1、Unit 3 Bards of the InternetBy Phillip Elmer-DewittI. Teaching Aims: 1. Get the students familiar with the main idea of the text, thus helping them develop their ability to discuss and form their own judgments on a specific matter.2. Help the students master the language points in textII. Teaching D
2、ifficulties: the proper nouns, the long sentences.III. Time Allotment: 4 periods for the text and 2 periods for the exercisesIV. Background Information about the authorPhilip Elmer-DeWitt has been covering science and technology for Time Magazine since he reported a cover story on computer “Whiz Kid
3、s“ in 1982. He became a staff writer in 1983, a senior writer in 1993, a senior editor in 1994 and an assistant managing editor in 1997. He started two new sections in the magazine-Computers (1982) and Technology (1987)-and in 1994 helped launch Time Online (now T), Americas first interactive weekly
4、 newsmagazine. In January 2002 he was promoted to sciences editor, directing Times coverage of science, medicine, space and the environment.As a Time writer, he produced more than 500 news and feature stories on subjects ranging from in-vitro fertilization to computer sex. His cover stories include
5、“Computer Viruses“ (1988), “Curing Infertility“ (1991), “The Rio Earth Summit“ (1992), “Cyberpunk“ (1993), “Sex In America“ (1994), “Girth of a Nation“ (1995), Bill Gates (1995) and “Cyberporn“ (1995).Since 1995, he has edited more than 150 cover stories, including the issue that named AIDS research
6、er Dr. David Ho Times 1996 “Man of the Year“ and Albert Einstein “Person of the Century,“ and run Time-sponsored conferences on the Future of Life (2003) and Obesity (2004) and Global Health (2005).Elmer-DeWitt has made dozens of radio and television appearances and produced several 10-minute televi
7、sion features for PBSs News Hour with Jim Lehrer and CNN it can be used in a casual manner while still serving its purpose effectively.Q2: What is Jon Carroll?He is a columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle.Q3: With what does Patrick Nielsen Hayden compare electronic bulletin boards?He compares ele
8、ctronic bulletin boards with the “scribblers compacts” of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, in which members passed letters from hand to hand, adding a little more at each turn.Q4: To what does David Sewell liken netwriting?He likens netwriting to the literary scene Mark Twain discovered in Sa
9、n Francisco in 1860s, “when people were reinventing journalism by grafting it onto the tall-tale folk tradition.Q5: Would you paraphrase the answer? David Sewell compares netwriting to the literary scene Mark Twain discovered in San Francisco in the 1860s, “when journalists were fond of writing news
10、 reports in the traditional tall-tale style”.(3) liken to : to say that someone is similar to or has the same qualities as someone else; compare toE.g. She likened the experience to sinking into a warm bath.Our small company can be likened to a big, happy family.(4) reinvent: to produce sth new that
11、 is based on sth. that already exists.E.g. The story of Romeo and Juliet was reinvented as a Los Angeles gangster movie.Hes one of those sportsmen who reinvent themselves as TV presenters.(5) graft: to join or add something newE.g. A piece of skin was removed from her leg and grafted onto her face.T
12、he management tried unsuccessfully to graft new working methods onto the existing ways of doing things.(6) the tall-tale tradition: the tradition in which people tell a story or a tale in a fanciful and exaggerated manner. A “tall-tale/a tall-story” is a story or tale that is hard to believe, becaus
13、e it is so exaggerated or unlikely. Here the author refers to a unique kind of journalism in which people report news in much the same way as people tell tall-tales.(7) hark back to: to talk about sth. again and again, often to a way which annoys other people; to remember or retell a previous event
14、or topic.E.g. He is always harking back to his army days.You are always harking back to how things were when you were young.This book harks back to the authors earlier works on philosophy.(8) pamphleteer: someone who writes thin books with only a few pages which gives information or an opinion about
15、 sth.Q6: In this paragraph a number of peoples remarks are quoted, what do these quotations serve as? What is the implication of these quotations?These quotations serve as evidence of the fact that deviations from the traditional medium of letter writing are not rare in history. The implication is t
