The Libido for the Ugly 课件讲义.ppt

The Libido for the Ugly (爱丑之欲),Henry Louis Mencken,7,Outline of Class Teaching,An introduction to Henry Louis Mencken His early life and career His writing style His contributions to American language Reading theory on “Description”,Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956),The 1st American to be widely read as a critic (批评家),James Lowell (詹姆斯洛威尔),Edgar Allan Poe (埃德加爱伦坡 ),Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956),Born in Baltimore Privately educated there Graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute,Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956),Became a reporter on Baltimore Herald Joined Sunpaper Edited Smart Set Edited American Mercury,H. L. Menckens Great Concerns,He was a central figure in American intellectual life in the 1920s. He launched the most cutting attacks against Americas middle class culture. In his witty and satirical essays, he mocked the institution which supported the middle class. He enjoyed, met and challenged his antagonists with his direct and devastating attacks.,He hated narrowed-minded religions and strongly supported intellectual freedom. He fought with every effort to maintain the independence of literature. He felt the greatest threat of literature was the countrys prevailing religion “fundamentalism”, the opinions of which were based on the literary interpretation of the Bible.,H. L. Menkens Great Concerns,He hated commercialism and did not supported democracy, because he believed the majority of American population were too ignorant and greedy to exert “democracy” wisely.,H. L. Menkens Great Concerns,Menckens Writing Style,“I opened A Book of Prejudices and began to read. I was jarred and shocked by the style, the clear, clean, sweeping sentences. Why did he write like that? And how did one write like that? I pictured the man as a raging demon, slashing with his pen. I read on and what amazed me was not what he said, but how on earth anybody had the courage to say itI identified myself with that book.” -Richard Wright,Rip-roaring, witty, humorous, ironical, combative, with unrestrained hyperbole, extravagant accentuation, fond of pairing adjectives, playful, comical. Menckens writing is endearing because of its wit, its crisp style, and the obvious delight he takes in it.,Menckens Writing Style,No other entertainment gave him greater pleasure than reporting from the conventions; nor did anyone appreciate his efforts more than Mencken himself. One reporter, peering through Menckens window late at night after one rally, recalled watching him at work alone in his hotel room, pounding out copy on a typewriter propped on a desk. He would type a few sentences, read them, slap his thigh, toss his head back, and roar with laughter. Then he would type some more lines, guffaw, and so on until the end of the article. -Marion Elizabeth Rodgers,Menckens Writing Style,Menckens works were received with both delight and horror, depending on the readers point of view. He was highly respected for his literary criticism and he exerted a great influence on American literature.,Menckens Writing Style,Menckens Contributions to the American Language,Editor, social critic, and longtime journalist with The Baltimore Sun, Mencken inspired many young writers in the 1920s. And though he died more than half a century ago, his rip-roaring, witty, combative, yet graceful style continues to “stir up the animals“ and attract fresh admirers.,H.L. Mencken wrote The American Language An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States This classic was written to clarify the discrepancies between British and American English and to define the distinguishing characteristics of American English. Menckens groundbreaking study was undoubtedly the most scientific linguistic work on the American language to date and continues to serve as a definitive resource in the field.,Menckens Contributions to the American Language,Reading Theory on “Description”,What is a description? What does the writer do in a description? What kind of words are preferred in a description? What is the order of organization for a description?,What is a description?,Description conveys the sensations, emotions and impressions that affect a writer experiencing a person, place, object