英语国家概况.docx

英语国家概况.docx

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英语国家概况

TheUnitedStates

PHYSICALANDCULTUREGEOGRAPHYOFTHEU.S

⏹Geographically,theU.S.isthethirdlargestcountryintheworld,behindRussia,Canada,andChina

⏹However,theU.S.’s“culturalgeography”isenormous:

theUnitedStatesarguablypossessesthemostdiversepopulationintheworld

⏹Americanstakegreatprideinthecountry’sdiversity:

manypeopledescribetheU.S.asa“nationofimmigrants”

⏹Moreover,Americansocietyisoftendescribedasa“meltingpot”ofmanydifferentcultures,beliefs,andwaysoflife

FourRegionsoftheUnitedStates

⏹TheU.S.canbedividedintofourregionsthatareVERYculturallyandgeographicallydistinct:

1.TheNortheast:

oldestregionoftheUnitedStates,famousforitshistory,educationalinstitutionsand“ruggedindividualism”

2.TheSouth:

famousforitspoliticalandreligiousconservatism,emphasisontradition（andfriendliness）,anditsinvolvementintheAmericanCivilWar

3.TheWest:

asymbolofAmerica’soptimism,individualism,andyounghistory,fullofethnicdiversity

4.TheMidwest:

knownforitslargemanufacturing（industrialcenters）andagriculture（farming）;manybelievethatitisthe“moralandcultural”heartofthenation

StatueofLiberty:

LibertyIsland,NewYorkCity

StatueofLiberty

⏹OneofthemostfamoussymbolsofAmericaandAmericanvalues

⏹WasgivenasagifttotheUnitedStatesfromthepeopleofFrancein1886

⏹ThefigureisoftheRomangoddessLibertas,whichisLatinfor“freedom”

StatueofLiberty:

GroupActivity

BelowisaquotethatiscloselyassociatedwiththeStatueofLiberty.ThequoteisfromapoemthatwaswritteninhonorofthecreationoftheStatueofLiberty:

“Givemeyourtired,yourpoor,

Yourhuddledmassesyearningtobreathefree,

Thewretchedrefuseofyourteemingshore.

Sendthese,thehomeless,tempest-tossedtome,

Iliftmylampbesidethegoldendoor!

”

Whatdoyouthinkthisquotemeans?

StatueofLiberty:

GroupActivity

（2）

TheStatueofLibertyisonLibertyIsland,NewYorkCity.ItisapowerfulsymbolformanyAmericans.WhydoyouthinktheStatueofLibertywasputonLibertyIsland,NYC?

WhywasitappropriatetoplacethestatueoffthecoastofNewYorkCity?

（HINT:

thinkofthequoteonthepreviousslide…）

EllisIsland:

GatewaytoAmerica

⏹FamousImmigrationInspectionCenterthroughwhichmillionsofAmericanimmigrantspassedbetween1892-1954.

⏹AlongwiththeStatueofLiberty,EllisIslandisasymbolofAmericandiversityandopportunity

⏹EllisIslandislocatedveryclosetotheStatueofLiberty

⏹TheimportanceofEllisIslandinAmericanhistoryhelpstoexplainWHYtheStatueofLibertyisanimportantpartoftheAmericanidentity

EllisIsland,NewYorkCity

GroupActivity3

⏹SoonafterthecreationoftheStatueofLiberty,someAmericansfeltthattheStatueofLiberty（likeAmericaitself）wasnotanaccuratesymbolofthe“real”America.Forexample,oneAmericancriticfamouslysaid,

“Libertyenlighteningtheworld,"indeed!

Theexpressionmakesussick.Thisgovernmentisahowlingfarce.Itcannotorratherdoesnotprotectitscitizenswithinitsownborders.ShovetheBartholdistatue（StatueofLiberty）,torchandall,intotheoceanuntilthe"liberty"ofthiscountryissuchastomakeitpossibleforaninoffensiveandindustriouscoloredmantoearnarespectablelivingforhimselfandfamily.

WHATISTHEMEANINGANDSIGNIFICANCEOFTHEQUOTE?

SomethingtoConsider…

⏹Americansareproudoftheircountry’svaluesandhistory.AssymbolizedbytheStatueofLiberty,Americansseetheirhomelandasawelcomingcountry,whereanyonewhoworkshardcanbecomesuccessful.ButAmericanshavenotalwaysliveduptothisidealisticexample.

HOWDOESAMERICA’SHISTORYOFSLAVERYANDRACIALINEQUALITYINFLUENCEYOURPERCEPTIONOFAMERICA’SPAST?

HOWDOESITINFLUENCEYOURPERCEPTIONOFAMERICA’SPRESENT?

TheAmericanSouth

AnExplorationof“Dixie”（TheSouthernU.S.States）andtheStruggleforRacialEqualityinAmerica

TheSouth:

ABriefSummary

•Usually“theSouth”referstotheelevenstatesthatlefttheUniontoformthe“Confederacy”duringtheCivilWar

•ThefirstcolonistsoftheSouthwerealmostallEnglish（forexample,mymother’sancestorswereEnglish!

）

•BeforetheAmericanRevolutionandformanyyearsaftertheRevolution,theSouthwasaveryimportantpartofthecountrybecauseofitsagriculture

ASummaryoftheSouth

•Formanyyears,theSouth’sstrongeconomyreliedonslavelabor:

millionsofAfricanslavesworkedonfarmsintheSouth

•TheSouth’seconomyreliedonthe“plantationsystem”:

slavelaborwasextremelyimportanttotheSoutheconomy:

slavesgenerallyworkedonverylargefarmsownedbywealthylandowners

•SlavelaborwasacontroversythateventuallycausedtheAmericanCivilWar:

northernstates,supportedbytheU.S.government,foughttoendslavery

TheAmericanCivilWar（1861-5）

CivilWar

•TheAmericanCivilWarwasoneofthemostdifficultperiodsinAmericanhistory:

itsometimesledmembersofthesamefamilytofightagainsteachotheronthebattlefield.

