Introduction

Teaching Aims Teaching ProcessGlossary

Movie Clip

Plot Background

Characters

Symbolism

Class Discussion

To master the usage of some words and expressions in oral American English

To analyze the symbolism of the feather and chocolate

To learn American History from 1950s to 1970s To discuss why Forrest Gump is popular and

write film review

Teaching Aims

Teaching Process

Period 1 (3 classes)• introduction to the movie

• seeing the movie

Period 2 ( 4 classes)• summary of the plot

• close study of clips

• Gump and American history

• Gump and symbolism

• class discussion

Introduction Forrest Gump is one of the most charming ---and on

e of the most disputed---films of recent times. Based on a novel of the same name by Winston Groom, adapted by Eric Roth and Directed by Robert Zemeckis ( 罗伯特 . 泽梅基斯 ) ， it earned more than $200 million in just 50 days and won six Academy Awards (including awards for best picture, best director, and best actor). The paperback, republished after the success of the film, saw its sales rise from 30,000 to 1.5 million within the first year. The film brought Gump into the company of Confucius( 孔子 ) 。

However, while audiences loved it, the critics were divided. For some , Gump was a hero of liberal America, demonstrating as the disabled son

of a single mother and the loyal friend of an advantaged black man with an “innate goodness and studies anti-racism”. For others, Gump was conservative film, affirming the superiority of family values and patriotism over the “progressive”

forces of the counterculture.

Increasingly, critics have come to see the film as a politically duplicitous reinterpretation of history. No matter what dispute the film aroused, the film has its uniqueness in understanding philosophy of life and history of America.

Glossary Idiot: n. a foolish person 笨蛋，傻瓜 dangle ： v. to hang or swing loosely 使悬垂，使

晃荡 swing ： v. to cause to move backwards and forwards

or round from a fixed point above 摇摆摇动 carrot ： n. a plant with a long thick orange-red pointe

d root eaten as a vegetable 胡萝卜 crooked ： a. not straight, twisted 弯曲的，不直的 bully ： v. to act with the intension to forcing someone

to do something 欺负，威逼

Glossary

Vietnam ： 越南 shrimp ：小虾 cannon ball: a large power gun, often fixed to the grou

nd or onto a two-wheeled carriage or to an aircraft. 大炮，炮弹

assassinate: v. to murder a ruler, politician, or other important person 刺杀，暗杀

onslaught ： n. a fierce attack 攻击 brutalize ： v. to treat cruelly 虐待，折磨 veteran ： n. someone who has served in the armed for

ces, esp. during a war 老兵，退伍军人

Glossary

celebrity ： n. a famous person, esp. in the business or entertainment 名人，名流

bulldoze ： v. to force (objects, earth) out of the way with a bulldozer in order to form a level surface. （用推土机）推平，平整

show-and-tell ：看图讲故事 hip ： the fleshy part of either side of human body abo

ve the legs 臀部 dummy ： n. a stupid 笨蛋，蠢货

The Map of America

Gump, Jenny and Baber all were born in the state of Alabama.

Plot The film tells the story of Forrest Gump, an

amiable idiot with an I.Q (Intelligence Quotient) of just 75 who unwittingly finds himself at the centre of many of the key events of recent American history.

Gump was born in a small town of Alabama in American, 1950s and falls in love with a local girl, Jenny, who shows kindness to him and sympathy for his mental disability. Encouraged one day by Jenny to run away from the local bullies,

Plot

Gump discovers a remarkable talent for running, and thereby gains admission to college, where he becomes a football star. On graduation, he is recruited to fight in Vietnam. In the army he meets Bubba, an African American also being sent to fight in Vietnam, and they become best friends serving under Lieutenant Dan. On a mission together in Vietnam they are attacked. Bubba dies and Dan is saved but amputated.

Plot

Forrest happens to find his talent for playing ping-pong and present the USA in China. He earns enough money from sponsorship to set up a shrimping business, which Lieutenant Dan joins. The business is successful and they make a huge profit.

