The Greatest Invention

Lesson Seven The Greatest Invention Lord Dunsany

Lesson Seven Part One: Warm-upPart Two: Background InformationPart Three: Text Appreciation (Key Points)Part Four: Language Study (Difficult Points)Part Five: Resource Extension W B T L E

Part one Warm-up • Discussion On Science

Science • What is science? • What do you think is the greatest invention?

Science Quotes: • Science is an imaginative adventure of the mind seeking truth in a world of mystery. • —Sir Cyril Hinshelwood English chemist. • Nobel prize 1956 • Science is the desire to know causes. • —William Hazlitt English essayist • Science is a great game. It is inspiring and refreshing. The playing field is the universe itself. • —Isidor Isaac Rabi U.S. physicist • Nobel prize 1944

Science • What do you think is the image of a scientist? What is the driving force of the scientists to do their research? • Is science only for science itself? • What does science benefit us? • Will science do any harm to human being?

Science Quotes: • Science is a wonderful thing if one doesn’t have to earn one’s living at it. • —Albert Einstein • The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not “Eureka!” (“I found it!”) but rather, “hmm... that’s funny…” • —Isaac Asimov • No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power. • —Jacob Bronowski

Part two Background Information • Author • Fantasy and Fable • The Caribbean

I. Author His writings: The work of Lord Dunsany must be the foundation of any good library of fantasy and science fiction. His most notable fantasy short stories include:The Gods of Pegana, The Book of Wonder, The Man Who Ate the Phoenix etc. His significance within the genre of fantasy writing is considerable.

I. Author Lord Dunsany (July 24, 1878—October 25, 1957) was an Irish writer and dramatist. His full name was Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany.

I. Author Quote of the author: Logic, like whiskey, loses its beneficial effect when taken in too large quantities.

I. Author Books of the author At the Edge of the World The Book of Wonder The Fourth Book of Jorkens

Fantasy II. Fantasy and Fable • It is a situation imagined by an individual or group, which does not correspond with reality but expresses certain desires or aims of its creator.

Fantasy II. Fantasy and Fable • Fantasies typically involve situations which are impossible (such as the existence of magic powers) or highly unlikely (such as world peace). • In literature fantasy is a form of fiction, usually novels or short stories.

Fantasy II. Fantasy and Fable • As a genre, fantasy is both associated and contrasted with science fiction and horror fiction. • “Fantasy” seems reserved for fiction that features magic, brave knights, damsels in distress, mythical beasts, and quests.

Fable II. Fantasy and Fable • A fable is a short story or folk tale with a moral at the end. It often, but not necessarily, makes metaphorical use of an animal as its central character. In some cases usage of the term has been extended to include stories with mythical or legendary elements. An author of fables is a fabulist.

Fable II. Fantasy and Fable Notable fabulists: Notable fables: • Stone Soup • The Little Engine That Could • Jonathan Livingston Seagull • Watership Down • The Lion King • Aesop • Berechiah ha-Nakdan • Jean de La Fontaine • Ivan Krylov • Marie de France

Modern fable II. Fantasy and Fable Features: • fabled characters of more modern archetypes • using familiar characters in an unfamiliar setting • introduce people’s characters in modern life • updated message with contemporary circumstance and plot line

III. The Caribbean The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. These islands curve southward from the bottom tip of Florida to the Northwest of Venezuela in South America. There are at least 7,000 islands, islets, reefs and caves in the region. The name “West Indies” originates from Christopher Columbus’ idea that he had landed in India when he had in fact reached the Americas. The Caribbean consists of the Antilles and the Bahamas and is part of North America.

IV. Germ Warfare • Germ is an informal term for a disease-causing organism, particularly bacteria. • Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of any organism (bacteria, virus or other disease-causing organism) or toxin found in nature, as a weapon of war. It is meant to incapacitate or kill an adversary. __ __

Part three Text Appreciation I.Text Analysis 1. General Analysis 2. Structure of the Text 3.Further Discussion II.Sentence Paraphrase

General Analysis I. Text Analysis Genre of the story Plot of the story Setting of the story Protagonists of the story Themeof the story

I. Text Analysis Genre:modern fable Plot:the development of the conflict between a scientist driven by his scientific curiosity and the government which wants to force the scientist to serve their political purpose Setting:Caribbean area Protagonists:the man in the Ministry of Warfare and the scientist

I. Text Analysis Theme: Through the story, the author makes us think about the purpose of science and the driving force of scientific development.

Structure of the Text I. Text Analysis Why did Jorkens tell the story? Part 1 (Paras. 1— ): Part 2 (Paras. ): Part 3 (Para. ): 4 5—44 the story itself the concluding paragraph 45

“What do you think is going to happen, Jorkens?” Further Discussion I. Text Analysis In Para. 1  Question:“Happen” to what? What were people talking about? Who were they? They might be the members of the club. They were talking about the world affairs. They were asking what was going to happen in the world.

“Now that a man can carry in a bag a bomb that is more powerful than several battleships, it is hard to find out what any country can do or will do next.” I. Text Analysis In Para. 4  Question:How do you understand the sentence? Nowadays, terrible weapons could be easily produced due to new technology, so the threat to the safety of the people in the world is only too real. No one can easily predicts what the other country will do and what will happen to their own country.

“War is no long a matter of armies; it depends on the intelligence of scientists.” I. Text Analysis In Para. 6  Question:How did the man understand “war”? The man believed that modern wars didn’t depend on how big an army one country had, but on high technology which needed the intelligence of scientists.

