1、Lesson SixMark Twain Mirror of America,Teaching Objectives,1. To acquaint students with the writing of biography. 2. To get to know Mark Twains life experience and his remarkable works. 3. To learn and master the new words and expressions used in the text. 4. To identify and appreciate rhetoric devi
2、ces employed in the text. 5.To analyze the text structure and appreciate its writing techneques and language features.,Introductin to Mark Twain,Introductin to text,Organizational pattern of text,Detailed study of the text,Summarizing the Language features,Mark Twain Mirror of America,1. Who was Mar
3、k Twain ? Where did his pen name come from? 2. What had he been before he became an author?,Mark Twain (1835-1910),The Name of Mark Twain,Twains real name was Samuel Clemens.“Mark Twain“means“watermark two“, which was a call used by sailors on the Mississippi to warn shipmates that they were coming
4、into shallow water.,Early life experience Mark Twain,Born in a little town in Mississippi At 11, he lost his father At 13, he stopped schooling Tramp printer Steamboat pilot on the Mississippi Confederate guerrilla Prospector Reporter on the far western frontier Traveler abroad,In His Middle Ages,By
5、 1900 Twain had become Americas foremost celebrity. He was invited to attend ship launchings, anniversary gatherings, political conventions, and countless dinners. Reporters met him, anxious to print a new quip (俏皮话)from the famous humorist. To enhance his image, he took to wearing white suits and l
6、oved to stroll down the street and see people staring at him.,His Later Life,There are many tragic events in his later life: the failure of his investments, his fatiguing travels and lectures in order to pay off his debts, the death of his wife and two daughters. Some critics link these tragic event
7、s with the change of style in his later works, from an optimist and humorist to a pessimist and almost despairing determinist (决定论者).,His Death,Mark Twain died of illness on April 21, 1910. When he passed away, newspapers around the country declared, “The whole world is mourning.” By then, Sam Cleme
8、ns had long since ceased to be a private citizen. He had become Mark Twain, a proud possession of the American nation.,Mirror of America“Mirror ”-Is a piece of glass or other shinny/polished surface that reflects images. Here, it is a metaphor. It means a faithful representation or description of so
9、mething (the country).Why does the author say that Mark Twain is the mirror of America?,Advanced English,Mark Twain: Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910)His Life experience _ Historic Events of USATramp printer -Prosperous age River pilot - Mississippi RiverTranscontinental RailroadsGuerrilla - The
10、Civil WarProspector - Gold RushReporter - Westward ExpansionCorrespondent - Europe, the Holy LandWriter - Tom Sawyers innocence Huck Finns experience,Advanced English,The historical background of Mark Twains timeTwain lived in the stirring(动荡) years in American history - the American-Mexican War, Th
11、e Civil War, the Gold Rush, the Western Expansion, the American Spanish War, the rapid development of capitalism and later the emergence of imperialism along with the first economic depressions, etc.,Mark Twain-the mirror of America is made in two senses. Mark Twains exciting, adventurous life stori
12、es mirror a part of true American history, and the life of ordinary American people. Second, his life experience furnished him with a wide knowledge of humanity, as well as with the perfect grasp of local customs and speech, which Mark Twain has manifested so well in his writing. His works mirror th
13、e real society of his time.,As a man, he grew up with America as a country (a young country) As a writer, he grew up with America, moved along with America, from innocence toexperience.,Text writing style,From the title of text, we know this text is related to the life of Mark Twain. What writing st
14、yle does the writing on the life of someone belong to? Especially, the writing only foucuses on a certain feature of a persons life, for example, life of Mark Twain as mirror of America. Biography?,Introductin to a biography,Pre-reading questions 1. What is a biography? 2. If you were asked to write
15、 a biography of sb., how are you going to arrange all the material available. What is the general way of writing a biography? 3. What kind of language do you expect to encounter and why?,Introductin to a biography,A biography is, by definition, an account of someones life that has been written by so
16、meone else, or a written history of someones life. Generally, a biography is about sb. who enjoys certain reputation, who has acquired certain fame by his / her success in certain area. The protagonist can be a positive or negative character.,A brief introduction to the whole text,P1. A short summar
17、y of his life; An overall estimation P2. His early life on the Mississippi P3. Life in the west P4. How he became a writer P5. How he looked at the Old World P6. How he came to write his masterpiece P7. His last period,Para.1 Pre-reading questions 1. What is the main idea and function of paragraph o
