6 Death of a Pig.docx

6 Death of a Pig.docx

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6DeathofaPig

LessonSixDeathofaPig

E.B.White

●Objectives

Afterstudyingthisessay,studentswillbeableto:

1.graspthethemeoftheshortstory（thepainandsufferingbroughtaboutbydeathandthisinsecure,sufferingworldtoanimalsandhumansalike;relationshipbetweenanimalsandhumanbeings）；

2.identifyandappreciatetheauthor’shumoroustoneindealingwiththisheavyandprofoundtopic（achievedmostlythroughpompousandexaggerativelanguage）;

3.appreciateotherfeaturesandwritingtechniquesofthestory（thefreeandsmoothstyle,thecarefulchoiceofwords,descriptionofdetails,theuseofparallelism,imageryandallusion,parody,etc.）;

4.conductaseriesofreading,listening,speakingandwritingactivitiesrelatedtothethemeoftheunit.

●Timeallotment:

Theteachingplanistobecarriedoutwith7periods.

Informationontheauthor

RefertoNote1

Thisessayisatypicalexampleofnarrationbasedontheauthor’sownexperience.Thatistosay,thisisarealstoryratherthanafiction.Unlikethepreviousfivelessons,thisessayhasnotmuchbackgroundinformation.Therefore,wewillsimplegointothetextbodyandtrytosharethesubtlefeelingoftheauthor,payingspecialattentiontothehumorousstyleofwriting.

Thenarrationgenerallyfollowsachronologicalorderexceptforthefirstthreeparagraphs.So,thereisnoneedtoanalyzetheoverallpattern.Weshall

Para.1.

1.Ispentseveraldaysandnightsinmid-September….nonelefttodotheaccounting

●Theuseofalongandinvolvedsentenceandformalwords（e.g.ailingpig,feeldrivento,accountfor,thisstretchoftime,etc.）conveysasenseofpseudo-solemnityandcreateshumor.Usuallythedeathofapigdoesnotrequiresuchaserioustreatment.SimilarexamplescanbefoundinPrideandPrejudice,anovelofAustinfamousforitshumorandirony,suchas“itisatruthuniversallyacknowledged,thatasinglemaninpossessionofagoodfortunemustbeinwantofawife.”

●Thesettingofthestoryisintroducedinthefirstsentence.Itwasinmid-Septemberanditmusthavebeeninaruralenvironmentsinceapigisinvolved.（Pigsarenormallynotfoundaspetsinurbanhouseholds.）

●…Ifeeldriventoaccountforwhathashappenedduringthisstretchoftime…

Ifeelcompelledtorecordwhathashappenedduringthisperiodoftime.

●accountfor:

i.Tobethereasonwhysomethingexistsorhappens.e.g.anumberoffactorscanaccountfortherapiddevelopmentoftheUnitedStates.

ii.Togiveanexplanationforsomethingbadthathashappened,especiallysomethingoneisresponsiblefor.e.g.Thesuspectwasbroughtbeforethecourttoaccountforhisdeeds

iii.Toform,use,orproduceaparticularamountorpartofsomething.E.g.wateraccountsforthreefourthsofthetotalsurfaceoftheearth.

●…andthingsmighteasilyhavegonetheotherwayroundandnonelefttodotheaccounting.

Itmighthavebeenmewhohaddiedandthepigmighthavesurvived;ifthathadbeenthecase,therewouldbenobodylefttotellthestory,sincethepigcannotwrite.

2.Evennow,soclosetotheevent,Icannotrecallthehourssharplyandamnotreadytosaywhetherdeathcameonthethirdnightorthefourthnight.

●sharply:

clearly,distinctly

3.Thisuncertaintyafflictsmewithasenseofpersonaldeterioration;ifIwereindecenthealthIwouldknowhowmanynightsIhadsatupwithapig.

●ThefactthatIcannotrememberexactlywhenthepigdiedshowthatmyhealthisdeteriorating.Otherwise,Iwouldbeabletoremember.Again,noticethehumorconveyedbythesolemntoneasiftheeventwasofgreathistoricalimportance.Youfeelthattheauthorisbeingfussyaboutthetriflessincenormallythedateofapig’sdeathisofnoimportanceandnobodyreallycareswhetheritdiedonthethirdorthefourthday.

Para.2

4.Theschemeofbuyingaspringpiginblossomtime,feedingitthroughsummerandfall,andbutcheringitwhenthesolidcoldweatherarrives,isafamiliarschemetomeandfollowsanantiquepattern.

●Thethree-stepplanofraisingapighasbeeninpracticeforagesandisthereforeregardsasanancienttradition.I’vealsodonethisbefore---buyingapiglet,raisingitandtheninduetimekillingitformeat.

Notethat‘antique’isanunusualwordinthecontext,usedtoshowthatthisistheusualpatternofraisingapig,andthereforeformingasharpcontrasttotheauthor’sexperience.

●buyingaspringpiginblossomtime:

buyingapigletinspring.

●Thesolidcoldweather:

thecoldweatherinwinterinwhichthingsareoftenfrozensolid.

●Scheme:

aplanforachievingsomething,especiallysomethingillegalordishonest

5.Itisatragedyenactedonmostfarmswithperfectfidelitytotheoriginalscript.

●Theraisingofapigislikeatragedy,becauseitalwaysendsinthekillingofthepig,andthesetpattern---buying,raisingandbutchering---isstrictlyfollowedonmostfarms.