Plot Jenny returns but is unwilling to become

Gump’s wife. Gump responds by going on an epic across America, attracting a crowd of devoted followers on the way. When he comes back he finds that jenny has given birth to his baby. But Jenny has contracted AIDS and finally passes away. Gump takes their young son to the school bus Gump himself had caught so many years before and the circle is complete.

Background (Ku Klux Clan)

It is a secret terrorist organization that organized in the southern states during the period of Reconstruction following the American Civil War (1861-1865). The original Klan was organized in Pulaski, Tennessee during the winter of 1865 to 1866, by 6 former confederate army officers who gave their society a name adapted from the Greek word Kuklos(circle). Although the Ku Klux Klan began as a prankish social organization, its activities soon were directed against the Republican Reconstruction governments and their leaders, both black and white, which came into power in the South in 1867. The KKK used violence and intimidation to keep blacks from voting and holding office.

In this movie, the Ku Klux Klan is portrayed as “simply silly, not vicious”. Gump innocently thought the leader of the KKK “a hero”.

Elvis Presley (1935-1977) American singer and actor, one of the most popular and influential entertainers of the 20th century. Born on January 8, 1935, Elvis Presley moved with his family to Memphis in September 1948. He attended L.C. Humes High School and after graduation worked as a truck driver in the city. In 1953, on his lunch break, he recorded two songs for his mother at the Memphis Recording Service. These songs brought him a recording contract and launched his rise to fame. Presley is renowned as an early pioneer of rock music, fusing the sounds of country music and rhythm-and-blues influences with what was then the new rock-and-roll style. His unprecedented, electrically charged performances also helped make Presley one of the first mass idols of American popular culture.

Background

Background

U.S. Child Abuse CasesIn 2000 more than 850,000 children in the United States were victims of abuse. Neglect of a child's physical or emotional needs is the most common form of child abuse, followed by

physical abuse. 55%

18%

1%

6%

2%

18% 0%

Negl ect

Physi calAbuse

SexualAbuse

Psychol ogi calMal treatment

5扇面

Background

Causes: Child abuse results from a complex combination of personal, social, and cultural factors. These may be grouped into four primary categories:A Intergenerational Transmission of Violence Many children learn violent behavior from their parents and then grow up to abuse their own children. B Social Stress Stress brought on by a variety of social conditions raises the risk of child abuse within a family. C Social Isolation and Low Community Involvement Parents and caretakers who abuse children tend to be sociallyisolated.

Background

D Family Structure Certain types of families have an increased risk of child abuse and neglect. For example, single parents are more likely to abuse their children than married parents.

Effects on Children Physical injuries can range from bruises, scrapes, and burns to brain damage, permanent disabilities, and death. The psychological effects of abuse and neglect can last a lifetime and may include a lowered sense of self-worth, an inability to relate to peers, reduced attention and learning disorders.

Background

Neil Armstrong Commander of the 1969

Apollo 11 lunar mission, Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon. An aeronautical pioneer, Armstrong also took part in the first in-space docking of two vehicles. He was the first civilian to enter NASA's astronaut program.

Background

Richard Nixon Chinese leader Mao

Zedong, left, greets United States president Richard Nixon in February 1972. Nixon's visit to China improved relations between the two countries and helped reestablish trade that had ceased two decades earlier.

Background

John Lennon and BeatlesBritish musician John Lennon originally gained fame for his singing and songwriting with the Beatles during the 1960s. After the breakup of the band in 1970, he pursued a solo career, writing and performing songs that advocated peace. He is pictured here with his wife, Japanese conceptual artist Yoko Ono. Together they produced experimental music and conceptual art.

Imagine there's no heavenIt's easy if you tryNo hell below usAbove us only skyImagine all the peopleLiving for today... Imagine there's no countriesIt isn't hard to doNothing to kill or die forAnd no religion tooImagine all the peopleLiving life in peace... You may say I'm a dreamerBut I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join usAnd the world will be as one

Background

Background

The Black Panther PartyIt was a group to further the cause of black liberation. They rejected the integrationist and pacifist of Martin Luther King, and instead developed a revolutionary nationalist agenda. Some of the radical ideas of the Black Panthers included, for example, proposals for the release of all black men in jail. As well as for the trial of black defendants by all-black juries.

