1、Lesson 4 Nettles,Preparation: Author: Alice Munro She was born in Canada on 10 July 1931. She began writing in her teens. She published her first story in 1950 while a student at Western Ontario University. While at school, she also worked as waitress, tobacco picker and a library clerk.,Nearly all
2、of Alice Munros fiction is set in southwestern Ontario, but her reputation as a brilliant short-story writer goes far beyond the borders of her native Canada.,Her accessible, moving stories offer immediate pleasures while simultaneously exploring human complexities in what appear to be effortless re
3、-creations of everyday life. In one novel and eight collections of stories she has established herself as a major voice among fiction writers.,Alice Munro at Prize ceremony of 2004. (CP file photo),2. Cultural notes:,1 Ontario,Ontario,Ontario is Canadas second largest province, covering more than on
4、e million square kilometers, an area larger than France and Spain combined. More than 12 million people live in Ontario.,4. About the story “ Nettles”,The short story “ Nettles”, which first appeared in New Yorker in 2000, is included in this book. In this story, the author uses first person narrati
5、on. The plot of story evolves around a middle-aged womans reunion with a childhood boy friend in 1979, but it moves back and forth between past and present. Like most other stories by Munro, the leading actor is a woman.,The “I” in the story should not be taken as the author herself although the sub
6、ject matter of Munros stories has often developed from her own experience. Munro has explained in various interviews that her stories are not autobiographical, but she does claim an “emotional reality” for her relatively poor provincial southwestern Ontario town during the depression, going through
7、the rebelling,and idealism of adolescence, discovering sex, leaving home, falling in love, getting married, having children, getting divorced, and getting along in a variety of complicated relationships, all inform the fiction she creates. “Nettles” is no exception. Her fictional world ranges across
8、 the whole breadth of Canada, but her stories that take place in Ontario are rooted in adult memory.,II. Outline,Part 1(para. 1-2): Meeting again by chance in 1979 Part 2 (para. 3-15): Childhood memory, her friend, Mike. Part 3 (para. 16-93): The detailed story that happened in 1979 Part 4 (para 94-
9、95): conclusion- a new perception of love,III. Theme,Why does the author choose “Nettle” as the storys title? Life is not always smooth; love is not always sweet. Nettles are here and there in the journey of peoples life .,IV. Detailed Study of the Text,Part 1 (para.1-2) 1. Nettle:plants having stin
10、ging hairs that cause skin irritation on contact,Grasp the nettle: dealing with an unpleasant or painful situation firmly and without delay.,4. ketchup - thick spicy sauce made from tomatoes e.g. I enjoy the taste of the fresh ketchup.,Part 2: (para.3-15),1. pen n. :a fenced enclosure for animals; a
11、ny of various enclosures, such as a bullpen or playpen, used for a variety of purposes v. :to confine in or as if in a pen (= enclose),playpen: 婴儿用围栏,2. mug: n.,e.g. Bear mug Coffee mug He asked me to make him a mug of coffee. 他要我给他弄杯咖啡。 Ive Latin to take for the examination, I suppose I must mug it
12、 up somehow 我要考拉丁文了，我想我得临时抱一下佛脚了。,3. boarding house: a private house that provides accommodations and meals for paying guests (公寓） e.g. He had no wife and no home save his two-room office in a boarding house.,4. at hand: A) close by; near.B) soon in time; imminent e.g. I havent my photograph album a
13、t hand, but Ill show it to you later. 我的照像簿不在手边，以后我再拿给你看。 As the selling season is at hand, lots of fresh orders will pour in. 由于销售旺季即将来临，大量新订单会源源不断地涌来。,5. cab: a taxi can be called a cab, but here is a compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits. e.g. Shall we walk or take a cab? 我们走路
14、还是坐出租车？,6. racket: n. a loud and disturbing noise ( noise),A racket is a wooden paddle, as one used in table tennis. Here it refers to “loud noise” e.g. My neighbors are making an unholy racket. 我的邻居们吵闹得厉害。 The students kicked up no end of a racket in the street. 这些学生在街上大吵大闹.,7. sour: v. go sour or
15、spoil adj. having a sharp biting taste,e.g. The milk has turned sour. 这牛奶发酸了。 She gave me a sour look. 她狠狠地瞪了我一眼。 What a sour face she has! 她的脸色多难看！ Every white hath its black, and every sweet its sour. 谚有白必有黑，有甜必有苦；事物各有缺陷。,8. damp: adj. slightly wet; (= moist; moist),e.g. The clothes are damp with
16、perspiration. Her eyes were moist with tears. I dont like damp weather. 我不喜欢潮湿的天气。,9. skunk: n.,American cat-like animal typically ejecting an intensely malodorous fluid when startled;,10. Our farm was small nine acres: Nine acres are 54 mu. Owing to Canadas vast land, a farm of this size is conside
17、red rather small.,11. Each of the trees on the place had an attitude and presence the elm looked serene and oak threatening, the maples friendly, the hawthorn old and crabby:,In the eyes of the little girl, every tree existed like a person that had a distinct character. In the previous sentence the
