Part One Warm up I. On the Creation of Fathers by God X
Listen to the passage and exchange your understanding
When God Created Fathers
When the good Lord was creating fathers, He started with a tall frame. A female angel nearby said, “What kind of father is that? If you are going to make children so close to the ground, why have you put the father up so high? He will be able to shoot marbles without kneeling, tuck a child in bed without bending, or even kiss a child without a lot of stooping.”
And God smiled and said, “Yes, but if I make him child size, who would children have to look up to?” And when God made a father‟s hands, they were large and sinewy.
And the angel shook her head sadly and said, “Do you know what you‟re doing? Large hands are clumsy. They can‟t manage diaper pins, small buttons, rubber bands on pony tails, or even remove splinters caused by baseball bats.”
God smiled and said, “I know, but they are large enough to hold everything a small boy empties from his pockets at the end of a day, yet small enough to cup a child‟s face.” Then God molded long slim legs and broad shoulders.
The angel nearly had a heart attack. “Boy, this is the end of the week, all right,” she clucked.
“Do you realize You just made a father without a lap? How is he going to pull a child close to him without the kid falling between his legs?”
God smiled and said, “A mother needs a lap. A father needs strong shoulders to pull a sledge, balance a boy on a bicycle or hold a sleepy head on the way home from the circus.”
God was in the middle of creating two of the largest feet anyone had ever seen when the angel could contain herself no longer. “That‟s not fair. Do you honestly think those large boats are going to get out of bed early in the morning when the baby cries? Or walk through a small birthday party without crushing at least three of the guests?”
And God smiled and said, “They‟ll work. You‟ll see. They‟ll support a small child who wants to „ride a horse to Banbury Cross‟ or scare off mice at the summer cabin, or display shoes that will be a challenge to fill.”
God worked through the night, giving the father few words, but a firm authoritative voice; eyes that see everything, but remain calm and tolerant.
Finally, almost as an afterthought, He added tears. Then He turned to the angel and said, “Now are you satisfied that he can love as much as a mother? And the angel shut up. II. Enjoy a Poem
Read the following poem
My Hero
As I ponder the love that I saw in his eyes,
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A Godly love, given without compromise. I recall many times that he stood by my side, And prodded me on with great vigor and pride. His voice ever confident, firm yet fair,
Always speaking with patience, tenderness and care. The power and might of his hands was so sure, I knew there was nothing we couldn‟t endure. It‟s true, a few other provided insight,
Yet, he laid the foundation that kept me upright. He‟s the grandest of men to have lived on this earth. Although he‟s not royal by statue or birth,
He‟s a man of great dignity, honor and strength. His merits are noble, and of admirable length. He‟s far greater than all the other men that I know, He‟s my Dad, he‟s my mentor, my friend and hero.
Part Two: Background Information I. Author
Sherwood Anderson (Sep. 13, 1876–March 8, 1941) was a great American writer, the author of 27 works and seven novels. He was also a poet and a playwright, a newspaper editor and a political journalist
his family background
Sherwood Anderson was born in Camden, Ohio, the third of seven children. His father had served in the Union Army in American Civil War and later declined from the harness business into odd jobs of house and sign painting. his influence
Anderson influenced a younger generation of important writers, including Faulkner, Hemingway, Steinbeck and others. He made his name as a leading naturalistic writer with his masterwork, WINESBURG, OHIO (1919). II. American Civil War I. The American Civil War (1861—1865) was the greatest war and the only war fought on American soil. 3,000,000 people fought—600,000 people died. It brought an end to the constitution of slavery and paved the way for the capitalist development in America.
