英语文学阅读与鉴赏B7_Unit 3_The Nightingale and the Rose.docVIP

Unit Three Get Started ▇ Read the following background notes before class and be prepared for classroom activities. 1. About fairy tales: Fairy tales are fictional stories that usually have folkloric (民间传说的) characters such as fairies, goblins (小妖精), giants, animals, and inanimate objects, etc. and they often involve a far-fetched (牵强的) sequence of events. Colloquially, a “fairy tale” can also mean any far-fetched story. Fairy tales are of course primarily meant for young children, but many adults also love to read them because of their significant motifs (中心思想) and the wisdom imparted (传授) to them. Fairy tales are found both in oral folktales and in literary form. They are found in every culture. It is to be noted that the nature of a fairy tale does not depend on whether fairies appear in it or not. Fairy tales, and works derived from fairy tales, are still written today. Therefore, many critics regard fairy tales as a special literary genre. In contemporary literature, many authors have used the form of fairy tales for various reasons. Some writers examine the human condition from the simple framework provided by a fairy tale; some seek to recreate a sense of fantasy or myth in a contemporary discourse; and some authors use fairy tale forms to discuss contemporary social issues. Though a literary fairy tale shares many of the linguistic and literary features of fictional prose, it is, in particular, characterized by its abundant use of metaphor, personification (拟人手法) and symbolism (象征手法). 2. Bio-sketch of the author: Oscar Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet and author of numerous short stories and one novel. He was born on 16 October, 1854, in Dublin, Ireland. His mother was a writer, writing under the pseudonym (笔名) “Speranza” (Italian word for “hope”) and his father was a surgeon who was knighted (被封为爵士) in 1864 for his outstanding medical service. Oscar Wilde was educated at home until he was nine. From 1871 to 1874, Wilde studied classics (古希腊、古罗马的语言