18、narrator says that the farm was small enough for her to have explored every part of it. She was familiar with everything on the farm including the trees. The use of personification of the trees reveals the close and harmonious relationship between nature and the narrator.,12. serene: unaffected by d
19、isturbance; calm and unruffled e.g. The school campus is charmingly simple and serene. 恬静宜人的校园. She was always calm and serene. 她总是平静而安详 .,12. crabby - perversely irritable (= ill-tempered, bad-tempered)e.g. The crabby guy never said “No” ,whenever he came across difficulties.,13. stony: covered wit
20、h or full of stones,fall on stony ground 无效, 没有结果(象种子落在石头上一样, 来自圣经) e.g. Two of the tyres punctured on the stony road. 有两个车胎在碎石路上扎破了. Warnings about the disastrous effect on the environment fell on stony ground.,14. wade - walk (through relatively shallow water) e.g. Can we wade across the river to
21、the other side? No lives were lost, and we could wade ashore in safety. I finally waded through the dull book. 我终于啃完这本枯燥无味的书,15. scum: n. a covering of usu. unpleasant material that forms on the surface of liquid Scummy: adj. covered with scum e.g. Be careful of the scummy surface of the polluted po
22、nd. Look at that scummy table. Lets move to another one.,16. plow: (AmE) move in a way resembling that of a plow cutting into or going through the soil (= plough BriE.),e.g. The ship plowed through the water.,17. They might have followed the boys out but somehow when they have all got together , the
23、 game had taken shape: The subjunctive mood is used here, suggesting that the girls was not sure how the boys and girls got together, but she knew one way or another they had all got together and made up this game of war.,18. harassment: a feeling of intense annoyance caused by being tormented e.g.
24、Without him, travel is a bitter harassment.,19. take shape: to take on a distinctive form (= take form),e.g. Our plans began to take shape. The new building is beginning to take shape. After years hard working, a modern international port city landscape has taken shape.,20. call out - utter aloud; o
25、ften with surprise, horror, or joy (= cry out, shout),e.g. She did not call out because she wished to surprise him, and then she did.When I call out your name, there is nothing to fear coz I will be there ,21. dress - apply a bandage or medication to (care for, treat, bandage ) e.g. The nurses dress
26、 the victims wounds. We dress wounds and bandage injuries, busy all the afternoon.,22. There was a keen alarm when the cry came, a wire zinging through your whole body, fanatic feeling of devotion. : Both “a wire zinging through your whole body”, and “fanatic feeling of devotion” are in apposition t
27、o “a keen alarm”, further explaining what this “keen alarm” was like.,keen: intense or vivid; strong e.g. His entire body hungered for keen sensation, something exciting (Richard Wright) (他的整个身体渴望一种强烈的感觉，一些令人激动的事) Shes keen to get ahead in her career. 她热望在事业上出人头地.,Zing: v. move quickly, making a whi
28、stling noise; to be vivacious or lively(轻快,活泼) e.g. An arrow is zinging toward its target In the corner of a nice coffee bar, a chat between the newly married couple was zinging along .,fanatic: adj. marked by excessive enthusiasm for and intense devotion to a cause or idean. a person motivated by i
29、rrational enthusiasm (as for a cause )Hi, guy, anything may happen in this anti-logic fanatic world. My bother is a car fanatic. She is a ballet fanatic.,23. He lay limp and still while I pressed slimy large leaves to his forehead and throat and pulling out his shirt to his pale tender stomach, with
30、 its sweet and vulnerable belly button.: At this point of the game, the boy was supposed to be wounded, and by pressing slimy large leaves to his forehead, his throat and his stomach, the girl was pretending to dress his wounds.,24. disintegrate: break into parts or components; lose cohesion or unit
31、y e.g. The machine disintegrated. The group disintegrated after the leader died. disintegrate the enemy troops 瓦解敌军,25. resurrection: revival from inactivity and disuse (revival) e.g. He had a resurrection of hope. 他的希望复苏了。 With the joint efforts, the Asian economic resurrection started by the end o
32、f 1999.,26. Filthy adj: extremely dirty; covered with filth (=nasty; dirty, soiled, unclean),e.g. Our campus is clean and beautiful but the streets outside the campus are really filthy. The guy is always telling filthy jokes. 这家伙老是讲下流的笑话。 Isnt it a filthy day? 今天天气糟透了!,27. One morning, of course, th
33、e job was all finished, the well capped, the pump reinstated, the fresh water marveled at: 1) “Of course” is used to mean that it was natural for the job to be finished one day. When the job was finished, Mikes father would leave the farm and move onto another place for new jobs, and Mike would of c