18、ne? 2.Why was Twain said to be adventurous, patriotic, romantic, and humorous? 3.what did the author mean by “ I found another Twain.“?,Detailed Study of the text,P1. (Para.1) A short summary of his life; An overall estimation,on the one hand, adventurous, patriotic, romantic, and humorous, optimist
19、ic. on the other hand, grew cynical, bitter, saddened by the profound personal tragedies, obsessed with the frailties of the human race, pessimistic.,.,Words and Expressions (para.1)1. rememberas the father father: creator e.g. Most Chinese people remember Luxun as the father of Ah Qu. figure of spe
20、ech: metaphor,Detailed Study of the Text (para.1),2. Huck Finns idyllic cruise through eternal boyhood: If you describe something as idyllic, you mean that it is extremely pleasant, simple, and peaceful without any difficulties or dangers. .an idyllic setting for a summer romance. 适于夏日恋曲的质朴宜人的环境 Mar
21、ried life was not as idyllic as he had imagined. 婚姻生活并不像他想象的那么浪漫美好。,cruise: n. a sea voyage for pleasurev. sail or travel about as for pleasure He was on a world cruise. They spent the summer cruising in the Greek islands. The taxi cruised off down the Changan Avenue. cruise missile 巡航导弹 cruiser: a
22、large fast warship 巡洋舰,2. Huck Finns idyllic cruise through eternal boyhood:Paraphrase: Huck Finns simple and pleasant journey through his boyhood which seems eternal.,3. Tom Sawyers endless summer of freedom and adventure:endless: hyperbole； parallelism summer : because all the adventures of Tom Sa
23、wyer described in the book are supposed to have taken place in one particular summer.,Mark Twains Masterpieces,Paraphrase for the first sentence:Mark Twain was known as the writer of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckberry Finn. In the first book, he described Toms free and adve
24、nturous activities in a long summer that seems endless. In the latter, he depicted Huck Finns simple and pleasant voyage through Finns boyhood that seems eternal.,The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876),A story written for boys, full of the horror, joys and Adventures of childhood . Generations after ge
25、nerations of young people have held it dear to their hearts. Tom Sawyer is sure to be studied in American schools as The Declaration of Independence.,Tom Sawyer,The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, generally considered Twains greatest work, was published in Great Br
26、itain in 1884 and in the United States in 1885. Twain had begun the book in 1876 as a sequel to Tom Sawyer. It describes the adventures of two runaways-the boy Huck Finn and the black slave Jim-and is told from the point of view of Huck himself.,The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,The Adventures of H
27、uckleberry Finn,Twain used realistic language in the novel, making Hucks speech sound like actual conversation and imitating a variety of dialects to bring the other characters to life. Tom Sawyer also reappears in certain chapters, and his mischievous behaviors provide the familiar humor for which
28、Twain was known.,Contribution of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,One of his greatest accomplishments was the development of a writing style that was distinctly American, rather than an imitation of the style of English writers. Twain made a more extensive combination of American folk humor and seriou
29、s literature than previous writers had done.,Contribution of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,(local colorism, a dominant fashion from 1860s1900s) The loose rhythms of the language in his books give the impression of real speech. Twains realistic prose style has influenced numerous American writers.,C
30、ontribution of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. . There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since.-Ernest Hemingway,3. (every bit ) as as anyone has ever imaginedevery bit: to the same degree, alto
31、gether, entirely (often followed by as), for example:He is every bit as clever as you are. Im every bit as sorry about it as you.She is every bit as beautiful as any one has ever imagined. Luxun, one of best-loved authors in China, was every bit as patriotic, acid-tongued and humorous as anyone has
32、ever imagined.,4. as adventurous, patriotic, romantic, and humorous as :a) adventurous: Mark Twain was adventurous in every sense of the word. He was always trying new things, and always going to new places. Even in his literary career, he was never satisfied with what he achieved.,4. as adventurous
33、, patriotic, romantic, and humorous as :b) patriotic: It refers to Mark Twains profound love for his country with its robust people and beautiful scenery and its lofty ideals. It may also refer to his pride in the American tradition and the American language. patriotpatrioticpatriotism,4. as adventu
34、rous, patriotic, romantic, and humorous as :c) romantic: (in art, literature and music) marked by feeling rather than by intellect; preferring greatness, passion, informal beauty to order and proportion. d) humorous: His works are so full of humor that he is considered as Americas greatest humorist.
