UNIT 13 THE POETS AND THE HOUSEWIFE

Part I Listening & Speaking Activities Part II Reading Comprehension & Language ActivitiesPart III Extended Activities

PART I LISTENING & SPEAKING ACTIVITIES

Brainstorming Listening Speaking

BRAINSTORMING (1)

Expressions of daydreaming/fantasizing:

daydreaming, fantasy, fancy, vision, reverie, see something in one’s mind’s eye, castle builder, pipe dream

e.g. His scheme for building a perpetual-motion machine is just a pipe dream. Expressions of seeing realities:

down-to-earth (adj.), practical, practical-minded, matter-of-fact, realistic, pragmatic, factual , sensible, with both feet on the ground

e.g. We should come up with a down-to-earth approach to our housing problems.

The press should give factual reports of the war.

BRAINSTORMING (2)

Expressions of differences/contrasts: nouns: difference, disparity, dissimilarity, distinction,

diversity divergence, opposition, deviation, differentiation

verbs: differ, vary, diversify, diverge, differentiate

Expressions of similarities: nouns: similarity, affinity, analogy, closeness, likeness,

comparability, compatibility, equivalence, resemblance, parallel uniformity

e.g. The French and Italian languages have many affinities with each other.

There are some interesting parallels between the author and the hero of the novel.

verbs: match, look like, be alike, resemble adjectives: similar, identical, equal, comparable, compatible , indistinguishable , same, equivalent

LISTENING - INNER AND OUTER WORLDS Listen to the recording and

complete the exercise below:

1. What is inner reality and what is external reality?

2. Why do some people give little importance to the inner events?

3. Give one reason to explain why it is so difficult to become aware of inner experiences?

4. Retell the example cited in the speech, which shows the effect of dreams and visions on one’s life .

SPEAKING

Task 1:

Close your eyes for one minute, and tell your partner what you see in your mind’s eye (your inner fantasy).

Task 2:

Describe to your partner a dream you had lately.

Task 3:

Do you have a rich fantasy life? Give examples.

What are the benefits and dangers of having a rich fantasy life?

PART II READING & LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES

Pre-reading tasks Read the text Words & Expressions Language Work (C)

PRE-READING TASKS What is the common picture of poets

in your mind?

sentimental, sensitive, romantic, cynical, unrealistic, solitary, eccentric and weird in behavior, speaking and dress , etc. The title of the text is The Poet and the Housewife. Can you think of any difference (or similarities?) in personality between the two groups of people?

Idealistic Materialistic

Romantic Realistic, down-to-earth

Caring for thoughts Caring for trivial and secular chores

What would be the result of a conversation between a poet and a housewife?

READ THE TEXT Questions for skimming: When? Where? Who? What?

Questions for close reading: 1. Can you pick out any words & expressions in the first paragraph

that are suggestive of business practices? Why are they used here?

- “shut up shop”, “stock of commodity”, “exhausted”, “collect”, etc. The writer uses these expressions in order to create a bizarre picture. Poets and business, seemingly incompatible, are mingled from the beginning.

2. How did the poets dress themselves? Why were the poets careful to dress themselves carelessly?

- they deliberately put on eccentric, colourful clothing so that the way they were dressed fits their role as poets.

3. When the storm broke out, what did the poets do? How did they look?

- they left off seeking for copy and huddled under a hawthorn tree. They appeared as two proud exotic birds, lighted down from the Lord knows where.

4. What was the housewife’s reaction when she first saw them? And what did she do repeatedly?

- The housewife, a woman of charitable nature, was grieved when she saw the two poets soaked to their skin in the rain. So she repeatedly urged them to take shelter in her house.

5. How did the two poets respond to the housewife’s repeated urges?

- They politely declined the housewife’s kind invitations, saying that they were poets and they liked it and that they were acquiring copy. They seemed to be determined to experience the summer rain for such experience would be valuable copy for their business.

6. What did the housewife think of the poets’ behavior and their turning down of her offers?

- The housewife thought that the poets must have been drunk (they have certainly had a drop too much). Standing in the rain, refusing to take shelter offered by her, and declaring that they were “pleased to be wet” were very strange behavior to her. To add to her bewilderment, the two poets told her that they were acquiring copy, a word that had never been part of her vocabulary. So she came to the conclusion that poets are strange people.

7. What is the moral of the fable?

- Appearance is deceptive. The two poets are by no means idealistic dreamers as the housewife thought. They were very practical and their creation of poems is motivated by the practical need of making a living. Like everyone else, they needed money to buy daily necessities. The fable pokes fun at the poets, who are supposed to be superior beings, concerned with spiritual issues. But in the story their unconventional way of dressing was a premeditated act and their strange behavior of standing in the rain was motivated by material needs. So they were in fact no different from their fellow people.

8. The story is written in a language which resembles the style of old English. Can you find any linguistic clues that enable you to recognize such a style?