●Here,theauthorusesametaphor,callingthescheme“atragedy”,thesetpatternofraisingapig“ascript”.Inlaterparagraphs,hemakesmorereferencestoterminologyofdrama.i.）Whatisatragedy?

---atragedyisaseriousplayordramawhichtypicallydealswiththeproblemsofacentralcharacterandhasanunhappyordisastrousending.ii.）Canyounameafewfamousworksoftragedy,byShakespeare,forinstance?

----RomeoandJuliet,Macbeth,KingLear,Hamlet,etc.iii.）Inwhatwaytheschemeisanalogoustoatragedy?

Firstly,inthescheme,thepigisthemaincharacter.Secondly,itis,withfewexceptions,murderedintheend,adisastrousending.Theauthorisbeingironicalhere.

6.Themurder,beingpremeditated,isinthefirstdegreebutisquickandskillful,andthesmokedbaconandhamprovideaceremonialendingwhosefitnessisseldomquestioned.

●Thetragedyhasanending—thekillingofapigandtheservingofitsmeat.Thekilling,deliberatelyplannedandcarriedoutefficiently,isthemostserioustypeofmurder.Howeverwhetherpigsshouldendtheirlivesthatwayhasneverbeenquestioned.

●Premeditated:

（legal）（ofcrime,badaction,unpleasantremark,etc.）deliberatelyplanned.

Noticethehumoroususeofthelegalterm“premeditated”.Itisusedherebecausepigsarefedtobekilled,hence“apremeditatedmurder”.

●firstdegreemurder:

（American）themostserioustypeofmurder,premeditatedmurder（cf:

manslaughter）

●ceremonial:

usedonformalortraditionaloccasions.PigsareoftenbutcheredattheendoftheyearforholidayssuchasThanksgivingandChristmas,sointhissense,theydie“aworthydeath”.

Para.3

7.Onceinawhilesomethingslips---oneoftheactorsgoesupinhislinesandthewholeperformancestumblesandhalts.

●Themetaphoriscarriedon.Occasionallysomethinggoeswrong.Oneoftheactorsintheplay,inmycase,thepig,performsitsparttooearly,thuscreatingchaos/troubles,andthewholeplayhastostop.Theauthorintroducestheprematuredeathofhispiginahumorousway.

●Slip:

tofallintofaultorerror,togowrong

●Lines:

thewordsthatanactorsaysinaperformance

●Stumble:

tospeak,actorproceedinaconfused,blunderingmanner

●Halt:

tostop,especiallytemporarily.

8.Mypigsimplyfailedtoshowupforameal.Thealarmspreadrapidly.

●Pigsseemtobealwayshungry,sowhentheauthor’spigrefusedameal,everybodyinstantlysensedtrouble.

9.Theclassicoutlineofthetragedywaslost.

●Whatistheclassicoutlineofthetragedy?

Tobuyapigletinspring,feeditthroughsummerandfall,andbutcheritinwinter.Inotherwords,thepigisnotsupposedtobesickanytimeinbetween.

10.Ifoundmyselfcastsuddenlyintheroleofpig’sfriendandphysician---afarcicalcharacterwithanenemabagforaprop.

●cast:

tochooseactorsfor（aplay,forexample）;toassignacertainroleto（anactor）.

Theauthorwassuddenlymadetoplaytheroleofthepig’sfriendandphysician---totakecareofthepigwhenitgotsick---whereasoriginallyhewassupposetobethebutcher.（Therefore,hisnewroleseemedridiculous.）

●farcical:

ridiculous

●enema:

（seevocabularyBonpage84）amedicaltreatmentinwhichliquidisforcedintoaperson’slowerintestinetomakehimgotothetoilettoemptyhisbowels;oraliquidusedinthistreatment.

●Prop:

（alsofml.property）n.（usu.pl.）amovableobjectusedonatheatrestage,inafilm,etc.道具e.g.stageprops

11.Ihadapresentiment,theveryfirstafternoon,thattheplaywouldneverregainitsbalanceandthatmysympathieswerenotwhollywiththepig.

●presentiment:

（fml）afeelingthatsomethingisgoingtohappen,especiallysomethingbad.

●…theplaywouldneverregainitsbalance…

Theauthorhadthestrangefeelingthathewouldneverbeabletoreturntotheoriginalscriptofthetragedy,thatis,thepigwouldneverrecover.

●balance:

notewordsthatcanbecollocatedwithbalance:

achieve/keep/maintain/preserve/find/alter/loose/upset,etc.

●mysympathieswerenotwhollywiththepig

Readon,weshouldknowthattheauthorwasannoyedbytheunexpectedevent,hecouldnotcompletelysympathizewiththesickpig.

12.Thiswasslapstick---thesortofdramatictreatmentthatinstantlyappealedtomyolddachshund,Fred,whojoinedthevigil,heldthebag,andwhenallwasover,presidedattheinterment.

●Thewholematterofthepiggettingsickandmetakingcareofitwaslikeacrudecomedy,butmydoglikeditverymuch---hedidnotmissanypartofit:

hewastherewhenIstayedawakeduringthenighttotakecareofthepig;hewastheretoholdtheenemabagduringthemedicaltreatment,hewaseveninchargeoftheburialafterthepigdied.

●slapstick:

horseplay,crudecomedyinwhichthehumor