summaryofloveisafallacy.docx

summaryofloveisafallacy.docx

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summaryofloveisafallacy

SummaryoftheText

ThisessaysurpassestheveryinformalwritingstyleofCharlesLamb,whowasextraordinarilyimaginativeandenterprising,andindeeddemonstratesthefunandbeautyoflogic.Itistoldbythemaincharacterwhosenameisneverrevealed.

Thoughonly18yearsold,Iwastheeliteofmypeers.OneFridayafternoonIfoundmystupidroommatePeteyBurchlyinginbedingreatdistress.AtfirstIthoughthewasillbutthenIdiscoveredhewasdesperateforaraccooncoat,thefadatthattime,declaringhewouldgiveanythingforit.ItoccurredtomethatIcouldgetanoldraccooncoatfrommyfatherandexchangeitfor"something"Ihadbeencovetingforsometime--hisgirlfriendPollyEspy.

ThenextMondaymorning,Ireturnedtoschoolandshowedhimthehairycoat.Hewentcrazy.However,hewasnotsohappywhenItoldhimmyrequest.AfterlongthoughthegaveinandallowedmetodatethebeautifulPolly.

MyfirstdatewithPollyonTuesdayeveningdisappointedmesomuchthatIalmostreturnedhertoPetey,forsheseemedtoofoolishtobemywife.However,herphysicalcharmswereirresistiblesoIdecidedtoteachhertothinkandtolearnlogic.

Thenexttime,atthecampustrystingplaceItaughtherthefallaciescalledDictoSimpliciter,HastyGeneralization,PostHoc,andContradictoryPremises,butherheadwaslogic-proof.AgainIwantedtogiveherbacktoPetey.Yet,inforapenny,inforapound.IdecidedtoteachherAdMisericordiam,FalseAnalogy,HypothesisContrarytoFact,andPoisoningtheWell.Atthisfinalfallacy,aglimmerofintelligencesparkedinhereyes.IenthusiasticallyfolloweditupwithareviewofallIhadtaughther.Myfivegruelingnightspaidwell:

IhadfinallymadealogicianoutofPolly.Whennextwesatunderouroaktree,Itriedtochangeourrelationshipfromacademictoromantic,onlytofindeachofmyromanticphrasesandproposalsrefutedbyherasfallacies,finallyrejectingmeinfavorofPetey!

Atmyquestionforthereasonofhernotgoingoutwithme,shesaidthatthatveryafternoonshehadpromisedtogosteadywithPetey.Iwasfurious,andaskedherforthelogicalreasonforherpreferenceofPeteyoverme.

Polly'sanswerwasthatPercyhadgotaraccooncoat!

TheraccooncoatthatIdislikedandabhorredandhadgiventoPeteyfortheprivilegeofdatingPollywasnowtheveryinstrumentofmyundoing!

Loveisdelusiveandlogicallyunpredictable!

Style&Appreciation

Thetitleofthestory,humorousandwellchosen,hastwomeanings:

whenfallacyistakenliterally,thetitlemeans:

"Loveisdeceptiveanddelusive."Whentakenwithitslogicalmeaning,thetitlemeans:

"Lovecannotbededucedfromasetofgivenpremises."

Thestoryissatirizingaself-conceitedfreshmaninalawschool--thenarratorofthestory.Hegoesaroundsmuglyboastingandpraisinghimselfateverychancehegets.FromPara.4,hebeginstoemployallthebeautifulwordshecanthinkof,like"cool,powerful,precise"and"penetrating"todescribehimself.Meanwhile,hetakeseveryopportunitytorundownPeteyBurch,callinghim"dumb","nothingupstairs","unstable","impressionable"and"afaddist",andPollyEspyas"abeautifuldumbgirl",whomight"smartenup"underhisguidance.

Thepurposeofthisessayistodemonstratethatlogicisaliving,breathingthing,fullofbeauty,passion,andtrauma,farfrombeingadry,pedanticsubject.Humorously,thewriterexaggerateseverysituation,withtheresultthatlogicbecomesaninterestingsubject.Thelogicallinkofpassageideasis"logic--alivingthing"---"exchangeofaraccooncoatforaprettybutfoolishgirl"---"teachinghertobelogicalandclever”---"aPygmalionbecomesaFrankenstein",thusthetheme"Logicisfun;loveisnotforlove'ssakebutforfashion'ssake,forwealth'ssake."

Toachievehispurpose,thewriteremploysavarietyofwritingtechniquesandalexicalspectrum--fromtheultra-learnedtermsusedbytheconceitednarratortotheinfra-clippedvulgarformsofPollyEspy--tomakehisstoryvalid,dramaticandcolorful.Hisfigurativelanguage,grammaticalinversionforspecialemphasis,shortsentences,ellipticalsentencesanddashesthroughoutthestoryaddtotheimmediacyofthestory.

Forinstance,PollyEspy'sexclamatorywordslike"Gee,Oo,Wow-dowandclippedvulgarformslike"delish,marvy,sensaysh,"etc.createtheimpressionofasimpleandratherstupidgirl,contrastingstronglywiththeboastingofthenarrator,andthusincreasingtheforceofsatireandirony.

Again,everymanhasafooluphissleeve.InPara.145,thenarratorarguesthat"thethingsyoulearninschooldon'thaveanythingtodowithlife",committingafallacyofDictoSimpliciterhimselfinhisfinaldesperateattempttomakePollyEspyforgetthefallacieshehastaughtherandconvinceherthathelovesherandthatsheshouldgosteadywithhim.