Part Three: Text Appreciation I. Text Analysis 1.General Analysis
Plot : the discovery of a father Setting : on a rainy night
Protagonists : “I” and “ father”
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Writing techniques : go to Writing devices
Theme of the story: This is a story about an interesting character told by his son who later became a well-known writer. With well-selected anecdotes and using the tone of a little boy, the author gives a vivid character sketch of his father whom he used to despise but gradually learns to understand and appreciate when he grows up. 3. Structure
Part 1(para 1-25)
Description of father‟s image before the discovery Part 2(para 26-41)about
How the boy “discovered” a father. 4. Analysis of Father’s Image
Scan the text and list out the related information. in the eyes of the son: a failure a clown a loafer a windbag
in the eyes of others: popular with others
mother‟s pride instead of complaint
Discovery of a father: generous
kind-hearted
a natural actor a born-story-teller
5.The Use of Symbols Two Symbols:
symbol one: the setting
a wet night
father coming back after being away for two or three weeks clothes dripping
Description of father
sitting in a chair for a long time with the saddest look not uttering a word
looking at his son closely and seriously What suddenly dawns on the boy
not the irresponsible happy-go-lucky person he used to be not a windbag any more father loves him
Symbol 2 :
swimming in the dark
father and son completely naked striking out together in the dark
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Symbolic meanings:
a man who is dignified, powerful, loving, ready to face the harsh life Description of father
communicating with the son
trying to give him courage and strength II. Writing Devices
1. Syntactic Anaphora
Syntactic Anaphora (Repetition of Beginning Words)
It was a feeling of closeness. It was something strange. It was as though there were only we two in the world. It was as though I had been jerked suddenly out of my world of the schoolboy, out of a world in which I was ashamed of my father.
(This is the most common kind of sentence repetition.) 2.Syntactic Epiphora (Repetition of Ending words)
It was as though I had been jerked suddenly out of my world of the schoolboy, out of a world in which I was ashamed of my father.
Part Four: Language Study I. Word Study 1. bitter 1) not sweet, tasting like beer
•Good medicine tastes bitter.2) hard to bear; causing sorrow That failure was a bitter experience for him.3) filled with or showing envy, hatred, remorse or disappointment bitter quarrels/ words/ enemies /tears4) piercing colda bitter wind•fight to the bitter end 战斗到底 • take the bitter with the sweet 接受顺境也接受逆境 n. bitterness Antonyms grateful thankful
2.broke adj. without any money•He went broke. Synonyms bankrupt penniless impoverished
Cf. broken•a broken home破裂的家庭• a broken promise背弃的诺言• a broken spirit消沉的意志 • broken English 蹩脚的英语 3.cover v.
1) to place or hide sth. over in order to hide or protect
• He had to cover his ears when the noise became really unbearable.2) to have… in size • This national park covers roughly 400 square miles of beautiful land. 3) to travel a certain distanceBy sunset they had covered 30 miles. 4) to include • The 700-dollar rent does not cover water, electricity and telephone service. 5) to protect sb. by aiming a gun at the enemy
• He began to move towards the house carefully, and Bob covered him. 6) (of money) to be enough for
$1,000 will cover his needs for the journey.Cf. coverage uncover
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5.credit n. 1) delayed payment 赊账；信贷•He bought this car on credit. • The bank refused further credits to the company.
2) praise 光荣；功劳 We must give her credit for our discovery.
• I think that he deserves all the credit for lifting the villagers out of poverty. 3) sth. that can bring honor or pride to sb.
• These Olympic gold medalists are no doubt a great credit to our country. 4) recognition for a successfully completed course at the university • The professor decided to give him full credit for the exam.
5) money shown as owned by a person, company in a bank account •You have a credit balance of $500.
6) belief; trust; confidenceThe rumor is gaining credit. adj. creditable 6. drip v. to fall or let sth. fall in very small drops n. the drop-by-drop falling of a liquid •The tap is dripping.
• His paintbrush is dripping.
• It‟s so hot that he‟s dripping with sweat.
• There was no noise except for the drip, drip, drip of water. 7. druggist sb. who is trained to prepare drugs and medicines and works in a shop
take/use drugs 吸毒
drug abuse 滥用毒品
drug addiction/addict 毒品上瘾 /上瘾者 drug dealer 毒品贩子
miracle drug 有奇效的药物 drugstore 药店；杂货店 Synonyms chemist; pharmacist 8.glimpse
v. to see sb or sth. for a moment without getting a complete view of them •I glimpsed her face in the crowd, but then she was gone.
n.• get/catch a glimpse of• a glimpse of what life might be like in the future Cf. glance 9. harness n. a piece of equipment for controlling a horse worn over the horse‟s head and shoulders v. to control and use the natural force of sth. •He runs a harness shop.
