Unit 4 Everyday Use ----Alice Walker. Teaching Objectives 1. To comprehend the whole story 2. To...

Unit 4

Everyday Use

----Alice Walker

Teaching Objectives

1. To comprehend the whole story

2. To lean and master the vocabulary and expressions

3. To learn to paraphrase the difficult sentences

4. To understand the structure of the text

5. To appreciate the style and rhetoric of the passage.

Teaching Points

I. Background information II. Structural analysis III. Detailed study of the text IV. Rhetorical devices V. Useful expressions

I. Background Information

•The author wrote quite a number of novels, among them were The Color Purple which won the Pulitzer Prize of Fiction （普利策小说奖） and The American Book Award （美国图书奖） . In 1985, the Color Purple was made into a movie which won great fame.

Part I Preparation

Part II Mother’s recall

Part III Meeting (Role-play this part) Why did Dee want the quilt so much?------ for decoration Why did Maggie want the quilt?----- remember her grandma Climax: The story reaches its climax at the moment when Dee, the el

der daughter, wants the old quilts only to be refused flatly by the mother, who intends to give them to Maggie, the younger one.

II. Structural analysis

III. Structural analysis

Describe the three characters in your own words: Mother: a working woman without much education, large, big-b

oned woman with rough hands, with intelligence and perception The two daughters form a sharp contrast in every conceivable

way: appearance, character, personal experiences, etc. Maggie: innocent, timid, kind-hearted girl, homely and ashame

d, burn scars down her arms and legs, lack self-confidence Dee: beautiful, well-educated, snobbish, intelligent, capable, va

nity , wants nice things, egotism, want to get valuable heritages of the family

III. Structural analysis

What did the old quilts stand for? The old quilts, made from pieces of clothes

worn by grand-and great-grand-parents and stitched by Grandma’s hand, are clearly

a symbol of the cultural heritage of the black people. Their different feelings a

bout the quilts reveal their different attitudes towards their heritage as blacks.

IV. Detailed study of the text

wavy: having regular curves– A wavy line has a series of regular curves along it.– The wavy lines are meant to represent water.

Here in the text the word describes the marks in wavy patterns on the clay ground left by the broom.

Detailed study of the text

groove: a long narrow path or track made in a surface, esp. to guide the movement of sth.(here the explanation is not proper)

A groove is a wide, deep line cut into a surface. The cupboard door slides open along the groove it fits i

nto.


homely: simple, not grand, (of people, faces, et

c.,) not good-looking, ugly

If someone is homely, they are not very attractiv

e to look at; used in Am.E.


To have made it: if you make it, you are successful in achieving sth. Difficult, or in surviving through a very difficult period.

I believe I have the talent to make it. You are brave and courageous. You can make it.


totter: to move in an unsteady way from side to side as if about to fall, to walk with weak unsteady steps

The old lady tottered down the stairs.


limousine: A limousine is a large and very comfort

able car, esp. one with a glass screen between th

e front and back seats. Limousines are usually dri

ven by a chauffeur


cf: Sedan / saloon is a car with seats for four or mor

e people, a fixed roof, and a boot (the space at the back of the car, covered by a lid, in which you carry things such as luggage, shopping or tools) that is separate from the seating part of the car


I wear flannel nightgowns??? 10. overalls: are a single piece of clothing that co

mbines trousers and a jacket. (*image – 8* 工装裤图 )

Your wear overalls over your clothes in order to protect them from dirt, paint, etc. while you are working


11. hog: pig, esp. a fat one for eating 12. sledge hammer: large, heavy hammer for swingi

ng with both hands, a large heavy hammer with a long handle, used for smashing concrete *image –9* 长把大锤

13. barley: 大麦


With one foot raised in flight…with my head turned in whichever way is farthest from them: Indirect speech act meaning ready to escape,


sidle: walk as if ready to turn or go the other way

If you sidle somewhere, you walk there uncertainly or cautiously, as if you do not want anyone to notice you

A man sidled up to me and asked if I wanted a ticket for the match..


shuffle: slow dragging walk If you shuffle, you walk without lifting your feet pr

operly off the ground He slipped on his shoes and shuffled out of the r

oom.


If you shuffle, you move your feet about while

standing or move your bottom about while

sitting, often because you feel uncomfortable

or embarrassed.


blaze: to burn with a bright flame A wood fire was blazing, but there was no other lig

ht in the room. n. the sudden sharp shooting up of a flame, a very

bright fire The fire burned slowly at first, but soon burst into a

blaze.


dingy: dirty and faded A building or place that is dingy is rather dark an

d depressing and does not seem to have been well looked after,.

This is the dingiest street of the town. Clothes, curtains, etc. that are dingy are dirty or f

aded.


shove: to push, esp. in a rough or careless way

There was a lot of pushing and shoving to get on the bus.

Help me to shove this furniture aside.


If you shove sb. or sth., you push them with a

quick, rather, violent movement.

He dragged her out to the door and shoved h

er into the street.


dimwit: (infml) an ignorant and stupid person dim: faint, not bright wit: intelligence, wisdom at one’s wit’s end: at the end of one’s tether

IV. Rhetorical devices

Parallelism:

– chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle

Metaphor:

– She washed us in a river of...burned us... Pressed us ...to shove us away

– stare down any disaster in her efforts...

V. Useful expressions

hold life in the palm of one hand look sb. in the eye stick to burn …to the ground hang about recompose oneself style: unique way of doing things; fashion trace back to: date back crop up: arise unexpectedly talk a blue streak: anything regarded like a streak of lightning in

speed

Unit 4 Everyday Use ----Alice Walker. Teaching Objectives 1. To comprehend the whole story 2. To...

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