Lesson Four The Delicate Art of the Forest.docx

Lesson Four The Delicate Art of the Forest.docx

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LessonFour:

TheDelicateArtoftheForest

byMarkTwain

FromFenimoreCooper'sLiteraryOffense1s8,95

WarmingUp

•DoyoulikewatchingAmericanmovie?

•WhatkindofAmericanmoviedoyoulikemost?

•DoyoulikeanyAmericanfrontier（cowboy）movie?

WhyorWhynot?

MarkTwain（1835–1910）

•RealName:

SamuelLanghorneClemens.

•Born:

Nov.30,1835,Florida,Missouri,USA

•Died:

April21,1910（aged74）,Redding,Connecticut,USA

•Occupation:

Novelist,Humorist,Satirist,Writer,Lecturer.

• Genres:

Fiction,HistoricalFiction,Nonfi-ction,Children’sLiterature,TravelLiterature,

PhilosophicalLiterature,SocialCommentary,LiteraryCriticism,Satire,Essay.

Hewascalled"thefatherofAmericanliterature".

Representativeworks

•TheAdventuresofTomSawye（r1876）

-MainPlot:

TomSawyergoesthroughaseriesofadventures.

-LiterarySignificance:

AnAmericanclassicandabestseller;

TheworkforwhichMarkTwainisbestknowntoday;Filmedoranimatedmultipletimes（1907,1917,1930,1938,

1947,1968,1973,1984,1995,2000）.

•AdventuresofHuckleberryFinn（1884）

-MainPlot:

HuckFinnhelpsJim,arunawayslave,escapealongtheMississippiRiverona

raft.

-MainTheme:

Anti-racism,freedomandescape.

-Languagestyle:

“LocalColorRegionalism”,useofvernacular（nigger,etc.）..

-LiterarySignificance:

OneofthefirstGreatAmericanNovels;

OneofthefirstmajorAmericannovelswrittenusingvernacular;

Adaptedintomovies,TVseries,theaterplaysinmanycountries（USA,UK,France,Denmark,Sweden,Japan,Russia,etc.）.

JamesFenimoreCooper（1789-1851）

•Born:

Sept.15,1789,Burlington,NewJersey,USA.

•Died:

Sept.14,1851（aged61）,Cooperstown,NewYork,USA

•Occupation:

Novelist

•Genre:

HistoricalRomances

•LifeExperience

• Spenthisearlyyearsonthefamilyestateandroamedintheprimevalforestanddevelopedaloveofnaturewhichmarkedhisbooks;

• EducatedinthevillageschoolandexpelledfromYalebecauseofaseriesofpranks,whichincludedtrainingadonkeytositinaprofessor'schair;

• WorkedasasailoronamerchantshipandjoinedtheUnitedStatesNavyasamidshipman;

• ServedasUnitedStatesConsulinLyons,France,whilealsotravelingtomanyothercountriesincludingItaly,Switzerland,Englandand

theNetherlands;

• SettledinCooperstown（namedforhisfather）,althoughmademanytripstoNewYork,PhiladelphiaandBaltimore;

•Diedofdropsy,adaybeforehis62ndbirthday.

•LegacyandCriticism

• CooperisaprolificandpopularAmericanwriteroftheearly19thcentury（54works）andthefirsttrueAmericannovelist（32novels）.

• HisstorieshavebeentranslatedintonearlyallthelanguagesofEuropeandintosomeofthoseofAsia.

•Hiswritinghasevokedbothadmirationanddisdain.

• Generally,EuropeanauthorshaveheldafavorableviewofCooper'stalent,whileAmericanshavebeenmorecritical.

• E.g.Balzac,VictorHugo,D.H.LawrenceandJosephConradhaveheldhiminhighregard,whileMarkTwainridiculedhischaracterdevelopment.

• MarkTwain’sviciousandamusing"FenimoreCooper'sLiteraryOffences"isstillreadwidelyinacademiccircles.

