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Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish writer, historian and social critic . Auden’s influence on his American contemporaries as well as the younger poets of his day was incalculable. Many of the so-called Academic Poets adopted the urbane and erudite yet
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Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)Scottish writer, historian and social critic
Auden’s influence on his American contemporaries as well as the younger poets of his day was incalculable. Many of the so-called Academic Poets adopted the urbane and erudite yet fresh and easygoing style that can be seen in the work of poets as different as Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Hayden. In retrospect, this comfortable manner of writing appears now as a sort of island of repose on which American poets were able to live and write while the country got back on its feet after the disruptions of World War II. W. H. Auden
Lesson Three Pub Talk and the King’s English
Pre-Text Questions What do you know about PUB ? What does Pub Talk and the King’s English refer to respectively? What kind of writing does this essay belong to? Why? What is the theme of this essay?
Detailed Study of the Text the King’s/Queen’s English the supposedly correct or standard English as to grammar and pronunciation Conversation is the most sociable of all human activities. More than any other human activity, conversation helps to promote an agreeable, pleasant and informal relationship among people. What’s the function of the first sentence? Can it be taken as the topic sentence? What’s the topic sentence of this paragraph? meander leap sparkle glow What rhetorical device is used in this sentence? conversation is a stream mixed metaphor conversation is fire
The enemy of good conversation is the person who has “something to say.” anything injurious/harmful enemy Conceit is the enemy of progress. Why is the phrase something to say put in question marks? What is the difference between conversation and argument ? What does the writer try to say in the second paragraph? What does the first sentence of the third paragraph talk about? Do you think it is relevant or not? What function does it have? What makes companions and intimates different? the musketeers of Dumas Analyze the first sentence of paragraph 4. alchemy
That would settle it; but the conversation does not need to be settled; it could still go ignorantly on The conversation could go on without anybody knowing who was right or wrong. what one could expect from the descendants of convicts one couldn’t expect anything other than that from the descendants of convicts Why is it natural for an Australian to give such a definition of the King’s English ? Why do people say so? We had traveled in five minutes to Australia. Our thought and talk wandered to Australia. There is always resistance in the lower classes… This sentence reads like a statement. Who might issue it?
Look at the language barrier between the Saxon churls and their Norman conquerors. What is the function of this sentence? What does the language barrier refer to? The conversation was on wings. What literary device is used here? Translate this sentence into Chinese. Someone took one of the best-known of examples, which is still always worth the reconsidering. Why a definite article the is used? They are cattle in the fields, but we sit down to beef. These animals are called cattle when they are alive and feeding in the fields; but when we sit down at the table to eat, we call their meat beef.
in order to show one’s superior tastes in matter of food out of snobbery mind heart head + out of sight earshot interest curiosity HUMAN BODY CONTAINER RANGE OF ABILITY HUMAN EMOTION What is Norman English ? What do you know about the Norman conquest ? As we listen today to the arguments about bilingual education What will the arguments about? What are the two languages used in teaching?
to think … back into the shoes of to be (put) in another’s shoes The new ruling class had built a cultural barrier against him by building their French against his own language. What does the new ruling class refer to? Why the cultural barrier is against him? Why French is called their French ? The new ruling class by using French instead of English made it difficult for the English to accept or absorb the culture of the rulers. Hereward the Wake According to the author, which language is the King’s English at that time? And here in America now, …we are still the heirs to it. What does it refer to? Is this sentence relevant or necessary?
So the next morning, the conversation over, one looked it up. Can you find a similar indicator of time in this essay? on such an occasion the other evening What can we detect about the arrangement of this essay? What is this part mainly about? the actual goings-on of the conversation the direct or indirect account of the situation and sequence utterances By reading the first sentence of paragraph 12, can you guess what the following will be about? the author’s own exploration of the origin of this phrase That would be the confirmation that it was in general use. That (if the phrase is in Shakespeare) would prove that the term “the King’s English” was in general use at that time.
it should not be laid down as an edict, … change from below. people should not be ordered to speak the King’s English and they should be allowed to introduce changes into the language I have an unending love affair with dictionaries. Auden What literary devices are used in this sentence? I’ve always had an intense and eager interest in dictionaries. Translate this sentence into Chinese. Why does the writer switch the topic from the King’s English to dictionaries ? dictionaries are instruments of common sense What’s the underlined meaning of the author’s remark? but it ought not to be an ultimate Translate this phrase into Chinese. So we may return to my beginning. What is the function of this sentence?
the only difference between her cook and the supreme chef,… lay in their intentions What is your understanding of the word intention ? Why such a formal word is chosen? The one place not to have dictionaries is in a sitting room… Do we have to understand dictionaries literally? What does it stand for? Otherwise one will bind the conversation, one will not let it flow freely here and there. Looking up the dictionary in the middle of a conversation will, like a rope, tie up the conversation. It will not flow freely. What will looking-up-in-the-middle-of-the-conversation result in? Why the phrase above all is used when the last item is mentioned? the essence of any conversation—people and communication between human beings
The bother about teaching chimpanzees how to talk is that they will probably try to talk sense and so ruin all conversation. Translate the phrase talk sense . chimpanzee Why chimpanzees are involved? What do they stand for? Why not any other animal but chimpanzees? What really bothers the writer? What’s his true intention of saying so? Why does the writer end his writing with a sentence like this?