Transcript Document

Some interesting quotes
• To love oneself is the beginning of a
lifelong romance. ------Oscar Wilde
• Take care to get what you like, or you
will be forced to like what you get.
------George Bernard Shaw
1
Unit Two
Text II Gossip
Francine Prose
2
• Group presentation
• Detailed study of the text
• Discussion
3
Francine Prose is the author of many
bestselling books of fiction, including A
Changed Man and Blue Angel, which
was a finalist for the National Book
Award, and the nonfiction New York
Times bestseller Reading Like a Writer.
Her novel, Household Saints, was
adapted for a movie by Nancy Savoca.
Another novel, The Glorious Ones, has been
adapted into a musical of the same name by
Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, which ran at
the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre at Lincoln Center
in New York City in the Fall of 2007. Her latest
novel, Goldengrove, was published in Sept
2008. She is the president of PEN American
Center. She lives in New York City.
4
• How do you understand the
word “gossip”?
• Do you like gossiping? Have
you been gossiped about?
• If people gossip about you, how
do you respond?
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
• More about the Siamese conjoined twins
Chang and Eng (know as the Chinese
twins in Siam, now called Thailand):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang_and_
Eng_Bunker
16
Textual development
• I. Introduction: Paras 1-2
(1) announces the central topic
(2) stimulates the reader’s interest
• II. Body: Paras 3 – 9
(1) para 3-7 gossip—social communication
# gossip not properly recognized
# gossip vs. exchanging information
# my definition of gossip
# gossip: a synonym for connection
(2) para 8 gossip—a tool of understanding
(3) para 9 gossip—part of human nature
• III. Conclusion: Para 10 —an echo to the major point
17
Questions for discussion
• 1. Why does the author begin her essay
with the small town’s reaction to the
domestic arrangements of a pair of
Siamese twins?
18
• Answer for reference
Prose identifies gossip with the community
in which it is carried out; it is part of the
community, contributing to linking all its
members into a whole. The domestic
arrangements of the Siamese twins, though
an event sensational enough to arouse
much town talk, was in the woman’s opinion,
incomparable to what had been happening
in the town itself. Note that in the quotation
of the woman, the words “nothing” and
“before” are made prominent by being
19
italicized.
• 2. How is Prose’s thesis echoed in the
concluding paragraph?
• Gossip makes her feel close to those
places where she had once lived. What
she wants to emphasize is the strength of
gossip as the heritage, as the legacy of
a certain community.
20
• 3. Most people make a distinction between
gossiping and exchanging information as
Prose’s mother does. Does Prose herself
agree to such a distinction? (para. 4)
• No, she doesn’t, although sometimes she
seems to be following the trend and
making such a distinction. (refer to para.4)
Yet the truth is that she is doing so out of
the pressure imposed by social strain or
simply out of courtesy.
21
• 4. What point does Prose want to make by
tracing the origin of the word “gossip” in
para.6?
• To show that gossip is a synonym for
connection, for community. It thus
should not be regarded as a word with
negative connotations.
22
• 5. Why does Prose think gossip’s analytical
component is more important?
• To examine why somebody does something
contributes to one’s moral development.
• 6. What negative aspect of gossip does Prose
touch on near the end of the essay?
• Nosiness. But this is unavoidable for we were
all born to be curious.
23
What is gossip?
• Get the good gossip on any little mountain town, scratch the
surface and you’ll find a snake pit!
• Gossip, the juicier the better…
• Gossip must be nearly as old as language itself.
• …gossip has rarely received its due, its very name connotes
idleness, time-wasting, frivolity and worse.
• Gossip is the unacknowledged poor relative of civilized
conversation…
• Gossip… predominantly scurrilous, mean-spirited.
• I heard my voice distorted by that same false note that
sometimes creeps into it when social strain and some misguided
notion of amiability make me assent to opinions I don’t really
share.
24
What is gossip?
• I don’t, … mean rumor-mongering, outright slander,
willful fabrication meant to damage and undermine.
• …ordinary gossip, incidents from and analyses of
the lives of our heroes and heroines, our relatives,
acquaintances and friends.
• Paring away its less flattering modern connotations,
we discover a kind of synonym for connection, for
community, … primary function of gossip.
• … calling it “oral tradition”
• …gossip may be the way that most of us learn to tell
stories.
