Transcript technique--
Book III Unit 4
Section A Five Famous Symbols of American Culture
Hu Lanying College of Foreign Studies
Book III Unit 4
Teaching Objectives
1. Help students grasp the main idea and important details of the text; 2. Help students review some grammar points; 3. Help students learn the use of some words, phrases and structures from the text; 4. Help students master the writing technique-- making narrations according to time sequence; 5. Help students know more about American culture.
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Background Information Pre-class Task Checking Text Understanding Difficult Sentences Words and Expressions Summary of the Text Writing Group Discussion Post-class Tasks
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Background Information
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The Statue of Liberty
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The Statue of Liberty
The idea of creating the Statue of Liberty began in France at a dinner party hosted by Edouard Rene Lefebvre Laboulaye, a scholar. Laboulaye and Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, a sculptor, began to discuss the idea of presenting the United States with a monument to memorialize independence and human liberty.Bartholdi sailed from France to New York on June 8, 1871, to propose the building of the statue to honor the friendship between France and the United States. As the ship pulled into New York Harbor, Bartholdi spotted the perfect location, Liberty Island.
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Barbie Dolls
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Barbie Dolls
It was the late 1950s when Ruth Handler noticed her daughter playing with paper dolls and imagining them in grown-up roles. Since most dolls at the time were baby dolls, Ruth envisioned one that would inspire little girls to think about what they wanted to be when they grew up. Ruth created a teenage fashion model doll named Barbie (after her daughter), and the rest is history. Barbie has been an integral part of the lives of millions of young girls. Her timeless appeal has resulted in a dedicated legion of fans that love to collect her.
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The Mattel Toy Company
Mattel is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture, and marketing of toy products. The company’s core brands include Barbie, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Fisher-Price, and American Girl. With headquarters in El Segundo, California, Mattel has offices and facilities in 36 countries and sells its products in more than 150nations throughout the world.
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American Gothic
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American Gothic
Wood intended the couple to represent a typical small town resident and his daughter, but most interpret them as man and wife. Since completion, Grant Wood’s 1930 painting
American Gothic
has become a critically acclaimed work that continues to enjoy enormous popularity. It also has become an American icon and is the model for a countless number of commercial art parodies, such as posters, cards, and souvenirs. The painting hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago.
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Buffalo Nickel
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Buffalo Nickel
In 1911 sculptor James Earl Fraser began designing the “Buffalo” nickel. Fraser said the portrait on the “head’s” side was a composite of three American Indians — Iron Tail, Big Tree and Two Moons.
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New York City’s Central Park
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New York City’s Central Park
Central Park was the first landscaped public park in the United States. Advocates of creating the park — primarily wealthy merchants and landowners — admired the public grounds of London and Paris and urged that New York needed a comparable facility to establish its international reputation. A public park, they argued, would offer their own families an attractive setting for carriage rides and provide working-class New Yorkers with a healthy alternative to the saloon.
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New York City’s Central Park
After three years of debate over the park site and cost, in 1853 the state legislature authorized the City of New York to use the power of eminent domain to acquire more than 700 acres of land in the center of Manhattan.
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Uncle Sam
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Uncle Sam
The prevailing theory is that Uncle Sam was named after Samuel Wilson. Wilson was born in Arlington, Mass., on September 13, 1766. His childhood home was in Mason, New Hampshire. In 1789, he and his brother Ebenezer walked to Troy, New York. Samuel Wilson died in 1854. His grave is in the Oakwood Cemetery in Troy.
The single most famous portrait of Uncle Sam is the “I WANT YOU” Army recruiting poster from World War I. The poster was painted by James Montgomery Flagg in 1916-1917.
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Pre-class Task Checking Question Answering
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1. What are the five symbols of the United States?
The Statue of Liberty, Barbie, American Gothic, The Buffalo Nickel and Uncle Sam.
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2. Why did the French artist build the Statue of Liberty?
To celebrate US independence and the French-American alliance.
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3. How popular is Barbie according to the text?
Barbie has become the universally recognized Queen of the Dolls.The average American girl owns ten Barbie dolls, and two are sold somewhere in the world every second.
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4. How did the artist get the idea of painting American Gothic?
He was inspired by the Gothic window of an old farmhouse.
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5. What did the Buffalo Nickel honor? It honored a pair of connected tragedies from the settlement of the American frontier---the destruction of the buffalo herds and the American Indians.
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6. Why did Fraser go to New York City’s Central Park Zoo to sketch an aging buffalo?
Because buffalo no longer wandered about the great grasslands.
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7. What did the employee say when he was asked about the letters “EA-US”?
He said “US” was short for “Uncle Sam” Wilson.
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8. Who did Flagg’s Portrait of Uncle Sam look like?
It was a self-portrait of Flagg.
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9.What famous symbols of Chinese culture do you know? Can you say something about one of them? (e.g. its historical background, origin and relevant stories)
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Text Understanding Structure and Main Idea
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Main idea of the text ?
