《大学思辨英语教程写作1》练习答案-Unit 3 Growth and Maturity

Unit3Growth and Maturity
Pre-class Exploration
Suggestions for instructors:Start the class with one of the pre-class activities and encourage the students to brainstorm of the setting described in the activity and the characters that are appropriate for the specific setting:What would be the key elements in those settings?What adjectives would the students use to describe a specific setting?What images or associations would that specific setting evoke?What would be some“typical”characters in these settings? Transfer to the Skills Section:(45minutes)
Highlight the key points in setting section and analyze the setting in the activities.
Part I:Learning the Skills
Activity1
Read the following story and discuss with your partner the techniques used in developing the character Beaver.
Activity2
The following two passages are about two best friends,Deanna and Beverly.Read the two passages carefully and discuss with your partner the techniques the authors use to develop the characters in each passage.In Passage2,highlight those sentences that can correspond to the sentences([1],[2],[3]and[4])in Passage1and think about the impact of these differences on readers’impressions of the two characters.
Activity3
Read the excerpt from“Beauty and the Beast”by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont and discuss the following questions with your partner:
1)1)What happened to the character?
He got lost in a forest and accidentally entered a splendid castle.
2)How do you feel about the place that the character accidentally entered?
It was like a fairy world.
3)What is the role of the setting in this story?
The sharp contrast between the snowy forest and the magnificence of the warm and cozy castle showed the readers a different world—a world that magic(or spell)might be working.
4)What elements should be considered if you want to write a good setting?
Character
Suggestions for instructors：The settings of the merchant(Beauty’s father)were in
Reading the first four paragraphs,ask students to underline the words or phrases that indicate the setting such as“the forest,deep snow,bitter frost,only shelter was the hollow trunk of a great tree,howling of the wolves,falling snow covered up every path,rough,slippery”
When he started to encounter the magical world:
“a splendid castle,no snow had fallen in the avenue of orange trees,covered with flowers and fruits,several splendidly furnished rooms,pleasant warmth of the air,nobody in all this vast and splendid palace,deep silence reigned everywhere,empty rooms and galleries,a room where a clear fire was burning,a couch was drawn up cozily before it…”
Ask the students to free write for10minutes about a setting that they are interested in and discuss with in groups about their writing before introducing how to craft an effective setting by offering sensory details.
Activity4
The following passage is the opening of Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes.The author’s style is very descriptive and detailed,which helps readers picture the story in their mind and fully understand what is happening.Read it and discuss the following questions with your partner: 1)What is the setting?
An early morning in Boston.
2)What words and phrases describe SOUNDS in this place?
Sound:(gulls)scream and quarrel,(cocks)cried,(hens)clucking,(horses)whinnied,(bells) cling-clanged.
3)What can you TOUCH in this place?
Touch:(gulls)icy(eyes).
4)What can you SEE in this place?
Sight:Gulls,cocks,cats,horses,cows,the morning sunlight,bells.
5)What can you TASTE in this place?
Taste:salty air.
6)What can you SMELL in this place?
Smell:the first dead fish,first bits of garbage,all kinds of animal smells.
Activity5
The following passages are developed on the basis of the setting“There is an air of mystery in the house.”Read and highlight the words and phrases that describe sounds,feelings,smells and sights,and discuss with your partner how these words and phrases can help demonstrate the character’s inner world in the setting.
Passage1
I shivered terribly at the sight of the deserted mansion that stood on the hilltop.With much curiosity,I treaded gingerly towards the mansion.Suddenly,I heard a distant howl that pierced through the silent night.At my wit’s end,I slowly walked towards mansion.My face turned ashen and my hair stood on ends when I got a better view of the spooky mansion.The wind sent chills down my spine as I walked slowly towards the gigantic door.
Passage2
Behind the dark alley,it stood a deserted house.I stood meekly outside the haunted house with my jaws hung open.Suddenly,I saw a silhouette of a person in the house.Shivers ran down my spine as I approached the house cautiously.When I reached the doorstep,I was paralyzed with
fear.I muttered uneasily to myself about what was going to happen next as I could feel cold air blowing towards me.My face turned ashen when the door opened itself.
Passage3
I crept behind the house since the door was left ajar.The whole place was covered with dust and cobwebs.I stood meekly all alone when a big strong wind caused the wooden door to slam hard.I was paralyzed with fear.I picked up my courage and continued walking until I reached a smaller silver door.An eerie scream came from the door and soon,it turned into a howl.I decided to put a brave front and walk into the room…
Passage4
Benjamin’s hair stood on ends as the eerie scream pierced through the still night.The howling of dogs made him stood meekly.He treaded gingerly through the dark and scary corridor.He saw a trail of bloodstains on the wall and maggots were crawling all over the place.What Benjamin saw later will be forever etched in his mind.It was the toilet’s light flickering.The continuous switching of the switch could be heard even when no visible being could be seen doing it.He then smelt a strong stench of urine coming from the toilet bowl.
Activity6
Read the following short story“The Flowers”by Alice Walker and discuss the following questions with your partner:
1)What is the setting?What are the elements in this setting?
The woods behind her house.The elements of the setting include locale of the story(near her home vs.deeper into the woods);time(summer morning);mood and atmosphere (beautiful,light,good,vs.strangeness,gloomy,damp air,close and deep silence).
2)How does the setting influence the characterization and the plot?
The beautiful and peaceful part of the woods Myop explored was a sharp contrast with what she found deep in the woods—a man’s skeleton,probably a black male who was lynched. 3)What does the author mean by saying“And the summer was over”?
The ten-year-old black girl lost her innocence when she witnessed this harsh scene and realized the racism so close to her.