Background

Vietnam War and Anti-War Movement

The Vietnam War (1961-1975), in which the US provided military support to the South Vietnamese government against the communist North, aroused a great deal of opposition within the United States and polarized the nation. Some critics argued that the military lacked clear objectives, some believed that the South Vietnamese government lacked legitimacy, and others held that the war was interventionist and immoral. On 15 October 1969, hundreds of thousands of protestors took part in the National Moratorium anti-war demonstrations across the country.

Hippies Hippies rejected the material values and work ethic of the older generation, and espoused a philosophy of “do your own thing”. They deliberately violated conventional attitudes towards public nudity.

Background

Background Summer of Love

The summer of Love refers to the summer of 1967 in San Francisco when the hippie movement reached its peak. It was introduced by a so-called “Human Be-In” which took place at the Golden Gate Park and brought together many of the key figures and groups of the movement: drug-guru Timothy Leary (“turn On, Tune In, Drop Out”), Beat poets like Allen Ginsberg, rock bands like the Greatful Dead, and the Hell’s Angels biker gang. Together they celebrated the libertarian values of the counterculture. The words written by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas sum up the spirit of the time ,”if you’re going to San Francisco , be sure to wear some flowers in your hair… If you come to San Francisco. Summertime will be a love-in there.”

Background(Blowing In The Wind)

Before she sleeps in the sand

How many seas must a white dove sail

Before you call him a man

How many roads must a man walk down

Yes and how many times must the cannon balls fly

Before they're forever banned

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind

The answer is blowing in the wind

Yes and how many years can a mountain exist

Before it is washed to the sea

Yes and how many years can some people exist

Before they're allowed to be free

The answer is blowing in the wind

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind

And pretend that he just doesn't see

Yes and how many times can a man turn his head

Yes and how many times must a man look up

Before he can see the sky

Yes and how many ears must one man have

Before he can hear people cry

Yes and how many deaths will it take 'Till he knows

that too many people have died The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind

The answer is blowing in the wind

Clip One

Clip One1. Wanna = want to, want a, do you want to

“Want to” and “want a” are sometimes pronounced in this way. They may be written wanna in stories or show an informal, and especially American English, way of speaking.想跳个舞吗？Wanna dance?

Clip One

2. a million and a half ： The phrase emphasizes a great lot. It’s an exaggerated expression which is widely used by Americans. Its counterpart expression in Chinese is hundred.

都告诉你几百遍了你还记不住 I have told you a million times.

我要介绍给你的女孩可是百里挑一哦。The girl I would introduce to you is really one in a million.

Clip One3. "Life was like a box of chocolates. You n

ever know what you're going to get"

In Gump’s time, one box of chocolates bore various flavours which were not marked. Therefore, you would never know what kind of chocolate you were going to have unless you tasted it. Actually, Gump’s mother told Gump that life was unpredictable.

4. not feel a thingnot feel any pain.

我会在拔牙以前注射麻醉，所以你一点也不痛。I’ll give you an injection before I take out your tooth, so you won’t feel a thing.

Clip One5. awful ：

Here it means very great and it is used to add force.For example: I’ve got an awful lot of work to do. 我有一大堆工作要做。Another meaning:very bad or unpleasant, terrible: What awful weather! 多么糟糕的天气！The pain was awful. 疼痛得厉害极了。

Clip One

6.as crooked as a politician ：”as…as…” is a widely used pattern to make the comparison in American English.

as stubbon as mule ( 固执如牛 ) ； as strong as an ox. ( 壮得象头牛 )

“crooked” means bent or not straight. Here a politician was described crooked because a politician was generally thought dishonest and indirect.

Clip One7. don‘t make no sense ：

This expression means not having any sense. In written language, a double negative form is in fact in affirmative sense; however, in oral English, no matter how many negative forms of words are used, the expression is merely in negative sense whose degree is stressed.

your words don’t make no sense to me.

你讲得没有道理。He had the police say that Jenny didn't have to

stay in that house no more.