25
What is gossip?
• … the sole aim of gossip is to criticize, to condemn
(or, frequently, to titillate, to bask in the aura of
scandal…
• …gossip as a tool of understanding… the beginning
of moral inquiry, first steps toward a moral education.
It has always seemed peculiar that a pastime so
conducive to the moral life should be considered
faintly immoral.
• I don’t mean to deny the role of plain nosiness in all
this….
• …it’s part of human nature, of the human
community. … it’s that community that is being
26
affirmed.
What can you infer from the text,
particularly the lines above,
regarding Prose’ attitude towards
gossip as well as her writing process?
Prose holds a positive attitude towards gossip,
which goes against the grain of the conventional
understanding of it. Her writing process reveals a
gradual neutralization of the term ‘gossip’. And
this is achieved through conducting a negotiation
with the social convention. She responds to the
conventional interpretation 6 times and each time
reason her definition of gossip.
27
Negotiating an
alternative interpretation
Prose illustrates positive
interpretation of gossip in relation to
four aspects of social life, what are
these four aspects?
Gossip & its etymology or origins
Gossip & child development
Gossip & moral education
Gossip & community construction
28
Gossip & its
etymology
‘godsibbe’~ godparent, relative
Friends, cronies
what one does with
one’s cronies (gossip)
Map our ties, shape
our values, and help
us get a sense of the
world.
Synonym for
connection, community
29
Gossip & child
development
training
techniques
Pacing
Tone
Clarity
authenticity
Descriptive
component
30
Gossip & moral
education
A tool of
understanding;
Moral inquiry about
choices,
consequences,
responsibility & will
Analytical
component
31
Gossip & community
construction
Fulfill the desire
for socialization
Social function
32
Gossip has rarely received its due (Para 3 )
• Reasons: Two meanings of gossip
• 1. 流言蜚语，道听途说，内幕，小道，闲言碎语的题材
(rumors about other people)
# give rise to gossip, market place ...(街谈巷议）
# His infidelities were common … (成了人们飞短流长的
题材)
# (vi) She is above gossiping about her neighbors. (不会
在背后议论她的邻居)
• 2．闲聊；漫谈社会新闻（或他人隐私）的文章
(conversation about other people)
# Have a good gossip with a neighbor over the garden
fence （和邻居闲聊一番）
# A gossip writer 社会新闻作家
# (vi) I don’t intend to gossip about my sickness. (不想随
33
便谈…)
• Other uses of gossip
• Gossip column (漫谈栏，闲话栏)社会新
闻、花絮等
• Gossip columnist = gossipiest
• Gossip monger 散布流言蜚语的人
34
• Research work
• Elaboration and comparison
• Some descriptions of gossip
in small town's life:
35
• L. Beall from http://www.helium.com/items/
361302-thoughts-on-small-town-gossip
• Small town gossip is something that every small
town has whether the residents realize it or not.
Avoiding gossip when you live in a small town is
not possible. The occupants of these towns have
very little to do outside of work due to the fact that
small towns are just that small with little
opportunity for activities outside of the homes.
The stores (expect for larger chain stores) usually
close early in the evening and there are usually
not very many actives to keep the kids occupied.
36
• By Jennifer Hall
• I live in a very small town. The population is under
a thousand people. I love my hometown. But, I
must say the gossip in a small town can be a bit
overwhelming at times. I know first hand about
stories in the gossip mill (磨坊，制造厂).
• You see, in a small town everyone knows who you
are. This sounds great to some people, but, trust
me it really is not. You don't really have a lot of
privacy, living in a small town. The gossip mill in
my town also only focus on the bad things that
happen to you. For some reason, they never tell
the good stuff that you have done. It's always bad.
Everyone wants to hear a story about someone
doing something nice for others, but this rarely 37
happens where I live.
• by Nadie Gehring
• Small towns are the reason for gossip. Just
too much time on their hands with absolutely
nothing better to do then stick their nose in
everyone’s business and spread it around like
whipped cream.
• They don't only whisper what they heard from
Harry who heard it from Gerry who heard it from
what’s his face over there. ...you know...they
talked about him yesterday, remember? They
have to say it loud as to let everyone know
who's mouth it came from so they get
recognition for having told you the juiciest news
of the day.
38
• by Debra Herring
•
• Living in a small rural community has a lot of
benefits. Privacy, however, is NOT one of them.