16、hat we should not be surprised by the boom of netwriting. Para.4Q1：What question will be invited by such comparisons in the previous paragraph?If online writing today represents some sort of renaissance, why is so much of it so awful?Q2: How awful is the online writing?It can be very bad indeed: slo
17、ppy, meandering, puerile, ungrammatical, poorly spelled, badly structured and at times virtually content free. (1) For it can be very bad indeed: sloppy, meandering, puerile, ungrammatical, poorly spelled, badly structured and at times virtually content free: for it can be very bad indeed: careless,
18、 pointless, childish, with many grammatical and spelling mistakes, and structural mistakes, and sometimes it has no real message or meaning.(2) “I THINK METALLICA IZ REEL KOOL DOOD! 1!”: This is an example of sloppy writing on the Internet. Presumably it should read “I think Metallica is really cool
19、 dude! Number one !”Q3: What is the main idea of this paragraph?In this paragraph the author concedes the most serious problem of netwriting, its poor quality.Para.5-6(1) Gerard Van der Leunhas emerged as one of the preeminent stylists on the Net: Gerard Van der Leun has become known as one of the m
20、ost important stylists on the Internet.(2) They are not to have and hold; they are to fire and forget.: they are of little literary value, so people write them, send them and forget them.(3) Many online postings are composed with “live” the clock ticking: many online postings are written spontaneous
21、ly, with no preparation within a very short time.(4) it takes a hell of a lot of work to get published, which naturally weeds out a lot of the garbage: If you want to have your book or article published, you need to do a lot of work. In this way a lot of untalented writers are prevented from publish
22、ing bad works.(5) weed out: to get rid of unwanted things or people from a groupE.g. They intend to weed out unqualified applicants.Would you like me to help you weed the vegetable garden?Q1: These two paragraphs tell us the authors exploration of the reasons why the quality of netwriting is so poor
23、. Once again the author quotes some remarks made by other people. Then what are the reasons that could account for the poor quality of netwriting?First, things (such as E-mail) written on the Internet have little literary value, so theyre not meant to be permanent. They just come and go and no one w
24、ill ever remember them, once they are read. Second, many online postings are produced under great time pressure. Third, there is actually no threshold on the Internet, so that anyone can log on and send out what they have written.Para.7(1) But even among the reams of bad poetry, gems are to be found
25、: even though most of the poems are of bad quality, there are still some really good ones.(2) Mnemonic: (sth.) used to help a person remember (3) He did, and blew them all away: he did publish his poems, and overwhelmed them all. Here “to blow someone away” is an informal expression which means “to
26、make someone feel very surprised, especially about something they like or admire”. It also means “to defeat someone completely.”(4) Mark: it refers to the fellow network scribbler mentioned in the preceding sentence.(5) “I was dressed as the Canterbury Tales”: it means “I was dressed in a very old-f
27、ashioned medieval style.”The whole sentence suggests that Green wanted to attract attention.Q1: What does the author want to tell us by writing this paragraph?The author begins to cite examples in defense of netwriting. He first points out that there are actually some really good writings (gems) on
28、the Internet.Para.8-9(1) a Darwinian survival principle has started to prevail: Darwins survival principle has started to come into effect / gain influence or control / be widely accepted.Q1: What is the meaning of the whole sentence (first one)There are so many writers in the prosaic technical and
29、political discussion groups who are competing for attention that a kind of Darwinian survival principle (i.e. the survival of the fittest) has started to be widely accepted.Q2: What are the criteria for good writing favored by the Internet?Good writing on the Internet should be clear, witty and brie
30、f. Units of thought are to be found in short paragraphs , bulleted lists and one-liners.(2) writers compose in a kind of collaborative heat, knocking ideas against one another until they spark: writers work in a kind of cooperation by engaging themselves in heated discussions and arguments about dif
