Questions on Ben Franklin
Task 1
- Read the first excerpt from The Autobiography in the textbook and answer
1)What are the ideas conveyed by each of the three paragraphs?
2)What do they reveal altogether as to Franklin’s belief and secret to success?
- Read the second excerpt from The Autobiography in the textbook and answer
1)What are the ideas conveyed by each of the five paragraphs?
2)What do they reveal altogether as to Franklin’s belief and secret to success?
- Extending :
Read the following excerpt from The Autobiography
•“Then I walked up the street, gazing about till near the market-house I met a boy with bread. I had made many a meal on bread, and, inquiring where he got it, I went immediately to the baker’s he directed me to, in Second Street, and asked for biscuit, intending such as we had in Boston; but they, it seems, were not made in Philadelphia. Then I asked for a three-penny loaf, and was told they had none such. So not considering or knowing the difference of money, and the greater cheapness nor the names of his bread, I made him give me three-penny worth of any sort. He gave me, accordingly, three great puffy (膨胀的) rolls. I was surpriz’d at the quantity, but took it, and, having no room in my pockets, walk’d off with a roll under each arm, and eating the other. Thus I went up Market-street as far as Fourth-street, passing by the door of Mr. Read, my future wife’s father; when she, standing at the door, saw me, and thought I made, as I certainly did, a most awkward, ridiculous appearance.
•Then I turned and went down Chestnut-street and part of Walnut-street, eating my roll all the way, and, corning round, found myself again at Market-street wharf(码头), near the boat I came in, to which I went for a draught (一口)of the river water; and, being filled with one of my rolls, gave the other two to a woman and her child that came down the river in the boat with us, and were waiting to go farther.
•Thus refreshed, I walked again up the street.”
•
Questions:
1)What do you think is the background for this selected piece?
2)Comment on the stylistic features
3)Use some adjectives to describe Franklin’s character based on his behaviors in this little piece.
4)How can writing an autobiography contribute to self-knowledge? By way of example, explain what Ben Franklin the autobiographer comes to see about Ben Franklin the young man?
Task 2
1) Translate the following sayings from Poor Richard’s Almanac by Franklin
– “A little neglect may breed mischief:
•for want of a nail the shoe was lost;
•for want of a shoe the horse was lost;
•for want of a horse the rider was lost.
•For want of a rider the battle was lost.
•“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”
•
•“God helps those who help themselves.”
•
•“Little strokes fell great oaks.”
•
•“Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead.”
•
• “Where there’s marriage without love, there will be love without marriage.”
•
•“Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.”
•
•“The sleeping fox catches no poultry.”
•
•“There are no gains without pains.”
•
•“He that lives upon hope will die fasting.”
•
•Lost time is never found again.
•
•A penny saved is a penny earned.
•
•To err is human，to repent divine，to persist devilish．
•“Fish and visitors smell in three days.”
2) As a self-made man and cultural hero, Franklin set the keynote of American dream and has influenced generations of Americans.
Can you
1)Find out what American dream is?
2)Name some great people in American history who are also successfully self-made?
3)Think about why American dream is more easily realized in America, but not in such European countries like Britain?
Questions on Thomas Jefferson:
Task 1 Study questions:
Recalling
1)According to the first paragraph, what does “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind” require?
2)According to the second paragraph, what truths are self-evident? What is the purpose of government, and when should a government be replaced?
3)Moving from a theory of government to the situation in 1776, what does Jefferson claim King George’s “direct object” has been in the colonies? How does Jefferson set out to prove his claim?
4)What does Jefferson say the Americans have done “in every stage of these Oppressions”? To what does he say “our British brethren” have been deaf?
5)What does the final paragraph “publish and declare”?
Interpreting
6)Why does including Jefferson’s bill of particulars make the Declaration more effective?
7)How is the faith in reason characteristic of the eighteenth century reflected in the opening paragraph? In Jefferson’s remarks about Prudence in the second paragraph? In the description of the colonists’ peaceful attempts to redress their grievances?
Extending
8)In the final sentence of the Declaration, the signers pledge their “Fortunes,” or fate. What do you think their fate would have been if Britain had been the victor in the Revolution?
9)The historian Garry Wills explains the following about the Declaration of Independence:
When Jefferson spoke of pursuing happiness, he had nothing vague or private in mind. He meant a public happiness which is measurable, which is, indeed, the test and justification of any government.
—Inventing America: Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence
List three statements from the Declaration that suggest what Jefferson’s idea of “public happiness” was.
Vocabulary
Loaded words
A loaded word has a particularly strong set of associations for the reader. Such a word arouses strong feelings and appeals to the emotions. A writer often deliberately uses loaded words to move people to action by appealing to their feelings, to their fears and prejudices, or to their hopes and illusions.
