12 Unit 9The Damned Human Race.docx

1、12 Unit 9 The Damned Human RaceUnit 9一、授课时间：第15-16周二授课类型：课文分析8课时；习题讲解4课时三授课题目：The Damned Human Race四授课时数：12五教学目的和要求：通过讲授课文使大学生了解有关马克吐温幽默讽刺的写作风格，学会用英语解释句子以达到学以致用的目的。要求学生主动地预习课文，课前准备练习，学会分析文章体裁和进行段落划分。六教学重点和难点：1）背景知识的传授：About the author；2）文章的体裁分析及段落划分；3）语言点的理解：Word study: allegiance; ascent; atrocious

2、; avaricious; brood; conjecture; degenerate; descent; disposition; exterminate; gory; mutilation; oblige; rabid; scruple; wantonlyGrammar Focus: Study and learn how such contrast expressions as and, but, compared to/with, while, unlike, and on the other hand, are used.七教学基本内容和纲要Part One Warm up1.1 W

3、arm-up Questions1.2 Define the following words and phrasesPart Two Background Information2.1 Have you read much of Mark Twain? Can you name some stories, novels or essays he wrote? How do you like him? What qualities in his writings brought him world renown? Is this essay written in his usual humoro

4、us vein? Part Three Text Appreciation3.1 Text Analysis3.1.1 Theme of the text 3.1.2 Structure of the text3.2 Writing Devices3.2.1 Contrast3.2.2 Humorous3.2.3 Satire and Parallelism3.3 Sentence ParaphrasePart Four Language Study4.1 Phrases and Expressions 4.1.1 Word list:4.1.2 Phrases and expressions

5、 list: 4.1.3 Word Building4.2 Grammar 4.2.1 Object Part Five Extension5.1 Group discussion八、教学方法和措施本单元将运用黑板、粉笔、多媒体网络辅助教学设备等教学手段，主要采用以学生为主体、教师为主导的任务型、合作型等教学模式，具体运用教师讲授法、师生讨论、生生讨论等方法进行教学。九作业，讨论题，思考题完成课后练习；多看英语报刊杂志及英语经典小说，扩大阅读量；精听与泛听相结合，逐步提高自己的听力水平；积极参加英语角等有助于提高英语口语的活动；坚持用英语写日记；做一些专四相关练习；十参考资料：1) 杨立民主编

6、,现代大学英语精读（4）第二版，学生用书。北京：外语教学与研究出版社,2012。2) 杨立民主编,现代大学英语精读（4）第二版，教师用书。北京：外语教学与研究出版社,2012。3) 李观仪主编，新编英语教程（第三、四册）。上海:上海外语教学研究出版, 1999。4) 黄源深，虞苏美等主编，综合英语教程（1-4册）。北京：高等教育出版社，1998。 5) 高等学校英语专业英语教学大纲，北京：外语教学研究出版社，2000。6) Judy Pearsall主编，新牛津英语词典。上海：上海外语教育出版社，1998。7) 丁往道、吴冰等编著，英语写作手册。北京：外语教学与研究出版社。8) 张道真，现代英

7、语用法词典（重排本）。北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1994。9) 张道真，温志达, 英语语法大全上、下卷。北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1998。十一、课后小结Unit 9 The Damned Human RacePart One Warm up1.1 Warm-up Questions1. Do you have any idea why Mark Twain became more and more bitter in his later years? Do you agree that it was largely due to his personal misfortunes? How

8、 would you describe this essay? Serious and matter-of-fact? Scientifically detached and objective? Hilariously humorous? Bitterly satirical? Or what?2. What is the main idea of this essay? Do you think the subject of human nature still deserves our close attention today? Is Twains condemnation of hu

9、man beings in line with the Darwinian theory of evolution? How does the author come to doubt this? Is that the result of scientific experiment? Is Mark Twain serious when he says that he has done many months of painstaking and fatiguing work in the London Zoological Garden? What kind of effect do yo

10、u think he hopes to achieve with this mock seriousness? 3. Do you take Mark Twains views seriously? Why do you think Twain wrote this essay? Does he have any serious purpose other than amusing his readers?1.2 Define the following words and phrases 1. sport2. loose3. grace4. confined5. occasion6. pri

11、or7. unhumanly8. distinction9. subject sth/sb to sth10. have not scrupled to do sth11. cheat sb out of sthPart Two Background Information2.1 About the author:Mark Twain (1835-1910) was born Samuel Langhorne Clements in Florida, Missouri, but lived as a child in Hannibal, Missouri, on the Mississippi

12、 River. He took the pen name Mark Twain from the call of the pilots on the river steamers, which indicated that the water was twelve feet deep, a safe depth for a steamer.During his early years, he worked as a riverboat pilot, newspaper reporter, printer, and gold prospector. But then he turned to w

13、riting, and became one of the greatest of American writers.2.2 His masterpiece:Innocents Abroad 1869The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 1876The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1885Life on the Mississippi 1883The Prince and the Pauper 18822.3 His writing style: hilariously humorous bitterly satirical2.4 Abou

