20世纪文学课件 Walker Brothers Cowboy.ppt

Walker Brothers Cowboy By Alice Munro Presenters: Rita Chen Christine Chen Teresa Ally Kuo Alice Munro as… A short-story writer A regional writer Setting of her story– rural Ontario A realist her father is a fox farmer her parents’s struggles within a variety of rural occupation Munro’s Background 1931 born in Wingham, Ontario, Canada 1949-51 undergraduate, University of Western Ontario. 1951 married James Munro and raised three daughters. 1968 published first collection of stories, Dance of the Happy Shades; won Governor General’s Literary Award. 1972 divorced James Munro. 1976 remarried to Gerald Fremlin. Munro’s Works Novel Lives of Girls and Women (1972) Collections of Short-Stories -- Dance of the Happy Shades (1968) -- Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You (1974) -- The Moons of Jupiter (1982) -- Friend of My Youth (1990) -- The Love of a Good Women (1998) -- Runaway (2004) Geographical Background Dungannon Historical Background— The Great Depression Time 1929-1933 Depression of 1929 Slump of 1929 Problems of Great Depression presented in Walker Brothers Cowboy Depressed market and economy “views of gray barns and falling-down sheds and upturning windmills…” (p. 2711) “we pass a factory with boarded-up windows…” (p. 2707) Unemployment The tramps they encountered by the Lakes “Nora, ‘I guess you count yourself lucky to have the work…he was out of work the longest time.’” (p. 2714) Why ‘cowboy’? The Stereotype of a cowboy Manhood Self-dependent Riding on a horse Grazing cattle The father, a parody of a cowboy Accepting would-be customer’s abuse Driving a car, knocking the doors of kitchens Raising foxes Felt like a failure both for bankrupt and marriage Summary (1) “Walker Brothers Cowboy” is a story of a girl’s growth. The narrator, the girl, takes a journey with her father and her brother. From the journey, the narrator revealed their living condition