1、THE MONSTERUnit 7Unit 7THE MONSTERUnit7第1页Throughout his career,Truman Capote remained one of Americas most controversial and colorful authors,combining literary genius with a penchant for the glittering world of high society.Watch the movie clip and discuss the following questions.Pre-reading Activ
2、ities-Audiovisual supplement 1Audiovisual supplementCultural informationHe did not seem to be the person that you will make a friend with.From the way he carries himself and the way he speaks,we can probably draw the conclusion that he is a gay.He paid the train conductor to compliment him,which sho
3、ws that he is vain and flamboyant.1.How would you describe Capote?第2页Pre-reading Activities-Audiovisual supplement 2Audiovisual supplementCultural information2.Will the knowledge of Capote being an outrageous and offensive person have any effect on your impression of his novels?Yes.A great writer sh
4、ould first of all be a great man.Capote in private is quite different from the one that is behind the public mask.With this understanding in mind,I will have a different perspective when reading his novels.No.Although he was a social climber,a back stabber,and his behavior was frequently offensive i
5、f not downright disgusting,he was also a writer of uncommon grace and sensitivity,who has created many unforgettable images of people and places.a.b.第3页Pre-reading Activities-Audiovisual supplement 3Audiovisual supplementCultural informationFrom Capote第4页Video Script1Audiovisual supplementCultural i
6、nformationI figured youd missed it.Im sorry.Thats all right.I thought I was heading to Kansas by myself.God,Im glad you agreed to come.Youre the only one I know with the qualifications to be both a research assistant and a personal bodyguard.Thank you.Now Im nervous.Yes?Mr.Truman Capote and Miss Nel
7、le Harper Lee?Thats us.Nelle:Capote:Nelle:Capote:Nelle:Capote:Train Conductor:Capote:第5页Video Script2Audiovisual supplementCultural informationWhere would you like these,sir?You can put that right there between the doors.What all did you bring?Just a few things.Thank you greatly,sir.Thank you.Youre
8、welcome.Its an honor to have you with us,sir.And I hope you wont mind me saying,but I thought your last book was even better than the first.Thank you.Train Conductor:Capote:Nelle:Capote:Train Conductor:Nelle:Capote:Train Conductor:Capote:第6页Video Script3Audiovisual supplementCultural informationI me
9、an,just when you think theyve gotten as good as they can get.Thank you very much.Maam.Youre pathetic.What?You paid him to say that.You paid him to say that.How did you know?“Just when you think theyve gotten as good as they can get”?I thought that was a good line.Do you think that was too much?Yeah,
10、a bit.Train Conductor:Capote:Train Conductor:Nelle:Capote:Nelle:Capote:Nelle:Capote:Nelle:第7页1.List of some common musical instruments Cultural information1.1Audiovisual supplementCultural information1)Stringed Instruments 弦乐器弦乐器 Viola 中提琴中提琴Cello 大提琴大提琴 Guitar 吉他吉他Violin 小提琴小提琴 Harp 竖琴竖琴2)Keyboard
11、Instruments 键盘乐器键盘乐器 Piano 钢琴钢琴 Pipe organ 管风琴管风琴第8页Cultural information 1.2Audiovisual supplementCultural information3)Percussion Instruments 打击乐器打击乐器 Triangle 三角铁三角铁 Drum 大鼓大鼓 Cymbal 钹钹 Gong 锣锣 Tambourine 铃鼓铃鼓 Xylophone 木琴木琴 Dulcimer 扬琴扬琴 Chimes/Tubular bell 管钟管钟 4)Wind Instrument 管乐器;吹奏乐器管乐器;吹奏乐器
12、 Brass Instruments 铜管乐器铜管乐器 French horn 法国号法国号Bugle 单号单号/军乐号军乐号 Cornet 短号短号 Trumpet 小号小号第9页Cultural information 1.3Audiovisual supplementCultural informationWoodwind Instruments木管乐器木管乐器Clarinet 单簧管单簧管 Bassoon 低音管低音管/巴松管巴松管Flute 长笛长笛 Oboe 双簧管双簧管Saxophone 萨克斯萨克斯 Accordion 手风琴手风琴harmonica 口琴口琴 第10页Cult
13、ural information 2.1Audiovisual supplementCultural information2.List of some musical terms This is a list of musical terms that are likely to be encountered in printed scores,music reviews,and program notes.cycle 套套曲曲:a set of songs intended to be performed as a groupsuite 组组曲曲:an instrumental piece
14、 consisting of several shorter pieces sonata 奏奏鸣鸣曲曲:a piece of music for one instrument or for one instrument and piano,usually divided into three or four parts 第11页Cultural information 2.2Audiovisual supplementCultural informationsymphony 交交响响曲曲:an elaborate musical composition for full orchestra,t
15、ypically in four movements,at least one of which is traditionally in sonata form concerto协协奏奏曲曲:a musical composition for a solo instrument or instruments accompanied by an orchestra,especially one conceived on a relatively large scaleoverture 序序曲曲:an orchestral piece at the beginning of an opera,su
16、ite,play,oratorio,or other extended composition第12页Cultural information 2.3Audiovisual supplementCultural informationprelude 前前奏奏曲曲:an introductory piece of music,most commonly an orchestral opening to an act of an opera,the first movement of a suite,or a piece preceding a fugueimpromptu 即即兴兴曲曲:a sh
17、ort piece of instrumental music,especially a solo,that is reminiscent of an improvisationaccompaniment 伴伴奏奏:the part of a piece of music that supports the tune or someone singingsolo 独独奏奏;独独唱唱:a piece of vocal or instrumental music or a dance,or a part or passage in one,for one performer第13页Cultural
