face life with courage

To Face Life with Courage

Part I. Information related to the text

1. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the thirty-fifth President of the US and the fourth president to be assassinated. He first exhibited his keen observation on politics in his senior thesis for Harvard University in 1939 on British politics leading to the Munich Agreement that sold out Czechoslovakia's interests to Nazi Germany. It was well received and published the next year as Why England Slept. During World War II, his heroic deeds after his torpedo boat was sunk by the Japanese won him the Navy and Marine Corps Medal as well as the Purple Heart, a medal awarded to members of the armed forces of the United States for wounds received in action against an enemy or as a result of enemy action.

With his liberal views on race, social and foreign issues, John Kennedy was nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate in 1960 and defeated Richard M. Nixon in the election. "The torch has passed," as he said, "to a new generation of Americans." Besides his domestic record, President Kennedy's major achievements include his settling of the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) and persuading the USSR to sign a limited nuclear test-ban treaty (有限禁止核

试验条约)（1963）。

The book written by John Kennedy, mentioned at the end of the text, is Profile in Courage(1956), a study of US statesmen who put the national interest before party. It won the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1957.

2. About the Kennedy family:

John Patrick Kennedy, John Kennedy's father, was a businessman and diplomat. Having amassed a fortune in banking, the stock market and other fields in the 1920s, he was active in government and served as US ambassador to Britain from 1937 to 1940. Robert Francis Kennedy, John's younger brother, became a popular leader of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party after John's death, but be was also assassinated when he was running as a presidential candidate in 1968. After that, the fourth son of the Kennedy family, Edward Moore Kennedy continues to represent the family in politics as a senator from Massachusetts. He challenged President Carter for the 1980 presidential nomination, but failed.

Part II. Text Organization

Beginning : an anecdote about his role as a football player at Haverd.

(Why does the author start his story in this way?)---To accentuate ,as the title suggests, the great courage that characterized John Kennedy throughout his whole life.

Development:(stresses K’s personality of courage both as a man and president by exhibit His Life such as Family Background,education ,members and relationship

Experience in in the war and post-war一Various examples of John Kennedy’s courage are discussed in this biographical essay.,core value and belief

Task:(Guide the ss to list them out )---The courage to play the rugged game of football when he was really not physically able to compete against heavier，stronger players.;his courage in

facing life without complaining,even though his back injury caused him much pain.; his bravery in helping his men when his boat sank in the Pacific Ocean; his facing great odds

in a political campaign and working so hard that he was elected to the US House of Representatives.

His success provoked discussion:What made him…? Why…?What did the name stand for?

The answer is to be found in the speech:

Closing remark:Comment on his political deeds and achievements( significance of what he had done )

Part III.Facts which have some religious background

Catholic Church in the strongly Protestant country.

The youngest president in American history .

Part IV. Sentences for the students to remember

1. But few people, either then or later, knew how often this busy and attractive man was in pain. It wasn't in his character to give up. (L.29)

2. They taught them to struggle as hard as they could for whatever they believed in and not to be afraid of competition. They taught them to face life with courage, without complaining. (L.44)

3. The account of their escape makes an exciting story. (L.96)

4. Massachusetts had had its share of dishonest politicians. (L.132)

5. "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any

burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty."(L.168)

6. It was time, he said, to make it "clear to all that race has no place in American life or law."(L.175)

Part III. Translation of some difficult sentences from the text

1. But few people, either then or later, know how often this busy and attractive man was in pain. It wasn't in his character to give up. (L.29)

但是，不论在当时还是以后的日子里，很少有人知道，这位政务繁忙、富于魅力的人有多少时候是 病魔缠身的。他的性格中没有屈服二字。

2. But his parents brought their children up to lead useful lives no matter what riches were coming to them. (L.

他的父母从小教育子女，不论将来会拥有什么样的财富，都要过一种有意义的生活。

3. For, although John had the best doctors that money could provide, he never had the gift of perfect health or of freedom from pain. (L.

因为，约翰虽然请得起最好的医生，但他却从未拥有过天赐的健康体魄，也从未能免受病痛的困扰。

gift : 天赋

4. Massachusetts had had its share of dishonest politicians. (L.

不诚实的政客在马萨诸塞州已经够多的了。

The state of Massachusetts had had many dishonest politicians

5. From then on John Kennedy, with his serious manner and easy charm, became the golden boy of American politics. (L.

从那时起，由于他那端庄而又潇洒的风度，约翰·肯尼迪 …… 此处隐藏：3840字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……