1、Advanced English,Unit 6,Mark Twain-Mirror of America,Book 1,Tasks,Pre-reading questions Background knowledge Macro-structure of the text Detailed Study of the text Rhetoric devices Follow-up discussion Exercise and homework,Pre-reading QuestionsHow do you understand the title? What do you know about
2、 Mark Twain?,1. “Mirror” here means a person who gives a true representation or description of the country. 2. Generally speaking, all literary giants in human history are also great historians, thinkers and philosophers. Their works often reveal more truth than many political essays. 3. Mark Twain
3、was one of these giants, and his life and works are a mirror of America of his time.,Mirror,Advanced English,Real Name Meaning Life Works Assessment,Mark Twain: (1835-1910) Samuel Langhorne Clemens,Two Fathoms deep the depth of water necessary for the steamer boats to pass safely,Early life experien
4、ce,Boy 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,Mark Twain (1835-1910),He was born the 30th of November 1835, in the vil
5、lage of Florida, Monroe County, Missouri. Sam had relatively little schooling. After his fathers death, he had to help the family by taking up odd jobs. He left school at 13 and became a full-time apprentice to a printer . At 18, he became a tramp printer .,On his way down the Mississippi , he ran o
6、ut of funds and was persuaded by a steamboat pilot to become his apprenticeHe found his life during this period both instructive and interesting. Later he was to say, ”I got personally and familiarly acquainted with about all the different types of human nature”,Later, Twain worked as a licensed Mis
7、sissippi riverboat pilot, adopting his name from the call used when sounding river shallows. After the Civil War brought an end to the steamboat traffic, Clemens moved to Virginia City. On February 3, 1863, Mark Twain was born when he signed a humorous travel account with his new name.,There were ru
8、mors about fortunes to be made in Nevada and California. He tried prospecting , mining, speculating, but failed . It was in Virginia City on February 3,1863,that “Mark Twain” was born when Clemens, then 27,signed a humorous travel account with that pseudonym. In 1865, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of
9、Calaveras County was published and became an immediate success.,In 1864 Twain went to San Francisco to work as a reporter. He traveled in France and Italy and his experiences were recorded in 1869 in THE INNOCENTS ABROAD, which brought him wide popularity, and made fun at both American and European
10、prejudices and manners. He married in 1870,and moved to Hartford, Conn., where he lived his most productive years (till 1891).The move was a turning point in his life. Tom Sawyer was written in 1876; Huckleberry Finn in 1884.,Clemenss house in Hartford,He invested largely on his own printing shop an
11、d became bankrupt. Heavily in debt ,he made a lecturing tour abroad and succeeded in paying all his debts, but ruined his own health. In this period occurred the deaths of his son, daughters and wife.,The death of his wife and his second daughter brought a sense of gloom in the authors later years,
12、which is seen in writings and his autobiography. Twain died on April 21, 1910.,Grave of Mark Twain Woodlawn Cemetery, Elmira, NY,II. Relevant Literary Background Material,Local Colorism The vogue of local color fiction was the logical culmination of a long, progressive development. It was the outgro
13、wth of historical and aesthetic forces that had been gathering energy since early nineteenth century. Local Colorism refers to the elements which characterize a local culture, elements such as speech, customs and mores peculiar to one particular place.It covers physical setting and those distinctive
14、 qualities of landscape which condition human thought and behavior.,Local colorists concerned themselves with presenting and interpreting the local character of their regions. Mark Twain was a typical one of them. He dealt largely with the lower strata of society. He preferred to represent social li
15、fe through portraits of local places which he knew best. By quoting from his own experience, Mark Twain managed to transform into art the freedom and humor, in short, the finest elements of western culture.,One of Mark Twains significant contribution to American literature lies in the fact that he m
16、ade colloquial speech an accepted, respectable literary medium in the literary history of the country.Mark Twain loved life and people and freedom and justice, felt a pride in human dignity and advocated brotherhood of man. He hated tyranny and iniquity, despised meanness and cruelty, and took his r
17、ole as a social critic in a serious and reasonable manner.,Mark Twain was a friend of the Chinese. He was not indifferent either to the Chinese immigrants persecuted in America or to a China suffering intense agonies of humiliation and dismemberment by imperialist powers.Mark Twain should be remembe