35、,5. cynicalcynic: n. a person who sees no goodness in human behavior and has little faith in human sincerity or goodness. cyniccynical cyniccynicism e.g. a cynical remark, attitude, smile Theyve grown rather cynical about democracy, that is, no longer believe that it is an honest system.,6. bitter,b
36、itter: marked by strong resentment or cynicism e.g. She is said to be very bitter about the way she was sacked.据说，她对自己被以如此方式解雇而感到愤愤不平。,7. profound adj.,(here) profound is used to emphasize that sth. is very great and intense e.g. His love/feeling for his country was profound.profound anger/ shock/ d
37、isagreement.a profound idea, work, person-shows great intellectual depth and understanding. This book is full of profound insights 深邃的见解.,7. deal v.,deal: give e.g. deal sb. a blow to cause sb. great difficultiesHe dealt me a hard blow on the chin.The news dealt me a severe blow.,8. be /become obses
38、sed with (by),obssess: preoccupy greatly or haunted/troubled in mind to an abnormal degree:使着迷; 困扰 The idea that he might lose the position obsessed him. A lot of young girls are obsessed by their weight.,9. frailty,frailty: a weakness of character or behavior.e.g. One of the frailties of human natu
39、re is laziness.Frailty, thy name is woman! (Hamlet),the metaphor in the last sentence,“A black wall of night”, the color “black” or “dark” and “night” -implies something hopeless. opposite to “day” and “daybreak and “light”- “hope” or “hopefulness”. “a black wall of night” - “despair and hopelessnes
40、s”. Paraphrase: He did not see a bright future but a dark one and a hopeless one.,Para 2 Pre-reading questions,What is the main idea of the second paragraph?What did Mark Twain do before he became a writer? what was his life attitude at that time? Why later he became more cynical and sarcastic?How d
41、id he adopt his pen name? what is the meaning of his pen name?,Para 2 Gives a brief account of Twains experience before he became a writer.,He used to move here and there, and he first worked as a printer, then a river pilot, a Confederate guerrilla, a gold miner.When he was young, he embodied hope
42、and beautiful dreams, so he was quite optimistic. But later he became more cynical and sarcastic.,1. tramp: a foot travellertramp printer: a person who goes around doing odd jobs of printing. 2. pilot: a person qualified to guide ships through difficult waters going into or out of a harbour 3. guerr
43、illa: a member of an irregular armed force,Para 2 Words and expressions,4. prospector: one who explores and searches for valuable ores such as gold, silver, oil, etc.,Para 2 Words and expressions,5. starry-eyed: starry adj. abounding with or resembling stars. eg. a beautiful starry night 繁星满天的美丽夜晚 s
44、tarry-eyed: full of unreasonable or silly hopes, impractical, too romantic to be realistic, blindly optimistic e.g. We were all starry-eyed about visiting London.,Para. 2 Words and expressions,6. acid-tongued: acid: harsh in tonee.g. I was expecting another of his acid remarks, but he remained silen
45、t. acid-tongued: sharp, sarcastic in speech more examples of the same formation: empty-minded; kind-hearted,Para 2 Words and expressions,7. digest: think about, understand , and remember The report contains too much to digest at one reading. He reads rapidly but does not digest very much.,Para 2 Wor
46、ds and expressions,8. the new American experience:Twain lived in the stirring years in American history - the American-Mexican War, The Civil War, the Gold Rush, the western expansion, the American Spanish War, the rapid development of capitalism and later the emergence of imperialism along with the
47、 first economic depressions, etc.,Para 2 Words and expressions,9. attest (to): to be or to give proof of His ability was attested by his rapid promotion. The childs good health attests his mothers care.His success attests his ability.,Para 2 Words and expressions,Para. 3-5,pre-reading questions: 1.
48、Can Para. 3-5 be regarded as a paragraph unit? How does the author organize Para. 3-5 by the Mississippi River? 2. What was the main channel of transportation in Twains early years? （para. 3) 3. How did his experience as a steamboat pilot influence his later writing? （para. 4-5),Para. 3-5: His early
49、 life on the Mississippi,Mark Twain and the Mississippi,Mark Twain loved the great river so much that he always went in the direction of the nearby Mississippi. Many of his great works are set in the background of the Mississippi River, such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Life on the Mississippi.,Para 3,Questions for Para. 3: 1.What was the main channel of transportation in Twains childhood? 2. Does the River flow northward or southward? How do you know? 3. What does “major commerce” refer to? 4. What do you know about the westward expansion?,
