Lesson 2 The Woods Were Tossing with Jewels

1. Lesson 2The Woods Were Tossing with Jewels • I. Preparation • 1. The Author: A Childhood in the Florida Wilderness by Marie St. John, written for her son, Tom, and edited and illustrated by her daughter, Charlotte St. John Evans

2. 2. Cultural background • Palmetto, Florida

3. Palmetto, Florida

4. 3. Outline (Organization and Development) • Part 1 (para.1-12) • 1) The purpose of taking a claim on an offshore island (para. 1) 5 w’s • 2) Family background (para. 2-4) • 3) Unforgettable trip (para. 5-19) • 4) Watson, w infamous outlaw (para.14-16)

5. Part 2: Life on a small island, Gopher Key (para.20-29) • Part 3: Father’s courage beat the outlaw, Watson (para.30-36) • Part 4: Conclusion: The key to those wonderful times. (para.37)

6. II. Discourse analysis • 1. About the title • The title of this article could be one of the followings: • 1) My Childhood in the Florida Wildness • 2) My Father, a Man of enterprise • 3) Life in the Florida Wildness • 4) The Woods Were Tossing with Jewels • Then why does the author chooses the last one? • What does the author want to tell the readers?

7. Para. 1: purpose of Father’s decision • 1. What do you know about the father from the first paragraph? • He grew up in a rural environment and his childhood experience helped him form his simple and natural lifestyle.

8. 2. stake a claim: • If you stake a claim, you say that something is yours or that you have a right to it. • Also, stake out a claim: Indicate something as one's own. This term, dating from the mid-1800s, originally meant "register a claim to land by marking it with stakes (=posts)."

9. e.g. • Now is the Time to Stake a Claim on the Used Saab SUV(现在正是购买越野绅宝的好时机.) • I'm staking a claim to the drumstick. • She staked out a claim for herself in the insurance business.

10. 3. ranchland:

12. Para. 2-4: Father’s adventurous life • 1. carriage house - a small building for housing coaches and carriages and other vehicles

13. 2.academy: a secondary or college-preparatory school, especially a private one • But I the article it was a secondary school, from grade 9-12 at that time (19th century).

14. 3. A sheriff, in U.S. , is a person who is elected to make sure that the law is obeyed in a particular county.

15. 4. No mean job: not a poor job • mean:adj. • a. Low in quality or grade; inferior. • b. Low in value or amount; paltry • e.g. • There is no mean jobs, but mean persons. • She paid no mean amount for the new shoes.

16. 5. uninviting: not pleasant or attractive; disagreeable • e.g. • I found myself thrown among strange people; everything here was grim and uninviting, with teachers continually shouting at me, and myself constantly feeling awkward and uncomfortable.

17. 6. panther: The leopard, especially in its black unspotted form

18. 7. siren

19. siren song: = siren call • the enticing appeal of something alluring but potentially dangerous • e.g. • Deep in his life-processes Life itself sang the siren song of its own majesty, ever a-whisper and urgent, counseling him that he could achieve more than other men, win out where they failed, ride to success where they perished. • Obviously Iraqi oil is a siren song to Bush and his followers.

20. 8. But these marks of wild country called to my father like legendary siren song: • The attractions of the Florida wilds are compared to the beautiful and seductive voice of women, but in this case following the lane of the siren song has a happy outcome. • Unpleasant as the wild country was, my father was deeply attracted simply because of his qualities of enjoying the challenge.

21. 9. Covered wagon

22. 10. Gentle folks: Persons of good family and relatively high station. • e.g. • The handsome old man stood motionless, holding a cup of coffee, looking down from the height of his tall figure with friendly serenity at the gentlefolks, obviously understanding nothing of their conversation and not caring to understand it.

23. 11. Guavas 番石榴

24. 12. in season:in good time, or sufficiently early for the purpose. • e.g. • If his meal is not ready in season, he takes his rifle, hides to the forest, shoots his own game, lights his fire, and cooks his meal. • ≠out of season: not in a proper season or time; untimely; • e.g. • The fruit is very cheap as it isout of season.

25. 13. idyllic: pleasing or picturesque in natural simplicity; excellent and delightful in all respects • e.g. I enjoy theidylliccampus life.

26. Para. 5-19: the unforgettable trip • 1. “I’m afraid day’s going to catch us,” I explained, wondering what great disaster might befall us if it did: • As a little girl, I believed my father’s words, and was genuinely afraid of the possible disaster – if we did not hurry up, the day would catch us and terrible things might happen.