- “quoth”, “lighted down”; the alternative use of “and” and “but” at the beginning of almost all the paragraphs creates the impression of a story being told in a dramatic way

9. What linguistic features in the text render the story a fable?

- the beginning paragraph starts with the set phrase “once upon a time”; the last paragraph concludes with a moral.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A FABLE Purpose

-to teach a lesson (moral) or a truth through a story of animals, plants, things or people Aesop’s Fables

Literary features

1) structure: beginning with such phrase as “once upon a time”, or “long long ago”, and concluding with a moral

2) rhetorical devices (figures of speech):

personification; simile and metaphor

Linguistic features

1) the use of archaic words and expressions

2) the use of simple sentences

WORDS & EXPRESSIONS shut up shop

[end an activity, usually a business activity, either temporarily or permanently]

e.g. Many companies are considering shutting up shop in this country and transferring production to low wage economies.

exhausted

[adj. used up]

e.g. How long will it be before the world's fuel supplies are exhausted? reckless

[doing something dangerous and not caring about the risks and the possible results]

e.g. He was found guilty of reckless driving. poke about/around

[search for something by moving things about]

e.g. I was poking about in the drawer, looking for the key, when I found this!

leave off (sth./doing sth.)

[stop, or to stop doing something]

e.g. I've decided to leave off eating meat for a while.

bloom

[(literary) health, energy and attractiveness]

e.g. He was nineteen, in the full bloom of youth. impair

[spoil, weaken]

e.g. His age impaired his chances of finding a new job.

She suffers from impaired vision/hearing. extremity

[n(C) the furthest point, especially from the centre]

e.g. The wood lies on the southern extremity of the estate. grieve

[vt/vi. (make sb) feel sad]

e.g. He is still grieving for/over his wife. It grieves me to see all this food going to waste.

lugubrious

[(literary) sad, esp. in a serious way] open

[available]

e.g. There are still several possibilities open to you.

sneer at

[mock at] deprecatingly

[showing disapproval or belittling] like hell

[very much; certainly not]

e.g. It hurt like hell. / "Try to be polite to him." "Like hell I will!" souse

[vt. soak] dishevelled

[(of hair, clothes or sb’s general appearance) very untidy ] in the name of …

[doing something as a representative of …]

e.g. In old movies the police shouted "Open up in the name of the law" before they broke the door down.

all of a piece

[all at the same time; all the same or similar]

e.g. The house was built all of a piece in 1754.

The houses are all of a piece.

beyond measure

[very much]

e.g. He irritated me beyond measure. the power of comment was taken from her.

[she was left speechless] abate

[vi. become less strong]

e.g. The fighting in the area shows no sign of abating. be bathed in …

[be covered/filled with light]

e.g. In the afternoon the city is bathed in shades of pink and gold. in the act (of doing …)

[while doing sth]

e.g. He was caught in the act of stealing a car.. as it were

[in a way; to a certain extent]

e.g. With this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.

be soaked to the uttermost

[be soaked to the skin] considering

[used to mention a particular condition or fact about something, usually a disadvantageous one]

e.g. She did well to find the way, considering she'd only been there once before.

bargain for/on …

[expect or be prepared for something]

e.g. The strength of the opposition was rather more than she'd bargained for.

throw … in

[provide it for free when you buy something else from a business]

e.g. When I bought my new glasses, they threw in a free pair of prescription sunglasses.

ill-informed

[not well-informed]

LANGUAGE WORK (C)

1. a. As I stood at the door, poking about in my school bag for my keys, it suddenly occurred to me that I had left them on the kitchen table.

b. As the hunter walked in the forest, poking about in the undergrowth for the hare, he saw something glittering lying beside a maple tree.

c. As the boy knelt on the floor, poking about under the bed with his arm for his toy car, the door bell rang.

2. a. He fell ill recently and his digestion was impaired.

b. I heard Jim’s left knee was injured again, so his chances of winning the tournament might have been impaired.

c. There are signs of military clashes in this area again. So the chances of achieving peace have been seriously impaired.

3. a. I worked like hell, nearly forgetting dinner and sleep.

b. We ran like hell, dropping our bags and other things on the way.

c. The tooth began to hurt like hell, depriving me of all my appetite.

4. a. In the name of friendship, let’s join our hands in developing the project.

b. John, in the name of God, tell me the truth.

c. In the name of the law, open up before we break the door down.

5. a. The city is bathed in golden sunshine early in the morning.

b. Her face was bathed in tears, and she swore she would never see him again.

c. She was bathed in love and affection, enjoying the warmth of the Heath family.

6. a. Our endurance was tested to the utmost.

b. The children’s endless demands tried her patience to the utmost.

c. We enjoyed ourselves to the utmost at last night’s party.