18、red both as a great literary artist and a great social critic in the history of the United States.,Main Works,The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn,Other Works,The Prince and the Pauper The Cop and the Anthem Running for Governor The 1,000,000 Bank-Note The Innocents Abroad
19、The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County The Gilded Age,A Brief Assessment Remarks: Mark Twain is a part of America. His personal success and failure were those of America. He moved, along with America, from innocence to experience. Ernest Hemingway : All modern American literature comes from
20、 one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. . There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since.,Gilded Age By 1870, not only the role of women was being challenged. Industrialists, corporations, utilities, bankers, and brokers were increasingly viewed as an enemy by the working cl
21、ass, whose wages had stagnated while men who were already millionaires got richer. Failed land deals, speculation, and corruption were prevalent. Many workers went from being independent tradesmen to being wage laborers concentrated in large factories.,Millions of immigrants swelled the population o
22、f U.S. cities and began to compete for jobs. Labor unions were born to represent these angry and beleaguered workers.Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner captured some of this turmoil in a book on which they collaborated, The Gilded Age, a tale of corruption and failed land deals and a loss of innoc
23、ence. The books title was often used to describe this period.,Gilded Age,Gold Rush,The California Gold Rush (1848 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.,Advanced English,
24、Macro-structure,Structural analysis Part 1: (the first para.) Introduction The first paragraph serves as an 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 s
25、ome rhetorical devices to illustrate the picture, and some very emphatic adjectives, adverbs, such as eternal, endless, every bit, profound, etc. The fist paragraph is highly conclusive.,Rhtorical Devices,Metaphor Simile Hyperbole Parallelism Personification Antithesis Euphemism Alliteration Metonym
26、y synecdoche,III. Detailed study of the text:,1. Mirror of America: A mirror reflects or reveals the truth of something or somebody.,III. Detailed study of the text:,2. Most Americans remember Mark Twain as the father. Father: metaphor. Endless: hyperbole. The whole sentence: parallelism.,III. Detai
27、led study of the text:,3. idyllic: i / ai a simple happy period of life, often in the country an idyllic setting, holiday, marriage,Detailed study of the text:,4. 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
28、a constant speed that is comfortable and unhurried. Idyllic cruise 诗情画意的旅程,Detailed study of the text:,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 cruiser: a large fast warship.,III. Detailed study of the
29、 text:,Mark Twain is famous to most Americans as the creator of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. Hucks sailing / travel on the river was so light-hearted, carefree and peaceful that it made his boyhood seem to be infinite, while Toms independent mind and his exciting and dangerous activities made the summe
30、r seem everlasting.,Detailed study of the text:,5. every bit asas: infml, just asas, quite asas He is every bit as clever as you are. Im every bit as sorry about it as you.,Adventure： Mark Twain was adventurous in every sense of the word. He was trying new things, and always going to new places. Eve
31、n in his literary career, he was never satisfied with what he had achieved. Patriotic: His profound love for his country with its robust people and beautiful scenery and its lofty ideals; it also refers to his pride in the American traditions and American language.,Detailed study of the text:,6. cyn
32、ical: A cynical person believes that all men are selfish. He sees little or no good in anything and shows this by making unkind and unfair remarks about people and things.,Detailed study of the text:,cynic: n. a person who believes that people do not do things for good, sincere or noble reasons, but
33、 only for their own advantage a cynical remark, attitude, smile Theyve grown rather cynical about democracy, ie no longer believe that it is an honest system.,Detailed study of the text:,7. deal, dealt: to give , to give out, to strike, to distribute Who deals the cards next? to deal sb. a blow,Deta
34、iled study of the text:,8. obsess: to worry continuously and unnecessarily. If sth. obsesses you or if you are obsessed with it or by it, you keep thinking about it over a long period of time, and find it difficult to think about anything else. She is obsessed by the desire to become a great actress
