btlew part three enter lesson 13- in my day btlew text appreciation i.text analysis 1. themetheme 2....

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Part ThreePart Three

ENTER

Lesson 13- In My Day

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Text Text AppreciatioAppreciationn

I. Text analysis

1. Theme

2. Text structure

3. General analysis

4. Further questions on appreciation

II. Writing devices1. Parallelism2. Repetition

III. Sentence paraphrase


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I.I. Text AnalysisText Analysis

It is the responsibility of both parents and children to bridge the generation gap. On the one hand, young people should have more interest and respect of what their parents stand for. On the other hand, old people should show understanding to young people’s great interest in the future.

Theme of the story

The end of Theme.

Lesson 13—In My Day

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Part 1 (paras.1— ) about:

Part 2 (paras. ) about:

Part 3 (paras. ) about:


Structure of the text

45

46-53

54-55

Understanding of a mother from a son’s point of view

Understanding of children from a father’s point of view

Meeting of the two views

The end of Structure.


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I.I. Text AnalysisText AnalysisWhat was the character of the mother when she was young?

I tell people exactly what’s on my mind, …

life was combat, and victory was not to the lazy, the timed, the drugstore cowboy, …

Scan the text and list out the related information.

To be continued on the next page.

straight- forward

strong-willed

She was a formidable woman, determined to speak her mind, determined to have her way, …

energetic

never defeated by life

She had hurled herself at life with an energy that made her seem always on the run.


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The mother was always on the run and working hard because she believed that hard working is the necessary part of one’s life. Life was a struggle, a fight, a battle for survival, for salvation, and for the glory of God. Only by hard working can one be successful in the end. Those who were lazy, timid, loitering and afraid to tell others the true feelings were losers of the life.



Question: What values do you think were reflected in the mother’s way of life when she was young?

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I.I. Text AnalysisText AnalysisHow did the author react to his mother’s

senility from a son’s point of view? Scan the text and list out the related information.

at the beginning

later

I could not accept the inevitable.

My impulse was to argue her back to reality.

I soon stopped trying to argue her back to what I considered the real world.

(I) tried to travel along with her on those fantastic journeys into the past.



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At the beginning, he tried to argue his mother back to reality from his point of view because he believed that his mother being a normal person would be better for her and her family. But later when he began to look at it from his mother’s point of view, he understood his mother was much happier when she could travel back to her childhood when she was loved and needed. So he would like to travel along with her into her past and understood his mother more.



Question: What made the author change his reaction to his mother’s senility?

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I.I. Text AnalysisText AnalysisHow did the author understand the relationship with his children from a father’s point of view?

Scan the text and list out the related information.

in the past

now

I had developed the habit of lecturing them on the harshness of life in my day.

I tried to break the habit, but must have failed.

Between us there was a dispute about time.



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It is one of the reasons why there is generation gap between parents and children. The parents always like to talk about their past to the children because that was once their “future” they dreamed of and struggled for. But for the children, they are indifferent to the parents’ “future” because it is past for them. They are now dreaming for their future. This is the dispute of time.

The end of General Analysis.


Question: What does the author mean by “a dispute about time”? (53)

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What happened to the author’s mother at the age of 80? What became of her after her “last” fall?

What exactly is the problem with his mother?

What kind of a woman was the author’s mother when she was young?

Was she happy when she was young? Is she happy now? What are her main complaints?


Further questions on appreciation



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Does the author feel that he has been a good son?

What do you think he is trying to say when he hopes that he can step into his mother’s time machine?

How does the author understand the generation gap? What’s his advice to the younger generation?


Further questions on appreciation

The end of Further Questions.

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II.II. Writing Writing DevicesDevices

Parallelism and Repetition

Parallel structure means using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance. This can happen at the word, phrase, or clause level.

And so she was, a formidable woman, determined to speak her mind, determined to have her way, determined to bend those who opposed her. (14)

repetition


Example from the text


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Parallelism and Repetition

She ran after chickens, … She ran when she

made the beds, ran when she set the table. …

she ran. (15)

Repetition is a major rhetorical strategy for producing emphasis, clarity, amplification, or emotional effect.

parallelism


Parallelism more examples

Repetition more examples


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Parallelism: more examples

1. Words and phrases

• Not Parallel: The teacher said that he was a poor student because he waited until the last minute to study for the exam, completed his lab problems in a careless manner, and his motivation was low.

• Parallel: The teacher said that he was a poor student because he waited until the last minute to study for the exam, completed his lab problems in a careless manner, and lacked motivation.


Don’t mix forms.


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2. clauses

• Not Parallel: The salesman expected that he would present his product at the meeting, that there would be time for him to show his slide presentation, and that questions would be asked by prospective buyers (passive).

• Parallel: The salesman expected that he would present his product at the meeting, that there would be time for him to show his slide presentation, and that prospective buyers would ask him questions.



A parallel structure that begins with clauses must keep on with clauses. Changing to another pattern or changing the voice of the verb(from active to passive or vice versa) will break the parallelism.

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3. Lists after a colon• Not Parallel: The dictionary can be used for these

purposes: to find word meanings, pronunciations, correct spellings, and looking up irregular verbs.

• Parallel: The dictionary can be used for these purposes: to find word meanings, pronunciations, correct spellings, and irregular verbs.

Be sure to keep all the elements in a list in the same

form.



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Repetition: more examples

• Would you please please please please

please please please stop talking.

