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Lesson 9 Mark Twain — Mirror of America. Lecturer: Meng Fanyan. Teaching Aims. Background knowledge Comprehension of the text and the mastery of the important language points Paraphrase of certain complicated or difficult sentences Enlargement of the students' vocabulary - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Lesson 9
Mark Twain — Mirror of America
Lecturer: Meng Fanyan
Teaching Aims
Background knowledge Comprehension of the text and the mastery of
the important language points Paraphrase of certain complicated or difficult
sentences Enlargement of the students' vocabulary Familiarization with the styles of
composition and devices
Mirror of America
•
• --- Metaphor. A mirror can reflect or reveal the truth of something or somebody.
• Mirror here means a person who gives a true representation or description of the country.
Why?
• All literary giants in human history are also great historians, thinkers, and philosophers in a sense. Their works often reveal more truth than many political essays put together, and their names usually live in people’s memory long after the names of all kings and queens that ruled the country are forgotten.
• Mark Twain was one of these giants, and his life and works are a mirror of the America of his time.
Background knowledge
• General introduction to Mark Twain• What do you know about Mark Twain? Have y
ou ever read his works? Can you tell us sth. about his books?
• the pseudonym (pen name) of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910)
• America’s most famous humorist and the author of popular and outstanding autobiographical works, travel books and novels.
General introduction to Mark Twain
• The first 36 years of Clemens’ life:
• as a boy in a little town in Missouri• as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi• as a reporter on the far western frontier• as a traveler abroad • All kinds of life experience supplied him wit
h copious (plentiful/abundant) material which he used later for his best and most successful writings.
General introduction to Mark Twain
• He began life as Samuel L. Clemens and ended it as Mark Twain. He was America's foremost humorist, philosopher and man of letters (literature).
1) Boyhood• Born in the small village of Florida, Missouri on N
ov. 30, 1835, young Clemens was the third son and sixth child of a lawyer. As Father’s business failed, the family had to move to Hannibal ( 汉尼巴尔 ) when Samuel was 4, where he spent his boyhood, enchanted (intoxicated) by the romance and awed by the violence of river life — the steamboats, keelboats ( 龙骨式船 ), and giant lumber rafts and also the human flotsam ( 漂浮物 ) washed up by the river, professional gamblers and hustlers (prostitute/whore) — people quick with fist, knife or gun. Nevertheless, Hannibal was an ideal place for a boy to grow up.
2) Early Life
• Sam had relatively little schooling. After his father's death, he had to help the family by taking up odd jobs during summers or after school (as a delivery boy, grocery clerk and blacksmith's helper, etc.). He left school at 13, and became a full-time apprentice to a printer. At 18, he became a tramp printer (a person who goes around doing odd jobs of printing), and went to New York, then to Philadelphia and Washington, and finally to Iowa to set type ( 排版 ) for his brother's local paper. By then he had tried his hand at writing juvenile burlesque (comic imitation).
3) Experiences on the Mississippi River
• At 22( 1857), he set out again, with the intention of seeking his fortune in South America, along the Amazon. But on his way down the Mississippi toward New Orleans, he ran out of funds and was persuaded by a steamboat pilot ( 汽船领航员 ) to become his apprentice. About two years later, he was licensed as a pilot on his own right. He worked on the river till 1861. He found his life during this period both instructive and interesting.
4) Journey West and the birth of "Mark Twain"
• Owing to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, river traffic halted. Twain joined the Militia( 预备役部队 , 民兵组织 ) on the Confederate side for two weeks; then "retired". He then joined his brother (who had been appointed territorial secretary) in a trip to Nevada.
• The West was still an exciting new frontier and there were rumors about fortunes to be made in Nevada and California. He tried prospecting( 勘探 ), mining( 采矿 ) and speculating( 投机 ), but failed.
• And then he did reporting for local papers. 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.
• The new name was appropriate, for it was a river man’s term for water that was just barely safe for navigation ． (“Mark Twain” means "two fathoms deep”, employed in making soundings on the Mississippi river boats).
• In 1865, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County 《加拉维拉县有名的跳蛙》 was published and became an immediate success.
5) Career as a journalist
• In 1864 Twain went to San Francisco to work as a reporter.
• He took the trip to Honolulu as a correspondent for the Sacramento Union in 1866; the following year he boarded for a voyage to Europe and the Holy Land;
• In 1869, the book version of his travel sketches was published under the title The Innocents Abroad 《傻子出国记》 , which brought him wide popularity, and made fun at both American and European prejudices and manners.