The passage is about five famous symbols of American culture, telling readers their historical backgrounds, origins and relevant stories.
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Part I (Paras. 1-3)
Main idea ?
To celebrate US independence and the France-America alliance, a French artist created the Statue of Liberty, with his wife’s arm and his mother’s face as models for his creation.
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Part II (Paras. 4-8)
Main idea ?
Barbie originated from a German doll and an American girl, Barbara, whose parents founded the Mattel Toy Company and made Barbie popular. Barbara and her brother Ken, the human models of Barbie and her boyfriend, had different opinions on the doll.
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Main idea ?
Part III (Paras. 9-11)
Inspired by the Gothic window of an old farmhouse, Grant Wood produced
American Gothic
. It was the faces of his dentist and sister in the painting that captured the world’s attention.
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Part IV (Paras. 12-14)
Main idea ?
Contrary to the tradition, the image of a buffalo and three actual American Indians were used on two sides of the coin, the Buffalo Nickel, by a famed artist James Earle Fraser.
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Main idea ?
Part V (Paras. 15-17) When Sam Wilson was providing meat to the army in a war, some explained the initial letters “US” as Uncle Sam. It became popular later because of a character in political cartoons. An artist created its portrait in army recruiting posters.
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Difficult Sentences
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1. (L21) The three-dimensional model for Barbie was a German doll---a joke gift for adults (described as having the appearance of “a woman who sold sex”).
appositive attribute Translation 芭比娃娃的三维模特是一个德国洋娃娃，一个哄成年 人开心的礼物，被描绘成具有“风尘女子”的模样。
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2. (L23) Mattel refashioned the doll into a decent, all-American---(although with an exaggerated breast size)---version and named it after Barbara, (who was then a teenager).
the main structure Paraphrase Mattel Toy Company changed the doll into a model that was respectable, purely American, with big breasts, and gave the new-born doll a name Barbara. Barbara was a teenager at that time.
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conjunction+prepositional phrase (used when the subject of the main clause and the subject of the subordinate clause refer to the same person or the same thing or when the predicate of the subordinate clause has “there be”or “have”.) e.g.(L23) Mattel refashioned the doll into a decent, all-American-- although with an exaggerated breast size ---version and named it after Barbara, who was then a teenager.
See P101, Exercise Ⅹ .
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Translation 马特尔公司将这个娃娃做了一番改造，变成了体面 而地道的美国版本，尽管胸围有些夸张。它以当时 10多岁的少女芭芭拉的名字命名。
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3. (L74) After the war, a character {called Uncle Sam }began appearing in political cartoons,{ his form evolving attribute from an earlier cartoon character [ called Brother Jonathan (that was popular during the American Revolution)]}.
attribute attribute the main structure absolute structure
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Absolute Structures More examples: A. n.(pron.)+p.p.
The storm having destroyed their hut , they had to live in a cave.
He lay on his back, his hands crossed under his head .
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B. n.(pron.)+adj.
He entered the room, his nose red with cold .
C. n.(pron.)+inf.
Here are the first two volumes, the third one to come out next month .
D. n.(pron.)+prep.
After shopping with her mother for a whole day, the tired little girl fell asleep very soon, her lovely Barbie Doll in hand .
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E. n.(pron.)+adv.
He put on his socks wrong side out .
这类结构和一个从句差不多，前面的名（代）词 相当于从句的主语（也就是后面部分的逻辑上的 主语），后面部分相当于从句中的谓语或表语。 在描绘性文字中有时用到它，来使描绘更生动。 在译为汉语时或是译为一个状语，或是译成一个 并列的句子。在口语中这种结构用得很少。
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独立主格结构多用来表示行为方式或伴随的情况。有时 它也表示时间、原因和条件。又如： He entered the room, gun in hand .
He sat in the front row, his mouth half open, his head thrust forward so as not to miss any word .
Spring coming on , the trees turned green.
The people, their livelihood secure , now have the leisure to take up sports.
Weather permitting , we’ll go on an excursion to the Western Hills tomorrow.
See P100, Exercise Ⅸ .
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Translation 战后，政治漫画里开始出现一个名叫“山姆大叔”的 人物。他的原型是一个早期漫画人物，名叫乔纳森大 哥，此人在美国独立战争时期非常出名。
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Words and Expressions
Old to New
Chinese to English
Word Using
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I. Old to New
freedom from slavery accept; permit love fit together worldwide serious-looking encourage liberty approve affection assemble universal solemn inspire
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set free look at sth. closely show develop gradually find liberate inspect display evolve come up with
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II. Chinese to English
着手（研究，设计） 爱上 赞成 出售 联合创始人 一举成名 work on fall/be in love with approve of for sale co-founder rise to fame
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表情木讷 杰出人物 反传统 持久、永久的 签合同 sour-looking a prominent figure be against tradition enduring sign a contract
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III. Word Using
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1.赞成 to approve of (L. 6) 我同意你去挣一些钱, 可是请不要误了功课。 I approve of your trying to earn some money, but please don't neglect your studies.