• They tried to harness the wind to generate electricity. 10. intimate
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1) having an extremely close relationship •They are intimate friends.
• She‟s on intimate terms with important people in the government. 2) private and personal
•tell a friend the intimate details of one‟s life 3) resulting from close study or great familiarity •an intimate knowledge of Greek philosophy intimately adv. intimacy n. 11. lick 1) to pass the tongue over or under • The cat was licking its paws.
2) (esp. of flames, waves) to touch lightly
• He dashed into the house to save the child despite the licking flames. 他不顾四下乱窜的火舌，冲进屋里抢救那个孩子。 3) (sl.) to overcome; triumph over
•Well, that licks everything! 那真是闻所未闻、见所未见的事。 Synonyms defeat beat
12. loaf vt. Vi. to waste time; spend time idly •Don‟t loaf about while there‟s so much to be done. • Don‟t loaf away your time.
loafer n. a person who loafs 游手好闲者 Half a loaf is better than none. 聊胜于无。 Synonym idle Cf. loaf n.
13. momentary adj. Momentarily dav. lasting for a very short time • There was a momentary pause.
• She paused momentarily and glanced over her shoulder. Mr. Johnson will be with you momentarily. Antonyms lasting; permanent Cf. momentous momentum
II. Phrases and Expressions
1.a flow of (pride) a continuous stream, movement, or supply of sth. During the tourist season, the flow of traffic usually doubles.
Thanks to a steady flow of foreign capital, they are able to expand their economy rapidly.
They know they are going to face a terrible flow of refugees if nothing is done to prevent this
humanitarian disaster. a flow of angry words 滔滔的怒言 a flow of spirits 喜气洋洋
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2.be ashamed (of) He should be ashamed of what he has done.
She felt ashamed that she had done little to help them. He was ashamed to ask for help.
Cf. shameful conduct 可耻的行为
a shameless exploiter 无耻的剥削者 3.be thick with 1) to be abounding or packed with The air was thick with dust. 2) to be intimate with
John is very thick with Anne now. as thick as thieves: very friendly
through thick and thin: under any kind of conditions, good or bad 4.be up Put the sentences into Chinese What‟s up?
You‟re up early today. The game is up.
When is your leave up? The river is up.
He is up a few pounds. Cf. be up to
1) to be occupied or busy with What‟s he up to? 2) to be equal to He‟s not up to this job.
I don‟t feel up to going to work today. 3) to be as far as
He is up to his neck in debts. 4) to be required as necessary
It‟s up to us to give them all the help we can.
5.call it quits
(infml.) to agree that a debt or an argument is settled; agree to stop doing sth. Will you call it quits if I pay you twenty dollars? Let‟s do one more exercise, and we‟ll call it quits Cf. call it a day
to decide that what has been done is enough for one dayLet‟s call it a day. 今天就干到这里，收工吧。
6.cling to to hold tight cling to one‟s view坚持己见
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cling to one‟s hope that… 始终抱着······的希望 那个孩子紧紧抓着他妈妈的裙子。 The child clung to his mother‟s skirt.
Synonym stick to hold to keep to 7.be down and out 1) (boxing) to be knocked out, unable to resume the fight He was down and out in the last hit.
2) (fig.) to be beaten in the struggle of life; be unemployed and without money Into English: 那时候他父亲穷困潦倒。His father was down and out at that time. Cf. be down with be down to 我们班上几乎四分之一的同学都得流感病倒了。
Nearly a quarter of our class were down with flu. 我们只剩下最后五百块钱了。我们得向银行贷款。
We were down to the last 500 yuan. We had to raise a loan from the bank. 8.fool around/about to trifle; be idle and silly
He spends so much time fooling around that he never accomplishes anything. Stop fooling around and do something useful. 9.hush sth. up to prevent sth. from becoming public knowledge
He gave her a lot of gifts just to make her hush it up.