6) His most productive years
• He married Olivia Langdon in 1870. A year later together they relocated to Hartford, Connecticut, where he lived his most productive years (till 1891). The move was a turning-point in his life. Up till now, he had been mainly accumulating material. Meanwhile, Twain continued to lecture in the United States and England.
• Between 1876 and 1884 he published several masterpieces, including
• Tom Sawyer
• The Prince and the Pauper
• Life on the Mississippi
• Huckleberry Finn
7) Financial difficulties and personal misfortunes
• He started his own printing shop, invested largely on a new typesetting ( 排版 ) machine and became bankrupt.
• Heavily in debt, he made a lecturing tour abroad and succeeded in paying all his debts, but ruined his own health.
• During this period occurred the deaths of his son, daughters and wife.
8) Last years
• He wrote What Is Man? 《 什么是人？》， The Mysterious Stranger 《神秘的陌生人》 and dictated his autobiography.
• Some of his other major works are: • Roughing It 《艰苦岁月》 (1872),• The Gilded Age 《镀金时代》 (1873), • The Prince and the Pauper 《王子与贫儿》 (188
2), • The 1, 000, 000 Bank-note 《百万英镑》 (1893), • The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg 《败坏哈德
雷堡的人》 and Other Stories and Sketches (1899).
• In the 1890s Twain lost most of his earnings in financial speculations and in the downhill of his own publishing firm. The death of his wife and his second daughter brought a sense of gloom in the author's later years, which is seen in writings and his autobiography. Twain died on April 21, 1910.
9) Comment on his works
• Mark Twain has been called a realist and a romantic, a humorist and a satirist.
• The popularity of his works has been met with an equal portion of controversy, with “Huckleberry Finn” as one of the most banned and debated books in American literature.
• His life was remarkable in its triumph and tragedies. His works are remarkable in their depth and perception of human experience.
10) Mark Twain’s famous remarks
• 1. It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.
• 2. Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.
• 3. One learns people through the heart, not the eyes or the intellect.
• 认识人不能用眼睛或智慧，要用心。• 4. If you tell the truth you don't have to reme
mber anything. • 永远说实话，这样的话你就不用去记你曾经说过
些什么。
• 5. All you need is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.
• 只要具备了无知和自信，你就必然能成功。 • 6. When your friends begin to flatter you on h
ow young you look, it's a sure sign you're getting old.
• 7. Man is the only animal that blushes.• 8. My books are water; those of the great gen
iuses are wine — everybody drinks water.
• 9. The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.
• 那些有好书却不读的人不比无法读到这些书的人拥有任何优势。
• 10. Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.
• 不要放弃你的幻想。当幻想没有了以后，你还可以生存，但是你虽生犹死。
• 11. You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.
• 12. Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can read.
• 13. Rather shut up, don’t talk, don’t be eager to express oneself, either.
• 宁愿闭口不说话，也不要急于表现自己 .
• 14. Have no emotion to kiss, be like to die pork in person.
• 没有情感的吻，就像在亲死猪肉一样。
•
Background information
• 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.
• Most Americans remember… freedom and adventure:
• Question: Identify and explain the rhetorical devices in the first sentence.
• father: Metaphor
• eternal & endless: Hyperbole
• The whole sentence: Parallelism
• father: (Metaphor) here the author or the man who created these two unforgettable characters
• idyllic: adj. of a simple and happy period of life, often in the countryside; simple and happy/pleasant 田园诗的 , 简朴且无忧无虑的
• idyll ['aidl]: (n.) short piece of poetry or prose that describes a happy and peaceful scene or event, esp. of country life 田园诗
• cruise: sailing/voyage /journey/travel by ship on the sea for pleasure 航行，漫游
• A cruise is a holiday during which you travel on a ship and visit lots of places.
• Huck Finn’s idyllic cruise through eternal boyhood:
• Explanation: Huck Finn’s simple and pleasant journey through his boyhood which seems eternal.
• Huck Finn, fleeing his terrifying father who was a drunkard, and Jim, an escaped slave, as they travel down the Mississippi in search of freedom, encountered no end of colorful characters along the way.
• Tom Sawyer's endless summer of freedom and adventure:
• “Endless” is also a hyperbole; It parallels the word “eternal”.
• Summer, because all the adventures of Tom Sawyer described in the book are supposed to have taken place in one particular summer.
