1、Lesson 15 The Damned Human RaceBy Mark Twain,Questions:,1.what do you about Mark Twain? Can you name some books he wrote? 2. What is the main idea of this essay? What is Mark Twains theory? How does the author come to doubt this?3. How does the author contrast human beings with other animals? What s
2、pecific human traits and dispositions does he condemn? 4. Do you think we should take Mark Twains view seriously? Do you agree with him?5. How is this essay organized? What devices does the author used to make the article interesting?,About the Author,Mark Twain (1835-1910) was born Samuel Langhorne
3、 Clemens in Florida, Missouri, but lived as a child in Hannibal, Missouri, on the Mississippi River. He took the penname Mark Twain from the call of the pilots on the river steamers, which indicated that the water wastwelve feet deep, a safe depth for a steamer. During his early years, he wrote as a
4、 riverboat pilot newspaper reporter, printer, and gold prospector. But then he returned to writing, and became one of the greatest of American writers.,Although his popular image is as the author of such humorous works as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain had
5、 the other side that may have resulted from the bitter experiences of his life: financial failure and the death of his wife and daughter. His last writings are savage, satiric, and pessimistic. The present text is taken from Letters from the Earth, one of his later works.,The Adventures of Huckleber
6、ry Finn,The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,Writing Background,To have a better understanding of this essay, it is perhaps necessary to go back to the 1890s, a period which was dark and gloomy for Mark Twain. First of all, because of unwise investment, he went bankrupt. And in order to pay off his creditor
7、, he undertook a round-the-world speaking tour aimed at making some money. He had almost completed it when he learned that his favorite daughter, Suzy, hand died. This was a terrible blow for him. Before he could recover from this, his beloved wife, died too. With her death, writing for him was esse
8、ntially over. He became more and more bitter and his last writings were savagely satirical.,Many believe therefore that this change of mood as reflected in the essay was manly due to the authors personal tragedies. But there are also serious scholars who think that more important reasons had to do w
9、ith the whole social background the three decades after the Civil War of the United States were characterized by cut-throat competition, child labor and sweat shops, robber barons and labor riots, corruption and unethical business practices, spread of the jungle law and racial conflicts and imperial
10、ist wars. To Mark Twain, who had always been concerned with the problem of the human conscience, these things revealed the terrible deficiencies of the human race.,Writing Purpose,To remedy this deplorable situation, he began to use his pen as a sharp lance first to pierce the boils of human pomposi
11、ty. However, it is wrong to think that Mark Twain is pessimistic or cynical, he is neither. Behind all the bitterness is a warm and humane heart. Mark Twain does not really believe that human beings are incurably cruel, greedy and wicked. Otherwise he would not have bothered to write those essays. H
12、e writes about ugly human traits and dispositions precisely because he thinks human beings are capable of mending their ways if they can open their eyes or their own weakness and understand the conditions that give rise to them and nurture them. In other words, his policy is to frighten in order to
13、enlighten.,The Traits of the Essay,This slightly abridged essay is organized like a paper to report results of a scientific experiment. It has a thesis statement at the beginning and a brief summing-up at the end. The main body is arranged according to the various straits, and dispositions of human
14、beings as contrasted to the “higher animals”. However in the second part of the body the author begins to use a polemic tone. He seem to be arguing with people who believe in mans superiority because they can reason, have moral principles and religion, and love their neighbors and country.,Notice th
15、e way the author achieves humor. Mark Twain in this essay obviously talk tongue-in-check about human traits. He pretends to be reporting on a scientific experiment, imitating- indeed, one might even sat mimicking- the formal language (big words, long sentences, serious tone, etc) academics are fond
16、of using.,Detailed Discussion,In proceeding toward this unpleasant conclusion I have not guessed or speculated or conjectured, but have used what is commonly called the scientific method.(Para2)In coming to this conclusion, I have not just guessed, but have used the so-called scientific method.to pr
17、oceed toward a conclusion: in the process of /on the way to coming to a conclusionto speculate and conjecture: The three verbs to guess, to speculate and to conjecture mean very much the same thing. They are used in a row to give emphasis and to make it sound academic.what is commonly called the sci