Topic-centeredparagraphwritingisalsooneofthefeatures.Takeforexample.Itstopicsentenceisthesecondsentence—Hewasatornman."Thewriterdevelopstheparagraphbydescribingthebehavioroftheman,usingillustrativeexamplestodevelopthethemestatedinhistopicsentence.

Also,hisallusionsareaptlychosen.ThenarratorreferstoPygmalionandFrankensteinbecausehecourtsPollyandPollyrefuseshim.HegetsthesameresultasFrankensteindid.Heisdestroyedbythemonsterhehascreated,whereasPygmalionwaslovedbythestatueofGalatea.

TheconclusionisironicinthatthewholethingbackfiresonthenarratorwhenPollyrefutesallhisargumentsaslogicalfallaciesbeforefinallyrejectinghim.Hehasbecomethevictimofhisowncleverness;heistoocleverforhisowngood.Affluencehasreplacedlove,thusthereisnoquestionoftakingbrilliance,talent,oreducationintoconsiderationwhenchoosingaboyfriendandahusband.IthasreducedthesearchtoamatterofseekingwealthandkeepingupwiththeJoneses.Indeed,thiskindofloveisafallacy!

Anintroductiontothetext:

LoveisaFallacy

Thepurposeoftheessay,accordingtothewriter,is"todemonstratethatlogic,farfrombeingadry,pedanticsubject,isaliving,breathingthing,fullofbeauty,passion,andtrauma."ThestoryissetinalawschoolattheuniversityofMinnesota,U.S.A.Theprotagonist,aself-conceitedfreshmaninalawschool,ismadethenarratorofthestory,whogoesonsmuglyboastingandsingingpraisesofhimselfateveryconceivableopportunity.Fromtheverybeginning,hestartstoheaponhimselfallthebeautifulwordsofpraisehecanthinkof---"cool","logical","keen","calculating","perspicacious","acute","astute","powerful","precise"and"penetrating."Atthesametime,thenarratortakeseveryopportunitytodowngradePeteyBurch.Heconsidershim"dumb","nothingupstairs","emotional","unstable","impressionable",and"afaddist".Whatismore,heregardsPollyEspyas"abeautifuldumbgirl",whowouldsmartenupunderhisguidance.Inordertosmartenherup,thenarratordecidestogiveheracourseinlogic.Unfortunately,hesucceedstoowellbecausethewholethingbackfiresonhimwhenPollyrefutesallhisargumentsaslogicalfallaciesbeforefinallyrejectinghim.Indesperationthenarratorarguesthat"thethingsyoulearninschooldon'thaveanythingtodoinlife."ThisappealdoesnotmovePollybecauseshedoesnotrejecthimonlogicalgrounds.SherejectshimbecausehedoesnotownaraccooncoatasPeteyBurchdoes.Attheendofthestory,thereaderfeelsthenarratorhasgotwhathedeserves:

lovecannotbededucedfromasetofgivenpremises.

Thewriteremploysawholevarietyoftechniquestomakehisstoryvivid,dramatic,andcolorful.Thiscanbeshownbyhavingacloserexaminationoftheoriginaltextfromthefollowingfouraspects---lexicaldevices,syntacticdevices,figuresofspeech,anddiscourseanalysis.

Generalideaofthetext:

全文概述

Thistextisapieceofnarrativewriting．Thenarratorofthestory，DobieGillis，aself-conceitedfreshmaninalawschool，istheprotagonist．Hestrugglesagainsttwoantagonists：

PeteyBurch，hisstupidroommatewhosegirlfriendheplanstosteal，andPollyEspy，thebeautifuldumbgirlheintendstomarryaftersuitablere-education．Petey，afaddist，iseagerforaraccooncoat，andhedecidestoexchangehisgirlfriendPeteyforitwithDobie．DobiehasaffectionforPollyforlongoutofpracticalasPollyis，shehasthemakingstobecomeasuitablewifeofalawyer．Inordertosmartenherup，Dobiedecidestogiveheracourseinlogic．Heteachesherhowtorecognizethecommonfallaciesoflogic．Hesucceedstoowellbecausethewholethingbackfires（造成相反结果）onhimwhenPollyrefutesallhisargumentsaslogicalfallaciesbeforefinallyrejectinghim．IndesperationDobiearguesthat“thethingsyoulearninschooldon'thaveanythingtodoinlife．”TheappealdoesnotmovePollybecauseDobiedoesnotownaraccooncoatasPeteyBurchdoes．Ironically，theraccooncoatwhichDobiegivestoPeteyfortheprivilegeofdatinghisgirl，theraccooncoatwhichDobiedislikesandabhors，istheinstrumentofhisownundoing（毁灭）．

美文欣赏及写作特点

Thewholestoryisapieceofnarrationoflight，humoroussatire．Itsthemeisstatedinthetitle：

“Loveisafallacy”，whichcanbeunderstoodintwoways．When“fallacy”istakenliterally，thetitlemeans：

“Loveisdeceptiveordelusive”．Whentakenasaspecificterminlogic，itmeans：

"Lovecannotbededucedfromasetofgivenpremises．"Thestoryreachesitsclimaxinparagraphs147-150whenPollyrefusestogosteadywithDobiebecauseshehasalreadypromisedtogosteadywithPeteyButch．Thedenouement（结局）followsrapidlyandendsinaveryironicnote．Dobieignoresthefactthatloveisthesincereattachm