Lesson 12
Lions and tigers and bears
• 1. How do you like parks?
• 2. What does a park provide you with?
• 3. What is usually related to the parks?
I.I. Warming-up QsWarming-up Qs
• How do you think of crimes happening in parks? Do you think it is a safe place? If not, what will you do that may help to make it a better place?
If you should happen after dark
To find yourself in Central Park,
Ignore the paths that beckon you
And hurry, hurry to the zoo,
And creep into the tiger’s lair.
Frankly, you’ll be safer there.
Question: What does the poem try to tell us?
I.I. Warming-up QsWarming-up Qs
About the text
• An interesting travel article by Bill Buford for “The New Yorker.” He spent the night in the park and told of his adventures in “Lions and Tigers and Bears.” That piece is included in Best American Travel Writing 2000. The author combines his travel description with everything he has read, heard, observed and experience in connection with the place:
• his movement in the Central Park, the events and famous people associated with its history, the beauty of New York at night seen from its heart, the crime the park has witnessed and the fear it has inspired. The author writes in an engaging style, varying the pace as well as the tone of this narration with a charming rhythm.
Success Can Be Reached in Different Ways by People in Different Careers.
II.II. DictationDictation
Listen to the passage and fill
the missing words.
II.II. DictationDictation Different Media
LISTEN
With the introduction of radio, newspaper
publishers wondered how ___________would
affect them. Many feared that ____ as a quick
and easy means of keeping people ________
would displace the newspaper industry
altogether. Others hoped that the brief
newscast heard on the air would ________
listeners in the story so they’d buy the paper
to get more information.
broadcasting
radio
informed
stimulate
This second idea turned out to be _____ to the
truth. Radio and print were not __________ for
each other but actually supported each other. You
see the relationship between different _____ is not
always one of ___________ but can be one of
_____________.
II.II. DictationDictation
closer
substitutes
media
displacement
reinforcement
However this is not always the____. Take television and motion
pictures for example, with the _____________of TV, the motion
picture industry suffered greatly. Movie _________ dropped
when audience members chose to stay at home and be
_________. Likewise, when a football game was shown on the
air, the _______ were often empty because _____chose to watch
the game at home.
case
popularization
attendance
entertained
stands
fans
I. Founding Commissioners of Central Park
II. Central Park Location on Manhattan Map
III. Central Park History
IV. Central Park
Background Background InformationInformation
Central Park
• Central Park in New York City is built in 1857 and located in the center of Manhattan Island. It covers an area of 840 acres and is 2.5 miles long and 0.5 mile wide. There are 35 miles of walks and 10.25 miles of road and 5.5 miles of bridle path.
Manhattan Map
New York’s green rectangle
Central Park
the urban
wonders of the
world, a green
oasis in the
great concrete,
high-rise
landscape of
New York City
Central Park
For most New Yorkers,
Central Park is our
constant definition of
open space, room to run
and the romance of
reading under a tree. Free
and open to the public,
Central Park is our
citywide campus and our
common backyard.
“a garden for all as
private Eden”
Central Park
In Central Park
Roller skating
has always
been a popular
recreational
pastime.
Central Park
Lions
Para. 5
The Ramble
A bronze sculpture of panther crouched on a rock on the edge of Ramble. His name is Still Hunt.
Overlooking the East
Drive in Central Park, Still
Hunt is a reminder of the
smaller animals and birds
that can be found in the
Park.
Tigress and Cubs
Inside the Central Park Wildlife Conservation Center,
64th Street and Fifth Avenue
Central Park
Groups of Bears:
near Fifth Avenue
at 82nd Street
Central Park
Dicussion
• Do you know anything about the bite of China? What do you think attributes to its success?
• What’s the common way of organizing the travel writing?
• changing steps and landscapes
• 酒店处于群山环抱之中,空气清新怡人,处处鸟语花香,四季如春,移步换景。
• Surrounded by hills, the hotel feasts on fresh and pleasant air, bird chirps, flower fragrance, a weather that is like spring all the year round, and picturesque sceneries everywhere.
Text structure• Part 1 (Paras. ) :
• Part 2 (Paras. ) :
• Part 3 (Paras. ) :
• Part 3 (Paras. ) :
The author decided to camp in the Central Park .