18、entific method: a method of research in which a hypothesis, formulated after systematic and objective collection of data, is tested empirically. (Noting that the author is imitating the style of scientific papers for fun.),That is to say, I have subjected every postulate that presented it self to th
19、e crucial test of actual experiment. (Para2)In other words, I have put every theory or hypothesis there is to the decisive test of actual experiment.,to subject sth/sb to sth: to cause sb/sth to undergo or experience sth unpleasant or difficult and often for a long time, e.g.The desertification subj
20、ected people living in that area to great hardship. postulate: (fml) assumption; theory; hypothesisthat presented itself: that happens or exists, e.g.When the opportunity presents itself you must seize it at once.I think they are still waiting for a more favorable situation to present itself.,Some o
21、f my experiments were quite curious. In the course of my reading, I had come across a case where, many years ago, some hunters on our Great Plains organized a buffalo hunt for the entertainment of an English earl- that, and to provide some fresh meat for his table.(Para3),the Great Plains: an area o
22、f west central North America between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River. Inhabited first by nomadic Indians known as Buffalo Indians, the Plains were settled by white ranchers in the 1860s.earl: a title of British nobility, equal to the French countCompare: duke ; marquis; earl (court); v
23、iscount; baronthat, and to provide some fresh meat for his table: “That” is in apposition to “for the entertainment of an English earl”.,In order to determine the difference between an anaconda and an earl- if any- I caused seven young calvesto be turned into the anacondas cage.(Para3),if any: sued
24、to suggest there is no difference to cause seven young calves to be turned into: to have seven calves turned into the anacondas cage (implying that it was done by assistants) calf: (plural: calves) a young cow, bull or elephant,Also:lamb: a young sheep kitten: a young kittenduckling: a young duckcub
25、: a young wolf, bearor lionchick: a young chicken or birdpiglet: a young pigfoal/colt: a young horsegosling: a young goosekid: a young goatpuppy: a young dog,I was aware that many men who have accumulated more millions of money than they can ever use have shown a rabid hunger for more, and have not
26、scrupled to cheat the ignorant and the helpless out of their poor savings in order to partially appease that appetite.(Para4),I knew that many men who have more money than they ever use have shown a mad desire to get more, and they have not hesitated to cheat poor people and steal their few savings
27、in order to satisfy that desire.,rapid: uncontrollable (Note: It is related to rabies, which is an acute, infectious and often fatal disease of dogs, also known as hydrophobia, transmitted by the bite of the infected animal.)to have not scrupled to do sth: to have not hesitated to do sth because of
28、troubled conscience or embarrassment from moral considerationsto cheat sb out of sth: to trick or deceive sb in order to get an advantage, e.g.to cheat sb out of his money or job or land, etcCompare: to talk sb out of sth; to trick sb out of sththe ignorant and helpless: the uneducated and powerless
29、 people; the poor laboring people in generalto appease: to satisfy or relieve (hunger, thirst, desire, etc.),Roosters keep harems, but it is by consent of their concubines; Men keep harems, but it is by brute force, privileged by atrocious laws which the other sex were allowed to hand in making.(Par
30、a6),consent: agreementbrute force: force that is entirely physical and instinctive (Brute is not as derogatory as brutal.)to allow sb no hand in doing sth: to deny sb the right to participate in doing sth,No - Man is the Animal that Blushes. He is the only one that does it or has occasion to.(Para8)
31、,No, man is not the only animal that laughs, but it is true that man is the animal that blushes. He is the only animal that does it or has the need to.to have occasion to do sth: to have the need or necessity to do sthNotice that Mark Twain is saying here that only man needs to blush because he cons
32、ciously does bad, immoral things.,the prior was subjected to unprintable mutilations. (Para9),to be subjected to: to be made to experience or go throughThe word subject comes from Latin subicere. Sub- means under and jacere means throw. To subject therefore means to bring under/ to put under.Compare
33、: to project (pro-: forth)to inject (in-: in)to reject (re-: back or away)to eject (e-: out)to deject (de-: down), in the first Richards time he shuts up a multitude of Jew families in a tower and sets fire to it; (Para9),the first Richard: Richard , King of England (See Notes to the Text.)to set fi