14、t the story: The author writes about ugly human traits and dispositions. In his opinion, human beings are not ascended from the lower animals but descended from the higher animals. Part Three Text Appreciation3.1 Text Analysis1. Questions for thinking: a. How does the author contrast human beings wi

15、th other animals? What specific human traits and dispositions does he condemn? How would you describe the image of human beings in the authors writing? And what arguments does the author give to support his views? b. Why does he say that man is the cruel animal? What examples does he give to illustr

16、ate the point? Do you agree with Twain that human beings are cruel whereas tigers, wolves, and anacondas are not? 3.1.2 Structure of the textI. Introduction: Topic and credibility of the authors research (paras. 1-3)A. Topic: The descent of man from the higher animals (para. 1)B. Credibility: The us

17、e of scientific method and authentic institution where the experiments were conducted (para. 2)C. A characteristic example of his experiments (para. 3)II. Findings about man as against higher animals (paras. 4-17)A. Mans greed (para. 4)B. Mans immorality (paras. 5-8)C. Mans cruelty (para. 9)D. Mans

18、inclination for wars (paras. 10-11)E. Mans position of enslaving and being enslaved (para. 12)F. Mans hypocrisy (paras. 13-15)G. Mans inability to learn to live together peacefully (paras. 16-17)III. Conclusion: Restatement of the thesis (para. 18)Logic & TechniqueThe main body is arranged according

19、ly to the various traits and dispositions of human beings as contrasted to the “higher animals.” However, in the second half, the author begins to adopt a polemic tone. He seems to be arguing with people who believe in mans superiority. Notice how Mark Twain achieves humor. He talks tongue in cheek

20、throughout the essay, using highly exaggerated and formal words and expressions as appropriate for the academic writing he pretends the essay to be. He adopts a pompous style very different from the usual colloquial vernacular he is famous for, to ridicule those critics who say Mark Twain lacks prop

21、er education.Relevant questions:1. How is this essay organized? What devices does the author use to make the article interesting? What do you have to say about the diction of this essay? Mark Twain is generally known for his skilful use of the vernacular. Would you consider this essay a good example

22、? Is this article written in a colloquial and informal way? How would you explain his adoption of this style?2. Do you agree with Mark Twain? If you were to write in response to this essay to express some different opinions, what would you say?3.1.3 Detailed Analysis of the textPart I: Main Idea Thi

23、s slightly abridged essay is organized like a paper to report results of a scientific experiment. It has a thesis statement at the beginning and a brief summing-up at the end. The main body is arranged according to the various straits and disposition of human beings as contrasted to the “higher anim

24、als”. However in the second part of the body the author begins to use a polemic tone. He seems to be arguing with people who believe in mans superiority because they can reason, have moral principles and religion, and love their neighbors and country.Part II: Discussion1. How does the author contras

25、t human beings with other animals? What specific human traits and dispositions does he condemn? How would you describe the image of human beings in the authors writing? And what arguments does the author give to support his views?2. Why does he say that man is the cruel animal? Conclusion of the tex

26、t: It is wrong to think that Mark Twain is pessimistic or cynical. He is neither. Behind all the bitterness is a warm and human heart. Mark Twain does not really believe that human beings are incurably cruel, greedy and wicked. Otherwise he would not have bothered to write those essays. He writes ab

27、out ugly human traits and dispositions precisely because he thinks human beings are capable of mending their ways if they can open their eyes to their own weaknesses and understand the conditions that give rise to them and nurture them. In other words, his policy is to frighten in order to enlighten

28、. 3.3 Sentence Paraphrase1. I have been studying the traits and dispositions of the “lower animals”, and contrasting them with the traits and dispositions of man. I find the result humiliating to me.I have been studying the characteristics of the so-called lower animals in comparison with those of m

29、an. The result of this study makes me, as a man, feel terribly ashamed.traits and dispositions: characteristics; features; nature; qualities; personalitieshumiliating: making me feel ashamed; embarrassing; mortifying Notice the tongue-in-cheek way the author expresses his ideas. He makes it sound as

30、 if he were conducting and reporting on the result of a scientific investigation. In other words, he is deliberately using a pompous style to achieve humor. 2. For it obliges me to renounce my allegiance to the Darwinian theory of the Ascent of Man from the Lower Animals and to name it the Descent o

31、f Man from the Higher Animals.Because the result of my study forces me to give up (to abandon) my loyalty to (firm belief in ) Darwins theory of evolution and to change the theory of the Ascent of Man from the Lower Animals to the theory of the Descent of Man from the Higher Animals. to oblige sb to

32、 do sth: to force sb to do sth; to make it necessary for sb to do sthto renounce: to abandon or give up; to reject or disown allegiance: loyalty, esp. to a nation or a cause 3. That is to say, I have subjected every postulate that presented itself to the crucial test of actual experiment.In other words, I have put every theory or hypothesis there is to the decisive te