14Unit8InMyDay

Unit 8 In my Day

一、授课时间：第14周3次课, 15周2次课

二．授课类型：理论课8学时、实践课2学时

三．授课题目：In my Day

四．授课时数：10

五．教学目的和要求：

To know about the aging prolems; to realize the generation gap and try our best to bridge the gap; to care more for our parents;

六．教学重点和难点：

1）背景知识的传授：Russel Baker, Great Depression

2）文章的体裁分析

3）语言点的理解：

Word and phrases: tumble down, argue sb back to reality, amount to; be guilty of…

Grammar Focus: absolute construction

4) 写作技巧分析

七．教学基本内容和纲要

Part One Warm – up

1.questions:

(1)When do people attain old age?

(2)What changes would occur to the elderly?

(3)Why do the aged like to talk about their past lives?

(4)What are your thoughts on age and aging?

Typically, the beginnings of change in the five senses are as follows:

Hearing—the mid 40’s Vision—the mid 50’s

Touch—the mid 50’s Taste—the late 50’s Smell—the mid 70’s

2 .Generation gap refers to the difference in ideas, feelings and interests between older and younger people, which often causes misunderstanding. In the U.S.A, "Never trust anyone over thirty" had even been a very common belief among young people.

How to bridge it ? mutual understanding and love ….

3. The Image of the Mother

4 Years of Age— My Mommy can do anything!

8 Years of Age— My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot

12 Years of Age—My Mother doesn’t really know quite everything.

14 Years of Age—Naturally, Mother doesn’t know that, either.

16 Years of Age—Mother? She’s hopelessly old-fashioned.

18 Years of Age—That old woman? She’s way out of date!

25 Years of Age—Well, she might know a little bit about it.

35 Years of Age—Before we decide, let’s get Mom’s opinion.

45 Years of Age—Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?

65 Years of Age—Wish I could talk it over with Mom!

4. Tell us a story about your parents that touches your heart and is rooted deeply in your memory.

Part Two Background Information

1. Author: Russell Baker

Born in Virginia in 1925

In charge of "The Observer" column for the New York Times from 1962 to 1998.

Won his first Pulitzer Prize in 1979 for distinguished commentary as a columnist Received his second Pulitzer Prize in 1983 for his autobiography Growing up Regarded as one of America's leading wordsmiths and humorists

2. Russell Baker’s main works

Growing up

Russell Baker’s book of American Humor

Fear and Loathing in George W. Bush’s Washington

Poor Russell Almanac

(The text is extracted from the first chapter of Growing Up.)

3. Russell Baker’s memoir Growing up

This book traces his youth in the mountains of rural Virginia. When Baker was only five, his father died. His mother, strong-willed and matriarchal, never looked back. These were depression years, and Mrs. Baker moved her family to Baltimore. Baker's mother was determined her children would succeed, and her unfailing faith in the talents of her young son was not misplaced. He did everything from delivering papers to hustling subscriptions for the Saturday Evening Post. As is often the case, early hardships make the man.

4. Popularity of the book—reviews from the book reviewers and readers

?This is a wondrous book, funny, sad, and strong… as funny and touching as Mark Twain's.

----Mary Lee Settle of the Los Angeles Times Book Review ?This is an iconic and magical piece of literature, a story of courage and love, of the bonds of family in spite of tension and disagreement.

-----One reader ?Growing Up is carefully crafted by this experienced writer. The many characters come to vivid life with all their virtues and foibles(小缺点), and Baker's narrative flows smoothly from beginning to end.

-----One reader 5. Quotations of the author

The worst thing about being a tourist is having other tourists recognize you as a tourist.

In an age when the fashion is to be in love with yourself, confessing to be in love with somebody else is an admission of unfaithfulness to one's beloved.

An educated person is one who has learned that information almost always turns out to be at best incomplete and very often false, misleading, fictitious, mendacious

—just dead wrong.

6. The Great Depression

（The Great Depression is what we refer to the global economic recession between 1929 to 1933 ,which ,especially in the US, is usually identified with the stock market crash of 1929.during that time ,some towns in the U. S. , Canada and Germany even introduced their own scrip during the Great Depression. and the societies are full of sorrows.）One of the most critical economic periods in the United States history was the Great Depression. A majority of the U.S. citizens did not know much about the Depression. The only information that they knew was what they read from textbooks. Many citizens never really had to face the hardship like others were forced to face. Growing Up by Russell Baker is an autobiography on the problems he and his family endured during this era. Causes of the Great Depression:

Speculation in the 1920s caused many people to buy stocks with loaned money. The stock market boom was very unsteady, because it was based on borrowed money and false optimism.

