Lesson One

The Middle Eastern Bazaar

I. Warming –up questions for the students

1. Name the countries in the Middle East ( the Middle Eastern countries).

Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen (Mediterranean Sea, Persian Gulf)

2. What impresses you most when we mention the Middle East?

3. Architecture of Gothic Style. Gothic: of or like a style of building in Western Europe between the

12th and 16th centuries, with pointed arches, arched roofs, tall thin pillars, and stained glass windows

II. Background information

This piece is taken from the book Advanced Comprehension an Appreciation Piece for Overseas Students. It was prepared by L.A. Hill and D.J. May and published by the Oxford University press in 1962. This is the third book in the series which began with Comprehension an Appreciation Piece for Overseas Students by L.A. Hill, and continued with Further Comprehension and Precise Pieces by R.D.S. Fielder and L.A. Hill. The author in his introduction states: “This third book is intended for student preparing for the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency Examination, and for students in the top class of secondary schools or in the first year of a university course.”

III. Questions after the detailed study of the text

1. What is bazaar? 2. What markets does the author describe in the text? 3. How many parts can it be divided into? 4. Why is the cloth market muted? 5. What is peculiar about the bazaar? 6. Name all the markets in the bazaar. What kind of

economy do you think they represent? Give facts to support your view.

7. What scene do you find most picturesque in the bazaar? Why?

IV. Analysis and appreciation of the text

1. The Outline of the text

Part I (paras 1-4) introduces the bazaar itself.

Part II (paras 5-6) describes the copper-smiths’ market.

Part III (paras 7) deals with several markets generally.

Part IV (paras 8-9) describes the place where they make linseed oils in detail.

IV. Analysis and appreciation of the text

2. Type of literature: a piece of objective description Description is painting in words of a person, place, object

or scene. By giving readers a vivid and detailed introduction to the Middle Eastern Bazaar, the author successfully presents its unique characteristics: the noisy hilarity of the entrance, the pleasure of bargaining with the sellers, the unique style and features of all kinds of specific markets, disdainfully camels as well as the course of extracting linseed oil which draws his great attention. The author’s vivid and splendid description takes readers back to hundreds of thousands of years ago to the aged Middle Eastern Bazaar, which gives this article an obvious diachronic and spatial sense. The appeal to readers’ visual and hearing sense throughout the description is also a marked feature of this piece of writing.

IV. Analysis and appreciation of the text

3.The purpose of a piece of objective description:

---to record and reproduce a true picture with opinions and emotions of the author excluded

4. Ways of developing a piece of objective description:

---to begin with a brief general picture, divide the object into parts and organize the detailed description in order of space ; the writer should choose the dominant characteristics or outstanding quality of a person, thing described, otherwise the reader’s attention from the main impression would be distracted.

V . Special difficulties in the text

1. Paraphrasing some sentences 2. Translating some paragraphs 3. Identifying figures of speech

VI . Effective writing skills of the text

1. Making effective use of specific verbs 2. Using adjectives accurately (Ex. VII) 3. Using five human senses---hearing, smelling, seeing,

tasting and touching to make the description vivid, words to describe ‘light and heat’, ‘sound and movement’, ‘smell and odor’

4. Using rhetorical devices properly

VII . Rhetorical Devices 1.   simile

2.   metaphor: a cool, dark cavern; in the maze of vaulted streets which honeycomb this bazaar

3.   assonance: it refers to the repetition of similar vowel sounds, usu. close together, to achieve a particular effect of euphony.

1) entering and leaving; coming and going; delicate and intricate ; 2) hustle and bustle 3) Haste makes waste.

4. onomatopoeia: it refers to the use of words which sound like the noise they refer to.; the formation of use of words that imitate natural sounds

--- tinkling, banging, clashing

5. personification: …a figure of speech that gives human form or feelings to animal or life and personal attributes to inanimate objects or to ideas and abstractions

Where camels lie disdainfully chewing their hay…

VII . Rhetorical Devices

6. transferred epithet… A transferred epithet is a figure of speech in which an adjective or descriptive phrase is transferred, most commonly, from a person to a thing.

1) The plowman homeward plods his weary way. Normally the line would be written like this: The weary plowman homeward

plods his way. 2) a sleepless night

7. alliteration: use of words together beginning with the same letter or sound 1) safe and sound 2) Time and tide wait for no man.

8. overstatement/hyperbole: a conscious exaggeration for the sake of emphasis, not intended to be understood literally.

In the last paragraph but one, the first sentence: Perhaps the most unforgettable thing in the bazaar, a part form its general atmosphere, is the place where they make linseed oil.