18、 information 2.4Audiovisual supplementCultural informationensemble 重重奏奏;重重唱唱:a group of musicians,dancers,or actors who perform togetherchamber music 室室内内乐乐:music for a small ensemble of instruments,intended for performance in a room or chamber,as opposed to a church or larger buildingduet 二二 重重 奏奏:
19、a piece of music written for two performers.On the piano such a piece would involve two players on one instrument.trio 三三重重奏奏:a composition designed for three players or the name of a group of three playersquartet 四四重重奏奏:a composition for four players or the name for a group of four players第14页Gener
20、al analysisThe text argues that Richard Wagners monstrous behavior can be forgiven because of his miraculous achievements in music.Structural analysisGeneral analysisRhetorical features第15页Structural analysis1Structural analysisGeneral analysisRhetorical featuresPart I(Paragraphs 1 9):This part desc
21、ribes a man who seems to have rolled all kinds of demerits into one,a real monster.This essay on a famous man,whose name is not revealed until almost the end of the piece,is a study of monstrous conceit.Filled with biographical details that keep the reader guessing to the last moment,the essay concl
22、udes with a challenging view on the nature of genius:If a genius was so prolific,“is it any wonder that he had no time to be a man?”The text can be divided into three parts:第16页Structural analysis2Structural analysisGeneral analysisRhetorical featuresPart II(Paragraph 10):This part serves as a trans
23、itional paragraph,which clarifies who this monster really is,i.e.a famous musician by the name of Richard Wagner.Part III(Paragraphs 11 13):The last part justifies all the peculiar behavior of Richard Wagner.第17页Rhetorical Features 1Structural analysisGeneral analysisRhetorical featuresThe repetitiv
24、e use of the third person pronoun he creates suspense in the readers mind.This is one of the effective ways to hold the readers attention and make them read on.If we use the terminology of functional linguistics and discourse analysis,this use of he is cataphoric in nature.Another typical example is
25、“Hes the biggest slob I know.Hes really stupid.Hes so cruel.Hes my boyfriend,Steve.”Moreover,a series of the superlative forms of adjectives and inverted sentences are used to emphasize the extreme extent of his peculiar conceit.第18页Rhetorical Features 2Structural analysisGeneral analysisRhetorical
26、featuresFor example:He believed himself one of the greatest dramatists in the world,one of the greatest thinkers,and one of the greatest composers.(Paragraph 2)Never for one minute did he look at the world or at people,except in relation to himself.(Paragraph 2)Practice:Find more examples of superla
27、tive forms of adjectives and inverted sentences.第19页Rhetorical Features 3Structural analysisGeneral analysisRhetorical features1.He was one of the most exhausting conversationalists that ever lived.(Paragraph 2)2.The slightest hint of disagreement,from anyone,on the most trivial point,was enough to
28、set him off on a harangue that might last for hours,(Paragraph 3)3.It never occurred to him that he and his doing were not of the most intense and fascinating interest to anyone with whom he came in contact.(Paragraph 4)4.Not for a single moment did he ever compromise with what he believed,with what
29、 he dreamed.(Paragraph 13)第20页1 He was an undersized little man,with a head too big for his body a sickly little man.His nerves were bad.He had skin trouble.It was agony for him to wear anything next to his skin coarser than silk.And he had delusions of grandeur.Detailed reading1Detailed readingTHE
30、MONSTERDeems Taylor第21页Detailed reading2Detailed reading2 He was a monster of conceit.Never for one minute did he look at the world or at people,except in relation to himself.He believed himself to be one of the greatest dramatists in the world,one of the greatest thinkers,and one of the greatest co
31、mposers.To hear him talk,he was Shakespeare,and Beethoven,and Plato,rolled into one.He was one of the most exhausting conversationalists that ever lived.Sometimes he was brilliant;sometimes he was maddeningly tiresome.But whether he was being brilliant or dull,he had one sole topic of conversation:h
32、imself.What he thought and what he did.第22页Detailed reading3Detailed reading3 He had a mania for being in the right.The slightest hint of disagreement,from anyone,on the most trivial point,was enough to set him off on a harangue that might last for hours,in which he proved himself right in so many w
33、ays,and with such exhausting volubility,that in the end his hearer,stunned and deafened,would agree with him,for the sake of peace.第23页Detailed reading4Detailed reading4 It never occurred to him that he and his doing were not of the most intense and fascinating interest to anyone with whom he came i