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2.把这个娃娃改造成······ to refashion the doll into … (L. 23) 你能将这件连衣裙改成短裙子吗？ Can you refashion this dress into a skirt?
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3.成名 to rise to fame (L. 36) Faced with any difficulty, one should never choose to beat a retreat,___________________ (而要接受挑战).
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4.令世界瞩目 to capture the world’s attention (L. 41) 这则广告可引起各处读者 的注意。 The advertisement will capture the attention of readers everywhere.
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5.毫无疑问 there was no doubt (that)… (L. 44) 毫无疑问，她有很大的优点--她是一个可爱的，有 同情心的，有知识和修养的女人。 There was no doubt she had great merits-she was charming, sympathetic, intelligent, cultivated.
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6.使她摆脱了一种乏味的生活 to save her from a very boring life (L. 46) Her honesty and deligence not only ____________________ _________ ( 让她保住了 饭碗 ) , but got her a promotion as well.
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7.反传统而行 to go against tradition (L. 55) ( 任何有悖自然规律的 事情) severe punishment from it.
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8.与某人签订一份合同 to sign a contract with sb. (L. 67) 周五早上他向俱乐部表明了续约新合同的意向。 Friday morning he stated his intention to sign a new contract with the Club.
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9.从 ······ 进化而来 to evolve from (L. 75) The human figure in the Emblem of 2008 Olympic Games________________ ______________________ ____________________ ( 来自于汉字“京”，指“北 京” ).
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Summary of the Text
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Bartholdi’s _________ celebrating US independence was a statue of a woman his mother did not approve assembling wife “my daughter, Liberty” has his mother’s face combined model sold
American Gothic
derive exaggerated universally of dolls. The ______ faces in Grant Wood’s alongside grave painter’s stretched
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dentist and sister. When American coins honor _________ figures of the US government –mostly famous former presidents, the Buffalo nickel was designed herds and the American Indians. It was James Earle Fraser that went _______ tradition by using actual American Indians as models for his creation. Uncle Sam may have the name of a meat inspector with a _________ for honesty or because Sam Wilson’s stamp was “EA-US”, it happens to stand for the initials
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Writing Structure Analysis Your Task
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I. Structure Analysis
One of the writing techniques about a person is to organize his/her life story according to the time sequence …
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Of the five parts of the passage, three ( Parts I, II and V ) are written mostly following the time sequence.
(Refer to Parts I, II and V for details.)
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Typical sentences for the time sequence
1. In the mid-1870s , French artist Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was working on an enormous project ….(Para. 1) 2. At the same time , he was in love with a woman whom he met in Canada. (Para. 1) 3. …, but Bartholdi went ahead and married his love in 1876 . (Para. 1) 4. That same year Bartholdi had assembled the statue’s right arm … (Para. 2) 5. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on an island in Upper New York Bay in 1886 . (Para. 3)
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Sample
The Life of Charlie Chaplin Charlie Chaplain was born on April 16, 1889, in London. His childhood was one of extreme poverty and he did not have much schooling.
But Charlie showed an early gift for acting and longed to be an actor.
In 1910 Charlie went to the United States for the first time as part of a troupe and thus started his formal acting career. He was very successful in his acting and made about 80 films throughout his life.
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After World War II, Chaplin did not stop to rest on his earlier successes. He gave up the Little Tramp character and tried to grow as an artist. Later Chaplin settled in Switzerland and stayed there for the rest of his life. He died in Switzerland on December 25, 1977 and the world lost one of the greatest creative artists of the 20th century.
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II. Your Task
Write a composition of no less than 120 words on one of the following topics with the details organized in time sequence.
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Topic 1: An Interesting Outing 1.The date, the preparation and the destination for the outing; 2.What people did during the outing; 3.The end of the outing and your impressions of it.
Topic 2: My First Day at Collge 1. The time when you arrived at the college; 2. What you did on your first day at college; 3. What you think of it.
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Topic 3: My English Learning in High School 1. The beginning of my English learning in high school; 2. The difficulties I had and the progress I made; 3. When my English learning in high school ended and what I have gained.
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Group Discussion
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How to promote cultural exchanges between China and the United States?
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Tips 1. Set up a fund designed to support the broadening of public awareness and appreciation of arts and culture of the two countries.
2. Exchanges of the artists of the two.
3. Cooperate with each other in some projects concerning cultural exchanges.
…
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Post-class Tasks
1.Do the exercises after the text (from Exercise Ⅲ to Exercise ⅩⅢ ); 2.Write a composition of no less than120 words on one of the given topics with the details organized in time sequence; 3. Work in groups and make a research on the symbols of your city.