精读4thedamnedhumanrace.docx

精读4thedamnedhumanrace.docx

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精读4thedamnedhumanrace

精读4-the-damned-human-race

Lesson15

PartOneWarm-up

BackgroundInformation

I.AuthorPre-classwork:

WhatdoyouknowaboutMarkTwain?

Canyounamesomebookshewrote?

MarkTwain（1835-1901）wasbornSamuelLanghorneClemensinFlorida,Missouri,butlivedasachildinHannibal,Missouri,ontheMississippiRiver.HetookthepennameMarkTwainfromthecallofthepilotsontheriversteamers,whichindicatedthatthewaterwastwelvefeetdeep,asafedepthforasteamer.Duringhisearlyyears,heworkedasariverboatpilot,newspaperreporter,printer,andgoldprospector.Butthenheturnedtowriting,andbecameoneofthegreatestofAmericanwriters.Hisworkshavebeenimmenselypopular,andhavebroughthimanamplefortune,thusenablinghimtodevotehisentiretimetoliterature.

Althoughhispopularimageisastheauthorof

●producedbyMarkTwain,andithasalwaysbeenregardedasoneofthegreatbooksofwesternliteratureandwesterncivilization.Hemingwaydescribeditasthebookfromwhich“allmodernAmericanliteraturecomes”.本书讲述的是一个忍受不了“资产阶级生活方式”和酗酒的父亲的毒打而离家出走的白人孩子哈克，和一个逃亡的黑奴吉木，同乘一个木筏，在密西西比河上漂流的见闻和遭遇。

全面、彻底地揭露资本主义政治的所谓“自由和民主”的神话。

Hiswritingstyle:

hilariouslyhumorousbitterlysatirical

Hislanguageispureandelevated,exceptwhenitisnecessarytousethelanguageofclassestorepresentcertaincharacters.Theworldisboundtolaughaslongashisworksarekeptinprint.

TextAppreciation

1.ThemeThroughtheanalysisofvarioustraitsanddispositionshumanbeingsascontrastedtothe“higheranimals”,theauthorfindsthatmenhavedescendedanddegenerated.Theauthorwritesaboutuglyhumantraitsanddispositions.Inhisopinion,humanbeingsarenotascendedfromtheloweranimalsbutdescendedfromthehigheranimals.

Bothasahumoristandasanessayistofseriousideas,MarkTwainisapowerfulwriter.Heisanhonestandthoroughcriticwhoalwaysbringsafreshperspectivetothingswhicharealltoooftentakenforgranted.Truetothisstandard,“TheDamnedHumanRace”iswonderfullythought-provokingandhumane.

Tohaveabetterunderstandingofthisessay,itisperhapsnecessarytogobacktothe1890s,aperiodwhichwasdarkandgloomyforMarkTwain.Firstofall,becauseofunwiseinvestment,

hewentbankrupt.Andinordertopayoffhiscreditors,heundertookaround-the-worldspeakingtouraimedatmakingsomemoney.Hehadalmostcompleteditwhenhelearnedthathisfavoritedaughter,Susy,haddied.Thiswasaterribleblowforhim.Beforehecouldrecoverfromthis,hisbelovedwife,whohadbeenhisfirstreaderandchiefcensorforthe34yearsoftheirmarriedlife,diedtoo.Withherdeath,writingforhimwasessentiallyover.Hebecamemoreandmorebitterandhislastwritingsweresavagelysatirical.

Manybelievethereforethatthischangeofmoodasreflectedintheessaywasmainlyduetotheauthor’spersonaltragedies.Buttherearealsoseriousscholarswhothinkthatmoreimportantreasonshadtodowiththewholesocialbackground—thethreedecadesaftertheCivilWaroftheUnitedStateswerecharacterizedbycut-throatcompetition,childlaborandsweatshops,robberbaronsandlaborriots,corruptionandunethicalbusinesspracticesspreadofthejunglelawandracialconflictsandimperialistwars.ToMarkTwain,whohadalwaysbeenconcernedwiththeproblemofthehumanconscience,thesethingsrevealedtheterribledeficienciesofthehumanrace.Toremedythisdeplorablesituation,hebegantousehispenasasharplancefirsttopiercetheboilsofhumanpomposity.

However,itiswrongtothinkthatMarkTwainispessimisticorcynical.Heisneither.Behindallthebitternessisawarmandhumaneheart.MarkTwaindoesnotreallybelievethathumanbeingsareincurablycruel,greedyandwicked.Otherwisehewouldnothavebotheredtowritethoseessays.Hewritesaboutuglyhumantraitsanddispositionspreciselybecausehethinkshumanbeingsarecapableofmendingtheirwaysiftheycanopentheireyestotheirownweaknessesandunderstandtheconditionsthatgiverisetothemandnurturethem.Inotherwords,hispolicyistofrighteninordertoenlighten.

Thisslightlyabridgedessayisorganizedlikeapapertoreportresultsofascientificexperiment.Ithasathesisstatementatthebeginningandabriefsumming-upattheend.Themainbodyisarrangedaccordingtothevariousstraitsanddispositionsofhumanbeingsascontrastedtothe“higheranimals”.Howeverinthesecondpartofthebodytheauthorbeginstouseapolemictone.Heseemstobearguingwithpeoplewhobelieveinman’ssuperioritybecausetheycanreason,havemoralprinciplesandreligion,andlovetheirneighborsandcountry.