Activity7
Read the following excerpt from Chapter6of The Secret Garden.Mary went to live with her uncle Mr.Archibald Craven in a big house after her parents died.She was exploring the rooms in the house when she heard someone’s crying.Pay attention to how the setting adds to the mystery of the big house and thus enhances the characterization of another character in the story:Colin Craven,the son of Mr.Craven,who is going to be introduced in the following chapters.
Mary spent a long time examining all those many rooms in the big house—which is like a big maze.It showed the portrait of the family members with no one living in any of those rooms.It creates a mysterious and queer feeling as Mary felt.Her wanderings in the house led to more of her discoveries.
Suggestions for instructors:
Broader setting background:in1803,the territory of United Stated expanded greatly through the Louisiana Purchase.To encourage people move to West,the Homestead Act of1862 guaranteed that a settler could earn farmland just by living on it for five years and improving it.
A lot people headed west in their dream of searching for a better life.But it was harder than many people had expected.
Part II:Case Analysis
Activity8
Read Text A and consider how the author establishes the settings for the story.
Task1Understanding the text
Figure out the settings for the story and consider how the characters behave in each setting. Then discuss your answers with your partner.
Setting1:Mary was picked up.Pa didn’t want her,but Mary stood up to him without fear.
Setting2:_When Pa headed to town to get food,Mary was left to take care of the children.
Setting3:When the food was all gone,Mary found some mushroom and tried herself first before letting the children eat.
Task2Responding to the text
Write your answer to each question in full sentences.Then discuss your answers with your partner.
1)What is the personality of Mary?
Independent,responsible,caring,brave,
2)How do you think Mary’s character is shown through various settings:
a.On prairie,she stood up to Pa without fear when she asked to travel along
b.In the mountains,she helped take care of the girls and cook________
c.After Pa left,_she was in charge and risked her own life by trying the mushroom herself first before letting the children eat.
3)In your opinion,did the eleven-year-old narrator become“too soon a man”as well?How did his attitude change under various circumstances?
a.On prairie,he walked with his dad while his sisters could sit on the wagon.
b.He worried about Mary when he understood her intentions of not allowing them to eat.
4)What effect do the sentences:“Mary came out of the cabin then,walking sedately.As she came toward us,the sun began to shine”create?
These sentences are symbolic,which showed the hope and the positive change in their lives.
5)The text has also been published under the title“The Day the Sun Came Out.”Which title do you like better?Why?
Answers may vary.
6)Have you ever been given more responsibility than is usual for someone your age?Describe your experience being“too soon a woman”or“too soon a man.”How did it change you?(If you prefer,describe an experience someone you know or know about has had.)
Answers may vary.
Activity9
Read Text B and consider the setting the author establishes for the story.What is the role of the setting in developing the story?
Task1Understanding the text
Write your answer to each question in full sentences.Then discuss your answers with your partner.
1)When and where did this story take place?
This story is set at nights and in the narrator’s home.
2)What did the father do in the darkness?And what did the son do?
He would sit in the dark and smoke and think.His son was quite worried about his father. 3)At what point in the story did the son begin to understand his father’s habit?
When his father told him that he can’t get used to lights.
4)What words or sentences in the story tell the reader that the son was needlessly worrying about his father?
He kept asking his father“why don’t you go to bed?”and he was“afraid,worried,angry, curious”and felt“unless I get an answer I will go crazy”,etc.
Part III:Language Study
Activity10
Read Text A and Text B and find expressions related to five senses(smell,taste,touch,sound and sight)or others(such as emotion).Discuss with your partner how these words are helpful to demonstrate the characters’personalities.
Text A Text B
SMELL She sliced that big,solid
mushroom and heated grease
in a pan.The smell of it
brought the little girls out of
their quilt,
TASTE Then she fried slices of the
mushroom while the little girls
danced with anxiety.We
feasted,we three,my sisters
and I,…Soon I become thirsty.(I drink a lot of water.)I go to the kitchen for a drink.
TOUCH She got up and rummaged
around in the grub box.I climb the steps softly, skipping the ones that creak. He is sitting in the same chair,
his elbows on his knees,his cold pipe in his teeth,his unblinking eyes staring straight ahead.
SOUND It was near dark when there
was an answer to my yelling,
and Mary came into the
clearing.The ticking of the alarm clock on the ice box.The low hum of an automobile passing many blocks away.The swish of papers moved along the street by the breeze.A whispering rise and fall of sound,like low breathing.It is strangely pleasant.
SIGHT Mary stood in the
doorway for a while,looking
out at the dripping world as if
she found it beautiful.The dim shadow of light that comes through the window from the street lamp only makes the room seem darker.
Mary roasted it in chunks over the fire,half crying with the smoke.The dryness in my throat reminds me.I step briskly into the kitchen.
Activity11
Read Text A and Text B.Find more examples of concrete words in describing the settings and share with your partner your comments about the effects of these concrete words on the plot of each story.
Text A Text B
Activity12
Look carefully at the picture below and think about how you would describe the house.
1)What is your impression of the house respectively when reading these two descriptions?The first is pleasant while the second is spooky.
2)Write down some expressions in the two descriptions which help to create the two different atmospheres.
Descriptions
Description1Description2
always very pleasant stood alone
thick,cold stone
Stone which kept out the cold in winter and
the heat in summer
Windows shone;doors opened invitingly Roof shone blackly,freezing rain,windows
shook and rattled;doors locked with big,
heavy chains
Little white waves Waves crashed angrily against the cliff
Cool blue sea,sunny sky Wind blew over the empty fields。