Unit 3 Three Sundays in a Week I. General understanding of the text The text, which is an except from a short story, is in itself a well-organized whole. It is delightful piece of narrative writing, in which a fact is woven into fiction, giving an impossibility a plausible explanation, thus making the story interesting and intriguing. Here are some comments on the title, the organization, and the language of the text. 1. The title arouses the reader’s curiosity at once. The reader is bound to ask, “Is it possible for three Sundays to occur in a week?” When he reads on, he will find the question answered satisfactorily though plausibly. 2. The plot is simple. Uncle Rumgudgeon insists that he will not give Robert consent to marry Kate until three Sundays occur in one week. To thwart the old man’s wishes, Robert and Kate, with the help of two sailor friends, devise a scheme to trick him into believing that three Sundays did come together in one week. The scheme is pre-meditated and cleverly worked out. How the author develops the plot step by step, basing the argument on a fact, is well worth studying. (1) Paragraph 1 The theme is stated clearly, i.e. , Robert and Kate “tried to gain their point indirectly” and they began to “steer the conversation”. The reader is from the outset made aware that the scheme is carefully planned. (2) Paragraphs 2-7 This is the first step in the steering of the conversation. Captain Pratt and Captain Smitherton had both returned to England after sailing around the world for exactly a year. It was a coincidence, but Kate put in hastily that the two captains did not go by the same route. It was also Kate who called her father’s attention to the fact sailing in two opposite directions did make a difference. (3) Paragraphs 8-15 This is the crucial part of the conversation. The chief subject of concern, Sunday, was brought up. Robber t invited Captain Pratt to spend the evening with them (Uncle Rumgudgeon, Kate and Robert) the next day and to have a game of cards. Captain Pratt declined the invitation saying that it would be Sunday the next day, so they could not play card games for in a Christina country in the nineteenth century, people as rule were not allowed to have any entertainment on Sunday, it being the Sabbath Day, a day of worship and rest. By offering and declining an invitation, Robert and Captain Pratt led the group to the argument whether it was Sunday on that very day, or on the day before, or on the day after. (4)Paragraph 16-end In this part, the facts that the globe is divided into 24 time belts, each belt differing from Greenwich Mean Time by in integral number of hours, and that one gains an hour when traveling a thousand miles east and loses an hour when traveling a thousand miles west are given. Theoretically Kate and Captain Simtherton’s argument that three Sundays did come in one week is sound. However, wherever one goes, one always keeps to the local time. In other words, one can’t have a calendar of one’s own. It is, therefore, quite absurd for three people to be able to spend their three Sundays on different dates in the same locality. But the old man was tricked and the young couple’s aim was achieved. 3. The language is lucid and it gives clues to the intention to trick the old man. (1) Paragraph 1 “tried to gain our point indirectly”, “began to steer the conversation”. The trickery is obviously stated. (2) Paragraph 13 “Here Smitherton found his voice at last. He’d been looking at the others as though they were mad”. As Pratt was the one who was supposed to have lost 24 hours, he spoke first, an all the while Simtherton remained quiet. But when the argument between Pratt and Kate had been established, Smitherton, who was supposed to have gained 24 hours broke in and asserted his case. He looked at the others in such a way tat he thought they were mad. Actually, this was just a pretension on his part. (3) Paragraph 16 “And here Kate ended the quarrel by jumping up, as if she had a new thought.” The fact is that she just pretended that she had made a new discovery. (4) Paragraph 17 “‘Why, of course!’ said Simtherton after a bit of mock thought.” Simtherton also pretended that he had discovered the truth. In short, the reader is told clearly that the young couple’s plan was cleverly designed and successfully carried out. II. Duration of Time: Six periods III. Objectives On completion of the unit, students are expected to understand the technique of narration, in which a fact is woven into fiction, giving an impossibility a plausible explanation. The students are expected to understand the process of how a tricky plan is carried out step by step. IV. Difficult Points Understanding how the devices employed by the writer to arouse the reader’s interest and understand how the two young people achieved their goal by tricking Uncle Rumgudgeon into believing that there are three Sundays in a week. V. Teaching Procedures A. Bring out the topic of Time Zones and International Date Line in the form of the following picture.  Ask students how much they understand the concept of time zone and what happens when people are crossing the International Date Line. Then at the proper time, the teacher takes over the topic, naturally shit the topic and draw students’ attention to the text. B. Ask students to guess the main idea of the text, then tell them to go over the text rapidly once without worrying about the new words and phrases. The suggested time limit is 5 minutes. C. Questions for the students. (1) What is meant by “They had circled it in a year and come back to England?” (2) What is the meaning of “tried to gain our point indirectly”? (3) Why does the writer use “up” in the sentence “… we invited the pair up to meet my uncle”? (4) How do you explain the sentence “Here I am just a year after leaving England”? (5) When does a person become “purple with anger”? (6) What is meant by “a bit of mock thought”? Why did Smitherton act as if he had a moment of mock thought? Then do comprehension exercise on pages 16 and 17 in Workbook. D. Do the vocabulary exercise on page 30. Key: Section A: b. e. h. d. f. a. c. g Section B: 1. guide or direct; 2. strange; 3. very unusual, remarkable; 4. events happening at the same time; 5. a long journey by water; 6. certain; 7. weakly; 8. special E. Details of the text. (1) in the care of: taken care of by… (2)consent: agreement, permission (3) idle talk: casual talk (4) steer the conversation: carry on the conversation as planned (5) bid good-bye: (formal usage) say good-bye (6) coincidence: two things happen at the same time out of expectation coincide v. (7) queer: strange (8) to be sure: it must be accepted that…, admittedly (9) hastily” in a hurry (10) make a difference: be important i.e. This matter makes a difference. (11) broke in: put in, interrupt with words (12) precisely: exactly (13) found his voice: managed to speak in spite of the argument (14) purple with anger: the uncle was so angry that his face turned deep red (15) a bit of mock thought: he was pretending to be thinking for a while mock: adj. pretended (16) gain an hour: have one more hour (17) keep his word: keep his promise Cf. eat one’s words VI. Oral Work A. Role-play: in interview Situation: a discussion on the Bermuda Triangle David and Catherine, tow college students, have just read a passage on the Bermuda Triangle. Each of them holds his/her own view on the causes of the accidents in this area. B. Interaction Activities: A Lucky Survivor Pair up with your partner. Imagine that you are one of the lucky survivors of a shipwreck. Your partner urges you to tell him/her the incident. Be prepared for the questions your partner is likely to ask. VII. Exercises in Workbook.