BTLEW Part Two ENTER Lesson 13 – In My Day BTLEW I. AuthorAuthor II. The Great DepressionThe Great...

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Part TwoPart Two

ENTER

Lesson 13 – In My Day

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I. Author

II. The Great Depression

III.Guy Fawkes Day

Background Background InformationInformation


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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

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To be continued on the next page.


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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.)

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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.

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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, and Baker's narrative flows smoothly from beginning to end.

One reader

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To be continued on the next page..


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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.

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The end of Author.

Can you find out humor in

the quotations?


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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.

II.II. The Great The Great DepressionDepression



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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)




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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.




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Pictures of The Great Depression


family leaving South Dakota for the west



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migrant family living in the

tent


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mother of seven

children!




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people who were unemployed and looking for a job




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The end of the Great Depression.

Work ethic during the Great Depression

work ethic—a feeling that one should be

ashamed not to be doing one's best and

working one's hardest—was an important

foundation

stone for the pre-Depression order. It is the

value that people stick to during depression

years.


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III.III. Guy Fawkes Guy Fawkes DayDay

Gunpowder Plot

After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant than Elizabeth and a number of young men decided to blow up the Houses of Parliament to kill the King. To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of Lords. But as the group worked on the plot, a warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces made plans to stop the conspirators.



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Gunpowder Plot

Guy Fawkes who was in the cellar of the Parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured and executed. Even today, the reigning monarch only enters the Parliament once a year, on what is called "the State Opening of Parliament". Prior to the Opening, and according to custom, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster.



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Tradition

Preparations for Bonfire Night celebrations include making a dummy of Guy Fawkes, which is called "the Guy". Some children even keep up an old tradition of walking in the streets, carrying "the Guy" they have just made, and beg passersby for "a penny for the Guy". The kids use the money to buy fireworks for the evening festivities. On the night itself, Guy is placed on top of the bonfire, which is then set alight; and fireworks displays fill the sky.



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The nursery rhyme

Remember, remember the fifth of November, Gunpowder treason and plot. We see no reason Why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot!

Guy Fawkes, guy, it'was his intent To blow up king and parliament. Three score barrels were laid below To prove old England's overthrow.


Immortalized in this nursery rhyme, the Gunpowder Plot is introduced into the young minds of children throughout the United Kingdom.



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The nursery rhyme

By God's mercy he was catch'd With a darkened lantern and burning match. So, holler boys, holler boys, Let the bells ring. Holler boys, holler boys, God save the king.

And what shall we do with him? Burn him!




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Entertainment—A Quiz


1. What did Guy Fawkes want to do?

a. To eat a Christmas pudding

b. To burn Buckingham Palace

c. To blow up the House of Parliament

2. When is Guy Fawkes night?

a. 5th November

b. 6th December

c. 4th November

Keys1. c2. a



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Entertainment—A Quiz

3. What do children ask for while taking a

model of Guy Fawkes round the streets?

a. Trick or treat.

b. A penny for the Guy.

c. Fireworks.

4. What can you do on Guy Fawkes night?

a. Burn a puppet.

b. Watch a horror movie.

c. Play cards.

KEYS3. b4. a



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