Unit 2 Charlie Chaplin
I. Pre-reading Activities:
Perhaps being born into extreme poverty, having an unstable early family life and his mother’s mental illness helped Charlie Chaplin create “The Tramp”. Certainly Chaplin appeared to be a man with an exceptionally strong desire to succeed. Unusually, his personality combined a strong need to be loved with a contradictory distrust of people. Perhaps this is why his early marriages failed. When he was 54, he married a girl of 17 who provided him with the peaceful life he so desired. His bride, Oona O’Neill, coming from a large family, had the life skills from her own childhood that helped her comfort Chaplin when their own large family argued.
II. Background Information:
Charlie Chaplin: Charles Spencer Chaplin was born on 16th April 1889 in Walworth, London, and lived a Dickensian childhood, shared with his brother, Sydney, that included extreme poverty, workhouses and seeing his mother's mental decline put her into an institution. Both his parents, though separated when he was very young, were music hall artists, his father quite famously so. But it was his mother that Charlie idolised and was inspired by during his visit of the backstage while she performed, to take up such a career for himself.
Dickens: Charles Dickens, 1812—1870, an English novelist, considered by many to be the greatest one of all. His many famous books describe life in Victorian England and show how hard it was, especially for the poor and for children. They include The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities.
Hollywood: an area of Los Angeles which is known as the center of the American film industry. In terms of geography, Hollywood refers to an area consisting of the City of West Hollywood
III. Text Structural Analysis:
How is the text organized?
In this reading passage the author introduces us a famous figure — Charlie Chaplin from different aspects: the introduction, his professional success, his emotional life and the end of his life story.
The first part of the passage is made up of Paragraphs 1 and 2, which is the general introduction to Charlie Chaplin.
He came into the world poor but made the world rich with joy. Besides, if there is a balance between his miserable childhood and his character of the Tramp, there must be a contrast between his Tramp and his permanent name in comedy history. (The first three sentences tell of Chaplin’s poor living conditions objectively.) The comparison in the last two sentences displays the author’s admiration for Chaplin.)叙事法
The second part consists of 4 paragraphs, from Paragraph 3 to Paragraph 6. This part is about Charlie Chaplin’s professional success. The 4 paragraphs deal with Chaplin’s success from his famous comedy The Tramp, to sound movies and his secrets in making successful comedies.
His Tramp gave him permanent fame though many people thought it crude; his screen language, making no sense and sounding like no known nationality, brought about his huge success; and his first sight of the Tramp on the screen shocked him but, more importantly, drove him to extend his talent.
The third part is made up of 2 paragraphs, which are about his personal or emotional life. Chaplin’s emotional collision resulted in personal disaster in his early marriages but in his later years he found stability and affection in Oona O’Neill Chaplin, who gave him the love he needed.
The contrast between his desire to be loved and his worry about being betrayed found its way into his comedy of Monsieur Verdoux but meanwhile brought him the luck to walk into the sunset with Oona in reality.
The last part is Paragraph 9. After his death, his dead body was once stolen and the incident is taken as a memorial to the great comic of world fame.
The theft of his dead body, though a sad incident, was widely regarded as a fitting memorial—his way of having the last laugh on a world to which he had given so many.
But one can’t help feeling Chaplin would have regarded this strange incident as a fitting memorial — his way of having the last laugh on a world to which he had given so many.
What is the text mainly about
The text is about Charlie Chaplin’s life which is full of contrasts. He came into the world miserable but brought the world endless joy. His Tramp on the screen, crude or coarse in the eyes of the English, gave him permanent fame in movie history. His nonsense screen language with no known nationality brought about his huge success. The contrast between his desire to be loved and his fear of being betrayed led to his painful marriages but brought him the luck to walk into the sunset with Oona. And even after his death, the theft of his body served as a fitting memorial to his life as a great comic.
The passage is made up of four parts—a general introduction of Charlie Chaplin, his professional success, his emotional life and the end of his story—with each of them developed through the device of contrast. By using contrast, the author skillfully weaves different aspects of his life around his life as a great comic, thus making the article an irresistible appeal to the reader.
As is known to all, Charlie Chaplin, plain in appearance (貌不惊人)and short in stature(身材矮小), suffered from both hunger and his mother’s mental illness throughout his childhood. All these misfortunes, however, did not wear down his desire for happiness and success. Instead, they helped turn out a smart, resourceful and renowned comic. In a 1995 worldwide survey of film critics, Chaplin was voted the greatest actor in movie history. His life has born out the truth that all misfortune is only a stepping stone to success.