The first or two hours and his feeling
and the fear Central Park inspired
Central Park history and another scare
My sleep over in the wood
1—2
3—6
7—12
13—25
Detailed study
• The author’s decision to camp in Central Park:
• When?
• Friday evening in July; 9:15
• Where?
• Who?
• The author
• What?• To spend the night in the CP• Why?• Human psychology—wishing to do sth.
precisely because it is something people normally don’t do.
• How?• by camping
Detailed Analysis (part 1)
Para. 1-2
stuff
• To stuff sth with sth else: to fill or overfill a container or space with sth
• She stuffed the fridge with food.
• She stuffed the food into the fridge.
• 他满脑子的愚蠢想法 .
• His head is stuffed with silly notions.
• Put that stuff over there.• Don't give me that stuff about being tired.• The team really showed its stuff and won
the championship.• A stuffed tiger• do one's stuff • 显身手• kids' stuff • 轻而易举的事情
curlExamples:
The hairdresser curled Mary’s hair.
She kept curling her handkerchief around one finger.
Smoke curled from the chimney.
A snake curled around the trunk of a tree.v. a) to form into a spiral or curved shape 卷曲,扭曲;缠绕 b) to grow in or form curls or ringlets (烟)缭绕升起;蜷曲
curl up
She curled her mouth up in anger.
卷起,撅起(嘴唇);
She curled herself up in the big armchair with a
good book.
(因恐惧、羞愧、厌恶)使蜷缩,扭曲身体
• Without any hesitation, she took off her shoes, _____ up her skirt and splashed across the stream.
• A.tucked
• B.revolved
• C.twisted
• D.curled
• Key: A
Drop off• to drop off: (infml) to start to sleep; doze off• 他总是在上课时打瞌睡。• He always dropped off to sleep in the
middle of lecture.• Cf: Can you drop me off at a supermarket?• Her friends dropped off into the shadows. • (逐个)走开,消失;放下,下降,掉
下
• drop off the edge of the earth
• ph. 人间蒸发 • drop off the hooks
• vi. 死
appeal
• If you want children to work hard you must _____ their interests instead of their sense of duty.
• A.appeal to
• B.look into
• C.give rise to
• D.go in for
• Key: A
• Generally, it is only when animals are trapped that they _____ to violence in order to escape.
• A.proceed
• B.appeal
• C.resort
• D.incline
• Key: C
Founding Commissioners of Central Park
Calvert Vaux Frederick Law OlmstedFrederick Law Olmsted
• The founding commissioners: the city officials who
were appointed to establish Central Park.
Commissioners are officials in government, esp.
those in charge of departments. The founding
commissioners of Central Park were the landscape
architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert
Vaux. The two designed and oversaw the first-
phase construction of the Park which began in
1858 and ended in 1878.
Founding Commissioners of Central Park
Robert Moses (1888—1981) was a New York state
and municipal official whose ambitious public works
projects of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s transformed
the urban landscape of New York City. He expanded
the State’s park system and built numerous parkways
and hundreds of new playgrounds and parks and
important highways, bridges and tunnels linking the
boroughs of New York City.
Founding Commissioners of Central Park
Moses preferred recreational facilities to the rural
scenery stressed by the English Romanticists, and an
ordered and symmetrical design in French Renaissance
style, evident in the southern Central Park. Therefore,
under Moses, Central Park gained 19 playgrounds, 12
ball-fields, handball courts, and the Woll-man Rink.
not to mention / without mentioning
更不必说 ······ ,除 ······ 以外还
We are served French champagne, not to
mention the usual cocktails.
David is handsome and smart, not to
mention being a good athlete.
Detailed Analysis (part 2)
Para. 3-6
The Delacorte Theatre
The Delacorte Theater
is the summer home of
the New York
Shakespeare Festival.
It’s a place to host
classical plays and
musicals.
During June, July and
August.
Para. 3
The open-air theater in Central Park that serves as home to free summertime performances which, during the months of June, July and August, include at least one Shakespeare production. The summertime performance are one of the New York City’s most beloved cultural events.
The Delacorte Theatre Para. 3
• The taming of the Shrew was written by Shakespeare in 1591 and probably the earliest of his comedies.
Synopsis
• Katherina isn’t top of Lucentio’s or Hortensio’s popularity list. Her sister Bianca is. But Bianca isn't on the market until Katherina gets hitched.