35、.,Detailed study of the text:,9. frailty: a weakness of character or behaviour. 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.,a man who became abscessed with the frailties Para: a ma
36、n who was continually distressed by the moral weakness of human race.,I found another Twain as well-one who grew cynical, bitter, obsessed with the frailties of the human race, who saw clearly a black wall of night. 但我还发现还有另一个不同的马克吐温-以份额由于深受人生悲剧打击而变得愤世嫉俗，尖酸刻薄的马克吐温，为一个人类品质上的弱点而忧心忡忡，明显地看到前途是一片黑暗的人。 A
37、black wall of night (metaphor) Hopelessness and despair,Part 2: (Tramp printerrenew our edges) para.2-19 Section 1. (Tramp printerthe settled United States) para. 2-3 -the setting, background knowledge Section 2 (Young Markthat invented retreating) para. 4-6 -early years of life on the Mississippi a
38、nd as a Confederate guerrilla,Section 3 (He went westbest-seller) para.7-13 -On his way to success Section 4 (At the agerenew our edges) para. 14-19 -Comment on his best works,Detailed study of the text:,10. tramp: a person who has no home or permanent job and very little money. A woman who is thoug
39、ht to have sex with a lot of men is cursed to be a tramp Theres a tramp at the door begging for food.,Detailed study of the text:,11. pilot: a person who with special knowledge of a particular stretch of water, esp. the entrance of a harbour, and who is trained and specially employed to go on board
40、and guide ships that use it.,Detailed study of the text:,14. prospector: a person who examines the land in order to find gold, oil, etc. 15. starry: full of stars in the sky, indicating sparkling, glowing, and flashing. 布满星星的，闪闪发光的，不切实际的,Detailed study of the text:,starry-eyed: full of unreasonable
41、or silly hopes. If you are starry-eyed, you are so full of dreams or hopes or idealistic thoughts that you do not see how things really are. Starry-eyed optimist 耽于幻想的乐天派 We were all starry-eyed about visiting London.,Detailed study of the text:,16. acid-tongued: If sb. is acid-tongued, he makes unk
42、ind or critical remarks. 语言剑客的讽刺家 White-haired; big-eared; bare-headed; long-nosed 17. range: to travel without any definite plan or destination Range across 浪迹,Detailed study of the text:,18. digest: If you digest information, you think about it, understand it, and remember it. The report contains
43、too much to digest at one reading. He reads rapidly but does not digest very much.,The new American experience: Mark lived in the stirring years in American history: -the American-Mexican War -the Civil War -the Golden-RUSH -the Westward Expansion -the rapid development of capitalism -and later the
44、emergence of imperialism,Detailed study of the text:,adopt: to take and use as ones own The US government decided to adopt a hard line towards terrorism. Having no children of their own they decided to adopt an orphan / dog. adopt a name, a custom, an idea, a style of dress,Detailed study of the tex
45、t:,cf: adept: (in sth); (at/in doing sth) Hes an adept in carpentry. adapt: make sth suitable for a new use, situation, etc. This novel has been adapted for TV from the Russian original. Our eyes slowly adapted to the dark.,Detailed study of the text:,signal: a sign, gesture, sound, etc. that convey
46、s a message a signal made with a red flag She flashed the torch as a signal. They signaled their discontent by refusing to vote. This is an event signaling a change in public opinion.,Detailed study of the text:,20. navigable: deep and wide enough to allow ships to travel 21. popularity: the quality
47、 of being well liked, favoured, or admired 22. attest: to show to be true, to give proof of, to declare solemnly Historic documents and ancient tombstones all attest to the fact that this is a historic battlefield.,Detailed study of the text:,23. artery: blood vessel that carries blood from the hear
48、t to the rest of the body 干线，要道 vein: any of the tubes carrying blood from all parts of the body to the heart,Detailed study of the text:,24. keel: a long bar along the bottom of a boat or ship from which the whole frame of the boat or ship is built up. 25. raft: floating platform made from large pi
49、eces of wood, oil-drums, etc, that are tied together. Also rubber raft.,Detailed study of the text:,26. the first major commerce 最重要的商品 27. lumber: tree trunks, logs or planks, timber,Detailed study of the text:,28. delta country: Delta is the 4th letter of the Greek alphabet, which is shaped like a
50、 triangle. Therefore anything in the shape of a delta, esp. a deposit of sand and soil formed at the mouth of some rivers is called a delta.,Detailed study of the text:,29. molasses: a thick dark to light brown syrup that is separated from raw sugar cf: syrup: a thick sticky solution of sugar and water, often flavoured 糖浆,