(Ernest Hemingway, Hills Like Whites Elephants)

• It’s like a windfall, like a godsend, like an

unexpected piece of luck. (Joseph Conrad, Youth)



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Repetition: more examples

There are words like FreedomSweet and wonderful to say.On my heartstrings freedom singsAll day everyday.

There are words like libertyThat almost make me cry.If you had known what I knowYou would know why.

James Langston Hughes, Words Like Freedom


The end of Writing Devices.

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III.III. Sentence Sentence Paraphrase 1Paraphrase 1

Through all this she lay in bed but moved

across time, traveling among the dead decades

with a speed and ease beyond the gift of

physical science. (1)

… traveling among the decades that had gone quickly, so quickly and easily that it defied science.

the present participle phrase

as adverbial of attending circumstances

More examples

go to 2

ability, talent


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III.III. Sentence Sentence Paraphrase Paraphrase

1. He entered college at the age of

eighteen, graduating four years

later as head of his class.

2. Teams of sweepers with twig

brooms move along in unison,

sweeping the water away.

back to 1


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She gazed at this improbably overgrown figure out of an inconceivable future and promptly dismissed it. (4)

She could not conceive of the future when here little Russell would be that tall and big. Therefore she immediately put that thought out of her mind.

go to 3

to grow beyond normal size

impossible to comprehend

or grasp fully to refuse to accept that something might be true


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It showed in that angry challenging thrust of the chin when she issued an opinion, and a great one she had always been for issuing opinions. (10)

When she expressed an opinion, her chin would come forward which made her look angry and defiant. She liked to give her opinion and was never afraid of speaking her mind.

a quick hard push Inversion, showing

emphasis

go to 4


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Life was combat, and victory was not to the lazy, the timid, the drugstore cowboy, the mush-mouth afraid to tell people exactly what was on his mind. (15)

one who wears cowboy’s clothes but has had no experience as a cowboy; a loafer who loiters on street or in drugstores

excessively sentimental person

go to 5


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For ten years or more the ferocity with which she had once attacked life had been turning to a rage against the weakness, the boredom, and the absence of love that too much age had brought her. (38)

a very strong feeling of anger

She once attacked life with fierceness, but now it was gone. In its place was an uncontrollable anger. she was angry about her declining health, her boredom and her loneliness.

relative clause (preposition

+relative pronoun) modifying “ferocity”

go to 6


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I… had written her with some banal advice to look for the silver lining, to count her blessings instead of burdening others with her miseries. (39)

to think about the good things that have happened to her

I had written to my mother, advising her to think about the pleasant and good times and about how lucky and cheerful she had once been. I told her not to complain and have other people worry about her. go to 7

commonplace,

uninteresting a reason for thinking that the situation is not that bad


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This one was written out of a childish faith in the

eternal strength of parents, a naive belief that

age and wear would be overcome by an effort of

will, that all she needed was a good pep talk to

recharge a flagging spirit. (39)

damage done by continuous use for a long time

Parents would be strong and be able to take care of children forever.

two appositive clauses

go to 8

to put the new energy into the weaker spirit


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A world had lived and died, and though it was part of my blood and bone I knew little more about it than I knew of the world of the pharaohs. (45)

Though I was related to them, I knew very little about them. They lived in a world that was past and gone. They were as remote to me as the ancient Egyptian kings.

comparison: no more… than

go to 9

More examples



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III.III. Sentence Sentence ParaphraseParaphrase

back to 8

• I know no more Spanish than I know Greek.

我对西班牙语和希腊语同样不懂。

• The officials could see no more than the Emperor.

这些官员们与国王一样什么也没看到。


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The orbits of her mind rarely touched present interrogators for more than a moment. (45)

Metaphor: her way of thinking

She could seldom respond to the questions put to her today because her mind was moving in a different way.

go to 10


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If a parent does lift the curtain a bit, it is often only to stun the young with some exemplary tale of how much harder life was in the old days. (46)

a moral lesson

If a parent does tell his children a little bit about the past, he/she will usually just say how much harder life was in the old days.

Metaphor: lift the curtain of life and let you see a story serving as a model

go to 11


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It irritated me that their childhood should be, as I thought, so easy when my own had been, as I thought, so hard. (47)

used for describing a fact or event that someone has a particular feeling or opinion about ( 表达惊异或不以为然等情绪 )

go to 12

More examples



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III.III. Sentence Sentence Paraphrase Paraphrase

1. How sad that she should have no one to

comfort her.

2. It’s odd you should mention Ben—I was

just thinking about him.

3. It seems so unfair that this should

happen to me.


back to 11

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At dinner… a son offended me with an inadequate report card, …he gazed at me with an expression of unutterable resignation and said, … (52)

beyond description

acceptance of an unpleasant situation without complaining

go to 13

not good enough; not up to standard


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I was angry with him for that, but angrier with myself for having become one of those ancient bores whose highly selective memories of the past become transparently dishonest even to small children. (53)

old people who bore the young by endlessly teaching them moral lessons

Old people must have made mistakes in their time. But in order to set a good example for their children, they have to select what they consider would be suitable from their memories. go to 14


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When she was young, with life ahead of her, I had been her future and resented it. Instinctively, I wanted to break free, and cease being a creature defined by her time. (54)

When my mother was young, I was her future. But I didn’t like it. I wanted to be free and independent. I wanted to live my own life and did not want to live my life by my mother’s standards any longer.

go to 15


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These hopeless end-of-the–line visits with my mother made me wish I had not thrown off my own past so carelessly. (55)

visits paid to someone during the last stage of their life

Those last visits made me wish I had valued my past more, and had paid more attention to the world she represented.

subjunctive mood


The end of sentence paraphrase.

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