• Enter Petruchio, a Shrew Whisperer, intent on Katherina's dowry.
• Three men with just two women on their mind. But who will succeed? And who will complete the taming of the shrew?
stock
• Stock: usually kept in stock and regularly available
• 常备的• Intensive reading is one of our stock
courses.
• A stock phrase
• 口头禅
• There's a whole _____ of bills waiting to be paid.
• A. stock
• B. stack
• C. number
• D. sequence
• Key: B
In view
在能看见的范围内;在考虑中;在注意中Examples:
The sea came in view as we came out of the forest.
Dream pursuer has kept his goal in view.
• _____ his poor record in school, the board thinks that he should study hard.
• A. In spite of
• B. In charge of
• C. In view of
• D. In case of
• Key: C
• They came to inspect the house ____ buying it.
• A. in the event of• B. with a view to• C. with reference to• D. on account of • with a view to 意为“以…为目标;目的
是…”,后接动名词; in the event of 意为“如果…发生;万一”; with reference to 意为“关于,就…而论”;on account of 意为“因为,由于”。
• Language and thought may be viewed as two independent circles overlapping in some parts. When language and thought are identical or closely parallel to each other, we may regard thought as “subvocal speech,” and speech as “ _____ ”.
• A.vocal thought• B.subvocal thought• C.covert thought• D.overt thought• Key: D
in view of
鉴于,由于
to the view
在展出
with a view to
以 ······ 为目标
come in view of
出现在 ······视线中
come /burst into view
(突然)出现在眼前
disappear/be lost from view
看不见了
block/obstruct/shut off/spoil the view
挡住某人的视线
Belvedere Castle Para.3
To the south of Delacorte
Theater perched on Visa
Rock. As its name suggests,
the castle offers visitors a
wonderful panoramic
viewpoint.
It is now home to the Henry
Luce Nature Observatory, where
simple displays show how
naturalists observe the world.
Belvedere Castle
Para. 3Belvedere is Italian
for “beautiful
view”.
Shakespeare GardenPara. 4
Nestled between the
Delacorte Theater,
Belvedere Castle, and the
Swedish Cottage, it is a
garden dedicated to
Shakespeare in 1916, the
300th anniversary of his
death.
Para. 4
Shakespeare Garden
Following a Victorian tradition, only
flowers mentioned in Shakespeare’s
plays and poetry were planted in the
garden. Scattered throughout the
garden are bronze plaques with
Shakespearean quotations that
inspired the planting.
drift out
drift out
(口)不经意(慢吞吞)走出来,走开,离开
Example:
The smoke pall drifted out to reveal the
blackened shell of the building.
• The service operates 36 libraries throughout the country, while six ____ libraries specially serve the countryside.
• A. mobile• B. drifting• C. shifting• D. rotating• Key: A
come uponI came upon an old friend when I was
shopping in the store.
Fear came upon her as she waited
碰上,偶然遇上 ; 冲向,袭来• come upon the stage
• 进入社会
bolt
• vi. a) to run away quickly 猛冲,逃跑• b) to move; to break away 迅速移动• vt. c) to fasten with strong rods and bar 拴住,使 ······ 和在一块 d) to swallow food or drink hurriedly • 匆匆吞下,咽下
a) He bolted out of his house.
b) Eyes bolted towards the stranger.
c) He bolted the door on the inside.
d) He bolted down a hurried breakfast.
a bolt from (out of) the blue 晴天霹雳,意外的事
bolt upright 笔直
make a bolt (for it) 赶快逃走
stroll• Wander 和 ramble 强调没有固定路线或目标• They would go off together, rambling along the
river.• She wandered in the darkness, not knowing
where to go.• Roam 强调行动的自由性,通常指在一片广阔
的土地上• Herds of horses and cattle roamed at will over
the plain.
• Meander 表示轻闲地,有时是无目标地漫步走过一条不规则的或曲折的路线:
• He meandered to and fro, completely lost in his thought.
• vagabonds meandering through life
• Stroll 散步 ; 溜达 (at a leisurely pace)
• stroll in the park
• stroll the beach
• The interpreter gave only a ____ version of the old man’s long rambling account.