VIII. Detailed study of the text. 1. aged: having existed long; very old

2. glare: strong, fierce, unpleasant light, not so agreeable and welcome as “bright sunlight”

3. “Cavern” here does not really mean a cave or an underground chamber. From the next we can see it is a long, narrow, dark street of workshops and shops with some sort of a roof over them.

4. eye: The words eye and ear are used in the singular not to mean the concrete organ of sight or hearing but something abstract; they are often used figuratively. Here the eye means man’s power of seeing or eyesight.

E.g. 1). She has an eye for beauty. (She is capable of recognizing and appreciating

beautiful things.) 2). She has an ear for music. (She is sensitive to music.) 3). The boy has a sharp eye. (He overlooks nothing.)

4). The big poster caught my eye. (my attention) 5). If you keep an eye on something or somebody, you watch them careful

ly to make sure they are safe or not causing trouble. 6). If you say is turning a blind eye to something bad or illegal that is happ

ening, you mean you think they are pretending not to notice that it is happening so that they will not have to do anything about it.

7). to turn deaf ear to sth. of sb. 8). His word are unpleasant to the ear. 9). The view was pleasing to the eye.

5. thread their way: If you thread your way through a group of people or things, or thread through it, you move through it carefully or slowly, changing direction frequently as you move.

1). Slowly she threaded her way back through the moving mass of bodies. 2). We threaded through a network of back streets.

6. roadway: (the roadway) the middle part of a road where vehicles drive e.g.

Don’t stop on the roadway; go to the side.

7. stall: small open-fronted shop, table used by a trader on a street in market a book-stall;

8. goods of every conceivable kind: goods of every kind you can think of E.g. people of every conceivable age, nationality; buildings of every conceivable

shape

conceivable: adj. that can be imagined; conceive: v. 1) He was immensely ambitious but unable to conceive of winning power for

himself. (imagine, believe) I can’t conceive why you allowed the child to travel alone.

2) The ancients conceived the earth as afloat in water. ( consider… to be …) 3) He conceived of the first truly portable computer in 1968. (think of… and work

out) 4) A mother who already has non-identical twins is more likely to conceive another

set of twins.

9. din: loud, confused noise that continues, e.g. 1). The blaze of light and the appalling din of the orchestra had almost dazed

Elizabeth. 2). As Crawford raised his gavel, the din from below increased to a “baying roar”.

10. wares: rather literary, meaning articles for sale, usu. not in a shop. e. g. The baker traveled round the town selling his wares.

11. clear a way: to remove from (as a space) all that occupies or encumbers, or that impedes of restricts use, passage or action

12. would-be: possible, likely It is more subjective while possible is more objective, and probable is stron

ger then possible and likely emphasizes something on the surface.

13. penetrate: to pierce or pass into or through. The word penetrate is used here to indicate that you have to pass though a big crowd in order to go deeper intro the market.

14. fade away: go slowly out of hearing, gradually disappear e.g. 1). We watched the harbour and then the coastline fade away into the morn

ing mist. 2). If something fades out, it slowly becomes less noticeable or less import

ant until it disappears completely.

15. muted: --- mute v. silent: there is no sound, completely quiet 1). If you mute a noise or sound, you lower the volume or make it less distinct. E.g. 2). They begin to mute their voices, not be as assertive.

16. measured: steady, slow and deliberate; rhythmical

17. sepulchral: suggestive of the grave of burial; dismal, gloomy

18. overwhelm: affect strongly; 1). If you are overwhelmed by a feeling or event, it affects you very strongly, and y

ou do not know how to deal with it. 2). He was overwhelmed by a longing for times past. 3). The task won’t feel so overwhelming if you if you break it down into small, eas

y-to-accomplish steps. ( It affects so strongly that you don’t how to deal with it.) 4). The vote was overwhelming --- in favour, and only twenty-nine against. 5). The House of Commons has overwhelmingly rejected calls to bring back the dea

th penalty for murder. ( the amount is much greater than other amounts )

19. follow suit: to do the same as someone else has done 1). Efforts to persuade the remainder to follow suit have continued. 2). Many young girls are fond of following suit at present.

20. deal in : buy or sell 1). If a person, company, or shop deals in a particular type of goods, their business

involves buying or selling those goods. 2). Our citizens have the rights to hold and to deal in foreign currency.

21. display: One displays anything that one spreads out for others to view or puts in a position where it can be seen to advantage or with great clearness so as to strike the eye e.g.

1) The exhibition of pictures was criticized because the best paintings were not well displayed. (They were perhaps put in a dark corner or some other place with insufficient light where people could not see them properly.)

2) The peacock display its fine feathers. exhibit: One exhibits anything which he puts forward prominently or openly, either

with the express intention or with the result of attracting other’s attention. When we exhibit flowers, animals, children’s drawings, unearthed relics, etc., we want to bring their inherent properties to light. e.g.