Politicians believed that business was the key business of America. Thus, the government took no action against unwise investing.

Stock Market crash on October 24, 1929 (black Thursday)

Misery and personal sufferings were widespread.

Living conditions changed when multiple families crowded into small houses or apartments.

Unemployment rate was very high.

Thousands went hungry.

Children suffered long term effects from a poor diet and inadequate medical care.

Women continued to doing women’s work such as nursing, and even if they were able to get an industry job which seldom hired women, they usually were paid less than men.

Part Three Text Appreciation

1. Theme of the story

It is the responsibility of both parents and children to bridge the generation gap. On the one hand, young people should have more interest and respect of what their parents stand for. On the other hand, old people should show understanding to young people’

s great interest in the future.

2. Structure of the text

Part 1 (1-45) about: Understanding of a mother from a son’s point of view

Part 2 (.46-53 ) about: Understanding of children from a father’s point of view Part 3 (54--55 ) about: Meeting of the two views

3. Text Analysis

（1）What was the character of the mother when she was young?

（Scan the text and list out the related information.）

straight- forward I tell people exactly what’s on my mind, …

strong-willed She was a formidable woman, determined to speak her mind, determined to have her way, …

energetic She had hurled herself at life with an energy that made

her seem always on the run.

never defeated by life life was combat, and victory was not to

the lazy, the timed, the drugstore cowboy, …

（2）Question: What values do you think were reflected in the mother’s way of life when she was young?

The mother was always on the run and working hard because she believed that hard working is the necessary part of one’s life. Life was a struggle, a fight, a battle for survival, for salvation, and for the glory of God. Only by hard working can one be successful in the end. Those who were lazy, timid, loitering and afraid to tell others the true feelings were losers of the life.

（3）How did the author react to his mother’s senility from a son’s point of view? at the beginning I could not accept the inevitable.

My impulse was to argue her back to reality.

later I soon stopped trying to argue her back to what I

considered the real world.

(I) tried to travel along with her on those fantastic

journeys into the past.

（4）Question: What made the author change his reaction to his mother’s senility? At the beginning, he tried to argue his mother back to reality from his point of view because he believed that his mother being a normal person would be better for her and her family. But later when he began to look at it from his mother’s point of view, he understood his mother was much happier when she could travel back to her childhood when she was loved and needed. So he would like to travel along with her into her past and understood his mother more.

（5）How did the author understand the relationship with his children from a father’s point of view?

in the past I had developed the habit of lecturing them on the

harshness of life in my day.

I tried to break the habit, but must have failed.

now Between us there was a dispute about time.

(6) Question: What does the author mean by “a dispute about time”? (53)

It is one of the reasons why there is generation gap between parents and children. The parents always like to talk about their past to the children because that was once their “future” they dreamed of and struggled for. But for the children, they are indifferent to the parents’“future” because it is past for them. They are now dreaming for their future. This is the dispute of time.

Further questions on appreciation

What happened to the author’s mother at the age of 80? What became of her after her “last” fall?

What exactly is the problem with his mother?

What kind of a woman was the author’s mother when she was young?

Was she happy when she was young? Is she happy now? What are her main complaints?

Does the author feel that he has been a good son?

What do you think he is trying to say when he hopes that he can step into his mother’s time machine?

How does the author understand the generation gap? What’s his advice to the younger generation?

4. Writing Devices

Parallelism and Repetition

She ran after chickens, … She ran when she made the beds, ran when she set the table. …she ran. (15)

Repetition: ran…ran…ran…ran

Parallelism : She ran when she…ran when she…

Repetition is a major rhetorical strategy for producing emphasis, clarity, amplification, or emotional effect.

Parallelism: more examples

1.Words and phrases

2. clauses

3. Lists after a colon

Repetition: more examples

?Would you please please please please please please please stop talking. (Ernest Hemingway, Hills Like Whites Elephants)

? It’s like a windfall, like a godsend, like an unexpected piece of luck.

