Lesson Three Message of the Land
Teaching Objectives:
A. To know the background information about the author, and the style of this text. B. To acquire the key words, important and difficult sentences and language points C. To understand and master the usage of the basic rhetorical devices: simile and metaphor
D. To understand the connotation of the title and main idea of the text.
Teaching Procedure:
I. Pre-task
1. Warm up Individual questions:
? The title “Message of the Land’ means that land can convey something to people.
Then what does land convey to people, or what role does land play in people’s daily life in your mind?
? What is people’s attitude to land nowadays? 2. Background information: The author:
Pira Sudham(1942~)is an English writer in Thailand . He was born in a poor family in rural Esarn, in the northeast of the country. At the age of 14, he traveled to Bangkok to become a temple boy, a servant to the monks. He continued to study and won entrance to Thailand’s top University, Chulalongkorn. He later won a New Zealand government scholarship which allowed him to travel from New Zealand to Australia, China’s Hong Kong and Europe. Pira Sudham never forgets Esarn, where he experienced poverty and injustices in his early years, and which became the background for many of his short stories and novels. His novel Monsoon Country made him a nominee for the 1990 Nobel Prize for the literature. This text is adapted from the farmer and his wife in guidebook to better reading series published in 1982. The city: Bangkok
Bangkok, population 8,538,610 (1990), is the capital and largest city of Thailand. The city is located on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River, near the Gulf of Thailand. Bangkok is one of the fastest-growing, most economically dynamic and socially progressive cities in Southeast Asia. Local people like to think that it is emerging as a regional centre to rival Singapore and Hong Kong, but it suffers from major infrastructure and social problems as a result of its rapid growth. It is also one of the world's most popular tourist destinations.
Bangkok is the economic center of Thailand. The Chao Phraya River allows Bangkok to function as a port. The Stock Exchange of Thailand is located in Bangkok. Tourism is a major source of revenue. The city contains many Buddhist temples (known in Thai as Wats), among the best known being Wat Pho and Wat Arun. Thailand Buddhism
Buddhism is Thailand's main religion. 94% of Thai people are Buddhist. The other are Muslim, Catholic or Chinese. Buddhism was born 2,546 years ago (the official year in Thailand is the year 2003 and the traditional year is the year 2546). Buddhism is linked with the historical Indian prince, Siddharta Gautama, who became the Buddha and reached the enlightenment. Now his teachings are still followed. His teachings say that people suffer because they are attached to material things, to women or men by heart links. These links cause suffer, jealousy so pain. People are never satisfied, i.e. they want more money, more power. The aim of Buddhism is to get rid of these pains and of these links. There are several kinds of Buddhism. Thai Buddhism is called Theravada Buddhism.
Quote from the author:
The following is a part of the author’s remarks, based on which we can have a glimpse of the poor of Tailand.
“If I had not left my village then, I would have been subject like most villagers, to the mercy of nature: floods, drought, disease, ignorance and scarcity. With endurance, I would have accepted them as my own fate, as something I can not go against in this life.”
II. Task cycle: Theme of the text:
The text tells about the deep regret of the old people over the loss of traditional values and the way of life.
Structure of the text:
The text can be divided into two parts: Part I (paras 1-7): about the interview of wife. Part II: (paras. 8—11) about the farmer’s speech
In-class discussion:
Question: What kind of writing does this text belong to?
Answer: This text is an essay in a very broad sense of the word, or rather an interview.
It is written down by the writer who interviewed a farmer and his wife. (Since the World War II it has become popular for writers to interview people, record what they say and, after some, not too much, editing, publish these people’s stories in book form.)
Question: What are stylistic features of essay?
Answer: Generally speaking, the style of essay is colloquial. The language is
straightforward. The sentences are short and words are small and easy, which help readers to understand what’s going on.
Questions in mind:
? What do we learn from the old couple in the interview? What are their
characteristics?
? What problems does the old couple meet with? ? What is the root of the problem?
? Are there any effective ways to solve the problem?
Detailed study of the Text:
1). They belonged to my parents and forefathers. (para1) to belong to sb: to be owned by sb.
“Yes, these are our rice fields. They belonged to my parents and forefathers. The land is more than three centuries old.”
Question: In the first paragraph, why does the wife start her conversation with the talk about the land?
Answer: The wife has already regarded the land as part of her life. This is the land
where her parents and forefathers lived and it is bound with family history and tradition. It represents the root of her family.
2). …it was I who stayed with my parents till they died. (para1) Sentence structure: the emphatic structure. Pattern: it is \\was …that\\who…
Function: to emphasize some parts in a sentence, e.g. the subject.
It was the policeman that/who caught a pickpocket on No. 933 bus yesterday. e.g. the object.
It was a pickpocket that the policeman caught on No. 933 bus yesterday. e.g. the adverbial
It was on No.933 bus that the policeman caught a pickpocket yesterday. (the adverbial of place)
It was yesterday that the policeman caught a pickpocket on No. 933 bus. (the adverbial of time)
Task: Make sentence according to each pattern
3). My husband moved into my house as is the way with us in Esarn. (para 1) “As” introduces a defining relative clause, and functions as its subject, representing what is stated in the main clauses. More examples:
? As is known to all, Taiwan belongs to China. (as-----subject of the clause) ? As is often the case, the boy was late for class. (as-----subject of the clause) Question: What is the cultural connotation in this sentence?
Answer: When we got married) my husband came to live in our house. It was the tradition here in Esarn that the bridegroom should come to live with the bride’s family.
4). The rest, two boys and two girls, went away as soon as we could afford to buy jeans for them. ( para 1)
the rest (of sth): the remaining people or things; the others e.g. 其中一本书比较难，其他的简单。 One of the books is quite difficult; the rest are easy.
to afford sth.\\to do sth.: to have enough money to buy or to do sth. e.g. 目前，我负担不起去欧洲旅行。
At the moment, I can’t afford a trip to Europe. two boys and two girls: used as the appositive of “the rest” More examples:
? Your father, a proud and unbending man, refused all help that was offered him. ? Playing football, his only interest in life, brought him many friends.
? A dry lightning storm, that is, a thunderstorm without rain, started a fire in a
remote part of the forest in August.
The whole sentence: Our other children—two boys and two girls—left as soon as we had the money to buy them jeans.
5). They come to see us now and then, stay a few days, and then they are off again. (para 2)
(every) now and then: from time to time; now and again; occasionally stay a few days: Here the phrase “a few days” is used adverbially. be off: be away from a place,
6). …and tell us that they are doing well. I know this is not always true. (para 2) The whole sentence: …although they always tell us that everything is fine with them, I know they also have difficulties and problems. They just do not tell us because they
相关推荐：
loading