英语短篇小 说赏析Chapter II Character.ppt

Chapter II  Character Old childhood memories inhabited the attic. 旧日儿时的记忆充满了阁楼。 各种思想占据了他的心灵。 People adore him as if he were a god. 人们像崇拜神明一样崇拜他。 他的声音因愤怒而发抖。 His voice trembled with anger. I tremble for your safety. 我担忧你的安全。 Pious people go to churches often. 虔诚的人经常去教堂。 They make a pious effort to complete the mission. 他们为完成任务付出了值得嘉许的努力。 It’s a long deserted house which wild animals take as home. 这所房子早被人废弃了，野生动物现在在此做窝。 e.g. 平息一次争吵 recompose a quarrel Interpret: Dee suffered from the last love affair and could not heal the sorrows soon. 2. What is the difference in the temperament of the two sisters: Maggie and Dee (Wangero)? What do you take to be the author’s attitude toward these characters? In the text, we can see the apparent difference in the temperament of the two sisters: Maggie and Dee. Maggie is a typical black girl who does not receive much education. She is timid and shy, with a sense of inferiority rooted inside; while Dee is quite arrogant and selfish. She is a fashionable young woman shaped by the mainstream culture, but she is caught in the dilemma, too. Her sense of being is spilt as a black woman thinking in the way of the white. 3. What does “everyday use” mean in the story? This story is told by the mother, hence “Everyday Use” is taken from her point of view. Does it make any difference when Dee or her sister Maggie is asked to retell the story? “Everyday use” means what the African American folks use in daily life, like quilts made by grandma, aunt or mother with pieces of worn-out dresses. Yes, because Dee and Maggie had different understanding of “everyday use”. Dee would ignore her folk’s conception of “everyday use”, mistaking it as a priceless symbol of heritage; while Maggie would take it as what it was as her ancestors did by making and using them daily. 4. Contrast Dee’s attitude toward the heritage with the attitude of the mother and sister, what do you think about Dee’s accusation that her mother and sister do n