他告诉警察珍妮不必再住在那栋房子里了。

Clip Two

Clip Two1. Folk

also folks: people . an informal way to address someone you know well.e.g. Are you ready, folks? 大家准备好了吗？Folk, compared to people, is used especially of people who share a certain way of life.e.g. They are just simple country folk.

他们只不过是普通村民。

2.livin' out of their suit cases:People who are usually with suit cases on business. 这里指经常提着公文包走南闯北的人。case: a box or container in which goods can be stored or moved.

suit case: 行李箱 brief case: 公文包 packing case : 包装箱

Clip Two

3.ma'am:

In American English , it is a way to address any woman. Anyhow, in other conservative countries like UK, it is a short form for madam, used respectfully for addressing women of high social class.

4. ain't

It is a nonstandard abbreviation for "am not," "is not," "are not," "have not," or "has not".

5.This is not for children's eyes.

少儿不宜。This is not for a man’ eyes.

男士不宜。 This is not for children’s ears.

这可不是小孩该听的哦。

Clip Three

Clip Three

1 ． We're gonna get you! 我们会抓住你的。Gonna: going to.

Gonna is used to suggest an American English or nonstandard British English pronunciation of going to. It is pronounced and written like this only when it comes before a verb to show the future.

For instance, I’m gonna find her.

2. I can run like the wind blows ： 风驰电掣 刘翔 , 正如他的名字一样跑步象阵风似的快 . Liuxiang runs like the wind blows as suggested

by his name. 车风驰电掣般地开着。 The car runs like the wind blows.

Clip Three

3. running fool:

跑痴 doing fool 做某事都做成傻子了的人 eating fool 只知道吃的人 .

4. sneak out ：Sneak: to go quietly and secretly, so as not to be seen. e.g The boy sneaked the candy into his mouth. I managed to sneak into the bedroom as everybody is sleeping.adj.: suddena sneak attack by terrorists 恐怖分子的突然袭击Sneaker: a light show with a top made of heavy cloth and flat rubber bottom, used for games and sports. 胶底运动鞋。

Clip Four

I don’t know if we each have a destination, or if we’re all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze. But I think maybe it’s both. Maybe both get happening at the same time.

Characters

She taught me how to climb. I showed her how to dangle.

She helped me learn how to read, and I showed her how to swing.

Gump Jenny intuitive intellectual passive active and disobedient conservative experimental and progressive

family-oriented individualistic creative destructive

Characters Gump and Dan

Gump: refuse to see things in terms of cause and effect. Gump’s low I.Q doesn’t stop him from doing what he wants, and he himself is in a position to overlook his own handicap and get on with his life. It’s such idiocy allows Dan to break free from his self-destructive behavior. Dan: has a faith in the principle of cause and effect: because he is an army officer, he should have died in the field of war; since he has lost his legs, and therefore is a useless, unwanted bum; Gump is an idiot, so he cannot succeed in the running of a shrimping business. It’s such logic that leads to the despair of life.

Symbolism

Symbol of the feather:At the beginning and by the end of the film, the feather drifts slowly in the wind. The feather is a visual representation of Gumpism as a kind of philosophy: As an object that drifts wherever it is blown, it represents Gump’s passivity in the face of events and his own willingness to be blown around by the winds of fate and history. Alternatively, as an object that descends from the heavens, it represents a kind of heavenly beauty that can occur in ordinary human lives.

Symbolism

Symbol of the feather: In the movie, Gump is always passive and shows his

characteristics of non-action .Gump always says “For no particular reason; for some reason; I don’t know; Maybe .”He happens to find his talent for running and playing ping-pong, happens to be recruited, happens to catch a large number of shrimps and happens to have a son. Forrest Gump opens up the conceptual gap between the rational (logical explanation) and the reasonable (that which makes sense at a given moment), and comes down squarely on the side of the latter.

Symbolism

Symbol of the chocolate:

Gump’s mother always says: “Life is like a box of chocolates---you never know what you’re going to get.” So, at the most basic level, the chocolates symbolize life itself, and more specifically its unpredictability. The chocolates also symbolize his love for these two women.

Class discussion

How is setting and costume used to reinforce a sense of character in the movie?

Do you think this movie rewrite the history of America?

The End