A Debt to Dickens

1、A Debt to Dickens,1220307209 袁凡 1220307210 张凤玥 1220307213 陈婷婷 1220307202 高雨清,？,Main idea,This text tells us about the most indelible experiences the writer went through when she lived an isolated life as a child in the remote Chinese countryside. The text describes and relates how she discovered and

2、 read and digested Dickens novels. It highlights the ways the writer benefited immensely from Dickens.,Content,Brief introduction of author the greatest critical realist writer of the Victorian era;,His famous works: The Pickwick Papers, 1836 Oliver Twist, 1837 A Christmas Carol, 1843 A Tale of Two

3、Cities, 1859 Great Expectations, 1860,Back,Structure analysis,Section 1(Para 1):It states the writing purpose: to express a feeling of warm gratitude to Charles Dickens. Section 2(Para 23):It gives an account of her special childhood, her feeling of loneliness and alienation. Section 3(Para 47):It d

4、escribes how she discovered Dickens and benefited from reading his novels.,Detailed Reading,Paragraph Analysis Para. 1 1)How do you interpret the debt which the writer has owed since she was seven years old ? 2) In the eyes of the writer, what is the best way to pay her debt to Charles Dickens?,Para

5、phrase, It is no burden, except as the feeling of warm gratitude may ache in one until it is expressed. My debt is not a burden at all, but I may feel anxious and worried if I do not express my great thanks. I know no better way to meet my obligation than to write down what Charles Dickens did in Ch

6、ina for an American child. I know the best way to fulfill my duty is to write down,Language points,Ache: 1)feel pain The noise of the traffic made my head ache. 2)have a strong desire to do something ache to do something She is aching to win the first place in the writing competition. Inestimable: t

7、oo precious to be estimated His advice has been of inestimable value to us.,Language points,Render: 1)give or supply The estate rendered some revenue for the family. 2)cause to become The shot rendered her immobile. 3) give back The sages of ancient times taught us to render good for evil. Obligatio

8、n: moral or legal duty to do something You can look at the books without any obligation to buy. Obligatory: compulsory,Back,Para. 2-3 What is the message that is stressed in the second paragraph? What is the main idea of Paragraph 3?,Paraphrase,In the near distance wound that deep, treacherous, gold

9、en river, the Yangtze, and some of the most terrifying and sinister, as well as the most delightful and exciting moments of that childs life, were spent beside the river.(分析一下句子成分） Not far away, the Yangtze, bright yellow in color, wound its way along, deep, dangerous and unpredictable. Beside this

10、river, the child spent her childhood, with some of the most terrifying and dangerous, as well as the most delightful and exciting moments.,Paraphrase,Once when she was very small, before she knew better, she turned as worms will, and flung back a word she had learned among the boat folk when they qu

11、arreled. For a long time, she had been bearing their teasing laughter, and this time she stroke back with a bad word she learned from the boat folk though she was very small because she couldnt bear any more. However kindly the people about her might be, and they were much more often kind than not,

12、she knew that she was foreign to them. No matter how friendly and kind the people around her might be ,and they were very kind indeed, she felt she was alien to them.( more often than not: most of the time; usually),Language points,Perch: to come to sit; rest; settle Perch down/on/upon/over The bird

13、s like to fly and perch on rooftops, but none have flown away. Treacherous: 1) dangerous, esp. when something seems to be safe There are treacherous currents in the bay. 2) tending to betray His treacherous actions brought ruins on himself.,Back,Para.4-7 Why did the narrator say she was an impossibl

14、e voracious reader? InwhatwayswasthenarratorgreatlybenefitedorenlightenedbyDickens?,Paragraph 7,The last paragraph associated with the first one in the following way: In the first paragraph, the writer makes it clear that she has owned Dickens a heavy debt, and she knows no better way to honor her o

15、bligation than to write down what Dickens did for her. The last paragraph begins with “This is what Charles Dickens did for me.” And she continues to point out:“His influence I cannot lose. He made himself a part of me forever.” Thus, the concluding part of the narrative test is naturally connected

16、with the beginning part.,Paraphrase,But being desperate she put a three-cornered bamboo stool on top of a small table and climbed up and stared at the bindings and in faded black titles she read “Oliver Twist,” by Charles Dickens. But she wanted very much to get these books, so she put a three-corne

17、red bamboo stool on top puff a small table and climbed up. She stared at the covers and, among the black titles which had lost color over the years, she discovered Oliver Twist, written by Charles Dickens.,Paraphrase,She took “Oliver Twist” out of his place -it was fat and thick, for “Hard Times” wa

18、s bound with it -and in great peril descended, and stopping in the pantry for a pocket full of peanuts, she made off to a secret corner of the veranda into which only a small, agile child could squeeze, and opened the closely printed pages of an old edition, and discovered her playmates. She took ou

19、t Oliver Twist, very thick with Hard Times bound with it, and came down carefully. After she got a pocket of peanuts at the pantry, she hurried to a secret corner of the corridor, which was hardly big enough to hold a very small child. There she opened the old a version of the novel and found her pl

20、aymates.,Paraphrase,This program I carried on consistently, over and over, for about ten years, and after that I still kept a Dickens book on hand, so to speak, to dip into and feel myself at home again. I kept reading the novels one after another, again and again, for about ten years. After that, I

21、 still had one at hand always. It can be said that I would pick it up and read a few pages whenever I felt like it, just to feel comfortable again.,Language points,Voracious: having a strong desire to have a lot of things. The wolf is a voracious animal, its hunger never satisfied. Somber: dark and without any bright colors A funeral is a somber occasion. Indefatigable: incapable or seemingly incapable of being fatigued; tireless His indefatigable spirit helped him to cope with his illness.,Language points,Rouse: Wake sb. Who is sleeping deeply The telephone rouse