In other words, one may not find a single ray of hope at the first attempt but his/her persistence, complete with proper adjustment of means to the goal, will enable him/her to make it in time. Another case in point is that of Thomas Edison. He, as a pupil, was forced to drop out of school because of his slowness in schoolwork. So he had to change his desire for knowledge from school to home. Thanks to his dropout, he emerged from obscurity in science and left behind him 1390 inventions. In sum, as long as people adjust themselves to the changing circumstances, they still can put themselves on the way to success.
IV. Language Points
applaud: V =clap
1．He started to applaud and the others joined in. 他开始鼓掌，其他人也加入进来。
2．I applaud her for having the courage to refuse. 我赞同她敢于拒绝的勇气。
applause: n
The audience broke into thunderous applause.
revolt V
造反，起义The people revolted against the military government.
使反感、憎恶Such cruelty revolted him.
n. The whole nation is in a state of revolt.
revolting: 令人厌恶的，令人作呕的
What a revolting smell. A revolting dirty room
crude rude coarse
均为“粗糙，粗鲁”，侧重点不同
crude 未经加工、处理，处于自然状态的物质 （引申）缺乏教养或细致感情的人或语言
coarse颗粒较大的物质（引申）粗野的甚至猥亵的语言
rude源于拉丁 粗糙、不光滑的表面，更多用来指不讲礼貌的人或行为
也可作表语
It’s rude to say you don’t like her food, when she took so much trouble to prepare it.
crude idea crude rubber, oil crude statistics
coarse behavior coarse manner a coarse joke a coarse woolen garment
rude manner behavior
correspond
1 相符、一致The goods do not correspond with the samples you sent me.
2. 相对应、相配、类似 The American Congress correspond to the British Parliament.
3. 通信 We’ve never met each other, though we have been corresponding for the past three years.
Correspond with与…通信
go along
1. 前进go along on horseback
2. 进行下去Work like this becomes less interesting as you go along.
3. 同行I’ll go along with you, if you don’t mind.
4. 同时发生、一起存在 Failing health too often goes along with old age.
5. 进展How is your work on that novel going along?
6. 赞同支持合作I can’t go along with you on this point.
to give sb. permanent fame (line 4.5)
Honesty and uprightness during his tenure of office gave him permanent fame in the minds of the people.
在任期间的清正廉洁使他在人民心中声名永驻。
to provide applause and profit where sb. is concerned (Line 6)
Our society should provide more applause and reward where the upholders of justice are concerned.
我们的社会应给予伸张正义者更多的掌声和奖励。
to quit a place for good (L. 7)
Your hometown is a place that your feet may quit for good but your heart never.
不幸的是，这个海滨胜地曾经风景如画，现在却人满为患
to clap for sth./sb. (L. 13)
People clap for friendly behavior on the football ground, but sneeze at evil conduct.
人们对足球场上的友好举止拍手叫好，而对恶意的行为则嗤之以鼻。
to revolt against/at/from sth./sb. (L. 13)
They revolt at those who have great ambition but little ability.
他们很反感那些眼高手低、志大才疏的人。
to trip sb. up (L. 14)
Read the questions carefully, because the examiners sometimes try to trip you up.
仔细阅读这些问题，因为出题者有时会有意诱导你犯错。
to come down in the world (L. 29)
When coming down in the world, don’t grow dejected; when coming up in the world, don’t get swollen-headed.
潦倒不堪时勿丧志，飞黄腾达时莫忘形。
to achieve world fame (L. 31)
No matter what culture, the more national traits it has, the more chances of achieving world fame it stands.
无论何种文化，民族特征越多，闻名于世的可能性就越大。
to have… written into a script (L. 39)
It is impossible to get your unique ideas across to the public, unless you have them written into a script.
除非把你独特的想法写成文字,否则要公众理解是不可能。
to lose one’s faith in sb./sth. (L. 50)
He who has lost his faith in his future has to be at the mercy of fate.
对前途失去信心的人只能听从命运的摆布。
to walk into the sunset with sb. (L. 51)
Those bathed in love wish to walk off into the sunset with each other. But there are always some who change their minds after marriage.
沉浸在热恋中的人都希望与对方白头偕老，但是结婚后总有一些人会改变主意。
to find in sb. a man/woman of… (L. 54)
We have found in her a woman of trained hand, eye, and brain; disciplined and good mannered.
我们发现她是一个训练有素的人，有手艺、有眼光、有头脑，同时也具有良好的修养，彬彬有礼。
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