1、 Lesson 9 Mark Twain-Mirror of America by Noel Grove 制作人：赵霞 Mark Twain (1835 - 1910) Background Information Mark Twain Introduction of his major works The Gilded Age and The Gold Rush About the author Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 April 21, 1910), better known by the pen name Mark Twai
2、n, was an American humorist, satirist, writer, and lecturer. Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Clemens was a well known author in the United States, a popular comedian and monologist, and friend to presidents, artists, leading industr
3、ialists, and European royalty. Mark Twains Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been called a Great American Novel. He enjoyed immense public popularity and his keen wit and incisive satire earned him praise from both critics and peers. American author William Faulkner called Twain “the father of Amer
4、ican literature.” Introduction of his major works Mark Twain wrote novels principally ,he also wrote short stories, speeches, and non-fictions The Gilded Age (1873), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), The Prince and the Pauper (1881), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), A Connecticut Yankee in
5、King Arthurs Court (1889) The Tragedy of Puddnhead Wilson (1894) He also wrote some autobiographical works, including The Innocents Abroad (1869), A Tramp Abroad (1880), Life on the Mississippi (1883), Mark Twains Autobiography. The Gilded Age and The Gold Rush The Gilded Age (1873), which followed
6、Roughing It, was Twains first novel. He wrote it with his friend and fellow Hartford writer, Charles Dudley Warner. The title refers to the decades following the Civil War. This book satirizes the selfishness and money-making schemes that were common during that time. “What is the chief end of man?-
7、to get rich. In what way?-dishonestly if we can; honestly if we must.“ - Mark Twain-1871 The saga of American wealth creation, both for the nation and for its enterprising capitalists, reached its peak during the Gilded Age, a period roughly delimited by the end of Civil War and the beginning of Wor
8、ld War I. In America, this period was characterized by seemingly boundless economic expansion and the emergence of a new nation, which had completed the conquest of its vast Western territories and taken the lead among other nations, in industry and trade. During the “Gilded Age,“ every man was a po
9、tential Andrew Carnegie, and Americans who achieved wealth celebrated it as never before. In New York, the opera, the theatre, and lavish parties consumed the ruling class leisure hours. While the rich wore diamonds, many wore rags. Rural Americans and new immigrants crowded into urban areas. Teneme
10、nts spread across city landscapes, teeming with crime and filth. Americans had sewing machines, phonographs, skyscrapers, and even electric lights, yet most people labored in the shadow of poverty. Life on the Mississippi (1883) Life on the Mississippi (1883) describes the history, sights, people, a
11、nd legends of the steamboats and towns of the Mississippi River region. In the most vivid passages, chapters 4 through 17, Twain recalled his own piloting days. These chapters had originally been published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1875 as “Old Times on the Mississippi.“ The California Gold Rush (1
12、848 to 1859) The Gold Rush was one of the most significant events in California history. It brought people from all over the United States and the world in search for gold. Following the discovery of gold in California in 1848, the world rushed in. Eager gold seekers headed south from Oregon; north
13、from Mexico, Chile, and Peru; east from China and the islands of the Pacific; and west from every state in the union and countries throughout Europe. This richness of intersecting frontiers produced the most ethnically diverse region in the nation Structure of the text Part 1: (par.1) A general intr
14、oduction of Mark Twain Part 2: (par.2-20) Mark Twains main experiences and works Part 3: (par.21-22) Mark twains disappointment in human life in later years Detailed Study of the text Part 1: ( Para. 1) Part 1: (par.1) A general introduction of Mark Twain Introduction The first paragraph serves as a
15、n introduction of the whole text. It provides an general appraisal of Mark Twain, the father of Hack and Tom, the nations best-loved author, and the good news and bad news. The author adopted some rhetorical devices to illustrate the picture, and also some very emphatic adjectives, adverbs, such as
16、eternal, endless, every bit, profound, etc. The first paragraph is highly conclusive. Questions: 1. Identify and explain the metaphor in the first sentence. 2. What is the implication of the two adjectives “eternal“ and “endless“? 3.Why was Twain said to be adventurous, patriotic, romantic, and humo
17、rous? 4.What did the author mean by “ I found another Twain.“? 5.Identify and explain the metaphor in the last sentence. Words and Expressions cruise: A cruise is a holiday during which you travel on a ship and visit lots of places. When it is used as a verb, it means to move at a constant speed tha
18、t is comfortable and unhurried. He was on a world cruise. cruise missile: a missile which carries a nuclear warhead and which is guided by a computer as it flies. It can be launched from the land, sea or air. They spend the summer cruising in the Greek islands. The taxi cruised off down the Changan
