Lesson Ten

The Green Banana

Donald Batchelder

Introduction to the background knowledge

The structure of the text

Detailed discussion of the text

Conclusion of the text

Assignment

Teaching Procedures

Author and the text

The text is taken from Beyond Experience: An Experiential Approach to Cross-cultural Education edited by Donald Batchelder and Elizabeth G. Warner in 1974. When the second edition of the book was published in 1993, Batchelder explained his view on cross-cultural education:

Author and the text

“If some of the goals of education in modern times are to open up possibilities for discovery and expand learning and the chance for mutual acceptance and recognition in a wider world, it may be important to offer students a perspective on their own immediate center of the world by enabling them to participate sensitively as cross-cultural sojourners to the center of someone else’s world.”

The structure of the text

Part 1 (paras. 1—

4):

The story of the “green bananas”

Part 2 (paras.5-8): What the author learned:We should

respect all civilizations in the world.

Detailed Discussion of the Text

What is “learning moments”? Have you ever experienced “learning moments”? Have you ever heard of or encountered the experience of cultural differences? List the examples.The occasion called for some show of recognition on my part. (para. 3) What does this sentence mean?… trying to show interest if not complete acceptance. (para. 3) Does the author agree with the villagers?

Detailed Discussion of the Text

… its time had come to meet my need. … It was my own time that had come, all in relation to it. (para. 5) “It was my own time” to do what? Why is it, in the author’s opinion, that many useful things remain unknown to us? Who is to blame?But once a conscious breakthrough to a second center is made, a lifelong perspective and collection can begin. (para. 7) What does he mean by the “second center”? Which is the first center? How can we make a conscious breakthrough to a second center? What does he mean by “perspective” and “collection”?

Detailed Discussion of the Text

My ancient jeep was straining up through beautiful countryside when the radiator began to leak. (para. 1) to strain: to try very hard radiator: the part of a car which prevents the

engine from getting too hot (散热器 ) When the radiator started to drip, my old jeep

was trying hard to climb up the mountain in the picturesque rural area.

Detailed Discussion of the Text

The over-heated engine forced me to stop at the next village, which consisted of a small store and a few houses that were scattered here and there. (para. 1) Due to the high temperature of the engine, I had

to stop at the next village, which contained a small shop and several houses that were loosely distributed.

Detailed Discussion of the Text

He patted me on the shoulder, assuring me that everything would work out. (para. 1) He patted my shoulder, confirming that all the

things would be resolved.

Detailed Discussion of the Text

Similarly:

1. to wound sb. in the leg= to wound one’s leg

2. to hit sb. at the back= to hit one’s back

Detailed Discussion of the Text

I did not ask them, though, as that would show my ignorance. (para. 2) However, I did not inquire about the reason,

since it would reveal my lack of knowledge.

Detailed Discussion of the Text

He, in turn, inspected me carefully, as if to make sure I grasped the significance of his statement. (para. 3) Then he examined me with great caution in the

way of ensuring that I understood the importance of his words.

Detailed Discussion of the Text

They then refilled my radiator and gave me extra bananas to take along in case my radiator should give me trouble again. (para. 4) Then my radiator was filled again by them and

I was provided with more bananas as a precaution my radiator should leak again.

Detailed Discussion of the Text

As a product of American education, I had never paid the slightest attention to the green banana, except to regard it as a fruit whose time had not yet come. (para. 5) As someone educated in the United States, I

naturally had never paid any attention to the green banana, except to take it as a fruit which was not yet ripe or which was not yet ready to be picked and eaten.

Detailed Discussion of the Text

It was my own time that had come, all in relation to it. (para. 5) It was me who had come to know the green

bananas, and everything connected with it. According to the author, every civilization has special geniuses (symbolized by the green banana), which have existed for many years. But they will not come to your notice and benefit you until and unless you are ready to go out and meet them.

Detailed Discussion of the Text

I had been wondering for some time about what educators like to call “learning moments”, and I now knew I had just experienced two of them at once. (para. 5) The two things that suddenly dawned on him are: the

fact that every civilization has wonderful treasure to share with others and the idea that every village, town, region or country has a right to regard itself as the center of the world.

Detailed Discussion of the Text

I had at first doubted their claim, as I knew for a fact that the center was located somewhere else in New England. (para. 6) The author obviously was born and brought up

in New England. Therefore he had always regarded it as the center of the world.

Detailed Discussion of the Text

The cultures of the world are full of unexpected green bananas with special value and meaning. (para. 8) The green bananas have become a symbol of

hidden treasures from every culture. For proper understanding of a piece of writing, it is often important to notice such symbolic language and to know what the symbols stand for.

Detailed Discussion of the Text

Question 6: In Para. 9, when Carlos offered Karen a lead part in a play, Karen said that she did not want to be funny. How do you interpret the girl’s words? Carlos promised the play was funny. But Karen quickly took the subject of “being funny” to be herself. From her response, we knew that Karen still thought she was a laughing stock of the others. Although Carlos had done a lot to change her appearance and her participation in activities, she had not achieved a complete transformation.

Conclusion of the text

The use of green bananas first is regarded as something to stop the leak of the jeep temporarily and then as a symbol of the unknown treasures of each civilization. The author believes that every nation has good things to offer to the rest of the world. It is therefore wrong to regard any nation as inferior. We should reject ethnocentrism and adopt cultural relativism.