Representativeworks

• Cooperlaunchedtwokindsofimmenselypopularstories:

theseaadventuretale,andthefrontiersaga.

•ThebestofhismanysearomanceswPaislot（1824）.

• ThebestofhisfrontierstoriesTihseLeatherstockingTales（1823-41）,aboutthefrontierlifeofAmericansettlers,consistingoffivetales.

•TheLeatherstockingSeriesinpublishingorder:

•ThePioneers（1823）

•TheLastoftheMohican（s1826）

•ThePrairie（1827）

•ThePathfinder（1840）

•TheDeerslayer（1841）

•TheLeatherstockingSeriesinchronologicalorder:

•TheDeerslayer（setintheyear1744）

•TheLastoftheMohican（s1757）

•ThePathfinder（1750s）

•ThePioneers（1793）

•ThePrairie（1804）

LeatherstockingTalesisaseriesofnovelssetintheearlyfrontierperiodofAmericanhistory.

• TheDeerslayerdepictsNattyBumppo'sexperiencesasayoungman.Theeventstakeplaceinthe1740sintheupstateNewYork,whereDeerslayerisjoinedbyhisMohicanfriend,Chingachgook,torescuetwofrontiersmen.

• TheLastoftheMohicanisssetinthe1757duringtheSevenYears'WarbetweentheFrenchandtheBritish.Hawkeye/BumppoandhisfriendsChingachgookandUncaswithagroupofEnglishciviliansarebetrayedbytheirIndianguideMagua.HawkeyerevengesthedeathofhisfriendUncas

andanEnglishlady,Cora,andkillsMagua.

•ThePathfinderisalsosetduringthewar,andtellsastoryofbetrayalandlove.

JasperWestern,asailorissuspectedofbeingdisloyaltotheEnglish,isarrestedtothedespairofMabel,whoisinlovewithhim.TherealtraitorisMuir-thelieutenantwhohadaccusedJasper.HeiskilledbyArrowhead,aTuscaroraIndian.

• ThePioneersissetin1793inOtsegoCountyintherecentlysettledregionofNewYorkstate.NattyBumppo,nowknownasLeatherstocking,andhisfriendOliverEdwardsbefriendJudgeTempleandhisdaughterElisabeth.ChingachgookdiesinaforestfireinspiteofBumppo'seffortstosavehim.OliverEdward'slostgrandfatherisfoundandOliverandElisabetharebetrothedattheend.

• ThePrairieissetin1804.NattyBumppomeetsawagontrainandhelpsittoevadeanIndianraidingparty.Thetravellersendureaprairiefire,abuffalostampede,andcapturebytheSioux.IntheendofthetaleBumppopeacefullydiesontheprairie,surroundedbyhisfriends.“Avaliant,ajust,andawisewarrior,hasgoneonthepathwhichwillleadhimtotheblessedgroundsofhis

people!

"hesaid.

NattyBumppo

• He,alsocalledDeerslayer,Hawkeye,Pathfinder,LeatherstockingorTrapper,isthemaincharacterinCooper’sLeatherstockingTales.

• Hewearsafox-skinhatandiscladindeerskin-coat,moccasins,andeventheleggings,whichgivehimthenicknameof“Leatherstocking”.

• Heisbrave,kindly,andilliterate,hoveringbetweentheworldsoftheRedsandtheWhites.HeisendowedwithalltheforestskillsoftheReds.HeisthesymboloftheindependentwoodsmaninCoo’pesrnovels.

Chingachgook

•ChingachgookisafictionalcharacterinfourofJamesFenimoreCooper's

fiveLeatherstockingTales,aloneMohicanchiefandcompanionoftheseries'heroNattyBumppo.

• Chingachgookissaidtohavebeenmodeledafterareal-lifewanderingMohicanbasketmakerandhunternamCedaptainJohn.Thefictionalcharacter,occasionallycalledJohnMoheganintheseries,isanidealizedcaricatureofthetraditionalnoblesavage.

