Mark_Twain_马克吐温ppt模版课件.ppt

1、,Mark Twain,-Mirror of America,Mirror of America,Mirror here means a person who gives a true representation or description of the country .,Mark Twain was one of literary giants in human history whose works often reveal more truth than many political essays and therefore his life and works are a mir

2、ror of America.,I. Mark Twains Life Career,Mark Twain was the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910).,He was Americas most famous humorist and the author of popular and outstanding autobiographical works, travel books and novels.,A. Boyhood,He was born in the small village of Florida, Miss

3、ouri on Nov.30,1835.,As Fathers business failed ,the family had to move to Hannibal when Samuel was 4,where he spent his boyhood ,enchanted by the romance and awed by the violence of river life and also the human flotsam washed up by the river.,B. Early life Sam had relatively little schooling. Afte

4、r his fathers death, he had to help the family by taking up odd jobs. He left school at 13 and became a full-time apprentice to a printer . At 18, he became a tramp printer .,C. Experiences on the Mississippi River,On his way down the Mississippi , he ran out of funds and was persuaded by a steamboa

5、t pilot to become his apprentice .,He found his life during this period both instructive and interesting. Later he was to say, ”I got personally and familiarly acquainted with about all the different types of human nature”,D. Journey West and the birth of “Mark Twain”,There were rumors about fortune

6、s to be made in Nevada and California. He tried prospecting , mining, speculating, but failed . It was in Virginia City on February 3,1863,that “Mark Twain” was born when Clemens, then 27,signed a humorous travel account with that pseudonym. In 1865, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County w

7、as published and became an immediate success.,E. Career as a journalist,He took the trip to Honolulu as a correspondent in 1866.,In 1869, his travel sketches were published under the title The Innocents Abroad.,F. His most productive years,He married in 1870,and moved to Hartford, Conn., where he li

8、ved his most productive years (till 1891).,The move was a turning point in his life. Tom Sawyer was written in 1876; Huckleberry Finn in 1884.,G. Financial difficulties and personal misfortunes,He invested largely on his own printing shop and became bankrupt. Heavily in debt ,he made a lecturing tou

9、r abroad and succeeded in paying all his debts, but ruined his own health. In this period occurred the deaths of his son, daughters and wife.,H. Last years,He dictated his autobiography . He died in 1910. Some of his other major works are The Prince and the Pauper and The 1,000,000 Bank-Note .,II. R

10、elevant Literary Background Material,Local Colorism The vogue of local color fiction was the logical culmination of a long, progressive development. It was the outgrowth of historical and aesthetic forces that had been gathering energy since early nineteenth century. Local Colorism refers to the ele

11、ments which characterize a local culture, elements such as speech, customs and mores peculiar to one particular place. It covers physical setting and those distinctive qualities of landscape which condition human thought and behavior.,Mark Twain,Local colorists concerned themselves with presenting a

12、nd interpreting the local character of their regions. Mark Twain was a typical one of them. He dealt largely with the lower strata of society. He preferred to represent social life through portraits of local places which he knew best. By quoting from his own experience, Mark Twain managed to transfo

13、rm into art the freedom and humor, in short, the finest elements of western culture.,One of Mark Twains significant contribution to American literature lies in the fact that he made colloquial speech an accepted, respectable literary medium in the literary history of the country.,Mark Twain loved li

14、fe and people and freedom and justice, felt a pride in human dignity and advocated brotherhood of man. He hated tyranny and iniquity, despised meanness and cruelty, and took his role as a social critic in a serious and reasonable manner.,Mark Twain was a friend of the Chinese. He was not indifferent

15、 either to the Chinese immigrants persecuted in America or to a China suffering intense agonies of humiliation and dismemberment by imperialist powers. Mark Twain should be remembered both as a great literary artist and a great social critic in the history of the United States.,III. Questions on Con

16、tent Give brief answers to the following questions. 1 . Why is Mark Twain one of Americas best-loved authors? 2 . Give a brief account of Mark Twains experience before he became a writer. 3 . Why did the author adopt Mark Twain as his pen name?,How long did he stay there? What did he learn there? Wh

17、at effect did his experience have on his writing?,4 . When did Mark Twain become a pilot on a steamboat ?,5 . Why did Mark Twain leave the river country? What did he do then? 6 . What story did he write that made him known as the “ the wild humorist of the Pacific slope”?,7 . Why did the book , the

18、Innocents Abroad , become an instant best-seller?,8 . Why is Tom Sawyer as sure to be studied in American schools today as is the Declaration of Independence?,9 . Why did Twain become bitter late in life?,IV. Figures of Speech,Mark Twain used a great number of figures of speech to make his writing m

19、ore vivid, powerful and persuasive. A . Antithesis a . From them all Mark Twain gained a keen perception of the human race, of the difference between what people claim to be and what they really are. b . A world which will lament them a day and forget them forever,B. Euphemism a . He tried soldering

20、 for two weeks with a motley band of Confederate guerrillas who diligently avoided contact with the enemy. b . He commented with a crushing sense of despair on mans final release from earthly struggles,C .Alliteration a . “It was a splendid population - for all the slow , sleepy , sluggish-brained s

21、loths stayed at home” b . “ and rushing them through with a magnificent dash and daring and a recklessness of cost or consequences”,D . Metonymy But for making money, his pen would prove mightier than his pickax. E . Personification Bitterness fed on the man who had made the world laugh.,F. Hyperbole / Exaggeration for effect a . Eternal boyhood b . America laughed with him. G. Metaphor main artery of transportation in the young nations heart,V. Detailed Study of the Text,Replace the italicized words and phrases with more formal words or expressions. 1. this nations best-loved author was ev