• An imaginative and mischievous boy named Tom Sawyer lives with his Aunt Polly in the Mississippi River town of St. Petersburg, Missouri.
• Explanation: Mark Twain is famous to most Americans as the creator of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. Huck's sailing/voyage /journey/travel on the river was so pleasant, lighthearted, carefree, simple and peaceful that it made his boyhood seem to be infinite, while Tom's independent mind and his exciting and dangerous activities made the summer seem everlasting.
• (Mark Twain is known to most Americans as the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its sequel Huckleberry Finn, which are generally acknowledged to be his greatest works.)
• What is the implication of the two adjectives "eternal" and "endless" ?
• ---The two characters are immortalized and live forever in readers’ memory.
•
•
•
• Indeed, this nation's best-loved author was every bit as adventurous, patriotic, romantic, and humorous as anyone has ever imagined.
• every bit: altogether; entirely
• every bit as: (infml.) just as, quite as
• e.g.: He is every bit as clever as you are.
• adventurous: Mark Twain was adventurous in every sense of the word. He was always trying new things, and always going to new places. Even in his literary career, he was never satisfied with what he had achieved.
• patriotic: It refers to Mark Twain's profound love for his country with its robust people, beautiful scenery and its lofty ideals. It may also refer to his pride in the American traditions and the American language.
• romantic: (in art, literature and music) marked by feeling rather than by intellect; preferring grandeur, passion and informal beauty
• humorous: His works are so full of humor that he is considered America's greatest humorist.
• I found another Twain as well: • --- I found another aspect of Twain.• cynical: sarcastic, sneering: seeing little or no
good in anything (a cynical remark/attitude) • 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.
• cynic: (n.) person who believes that people do not do things for good, sincere or noble reasons, but only for their own advantage
• deal (dealt): give; give out; distribute
分派，施以，给予• (sentence structure of this part: Saddened
by the profound personal tragedies life dealt him, he grew cynical, bitter.)
• profound personal tragedies: See Paragraph 20, "Personal tragedy haunted his entire life,..."
• …a man who became obsessed with the frailties of the human race, who saw clearly ahead a black wall of night: (metaphor)
• obsess: preoccupy with sth. on one’s mind; fill the mind continuously; worry continuously and unnecessarily
• 使分心 ; 困绕• If sth. obsesses you or if you are obsess
ed with it, you keep thinking about it over a long period of time, and find it difficult to think about anything else, esp. to an abnormal degree.
• be obsessed with/by: be distressed by 萦绕，困扰，着迷
• e.g.: He was obsessed with a craving for materialistic gratification.
• （他一心追求物质享受。）• He was obsessed by money. ( 他财
迷心窍。 )• She is obsessed by the desire to be
come a film star.
• frailty: a weakness of character or behavior
• e.g.: One of the frailties of human nature is laziness.
• There is only a frail chance that he will pass the examination.
• obsessed with the frailties of the human race: continually distressed by the moral weaknesses of the human race
• a black wall of night:
• (metaphor) hopelessness and despair
• Para.2 • 1. Give a brief account of Twain's
experience before he became a writer.• 2. How did he adopt his pen name?• 3. Why can we say Twain is still a
popular writer?
• Tramp printer, river pilot, Confederate guerrilla, prospector, starry-eyed optimist, acid-tongued cynic:
• All these nouns are in apposition to the noun man.
• tramp: a person who has no home or permanent job and very little money. He has to tramp from place to place getting food and money by taking occasional job or begging.
• His popularity is attested by the fact that more than a score of his books remain in print, and translations are still read around the world.
• attest: (vt. & vi) show to be true, give proof of, declare solemnly; prove/testify/verify 证明；表明
• e.g.: His work attests his industry (diligence).• in print: (of a book ） available from the publi
sher
• Part II: (para.3-19) • Mark Twain's main life experience and his
works • Section 1. (para.3-5) the early years of his life on
the Mississippi working as a pilot • Section 2. (para.6) as a Confederate guerrilla• Section 3. (para.7-13) On his way to success as a
writer• Section 4. (para.14-19) Comment on his best
works
• Section 1. (para.3-5)
• the early years of his life on the Mississippi working as a pilot
• Para.3 1. Where was the main channel of transportation in his childhood? 2. What does "major commerce" refer to? 3. What do you know about "Westward expansion" ?
• artery and heart: metaphors. Both artery and heart are used metaphorically.
