Unit7TheChaserTeachingplan綜合教程三

1、Unit 7 The ChaserTeaching PointsBy the end of this unit, students are supposed to1) grasp the author ' s purpose of writing and make clear the structure of the whole passage through an intensive reading of Text IThe chaser.2) comprehend the topic sentences in Text I thoroughly and be able to par

2、aphrase them.3) get a list of new words and structures and use them freely in conversation and writing.Topics for discussion1) Do you believe love can be fostered? How can you lure one into love with you?2) What is likely to happen when a couple no longer love each other?Cultural Background1. Propos

3、al of MarriageThe proposal of marriage is an event where one person in a relationship asks for the other's hand in marriage.If accepted, it marks the initiation of engagement.It often has a ritualquality, sometimes involvingthe presentation of an engagementring and a formalized asking of a quest

4、ion such as “Will you marry me? "Often the proposal is a surprise.In many Western cultures, the tradition has been for the manto propose to the woman.2. EngagementAn engagement is a promise to marry, and also the period of time between proposal and marriage - which may be lengthy or trivial.Dur

5、ing this period, a couple is said to be affianced, betrothed, engaged to be married, or simply engaged.Future brides and grooms are often referred to as fiancoreiance s respectively(from the French word “fianc 6 ").The duration of the courtship varies vastly.Long engagements were once common in

6、 formal arranged marriages.In 2007, the average engagement time in the United States was 17 months, but the figure around the world varies greatly depending on culture and customs.Text IThe ChaserJohn CollierGlobal ReadingI. Text AnalysisThe short story is a fable of love with a strong sarcastic ton

7、e. The protagonist, Alan Austen, wants to find an easy solution to the problem of love by purchasing a love potion. However, it ' s not the love potion that the old manintends to sell primarily, but “l(fā)ife cleaner ".The theme of“The Chaser" is the cynicism of experience, portrayed on a

8、field ofAlan ' s y outhful naivety and the old man ' s pessimistic certainty.The title of this short story is somehowa pun. "A chaser“ can be a person that pursues someone like in “a woman chaser” . In addition, it can refer to aweaker alcoholicdrink taken after a strong one. A whisky,

9、like the potion, intoxicates. A beer chaser, like the “l(fā)ife cleaner ” , mollifies the harshness of the spirits. The potion and the poison go together like a strong alcoholic drink and a chaser. .II. Structural AnalysisThis short story,which combines elements of horror and love, is built almost entir

10、elythrough dialogue between a young man, Alan Austen, who is deeply in love and wants to possess his lover entirely, and an unnamedold manwho believes in a life free of romantic involvement.In “The Chaser” John Collier usesthe dramatic irony of the title to initialize a cynical landscape;and the und

11、erstatement of the ending to enclose the cynical world of the old man, a world which Alan is entering.Paragraph 1: In this part, the protagonist, Alan Austen, has been introduced.Paragraphs 2-12: The old man is trying to sell his mixture.Paragraphs 13-45: Austen got to know about the love potion and

12、 in the end bought it.Detailed ReadingQuestions1. What is the image of Alan Austen in the first part? (Paragraph 1)Alan Austen is depicted as a timid, skeptical and hesitant character. Through descriptions like “ as nervous as a kitten, ”“ peering about for a long time on thedim hallway ” , the writ

13、er creates a sense of apprehension.2. Why do you think the old man told Austen about the life-cleaner before selling the love potion? (Paragraph 7)The sophisticated old man had encountered many young men who had been in the grip of romantic desire before, but who eventually got tired of the possessi

14、ve love they had experienced. He knew for sure that Austen s possessive love wouldn t last long. It would eventually bore and repel him. He expected that when his enthusiastic passionchanged into hatred, Austen would come to him again, because he had already seen those disillusioned customers return

15、 to buy the“chaser ” so that they could be free fromthe women for whom they had previously bought the love potion.3. What is the implied meaning of the old man s remark, “ Young people who need a love potion very seldom have five thousand dollars. Otherwise they would not need a lovepotion ” (Paragr

16、aph 13)?What the old man means is that a young man who falls in love one-sidedly is seldom rich enough to win a girl s heart; if he were rich enough, it would be much easier for him to win the girl s hand. His words imply that money is one of the crucial factors for love. If a man is not rich, he ca

17、n rarely expect to be loved by a girl.4. What is Austen s understanding of love? (Paragraph s 23-32)Austen was filled with illusions and unrealistic expectations of love. To him, love meant the entire possession of the lover. Whenthe old mantalked about the magic effect of the love potion and descri

18、bed the expectant possessive love, Austen cried“ Thatis love! ” , which suggests that he was overwhelmed with joy.5. What does the old man ' s remark in Paragraph 39” one has to be older than youare, to indulge in that sort of thing ” mean?Young people tend to be over-passionate for love, someti

19、mes senselessly and irrationally, while the old, just like the old man who sells the mixtures, would take a cool and sensible, sometimes even cynical attitude toward love.Text IIYoung Men and Elderly MenAristotleA Lead-in QuestionConsidering its time-honored history, Chinese culture tends to be comp