• A. minimum• B. tiny• C. condensed• D. compressed• 翻译对老人喋喋不休的描述只做了简要翻译。• condensed 意为“缩短的,缩写的”;
minimum 意为“最低的;最小的”; tiny 意为“极小的,微小的”; compressed 意为“压缩的;压紧的”,不能指语言。
obliterate
The heavy rain obliterated all footprints.
Anne was eager to obliterate her error.
They tried to obliterate the enemy’s bomb base.• 擦掉痕迹 ;• 忘记;• 消灭
The Ramble Para. 5
It is a 38-acre wild garden in
Central Park with rocky outcrops,
secluded glades and a tumbling
stream, built for visitors to stroll
in. With its intricate landscape
Olmsted called his creation,
ramble a "wild garden".
The Ramble
The Ramble is a sanctuary for as
many as 250 species of birds, with
the interlaced paths and hills,
countless trees, shrubs, meadows,
rocky cliffs and a winding stream.
It takes people with adventurous
spirit to hike in the Ramble.
Para. 5
Raccoons can
be seen
scurrying in the
underbrush.
The Ramble
Raccoon
Para. 5
To be continued on the next page.
Lions
Para. 5
The Ramble
A bronze sculpture of panther crouched on a rock on the edge of Ramble. His name is Still Hunt.
Overlooking the East
Drive in Central Park, Still
Hunt is a reminder of the
smaller animals and birds
that can be found in the
Park.
Background– New York Skyline
New York City has the world's
most recognized and inspiring
skyline—an icon of New York.
The best New York skyline
vantage points are on top of the
102-story Empire State Building.
Para. 5
New York Skyline at Night
Para. 5
Buildings soar upward.
To be continued on the next page.
The lake is the largest body of water (excluding the
Reservoir) in Central Park. It was created out of a
large swamp in the south of the Park and was
intended for boating in the summer and ice-skating
in the winter. Many visitors are content, however, to
circle the lake on foot, following the pathways that
wind along its shoreline, watching the Park’s tree-
line shifting in its reflection.
The Lake Para. 6
rowing boat
on the lake
in the
Central Park
The Lake
suspend
• As the workers went on strike, the company was obliged to suspend its operations.
• Such fine particles suspend readily in water.• They decided to suspend trade with that
country.• The policeman was suspended while the
complaint was investigated. • 暂停 ; 悬浮 ; 中止 ; 勒令停职
• Grain production in the world is _____ ,but still millions go hungry.
• A. staggering
• B. shrinking
• C. soaring
• D. suspending
• Key: C
• She intends to move that the committee ____ discussion on this issue.
• A. suspends• B. suspend• C. will suspend• D. suspended• 【句意】她想提议委员会暂时终止对这个问题的讨
论。• 本句中, move 后面加 that 从句时,从句中要求使用虚拟语气形式,即 (should)+ 动词原形。所以选项中只有 B) 对
bearing
• Her dignified bearing throughout the trial made everyone believe she was innocent.
• The pain was almost past bearing.• I saw a tombstone bearing the date 1602. • We must consider this question in all its bearings. • He is out of his bearings.
• Sometimes the student may be asked to write about his _____ to a certain book or article that has some bearing on the subject being studied.
• A. comment
• B. reaction
• C. impression
• D. comprehension
• Key: B
The Strawberry Fields
The tear-drop-shaped area
of parcel of park landscape
in the south of Central Park
planted with 125,000
strawberry. It is named
after the song Strawberry
Fields Forever in honor of
John Lennon (1940—1980),
member of the Beatles.
Para. 6
Phrases containing “rip”
• rip into• 猛烈攻击,抨击• She won the election campaign by ripping
into her opponent's political record.• rip out• 狠狠地发出• Rip out a vicious oath.
• rip off
• She ripped off a leather jacket while ostensibly trying on clothes.
• This false advertising campaign ripped off a great many consumers.
• 1. 偷窃 2. 剥削、诈取、欺骗 3. 撕掉• rip apart
• 把 ...扯破 / 开 , 把 ...弄得凌乱不堪• rip and tear
• 狂怒 ;胡闹
• No one can function properly if they are _____ of adequate sleep.