The host tool us through his stable to show us his horses. He exhibited with particular pride two snow white mares. He himself led them out of the stable, in order to display to advantage their sleek coats.

22. the order of the day: that which is of the greatest general interest at a particular time; the normal way of doing… It is from the French phrase—‘L’ordre du jour’ (某个时间最普遍、很流行的事情、习惯做法等 )

1). If a particular way of behaving or doing something is the order of the day, it is very common.

2). These are strange times in which we live, and strange arrangements appear to be the order of the day.

3). His period was a building age, when competition was the order of the day.

23. narrow down: reduce the number of 1). What’s happened is that the new results narrow down the possibilities. 2). I’ve managed to narrow the list down to twenty-three. 3). Please narrow the topic of your speech to avoid waste of time.

24. beat down: bargain with 1). If you beat down a person who is selling you something, you force them to accept a

lower price for it than they wanted to get. E.g. A fair employer, when arranging for the pay of a carpenter, does not try to beat him down.

2). When the rain beats down, it rains very hard. E.g. Even in the winter with the rain beating down, it’s nice and cosy in there.

3). When the sun beats down, it is very hot and bright.

25. a point of honor: something considered important for one’s respect, here point means the most important part.

26. make a point of : regard it or treat it as necessary To realize our goal of the four modernizations, we make a great point of lear

ning the strong points of all nations and all countries, learning all that is genuinely good in the political, economic, scientific and technological fields and in art and literature.

The teachers make a point of setting strict demands on the students. Tourists to Beijing make a point of visiting the Great Wall. While helping the young workers develop political consciousness, the vetera

n workers make a special point of upgrading their cultural levels and professional skills.

27. impinge on: have an effect on In his sleepy state, the sound of a car driving up to the house scarcely imping

ed on his consciousness. Still the same habit of thrusting his face forward at you, impinging on you. The cuts in defence spending have impinged on two of the region’s largest e

mployers.

28. innumerable: countless, numberless, endless; numerous: in large numbers

29. hammer away at: hit something with a hammer continuously If you hammer away at a task or activity, you work at it constantly and with great

energy. E.g. Palmer kept hammering away at his report. If you hammer away at an idea or subject, you keep talking about it, especially

because you disapprove of it. E.g. They also hammered away at Labor’s plans to raise taxes.

30. take a hand (in): help, play a part in When you meet troubles we are glad to take a hand ourselves. Don’t fool around, come and take a hand in the cleaning. ( behave in a playful,

childish and foolish way) The leading cadres also took a hand in the digging.

31. attach to: If you attach something to an object, you joint it or fasten it to the object. E.g. a) The

gadget can be attached to any vertical surface. b) The astronauts will attach a motor that will boost the satellite into its proper orbit.

If someone attaches himself or herself to you, they join you and stay with you, often without being invited to do so. E.g. Natasha attached herself to the film crew filming at her orphanage.

In computing, if you attach a file to a message that you send to someone, you send it with the message but separate from it. E.g. It is possible to attach executable program files to e-mail.

32. profusion: a large quantity or variety of… e.g. The Dart is a delightful river with a profusion of wild flowers along its banks.

33. pungent: The more herbs you use, the more pungent the sauce will be.

34. sumptuous: She produces elegant wedding gowns in a variety of sumptuous fabrics.

35. honeycomb: make with holes e.g. The Rock of Gibraltar is honeycombed with cares.

36. glimpse: 1) Some of the fans had waited 24 hours outside the Hotel to catch a glimpse their heroine. 2) As university campuses become increasingly multi-ethnic, they offer a glimpse of the conflicts society will face tomorrow.

37. caravansarai: 1) a kind of vehicle without an engine; 2) a group of people and animals or vehicles who travel together

36. huge --- large

37. throw one’s weight on: use all one’s strength to press down Doctor throws his weight on to the patient’s chest, but it does not work.

38. set… in motion: get … going, get … operating 1). Before the gasoline is discovered, people use diesel oil to set engine in

motion. 2). Her sharp, aggressive tone set in motion the events that led to her

downfall. 3). If someone sets the wheels in motion, they take the necessary action to

make something start happening.

IX. Assignment

1) Writes a short paragraph of description--- The village, town, or city where I live.

2) Words for dictation: bazaar, glare, cavern, harmoniously, thread one’s way, conceivable, fade away, vaulted, overwhelm, sepulchral, follow one’s suit, guild, persecution, leisurely, preliminary, make a point of, fairyland, apprentice, hammer away, take a hand in, delicate and intricate, profusion, bold, pungent and exotic, sumptuous, mosque, bales of merchandise, massive, blind-folded, revolve, crush, pulp, extract, pulley, dwarf, nimbly, dizzy, set … in motion, girder, creak, groan, trickle, blend, squeak, grind