现代大学英语精读6第二版Unit2教师用书.docx

1、现代大学英语精读6第二版Unit2教师用书Unit 2 A Rose for EmilyWilliam FaulknerAdditional Background Information on William FaulknerWilliam Faulkner was born and brought up in the American South and lived there for almost all his life. On November 14, 1888, the local newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi reported a news s

2、tory: “A terrible tragedy was enacted at Ripley on Tuesday afternoon of last weekthe widely and well-known Col. W. C. Falkner being the victim.” Col. Falkner had run for the Mississippi legislature and had been elected. But before he took office he was shot dead by his rival. Col. Falkner had been a

3、 local hero and a legendary figure. He was a pioneer in Mississippi, organized a regiment to fight for the South in the Civil War, practiced law after returning from the battlefields, bought a large plantation, built the first railroad in his hometown, and wrote a novel, which became a national best

4、-seller. This “widely and well-known” Col. W. C. Falkner was William Faulkners great-grandfather. On September 25, 1897, Faulkner was born in this distinguished family. He spent his youth in Oxford, a small town in Mississippi. Although the old colonel had died before Faulkner came into this world,

5、the boy grew up listening to all sorts of stories about his great-grandfather and other people in his hometown. The stories that his Negro nanny told him and the gossip he heard from the townspeople resting and chatting in the small downtown square provided Faulkner with an oral tradition of storyte

6、lling as an important part of his education.During World War I Faulkner served in the Royal Canadian Air Force. After the armistice in 1918 he returned to Oxford, and for some time he led his life in a rather listless way. He attended the University of Mississippi but left the university within a ye

7、ar; he tried his hand at poetry but without much success; he went north to the cultural metropolitan city of New York, but was driven back home soon by loneliness. He became a postmaster, but after three years at most, he resigned from this post. All this time, Faulkner had been reading, first, what

8、ever interested him, and, later, the great poets and novelists. In New York, Faulkner met Sherwood Anderson, a famous writer, and then when he traveled to New Orleans in 1925, he gained entry into this artistic center through Anderson. Inspired by Anderson, Faulkner began to write novels.Faulkner wr

9、ote 19 novels and nearly a hundred short stories. The setting of 15 novels and the majority of the short fiction is the American South. In his third book Sartoris (1929), he created the fictional Yoknapatawpha County. In the same year, he published The Sound and the Fury (1929), one of his masterpie

10、ces. This novel owes much to James Joyce and the stream of consciousness technique. In another major work As I Lay Dying (1930), Faulkner relates a terrifying comic story to a ritualized burial journey. In this novel he experiments with multiple-point-of-view narration. Light in August (1932) is als

11、o one of Faulkners major novels. The high point of Faulkners development is the brilliant Absalom, Absalom! (1936). His other major works include The Unvanquished, The Wild Palms, The Hamlet, The Town, The Mansion, Go Down Moses, A Fable, etc. As the setting of most of his works is the American Sout

12、h, Faulkner is regarded as a regional writer. But the word “regional” is misleading because Faulkner deals with some of the major universal themes in literature so profoundly that his work is read and recognized nationally and internationally. As far as writing techniques are concerned, Faulkner is

13、among the great experimentalists of the 20th century novel. His effective use of stream of consciousness, multiple points of view, symbolism and imagery, places him among the rank of outstanding modern writers along with James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. In 1950, Faulkner won the Nobel Prize for Liter

14、ature.The Themes and Writing Techniques of “A Rose for Emily”Although “A Rose for Emily” is one of his most frequently anthologized short stories and is widely used in the American classroom, Chinese students may find it difficult to understand and appreciate. Some of them may think it is a bizarre

15、story about an old eccentric lady in an American Southern town. Its true that the setting of the story is the American South. Yet, the theme of the story is universal, transcending the boundaries of time and space. Like many other works of great literature, this short story tells about love, death,

16、honor, pride, change, and loss. In “A Rose for Emily” we can see how the author tells the good story skillfully; how he creates the requisite atmosphere for telling the story; how he maintains the suspense and unfolds the conflict bit by bit; and how he digs deep into the social world of his charact

17、ers. This story is a rich and modern 20th-century literary text. Those who are not very familiar with modern American literature may therefore encounter obstacles in reading this story: vague references, ambiguities, symbolism, imagery, experimental point of view, jumbled time sequences, avoidance o

