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Unit 10 American literature
Ⅰ.Brief Statements Based on the Unit
Most of us have heard of some world-famous writers such as Mark Twain,Jack London,Ernest Hemingway.Some of their works are well-known in the world.The topic of this unit is about American literature.Warming up gets students to know what a poem describes and what it means.In speaking,students are asked to talk about some American writers and their works Pre-reading and Post-reading get students to practise how to predict a story and how to describe a story.Reading tells us a love story written by American writer for integrating skills,teacher should not only train the students’ reading ability,but also help them learn to write a book review.
In the aspect of Language Study,teacher trains Students’ ability to use some key words and phrases.Teacher also helps students to review all the verb tenses.Listening helps students learn to grasp the detailed information of the club activities that some students organise. Ⅱ.Teaching Goals
1.Talk about American literature.
2.Practise predicting and describing what a story might be about. 3.Review all the verb tenses. 4.Write a book review. Ⅲ.Background Information
1.Alex Haley
Alex Haley was born in the northeast of New York in 1921,but he spent most of his early life with his mother’s family in southern Tennessee.His grandmother told him stories about their family.Their history,she said,began with Toby.He was a slave from Africa and his name was Kunta.
Alex Haley went to school and then to college.In 1939,he joined the US coastguard.As he was a Black,his job was to wait on tables and washed dishes.In his spare time,he learned to write stories.He served in the coastguard for 20 years.After he retired he put all his time into writing.
Alex Haley remembered the stories his grandmother had told him.He began to study his family story:After a lot of research,Haley decided that Toby probably was Kunta Kinte for the West African Mandingo people.Kunta Kinte was caught near the village of Juffure on the Gambia River.He was sold as a slave in Annapolis,Maryland in 1707.Then Haley made a trip to Gambia and talked with a history expert in Juffure.The Africa historian made his conclusion stronger.
Alex Haley wanted to tell experiences of the Black people in 18th-and-19th century America.He spent 10 years researching and writing his family story for the book Roots.It was published in 1976.It was a special “Pulitzer Prize”.A few years later,a film series based on Haley’s book was shown on American television.
2.Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (pen name Mark Twain) was born on November 30,1835 in Florida,Missouri.Twain is considered the greatest humorist of the 19th century American literature.His novels and stories about the Mississippi River:The Adventures of Tom Sawyer(《汤姆·索亚历险记》)（1876） and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn(《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》)(1894) are still popular with modern readers.
In 1839 the Clemens family moved to Hannibal,Missouri,on the Mississippi River where
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young Sam experienced the excitement and colorful sights of the waterfront.Like many authors of his day he had little formal education.His education came from the print shops and newspaper offices where he worked as a youth.In 1853 Clemens left Hannibal with a yearning(渴望) to travel.On a trip to New Orleans he persuaded a riverboat pilot to teach him his skill.By the spring of 1859 Clemens was a licensed riverboat pilot.
At the outbreak of the American Civil War (1861) Clemens chose not to get involved and moved to Carson City,Nevada.After an unsuccessful attempt at gold and silver mining he joined the staff of a newspaper in Virginia City,Nevada.He first wrote under the pen name “Mark Twain” (meaning “two fathoms(英寻)”in riverboat-talk) in 1836.“Twain” wrote his first popular story,The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County(《卡拉维拉县有名的跳蛙》)in 1865.
He continued to travel as a correspondent for various newspapers,and in 1869 his travel letters from Europe were collected into the popular book,The Innocents Abroad（《傻子国外旅行记》）.Encouraged by his success Twain married Olivia Langdon and settled down in Hartford,Connecticut to his most productive years as a writer.Between 1873 and 1889 he wrote seven novels including his Mississippi River books as well as The Prince and the Pauper （《王子和贫儿》）（1882）.
As Twain’s life and career progressed he became increasingly pessimistic(悲观的)，losing much of the humorous,cocky(趾高气扬的) tone of his earlier years.More and more of his works experssed the gloomy(忧伤的；沮丧的) view that all human motives(动机) are ultimately selfish.Even so Twain is best remembered as a humorist who used his sharp wit and comic exaggeration to attack the false pride and self-importance he saw in humanity. Ⅳ.Teaching Time:Five periods
The First Period
Teaching Aims:
1.Learn and master the following words:garbage,maid,prince,outcome 2.Do some listening.
3.Do some speaking to talk about American literature. Teaching Important Points:
1.Improve the students’ listening ability.
2.Improve the students’ speaking ability by discussion,talks and so on. Teaching Difficult Points:
1.How to improve the students’ listening ability. 2.How to finish the task of speaking. Teaching Methods:
1.Listening-and-answering activty to help the students go through with the listening material. 2.Individual work and group work to make every student work in class. Teaching Aids: 1.a tape recorder
2.a computer for multimedia use Teaching Procedures: Step Ⅰ Greetings
Greet the whole class as usual. Step Ⅱ Warming up and Lead-in
T:Do you like reading stories and novels?
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Ss:Yes.
T:I think most of you are fond of literature.I think you must be familiar with Chinese literature.But are you interested in American literature?Perhaps some of you have a hobby of reading novels or other works written by foreign writers.Now let’s read the text written by Rudley Randall.(Bb:Rudley Randall) After you read it,I’ll ask you to answer some questions.
(Teacher gives students a few minutes to read the text,then teacher shows the questions on the screen.)
1.What kind of text is the one you have just read? 2.What is it about and what does it mean? 3.Can you tell something about the writer?
4.Why does this have to be American literature?Could it be written by a poet from another country?
5.Think about the history and life in the United States.What special themes and sort of stories would you expect for American literature? T:Who’d like to answer the first question? S1:I think it’s a poem.
T:Quite right.Now the second one,please.
S2:It’s about American blacks,I think.In the poem,the author expresses his deep feelings for his ancestor,though he is a slave.The poem reminds us not to forget where we come from. T:Your answer sounds reasonable.Who is the volunteer to answer the third question?
S3:I’ve learnt something about him.He was an American poet.He was born in Washington 1914.He was the founder and chief editor of a publishing house in Detroit.He was the major publisher for the poetry of American blacks.The Burning City was one of his poetry selections.(Bb:The Burning City)
T:Very good.Now the fourth question.Who’d like to answer it?
S4:The poem talks about “Slave traders”.That has something to do with American Blacks.As we know,American blacks are mostly slaves taken from Africa by slave traders.In the text,the author is in praise of their ancestors,who were slaves.From the content of the text,we can guess it must be American literature and it can’t be written by a poet from another country. T:You did very well.Now how about the last question?
S5:We all know that America is a country which contains people from different parts of the world.So American literature has a wide variety of styles.But from the history of America,we can guess the important themes in its literature are Native Americans,Pioneers,Slavery and the Civil War,etc.
T:Your answer sounds reasonable. Step Ⅲ Listening
T:Next,let’s do some listening.Before listening to the tape,I’d like you to answer some questions.Please look at the screen.
1.Are you a member of any club or taking part in activities that help you practise your English? 2.Did you ever go to a Speaking Corner?What were your experiences?
3.What other clubs or activities could you think of to practise English in a way that makes fun? (Teacher gives students a while to prepare.)
T:Wang Lin,would you please answer the first question?
S6:Yes.I’m a member of English Corner,which is a club for us to practise English.I often take part
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高中英语人教大纲第三册：Unit10Americanliterature(第一课时)