or idea.,What does the writer do in a description?,The writer describes what he sees, hears, smells, feels, or tastes, and it often includes his emotional reactions to the physical sensations of the experience. In description, a writer paints verbal picture of a place, object or a person,What kind of words are preferred in a description?,In order to enable his reader to perceive the reality of the original, he produces an image and evokes that reality essentially by specific and concrete words that appeal to the readers sense of sight, smell, sound, taste and touch.,What is the order of organization for a description?,Description is usually organized and developed by space order. The writer may select a fixed position in space, then move from distance to close up, or from close up to distance, from left to right, or from right to left, etc. He may also establish a mental attitude toward his subject and then move on to other features.,A description may be either general or specific,When the controlling sentence calls for general description, the writer selects several of the main typical traits which characterize the subject and proceed to analyze, enumerate or synthesize its features. For specific description, he focuses on the special characteristics which identify or typify the person, place or object being described.,A description may be subjective or objective,An objective description is much the same as a white and black photograph. A subjective description is to share with the reader an expression or emotion. The writer is emotional and subjective by choosing words rich in connotative meaning and by strongly appealing to the readers.,About the Title,The Libido for the Ugly: The strong urge to love things ugly. Libido: a special term in psychoanalysis meaning physical energy or desire generally. Mencken deliberately uses this word to create the impression that his description and analysis has some scientific foundation.,1. Pittsburgh 匹兹堡 2. Pennsylvania 宾夕法尼亚州,Detailed study of the passage,1. Pittsburgh 匹兹堡 2. Pennsylvania 宾夕法尼亚州 Pittsburgh is 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 “Steel City” or “Smoky City”, it is the center of rich bituminous coal region, producing also natural gas, oil and limestone. A large part of American steel and iron is produced here.,3. Westmoreland A county in southwest Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Greensburg. It is a mining and manufacturing region.,4. It was familiar land; boy and man, I had been through it often before: As a boy and later when I grew up as a man, I had often travelled through the region. 6. lucrative (adj.): producing wealth or profit; profitable; remunerative 有利可图的；赚钱的 7. hideous (adj.): horrible to see, hear, etc.; very ugly or revolting; dreadful 骇人听闻的;非常丑陋的;可怕的 8. forlorn (adj.): in pitiful condition; wretched; miserable 可怜的；悲惨的；不幸的,9. macabre (adj.): gruesome; grim and horrible; ghastly 可怕的；令人毛骨悚然的；恐怖的 10. computation (n.): the act of computing; calculation 计算 11. abominable (adj.): nasty and disgusting; vile; loathsome 讨厌的，可恶的 12. alley (n.): a narrow street or walk; specifically, a lane behind a row of buildings or between two rows of buildings that face on adjacent streets 胡同；小巷；小街,Please find out the figures of speech included in the first paragraph. Hyperbole: “the richest and grandest nation ever seen on earth”, “so abominable that they would have disgraced a race of alley cats.” Contrast: the richest region-hideous, bleak, forlorn scene. Metaphor: “heart of industrial America”,A second look at Para.1,A second look at Para.1,Para.1 is developed by contrasting the great wealth of this region to the ugly human habitations seen everywhere. The contrast in the last sentence helps Mencken to grab readers attentions. The readers may fail to understand why such rich people live in such ugly houses, hence they read on. And the contrast helps to make a point: the ugliness is not out of poverty.,13. filth (n.): disgustingly offensive dirt, garbage, etc. 