34、n contact.He had theories about almost any subject under the sun,including vegetarianism,the drama,politics,and music;and in support of these theories he wrote pamphlets,letters,books.thousands upon thousands of words,hundreds and hundreds of pages.He not only wrote these things,and published them u
35、sually at somebody elses expense but he would sit and read them aloud,for hours,to his friends,and his family.第24页Detailed reading5Detailed reading5 He had the emotional stability of a six-year-old child.When he felt out of sorts,he would rave and stamp,or sink into suicidal gloom and talk darkly of
36、 going to the East to end his days as a Buddhist monk.Ten minutes later,when something pleased him he would rush out of doors and run around the garden,or jump up and down off the sofa,or stand on his head.He could be grief-stricken over the death of a pet dog,and could be callous and heartless to a
37、 degree that would have made a Roman emperor shudder.第25页Detailed reading6Detailed reading6 He was almost innocent of any sense of responsibility.He was convinced that the world owed him a living.In support of this belief,he borrowed money from everybody who was good for a loan men,women,friends,or
38、strangers.He wrote begging letters by the score,sometimes groveling without shame,at others loftily offering his intended benefactor the privilege of contributing to his support,and being mortally offended if the recipient declined the honor.第26页Detailed reading7Detailed reading7 What money he could
39、 lay his hand on he spent like an Indian rajah.No one will ever know certainly he never knows how much money he owed.We do know that his greatest benefactor gave him$6,000 to pay the most pressing of his debts in one city,and a year later had to give him$16,000 to enable him to live in another city
40、without being thrown into jail for debt.第27页Detailed reading8Detailed reading8 He was equally unscrupulous in other ways.An endless procession of women marched through his life.His first wife spent twenty years enduring and forgiving his infidelities.His second wife had been the wife of his most dev
41、oted friend and admirer,from whom he stole her.And even while he was trying to persuade her to leave her first husband he was writing to a friend to inquire whether he could suggest some wealthy woman any wealthy woman whom he could marry for her money.第28页Detailed reading9Detailed reading9 He had a
42、 genius for making enemies.He would insult a man who disagreed with him about the weather.He would pull endless wires in order to meet some man who admired his work and was able and anxious to be of use to him and would proceed to make a mortal enemy of him with some idiotic and wholly uncalled-for
43、exhibition of arrogance and bad manners.A character in one of his operas was a caricature of one of the most powerful music critics of his day.Not content with burlesquing him,he invited the critic to his house and read him the libretto aloud in front of his friends.第29页Detailed reading10Detailed re
44、ading10 The name of this monster was Richard Wagner.Everything I have said about him you can find on record in newspapers,in police reports,in the testimony of people who knew him,in his own letters,between the lines of his autobiography.And the curious thing about this record is that it doesnt matt
45、er in the least.第30页Detailed reading11Detailed reading11 Because this undersized,sickly,disagreeable,fascinating little man was right all the time,the joke was on us.He was one of the worlds greatest dramatists;he was a great thinker;he was one of the most stupendous musical geniuses that,up to now,
46、the world has ever seen.The world did owe him a living.What if he did talk about himself all the time?If he talked about himself for twenty-four hours every day for the span of his life he would not have uttered half the number of words that other men have spoken and written about him since his deat
47、h.第31页Detailed reading12Detailed reading12 When you consider what he wrote thirteen operas and music dramas,eleven of them still holding the stage,eight of them unquestionably worth ranking among the worlds great musico-dramatic masterpieces when you listen to what he wrote,the debts and heartaches
48、that people had to endure from him dont seem much of a price.第32页Detailed reading13.1Detailed reading13 What if he was faithless to his friends and to his wives?He had one mistress to whom he was faithful to the day of his death:Music.Not for a single moment did he ever compromise with what he belie
49、ved,with what he dreamed.There is not a line of his music that could have been conceived by a little mind.Even when he is dull,or downright bad,he is dull in the grand manner.Listening to his music,one does not forgive him for what he may or may not have been.It is not a matter of forgiveness.第33页De
50、tailed reading13.2Detailed reading It is a matter of being dumb with wonder that his poor brain and body didnt burst under the torment of the demon of creative energy that lived inside him,struggling,clawing,scratching to be released;tearing,shrieking at him to write the music that was in him.The mi