34、ourse leave with his father.,The implied meaning of “of course” is that the girl had known this would happen sooner or later, but she wished that the time spent on the work would be prolonged so that Mike would not have to leave so soon. She had not expected his departure would come so soon.,2) marv
35、el at: be amazed at (= wonder) e.g. We marveled at the childs linguistic abilities. We marveled that they walked away unhurt from the car accident. (我们感到惊异的是他们竟安然无恙地逃离车祸) It was a real marvel that the baby was unhurt when he fell from the fifth floor. 那婴儿从五楼摔下来竟没受伤真是一个奇迹。 She works so hard in spite
36、of her illness: shes a marvel. 她带病努力工作, 真是难能可贵!,28. He liked to put ketchup on his bread:,The girl noticed this unusual eating habit of Mikes and remembered it. So when she “saw a man standing at the counter, making himself a ketchup sandwich”, in 1979, many years after the last saw each other, she
37、recognized Mike at once.,29. boom: v. n. to utter or give forth with a deep, resonant sound; to cause to grow or flourish; boost; e.g. Profit multiply in the boom year. 兴旺之年利润增长。 The clock began to boom out twelve. 时钟开始敲十二点。 We heard a hollow boom of thunder. 我们听到低沉的隆隆雷声。,30. line up: to arrange in
38、or form a line. e.g. The buildings all line up neatly. Customers lined up in front of the store. He is a busy man. He always has some urgent things lined up for him to do, let alone the routines.,31. Living as he did, in the hotel, he could just pack up and be gone: 1) Since he stayed in the hotel,
39、he could simply pack up and has disappeared.,2) gone: Gone is the past participle of go, used as an adjective. Something is gone when it has disappeared, or when it no longer exists. e.g. All the passion is now gone from his eyes. My youth has gone. 我的青春已不复存在。,32. How all my own territory would be a
40、ltered, as if a landside had gone through it and skimmed off all meaning except loss of Mike:,The implied meaning of this sentence is that the impact of Mikes leaving on my life was beyond my imagination. I didnt expect that Mikes leaving would have such a tremendous power that it would change the m
41、eaning of my existence completely. All my thoughts were about loss of Mike.,Here both words “ territory” and “ landslide” are used metaphorically, comparing her life experience to a territory and the great impact of Mikes departure to a devastating landslide.,33. A common name.,This is an elliptical
42、 sentence. The complete sentence would be: Mike was a common name.,34. My heart was beating in big thumps, like howls happening in my chest:I was so excited that my heart was bounding violently as if my chest was bursting with long loud cries.,35. howl - a long loud emotional utterance; the long pla
43、intive cry of a wolf e.g. He gave a howl of pain. The howl of the wolf made him horrified.,Part 3 (para. 1693),1. matron: A married woman or a widow, especially a mother of dignity, mature age, and established social position. (= lady, woman) e.g. I happened to met his mama, a nice matron with a dog
44、 walking in the park.,2. girlish - befitting or characteristic of a young girl e.g. The matron with girlish charm and sweet smiles was busy nodding to the guests around. Oh, the dress is too girlish for me to wear in office.,3. flush - rinse, clean, or empty with a liquid e.g. The nurse flushed the
45、wound with antibiotics Dont forget to flush the toilet before leaving.,4. throw up: eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth (= vomit) e.g. After drinking too much, the man threw up in the street. The patient threw up the food last night.,5. dovetail - fit together tightly, as if by means
46、 of a dovetail e.g. How well do these newideas dovetail into the existing system? 这些新意识与现存体 制吻合得如何？,6. reel: to feel dizzy e.g. My head reeled with the facts and figures. Dozens of opportunities suddenly opened up, and my mind was reeling.,7. stoke: to eat steadily and in large quantities e.g. Befor
47、e going out into the cold, we stoked up on ( = filled our stomachs with) porridge and bacon and eggs.,8. rampage: an outbreak of violent or raging behavior Here “launch out on a rampage of talk” means to started to say ones say or to talk freely and to ones hearts content or to get something off one
48、s chest. (畅所欲言; 海阔天空地聊) e.g. The captured tiger was on the rampage for several days 捕获的老虎几天来一直处于狂躁不安中。,9. forgo: to do without, give up e.g. Ill have to forgo my vacation in order to attend a summer Chinese course 为了参加暑期中文班我只好放弃暑假。 She decided to forgo dessert for a few days 她决定几天不吃甜点心。,10. keep tra
49、ck of: keep contact with e.g. As a doctor James has to keep track of the latest developments in medicine. 作为一名医生，詹姆斯必须了解医学的最新发展动态。 He reads the newspapers to keep track of current events. 他阅读报纸以了解时事. Please ask if you cannot keep track of what Im telling you 如果你们听不懂我所讲的话，请提问。,11. discreditable: tend
50、ing to bring discredit or disrepute; blameworthy (disreputable) e.g. His marks were not at all discreditable .,11. During that time of life that is supposed to be a reproductive daze, with the womens mind all swamped by maternal juices, we were still compelled to discuss Simone de Beauvior and Arthur Koestler and “ The Cocktail Party”:,
