英语小说读后感.ppt

1、The Ransom of Red Chief,By O.Henry,O.Henry,O.Henry (Sep 11,1862-Jun 5,1910) was a prolific American short-story writer,a master of surprise endings,who wrote about the life of ordinary people in New York City,A twist of plot,which turns on an ironic or coincidental circumstance,is topic of O.Henrys

2、stories. O.Henry is the pen of William Sydney Porter.,The Life of O.Henry,1.Birthplace:Greensboro,North California,2.Family Background:his father,a physician,3.Education:did not receive much formal schooling,4.Working Experiences:did a variety of odd jobs,Charged with embezzling funds from the bank

3、in Texas. fled to Honduras When his wife was dying, he returned to Texas in 1897;he turned himself to the authorities and served three years in prison,he began to write short stories use the pseudonym O.Henry. Last years were shadowed by alcoholism, ill health ,and financial problems.died virtually

4、penniless on Jun5,1910.in New York. In 1919 the O.Henry Memorial Awards for the best American short stories published each year were founded by the Society of Arts and Science.,Bill and Sam wanted to buy a peice of land in Western Illinois, but they didnt have enough money to carry out the plan,so t

5、he kidnapping idea strucked them.,They decided to kidnap the Ebenezer Dorsets son for ransom,but they didnt know they kidnapped a little imp. Sam and Bills nightmare was began.,Bill was going mad because of the naughty boy,.They decide to send him away, and in exchange for ransom,they writed to Eben

6、ezer Dorset,and demand fifteen hundred dollars .,The main structure,But Sam and Bill was wrong. Ebenezer Dorset wrote back:”if they want to send Resd Chief to come back,they should give him $250.”,Sam and Bill very angry, but in the end ,it was because of they cant bear the child anymore, they send

7、him back, and give his father $250.,After reading this novel, the first feeling,is, do not do bad things.Bill and Sam,are two examples, they want to make,money by kidnapping, but they didnt,succeed,and lost money. This not only,reflects the boy s natural naughtiness,and at the same time also reflect

8、s how,incompetent they were. Benezer Dorset,who stayed calm even after the child,was kidnapped, was also worthy of our,admiration.,The Luncheon,By William Somerset Maugham,William Somerset Maugham (Jun 25,1874-Dec 15, 1965),A famous English author. Novelist and playwright. Many of his stories are ab

9、out human waknesses,-William Somerset Maugham was born in Paris on 25th January, 1874. -Williams father was a wealthy solicitor, worked for the Embassy in France. -By the time he was ten, both Williams parents were dead and he was sent to live with his uncle. -After an education at Kings School, Can

10、terbury, and Heildelberg University in Germany, Maugham became a medical student at St. Thomas Hospital, London. -While training to be a doctor Maugham worked as an obstetric clerk in the slums of Lambeth. -He used these experiences to help him write his first novel, Liza of Lambeth (1897). -The boo

11、k sold well and he decided to abandon medicine and become a full-time writer. -Maugham achieved fame with his play Lady Frederick (1907), a comedy about money and marriage.,-By 1908 Maugham had four plays running at the same time in London. -On the outbreak of the First World War, Maugham, now aged

12、forty, joined a Red Cross ambulance unit in France. -While serving on the Western Front he met the 22 year old American, Gerald Haxton. -The two men became lovers and lived together for the next thirty years. -Maugham had sexual relationships with both men and women and in 1915, Syrie Wellcome, the

13、daughter of Dr. Thomas Barnardo, gave birth to his child. -Her husband, Henry Wellcome, cited Maugham as co-respondent in divorce proceedings. -After the divorce in 1916, Maugham married Syrie but continued to live with Gerald Haxton.,Twenty years ago, she wrote to me:she was spending the morning at

14、 the Luxembourg and would I give her a little luncheon at Foyots afterwards？I complied.,I caught sight of her at the play, She addressed me brightly ,we talk about the first time we met I asked her to luncheon.,She told me she ate only a dish for lunch,but she pretended to be casual,ordered dish aft