She tried unsuccessfully to hush up the fact that her husband was an ex-convict. 10.liven up to make or become lively How can we liven things up?
His humorous speech livened up our class. The party is becoming to liven up.
That little performance was the only thing that livened up the otherwise hopelessly boring party.
11.slip off to go off quietly or secretly without being noticed or caught The general used to slip off and have a quiet drink in the bar. slip a coat on/off 迅速穿上 / 脱下上衣 slip into/out of a dress 迅速穿上 / 脱去衣服 slip a coin into one‟s hand 把一枚硬币迅速塞入某人手中 slip through one‟s fingers 未抓住；未把握住 let sth. Slip 放手；放过；错过 slip one‟s mind （某事）被忘记 a slip of the tongue / pen 口误 / 笔误
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III. Word Building 1. Derivation prefix:
un- (不；无；非) adj.adj.
affected unaffected v. v.
lock unlock super- (上······; 超······; 过分)
superstructure 上层建筑
superscribe 写在（信封、包裹）上 supernatural 超自然的
superpower 超级大国 (suffix) -ize (使之······) adj./n. v. 2. Conversion Conversion: a word-formation process whereby a word of a certain word-class is shifted into a word of another word-class without the addition of an affix.
IV. Grammar
1.Continuous tense is sometimes used together with adverbs like always, constantly, forever to express the speaker‟s strong approval or disapproval. Examples
It seemed to me that he was always showing off.
past continuous tense with adverbs of frequency denoting a habitual action, especially an annoying one
He was always telling stories about himself.
Jim is constantly forgetting to clean the test tubes after experiments.
My old jeep is forever breaking down as I have to rush somewhere.
That old man is always helping others. 2. as + adj. + a /an + as structure Examples:
as intelligent a student as Mary as interesting a novel as Oliver Twist
3.You hear it said that fathers want their sons to be what they feel they cannot themselves be, but I tell you it also works the other way. (para.1) (anticipatory “it” as object of “hear”)
4.Sometimes he‟d stay away for weeks, mother working to keep us fed, and then home he‟d come bringing, let‟s say, a ham.(para.23)
(an abstract structure of present participle) compound connecting the two clauses parenthesis
5. To protect my mother I‟d make up stories of a secret marriage that for some strange reason never
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got known.(para. 24)
(subject of the attributive clause) (adverbial in the attributive clause) (verb of the attributive clause)
Part Five: Extension I. Oral Work
Questions to help comprehension and appreciation of the text.
1.What does the author mean by saying “ fathers want their sons to be what they cannot themselves be, but it also works the other way”?
2. What kind of father did the author wish to have as a child? Did his father meet his requirements? How did he feel about his father at first? What qualities did his father have that made the author particularly unhappy? Give three examples.
3.How did the author as a child describe his father? Why did he think of him as foolish and
ridiculous— a windbag and a good-for-nothing? Was his father really showing off all the time? Why was he so popular among the villagers including the local celebrities? Why did the author‟s mother have no complaint about him?
4. Why did the author‟s father go broke? What did that reveal about his character?
5. Retell the anecdote of the author‟s father and general Grant in the wood the day the general was to meet Robert Lee as imagined by the author‟s father.
6. What happened one day that changed the author‟s opinions of his father completely? Why was it such an important turning point? Why did his father do this? Did the author understand at that time? Why did he say that from that time on he no longer wanted another father? Further Oral Practice
1. What is the image of your father or mother in your mind? Have you ever experienced any kind of changes in the feelings about him or her? Give examples, please.
2. Have you ever experienced any similar changes in the feelings toward a person other than your father or mother? Please give a little speech on the topic: The Discovery of a Teacher/a Friend etc Topics for Debating 1. Like father, like son.
2. If a father loves his child, he should do all he can for the child. II. Writing
1. Write a character sketch of the narrator‟s father in about 150 words.
2. Write a character sketch of My father/My Mother/My Friend/ My teacher in about 200 words.
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