Jefferson uses very strong, loaded nouns when describing the behavior of King George. For example, he writes about usurpations, despotism, and tyranny. Jefferson also selects verbs with very negative associations. He says, for example, that King George “has refused” and “has endeavored to prevent.”
Find five more verbs that describe the king’s actions in such a way as to rouse Jefferson’s audience to anger.
Task 2
1) Showing the class what methods of persuasionJeffersonadopts in “The Declaration of Independence”
First, learn the following methods of persuasion:
Methods of Persuasion
Concrete examples. Good persuasion supports general statements with facts, quotations, and other examples to convince the audience that the general statements are true.
Vivid language. Vivid language and images appeal to the audience’s emotions and make persuasive writing powerful.
Exaggeration. Persuasive writers often exaggerate in order to rouse the emotions of their audiences.
Repetition. By repeating words and ideas, the persuasive writer emphasizes their importance and lodges them even more firmly in the minds of the audience.
Parallelism. Parallelism is the repeating of phrases or sentences so that the repeated parts are alike in structure or in meaning. By using balanced sentences with parallel structures, a persuasive writer creates a rhythm that reinforces the message. Parallel structures add a feeling of completeness and sureness of thought to what the writer has to say.
Please compose or find a short speech, a radio or television commercial, or a newspaper editorial intended to persuade someone to take action on something.
You may want to analyze a few examples from recent media before writing your own
Try to include concrete examples, vivid language, exaggeration, repetition and parallel structure to make your argument more persuasive
2) Composition- Citing evidence
Writing a brief composition in which you give three reasons why you think the Declaration of Independence is a successful political statement. Is it its clarity, its reasonableness, its passion, its rhetoric? State your opinion, and then cite specific examples to support it.
Questions on Philip Freneau’s poems
Task 1:
1) What do the three poems show Philip Freneau as a poet? Please comment on his concerns and beliefs.
2) Please find out some romantic elements in the selected poems by Freneau.
3)Among the three poems by Freneau, which one do you like the best? Why?
Task 2:
Please paraphrase “The Indian Burying Ground” in fluent Chinese. ” (诗歌意译)
Prepare for a recitation of “To a Caty-did”
Questions on WashingtonIrving’s works
Task 1
Recalling
1. How did TarryTown get its name? How did Sleepy Hollow get its name?
2. What mood does the setting of this story create?
3. Who do the villagers believe the headless horseman is? How did he lose his head?
4. What do the villagers think he is doing out at night? Why is he said to be in such a
hurry?
5. What is Ichabod Crane’s job? What other job did he do to earn a little more money?
6. Where does Ichabod Crane live? Why does he need to be able to have all of his
belongings in a small bundle?
7. What are two things that Ichabod would do to make himself useful to the farmers?
How does he help the wives?
8. Why do the women in the countryside think he is an important person? How do the
mothers treat him as a result? How do the younger girls respond to him?
9. What subject does Ichabod like to read about? What has increased his interest in this?
subject?
10. What would happen to Ichabod when he would walk home at night after spending the
afternoon reading? How would he handle that?
11. What are the two main things that Katrina Van Tassel is known for? What different
things does she wear that demonstrate each of these?
12. The author, Washington Irving says, “When he entered the house, the conquest of his
heart was complete.” What does the rest of that paragraph on page 18 tell us about
why Ichabod liked Katrina?
13. What two things make it difficult for Ichabod to fulfill his goal of marrying Katrina?
14. Why would it have been crazy for Ichabod to be open about his feelings for Katrina?
What gives Ichabod an excuse to visit Katrina at her house?
15. What approach does Brom Bones (Brom Van Brunt) want to take when he discovers
Ichabod is interested in Katrina? Why can’t he do that?
16. What are two things Brom Bones does to get back at Ichabod for trying to steal
Katrina?
17. Ichabod takes great care in his appearance as he gets ready for the party at Baltus Van
Tassel’s. What is funny about the horse he is riding as he starts off like a “knight in
quest of adventures”?
18. How is Brom Bone’s horse, Daredevil, similar to him in its appearance and actions?
19. What explanation is given for why there are more ghost stories in a long-settled
village?
20. What story is told about Brouwer’s encounter with the headless horseman?
21. What story does Brom Bones tell about his encounter with the headless horseman?
22. What mood is Ichabod in when he leaves Katrina’s house that night? What evidence
is there of his mood? What speculation does the author make as to what happened?
23. What logical explanation is there for three of the things Ichabod sees or hears when
he is near the old, large tree?
24. What happens when Ichabod tries to get across the bridge?
25. When Ichabod sees something huge and black by the brook, why doesn’t he turn and run away? What two things does he do instead?