•TheFrenchoftenrefertoChingachgook“asLeGrosSerpen”t,theGreat

Snake,becauseheunderstandsthewindingwaysofmen'snatureandhecanstrikeasudden,deathlyblow.

Paragraph1

1.IsMarkTwainpraisingorcriticizingJamesFenimoreCooperinthefirstsentence?

Pleaseexplain.Andparaphrasetheunderlinedpart.

Coo’pesrgiftinthewayofinventionwasnotarichendowment;butsuchasitwashelikedtoworkit,hewaspleasedwiththeeffects,andindeedhedidsomequitesweetthingswithit.

•Criticizing.

• suchasitwas:

althoughitwasnotofmuchworth;thoughitwasnotrich;asitwasnotrich.

2.Whatisthisparagraphabout?

• Cooper’sStageProperties,i.e.hiscunningdevices,tricks,artificesforhiswriting.

3.Whatdoestheter“mstageproperties”alludeto?

• Itoriginallyreferstothings,objectsthatactorsandactressesuseonthestageexceptpaintedsceneryandcostumes.

• Hereitisusedmetaphorically.ItalludestoCo’opserlackofimagination,creativenessandresourcefulness.Forlackofcreativeness,Cooperhadtoprovidehimselfwithseveraltricksandartificesthatcouldservehimonalloccasions.Thisechoestheallegationsuggestedinthefirstsentenceatthebeginning.

4.WhatdoesCoope’rs“littleboxofstageproper”tyimply?

•ItimpliesthesizeofCoop’esrhollowskullwhereinsteadofintelligencewe

findmuchtoouramusementsixoreightcunningdevicesforhiswriting.ItismentionedmetaphoricallyasahumorousallusiontoCoo’pesrlackof

imagination,creativenessandresourcefulness.

5.Whattricksarediscussedinthisparagraph?

•TheMoccasinTrick;（Whatismoccasin?

）.

•TheBrokenTwig.

6.DoyouthinktheMoccasinTrick（i.e.amoccasinedpersontreadsinthetracksofhismoccasinedenemytohidehisowntrail）isaneffectiveone?

Whyorwhynot?

•No

7.WhatisimpliedbyMarkTw’ainsremarkaboutCoope’rswearingoutbarrelsandbarrelsofmoccasins?

• ItimpliestheunrestrainedusebyCooperofoneandthesametrickoverandoveragain,i.e.moccasin.IfeachoneoftheIndianswastowearoutapairofmoccasininasingleencounterwithhisopponent,itfollowsthatallhis

Indianswouldhaveusedupbarrelsofmoccasins.ThisisthefirstevidenceMarkTwainbringsforthtosupporthisallegationthat“Cooper’sgiftinthewayofinventionwasnotarichendowment”.

8.Whatdoe“sthereds”referto?

• AmericanIndians/NativeAmericans.WhyAmericanIndians,notAmericanChineseorlike?

9.Translation:

Itisarestfulchapterinanybookofhiswhensomebody’dtoesstenponadrytwigandalarmalltheredsandwhitesfortwohundredyardsaround.

• 在他任何一本书的一章中，如果没有人踩上干树枝，且不去惊动方圆二百方码的印第安人和白人，这便是令人感到平静的一章了。

（他的书要是有哪一章没有人踩上干树枝，惊动周围二百码内的印地安人和白人，那就谢天谢地了。

）

10.Explainwh“yEverytimeaCooperpersonisinperil,andabsolutesilenceis

worthfourdollarsaminute,heissuretosteponadrytwig”.

• Cooperusedhisbrokentwigagainandagaininordertothrillandcharmhisreaders.Coopertreasuredthisdevicemorethananyotherdevices.Heuseditasoftenandasfullyashecould.

• Cooperdependedonrestlessactionforcommandingthere’adserattention.EverychapterofCoope’rsbookisfullofrestlessactions,fullofnoises