• artery: blood vessel (a tube in your body) that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body; (fig.) main river/road
• vein: 静脉 any of the tubes carrying blood from all parts of the body to the heart
• e.g.: Royal blood ran in his veins.
• In 1848, gold was found in California. The news spread far and wide and people rushed there to seek their fortune.
• The discovery of gold brought more than 40,000 prospectors and adventurers there within two years. It was known in American history as the "gold rush", and this rush reached its climax in the 1860’s.
• • drain: flow off gradually or completely, to cau
se to become gradually dry or empty; receive the waters of this area and carry them to the ocean. Here, metaphor: cover; occupy; take up
• drained three-quarters of the settled United States: The river drained a vast basin, and the basin made up 3/4 of the populated area of the U. S. of that time.
• settled: populated, inhabited
• Para.4 1. Paraphrase the second sentence. Explain the metaphorical meaning of "cast of characters" and "cosmos". 2. What kind of stories did he hear on the steamboats? 3. What does it mean by "medicine show”? 4. Paraphrase the last sentence and identify the figure of speech used in it.
• The cast of characters set before him in his new profession was rich and varied — a cosmos.
• the cast of characters: (alliteration, Metaphor)
• -- the set of actors in a play or movie. The cast of a play or a film consists of all the people who act in it. Used here figuratively, it means people of all (or various) sorts.
• cosmos: universe, used figuratively here, meaning a place where one can find all types of characters
• (Metaphor)
• He participated abundantly in this life, listening to pilothouse talk of feuds, piracies, lynching, medicine shows, and savage waterside slums.
• He participated abundantly in this life:
• -- He was very much involved in this life. (Or: He had all these kinds of experience.)
• listening to pilothouse talk of feuds, piracies, lynchings, medicine shows, and savage waterside slums:
• --- listening to the gossip in the pilothouse about feuds, etc.
• pilothouse: an enclosed place on the upper deck of a river boat in which the pilot stands while steering
• feud: (n. & v.) bitter quarrel between persons, families or countries over a long period of time
• a family feud （家族世仇）• a tribal feud （部落争端）• sink a feud （摈弃旧怨）• a feud between labor and management （劳资
间的一场争议）
• They were always at feud with each other. • 他们老是彼此不和。• The two countries have long feuded over that
island. • 两国在那岛屿的归属问题上已争论多年。• The Congress often feuds with the President
over budget matters.• 预算问题上国会和总统之间常常发生争执。
• piracy: robbery of ships on the high seas (or on inland waterways)
• lynching: the murder of an accused person without trial, carried out by a mob, usually by hanging 处私刑
• medicine show: show given by entertainers who travel from town to town selling cure-alls, snake-bite medicine, etc.
• savage slums: slums that are crude, lack polish or are violently lawless
• All would resurface …phonographic.• All would resurface in his books:
(Metaphor) • --- All would reappear in his books.
“Resurface” means to reappear after a period of submersion or hiding. Here the word is used figuratively.
• soak up: take in, absorb
• the colorful language that he soaked up with a memory that seemed phonographic:
• --- (Simile) the colorful language that he took in mentally with a good memory that seemed to be able to record things like a phonograph (gramophone 唱机 , 留声机 in British usage).
• Or: He absorbed and digested the colorful language with an astonishing good memory which seemed to be able to record things like a gramophone.
Revision• 1. What did the author mean by " I found
another Twain...”? • --- I found another aspect about Twain. On
one hand, he was extremely adventurous, patriotic, romantic and humorous. On the other hand, he was cynical, bitter and distressed with the weakness of human race, he found no hope because he was discouraged by the tragedies in his life.
• 2. Why can we say Twain is still a popular writer?
• 3. Where was the main channel of transportation in his childhood?
• 4. What does "major commerce" refer to?• 5. Explain the metaphorical meaning of "cast
of characters" and "cosmos".
• 6. What kind of stories did he hear on the steamboats?
Para.5
• 1. What did "the main current" and "flotsam" refer to respectively?
• 2. What did he learn on steamboats? What effect did this experience have on his writing?
• 3. Paraphrase "of the difference between what they claim to be and what they really are".
• Steamboat decks teemed …and thugs as well.
• teem with: be filled with; have in great numbers
• e.g.: The water teems with fish/thousands of organisms.
• His head teems with clever ideas.
