Unit 8 The Discus Thrower Teaching plan综合教程四.docVIP

UNIT 8 THE DISCUS THROWERTeaching Objectives1) Master the following key words and expressions: spy on, furtive, dwarf, no wonder, in time.2) Master the use of subjunctive mood.3) Analyze the structure and rhetorical features of the text and get the message of the text.4) Be able to discuss the attitude one may take in front of a difficult condition.Warming up discussions1) What do you think this text is about?2) How do you think a dying man will most probably behave?Cultural backgroundThe Psychological Aspects of AmputationRegardless of the cause of the amputation, an amputee will probably go through basically the same psychological stages. Some may go through the grieving process in a short time, while others will suffer several months. However, it is important that one acknowledge and understand the process as he is going through each stage, for it possibly helps him to survive psychologically.1. The Five Stages of the Grieving Processl DenialPeople who go through traumatic amputations usually experience Denial, but normally those who have had surgical amputations will not experience it. l AngerOften people will blame God, the doctor, or others for their loss. l BargainingIn this stage, patients may attempt to postpone the reality of amputation, and most patients will try to bargain with their doctor or through a higher authority such as a religious figure.l DepressionIn this stage, anger is taken place by depression. This is probably the most complicated stage of grief, but it too will disappear. Common symptoms include sleeping either too much or too little, negative feelings about the environment and the future, feelings of hopelessness, and talking about death.l Acceptance and HopeEventually, the amputee will come to terms with his loss and start living again. This is more easily achieved if he has a visit from a peer counselor who has been through this entire process and can give him some advice.2. Complicated GriefComplicated grief is not common in amputee patients, however its symptoms are more harmful, which include severe isolation, violent behavior, suicidal ideation, workaholic behavior, severe or prolonged depression, nightmares, and avoiding reminders of the amputation. It is urgent for the amputees with these symptoms to seek appropriate professional medical treatment.Text ITHE DISCUS THROWERRichard SelzerGlobal ReadingI. Structural analysis of the text This text is a piece of chronological narration about an amputee, a difficult and only semi-communicative patient who floundered in his last days in agony and depression and eventually died. The text can be divided into three parts:Part I (Paragraph 1): This part serves as an introduction to the background of the story. Part II (Paragraphs 2 13): This part describes the strange behavior of a particular patient dubbed the “discus thrower” and his conflict with health workers. Part III (Paragraphs 14 15): The last part tells the readers about the patients death.This narration also poses interesting challenges: what to think of this man, how to understand him, and how to treat him? Clearly the mans enigmatic speech and action are saying something, and Selzer suggests that few are listening. The story offers no answer, but it suggests that the kind of sympathy the narrator develops through watching the patient (though not expressed) is a good start. The patients provocative behavior and the storys openness make it a good point of departure for a discussion. II. Rhetorical features of the textA notable feature of this text is the extensive use of questions on the part of the narrator. He asks questions in his dialogue with the patient, and he also asks himself questions. First look at the questions he asks himself: For example:1. Ought not a doctor to observe his patients by any means and from any stance that he might take for the more fully assemble evidence? (Paragraph 1).2. Is he mute as well as blind? (Paragraph 3)3. What is he thinking behind those lids that do not blink? Is he remembering a time when he was whole? Does he dream of feet? Or when his body was not a rotting log? (Paragraph 6)These questions call for no answer but they reveal the inner thoughts of the narrator. He seems to be trying to place himself in the position of the patient to feel a better understanding of the patients psychology.Now look at the questions he asks in his dialogue with the patient:For example:1. How are you? (Paragraph 5)2. How do you feel? (Paragraph 5)3. Anything more I can do for you? (Paragraph 7)All these questions help to show that the doctor is very patient with and, responsible for his patient. Detailed ReadingQuestions:1. Does the doctor feel guilty of spying on his patients? Why or why not? (Paragraph 1)Answer: No, he doesnt. Instead, he finds the activity justifiable. For one thing, he thinks the activity is well-meant, i.e. he wants to collect more pathological evidence in order to give the patients more effective treatment. For another, his activity is not spying in the true sense, for the act is far from furtive.2. How would you account for the possessions in Room 542? (Paragraph 4)Answer: The fact that there are no get-well cards, no small, private caches of food and day-old flowers shows that he has been abandoned by his family and friends. 