Clearing in the sky.doc

课题Lesson 3 Clearing in the Sky教学目标和要求：Teaching objectives1. The main task (Outcome)The students will understand the traditional American values and know the rural way of life in American cultures.2. Language Focus1) Vocabulary: make, keep, brag, score, motion, wrinkle, etc.2) Phrases and expressions on p. 81.3) Grammar: Infinitives of purpose.3. Language Skills The students will practice writing an essay titled “Gap between Chinese cities and countryside”, and the summary of Lesson Three.4. Cultural Focus 1) The students will learn the background information about the author. 2) The students will understand the traditional American values. 5. Values The students will hold a positive view toward the rural life in American and Chinese life. 教学主要内容：Major Steps 1. Warm-up activities2. Background information3. Understanding the words and expressions4. Understanding the text5. Word study6. Exercise check-up教学重点和难点：Teaching Focus1. Text understanding. 2. Understanding of the traditional American values. Possible Difficulties1. Phrases and expressions. 2. Essay writing. 教学方法和使用教具：Teaching methods1. Task-based Language Teaching Approach (pair work and team work)2. Interactive teaching approachTeaching aids1. Teaching notes prepared by the teacher 2. 1 blackboard 提问讨论：Discussion:1. Is the father a typical image lf American farmer? Why? What was the meaning of the paths up the mountainside?布置作业：1. Read the text aloud for better understanding. 2. Learn by heart the selected paragraphs. 3. Finish the exercises in the textbook. Teaching NotesWarming-up Warm-up questions (35 minutes)What do you know about traditional American values?Ask students to review the ideas of Thomas Jefferson. Background informationIntroduction Jesse Stuart (1906-1984)“I know as surely as I live and breathe the positive proof of what education can do for a man.”-Jesse Stuart, The Thread that Runs so TrueJesse Stuart 1907-1984American short story writer, novelist, autobiographer, biographer, essayist, editor, and poet.INTRODUCTIONStuart is considered a regionalist writer whose short stories explore life in the Appalachian hills of Greenup County, Kentucky. His short fiction is noted for its use of folklore and its themes of family, community, survival, and mans love of the land. Stuart is praised for the insightful nature of his work, as well as his lyrical, simple language.Biographical InformationStuart was born in a log cabin in Greenup County, Kentucky. His father was an itinerant sharecropper and Stuarts family moved several times in his youth. As a result, he missed school often and eventually dropped out. When he was fifteen, Stuart quit his job as a concrete worker and returned to high school, where he was influenced by the work of Robert Burns, Walt Whitman, and Edgar Allan Poe. In 1926 he began attending Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, and during his senior year his poetry was published in several periodicals. After graduation he returned to his native Greenup County and became a teacher and administrator in the area. His first collection of short fiction, Head o W-Hollow, was published in 1936. In 1939 he left teaching and bought a sheep farm. During his life Stuart traveled extensively as a lecturer and educator, but always returned to Kentucky. A prolific writer of fiction, poetry, and essays, he published nearly 500 short stories. He died in 1984 after a long illness.Major Works of Short FictionAlthough he is considered a regionalist writer, the themes of Stuarts short fiction are universal in nature. In Thanksgiving Hunter, a sensitive young boy on his first dove hunt finds himself unable to kill a bird. Ashamed of what he perceives as a weakness, he resolves to kill his first dove. Using a special dove call, he lures a beautiful bird. Upon closer inspection, the boy realizes that the bird is blind; another hunter has shot away both of its eyes. When the doves mate calls and the blind dove flies away, the boy is left to ponder the harshness of life. In Another Hanging, the hanging of a murderer provides a social occasion for the citizens of the county. Stuart juxtaposes the suffering of the murderers wife and family against the excitement of the young narrator as he puts on his new clothes and meets a pretty girl at the hanging. The story Clearing in the Sky reflects Stuarts belief that the land and nature hold a healing power for people. In this story, a father shows his son his vegetable garden on the top of a mountain. The father claims that in maintaining the garden, he has been able to stave off a terminal illness despite the dire prognosis that his doctor had given