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Lesson 2 Hiroshima---“the Liveliest” City in Japan by Jacques Danvoir

Teaching Points • I. Background information • II. Introduction to the passage • III. Text analysis • IV. Rhetorical devices • V. Questions for discussion

I. Background Information • 1. The City of Hiroshima • 2. The first dropping of an atomic bomb---“Little Boy”

More pictures At the time this photo was made, smoke billowed 20,000 feet above Hiroshima Aerial photograph from the 80 kilometers away of the Inland Sea, taken about 1 hour after the dropping. The huge atomic cloud, 6 August, 1945

The Atomic Bomb DomeHiroshima Peace Memorial, a remnant of the city at ground zero of its nuclear bombardment 6

The ruins of the Institute ofIndustrial Development, with its warped dome, were preserved as a symbol of the terror of destruction.

Choice of Target --Hiroshima • Some military camps were located nearby such as the headquarters of the Fifth Division and Field Marshal Hata's 2nd General Army Headquarters, which commanded the defense of all of southern Japan. • Hiroshima was a major supply and logistics base for the Japanese military. • The city was a communications center, a storage point, and an assembly area for troops. • It was chosen as a target because it had not suffered damage from previous bombing raids, allowing an ideal environment to measure the damage caused by the atomic bomb. • The city as a whole was highly susceptible to fire damage.

Effects of an Atomic Bomb Explosion • The devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki resulted from three main types of effects: blast, thermal radiation, and nuclear radiation. • Of these, only the blast effect is significant for chemical high explosives. The blast effect of an atomic bomb is similar to that of a conventional explosive but much more intense and far-reaching. • Thermal radiation, which results from the extremely high temperatures created by an atomic explosion, causes serious burns on exposed parts of the body and may ignite fires over a wide radius. • Nuclear radiation, which results from the neutrons and gamma rays associated with fission, causes death and injury as a result of damage to living tissue.

II. Introduction to the Passage • 1. Type of literature: • -- a piece of radio report

Introduction to the Passage • 2. The purpose of a piece of radio report: • -- to inform the auditors of the truth

Introduction to the Passage • 3. Some characteristics of radio report: • -- authenticity and objectivity

III . Text Analysis • 1. accurately recording the dialogues with some Japanese to reinforce the authenticity of the report • 2. carefully observing and describing details to reinforce the authenticity of the report • 3. vivid and humorous description to make the report interesting

Special Difficulties • 1. reading between the lines • 2. paraphrasing some sentences

IV . Rhetorical Devices • 1. metaphor • 2. anti-climax

VII . Questionsfor Discussion • General Questions • 1. What did the writer expect to hear at the dinner? How did he feel? • 2. What have you learned about Hiroshima, its people and Japanese customs from this section? • 3. The writer was ironical and humorous. Find words and expressions that show them. • 4. Find all the expressions the author has used to address the bombardment so far.

1) What did the writer expect to hear at the dinner? How did he feel? (The writer expected to hear some talks about how people in Hiroshima were affected by the atomic bombardment. The misery, etc.) • the strange emotion which had overwhelmed me… returned • I was again crushed by the thought that I now stood at the site of the first atomic bombardment, where thousands upon thousands of people had been slain, where thousands upon thousands of others had lingered on to die in slow agony • as inhibited as I was… • the faces grew more and more serious each time the name Hiroshima was repeated • The company more and more agitated • jolting me out of my sad reverie reverie—dreamy thinking, esp. of agreeable things; the state of being absorbed in dreamlike contemplation; daydreaming

2. What have you learned about Hiroshima, its people and Japanese customs from this section? a stunning, porcelain-faced woman traditional white make-up, looks like porcelain a stunning person or thing is extremely beautiful or impressive. traditional tatami matting, walking in socks • Two schools of thought in Hiroshima about the bombardment to preserve traces of the bomb to get rid of everything, to demolish the atomic museum. Do not forget to say that it is the gayest city in Japan, even if many hear hidden wounds and burns. • Ask for students’ opinions

3. The writer was ironical and humorous. Find words and expressions that show them • Treading cautiously on the tatami (I was not accustomed to walking in my socks so I walked carefully, fearing that something unpleasant or dangerous might happen) • Experiencing a twinge of embarrassment…at the prospect of meeting the mayor in my socks • After three days in Japan, the spinal column becomes extraordinary flexible • The anti-climax—humor or surprise (para18)

4. Find all the words the author has used to address the bombardment. • Was I not at the scene of the crime? (pp1) • The misery of the humanity’s heinous crime?(pp19) • The impact of the atomic cataclysm

Words for consulting dictionaries • Preoccupy/ preoccupation • assign/ assignment • response • slip • halt • concrete • sketch • company • impact • erect • lump

Section Three – Interview with the patient • 1) What happened to the old man? How did he face it? What do you feel about the old man’s words? • 2) What have you learned about Hiroshima, its people and Japanese customs from this section? • 3) Was the writer ironical and humorous in this section? Was his tone different from that of the first section? Why? • 4) What questions do you think the reporter had wanted to ask beforehand? What answers did he get from people’s eyes?

1) What happened to the old man? How did he face it? • --a fisherman by trade. • --was in Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped. • --had no burns on his face or body (no injuries on the outside) • --his hair began to fall out, his belly turned to water, felt sick • --has been in hospital for more than 20 years • --he gazed at the writer ..with interest. --has been making little lucky birds, congratulating himself.

2) What have you learned about Hiroshima, its people and Japanese customs from this section? • it seems that the atomic bomb victims do not get sympathy from people but prejudice. • The affected people commit suicide • It is humiliating to survive… • Encounter prejudice • People are afraid of genetic damage from the radiation • Making lucky birds

3) Was the writer ironical andhumorous in this section? Was his tone different from that of the first section? Why? • The tone changed into an objective one: telling what he heard and seen. Not ironical and humorous. • And his sympathetic and sad feeling.

Just think 4) What questions do you think the reporter had wanted to ask beforehand? What answers did he get from people’s eyes?

Dictation 1. reportorial assignment 2. atomic bombardment 3. ritual formula 4. the martyred city 5. lurch from side to side 6. screech to a halt 7. arresting spectacle 8. concrete skyscrapers 9. incessant struggle between the kimono and the miniskirt 10. porcelain-faced 11. die in agony 12. feel inhibited 13. jolt me out of my sad reverie 14. the spinal column 15. send shivers down the spine 16. commit suicide 17. encounter prejudice 18. twinge of embarrassment 19. earthly cares 20. Hiroshima

Homework • Recite paragraphs 38,39 • Do all the exercises • Remember all the new words • Write a summary of the text within 500 words • Prepare Unit 3

That’s the end. Thank you!

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