with Spender—(bringing the scene to 1996)concluding remarks.Lesson Nine

The Way to Rainy Mountain

Teaching aims: 1.fully understand the article

2.grasp the rhetorical device in the text

Teaching difficulties: how to identify the rhetorical device in the sentence and understand the

implication for some sentences

Time distribution: eight periods

Teaching method: students-centered

Teaching procedures:

Part I.About the Author

N.Scott Momaday was born in Lawton, Oklahoma in 1934.Momaday belongs to a generation of American Indians born when most tribal communities had long ceased to exist as vital social organizations.His Kiowa ancestors shared with other Plains Indians the horrors of disease, military defeat, and cultural and religious deprivation in the 19th century.Their only chance of survival was to adapt themselves to new circumstances.Momaday’s grandfather, for example, adjusted to changing conditions by taking up farming, a decision pressed upon him by the General Allotment Act of 1887.Part II.Detailed study of the text

Part III.The analysis of the text

Para 1.the opening paragraph of the essay is a lyrical description of the author’s ancestral land, which plays a key role in his exploration of his Kiowa identity.Para 2.the author explains his purpose of his visit to Rainy Mountain: to be at his grandmother’s grave.Para 3.it sums up the history of the Kiowas as a Plains Native culture—the golden time and the decline in their history.Para 4.it is about how the Kiowas migrated from western Montana and how the migration transformed the Kiowas.Para 5.the author returns to his grandmother again.Since she is the immediate reason for him to come to Rainy Mountain, she is the link between the author and his ancestors.Para 6.The Kiowas felt a sense of confinement in Yellowstone, Montana.Para 7.this paragraph is a depiction of the landscape which they came upon when they got out of the highlands in Montana.Para 8.in this para the author describes Devil’s Tower and tells the Kiowas’s legend about it.Para 9.the author tells about the last days of the Sun Dance culture by using his grandmother as a witness.Para 10.for the first time, the author concentrates only on his grandmother’s story rather than mixing it with the history of the whole Kiowa tribe.Also for the first time, the author shifts the focus of depicting the lanscape to describing a person—his grandmother Aho as an old woman.Para 11—12 paragraph 11 is about the old houses at Rainy Mountain, which the author’s grandmother and other Kiowas used to live in, but which are now empty.This paragraph serves as a transition between the depiction of Grandma Aho and the reunion at her house.Para 11 and 12 describe the reunions that were once held at the grandmother’s house when the author was a child.We can see the author accepts change and loss as facts of life.He neither denies nor defies them.Imagination helps him strike a balance between them.So, after depicting his dead grandmother’s old house, he brings to life the joy and activity that once filled it.As a child Momaday took part in those events.By re-creating those scenes, he reminds himself of who he is.Part IV.Complete the exercise of the text