• current: a stream of water or air; (fig.) the flowing of people with pioneering spirit
• main current of pioneering humanity: (metaphor) people with pioneering spirit who forms the majority; the main part of them were people with devotion/dedication to open up new areas and prepare ways for others
• flotsam: the wreckage of a ship or its cargo found floating on the sea; figuratively here (metaphor), people without homes or work, who move helplessly through life（流离失所者；无业游民）
• hustler: a person who tries to earn money or gain an advantage from any situation they are in, often by using dishonest or illegal method. Now in the U. S. the word means a prostitute, or streetwalker
• thug: a person who is very violent and rough, esp. a violent criminal, hooligan, villain, or murderous ruffian
• Explanation: Steamboat decks were filled with people of pioneering spirit and also lawless people or social outcasts such as hustlers, gamblers and thugs.
• From them all …what they really are.• perception: natural understanding• keen: (with the five senses, the mind, the
feelings) good, strong, quick at understanding
• keen perception: intense insight, understanding or knowledge gained by perceiving (observing)
•
• a keen eye • （敏锐的眼光）• keen powers of observation • （敏锐的观察力）• a keen sense of smell • （灵敏的嗅觉）• a keen mind • （敏捷的头脑）• a keen bargainer • （精于讨价还价的人）
• succumbed to the epidemic of gold and silver fever: gave way to (yielded to, submitted to ) the prevailing gold and silver fever
• Note the metaphor used here (epidemic, fever). The author describes the gold and silver rush as a fever and an epidemic that is a disease spreading rapidly among many people in the same area at the same time.
• For eight months he flirted with the colossal wealth available to the lucky and the persistent, and was rebuffed.
• flirt with: • ①(esp. a woman) to behave with a memb
er of the opposite sex in a way that attracts interest and attention 调情；卖俏
• e.g.: Don't take her seriously; she is only flirting with you.
flirt with
• She flirts with every man in the office.
• I don’t like going to parties because my husband always flirts with every girl in the room.
• The boys stood on the corner flirting with the passing girls.
flirt with
• ② think about but not seriously; deal lightly with; trifle with
• 稍有考虑 ; 不认真地考虑或对待 ; 玩弄• e.g.: We flirted with the idea of going abr
oad but decided against it.
• I have been flirting with the idea of leaving the job. （我脑海里一直浮现着辞职的念头。）
• colossal ： very large in size or quantity, huge/vast/immense/massive/enormous/gigantic/titanic/mammoth/ tremendous
• e.g.: a colossal building; a colossal success; a colossal fool
• rebuff: (n. & v.) refuse bluntly 断然拒绝；回绝• e.g.: He was rebuffed again and again.• 他一再受人冷落。• He rebuffed all the attempts at friendship.• 他拒不和任何人交好。• He is being hit by a series of embarrassing re
buffs.• 他正遭受一系列令他难堪的冷遇。
• he flirted with the colossal wealth... and was rebuffed: He tried but not very hard or persistently enough to get the enormous wealth that is only available to those lucky and persistent ones, and he failed.
• It is a metaphor. Words like “flirt”, “lucky”, “persistent”, “rebuff” are often associated with love. “Flirt” originally means to play at love; “rebuff” means to refuse bluntly.
• Broke and discouraged, he accepted a job as reporter with the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, to literature's enduring gratitude.
• broke: (adj. colloq.) having little or no money; penniless; bankrupt
• Broke and discouraged, he accepted...: Both adjectives modify the subject “he”.
• as reporter: another example of the absence of article when denoting professional status
• Territorial Enterprise ：《领土开发报》 • enduring: lasting/everlasting/eternal/
perpetual/endless/infinite/permanent/
incessant/constant
• to literature's enduring gratitude:
• (Personification)
• Why?
• --- If Twain had not accepted that job offered to him by Territorial Enterprise, literature might have lost that literary giant. Therefore world literature is forever grateful to this turn of event.
• The prepositional phrase “to sb’s gratitude” is an adverbial of result.
• Other examples: to one’s surprise, satisfaction, disappointment, pleasure, delight, horror, astonishment, etc.
Para.8
• 1. Paraphrase the second sentence. And identify the figure in "his pen would prove mightier than his pickax".
• 2. What is the metaphorical meaning of "hotbed”.
• be accustomed to: be used to, be in the habit of, be familiar with 习惯于
• e.g.: My eyes soon grew accustomed to the darkness.
