Unit 16

1. Unit 16

2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of this unit, you are supposed to • grasp the author’s purpose of writing and make clear the structure of the whole passage through an intensive reading of Text 1 “Take Over, Bos’n!” • comprehend Text 1 thoroughly

3. Topics for discussion • 1.Can you imagine the feeling of the survivors of a shipwreck who are drifting on the sea waiting to be rescued? What menace do you think they have to face? • 2.What do you think is the relationship between crewmen on a ship? Is there any difference between their relationship and that of “land” people?

4. An integrated Analysis of Text 1 “Take Over, Bos’n!” Structural analysis of the text and language points The passage can be divided into three parts. Part One: (Paragraphs 1-2) This is the introductory part of the story. The following questions can be asked: • 1).How does the author begin the story? • 2).Do you suppose Snyder pointed the gun at the other nine men?

5. Structural analysis of the text and language points The passage can be divided into three parts. Part One: (Paragraphs 1-2) This is the introductory part of the story. The following questions can be asked: • 1).How does the author begin the story? • 2).Do you suppose Snyder pointed the gun at the other nine men?

6. Part Three: (Paragraphs 24-28) This is the end of the story. The following questions can be asked: • 1).What happened while Snyder was asleep? • 2).What made Barrett give up his chance of drinking the water?

7. Language points • Stern n. the rear end of a ship or boat go and stand in/at the stern of the boat a. a.hard, grim, or severe n manner or character Sterner measures must be taken to combat drug trafficking.

8. Guts • 1) the internal organs of the abdomen Oh, I have a terrible pain in the guts. It feels like food poisoning. • 2) courage or determination Michael was well-known at college, for he had the guts to challenge any professor.

9. Pounce to spring or fly down suddenly in order to seize something The falcon pounced on /upon the rabbit. • Ration to limit the amount of something that each person is allowed to have The government had to ration the food during the war.

10. Canteen • 1)a small, usually leather container in which water or other drink is carried There is little water left in the canteen. • 2)a place serving food and drink in a factory, an office, a school, etc. Students prefer to eat in the school canteen because there is a wide variety of foods on the menu, which changes every day.

11. Compare: gaze, stare, gape, glare, peer, ogle These verbs all mean to look long and intently. • Gaze refers to prolonged looking that is often indicative of wonder, fascination, awe, or admiration: To gaze at the moon; to gaze into his eyes • To stare is to gaze fixedly; the word can indicate curiosity, boldness, insolence, or stupidity; The old couple stared at them in disbelief • Gape suggests a prolonged open-mouthed look reflecting amazement, awe, or lack of intelligence: Tourists are gaping at the sights.

12. To glare is to fix another with a hard, piercing stare; She glared furiously at him when he contradicted her. • To peer is to look narrowly, searchingly, and seemingly with difficulty; He peered through his spectacles at the contract. • To ogle is to stare in an amorous, usually impertinent manner; She resented the way that the construction workers on their lunch hour ogled passing women.

13. Rhetorical Features of the Text • 1).“A constant threat” (Paragraph 9), which serves as a sort of appositive. • 2). “The rest watched me as Barrett did, ready to spring the instant I relaxed” (Paragraph 7). The underlined part of the sentence is employed to indicate the state in which they were.

14. 3). “The bos’n’s mate was a heavy man, bald, with a scarred and brutal face” (Paragraph 9). The underlined part is a prepositional phrase which further describes the man (the subject of the sentence).

15. Text II War Back ground information About the author : George Santayana (1863?-1952) lived eight years in Spain, forty years in Boston, and forty years in Europe. Philosopher, poet, literary and cultural critic, George Santayana is a principal figure in Classical American Philosophy. His naturalism and emphasis on creative imagination were harbingers of important intellectual turns on both sides of the Atlantic.

16. He was a naturalist before naturalism grew popular; he appreciated multiple perfections before multiculturalism became an issue; he thought of philosophy as literature before it became a theme in American and European scholarly circles; and he managed to naturalize Platonism, update Aristotle, fight off idealisms, and provide a striking and sensitive account of the spiritual life without being a religious believer.

17. Questions for discussion • 1. Why is it that to fight is a radical instinct? • 2. What is the original sin from which flows every other wrong?

18. That’s the End of Unit 16!