27. 2. befall: happen (to) • e.g. • She feared some evil might befall. • He promised that no harm would befall her.

28. 3. Key up: to make intense, excited, or nervous e.g. • When my brother left the house he was all keyed up. The examination had been on his mind for weeks.

29. 4. Porch: a structure attached to the exterior of a building often forming a covered entrance e.g. They liked to sit on the porch to talk about business matters .

30. 5. In this deep and roomy box were packed our camping equipment and food supplies: • Notice the word order. The normal order should be: • Our camping equipment and food supplies were packed in this deep and roomy box.

31. 6. cot:a narrow bed made of canvas

32. 7. apiece: adv. = each • If people have a particular thing apiece, they have that number each. (num. + n. + apiece) • e.g. • The teacher gave the boys a picture book apiece. • These apples are sold at ten cents apiece.

33. 8. Dutch oven

34. 9. Little stores, all alone

35. 10. adjoin: share a boundary; lie next to • e.g. • Canada adjoins the U.S. • No meals are served in these houses, but generally a public eating place adjoins them

36. 11. bay horse: reddish brown horse • Bay is a color of the hair coats of horses, characterized by a body color of dark red (known as blood bay) to deep brown, with black points (mane, tail, lower legs, and sometimes the muzzle and tip of the ears). Bay is a favorite color among ranchers and horse enthusiasts.

37. Bay horse

38. 12. This third day out, and the days to come, found us in the unsettled wilds of Florida. • The structure varies a little in this sentence, to avoid monotony. Otherwise it would start with “we” again. • We were in the unsettled wilds of Florida, the third day out, and the days to come.

39. 13. Strike camp • To strike camp: to remove/lower all tents. The opposite of “strike camp” is “pitch camp” as is later found in Para. 11.

40. 14. What with… and (what with )… : (spoken) used when you are giving a number of reasons for a particular situation • e.g. • What with overwork and what with hunger, he became sick at last. (一半由于工作过度，一半由于饥饿，他终于病倒了。)

41. 15. as an added treat • treatn.: something fine and delicious, especially a food • idioms: • my treat我請客 • treat someone like dirt把某人看得一文不值 • Dutch treat: AA 制 （An outing or date on which each person pays his or her own way. To “go Dutch” is to go on such a date.）

42. 16. cabbage palmetto: a cabbage palm with fan-shaped leaves that is native to coastal southeastern United States

43. Cabbage palmetto

44. 17.the heart of the cabbage palmetto • Cut out the heart of the cabbage palmetto. Strip off the outer hard tough fronds to reach the actual white heart. This is the most tender part and should be cut into 1/2-inch strips or cubes. Cook slowly in very little water for 20-30 minutes, adding two tablespoons of sugar and salt to taste. Stir frequently to prevent sticking.

45. 18. Outhouse: an outdoor toilet

46. 19. Redbirds, tanagers,…, leaving a child with the impression that the woods were tossing with jewels: • The author compares the birds to jewels because of their brightly colored plumage, and since the birds flew back and forth across the trail, the author felt as a little girl that the woods were tossing with jewels. As we read on, we will find other jewels.

47. 20. acquaint: • 1)To cause to come to know personally: • 2)To make familiar: • 3)To inform: • e.g. • Let me acquaint you with my family.请让你认识一下我的家人 • I acquainted myself with the controls.我熟悉了一下规定 • Please acquaint us with your plans.请告诉我们你的计划

48. ◆Warning: • “Acquainted” has lost its passive sense, is now usually used as an adjective. • e.g.: “我是去年认识他的。” • 不能译作: I acquainted him last year. 或I was acquainted with him last year.第一句是语态错误, 第二句混淆了“状态”和“动作”, 只能译成:I got [became] acquainted with him last year. 或I made his acquaintance last year

49. 21. Seclude: keep away from others (= isolate) • e.g. • He secluded himself in his study to write a book. • I told my father all about it, and why I felt it was necessary that I should seclude myself, and my reason for not seeing my friends.

50. 22. … from time to time he was halfheartedly sought for trials, though few crimes seemed to lead directly to his doors: • Occasionally the law officials would make some efforts without real earnest to investigate Watson and to bring him to court, but there seemed to be little concrete evidence to prove that he was responsible for certain illegal activities.