污秽，污物；垃圾 14. allude (v.): refer in a casual or indirect way (随便或间接) 提到，涉及；暗指 15. monstrousness (n.): strange shape 奇形怪状 16. lacerate (v.): tear jaggedly; mangle (something soft, as flesh); wound or hurt (ones feelings, etc.) deeply; distress 撕裂；割碎 (肉等软组织)；伤害(感情等)；使伤心,17. pretentious (adj.): making claims, explicit or implicit, to some distinction, importance, dignity, or excellence 自负的；自命不凡的；自大的 18. linger (v.): continue to stay, esp. through reluctance to leave 逗留(尤指不愿离开) 19. downright (adv.): thoroughly; utterly; really 彻底地，完全地；真正地 20. dormer (n.): a window set upright in a sloping roof 屋顶窗,21. leprous (adj.): of or like leprosy; having leprosy 麻风的；似麻风的；患麻风病的 22. headquarters of the Veterans of Foreign Wars: 外国战争退伍军人总部。See note 1 for more information. 23. rat-trap (n.): a trap for catching rats 捕鼠夹(子) 24. misshapen (adj.): badly shaped; deformed, distorted 奇形怪状的；畸形的 25. uncomely (adj.): having unpleasant appearance不美观的，不好看的,26. grime (n.): dirt, esp. sooty dirt, rubbed into or covering a surface, as of the skin (尤指经摩擦而深入或覆盖皮肤等表面的) 积垢；污秽 27. gully (n.): a channel or hollow worn by running water; small, narrow ravine沟壑，狭沟，冲沟 28. chalet (n.) : a type of Swiss house, built of wood with balconies and overhanging eaves (瑞士的木造)农舍，山上小舍 29. high-pitched (adj.): steep in slope (side of roofs) (屋顶) 坡度陡的,30. They have taken as their model a brick set on end: the model they followed in building their houses was a brick standing upright. 31. dingy (adj.): dirty-colored; not bright or clean; grimy不干净的；不明亮的；弄脏的 32. clapboard (n.): a thin, narrow board with one edge thicker than the other, used as siding护墙板，隔板 33. low-pitched: with little slope, nearly flat or even.,34. preposterous (adj.): so contrary to nature, reason, or common sense as to be laughable, absurd, ridiculous 反常的；乖戾的；十分荒谬的；愚蠢的 35. pier (n.): a heavy column, usually square. used to support weight, as at the end of an arch角柱；支柱 36. swinish (adj.): of or like a swine; beastly; piggish; coarse, etc猪(似)的；鄙贱的；粗俗的 37. perpendicular (adj.): exactly upright; vertical; straight up or down 垂直的；矗立的,38. precarious (adj.): uncertain; insecure; risky 不稳定的；不安全的；危险的 39. eczematous (adj.): of itching skin disease 湿疹的 40. patina (n.): a fine crust or film on bronze or copperusually green or greenish-blue, formed by natural oxidation and often valued as being ornamental (青铜器上的)绿锈 41. long past all hope or caring: (an egg) that had long past the time when there was some hope that it might still be edible, long past the time when people were still concerned about it.,42. uremia (n.) : 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 尿毒症 43. loathsome (adj.) : causing loathing；disgusting；abhorrent；detestable讨厌的；厌恶的；令人作呕的 44. laborious (adj.) : involving much hard work；difficult. industrious；hard-working费力的；困难的；勤劳的；辛苦的,45. championship: here is not awarded to the best but the worst. 46. incessant (adj.) : never ceasing; continuing or being repeated without stopping or in a way that seems endless; constant不停的，连续的；不间断的 47. incessant prayer: by asking God constantly to help me to come to a correct decision. 48. decompose (v.) : break up or separate into basic components or parts；rot分解；(使)腐烂，(使)腐败,49. Pullman: a railroad car with private compartments or seats that can be made up into sleepers. 50. whirl: to move, go, drive, etc. swiftly. 51. forsake (v.) : give up；renounce (a habit，idea，etc)；leave；abandon抛弃，放弃(思想、习惯等)；遗弃；背弃 52. malarious (adj.) : of fever conveyed by mosquitoes 疟疾的；空气污浊的 53. hamlet (n.) : a very small village小村庄,54. incomparable (adj.) : beyond comparison；unequalled；matchless无与伦比的，举世无双的；无敌的，无比的 55. titanic (adj.) : of great size，strength，or power巨大的；力大无比的；有极大权力的 56. aberrant (adj.) : turning away from what is right，true，etc：deviating from what is normal or typical与正确或真实情况相背的；偏离常规的；反常的 57. uncompromising (adj.) : not compromising or yielding；firm；inflexible；determined不妥协的；坚定的；不让步的；坚决的,58. inimical (adj.) : 1ike an enemy；hostile；unfriendly；adverse；unfavorable敌人似的；敌对的；不友好的；相反的；不利的 59. ingenuity (n.) : cleverness，originality，skill，etc机智；创造力，独创性；熟练 60. grotesquery (n.) : the quality or state of being grotesque奇形怪状；怪诞 61. retrospect (n.) : a looking back on or thinking about things past；contemplation or survey of the past回顾，回想；追溯,62. diabolical (adj.) : of the devil or devils；fiendish恶魔的；残忍的，凶暴的 63. concoct (v.) : devise，invent，or plan计划，策划；虚构，编造 64. insensate (adj.) : not feeling，or not capable of feeling，sensation无感觉的，无知觉的 65. abomination (adj.) : great hatred，and disgust；anything hateful and disgusting憎恨，厌恶；令人讨厌的东西,66. putrid (adj.) : decomposing；rotten and foul-smelling 腐烂的，腐败的 67. pull: drawing for