18、f clear transitions, withholding of vital information, etc. By exploiting those “tricks,” Faulkner hopes to invite readers to participate in the process of seeking the truths of the inner life of the characters in the story. Once we do, we will surely enjoy reading the story. Its like working at a p

19、uzzle: the more parts we start to figure out, the more interesting the puzzle will become.The 1950 Nobel Prize presentation speech called Faulkner as the “unrivaled master of all living British and American novelists.” He is regarded as a “deep psychologist.” “A Rose for Emily” lives up to that high

20、 praise.Implicit Chronology (approximate)The narration of “A Rose for Emily” does not follow a normal chronological order. Instead, it shifts in time frequently and gives out bits of information about the main character, Miss Emily, in such a way that the reader has to piece them together by himself

21、/herself. The following implicit chronology has been worked out on the basis of the information from the text.ca. 1855: Miss Emily was born to the richest family of slave-owners in the town.1861: The American Civil War broke out; Confederate troops from the town were commanded by Col. Sartoris.1865:

22、 The American Civil War ended.1870s: Mr. Grierson, Miss Emilys father, had the family house built in the Gothic revival style.ca. 1886: Mr. Grierson died; Miss Emilys inheritance was only the house; she was over thirty.ca. 1887: Homer Barron, Northern construction foreman, arrived; he and Miss Emily

23、 started courting.ca. 1888: Homer Barron could be seen no more; the smell in the house was noticed.1894: The Young Colonel Sartoris, as mayor of the town, exempted Miss Emily from taxes for life.ca. 1919: The Young Colonel died.ca. 1927-1928: The tax delegation visited Miss Emily.ca. 1929-1930: Miss

24、 Emily died at the age of 74.Notes: “ca.” is short for circa, meaning “about” used before an approximate date or figure. We must remember that Faulkner is not always accurate about the exact time of a certain event. The purpose of working out this chronology is to give students a rough idea of the t

25、ime frame in which the story took place.Structure of the Text Part I (Paras. 1-14)This part begins with the death of Miss Emily, the daughter of an eminent Southern family and indicates who Emily was. When Miss Emily died, all the people in the town went to her funeral. (Para. 1) Miss Emily lived in

26、 a big old house on one of the best streets of the town. (Para. 2) When Miss Emily was alive, the older generation treated her as a tradition, a duty, a care and a sort of hereditary obligation. The mayor remitted her taxes. (Para. 3) When a new generation came along, its members wanted her to pay t

27、axes like everyone else. A deputation visited her, but she firmly dismissed them. (Paras. 4-14)Part II (Paras. 15-28) In this part, there is a time shift to thirty years before the visit of the deputation. There was a bad smell from Miss Emilys house. That was two years after her fathers death and a

28、 short time after her sweetheart disappeared. (Para. 15) The neighbors complained about the bad smell, but the town authorities didnt want to embarrass Miss Emily by telling her straightforwardly. (Paras. 16-23) So, one night, four men secretively crossed Miss Emilys lawn and sprinkled lime, and soo

29、n after that the smell was gone. (Para. 24) The townspeople felt sorry for Miss Emily because her father was so proud that he drove all her suitors away, and when he died, he left her almost nothing apart from the house. (Paras. 25-26) The day after her fathers death, people came to offer their cond

30、olences, but Miss Emily refused to let them in the house, telling them that her father was not dead. (Paras. 27-28) Part III (Paras. 29-42)It describes how a construction foreman named Homer Barron, a Yankee, courted Miss Emily and how she behaved after her sweetheart disappeared. Because Miss Emily

31、 was courting a day laborer, a Northerner, people began to pity her. (Paras. 29-33) One day Miss Emily went to the drug store and bought poison. When asked what it was for, she refused to answer. (Paras. 34-42) Part IV (Paras. 43-53)This part describes in more detail how Emily and Homer Barron were

32、seen together and what happened to Emily after his disappearance. When people saw Emily and Homer Barron together without any signs of their getting married, they thought she was providing a bad example to the young and asked Emilys relatives to persuade her to get married. They were relieved to see that there were preparations for a marriage. (Paras. 43-45) Homer Barron went away and came back, and was admitted into the house one evening. That was when he was last seen. (Para. 46) Miss Emily did not appear on the streets for a long time. She grew older and her