We lived on a farm, out in the country, one mile
from our nearest neighbor. You would think this
situation would afford us a certain degree of
privacy, but this was not the case.
• That neighbor who lived about a mile away had
a back porch(门廊，走廊) from which they had a
birds-eye view of our farm. The husband didn't
seem to be too concerned about our comings
and goings, but watching us seemed to be the
wife's favorite pastime. She even used
39
binoculars to get a closer look.
• by Linda L Kinyon
•
• If you are living in a large city you don't know
what you are missing. The pace of life living in a
small town is scaled back compared to that of a
large city. There is no hustle and bustle of
people as you pass each other along the street.
Living in a small town is a totally different
experience. In a small town everyone knows
everyone. Everyone knows everyone's business.
Nothing is private. Nothing is confidential and
nothing remains a secret for any great length of
time. It may take some getting used to that
everyone knows everything about you, but in a
way I have learned to find it as a comfort not as
a nuisance. Besides, what is gossip today will
die down tomorrow as it will be someone else's
turn in this small town.
40
• by Timothy D Heard
•
• Thoughts on small town gossip
• Gossip is not always directly related to
population size. In small towns, gossip is
spread by the spoken word. In the city, it is
spread by the written word. Some city
newspapers and magazines carry a larger
percentage of gossip than any small town
could ever conceive. But whether it be a
big city or small town, there will always be
41
gossip.
• Having lived most of my life in the suburbs
of a metropolis, I have had the benefit of
ano΄nymity to some extent. But gossip still
exists; it is just on a larger scale and
usually involving more prominent figures of
our society. Everything from the city
mayor‘s wife being arrested for shoplifting
to the story of an unknown local accused
of animal cruelty, the big city does have its
share of gossip. And I must point out a
very important fact： gossip can be true. It
is the fact that there are people discussing
and spreading someone else's business
that makes it gossip.
42
Gertrude Stein
• 1874–1946, American author and patron of the arts. A
celebrated personality, she encouraged, aided, and
influenced—through her patronage as well as through her
writing—many literary and artistic figures. After attending
(1893–97) Radcliffe where she was a student of William
James, she began premedical work at Johns Hopkins. In
1902, relinquishing her studies, she went abroad and from
1903 until her death lived chiefly in Paris. For many years
her secretary and lover was Alice B. Toklas. In Paris, Stein
became interested in modern art movements; she
encouraged and purchased the work of many new painters,
including Picasso and Matisse.
★(Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college
for Harvard University. )
43
• During the 1920s, she was the leader of a
cultural salon that included such writers as
Hemingway, Sherwood Anderson, and F.
Scott Fitzgerald, all of whose works she
influenced. It was she who first coined the
phrase “lost generation” for those post–
World War I expatriates. During World War II
she remained in France, and after the war her
Paris home became a meeting place for
American soldiers.
44
• Stein’s own innovative writing emphasizes the
sounds and rhythms rather than the sense of
words. By departing from conventional meaning,
grammar, and syntax, she attempted to capture
“moments of consciousness,” independent of
time and memory. Her first published work was
Three Lives (completed 1905, pub. 1909), short
stories in which she explored the mental
processes of three women. But her most
characteristic and probably most difficult
narrative is The Making of Americans (completed
1911, pub. 1925). The famous Autobiography of
Alice B. Toklas (1933), a linear narrative written in
relatively ordinary language, is the story of her
own life presented as that of her companion.
Stein’s critical essays were published as
Composition as Explanation (1926), How to Write
(1931), Narration (1935), and Lectures in America
45
(1935).
Reviewing Questions
• 1. What is suggested by what the woman
said(para.1) and by the author’s
comment(para.2)?
• 2. What kind of reputation does “gossip”
receive? (para.3)
• 3. What’s the author’s attitude towards
gossip? Where does she state her argument
for the first time?
• 4. What’s the etymology of the word “gossip”?
46
• 5. What, according to Gertrude Stein, is
the relationship between gossip and
literature?
• 6. what’s the author’s view on the
analytical component of gossip?
• 7. what are the negative roles of gossip?
And what about gossip irritate people?
47
Assignment
• 1. Write a book report and share
it with others on the blog.
• 2. Compare the two texts in this
unit and tell which one do you
prefer, supporting your
argument with reasons.
48