19、Avenue. cruiser: a large fast warship. cf: aircraft carrier, helicopter carrier, battleship, flagship, destroyer, speedboat, torpedo boat, etc. every bit as: infml, just as, quite as He is every bit as clever as you are. Im every bit as sorry about it as you. Cynic: member of a school of ancient Gre
20、ek philosophy that despised ease and comfort a cynical remark, attitude, smile Theyve grown rather cynical about democracy, ie no longer believe that it is an honest system. obsess: fill the mind continuously, AmE, to worry continuously and unnecessarily. If sth obsesses you or if you are obsessed w
21、ith it or by it, you keep thinking about it over a long period of time, and find it difficult to think about anything else. He became absolutely obsessed with a girl reporter on television. She is obsessed by the desire to become a great scientist. cf: preoccupy: to fill the thoughts or hold the int
22、erest of sb. almost completely, esp. so that not enough attention is given to other (present) matters. Paraphrase Mirror of America: Metaphor. A mirror reflects or reveals the truth of something or somebody. Most Americans remember Mark Twain as the father. Father: metaphor. Endless: hyperbole. The
23、whole sentence: parallelism. Mark Twain is famous to most Americans as the creator of Hack Finn and Tom Sawyer. Hacks sailing / voyage / journey / travel on the river was so pleasant, lighthearted, carefree, simple and peaceful that it made his boyhood seem to be infinite, while Toms independent min
24、d and his exciting and dangerous activities made the summer seem everlasting. Figures of Speech Metaphor Mirror of America Most Americans remember Mark Twain as the father. Understatement Parallelism&hyperbole. Most Americans remember Mark Twain as the father of Huck Finns idyllic cruise through ete
25、rnal boyhood and Tom Sawyers endless summer of freedom and adventure. I Detailed Study of the Text Part II (Para 2-20) Part 2: (par.2-20) Mark Twains main experiences and works Section 1. (Tramp printer. the settled United States) the setting, background knowledge Section 2. (Young Mark.that invente
26、d retreating) early years of life on the Mississippi and as a Confederate guerrilla Section 3. (He went west.best-seller.) On his way to success. Section 4. (At the age.renew our edges.) Comment on his best works. Question 1.Why can we say Twain is still a popular writer? 2.Where was the main channe
27、l of transportation in his childhood? 3.What does it mean by “medicine show“? 4.How do you understand “ the wild humorist“? 5.How did he establish his literary position? 6. Explain “swept the nation“, “ was given a life of its own“. Words and Expressions frailty: a weakness of character or behaviour
28、. One of the frailties of human nature is laziness. That chair looks too frail to take a mans weight. There is only a frail chance that he will pass the examination. tramp: a person who has no home or permanent job and very little money. Tramps go from place to place getting food and money by taking
29、 occasional job or begging. A woman who is thought to have sex with a lot of men is cursed to be a tramp. When used as a verb, tramp means to walk heavily in a particular direction or along roads or streets. Theres a tramp at the door begging for food. We tramped for hours through the snow. Dont tra
30、mp about so noisily, youll wake everyone up. cf: 盲流，” blind flow”, unauthorized move, persons who move without government sanction starry: full of stars in the sky, indicating sparkling, glowing, and flashing. starry-eyed: full of unreasonable or silly hopes. If you are starry-eyed, you are so full
31、of dreams or hopes or idealistic thoughts that you do not see how things really are. We were all starry-eyed about visiting London. range: to travel without any definite plan or destination, a fairly literary use. cf: wander, range, saunter, stroll Wander implies the absence of a fixed course or mor
32、e or less indifference to a course that has been fixed or otherwise indicated. The term may imply the movement of a walker whether human or animal, but it may be used of anything capable of direction. His eyes wandered over the landscape. His mind wandered and he was unsure of himself. Range may be
33、preferred when literal wandering is not implied or when the stress is on the sweep of territory covered rather than on the form of locomotion involved. He spent the summer ranging the world. Animals range through the forests. Saunter stresses a leisurely pace and in idle and carefree mind. Stroll di
34、ffers from saunter chiefly in the implications of an objective, (as sight-seeing or exercise) pursued without haste and sometimes with wandering from one place to another. strolling (around) in the park adopt: to take and use as ones own The US government decided to adopt a hard line towards terrori
35、sts. Congress has adopted the new measures. I adopted their method of making the machine. adopt a name, a custom, an idea, a style of dress Having no children of their own they decided to adopt an orphan / dog. Pauls mother had him adopted because she couldnt look after him herself. her adopted country, ie not her native country but the one in which she has chosen to live