Part Four Language Study

1. bend

v. a. to lean forwards and downwards

b. to become curved

c. to apply the mind closely

Expressions:

bend sb.’s ear/bend your mind/thoughts to sth./bend before/be bent on

2. bore n. a. sb. who talks too much about things

that are not very interesting

b. a boring or annoying activity or situation

v. a. to make sb. feel impatient

b. to make a deep hole in sth. hard

3. burden

v. to create a problem or serious responsibility for sb.

4. dismiss v.

a.to force s

b. to leave their job

b.to refuse to accept that sth. might be true or important

c.to officially tell people they can leave a place

d.to put out of court without further hearing

5. fierce a.

a. involving very strong feelings such as determination, anger or hate

b. (of weather) strong and severe

c. very difficult or unpleasant

6. flag

v. a. to become tired or weak, or begin to lack enthusiasm

b. to mark sth. so that you will be able to find it again

flagging: a. becoming weaker, more tired, or less enthusiastic

7. formidable

a.very impressive in size, power, or skill and therefore deserving respect and often difficult to deal with

8. hover

v. a. to remain floating, suspended, or fluttering in the air

b. to remain or linger in or near a place

c. to be in a state that may change at any time

9. preside

v. to be in charge of an official meeting or other event

10. radiant

a. a. s

b. who is radiant looks extremely happy

b. very bright

11. stir

v. a. to move food around in a dish using a spoon or other objects

b. to make sb. feel upset, or enthusiastic

c. to move or be moved slightly by win

d.

12. transparent

a. a. clear or thin enough for you to see things through

b. easily seen through or detected; obvious

c. not trying to keep anything secret

13. vein n.

a. one of the tubes in your body that carry blood to your heart

b. a layer of a metal or other substance inside the earth

c. a particular mood, style or substance

d. a supply or amount of a particular thing

14. wear

n. a. damage or changes that affect sth. when it has been used a lot

b. fatigue, exhaustion

c. clothes that are suitable for a particular activity or group of people

15. 1. blood and bone your own flesh and blood

16. mend one’s ways

to improve one’s behavior after you have been behaving badly for a long time mend fences: to try to become friends again with sb. you have argued with

17. on one’s mind

to keep thinking about and worrying about sth.

18. on the run

a. while you are busy or hurrying

b. trying to hide or escape from sb., especially the police

c. in a weak position in an argument or competition

19. pep talk

a talk during which sb. encourages you to do sth. better or to work harder pep up: to make sb. or sth. more active and lively

20. silver lining

a hopeful or comforting prospect in the

midst of difficulty

21. way out

a. far from other places or building

n. a way of dealing with a problem

Word Building

1. overgrown (4)

Prefix—over

a. too much: used with verbs, nouns or

adjectives

b. more than: used with some nouns

c. on or above: used with some nouns

d. on top of: used with some nouns

Examples:

to overheat, an overreaction, overconfidence

over-sixties overland, overhead

2. unutterable (52)

prefix—un suffix—able

more examples:

Unspeakable unthinkable unreadable unavoidable

3. inconceivable (4)

prefix—in Suffix—able

Part Five Extension

5.1 Group discussion

Is the generation gap inevitable?

Is the generation gap a serious problem today?

Have you ever experienced generation gap between your parents and yourself?

Does generation gap only exist between parents and children?

What should we do about the generation gap?

5.2 Debating

Topics for debating:

Should parents or children be responsible for generation gap?

八、教学步骤和措施

学生练习，师生讨论，课堂讲解为主，与学生讨论为辅，具体步骤如下：

1)口语练习

2)背景知识及作者的介绍

3)文章结构和段落划分

4)课文语言点的讲解

5)习题的讨论

九．作业，讨论题，思考题

(1) 完成课后练习；

(2) recite some of the paragraphs

(3) writing: What can we do to bridge the generation gap?

十．课后小结

十一．参考资料：

?杨立民主编,《现代大学英语精读》（3）第二版，学生用书。北京：外语教学与研究出版社,2012。

?杨立民主编,《现代大学英语精读》（3）第二版，教师用书。北京：外语教学与研究出版社,2012。

?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。

?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。

?《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。

?Judy Pearsall主编，《新牛津英语词典》。上海：上海外语教育出版社，1998。

?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。

?张道真，《现代英语用法词典》（重排本）。北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1994。

?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。