20、ared to anold man in his eighties or even nineties. And it is very intriguing to find out thatChinese people as a whole are tolerant, practical, lack courage to take risks, whichjust resemble the characters of the elderly proposed by Aristotle in his Youth and Old Age. What do you think of Chinese p

21、eople s national character?Main ideaNotes1. About the author and the text: Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, governm

22、ent, ethics, biology and zoology. Together with Plato and Socrates (Plato's teacher), Aristotle is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy.He was the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy,encompassing morality and aesthetics, logic and science, pol

23、itics and metaphysics. The text Youth and Old Ageis an excerpt from Aristotle s Rhetoric (Book II, Chapter 12).2. Pittacus remark about Amphiaraus (Paragraph 1): Pittacus (640-568 BC) was the son of Hyrradius and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. He was a native of Mytilene and the Mytilenaean gener

24、al who, with his army, was victorious in the battle against the Athenians and their commander Phrynon. In consequence of this victory the Mytilenaeans held Pittacus in the greatest honour and presented the supreme power into his hands. After ten years of reign he resigned his position and the city a

25、nd constitution were brought into good order. Some authors mention that he had a son called Tyrrhaeus. The legend says that his son was killed and when the murderer was brought before Pittacus, he dismissed the man, saying, "Pardon is better than repentance." Of this matter, Heraclitus say

26、s that he had got the murderer into his power and then he released him, saying, "Pardon is better than punishment."In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus was the son of Oecles and Hypermnestra, and husband of Eriphyle. Amphiaraus was the King of Argos along with Adrastus thebrother of Amphiaraus&#

27、39; wife, Eriphyle and Iphis. Amphiaraus was a seer, andgreatly honored in his time. Both Zeus and Apollo favored him, and Zeus gave him his oracular talent. In the generation before the Trojan War, Amphiaraos was one of the heroes present at the Calydonian Boar Hunt.3. Chilon s precept (Paragraph 1

28、): Chilon of Sparta was a Lacedaemonian, son of Damagetus and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. He was elected an ephor in Sparta in 556/5 BC. It is recorded that he composed verses in elegiac metre to the number of two hundred. Chilon was also the first person who introduced the custom of joining t

29、he ephors to the kings as theircounselors, though Satyrus attributes thisinstitution to Lycurgus Chilon is said to have helped to overthrow the tyranny atSicyon, which became a spartan ally.He is also credited with the change in Spartanpolicy leading tot the development of the Peloponnesian League i

30、n the sixth century BC. Chilon's teachings flourished around the beginning of the 6th century B.C. A legend says that he died of joy in the arms of his son, who had just gained a prize at the Olympic games. His sayings include “ Nothing in Excess” , which is the precept that Aristotle refers to.

31、4. utility (Paragraph 2): Usefulness, or gain as referred to above:“ I have alwaysdoubted the utility of these conferences on disarmament”(Winston S. Churchill).Additional Notes1. They are sanguine; nature warms their blood as though with excess of wine (Paragraph 1): They are cheerful and literally

32、red-faced, as if they have drunk too much wine.Literally, sanguine refers to a reddish, often tending to brown, color of chalkused in drawing.2. past their prime (Paragraph 2): past the best of one s life. The prime, or the prime time, is the age of ideal physical perfection and intellectual vigor.3

33、. hint of Bias (Paragraph 2): Bias is a Greek philosopher, and considered the wisestof all the Seven Sages of Greece. His famous sayings include:“All menare wicked. ”“Choosethe course which you adopt with deliberation; but when you have adopted it,then persevere in it with firmness." "Cher

34、ish wisdom as a means of traveling from youth to old age, for it is more lasting than any other possession.”Questions for Discussion1. Howdoes Aristotle define expectation and memory respectively? Howdo you interpret expectation and memory?2. How are two types of people, the first type being those d

35、riven by reasoning and the other type motivated by moral goodness, normally respond to circumstances?3. What is the possible chief cause behind hesitation and indecision of the elderly?4. What special characteristics are the elderly apt to display in actualities?Key to Questions for Discussion1. Ari

36、stotle holds that a young man is a man of expectation, for he has a long futureahead of him, and an elderly man is a man of memory, for he has a long past behind him.So a young man tends to be confident, for a bright and promising future is always inspiring and an elderly is likely to be cautious, f

37、or he has gone through many upsand downs in life. A young man is less burdened, for he is not burdened with too many memories, and an elderly manis liable to be more burdened, for he has too many memories to indulge in. A young man is apt to commit errors and run into blunders, for he is not a dear

38、teacher of rich experiences himself and an elderly man is less liable to commit grave mistakes, for he must have learnt so many lessons in life.2. Those who like to reason tend to be deep and sophisticated, so they are normally slow and cautious in their response to circumstances, for they take into

39、 careful account what consequences their response may lead to while those who give top priorities to moral goodness tend to be quick in their response to circumstances for anything noble and great can get their positive response promptly and anything lowly and ignoble can cause their negative response in no time.3. The elderly might have experienced many frustrations in life, many of which were beyond their expectation. As a result, they are less sure about