•ItalsoledtothedestructionofmanycitiesintheAmericanSouth.ThedamagethatwascausedbyUnionsoldiersintheWarruinedtheSouth’seconomy.

•ManySouthernersstillarebitteraboutthedestructioncausedintheSouth.

•However,MOSTIMPORTANTLY,theCivilWarledtoanimportantchangeintheSouth:

Slaverywasabolished[EmancipationProclamation（1863）]

•TheDecemberof1865,the13thAmendmenttotheU.S.Constitutionwasalsopassed.Thisamendmentmakeslaveryillegal.Thiswasthefirst（butnotthelast!

）steptowardsracialequalityinAmerica.

•Inaddition,thecountrywasheldtogether.TheSouthernstatesremainedapartofAmerica

•IntheSouth,theCivilWarcontinuestobeapainfulsubject.Whydoyouthinkso?

Thereareseveralreasons.

StruggleforRacialEquality

•AftertheCivilWar,theAmericanSouthstillstrugglewithracialequality.Inotherwords,blacks（AfricanAmerican）werestilltreatedpoorlyinalotoftheSouth.

•TheCivilRightsMovementinthe1950sand1960swasthesecondgreat“push”（oreffort）forracialequality

Segregation:

SouthernIntolerance

•AlthoughtheCivilWarhelpedtoendslaveryinAmerica,segregationcontinuedtobeaprobleminmuchoftheSouth:

Whitesandblackswenttodifferentschools,satindifferentplacesinbuses,etc.

•Inaddition,manyrestaurantsandotherprivatebusinessescoulddenyservicetoblacks（AfricanAmericans）

EndingSegregation

•However,undertheleadershipofMartinLutherKingJr.,theCivilRightsMovementbroughtchangestoAmerica.

•TheU.S.SupremeCourt,theKennedyandJohnsonAdministrations,andtheU.S.CongressalsohelpedtoendsegregationintheSouth

“IHaveADream”

•YouwillnowlistentoafamoussegmentofMartinLutherKingJr.’sspeech“IHaveADream.”WhataresomeofthetopicsthatMLKaddresses?

HowdoeshedescribetheSouth?

TheAmericanSouthToday

•Today,theAmericanSouthisaverydifferentplacethaninwas150yearsago.Infact,itisalsodifferentthanitwaseven50yearsago.

•RacismandintolerancestillexistsintheSouth,butitisNOTcommon.

•TheSouth’smodern-dayidentityiscomplicated.Itisfilledwithguiltforitspast,aswellasbitternessforthedestructioncausedbytheCivilWar

•Today,theSouthisoneofthepoorestregionsofAmerica

TheSouthToday

•WhilesomeoftheSouth’spastisshameful,therearemanypartsofthe“Southernidentity”thatSouthernersareproudof:

1.FamilyValuesandTradition:

FamilyisparticularlyimportanttomanySoutherners.Peoplebelieveintheimportanceofhonoringandcaringforthefamily.

2.HonestyandFriendliness:

SouthernersareconsideredtobethemosthonestandfriendlykindofAmericans

TheSouthToday

•Religion:

SouthernersareamongthemostreligiousAmericans.ManypeopleintheSouthattendchurchseveraltimeseachweek.

•WayofLiving:

Southernersaremorelaid-back.Theyvaluespendingtimewithfriendsandfamily,insteadofalwaysworkinghard.

•WayofSpeaking:

Theyhaveaverydistinctiveaccent.ItisamongthestrongestaccentsinAmerica.

•SouthernManners:

Southernershaveareputationforbeingverypoliteandcourteoustowardsothers.Theyalsotreattheirelderswithgreatrespect.

•ManyAmericansfromotherpartsofthecountryliketo“makefun”ofSoutherners

•TheydescribeSouthernersaspoor,uneducated,andracist

•Theyareoftendescribedas“rednecks”Redneck:

ABadStereotype

TheNortheast:

ThePeopleandCulture

TheBirthplaceofAmerica

SomeRegionalCharacteristics

•TheNortheastistheoldestregionoftheU.S.:

manystatesintheNortheastwereoriginallyBritishcolonies

•ManycitiesintheNortheastareamongtheoldestinAmerica:

Boston,MA;Philadelphia,PA;Providence,RI.Allofthesecitiesarefilledwithhistoryandculture.

•SomeofAmerica’sbestuniversitiesareinthisregion.

TheNortheast:

ADiverseHistoryandPresent

•TheNortheastisalsohometomuchdiversity.

•ThefirstWesternpeoplestosettleintheNortheastwereEuropeans.Peopletraveledtothe“NewWorld”fromalloverEuropeinordertostartanewlife.（Englishcolonies,however,werethebiggestandmostimportantcolonies.）

•Manyofthesepeopletraveledtothe“NewWorld”toescapepersecution（mistreatment）orjusttobegananewlife

MayflowerExpedition:

ATributetoAmerica’sHistoryofDiversity

•OnefamousexampleistheMayflowerExpeditionin1620（beforeAmericawasitsowncountry）.

•ThepeoplewhotraveledonthistripmovedtoAmericatoescapereligiouspersecutioninEngland.

•ManyofthefirstpeoplewhomovedtoAmericawereEnglish-speakers,buttheir