• “accustomed” can be used as an attribute (=regular, usual) 惯常的• e.g.: He sat in his accustomed chair.• her accustomed smile, his accustomed attitu
de of optimism• sb.’s accustomed cheerfulness 某人一贯的乐
观情绪• talk the accustomed pattern 说老一套
• trend: a general direction or course of development/ movement/ attitudes/ fashion, etc.
• e.g.: Young women are always interested in the trends of fashion.
• trendy: very fashionable and modern• trend setter: a person who starts or popularize
s the latest fashion ( 在时装式样等方面 ) 创新的人，创新潮流者，标新立异者
• trend setting: taking the lead in starting new trends or new ways of doing things
• ring familiarly in modern world accustomed to trend setting on the West Coast:
• -- His descriptions of those adventurers in the west produce a familiar impression on the people of the West Coast in modern world who are used to leading the fashions.
• "It was a splendid population—for all the slow, sleepy, sluggish-brained sloths stayed at home...
• Note the alliteration in the sentence: slow, sleepy, sluggish, sloths, stayed.
• population: the people living in an area
• sluggish-brained: dull-brained; slow-witted
• sloth: lazy person 懒汉• for all the slow, sleepy, sluggish-brained
sloths...: because all the slow, dull and lazy people stayed at home, hence implying that all those who came pioneering out west were energetic, courageous and reckless people.
• It was that population …dash and daring and a recklessness of cost or consequences, which she bears unto this day…(Alliteration)
• gave to California a name for: made California famous for, gave California a reputation for
• get up: arrange, or perform. If you get something up, you organize something such as a public event, esp. with very little preparation. (This is a rather old-fashioned expression.)
• astounding: astonishing/amazing/electrifying; shocking with surprise
• enterprise: a plan, business, task, something daring and difficult; undertaking
• getting up astounding enterprises: starting, contriving or organizing astounding undertakings, especially one that needs courage or offers difficulties
• rush through: complete (a job) hastily• e.g.: We will try to rush the contract through
before Saturday.• rushing them through: carrying them out, de
veloping them at high speed• dash: a combination of bravery, style, and se
lf-confidence; a mixture of stylishness, enthusiasm and courage 魄力，锐气，气派，闯劲
• dash and daring: (Alliteration) energy and courage
• recklessness: lack of care• reck: (negative or interrogative only) care or min
d• reckless: Someone who is reckless shows a co
mplete lack of care about danger or about the results of their actions. A reckless person is one who does things without thinking about what the results might be.
• Eg. Some of the young motorcyclists are very reckless.
• consequence: result, outcome• a recklessness of cost or consequences:
regardless of money, time and effort and disregard for risks or adverse (unfavorable) consequences
• which she bears unto this day: “which” stands for a name. “Unto” (up to; until) is old or literary, used only in set phrases and quotations.
• "Coleman with his jumping …The stranger's frog won."
• (an outline for his story with careless sentence structures)
• bet: bet sb. money on sth. (Here, he wagered $50 with a stranger)
• shot: tiny balls of lead used in a sporting gun against birds or small animals
• Retold with his descriptive genius…
• genius: (pl. geniuses) exceptionally great mental or creative ability
• e.g.: a man of genius
• Einstein was a mathematical genius.
• He is hard-working and able, but no genius.
•
• sort: group or class of people or things (which are alike in some way); type
• e.g.: He’s the sort of person I really dislike.• a sort of sth: (infml.) vague, unexplained or u
nusual type of sth 难以说得清的，某种• e.g.: I had a sort of feeling he wouldn't come.• sort of: (infml) to some extent; in some way o
r other （做状语）有几分，在一定程度上，有点，近似
• e.g.: It was sort of odd that he didn’t come.• 他没来，真是有点奇怪。
• If readers …sorely surprised.• glowing: showing enthusiasm, full of praises热情洋溢的
• travelogue: a lecture or article on travels sometimes accompanied by the showing of pictures if it's a lecture 旅行记录片，旅行见闻讲座
• sorely: greatly or extremely （痛苦地；严厉地；非常）
• e.g.: Your financial help is sorely needed.
• Para.13 • 1. What was his impression about the king of
Turkey?• 2. What was his attitude towards revered
artists and art treasures?• 3. What did he do about the Holy Land in his
reports? • 4. Identify the figure in the sentence" America
laughed with him". • 5. How was The Innocents Abroad received by
Americans? Why? •
• Unimpressed …a dozen abler men in a night.”• unimpressed: If you are unimpressed by sb. o
r sth., you do not think they are very good, or worth your attention.