26. What happens when Ichabod slows down or speeds up in an attempt to get away from
the dark horse and its rider? What does Ichabod see that makes him so terrified that he
sends his horse into full flight?
27. Instead of following the road to Sleepy Hollow, where does Gunpowder go? What
makes it even harder for Ichabod to hold onto his run-away horse?
28. What four traces of the chase do the searchers find the next day?
29. When news of Ichabod is reported years later, what do we learn about why he left?
30. What makes it seem that Brom Bones knew something about what happened that
night?
31. What did the people of the town believe about what happened that night?
Extending
1. Read the PPT on Romanticism and answer the following questions
1)What characteristics of Romanticism can you detect in Irving’s “The Author’s Account of Himself”?
2)What elements of Romanticism can you discover in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”?Please support your answers with examples
2. Read “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, and Watch the movie version of the story.
1)Find at least three differences between the two
2) Make a comparative comment on the two from such aspects as plotting, characterization, mood and atmosphere.
3) Which one do you like better? Why?
Task 2
•Please dub or dramatize part of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” in any of the three ways:
–Faithfully represented
–Partially adapted
–Totally recreated
–Dubbing
Questions on Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans
Task 1
1)About the uniqueness of the novel
Cooperisconsideredthe first successful American novelist, and The Last of the Mohicans is often read as the first truly American novel. What is American about it?
2)Your own reflections
What do you like and dislike about The Last of the Mohicans? You may comment on the language style, characterization, plotting, or anything else.
3)About the historical background of the novel
TheLastoftheMohicans is often seen as a tribute to the doomed cultures of Native Americans. Research the history of Native American clearances in the eighteenth century. How historically accurate is Cooper's depiction?
Task 2
Please dub or dramatize any part of The Last of the Mohicansin one of the three ways:
Faithfully represented
Partially adapted
Totally recreated
Questions on Bryant’s poems:
Task 1
Study Questions
Recalling
1)According to lines 1-8, to whom does nature speak? To what two different human moods does nature respond?
2)What do lines 14-17 recommend to those who “grow sick at heart” when they think of death?
3)According to lines 22-30, what will happen to all people? What two points should people remember, according to lines 31-33?
4)What do lines 61-66 tell the readers will happen after their own deaths?
5)What simile does Bryant use in the last two lines to suggest the way the reader should “approach thy grave”?
Interpreting
6)What lesson about death does the poet expect us to learn from closely observing nature? What is the overall relationship between human beings and nature, according to the poet?
7)What comforting observation about human experience does the poet make repeatedly throughout the poem (lines 31-32, 48-50, 60-61, 64-66, 70-72, and 75-76)?
8)With what emotion does Bryant suggest people face death?
9)In what way does the subject matter of the poem reflect the Romantic interest in the self or the individual?
Vocabulary
Antonyms are words that have opposite or nearly opposite meanings. The following words in capitals are from “Thanatopsis.” Choose the word that is an antonym of each word in capitals, as the word is used in this selection.
10)Blight: (a) disease (b) light (c) health (d) darkness
11)Vales: (a) dreams (b) hills (c) valleys (d) laughter
12)Pall: (a) boredom (b) paleness (c) brightness (d) shroud
13)Insensible: (a) aware (b) stupid (c) mighty (d) unconscious
14)Hoary: (a) elderly (b) white (c) frosted (d) youthful
Extending
15)Poets often use the image of the seasons of human life. Tell in your own words what this expression means. How does the image of human seasons reflect the central idea of Bryant’s poem?
Viewpoint
In his biography of Bryant, critic Charles H. Brown writes:
To him, as he said in his lectures on poetry, “the great spring of poetry is emotion.” . . . Nevertheless, Bryant’s practice in composition was not to warble as a bird does, for he held that poetry not only appeals to “the passions and the imagination” but also to the understanding.
—William Cullen Bryant
Find at least two passages in “Thanatopsis” that show how Bryant blends emotions and ideas. First find a controlled and thoughtful presentation of a feeling; then find an emotional presentation of an idea.
Task 2
Composition—Writing about theme
Write a composition about the theme of “Thanatopsis.”Begin by stating the theme. Then discuss lines 1-17 and 66-81, which Bryant added during a revision. Tell what those lines add to the poem’s theme. Show how Bryant illuminates his theme through setting, through the specific events that he discusses, and through the kinds of people he refers to.
Writing about Nature
Like Bryant, many artists have heard the “voice” of nature. Find a paragraph describing one natural phenomenon—for example, the seasons, a storm, plants, or animals —and tell what you think the “voice” of nature seems to be saying about life itself.