Lesson FiveSay Yes

Tobias Wolff

Warming-up: Discussion Conduct research to find out statistics of

how many interracial marriages versus same-race marriages break up. Can you come up with a hypothesis for your findings?

1980s: At the beginning of the 1980s, nine percent of all United States households are made up solely of a married couple. There are over forty-eight million married couples in the United States.

1990s: At the end of the 1990s, only three percent of all United States households are made up solely of a married couple. There are close to fifty-five million married couples in the United States.

1980s: In 1980, 67.2 percent of the white American population is married, and 51.4 percent of the African-American population is married.

1990s: While more than half of the American population continues to marry, the percentages for both whites and African Americans have decreased in the past ten years. In 1997, 62.1 percent of the white American population is married, and 42.4 percent of the African-American population is married.

1980s: In 1980, there are 651,000 interracial couples in the United States....

Words and phrases:1.consider: v. e.g. All things considered, the reform is a

success. 1) considerate: a. showing kind regard for the feelings,

thoughtful, careful not to hurt or cause inconvenience to others

e.g. It is considerate of you not to play the piano while I was having a sleep.

2) considerable: a. rather large or great , as in size , distance, or extent

e.g. He bought a house at a considerable expense 3) considering: prep. in view of, having regard to e.g. She’s very active, considering her age.

2.break up: divide/ split, (a couple, relationship) come to an end

break down: collapse, failure in machinery useless, suffer physical or mental weakening

break in (to): enter a building by force break away: go away suddenly, give up (idea,

belief) break through: make a way through break off: stop, pause

3. hypo- : prefix meaning “below, under” 1) in words denoting an organ or location below a given

body part 在 -- 下面 hypoderm 皮下组织 2) term denoting body condition in which substances or

functions are at below-normal levels 低于 hypotension 血压过低 hypothermia 体温过低 3) used in the names of chemical compounds that are in a

lower state of oxidation （氧化） than a given compound 亚

4) counterpart to a word formed with “hyper”( 在 -- 上面，超越， 过于，极度 )

hypotension 血压过低 ---- hypertension 血压过高

4.blur: to obscure, to make indistinct

e.g. ~ the line between art and reality

~ the distinction between right and wrong

Tears ~red my eyes.

The alcohol didn’t blur his brain.

5. pinch 1. to nip, squeeze, or compress e.g. to ~ sb’s cheek playfully to ~ one’s finger in the door 2. to afflict or trouble e.g. be ~ed with cold and hunger 3. to give or spend sparingly; be mean e.g. ~ and save / scrape She ~es on food in order to spend on clothing. pinch pennies e.g. We’ve been pinching pennies all year so that we can visit

my relatives in Australia in December.

6.plunge e.g. The temperature ~d below freezing. The price of oil has ~d to a new low. The dangerous policies would ~ Europe into

another war.

take the plunge e.g. After working for twenty years he decided to

take the plunge and go back to college.

7.rummage: to search about for sth

She ~d change from the bottom of her purse.

He ~d about in his drawer.

~ among back number periodicals for an article

~ a ship for contraband

8. snap one’s fingers at e.g. If you continue to snap your fingers at your boss, you may

be severely punished. snap / bite sb’s head off e.g. He is just making a suggestion: there’s no need to snap his

head off / snap at him! be a snap e.g. This job is a snap. snap out of it e.g. For heaven’s sake, Ann, snap out of it! Things are not that

bad. snap to it e.g. Come on! Snap to it.

9. squeeze e.g. to ~ some juice from the orange ~ many things into a day ~ through a narrow passage a tight ~: a situation where one does not have much space to

put things in; put the ~ on sb (to do sth): e.g. Rising fuel prices are putting the squeeze on farmers and

transport businesses. ~ sb dry e.g. The war, as well as the economic sanctions imposed by

foreign countries, have squeezed the economy dry.

10. tone vs tune tone: 1) sound with reference to its quality: the sweet ~ of

the violin; the shrill ~ of the factory whistle 2) the intonation, phrasing, choice of words etc. of a

speaker or writer that expresses a particular meaning, feeling, attitude of him: speak in an angry ~ / in a ~ of contempt / disapproval;

3) the rise or fall of the voice in speaking or pronunciation: pay attention to the rising and falling ~s in your pronunciation

4) shades of color: a photo in warm ~; the coat is a light ~ of green

tune: suggests the succession of note forming a melody (of a song), used often in opposition to the words of a song

e.g. He hummed a ~ to keep his courage up.

Never shall I forget that haunting ~.

11.question vs problem1) question is more general, while problem

refers to a question esp. connected with numbers and facts, like problems in addition and subtraction

2) question is more general while problem often refers to a serious difficulty that needs attention and thought

12. ashamed vs shameful ashamed: You should be ashamed of yourself. He said he felt ashamed of having done so little

for the society. shameful: It is shameful that she stole money from the blind

man. The correspondent had discovered their shameful

treatment of political prisoners.

Theme of the text: The idea of racism is a theme in the story, for the implication

of the husband’s racism is what causes the couple to quarrel. The wife dislikes her husband’s beliefs that African Americans are different from whites. He maintains that it is not that he is prejudiced against African Americans, but that they come from a different culture from white people? And they even have their own language. His protestation that I like hearing them talk because it makes him feel happy reveals much about his personality: his belief that African Americans are inherently foreign to whites, his condescending attitude, and his sense of otherness from himself? He needs something completely unlike himself to bring him pleasure.

The husband’s negative response to Ann’s question of whether he would marry her were she African American indicates the pervasive and destructive nature of his racism.

Analysis of the character The husband in the story is generally an unsympathetic

character. He appears to have racist feelings and seems to be dishonest with himself. He claims to appreciate the stability his life with Ann provides him, but he still makes efforts to undermine it. He refuses to take responsibility for his actions. Throughout the evening, he is seen to be less than a genuine person; he does things for effect rather than out of a genuine, sincere desire. Within the confines of the story, his most significant trait is his rejection of his wife, which she takes quite seriously, much to his surprise. By the end of the story, the husband demonstrates yet another shift in mood: excitement as he realizes that, in certain ways, his wife is unknowable to him. The final scene has him awaiting his wife in their darkened bedroom, imagining that she is a stranger that he seems to embrace, as demonstrated by the excited pounding of his...