• impress sb. (with sth.): have a favorable effect on sb.; make sb. feel admiration and respect
• e.g.: The sights of the city never fail to impress foreign tourists.
• The girl impressed her fiancé’s family with her liveliness and sense of humor.
• Sultan of Turkey: the ruler of Turkey (then the Ottoman Empire)
• one could set a trap anywhere and catch a dozen abler men in a night: This shows Twain's contempt for the Sultan of Turkey.
• ultimate: final/ last• pace: speed, esp. of walking or running; (fig.) rat
e of activity; tempo （行走、跑步的）步速、步调、速度、进度
• deplore: feel or express sorrow and usu. severe disapproval of; lament, grieve for 悲叹，痛惜；强烈反对，谴责
• live by: behave according to the rules of 按照……的规律生活
• life's regularities: life's regular activities• sap: gradually weaken sb./sth. by taking away (st
rength, vitality, etc) 伤元气；消耗
• energy-sapping: energy-consuming
• clamor: a continuous strong demand or desire; longing/ craving/ yearning
• e.g.: a clamor for revenge
• The public are clamoring for a change of government.
• Para.19 1. What did Twain think was missing in American ambition? 2. What did he hope American people would do?
• Mark Twain suggested …renew our edges."• ingredient: component, part• robust: strong and healthy, full of vigor; strong,
mighty, powerful• edge: sharp cutting part of a blade, knife, swor
d, or some other tool or weapon刀刃；刀锋• Here, enthusiasm, energetic or active enterprisi
ng spirit (进取心，事业心 )
• Part 3 (Para.20-22)
• Para.20
• 1. What are Twain's personal tragedies?
• 2. How might these tragedies influence his personality and writing?
• Personal tragedy haunted his entire life, in the deaths of loved ones: (Personification)
• haunt: visit, appear in a strange form; (fig.) be always in the thought of 常去；常出没于；萦绕
• E.g.: A ghost or spirit haunts a place or a person.
• Examples:
• The old house is said to be haunted by a headless ghost.
• This is one of the cafes I used to haunt.
• Personal tragedy haunted his entire life: Personal tragedies occurred repeatedly throughout his life.
• his father, dying of pneumonia …in an upstairs bathtub.
• pneumonia: a serious disease of the lungs with inflammation and difficulty in breathing
• meningitis: a serious illness in which the outer part of the brain is swollen
• 'epilepsy: a disease of the brain which causes sudden attacks of uncontrolled violent movement and loss of consciousness
• epileptic: a person who suffers from epilepsy
• Simile:...a memory that seemed phonographic
• Hyperbole:• ...cruise through eternal boyhood
and ...endless summer of freedom...• America laughed with him.
• V. 1)pessimist 2)civilized 3)dull 4)to accept 5)lazily 6)energetic, alert 7)to deny 8)small, tiny 9)interesting 10)cheerfulVI. river pilot, valley of the Mississippi River, main artery of transportation, keelboat, flatboat, large raft, downstream, steamboat, steamboat deck, stream.
• Ⅶ. 1)tramp printer 2)river pilot 3)pen name 4)steamboat days 5)Mississippi River 6)delta country 7)cub pilot 8) pilothouse talk 9)medicine shows 10) waterside slums ll)steamboat decks 12)steamboat trade 13)river country 14)gold and silver fever 15)Virginia city
Rhetorical devices
• Metaphor: • 1. Mark Twain --- Mirror of America• 2. Most Americans remember Mark Twain as
the father of Huck Finn's idyllic cruise through eternal boyhood and Tom Sawyer's endless summer of freedom and adventure.
• 3. The geographic core, in Twain's early years was the great valley of the Mississippi River , main artery of transportation in the young nation's heart .
• 16)newspaper reporter 17) city government 18) Sacramento Valley 19) rough-country settlers 20) mining-camp meals 21) Calaveras County 22) pleasure cruise 23) United States citizens 24)California newspaper 25)art treasures 26) book version 27)boyhood adventures 28)stage play 29) town drunkard 30)raft flight 31)steamboat explosion32)heart attack
• 6. He went west by stagecoach and succumbed to the epidemic of gold and silver fever in Nevada 's Washoe region.
• Succumbed…to: gave way to (yielded to, submitted to ) the gold and silver rush prevailing in that area.