15、er dish,and the dish were most expensive,The main structure,My Thoughts,The novel is full of irony , The woman was,hypocritical and greedy, The waiter seek,nothing but profits.The protagonist was,hard up of money ,but he was shy to say.,I have to admire the woman, She was so,thick-skinned.,In short,

16、 The novel can be summed up in,one sentence :hypocrisy is:” I never eat,luncheon,unless it is delicious ”,A Friend in Need,By William Somerset Maugham,I read the newspaper, know the news of Edward Hyde Burton death, so some reflections have occurred to me:Dont judge people by outward appearance, esp

17、ecially when on the first meeting, appearances can be deceptive,We had known each other at the club, we played bridge together ，from his appearance，his familys attitude and his kindliness, I had come to a conclusion:” You felt that he could not bear to hurt a fly “ But,However,when he talked about t

18、he Lenny Burton to me, and very easily tell me about their stories, I was shocked, his attitude Lenny Burton on s death was so cold, So my impression of him has changed.,The main structure,My Thoughts,As to the title “A Friend in Need”, I immediately consider a famous English proverb“A friend in nee

19、d is a friend indeed.” however, in fact “A friend in need is not a friend indeed but a friend in needle”, it is well verified that sentence: “Dont judge people by outward appearance,also everything”. Edward Burtons tragedy lies in the fact that he is so cruel and heartless that he jokes his friend a

20、nd leads him to death. He is a friend to needle instead of a friend in need.To some extent, it is the tragedy of society at that time.,The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,By Washington Irving,Washington Irving (Apr 3, 1783-Nov 28, 1859),The Father of American Literature,In 1783, Irving was born into a wealt

21、hy New York merchant family. From a very early age, he began to read widely and write juvenile poems, essays and plays. Later(1806), he studied law and led for a time the leisurely life of a gentleman layer. In 1809,his first book A History of New York, written under the name of Diedrich Knickerbock

22、er, was a great success and won him wide popularity. In 1815, he went to England to take care of his family business there, and when it failed, had to write to support himself. In 1826, as an American diplomatic attach, he was sent to Spain, where he gathered material for his writing. From 1829 to 1

23、832, he was secretary of the U.S Legation in London. Then when he was fifty, he returned to America and bought “Sunnyside”, his famous home. There he spent the rest of his life, living a life of leisure and comfort. He died in 1859. He was not married.,Irving acquired his famous home in Tarrytown,Ne

24、w York, known as Sunnyside, in 1835. He spent his rest life, except for a period of four years(1842-1846). ,Washington Irvings grave ,It was Katrina and her love with the young man with pranks. After the yikabaode facts, shame shame, but left without saying goodbye, went to the field teaching.,He wa

25、s dressed in shabby dresses went to Katrinas house party, met on the way home without a head Knight, the Headless Horseman keeping up with his back, afraid of ghosts, the most poor scholars be entranced with the. Finally, the ghost in front of anti head (a big pumpkin) raised high, and threw it to h

26、im, put an end to this night attack.,“Sleep Valley” is a secluded hamlets in the hills along the Hudson River, where quiet quiet, isolated, the villagers thought blocking, for a variety of ghosts believed. Yikabaodekelaien poor teachers attracted to the rich family daughter Catalina, also dreamed of

27、 one day a rich Manor owner.,The main structure,My Thoughts,This novel is very interesting, a fictional tales . Crane is a poor and greedy man, He dreams of becoming a farmer, he wanted to marry Katrina,but this is only his own thought. finally he left without saying goodbye, went to the field teach

28、ing . This novel satirize the society at that time.,To Build a Fire,By Jack London,Jack London (Jan 12,1876-Nov 22,1916),His life symbolized the power of will, was the most successful writer in American in the early 20th Century, He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine f

29、iction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone. He was born in San Francisco on Jun 12, 1876,an illegitimate son. Quickly completing high school education in Oakland High School(Almost self-educated). A special student at the University of California for one semester. Joined Socialist Labor Party,embracing both Marxism and Nietzsche and Darwinism.