The Diary of the Unknown Soldier

Pre-reading question

Can you tell us what image a common soldier has in our country?

Can you imagine what are in the dying people’s mind at last minute in the rubble?

Which war film gave you the deepest impression ？ Can you describe the cruelties of war from the eyes of a soldier?

Can you guess what question a soldier would ask about war before he was killed?

Soldiers in “marching”

I can save one more!

wenchuan

beichuan

yingxiu

Structural analysis

This story is dedicated to all of the unknown soldiers who died while trying to protect the lives of the innocent. And it shows us what happened in different three days according to the soldier’s diary. This passage is divided into three parts.

The first entry

The horrible scene of the warHis wish to be aliveHis longing for his family

Part 1 November 24, 1943 1st entry

Paragraph 1: The first paragraph provides a contrast between what the author saw in the battlefield and what he and his fellow soldiers had expected before they joined in the war.

Paragraph 2: This paragraph is a description of the enemy’s air raid before the unknown soldier wrote this entry. It is a flashback.

Paragraph3-4: As a lucky survivor of the air raid, the author witnessed the aftermath of the bombing

The second entry

His reflections on war, interwoven with description of his grim situation in a small European town

Facts: they are staying at the town, without food and ammunition when the Nazi troops are coming

Reflection: war creates more problems, and “Even one war is too many”

Part 2 November 29, 1943 (The 2nd entry) Paragraph 1: This paragraph consists of three points.

The author begins with his remarks on the validity of war(Sentence1--4), and then turns to his grim situation at that time(S5--9), and shifts to those dead soldiers and their families.

Paragraph 2: This paragraph projects the author’s strong passions: his affection for his family (daughters) and his rage for “selfish and ignorant” killing and destruction.

The third entry

The imminent danger and, possibly, death, Nazi troops coming, realization; One last question; Why should there be war?

Part 3 December 24, 1943 (The 3rd entry)In the third part, what readers can see in the

paragraph is like picture-talking with the focus shifting from the approaching death on the battlefield to the author’s envisioned peace at home. Then it ends abruptly with one last question about the sensibility of war, “Why?”, possibly with the end of his life.

Look at these snapshots:

---Nazi troops’ invasion into their location;---the author’s vision of lying in his own bed

at home, waiting for Christmas;---his feeling of being close to death;---his vision of his daughters at home;---a Nazi soldier’s footsteps coming in his

direction;---his last wish to get his diary back home.

Language Work

Part 1:With an air of : seeming to have/be e.g: With his fiery glance and with an air of

destiny, he moved through the paring crowd toward the beggar.

Assign: to give someone a task to do assign sb to do sth. e.g: You have been assigned the task of keeping

the records up to date.

Out of the blue: all of a sudden synonyms: suddenly, abruptly, plump E.g: The job had been offered to her out of the blue.在那次晚会上，一位老朋友突然出现，令我惊喜不已。I was pleasantly surprised to see an old friend who appeared at

the party out of the blue. a sea of blood: This is a metaphor which is used to

describe the scene more vividly. E.g: Look at the followings: a torrent of anger; a

mountain of books.

scoop up: to take up or out; to life

E.g: When the policeman arrived the traders scooped up their watches and jewellery and ran off.

He scooped up the little boy and ran from the fire.Spot: to see, esp. with effort

E.g: The fake painting was spotted by a New York art dealer.

Part 2:

Run: to develop or pass into the stated condition

E.g: Our supply of coal is running low.Have it that: to say, to express Legend has it that all the world is a stage.Rumor has it that…谣传他在当地的一次袭击中被杀害。…he was killed in a raid in the local area.

Odds: the probability that something will or will not happen.

The odds against being killed in a plane crash are very high.

shed blood: to cause wounding or, esp. killing

They wanted to bring down the government, but without shedding blood.

Take precaution: to do everything that is necessary to avoid danger or risk

The accident would never have occurred if they had taken precaution.

我们已经采取了一切措施防止那幅油画被盗。

We have taken all the precautions we can against the painting being stolen.

strike a…note: to express the stated feeling or message; to express a particular feeling or attitude

His new book strikes a warning note against government overspending.

strike a happy/cheerful/cautious etc notestrike a balance (between something)strike it rich to suddenly make a lot of

moneystrike home: if something that you say strikes

home, it has exactly the effect on someone that you intended:

enrage: to make someone very angry

He was enraged by the murder of his brother that he decided to find the killer himself.

All the Chinese are enraged by Sharon Stone’s ignorant remark on Wenchuan earthquake.

亚当拒绝加班，这使他的老板极为恼火。Adam’s refusal to work overtime enraged his

boss.

strew

to scatter things around a large areabe strewn with somethingThe street was strewn with broken glass.strew something around/about/over etc

somethingstrewn with something: containing a lot of

somethingto lie scattered over something: Flowers

strewed the path.

Tattered: clothes, books etc that are tattered are old and torn:

He produced a tattered envelope from his pocket.

in tatters: if a plan or someone's reputation is in tatters, it is ruined; clothes that are in tatters are old and torn

clothing that is old and torn [= rags]

Part 3Tuck ： to push something, especially the

edge of a piece of cloth or paper, into or behind something so that it looks tidier or stays in place

tuck something into/under/behind etc something

tuck somebody in to make a child comfortable in bed by arranging the sheets around them

be tucked up in bed informal to be lying or sitting in bed

engulf: to surround and swallow up

The house was engulfed in flames.

An almost unbearable loneliness engulfed her.if an unpleasant feeling engulfs you, you feel it

very stronglydespair so great it threatened to engulf

him

Fiery ： 1.very red or orange, and looking like fire ： leaves that turn fiery red in autumn

2. becoming angry or excited very quickly

He has a fiery temper.3. showing or encouraging anger or excitement:

a fiery speech4. fiery food or drink tastes very strong, making

part of your body feel hot

Aglow ： having a soft light, or a strong, warm colour

The evening sky was still aglow.if someone's face is aglow, they seem happy

and excitedaglow withLinda's face was aglow with happiness.

inspect: to examineSpot ： a particular place or area on the spot / put somebody on the spotto deliberately ask someone a question that is

difficult or embarrassing to answerdoom: to cause to suffer something

unavoidable, such as death or destruction We saw the doomed aircraft just before it

crashed.

Doom: to make someone or something certain to fail, die, be destroyed etc

be doomed to failure/defeat/extinction etcMany species are doomed to extinction.The plan was doomed from the start.be doomed to do somethingWe are all doomed to die in the end.—doomedadjective:passengers on the doomed flight

If you refuse to provide any information of the user, then your computer program is doomed to failure.

doom and gloom=when there seems to be no hope for the future

dub

to give something or someone a name that describes them in some way [ label, name]↪

be dubbed somethingto change the original spoken language of a

film or television programme into another language

be dubbed into somethingAmerican English to copy a recording

from a tape or CD onto another tape

karma

the belief that all the good and bad things that you do in this life affect how good or bad your future lives will be, according to the Hindu and Buddhist religions

the feeling that you get from a person, place, or action

good/bad karma