• A. deprived
• B. ripped
• C. stripped
• D. contrived
• Key: A
compulsive• They have done away with _____ Latin for
university entrance at Harvard.• A.influential• B.indispensable• C.compulsory• D.compulsive• E. compelling• Key: C
• compulsive
• 强迫的,上瘾的,难以抑制的 • compulsory
• 强制的,势在必行的,义务的 • compelling
• 引人注目的,紧迫的,令人信服的 ; 强迫的
受照顾;需要负责;可自由支配1. She has a large family on her hands.
她有许多子女要照顾。 2. 我手里有一所空房子要处理掉。
I have an empty house on my hands.
3.他有许多时间可自由支配。
He has got much time on his hands.
on one’s hands
at hand:
在附近,在手边
on hand:
现在,在手头;到场出席;即将发生
in hand:
手里拿着;在掌握中;(工作等)在进行中(讨究)
Detailed Analysis (part 3)
Para. 7-12
secluded
This is the quietest and most secluded area
of the city.
secluded life/monk/valley
v. seclude (from)
n. seclusion
adj. seclusive
隐居的,与世隔绝的; 僻静的
Translation
A French garden
spot• Can you ____ any smell of the
gaswhich is escaping?• A. discover• B. detect• C. find• D. spot• Key: B• detect 意为“察觉,发觉,发现”; discover 意为
“发现”,指偶然发现了已经存在那里很长时间的事物; find 意为“(通过努力)发现;发现…处于某种状态”; spot 意为“(尤用眼睛)察觉,认出,挑出,发现”。
rigid• We have watered down the rigid training.
• rigid discipline
• a table made of rigid plastic
• Their face are rigid for cold.
• 严格苛刻的 /呆板的,僵硬的 / 固执僵化的,刻板的 /刚硬的 , 刚性的
• Synonym:
• rigorous
v. / n. to shout in a loud high voice because you are frightened, excited, or surprised
Examples:
The woman trapped under the piles of debris
raised her voice to a shriek.
She shrieked an alarm at him.
Cf. shrill
shriek
Translation
尖叫,尖声叫喊
v. to give courage or confidence to sb.Examples:
在酒精的作用下,他勇敢地走过去同她讲话。
Emboldened by drink, he walked over to speak to
her.
Bold
a bold, impudent child.
Pay attention to the words in bold.
a bold handwriting.
embolden
Henry James
There are three elements in the architecture of Central Park.
• English Romanticism is characterized by the picturesque ideal to
blend with the natural environment. Central Park’s founding
commissioners Olmsted and Calvert Vaux were influenced by this
tradition. Their ideal was to allow New Yorkers to experience a
day in the pastoral country without leaving the island city.
• Another style is Classicism characterized by formal symmetry and
the use of straight lines, evident in the south end of the Park.
Central Park History
The Park was pressed for primarily by
wealthy merchants and landowners. In the
first decade after its completion, it was clearly
the playground of the wealthy. It was located
too far uptown to be within walking distance
for the city’s working class population.
Central Park History
• Until the late 19th century, workers comprised but a
fraction of the visitors to the Park when they launched
a successful campaign to have concerts held on
Sundays.
• Saturday afternoon concerts were for middle-class
audiences, for the six-day working week precluded
attendance by the working class.
III. Central Park History
• Indeed the concept of creating the park was originally
conceived by wealthy New Yorkers who admired the
public grounds of London and Paris. However, with the
maturing of the nation and the rise of its power, the
pride of Americanism gradually took the upper hand.
The author therefore describes the Park proudly as
efficient, purposeful and distinctive—neither romantic
nor classical, and neither English nor French, but
distinctively American.
III. Central Park History
• pat on the back
• A word or gesture of praise or approval:
• 赞扬或同意的话或手势:• 他因为工作干得出色而得到赞扬• He received a pat on the back for doing a
good job.
domain
• n. 领地,领域,范围, [ 数 ]域 • Military history is really outside my
domain.
• The kitchen is my wife's domain, she doesn't like me going into it.
• C.f. dominate dormant
• These causes produced the great change in the country that modernized the _____ of higher education from the mid-1860's to the mid-1880's.
• A. branch
• B. category
• C. domain
• D. scope
• Key: C
• Governments today play an increasingly larger role in the _____ of welfare, economics, and education.
• A. scopes
• B. ranges
• C. ranks
• D. domains
• Key: D
The Reservoir
Para. 11
Note
The Reservoir:
Located in the north part of Central Park, the
reservoir, with the 1.58 mile track round it, is a
favorite place for joggers, birdwatchers, and tourists
where they can enjoy some of the best views of the
New York City skyline.