Noticethewaytheauthorachieveshumor.MarkTwaininthisessayobviouslytalkstongue-in-cheekabouthumantraits.Hepretendstobereportingonascientificexperiment,imitating—indeed,onemightevensaymimicking—theformallanguage（bigwords,longsentences,serioustone,etc）academicsarefondofusing.

2.Structure

Part1（Paras.1---4）:

Thethesisstatementandintroductiontothescientificexperiment.

Part2（Paras.5---9）:

Theanalysisrelatedtovariousstraitsanddispositionsofhumanbeingsascontrastedtothe“higheranimals”.

Part3（Paras.10---16）:

Arguingwithpeoplewhobelieveinman’ssuperiority.

Part4（Para.17）:

Menhavedescendedanddegenerated.

Organizationofthetext:

Thisslightlyabridgedessayisorganizedlikeapapertoreportresultsofascientificexperiment.Ithasathesisstatementatthebeginningandabriefsumming-upattheend.Themainbodyisarrangedaccordingtothevariousstraitsanddispositionofhumanbeingsascontrastedtothe“higheranimals”.Howeverinthesecondpartofthebodytheauthorbeginstouseapolemictone.Heseemstobearguingwithpeoplewhobelieveinman’ssuperioritybecausetheycanreason,havemoralprinciplesandreligion,andlovetheirneighborsandcountry.

3.FurtherDiscussion

DoyouhaveanyideawhyMarkTwainbecamemoreandmorebitterinhislateryears?

WhatistheDarwiniantheory?

IsMarkTwainseriouswhenhesaysthathehasdonemanymonthsofpainstakingandfatiguingworkintheLondonZoologicalGarden?

WhateffectdoyouthinkMarkTwainhopestoachievewiththismockseriousness?

Howdoestheauthorcontrasthumanbeingswithotheranimals?

Howwouldyoudescribetheimageofhumanbeingsundertheauthor’spen?

Wouldyousaythatthehumanracehaschangedforthebetterorfortheworse?

Howisthisessayorganized?

Isthisarticlewritteninacolloquialandinformalway?

4.SentenceParaphrase

Ihavebeenstudyingthetraitsanddispositionsofthe“loweranimals”,andcontrastingthemwiththetraitsanddispositionsofman.Ifindtheresulthumiliatingtome.（Para.1）

Ihavebeenstudyingthecharacteristicsoftheso-calledloweranimalsincomparisonwiththoseofman.Theresultofthisstudymakesme,asaman,feelterriblyashamed.

traitsanddispositions:

characteristics;features;nature

humiliating:

makingmefeelashamed;embarrassing

Noticethetongue-in-cheek（asajoke,notseriously）waytheauthorexpresseshisideas.Hemakesitsoundasifhewereconductingandreportingontheresultofascientificinvestigation.Inotherwords,heisdeliberatelyusingapompousstyletoachievehumor.

ForitobligesmetorenouncemyallegiancetotheDarwiniantheoryoftheAscentofManfromtheLowerAnimalsandtonameittheDescentofManfromtheHigherAnimals.（Para.1）

Becausetheresultofmystudyforcesmetogiveup（toabandon）myloyaltyto（firmbeliefin）Darwin’stheoryofevolutionandtochangethetheoryoftheAscentofManfromtheLowerAnimalstothetheoryoftheDescentofManfromtheHigherAnimals.

toobligesbtodosth:

toforcesbtodosth;tomakeitnecessaryforsbtodosth

torenounce:

toabandonorgiveup;torejectordisown

allegiance:

loyalty,esp.toanationoracause

Thatistosay,Ihavesubjectedeverypostulatethatpresenteditselftothecrucialtestofactualexperiment.（Para.2）Inotherwords,Ihaveputeverytheoryorhypothesisthereistothedecisivetestofactualexperiment.

tosubjectsth/sbtosth:

tocausesb/sthtoundergoorexperiencesthunpleasantordifficultandoftenforalongtime,e.g.Theyweresubjectedtoverycrueltortures.

Thedesertificationsubjectedpeoplelivinginthatareatogreathardships.

thatpresenteditself:

thathappensorexists,e.g.

Whentheopportunitypresentsitselfyoumustseizeitatonce.

Ithinktheyarestillwaitingforamorefavorablesituationtopresentitself.

Someofmyexperimentswerequitecurious.Inthecourseofmyreading,Ihadcomeacrossacasewhere,manyyearsago,somehuntersonourGreatPlainsorganizesabuffalohuntfortheentertainmentofanEnglishearl—that,andtoprovidesomefreshmeatforhistable.Para3

theGreatPlains:

anareaofwestcentralNorthAmericabetweentheRockyMountainsandtheMississippiRiver.InhabitedfirstbynomadicIndiansknownasBuffaloIndians,thePlainsweresettledbywhiteranchersinthe1860s.

earl:

atitleofBritishnobility,equaltotheFrenchcount

Compare:

duke;marquis;earl（count）;viscount;baron

that,andtoprovidesomefreshmeatforhistable:

“That”isinappositionto“fortheentertainmentofanEnglishearl”.

forhistable:

forhismeal

5.Inordertodeterminethedifferencebetweenananacondaandearl—ifany—lcausedsevenyoungcalvestobeturnedintotheanaconda’scage.

Ifany:

usedtosuggestthereisnodifference

Tocausesevenyoungcalvestobeturnedinto…:

tohavesevencalvesturnedintotheanaconda’scage（implyingthatitwasdonebyassistants