3. Why does the patient ask for shoes time and again? (Paragraphs 7)Answer: As a blind man, he is restrained in activity. Now without legs he is completely confined to bed. Like a caged bird, he longs for freedom and dreams of going back to his career. Thus it is understandable why he repeatedly asks for shoes.4. Why does the patient throw his plate? (Paragraphs 910)Answer: This is the way he expresses his wrath with the unfair fate. He is deprived of sight and now his legs. Deserted by society, he is left with very little. Indignant as he is, he can avenge himself upon nobody. What he can do is only to crash his plate against the wall to vent his anger and despair. Moreover, he would rather die in a stroke like the plate than linger in agony.5. What kind of laughter does the patient give? (Paragraph 11)Answer: The laughter is unique as is indicated in Paragraph 11. It comes both from the pleasure after revenge by crashing the plate and the hope to extricate himself from his agony by means of an abrupt death like the plate. Since freedom in this material world is impossible to him, he wishes to have it in the other world.Text IIA RAGE AGAINST DYING1Stanley L. EnglebardtLead-in QuestionWhat are the possible emotions involving death?a. griefb. angerc. panicd. relaxationMain ideaOne day in 1981, Sian Evens was caught in a fire caused by the spilled gasoline from a gas tank in a kitchen and became seriously injured. She suffered third-degree burns, which means about 40 percent of her body was burned. Her father rushed to the hospital as soon as he got the message and stayed by her side as long as he was permitted. During his visits he tried to help her regain consciousness by playing music tapes and encourage her to live on by one-sided conversation. As well as Sians great efforts, her fathers deep love and great patience contributed immensely to her physical and mental recovery.Notes1. About the text This text is an abridged version of an article with the same title which appears in Readers Digest August 1994. 2. I.V. tubes (Paragraph 11) intravenous tubes3. Not if I can help it, . (Paragraph 14) She will not give up if I can help it, .4. Byron (Paragraph 14) Lord George Gordon Byron (17881824), British poet5. Keats (Paragraph 14) John Keats (17951821), British poet.6. Shelley (Paragraph 14) Percy Bysshe Shelley (17921822), British poet.7. Dylan Thomas (Paragraph 14) British poet (19131953).8. Do not go gentle into that good night Rage, rage against the dying of the light. (Paragraph 14) This is taken from Dylan Thomas poem Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night. This poem is the poets address to his dying father and its theme is that one should go violently, not gently, to ones death. The whole text reads: Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way. Do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.9. down (Paragraph 19) fine soft hair or feathers 10. showing her old mettle (Paragraph 23) display her ability or determination Additional notes1. hung out at the houses of several friends (Paragraph 1) spent time at the houses of several friends2. Her eyelids and nostrils were swollen shut (Paragraph 9) Her eyelids and nostrils were so swollen that they couldnt open. 3. She couldnt even blink acknowledgement with her swollen eyes. (Paragraph 16) She couldnt even express her recognition and understanding by blinking her swollen eyes. Questions for discussion1. What happened to Sian when she was 17?2. How serious was her case?3. How did her father try to help her get through?4. Imagine what Sian would do after she was well enough to move around.Key to Questions for discussion1. She was caught in a fire caused by the spilled gasoline from a gas tank in a kitchen and became seriously injured.2. She suffered third-degree burns, which means about 40 percent of her body was burned. As the text tells us, these burns penetrated deep into her muscles, blood vessels and nerves. Most of the wounds were concentrated on her face, neck, hands and upper body. Her scorched eyelids and nostrils were swollen shut, her lips were blackened and puffy and her right ear was charred. Blood and fluids were seeping from her body. 3. Her father rushed to the hospital as soon as he got the message and stayed by her side as long as he was allowed. During his visits he tried to help her regain consciousness by playing music tapes and encourage her to live on by one-sided conversation. His deep love and great patience contributed immensely to her daughters physical and mental recovery.4. There could have been many options and possibilities for Sian to choose from. But here is what really happened to her after she left hospital: She attended university and studied biology; she got interested in medicine and finally became a surgeon in a hospital! Memorable quotesIt hath been often said, that it is not death, but dying, which is terrible. Henry FieldingHenry Fielding (170