The Reservoir
on the/a rampage
横冲直撞;暴跳如雷The escaped elephant was on the rampage for
two days.
The rioters went on a rampage and vandalized
many shops.
• The Central Park Jogger case involved an assault and rape that took place in New York City's Central Park on April 19, 1989. The victim was Trisha Meili. Five juvenile males were tried and convicted for the crime. The convictions were vacated in 2002 when another man claimed to have committed the crime alone and DNA evidence confirmed his involvement in the rape.
itinerary of the author
• http://www.centralparknyc.org/maps/
The Ramble ( 漫步园 )The West Side
Near the reservoir The Ninety-fifth Street
And …
A starlit night
Fragment
• You watched the sight from a bridge,
• As a sightseer watched you from a tower.
• The moon adorns your window,
• And you adorn another’s dream.
• --- 王佐良
Central Park West at Night
Para. 12
Another Aesthetic Experience
Para. 12
But there was no escaping the recognition that this city—contrived, man-made, glaringly obtrusive, consuming wasteful and staggering quantities of electricity and water and energy—was very beautiful. (Para. 12)
But there was no denying the fact (you have to
admit) that the city was very beautiful,
although it was not a natural kind of beauty, it
was artificial and showy, and it used up a great
amount of water and energy.
But there it was: the city at night, viewed from what meant to be an escape from it, shimmering. (Para. 12)
• People come to the Park to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. But it was precisely in the Park that day that I found the city at night was extremely beautiful.
There is no escaping/denying the recognition
that the city was very beautiful. (Para. 12)
• There is no verb.+ing…
There is no denying that…
There's no escaping being human.
(We can never escape who we are.)
There is no escaping the fact that he has lied.
(One cannot escape from the fact that he has lied.)
More examples:
There was no knowing how long he might be away.
There’s no telling when an outburst might come.
There’s no escaping mental stress these days. Life is
tough.
There is no denying the fact that these people
have a reason to be angry.
There is no arguing with someone who
refuses to listen.
He knew that from that day onward there was
no going back.
There was no mistaking his intention this
time.
shimmering: shining unevenly/seeming to
move slightly
other words denoting “to send forth light”
glimmer glisten glitter
sparkle twinkle flash
Everything about her shimmered and glimmered
softly, as if her dress had been woven out of candle-
beams.
The sweat glistened on his forehead.
jewels glittering in the display case
crystal glasses sparkling in the candlelight
a few stars, twinkling faintly in the deep blue of the
night sky
• Flash 指的是突然的、明亮的但短暂的发光:
• A bolt of lightning flashed across the horizon.
• Gleam 暗指在黑色的背景上不断出现的短暂亮光:
• “The light gleams an instant, then it's night once more” (Samuel Beckett).
• Sparkle 指一系列迅速闪动的高亮度小闪光
• crystal that sparkled in the candlelight;
• glitter 是具有更高亮度的相似的一系列光点
• glittering mirrors
• Glimmer 指的是微弱的、迅速消失的光
• glisten尤其指潮湿的物体上反映的有光泽的柔和光辉,如高山上积雪反射的光辉
• Round about, piles of lime-stone glistened in all the colours of the rainbow.
• Her eyes were glistening with tears.
• Twinkle 就是迅速地、间歇地发光或闪亮:
• “a few stars, twinkling faintly in the deep blue of the night sky” (Hugh Walpole).
Park’s West Drive
The North Woods
The Loch
The Empire State Building
(帝国大厦)
And …
North Woods
The North Woods are the dense woodlands covering the northwest Central Park from 101st to 110th Street.
Para. 13
wind one’s way
迂回而行,弯曲经过Examples:
The brook wound its way through the fields.
She wound her way into his confidence.
Cf. I took them into my confidence.
我对他们很信任。
• A bridle Path in Central Park
North Meadow
Para. 16
North Meadow
perplex The question perplexed him.
The boy perplexed his parents.
to perplex an issue
adj. perplexed/perplexing
n. perplexity
使困惑,使费解;使复杂化
scurry
It began to rain and we scurried home.
We heard mice scurrying about in the kitchen.