• 7. For eight months he flirted with the colossal wealth available to the lucky and the persistent, and was rebuffed . Flirted…wealth: did not try hard or persistently enough to get the colossal wealth…failed
• Ⅷ． 1)romantic意为“浪漫的”； sentimental意为“伤感的”或“易感伤的”； humorous意为“幽默的”或“风趣的”； witty意为“机智的”或“聪颖的”。 2)cynic意为“愤世嫉俗者”； critic意为“批评家”或“评论家”。
• 3)lumber指已加工成条、块、板等的木料； timber往往指未经加工的木头。在美语里， timber指适用于建房造船等的木头，无论是加过工的还是未加过工的树都包括在内；而在英国英语里，这两个词意思相同。 4)proclaim指正式宣布或宣称； claim 表示对一项权利的要求和维护。
•
• 5)demand本为经济术语，与 supply相对，即常说的“供需”； need为通用词，意为“需要”。 halt 比 stop更具体，暗指短暂的停止。 6)mistreatment指错误地对待； ill-treatment指虐待。 7)consequence 常指不良后果或结果； result为常用词。 8)dreary指使人情绪低落，精神萎糜不振； tedious指单调，持续时间长，从而使人厌倦。
• 9)a pleasure cruise指旅游者乘船观光游览，不一定船上的人都玩得高兴； a pleasant cruise指乘船玩得很高兴，不一定是旅游。 10)correspondent指某报纸杂志电台等驻外地甚至外国的记者 (reporter) 。注意， correspond本指通信联系。 11)robust指身强体壮、精力充沛的； healthy仅指健康无病。 12)desperation指因失望 (despair)而表现出气急败坏的状态。
• Ⅸ． 1)father ： author ， creator cruise through eternal boyhood ： journey through lasting boyhood endless summer of freedom and adventure ： long summer full of free and adventurous activities 2)artery ： main route or channel 3)cast of characters ： people of various sorts cosmos ： a place where one can find all sorts of characters 4)current: stream (here not a good choice for the verb team)
• 5)succumbed to the epidemic of gold and silver fever: gave way to (yielded to, submitted to) the gold and silver rush prevailing in that area 6)flirted with the colossal wealth "" and was rebuffed: did not try hard or persistently enough to get the colossal wealth "" failed 7)digging his way to regional fame: working hard to gain regional fame 8)honed: sharpened (It is not suitable to say "to sharpen one's muscles". )
• X. 1)antithesis 2)euphemism 3)metonymy 4)alliteration 5)alliteration 6)personification 7)euphemism 8)antithesis
• XI. 1)The article does not touch the heart of the subject under discussion. 2)The newly completed railway is the main artery for traffic in the southwest of that country. 3)That problem produced two different currents of opinion among the Congressmen. 4)The overcrowded slum areas were a hotbed of diseases and vices. 5)Twain's source of inspiration never dried up. 6)Living in the enemy camp honed his wits.
• Ⅻ. 1)eternal boyhood 2)endless summer 3)a cosmos 4)a memory that seemed phonographic 5)the epidemic of gold and silver fever 6)a milestone in a country's development 7)America laughed with him.
• 8)… almost as sure to be studied in American schools today as is the Declaration of Independence. 9)… a moving panorama for exploration of American society 10)Twain found the ultimate expression of escape from… ll)Personal tragedy haunted his entire life ... 12)Bitterness fed on the man who had made the world laugh.
• XIII. l)completely, entirely 2)bankrupt, penniless 3)organizing 4)developing, carrying them out at high speed 5)as its characteristic is 6)wagered $ 50 with a stranger 7)exposed the falsehood of 8)cast away
• XIV. 1)He was obssessed with fear of poverty. 2)Dongting Lake teems with fish and shrimps. 3)Tom was every bit as intelligent as the top boy in his class. 4)He is an acquaintance of mine, but not a friend. 5)Under pressure, he had no other choice but quit office. 6)In the end he succumbed to her persuasion and decided to change his original plan. 7)Many children succumbed to small pox then. 8)Much to his horror, he found the cabin flooded.
• 9)The kids did extremely well in their exam, to the great satisfaction of both parents and teachers. 10)That's Peter all over. 11)Not until midnight did the surgeon finish the operation. 12)The history course has acquainted me with ancient civilizations. 13)The old writer shaped the folktale into a film scenario. 14)The dauntless revolutionary spirit of the Chinese people finds full expression in the new play.
