UnitSixTheHumanTouch.docVIP

Unit Six The Human Touch Teaching Objective Students will be able to : understand the main idea (Old Behrman saved Johnsy’s life at the expense of his own) and structure of the text; appreciate how the repeated use of clues helps weave a piece of narration together; grasp the key language points and grammatical structures in the text; conduct a series of reading, listening, speaking and writing activities related to the theme of the unit. Time Allotment 1st and 2nd period------ Pre-reading Activities 3rd and 4th period------While-reading Activities 5th and 6th period -----Post-reading Activities and Section B 7th and 8th period------Listening and Speaking Teaching Contents Text Summary The article gives readers an impressing story. Johnsy seemed to lose the will to hang on to life when she fell seriously ill. The doctor as well as her friends seemed helpless, but “last leaf” painted by an old man who was dying aroused her hope of life. III. Text Analysis As discussed in Text Organization Exercise 2, “ the last leaf” threads throughout the story to make the latter a coherent piece. In fact, if we look closely enough, we can find some other “threads”. For example, the doctor visited three times. It was from him that we learn how sick Johnsy was, how she had a 50-50 chance, and how she was sure to recover. His three visits sum up three stages of Johnsy’s illness. Moreover, he is very convenient when Old Behrman’s sickness needed to be revealed. Let’s look at another example. When Johnsy decided to die with the fall of the last leaf, she refused to take any soup. Yet when she was shaken alive again by that undying last leaf, one of her first desire was to drink some soup. Similarly, before she fell ill, she had wished to paint the Bay of Naples. Inspired by the last leaf, she again looked forward to painting it. In Para18-19, we learn that Old Berrman was a failure career wise. He had always talked about a masterpiece, yet he was unable to deliver