“… but I was in our Ministry of Warfare.” I. Text Analysis In Para. 10  Question:How do you understand “Ministry of Warfare”? It is usually called “the Ministry of Defense”. The author coined this name to show the country is a belligerent country.

“We relied, and rightly on that man’s wisdom; but we forgot his folly.” I. Text Analysis In Para. 20  • Question:Why did the man say the scientist was foolish? • He cannot understand the scientist’s devotion to science. He thought that it was foolish of the scientist to make some useless inventions.

“I tried everything: threats, appeals to him to think of our ancient glory, even bribes.” I. Text Analysis In Para. 23  • Question:Why did the scientist stop making the germ? Did he care about any political purpose? • Another fancy came into the mind of the scientist. He wouldn’t turn himself from his new fancy although he was appealed, bribed and threatened because he didn’t care about any political interests.

“‘I do not work for use, but for wonder.’” I. Text Analysis In Para. 38  • Question:How do you understand the sentence? • For the scientist, his purpose of research is for the science itself, not for any political or economic purpose. He believed in pure science and the pure pleasure that science brought to him.

I. Text Analysis • Question:How do you describe the character of the man?  • The minister is a warlike person who wants to dominate the Caribbean, even the whole world. He would take any kind of means, even terrorism to gain his end.

I. Text Analysis • How did they intend to dominate the Caribbean? • Did the scientist agree to work for the government? Did he produce the deadly germ? • What new project attracted the scientist’s attention? • How did the man do to change the mind of the scientist? Did the scientist give up? • What happened in the end?

II. Sentence Paraphrase 1 I was tired of looking at the tropical sea, so I went ashore and walked into a tavern to see if they had any decent wines in that country. (Para. 5) to go to the shore acceptable, good enough

I. Text Analysis • Why did Jorkens tell the story? • Where did Jorkens meet the man with black mustache? • What did the man do? • What was their Minister’s concept of war? What did they have to do for the new war policy? • How did the man understand modern warfare? • What did he mean by their “just aspirations”?

II. Sentence Paraphrase 2 When the bottle had been uncorked and the wine poured out, like liquid tropical sunlight, I watched it go down under that black mustache. (Para. 5) Simile: It suggests that the wine was pretty strong, like hot liquid sunlight. omission of “had been” The wine had been poured out. The bottle was opened and the wine was poured out. The man with black mustache drank it up although it was pretty strong, like hot liquid sunlight.

II. Sentence Paraphrase 3 “And we had a scientist who, as I have since seen proved, had no rival west of the Atlantic.” (Para. 6) to be the very best More examples relative pronoun as the object of “seen” And we had the very best scientist in Latin American countries as I have seen him proved without rival.

II. Sentence Paraphrase 3 • He was in such a fury as I have never seen. • Taiwan is, as you know,an inseparable part of China.

II. Sentence Paraphrase 4 And I had not thought it, for he was not at all what one would regard as the figure of a soldier. (Para. 11) • the kind of person one would expect to see as a soldier I had not thought that he had served in the military authority, for his shape of body was not like that of a soldier at all.

II. Sentence Paraphrase 5 “He thought of war simply as an opportunity for cavalry charges and fine uniforms and glory.” (Para. 12) • beautiful uniforms and impressive appearance charges on horseback Our minister only regarded war as charges on horseback, beautiful uniforms and impressive appearance.

II. Sentence Paraphrase 6 “Once, if a nation had twelve battleships it was a Great Power, and we could only obey.” (Para. 16) • It refers to the 19th century when colonialists and imperialists pursued • gunboatdiplomacy. at one time Gunboat diplomacy: the use of a threat of show of armed force by a country to support a claim, demand, complaint, etc. against another.

II. Sentence Paraphrase 7 But what if we know how to let loose a plague capable of destroying whole nations? (Para. 16) More examples adjective phrase as modifier • to let sb. or sth. free What would happen if we know how to release a plague that can destroy whole nations?

II. Sentence Paraphrase 7 • I think he is a man suitable for the job. • Soldiers normally timid don’t fight well. • A man so difficult to please must be hard to work with.

II. Sentence Paraphrase 8 “We knew that we had marvelous powers within our grasp, if only Carasierra could be kept at his work.” (Para. 18) to force someone to continue to do sth. to be able to achieve or attain sth. If we could keep Carasierra at his work, we would be able to attain great power.

II. Sentence Paraphrase 9 “Always spurred on by a fierce ambition. His very life was devoted to making inventions.” (Para. 20) • to urge sb. to try harder used to emphasize a noun He was always driven by a strong ambition. He had given his whole life to making inventions.

II. Sentence Paraphrase 10 “But nothing would turn him from his project. The splendor of his new inspiration gripped him, and he was like a man drugged.” (Para. 23) to divert his attention from his project Nothing could divert his attention from his work. The impressive beauty of his new inspiration interested him greatly and he was like a man who had bee drugged.

II. Sentence Paraphrase 11 “We were so nearly one of the Great Powers but for a fancy that came to this man’s mind.” (Para. 24) if not for If a fancy had not gripped this man, we would have become one of the Great Powers.

II. Sentence Paraphrase 12 “… he fell then to silent brooding, gazing, as it seemed, into the past at the grip that his country had lost on the Caribbean, perhaps on the world.” (Para. 45) He fell then to silent thinking. He looked intently into the past when his country had lost the power on the Carribbean, even the world.

Part four Language Study • Word Study • Phrases and Expressions • Word Building • Grammar

The Greatest Invention