Dark clouds were being scurried across a grey
sky by the wind.
a scurry of footsteps in the passage 急促脚步声Huge snow scurries.
急赶,急转,疾走
Henry James
(1843-1916)
亨利•詹姆斯
Life storyBorn in a wealthy family ( New York )three siblings and a brother (second)Henry James, Sr.(father) a philosopher and reformer( 改革家 )William James (brother), a psychologist and philosopherWilliam Dean Howells (his life-long friend)Educated in Harvard Law SchoolBalzac, Merimee , George Sand, George Eliot and Hawthorne.
Not married ; once loving his cousin
touring England, France, Italy
Reading intensively European literary celebrities
Thinking that American life is materialistic and lack of culture and sophistication
Settling in England in 1876
becoming a naturalized British citizen in 1915( 加入英国国籍 )
Influenced by some literary celebrities:
George Eliot; Turgenev(屠格涅 夫 ) ; Flaubert (福楼拜 ) Hawthorne
awarded the Order of Merit by King George V. ( 1916 )died of pneumonia on 28 February 1916
His ashes were interred at the Cambridge Cemetery in Massachusetts, United States
inscription “Novelist, Citizen of Two Countries, Interpreter of His Generation On Both Sides Of The Sea”.
A memorial stone was placed for him in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey, London, England in 1976.
Literary achievements
• a. the first period (1865-1882)
• b. the second period (1882-1895)
• c. the third period (1895-1900)
A productive writer : writing novels, novellas and tales, traveling writings, literary criticism, plays, autobiographies and so on.
Three periods of his literary life
the first period (1865-1882)
The American 《美国人 》 (1877)
a story about a young and innocent American confronting the complexity of the European life
Daisy Miller 《 黛西•密勒》 (1878)
a novella about a young American girl who gets “killed” by the winter in Rome
international fame for the first time.
The Europeans (1878)
the scene shifted back to America, where some Europeans learn with difficulty to adapt themselves to the American life.
The Portrait of A Lady 《贵妇人画像》 (1881) : masterpiece
the clash between the Old World and the New in the life journey of an American girl in a European cultural environment.
The Second period (1882-1895)
Dropping the “international theme”
experiment with different themes and forms
Novels
The Bostonians (1886), which satirized the women liberation movement that took place in Boston
The Princess Casamassima (1886), which exposed the anarchist conspiracy in the slum of London, were written in a naturalistic mode and proved to be unsuccessful.
play writing—better knowledge of literary techniques, though not at all success
short fictions
The Private Life (1893)
The Death of a Lion (1894)
The Middle Years (posthumously 1917)
exploring the relationship of the artist to the society only to prove that the artist would not sacrifice the truth for the passion no matter how troubled and isolated he feels.
short fictions
The Turn of the Screw (1898)
a story about the troubled and abnormal psychology of oppressed children, in which a whole household is terrorized by “ghosts,”
The Beast in the Jungle (1903)
focuses on the imaginative obsession of some haunted men and women with their personal disaster in future
The third period(1895-1900)
Returning to the “international theme”
Writing a few novellas (小说) and tales dealing with childhood and adolescence — a revival of his earlier theme of innocence in a corrupted world
What Maisie Knew 《梅吉的见闻》
The third period(1895-1900)
The Wings of the Dove 《鸽翼》 (1902)
The Ambassadors 《专使》 (1903)
The Golden Bowl 《金碗》 (1904)
James's most influential contribution to literature
His Contribution to Literary Criticism
It is both concerned with form and devoted to human values
“The Art of Fiction” 《小说的艺术》
the aim of the novel is to present life
so it is not surprising to find in his writings human experiences explored in every possible form: illusion, despair, reward, torment, inspiration, delight, etc.
His Contribution to Literary Criticism
The artist has the freedom to write about anything that concerns him, even the
disagreeable, the ugly and the commonplace.
The artist should be able to "feel" the life, to understand human nature, and then to record them in his own art form.
His Contribution to Literary Criticism
Novels should be correspondent with life.
The area of art is all life, all feeling, all observation, all vision.
The air of reality should be the supreme virtue of a novel.
The form and content of a novel should be consistent.
The Art of Fiction
I. International theme
• James's fame generally rests upon his novels and stories with the international theme.
• These novels are always set against a larger international background, usually between Europe and America,
• and centered on the confrontation of the two different cultures with two different groups of people representing two different value systems.
