Unit 9 The Pearl I. Pre-reading questions: 1. How do people usually think of pearl? As an ordinary piece of jewelry? A thing of great value? Or a useless ornament? 2. What might happen if a very poor person came into possession of a very large pearl of great value? II. About the author John Steinbeck (1902—1968) is American novelist, story writer, playwright, and essayist. John Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. He is best remembered for THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1939), a novel widely considered to be a 20th-century classic. The impact of the book has been compared to that of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Steinbeck's epic about the migration of the Joad family, driven from its bit of land in Oklahoma to California, provoked a wide debate about the hard lot of migrant laborers, and helped to put an agricultural reform into effect. "Man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up in the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments." (from The Grapes of Wrath) John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California. His native region of Monterey Bay was later the setting for most of his fiction. Steinbeck's father was a county treasurer. From his mother, a teacher, Steinbeck learned to love books. Among his early favorites were Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Milton's Paradise Lost, and Le Morte d'Arthur. III. Assign the students to find out the figurative examples from the text. Simile, Metaphor, and parallelism simile: a figure of speech which makes a comparison between two unlike elements having at least one quality or characteristic in common. The comparison is purely imaginative, that is, the resemblance between the two unlike things in that one particular aspect exists only in our minds, in our “inward eye” and not in the nature of the things themselves. To make the comparison, words like as, as…as, and like are used to transfer the quality we associate with one to the other. e.g. The stars twinkle like diamonds in the sky. (shine brightly) Jim and Billy are as like as two peas. (Compare: Jim looks like his brother Billy.) Records fell like ripe apples on a windy day. An association between the rapidity with which records were broken and the rapidity of ripe apples being blown down on a windy day. As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. metaphor: like a simile, also makes a comparison between two unlike elements, but unlike simile, this comparison is implied rather than stated. e.g. Jim was a fox. (Jim is as cunning as a fox.) The world is a stage. Life is a journey. Imperialism is a paper tiger. (Imperialism appears to be strong but inwardly it is weak.) parallelism In parallel construction, it is necessary to balance word for word (noun with noun, verb with verb, adjective with adjective, etc.), phrase with phrase, clause with clause, sentence with sentence. e.g. We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; in feelings, not in figures on a dial. … and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. IV. Language Points A town has a whole emotion. This is a metaphor. The town is compared to a living being with feelings of all kinds ---- live, joy, hate, hear, grief etc. .2. Before panting little boys could strangle out the words, their mother knew it. The mothers had already learned the news before their sons could stammer it out. pant: to breathe rapidly in short gasps, as after exertion to utter hurriedly or breathlessly He was panting when he reached the top of the hill. The dog panted in the heat. I panted my congratulations to the winner of the race. strangle: to kill by squeezing the throat so as to choke or suffocate; throttle. to cut off the oxygen supply of; smother. to suppress, repress, or stifle: strangle a snake This stiff collar is -ling me. strangle a bill The dictator's first step was to strangle the free press. 3.… and someone had to take his place. take sb.’s place: substitute for him take the place of : substitute for After the doctor retires, Mr. Wang will take his place. With the development of the electronic industry, transistors have taken the place of vacuum tubes (or valves). 4. And when it was made plain who Kilo was, the doctor grew stern and judicious at the same time. When the doctor realized that Kino was the man who had asked for help, he became both serious (about the treatment) and wise/ claver (about how he could gain). plain: obvious to the mind; evident: make one's intention plain in plain English a plain blue dress in plain words ---- You’re plain, Jane. Don’t be picky. (Jane Eyre) judicious: having or exhibiting sound judgment; prudent A judicious parent encourages his children to make their own decisions. judicial: of, relating to, or proper to courts of law or to the administration of justice: a judicial decision a judicial assembly 审判大会 a man with a judicial mind judicial separation 5. all manner of : every kind of, all sort of, many different types of, people at different strata All manner of measures have been taken to improve the emergency treatment service in that hospital. Some publishing houses adhere to the principle of publishing all manner of books of academic value even if they may incur losses in doing so. 6. giggle ------ laugh in a silly grin ------ smile broadly sneer ------ smile cruelly and contemptuously chuckle ------ laugh quietly with great enjoyment beam ------ smile with great enjoyment 7. withhold: to keep in check; restrain. to refrain from giving, granting, or permitting to withhold one's consent to withhold the money to withhold payment 8. The poison sacs of the town began to manufacture venom, and the town swelled and puffed with the pressure of it. What acted as the “venom-producing bag” of the town, i.e., the increasing self-interest in the towns’ people, began to create poison which afflicted the whole town with a negative force. manufacture: to mass-produce to create, produce, or turn out in a mechanical manner But to develop manufactures to the utmost, China must have new markets for her products. manufacture wool into cloth manufacture stories for television His books seem to have been manufactured rather than composed. 9. puff: to blow in puffs. to breathe forcefully and rapidly steam puffing from an engine huffed and puffed up the stairs A gust of wind puffed the clouds away. V. Some comments on the story The author produced such vivid and immediate description, which leaves the reader with a profound impression of the town, its people and the forces at work in it. This achievement has been accomplished by his close contact with and awareness of different types of people, his thorough and profound understanding of “human nature”, his keen power of observation and active imagination, and his effective use of languagage. Quiz 8&9 Name ______________ Score ______________ I. Explain the following words, phrases and sentences in your own words. 1. outweigh: 2. tempestuous: 3. obscure (v.): 4. judicious: 5. fat hammock (unit 9): 6. lust: 7. non-stop: 8. disintegrate: 9. strangle out: 10. or married him for that matter: 11. injurious: 12. …their finger-tips burned a little… 13. the nerves of the town were pulsing and vibrating with the news. 14. The essence of pearl mixed with essence of men and a curious dark residue was precipitated. II. Match the following phrases according to the texts. III. Write out the adjectives of the following nouns. 1. loose inviolate 1. winter  2．remain feeling of rage and misery 2. integration  3．black granules 3. spontaneity  4．poison feature 4. sympathy  5．swelling sacs 5. metaphor  6．glittering landmasses 6. essence  7．populated distillate 7. imagine  8．distinctive eyes   IV. Make a sentence with each of the following phrases, with no less than 12 words. let alone set eyes (foot) on when it was made plain every other … 5. hemmed in V. Translate the following into English. 成都举行的一年一度的美食节吸引了来自全世界的各类人士。 2．有一些确凿的证据表明外星人造访过地球，这些不明飞行物对地球人来说一直是一个难解之迷。 3．我总觉得我们的总裁目光远大、足智多谋；他带领公司员工利用甘甜清新的山泉制成矿泉水，提供人体健康所必需的矿物质。