the-libido-for-the-ugly-全文讲义.ppt

Unit Seven Libido for the Ugly - Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956),Henry Louis Mencken (18801956),an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, acerbic critic of American life and culture, and a student of American English. Known as the “Sage of Baltimore“, he is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the first half of the 20th century,Menckens quotation: A cynic is a man who, when he smells a flower, looks around for a coffin.,Menckens Creed I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind - that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking. I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious.,I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must necessarily make war upon liberty. I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence of witches, and deserves no more respect. I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech.,I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what it is made of, and how it is run. I believe in the reality of progress. I - But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.,Pennsylvania State Profile,State Unique Name The Keystone State Capital City Harrisburg Location 40.27605 N, 076.88450 W Bird Ruffed Grouse Border States Delaware - Maryland - New Jersey - New York - Ohio - West Virginia Economy Agriculture Flower The Mountain Laurel Largest City Philadelphia Land Area 44,892 sq.mi. Population 1,20,19,661 Statehood December 12, 1787 Tree Hemlock,description,description is painting a verbal picture of a person, a place, an object, a scene, etc. in order to enable his reader to perceive the reality of the original, the writer reproduces an image and invokes that reality essencially by specific and concrete words that appeal to the readers sense of sight, smell, sound, taste and touch.,the title,this is a piece of subjective, impressionistic or emotional description. libido: concept originated by Sigmund Freud to signify the instinctual physiological or psychic energy associated with sexual urges and with all constructive human activity. In the text, it means psychic energy generally; specifically, a basic form of psychic energy, comprising the positive, loving instincts manifested variously at different stages of personality development. Drive, desire. 欲望,the title,the writer uses this word to suggest that the love and passion for ugliness among Americans is a kind of pathological problem and that his observations have a scientific foundation.,Dominant impression of ugliness,Nouns: desolation, filth, grime, horror, ugliness, monstrousness, grotesqueries Adjectives: hideous, bleak, forlorn, abominable, dirty, horrible, misshapen, shabby, uncomely, dingy, decomposing, shocking, loathsome, gloomy, God-forsaken, frightful, putrid, ghastly, unlovely, diabolical, dreadful, macabre, depressing phrases: appalling desolation, dreadfully hideous, intolerably bleak, unbroken and agonizing ugliness, revolting monstrousness, incomparable,Images: leprous hill, uremic yellow, eczematous patches, malarious hamlets, one blinks before a man with his face shot away, bury themselves swinishly, like gravestones in some gigantic decaying cemetery, color of an egg long past all hope or caring, that of a fat woman with a black eye, that of a Presbyterian grinning Sentences with sarcasm, ridicule and irony: would have disgraced a race of alley cats, insult and lacerate the eye there was not a single decent house in sightthere was not one that was not shabby I award this championship incomparable in color, incomparable in design, the Parthenon would not doubt offend them,The Main idea of each paragraph,Para 1- The writer contrasts the great wealth of this region with the abominable human habitations seen everywhere. Para 2 -coverage of the ugliness in the county. Para 3 -the ugliness of the house design Para 4 -the ugliness of the color of the bricks Para 5 -evaluates the ugliness of this region as the top one in the world. Para 6 -tries to trace the source of the ugliness from the foreigners Para 7 -speculates on a solution for the puzzle: libido for the ugly Para 8 -evidence to prove himself right Para 9 -The writer finally gives an answer.,para 1,a contrast of the great wealth of this region with the