him. Critical ReceptionAlthough some commentators have categorized Stuart as a regionalist writer, many critics have acknowledged that his work transcends strictly regional concerns, embodying such universal themes as community, individuality, poverty, and survival. Many critics have discussed the role of folklore in his short fiction, especially his use of local legends and their place in the modern world. Several commentators have noted the autobiographical aspects of the stories, most of them set in Stuarts home county of Greenup, Kentucky. Several of his short stories deal with animals, and critics have discussed his engaging portrayal of animals fighting for survival among humans or in the wild. Stuart has been noted for his often compelling presentation of plot and character, in particular his use of humor, insight, and dialect. Moreover, he has been praised for his simple, evocative stories, especially his unaffected language, warm and amusing characters, deft descriptions, and the incorporation of the natural world in his work.He published his first book of poetry and began writing short stories in l934. Many honors came his way in the following years. For example, his novel Taps for Private Tussie won the Thomas Jefferson Southern Award and was a Book-of-the-Month selection. His autobiographical The Thread That Runs So True, which recounts some of his teaching experiences, was selected by the National Educational Association as the best book of l949. Among his more than 60 published volumes are Man with a Bull-Tongue Plow (poems), Men of the Mountains (stories), Gods Oddling (biography), Hie to the Hunters (novel), and Kentucky Is My Land (poetry).Since l979, the Jesse Stuart Foundation has devoted itself to preserving the legacy of Jesse Stuart and his W-Hollow hill countrys Appalachian way of life by keeping his books in print.Understanding the words and expressions1. mistthe mists of the past模糊往事be covered in mist 笼罩在薄雾中a mist before ones eyes眼前一片模糊cast / throw (a) mist before sb.s eyes蒙蔽人，使人眼花缭乱2. remembrance to hold him in fond remembrance对他有美好的回忆bear / keep / have in remembrance 记在心里bring to remembrance 使记忆/想起call / come to remembrance 想起escape (pass from) ones remembrance 忘记，记不得了give my remembrances to 请代问候in remembrance of 为纪念，回忆put in remembrance 使想起retain the remembrance of sb. /sth.记得某人/某事3. reproachabove / beyond reproach 无可非议，出色地bring reproach upon给带来耻辱bring / draw reproach on / upon sb. 使某人受辱，给某人带来耻辱heap reproach on sb. 痛责某人，对某人大加责备4. salutesalute a flag 向国旗致敬salute a friend with a smile 笑迎友人salute the spring / the dawn 迎接春天的到来，迎接黎明salute sb. with cheers 欢呼迎接某人salute with eyes, rifle, the hand 行注目（持枪，举手）礼stand at salute 立正敬礼take the salute 接受敬礼，还礼fire a salute 鸣礼5. words about vegetablescucumber, lettuce, carrot, cabbage, spinach, pumpkin, turnip, eggplant, sponge-gourd, green-pepper, gingerUnderstanding the textNotes in the Text:1 clearing : an open space of land cleared of trees but surrounded by other trees2 “isnt it too hot for you to do much walking?”Other examples : to do the cooking ; do some running ; do my shopping 3 I wiped the streams of sweat from my face to keep face Stream: a stream of light a stream of cold airA stream of water the stream of timeThe stream of pubic opinion a stream of wordsTo cling: to cause sharp pain; to prick with a stingA a bee stung him on the arm.B The parade kept the traffic from moving.C My eyes are stinging from the smoke.D Anger stung him into fighting.4 But I could not protest to him now.A They protested to the President - but in vaim.B A lot of black people gathered before the White House , protesting against the racial discrimination.C All the local farmers protested against the new airport being built on rich farmland.Protest: to address a protest ; to make a protest ; to cause a protestTo lodge a protest ; to launch a protest ; to present a protest5 He didnt care if it was . below zero.In the shade : in comparative darkness caused by the interception of the rays of light.A He was lying in the shade of the shed.B Green trees make shade.C Todays temperature is 35in the shade.l Fahrenheit (F): Centigrade(C)=5/9*(F-32) Fahrenheit=C * 9/5 +32l 100=5/9*(100-32) = 37.7 - 20 = ? 6 Suddenly he stopped , took out his pocketknife , and cut a wisp A wisp of : a small separate untidy pieceEg. A wisp of straw , a wisp of smile7 to brag of / about sth.A He always likes to brag of his accomplishment.B It is not good form to brag about your gift.8 “Did you ever see . out of the earth”A It has grown out of fashion.B All arts grow out of necessity.C His smoking grew out of his bad habit of his boyhood days.D He grew out of his clothes.9 . ,I remembered ho