34、re to: to make sth start burningNotice that it does not mean the same as “ to make/light a fire” or “to build a fire”.Note also that when used as an adjective, Jewish is preferred to Jew.,The higher animals engage in individual fights, but never in organized masses. Man is the only one that deals in
35、 the atrocity of atrocities, War. (Para10),The higher animals fight as individuals, but unlike man, they never fight wars. (They never organize armies to fight each other.)to engage in: to participate into deal in: to be occupied inthe atrocity of atrocities: the greatest or the worst atrocity,The c
36、at is moderate unhumanly moderate, she doesnt dig out its eyes, or drive splinters under its nails-man-fashion; when she is done playing with it, she makes a sudden mean of it and puts it out of its trouble.(Para9),unhumanly moderate: reasonable, not so violate, not so excessive or extreme, unlike h
37、uman beings ( Unhuman is not to be mixed up with inhuman. It is actually a word coined by the writer.)man-fashion: like man; as man doesto be done doing sth: to finish doing sthto make a meal of: to eat it upto put sb out of his trouble: to end sbs trouble,Man is the only Patriot. He sets himself ap
38、art in his own country, under his own flag, and sneers at the other nations, keeps multitudinous uniformed assassins on hand at heavy expense to grab slices of other peoples countries. (Para13),It is claimed that man is the only Patriot. Only man is capable of such a noble sentiment. But what does i
39、t mean? It simply means that he keeps himself away from others, occupies a piece of flag and gathers together a group of killers and steals land from others. Mark Twain was bitterly against colonialist and imperialist wars of his time, which were usually fought under patriotic slogans. This made him
40、 extremely contemptuous about patriotism.,to set oneself apart from: to make oneself feel that he is different form and better than other peopleto sneer at: to scorn at; to mock at; to laugh at contemptuouslyuniformed assassins: murderers in uniform (This is Twains contemptuous term for army soldier
41、s.)on hand: available; close by and ready for use (By “keeps multitudinous uniformed assassins on hand”, Mark Twain is sarcastically referring to the practice of keeping a standing army.)at heavy expense: costing a lot of money, and in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hand
42、s and works for “ the universal brotherhood of man”- with his mouth. (Para13), and when they are not fighting each other, they will start talking about peace and universal brotherhood, but without any sincerity. Man, according to Mark Twain, is not only cruel and warlike, but also hypocritical.to wo
43、rk for with his mouth: to pay lip service to; to give empty promises tothe universal brotherhood of man: the idea that all living human beings are brothers and sisters to each other 四海之内皆兄弟的思想；博爱Note that the word man = humankind (men and women). The word brotherhood also includes women in this sens
44、e.,These Reasoning Animals had disagreed on a theological detail and carried the matter to a Higher Court. (Para17),These so-called reasoning animals had had a quarrel over a minor point it theology and had decided to go to Heaven (to kill each other) to ask God to settle the matter.Higher Court: pe
45、ople who believe in Christianity often think that there is a higher court than all courts created by human beings, which is in Heaven, with God as the supreme justice.,And so I find that we have descended and degenerated, from some far ancestor some microscopic atom wandering at its pleasure between
46、 the mighty horizons of a drop of water perhaps down the long highway of perfect innocence, till(Para17),And so I find that without knowing it, we have descended and deteriorated from our ancestor- some tiny atom which moved about freely and happily in the huge world of a drop of water perhaps perfe
47、ctly innocent during this long process of change until we have fallen to the bottom, to the lowest stage of our development and become human beings.,to do sth at ones own pleasure: to do sth when you want tomicroscopic: extremely small; only seen under a microscopemighty: awesomely huge,the long hig
48、hway of perfect innocence: the long process of our change from on insect into another, one animal into another and one reptile into another, all completely innocent, until we become human beings and lose all our innocence,Writing Skills,Alliteration: e.g. 1. He was gay and gabby and glowing in the w
49、armth of his friends affection.2. She was penny wise and pound foolish.,Rhyme: e.g. 1. Women in those days were usually the last to be hired but the first to be fired.2.Walk groundly, talk profoundly, drink roundly, sleep soundly. - William Hazlitt (1778- 1830),Assignments:,1. Tell the class what impresses you most in this text and why. Review the previous lessons and prepare for the final test.,References:,http:/ official website of Mark Twain) http:/ Damned Human Race music website),