dominatable human habitations seen everywhere. ugliness is not due to poverty but to sth. innate in the American character-a love for ugliness for its own sake or, as the title says, the libido for the ugly.,sentence 1,one day in winter some years ago, I started out from Pittsburgh and travelled through the coal and steel towns of Westmoreland County in a fast railway train.,words,Pittsburgh: a city in Southwest Pennsylvania. It is one of the most important industrial cities of America, and a center of rail and river transportation. Termed the “Steel City” or “Smoky City”, it is the center of rich bituminousbtumns-coal(生煤) region, producing also natural gas, oil and limestone; a large part of U.S. steel and iron is produced here. Westmoreland county: a county in Southwest Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Greensburg. It is a mining and manufacturing region. roll: to travel in a wheeled vehicle,翻译,几年前的一个冬日，我乘坐宾夕法尼亚铁路公司的一班快车离开匹兹堡，向东行驶一小时，穿越了威斯特摩兰县的煤城和钢都。,sentence 2,this area is familiar to me. both when I was young and when I grew up, I had often travelled through this region. 这是我熟悉的地方，无论是童年时期还是成年时期，我常常经过这一带。,sentence 3,but somhow in the past I never really perceived how shocking and wretched this whole region was. 但以前我从来没有感到这地方荒凉得这么可怕,sentence 4-1,the region around Pittsburgh was one of the most important industrial centers of America. here was the center of the most profitable and characteristic American activity-indutrial activity. lucrative: producing wealth or profit; profitable; 有利可图的,4-1,这儿正是工业化美国的心脏，是其最赚钱、最典型活动的中心，世界上最富裕、最伟大的国家的自豪和骄傲,sentence 4-2,the United states, the richest and grandest nation ever seen on earth, both boasts about and feels proud of this center of industrial acyivity.,sentence 4-3,the very sight of the region was terribly ugly and the whole region was so miserable, gloomy and depairing that it was hard for anyone to bear. this terible scene in a region which produces through its industry the wealth to make America the richest and grandest nation, makes all human efforts to advance and improve their life seems a sad and horrible joke.,翻译4-3,然而这儿的景象却又丑陋得这样可怕，凄凉悲惨得这么令人无法忍受，以致人的抱负和壮志在这儿成了令人毛骨悚然的、令人沮丧的笑料,words,hideous: horrible to see, hear, etc; very ugly or revolting; dreadful 非常丑陋的, bleak: cheerless, gloomy, desolate, depressing 荒凉的 forlorn: in pitiful condition; wretched; miserable 悲惨的, 不幸的 aspiration: strong desire or ambition, as for advancement, honor 热望,渴望 macabre: gruesome; grim and horrible; ghastly 令人毛骨悚然的,sentence 5,people could not imagine or calculate the amount of wealth that was to be found in this region. And in the same region there were such terrible and disgusting houses that even homeless wild cats would feel ashamed to live in them.,翻译,这儿的财富多得无法计算，简直都无法想象也是在这儿，人们的居住条件又是如此之糟，连那些流浪街头的野猫也为之害羞,words,abominable: nasty and disgusting; vile; loathsome 讨厌的 alley: a narrow street or walk; especially, a lane behind a row of buildings or between two rows of buildings,Boy and man, I had been through it often before. As a boy and later when I was a grown-up man, I had often traveled through the region Here heart of industrial America, the center of its most lucrative and characteristic activity, the boast and pride of the richest and greatest nation ever seen on earth Metaphor, comparing this center to the heart of a human body; hyperbole: exaggerating the richness and grandeur of the region and of America as a whole. Here was the center of the most profitable and characteristic American activity industrial activity.;,Paraphrasing (Para 1),and here was a scene so dreadfully hideous, to a macabre and depressing joke. The scene that met the eye was terribly ugly and the whole region was so miserable and gloomy that it was unbearable. This dreadful scene makes all human endeavors to advance and improve their lot appear as a ghastly, saddening joke. Here was wealth beyond computation, almost beyond Imagination and here were human habitations so abominable that they would have disgraced a race of alley cats. Hyperbole: exaggerating the wealth that was beyond computation and imagination; And habitations so abominable that even homeless cats would have felt ashamed to live in them;,Words and Expressions (Para 2),filth: disgustingly offensive dirt, garbage, etc. lacerate: tear jaggedly; mangle (something soft, as flesh) wound or hurt (ones feelings, etc.) deeply; distress monstrousness: strange shape agonizevt./ vi. (cause) pain.