PART III EXTENDED ACTIVITIES

Dictation Read More Words & Expressions Translation Cultural Information

DICTATION

There is a wonderful fable about a young orphan girl who had no family and no one to love her. /One day, feeling exceptionally sad and lonely, she was walking through a meadow /when she noticed a small butterfly caught unmercifully in a thorn-bush. /The more the butterfly struggled to free itself, the deeper the thorns cut into its fragile body. /The young orphan girl carefully released the butterfly from its captivity. /Instead of flying away, the little butterfly changed into a beautiful fairy. /The young girl rubbed her eyes in disbelief. /“For your wonderful kindness,” the fairy said to the girl, /“I will grant you any wish you would like.”/ The little girl thought for a moment and then replied, “I want to be happy!”/ (10’)

READ MORE- HANNAH

Read the text and answer the following questions:

1. How did Hannah look? What was she like?

2. What were Hannah and her family busy with on that day when she was 17?

3. How did Hannah think of Thomas Smithson?

4. How did Hannah think of Ralph Wellings?

5. What can be learned from the ending of the story?

6. What could possibly have happened to the three people (Hannah, Thomas and Ralph) during the time between the first and second parts of the story? Who did Hannah finally marry and why? Work out any possible solutions with your group.

WORDS & EXPRESSIONS glow with (pride, excitement, health…)

[look very pleased or satisfied]

e.g. The children's faces were glowing with excitement.

conscientious

[taking care to do things carefully and correctly]

refreshing

[adj. pleasantly different and interesting]

e.g. It's a refreshing change to see a losing team shaking hands and still smiling after a match.

entrance

[often passive: make sb. feel great pleasure and admiration so that they give sb. /sth. all their attention]

e.g. The children sat silent on the carpet, entranced by the puppet show.

be laden with

[carrying or holding a lot of something]

e.g. He always comes back from France laden with presents for everyone.

company

[the people you are with]

e.g. I didn't realize you had company.

in a perfect fury of speed

[quickly]

rebukingly

[angrily to someone because you disapprove of what they have said or done]

fretful

[irritable, restless]

have no end of bother

[have endless trouble]

TRANSLATION

They usually leave off work at 5 o’clock, but today they have to work overtime.

All the museums and art galleries in the city are open to the public for free/free of charge.

It’s very discouraging to be sneered at by them all the time.

She has been a little run down lately and the doctor has advised her to take a short holiday.

The whole city is bathed in a sea of joy today. It’s very dark outside and the sky is covered, as it

were, with a black curtain. I booked two film tickets by phone yesterday in the

name of Thomas.

And at the proper moment the storm burst and the rain came down and the poets left off seeking for copy and huddled under a hawthorn tree. And they appeared as two exotic birds, lighted down from the Lord knows where.

顷刻间，暴雨倾盆，诗人停止了搜集素材，蜷缩在一颗山楂树下。他们像两只古怪的鸟雀，从只有上天知道的地方来此落脚。

And the lodgekeeper’s wife looked out from the window a fourth and last time, and the poets were in the act of departure. And the tragedy of their appearance was beyond all comparing. For the scarlet of the cravat of one had run down into the bosom of his shirt, so that he was, as it were, a robin-redbreast. And both were soaked to the uttermost.

第四次，也是最后一次，看门人的妻子向窗外望去，诗人们正要离开，样子狼狈极了。一个领带上的红颜色已流到了衬衫的胸部，活象一只红胸脯的知更鸟。两个人成了彻头彻尾的落汤鸡。

The girl Hannah was seventeen, and she had made almost all that array of cakes and pastries on the kitchen dresser. She stood looking at them, her healthy pink face glowing with pride. She wore a blue dress and a white apron, and her hair waved down her back to her waist in a golden-brown shower.

女孩汉娜 17岁了。摆放在厨房橱柜里的各式各样的蛋糕、油酥点心几乎全是她做的。她站在那里欣赏着自己做的点心，健康红润的脸上流露出自豪的神情。她穿着一件蓝色的连衣裙，腰间扎着一条白色的围裙，那头金棕色的柔软顺滑的卷发沿着她的后背一直垂到腰间。

Hannah seemed to have been asleep for a long time. She woke slowly, feeling the grey light on her eyelids. Her hands, gnarled and shrunken, lay outside the blue-and-white coverlet. A shadowed white plait straggled over one shoulder, thinning to a thread-tied end as it reached her breast.

汉娜好像睡了很长时间才慢慢地醒来。一缕灰白的光线照到了她的眼睑上。那双粗糙的蜷缩着的双手露在蓝白相间的床罩外面。阴影里的那条白色的辫子散乱地披在肩膀上，用头绳扎着的细细的另一端一直垂到了她的胸前。

CULTURAL INFORMATION – PUBS

How often people go to a pub?

What are the so-called licensing laws for?

When were the pubs open in UK before 1988? How about today?

What will the landlord or landlady do before closing the pub?

What kinds of food are served in pubs?

What names are often adopted to call the pubs in UK?

What form of entertainment is available in pubs?