高级英语第一册_Unit_4_

Alice Walker Unit 4 Everyday Use for your grandmama

1.) About the author

Alice Walker (1944- ), poet, novelist and essayist, was born into a poor rural family in Eatonton, Georgia. Her parents made a living by growing cotton. When she went to Sarah Lawrence College in the early 60’s, the civil rights movement was in full swing. She was actively involved in the movement and upon graduation worked in Mississippi, center of the civil rights activities. After experiencing the political movement and as a case worker for the New York City welfare department, she became a teacher of creative writing and black literature, lecturing at Jackson State College, Tougaloo College, Wellesley, Yale and University of California at Berkeley. Her writing career began with the publication of a volume of poetry in 1968, which was followed by a number of novels, short stories, critical essays and more poetry. Now she is regarded as one of the most prominent writers in American literature and a most forceful representative of women’s literature and black literature.

Her works include The Thrid Life Grange Copeland (1970), Meridian (1976), a volume of poetry Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems (1973), a collection of short stories In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women (1973) and a recent novel The Temple of My Familiar (1989). Her most significant novel is The Purple, published in 1982, which won all the three major book awards in America – the Pulitzer Prize, the National

Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The novel was an instant bestseller and made into an equally successful movie in 1985, directed by Spielberg and starring Whoopi Goldberg.

Alice Walker is at her best when portraying people living in the rural areas where the writer was born and grew up. As a black writer, Walker is particularly interested in examining the relationships among the blacks themselves.

2.) “Everyday Use”

(1973) is included in the Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, 2nd Edition, 1981. ―Everyday Use‖, one of the best-written short stories by Alice Walker, describes three women. The mother is a working woman without much education, but not without intelligence or perception. The two daughters form a sharp contrast in every conceivable way: appearance, character, personal experiences, etc. The story reaches its climax at the moment when Dee, the elder daughter, wants the old quilts only to e refused flatly by the mother, who intends to give them to Maggie, the younger one. The old quilts, made from pieces of clothes worn by grand and great grand parents and stitched by Grandma’s hand, are clearly a symbol of the cultural heritage of the black people. Their different feelings about the quilts reveal their different attitudes towards their heritage as blacks.

The theme:

The main theme in the story concerns the character’s connections to their ancestral roots.

Dee Johnson believes that she is affirming her African heritage by changing her name, her mannerisms, and her appearance, even though her family has lived in the U.S. for several generations.

The historical present:描述历史事件的现在时，使事件更生动、更真实

The historical present (some times dramatic present) refers to the employment of the present tense when narrating past events. It is used in fiction, for ―hot news‖ (as in headlines), and in everyday conversation, it is common with ―verbs of communication‖ such as tell, write, etc.

I will wait for her in the yard that Maggie and I made so clean and yesterday afternoon. A yard like this is more comfortable than most people know. It is not just a yard. It is like When the hard clay is swept clean as a floor and sit and look up into the elm tree and wait for the breezes that never come inside the house. 我就在这院子里等候她的到来。我和麦姬昨天下午已将院子打扫得干干净净，地面上还留着清晰的扫帚扫出的波浪形痕迹，这样的院子比一般人想象的要舒服，它不仅仅是一个院子，简直就像一间扩大了的客厅。当院子的泥土地面被打扫得像屋里的地板一样干净，四周边缘的细沙面上布满不规则的细纹时，任何

人都可以进来坐一下，一边抬头仰望院中的榆树，一边等着享受从来吹不进屋内的微风。

1. wavy: ['weivi] having regular curves; like，characteristic of，or

suggestive of waves波状的；有起伏的

characteristic of waves, resembling waves. Here the word describes

the marks in wavy patterns on the

clay ground left by the broom. 在本文中，文字描述的波浪形图案

是指扫帚在土地上留下的痕迹。 eg: The wavy lines are meant to represent water.

2. extend: enlarge; make larger than used one及物动词(vt.)扩大、扩展 an extended living room: an enlarged living room by a new addition to the original space.

3. fine sand: tiny sand细沙

fine: (adj.)细微的，细小的 tiny: (adj.)极小的、微小的

and the fine sand around the edges lined with tiny, irregular grooves:

Before the word ―lined,‖ the link verb ―is‖ omitted. fine: not coarse, in small particles. e.g. fine cloth, fine sugar

Maggie will be nervous her sister goes: she will stand arms and legs, her sister with a mixture of envy and ①

【She thinks her sister has held life always in the palm of one hand, that "no" is a word the world never learned to say to her.】麦姬在她姐姐离去之前将会一直心神不定：她将会神情沮丧地站在角落里，一面

为自己的丑陋面孔和胳膊大腿上晒出的累累疤痕而自惭形秽，一面怀着既羡慕又敬畏的心情怯生生地看着她姐姐。她觉得她姐姐真正是生活的主人，想要什么便能得到什么，世界还没有学会对她说半个“不”字。

4. Prep. + prep./conj.: (until after) 介词短语作介词的状语

一只球从床底下滚了出来。

一条大鱼从他手中溜掉了。 太阳从云彩后面出来了。

他从马路对面向我挥手。 他除了正式场合外，从不讲求衣着。

eg: He did not finish his homework his parents had gone to sleep.他直到父母睡着后才完成作业。

eg: He won’t review his lessons right the exam (he take exams).他到临 …… 此处隐藏：14701字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……