痛苦, 难受 He agonized for months over the thought of his sons death. Martin bent over him, agonized to see how burning was his skin. agony. n. (u) (c) deep pain, extreme suffering or tiredness This country must not again go through the agony of war. The agony of the injured man was dreadful to see. Thousands upon thousands die in slow agony. He suffered agonies from his broken arm,revoltvi. Rebel against The people revolted against their ruler. revolt. -v.t / vi. (cause ) (feel) hatred or sickness of The very thought of working in the basement revolted me. The violence in the movie revolted my parents. My soul revolted against this way of doing business. His whole nature revolts at/from/against such a crime. There is a revolting smell in the seafood market.,pretentiousseem important or significant, used to show disapproval (自命不凡,爱夸耀的,虚饰的,野心勃勃的) e.g. He was a talented but pretentious writer. This pub was of a very different type, smaller, less pretentious. pretension-noun (claim to be, claim to deserve) e.g. I make no pretension(s) to skill as an artist, but for enjoying it. The young prince has pretensions to the crown. - boasting, vanity (u) She talked of her rich friends with great pretension. Pretension is his worst fault.,shabby- poor-looking, mean, unfair e.g. The beggars clothes were shabby. The mental patients received shabby treatment. What a shabby trick, leaving me to walk home alone. sheer absolute, complete eg. She fainted from sheer weariness. He won by sheer luck. a sheer waste of money, by sheer chance, Sheer alcohol will burn the lining of the throat.,Paraphrasing (Para 2),What I allude to is the unbroken and agonizing ugliness, the sheer revolting monstrousness, of every house in sight. hyperbole, an exaggeration that every house is ugly. unbroken ugliness: ugliness that was continuous and uninterrupted. It was ugly no matter where you looked. agonizing ugliness: ugliness that caused great pain (to people who saw it) sheer revolting monstrousness: the absolute digesting hideousness. one blinked before them as one a man with his face shot away. a simile. The ugliness of these houses was as gruesome as a face that has been shot and mangled.,A few linger in memory, horrible even there. Some of the houses remain in ones memory and later when one pictures them in ones mind they still appear to be horrible. There was not a single decent house within . There was not one that was not misshapen, and there was not one that was not shabby. The repetition of the same structural pattern and the use of double negatives help to emphasize the two words “misshapen” and “shabby”.,Words and Expressions (Para 3),uncomely: having unpleasant appearance grime: dirt, esp. sooty dirt, rubbed into or covering a surface as of the skin gully: a channel or hollow worn by running water; small narrow ravine 狭沟 chalet: a type of Swiss house, built of wood with balconies and overhanging eaves (瑞士的木造)山上小舍 highpitched: steep in slope side of roofs dingy: dirty-colored; not bright or clean, grimy clapboard: a thin, narrow board with one edge thicker than the other, used as siding 护墙板, 隔墙 preposterous: so contrary to nature, reason, or common sense as to be laughable; absurd; ridiculous 反常的, 十分荒谬的 pier: a heavy column, usually square, used to support weight, as at the end of an arch 支柱 perpendicular: exactly upright; vertical, straight up and down 垂直的 precarious: uncertain; insecure; risky 不安全的 eczematous: of itching skin disease 湿疹的,streak -n. a long, narrow line 一长条(c) e.g. You have a streak of paint on your forehead. The plane left a white streak of vapor in the blue sky. He has the streaks of grey in his dark hair. - some quality in ones personality e.g. She has a streak of selfishness in her. He has a streak of humor, though he looks very serious There is a streak of cruelty in his character. streak -v.t to mark a line on The Indians used to streak their faces with paint. Her dark hair was streaked with grey. The childs face was streaked with tears. -vi. To pass rapidly like lightening The winning horse streaked past the finish line. A cat streaked across the road with a dog behind it.,Paraphrasing (Para 3),The country itself is not uncomely not uncomely: litotes, meaning quite comely or pleasant to look at. The country itself is pleasant to look at. there are very few solid blocks. solid block: a group of buildings with no breaks or empty space separating them. Even in the larger towns there are very few solid blocks of houses, so there are still many empty spaces on which new buildings can be put up. if there were architects of any professional sense or dignity in the region, they would have perfected a chalet sarcasm. It sarcastically emphasizes the fact that there were no architects worthy of the honor or the high standards demanded of by its profession.,They have taken as their model a brick set on end. The model they followed was a brick standing upright. And one and all they are streaked in grime, with dead and eczematous patches of paint peeing through the streaks. metaphor, comparing the patches of paint to dried-up scales formed by a skin disease. All the houses here are smeared with sooty dirt, and some paint which is not covered up by the soot looks like dried-up scales formed on the skin by eczema.,A Brief Introduction to Litotes,not uncomelyquite pleasant, beautiful Litotes 曲言法(正话反说), 是(understatement) 低调陈述中的一种表现形式. 主要是用no, not, none, never以及否定词缀等否定词或否定表达法来表述肯定的内容. e.g. The face wasnt a bad one; it had what they called charm. The man is no fool. It was no small skill to putting a knife into the mouth without getting hurt. (understatement) 低调陈述的另一种表现手法是弱说代替强说. 常用sort of, something of, rather, hardly, scarcely, almost 之类的词 e.g. “Money,” she says with quiet understatement, “is kind of tight But I manage.” Her score is far from being satisfactory. Her score leaves much to be desired Mr. Li is something of a professor.,A chaleta type of Swiss house, built of wood with balconies and overhanging eaves 瑞士式小木屋,Eczematous patches, eczemaan itching skin disease,Words and Expressions (Para 4),downright-adj. straightforward, frank e.g. Her downright answer startled us present. He is a downright sort of person. -adj. complete e.g. You are a downright cheat. She told a downright lie. downright -adv. Absolutely, 彻头彻尾的 e.g. He was downright rude to us. It makes me downright angry to see food thrown away.,loathe -vt. feel hatred, dislike e.g. You know how I loath typing and shorthand. She likes her job though she loathes getting up early to go to work. loathing. -n. (u) They look at them with loathing. I have a great loathing for geometry. loathsome-adj. to be disgusting, hated e.g. Some people think snakes are loathsome creatures while others think otherwise. The villain of the play was completely loathsome.,Paraphrasing (Para 4),When it has taken on the patina of the mills it is the color of an egg long past all hope or caring. ridicule and irony, laughing scornfully at the color of these houses; also metaphor, comparing the color of the bricks to color of rotten eggs. When the brick is covered with black soot of the mills it takes on the color of a rotten egg. No more than it was necessary to set all of the houses on end. Neither was necessary. The writer poses the question in order to provoke the questioning of the cause. Red brick, even in a steel town, ages with some dignity. Red brick, even in a steel town, looks quite respectable with the passing of time. Even in a steel town, old red bricks still appear pleasing to the eye.,But in Westmoreland they prefer that uremic yellow, uremia: a toxic condition caused by the presence in the blood of waste products normally eliminated in the urine and resulting from a failure of the kidneys to secrete urine. But it seems that people in Westmoreland county prefer that yellow color produced by the disease uremia. and so they have the most loathsome towns and villages ever seen by mortal eye. hyperbole, exaggerating the ugliness of the towns and villages. mortal eye: human eyes,A Comparison of Sarcasm(讽刺), ridicule(嘲弄), irony(反讽),Sarcasm: a bitter or wounding remark, 主要用于伤人感情的那一类幽默,常运用嘲笑或讽刺性反语 e.g. Obviously, if there were architects of any professional sense of dignity in the region, they would have perfected a chalet to hug the hillsides. having chosen it, they let in mellow into its present shocking depravity. Sarcasm and irony e.g. I award this championship only after laborious research and incessant prayer. It is incredible that mere ignorance should have