• The typical pattern of the conflict between the two cultures would be that of a young American man or an American girl who goes to Europe and affronts his or her destiny.
• The unsophisticated boy or girl would be beguiled, betrayed, cruelly wronged at the hands of those who pretend to stand for the highest possible civilization .
Marriage and love
• as the focal point of the confrontation between the two value systems
• the protagonist usually goes through a painful process of a spiritual growth, gaining knowledge of good and evil from the conflict.
International themeThe meeting of America and Europe
American innocence in contact and contrast with European sophistication and decadence(颓废 ),
and its moral and psychological complications,
and some superiority of the values of the New World to those of the Old
• James treated with great care
• the clashes between two different cultures
• the emotional and moral problems of Americans in Europe, or Europeans in America
The treatment of the international theme
• characterized by
• the richness of syntax and characterization
• the originality in point of view
• symbolism, metaphoric texture, and organizing rhythm
II. psychological realism• the forerunner of the 20th-century
"stream-of-consciousness" novels
• the founder of psychological realism
• Psychological Analysis of His Characters
• Emphasizing on the inner awareness and inward movements of his characters in face of outside occurrences rather than depicting the environment in any detail
III. his narrative “point of view”
• One of James's literary techniques innovated to cater for this psychological emphasis
• As the author, James avoids the authorial omniscience as much as possible and makes his characters reveal themselves with his minimal intervetion.
• So it is often the case that in his novels we usually learn the main story by reading through one or several minds and share their perspectives.
• This narrative method proves to be successful in bringing out his themes.
the most expert stylist of his time
• As to his language, James is not so easy to understand.
• He is often highly refined and insightful.
• With a large voabulary, he is always accurate in word selection, trying to find the best expression for his literary imagination.
New York City, located in New York State, is
the largest city and the chief port of the United
States. The total area of New York City is about
____square miles. The city has ____boroughs:
Manhattan, the Bronx, Queen’s, Brooklyn and
Richmond.
The city with its good _____was discovered as
early as 1524, and it was established by the
_____who named the city New Amsterdam. In 1664,
the city was taken by the English and it got the
name New York as it _____ now. During the American
Revolution in 1776, George Washington
Listening lab
had his _________for a time in New York City. The
Declaration of Independence was first read there
on July 4th 1776. The city remained the nation’s
capital until____.
New York became an important port early in
the last century. A large _____ of the national
exports passed through New York harbor. New
York has become one of the world’s busiest ports
and also the________ , manufacturing, and travel
center of the country.
New York is often called “The Big Apple”, which
was termed by ____musicians to describe something
that is the ultimate in size, _________ and achievement.
In this city there are many colleges, universities and
technical schools, many theaters,______, concert halls,
_______ and zoos. New York City really has the wonders
of the Big Apple that exceed all __________—the
fantastic skyscrapers, marvelous museums, cultural
centers, architecture and ________ attractions, which
are most worth seeing.
New York City, located in New York State, is
the largest city and the chief port of the United
States. The total area of New York City is about
____square miles. The city has ____boroughs:
Manhattan, the Bronx, Queen’s, Brooklyn and
Richmond.
The city with its good _____was discovered as
early as 1524, and it was established by the
_____who named the city New Amsterdam. In 1664,
the city was taken by the English and it got the
name New York as it _____ now. During the American
Revolution in 1776, George Washington
300 five
harbor
Dutch
bears
Listening lab
had his _________for a time in New York City. The
Declaration of Independence was first read there
on July 4th 1776. The city remained the nation’s
capital until____.
New York became an important port early in
the last century. A large _____ of the national
exports passed through New York harbor. New
York has become one of the world’s busiest ports
and also the________ , manufacturing, and travel
center of the country.
headquarters
1790
portion
financial
New York is often called “The Big Apple”, which
was termed by ____musicians to describe something
that is the ultimate in size, _________ and achievement.
In this city there are many colleges, universities and
technical schools, many theaters,______, concert halls,
_______ and zoos. New York City really has the wonders
of the Big Apple that exceed all __________—the
fantastic skyscrapers, marvelous museums, cultural
centers, architecture and ________ attractions, which
are most worth seeing.
jazz
excitement
ballets
expectations
sightseeing
museums