31、ferent ideas until they come up with really brilliant ones.Q3: What does the author discuss in the two paragraphs?In these two paragraphs, the author discusses two reasons why there are some “gems” on the Internet; one is that “the Darwinian survival principle has started to prevail”, which means th
32、at only good writing will survive; and the other is the “collaborative” work in computer conferences, at which ideas are knocked against one another “until they spark”.Para.10(1) Unless they adjust tomore nimble networks: if they do not adjust themselves to the medium of netwriting, they can make th
33、emselves look conceited and self-important in online debates with more quick-witted and flexible networks.(2) can come across as self-important blowhards: can leave an impression as a conceited person who loves to show off.(3)their blue-blooded peers: blue-blooded people are usually members of royal
34、 or noble families. Here the author refers to well-educated kids.Q1: In this paragraph, the author explains one of the distinguishing features of netwriting , which, however, does not detract from its quality. What are the differences between the work of netwriters and that of professional writers?N
35、etwriting is usually terser than professional writing, filled with short paragraphs, bulleted lists and one-liners. Netwriters can freely lace their writings with strange acronyms and smileys, the key stroke combinations used to convey various facial expressions; the polished prose by professional w
36、riters often seems long-winded and phony when it is copied onto bulletin boards from books and magazines.Para.11(1) inherently democratizing: Here the author suggests that writing online (the technology) provides equal opportunities for everyone who wishes to write.(2) Not only has it enfranchisedmu
37、ch direct contact before: it has not only encouraged thousands of potential writers who, without the introduction of the Net, might never become writers, but has also brought together people of different social backgrounds who hadnt had much communication before.(3) geek: a person, especially a man,
38、 who is boring and not fashionableComputer geeks: computer wizards(4) grassroots: ordinary people in society or an organization, especially a political party(5) working press: working-class artists self-publishing and collectively distributing offset litho booksQ1: What is the main idea of the parag
39、raph?This paragraph mentions another merit of the Internet, that is, it allows thousands of common people to take up the craft of writing.Part Three (Para.12-13)(1) After all, a lot of everyones daily life is foolish and trivial: in spite of everything, our daily life consists mostly of foolish and
40、insignificant things.(2) I mean, really, smiley?: I mean, smileys are really foolish and trivial.(3) Housewives in Des Moines who log on as VIXEN: is the writing of housewives who live in a less-known place such as Des Moines and use VIXEN as their user name foolish and trivial?(4) It would be a mis
41、takeof young generation: a generation of young writers who will spend their whole life time dashing off E-mail is bound to be affected by it, and it would be a mistake to underestimate this effect.(5)the Bard himselfmight have dived right in and never logged off: Shakespeare himselfmight have joined
42、 in netwriting at once and never logged off. The whole sentence means that we suspect that if Shakespeare had had access to the Internet, he might have stayed online all the time and never logged off.Q1: How does the author justify the legitimacy of netwriting?The author contends that netwriting may
43、 seem foolish and trivial, but most peoples lives are foolish and trivial. For millions of people those networks represent a living, breathing life of letters.Q2: Who does “the Bard” refer to in the last sentence? And how does it differ from the “Bards” in the title?In the last sentence “the Bard” (
44、with capital B) refers to William Shakespeare, while “Bards” in the title refers to the people who write on the Internet. It appears that the author suggests by the title that the medium of netwriting, like that of Shakespeare, is perfectly justifiable. The medium changes with the time, so does the
45、“bard”.VI. Writing StrategyDescription of ProcessPractice in describing a process, including the use of after/before+gerund, and exercise in factual, precise writing. Here is a sample description of one of the four processes: reading through choice of essay subjectschoose essay subjectfind out inforamtion correctwrite essayread through completed essay. Check & correcthand in essay for marking.VII. Home WorkThe students are required to finish the after-class exercises, and hand in the translation work for correcting.
