Unit 7

1. Unit 7 The Libido for the Ugly --H.L.Mencken

2. Aims • To know the author, Henry L. Mencken • To understand the text • To learn the writing technique • To appreciate the language features

3. Teaching Contents • I. Henry Louis Mencken • II. Writing type • III. Detailed study of the text • IV. Organizational pattern • V. Language features

4. I. Henry Louis Mencken • His life • His views • His works • His style

7. H.L.Mencken -- his life 1880- 1956 • American educator, author, critic • born in the city of Baltimore, Maryland • the son of German immigrant parents. • graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute at 16

8. H.L.Mencken -- his life • became a reporter • then a drama critic and editor • central figure in American intellectual life during the 1920's • invented the word"booboisie", combining the two words "bourgeoisie" and "booby" (an awkward, foolish person).

9. H.L.Mencken -- his views • hated narrow-minded religion. • believed strongly in intellectual freedom • hated commercialism. • not supported democracy because he considered the masses too ignorant and greedy to exercise it wisely.

10. H.L.Mencken – his works • Mencken's essays were received with delight or horror, depending on the reader's point of view, he was also highly respected for his literary criticism and he exerted a powerful influence on American literature.

11. H.L.Mencken – his works 1.The American Language 1918 2. Prejudices (6 vols) 1919--1927 3. Happy days 4. Newspaper Days 1940--1943 autobiography 5. Heathen Days 6.25 Books and thousands of articles

12. The American Language • He was a leading scholar in the field of language. His monumental book "The American Language" is considered an outstanding work of philology.

13. The American Language a) It examined the development of the English language in America, b) It contrasted English and American expressions and usage.

14. The American Language c) It explained the origin of many American idioms, d) It traced the influence of immigrant languages on American English.

15. The American Language • He made a large contribution to the study of language and particularly encouraged scholarly study of the American branch of English.

16. H.L.Mencken -- his style • He is well-known for his bombastic style and acid tongue

17. He wrote with verve(strong feeling), gusto (eager enjoyment) and exaggeration. His exuberant and extravagant use of the language was so amusing and startling that even his most violently critical essays became acceptable to his readers.

18. He employed a huge vocabulary and liked to insert unusual or unexpected words, for surprise or comic effect, into otherwise normal sentences. Although his style is occasionally difficult to read, Mencken is still considered as one of the best and liveliest essayists of this century.

19. Bombastic style and acid language • exaggeration • hyperbole • over rhetorical pompousness • Language--- biting \sharp

20. II. Writing type • It is typical of description • Description is painting a picture in words of a person, place, object and scene.

21. Description • It conveys the sensations, emotions and impressions that affect a writer experiencing a person, place, object or idea. The writer describes what he sees, hears, smells, feels or tastes, and it often includes his emotional reactions to the physical sensation of the experience.

22. The soul of description: • minute details, specific concrete words to appeal to the reader's sense of sight • smell • taste • hearing • touch

23. How to develop description? By space order Things can be described from a moving position through space a fixed position in space

24. A. The description of a person 1) a person's appearance 2) what the person does, says, how he behaves to others to reveal the person's character

25. B. The description of a place 1) for its own sake, for the purpose of describing it, such as on a visit to famous scenic places 2) for the purpose of revealing the personality and character of a person (A clean tidy room shows the occupant is an orderly person)

26. 3) for the purpose of creating a feeling or mood • The howling of a chilly wind • The falling of autumn leaves help to build up a sombre mood and increase the feeling of depression.

27. C. The description of an object • We have to depend on our senses. 1) You need to mention: size color shape taste texture smell ---- create a clear visual image

28. 2) You need to tell how it is used if it is useful • What part it plays in a person's life if it is in some way related to him • But emphasis should be placed on only one aspect of the object, such as its most important characteristics.

29. D. The description of a scene When describing a scene, the writer should try to create a dominant impression. So before he begins to write, he must make up his mind as to what effect he wants the description to achieve.

30. 2 kinds of description: 1) objective \ impersonal • realistic • When topic is viewed from an objective point of view, the writer paints a verbal picture of the realistic world, like a camera. • factual words

31. 2) subjective \ personal • impressionistic \ emotional • The writer wants to share with the readers a kind of dominant impression. The dominant impression may be a sense impression or an emotion

32. III. Detailed study of the text • Writing type of this text • Main idea of the text • Language characteristic • Title of the text • Orgnizational pattern • Detailed study of each part

33. Writing type of this text • 1. writing type: subjective, impressionistic or emotional description The dominant impression --- ugliness • Westmoreland is the ugliest place not only in the US but also in the world.

34. Main idea of the text 2. Main idea: Mencken doesn’t just berate and revile the ugliness of Westmoreland. He attacks the whole American race --- a race that loves ugliness for its own sake, that lusts to make the world intolerable; a race which hates beauty as it hates truth.

35. Language characteristic 3. language characteristics: (1) abusive words (2) over-rhetorical

36. Title of the text 4. the title: libido: a specific word used in psycho-analysis, a technical term in psychology. (Freudian)

37. Title of the text • Libido: • psychic energy generally • specifically that comprising the positive loving instincts • the sexual urge • strong desire, great passion, great lust

38. Title of the text • Why does the writer choose this term? • -- in order to give his subject scientific coloring.

39. Title of the text • He wants to demonstrate that what he describes has psychological and scientific foundation. Usually, people love things beautiful, but a group of people in the US love things ugly for its own sake (because they are ugly) Why? There must be some scientific and psychological reasons.

40. Organizational pattern • Part 1 (para1~2) • the general impression of Westmoreland rich and ugly • Part 2 (para3~5) • the description of the design and color of the houses

41. Organizational pattern • Part 3 (para 6~8) • the reason and cause why the people in Westmoreland love such ugly houses Part 4 (para 9): Conclusion --Mencken is being very critical of the American race and the American society, which hates beauty as well it hates truth

42. Part 1 Para 1: Language points: • On a Winter day some years ago, coming out of…Westmoreland county. 1) Pittsburgh 2) Westmoreland

43. Paragraph 1 • 1). Pittsburgh: A city in southwest Pennsylvania , It is one of the most important industrial cities of America, and a center of rail and river transportation. Termed the “Steel City” of “Smoky City”, it is the center of rich bituminous-coal region, producing also natural gas, oil and limestone, a large part of US steel and iron is produced here.

44. Paragraph 1 2) Westmoreland county: a county in Southwest Pennsylvnia. It is a mining and manufacturing region. Its county seat is Greensburg 3) the meaning of the sentence: One day in a winter some years ago, I started out from Pittsburgh and travelled through the coal and steel towns of Westmoreland county in a fast railway train,

45. Paragraph 1 2. I had never sensed its appalling desolation 1) appalling : causing fear, shocking, terrible, dreadful • Something that is appalling is so bad or unpleasant that it makes you feel disgust or dismay • Some of these people live in appalling conditions.

46. Paragraph 1 2) desolation – bleakness • A quality of a place which makes it seem empty and frightening • Empty of people • Lacking in comfort

47. Paragraph 1 3. Here was the very heart… 1) metaphor: heart --- center of industrial America 2) hyperbole : richest, grandest nation on earth 3) antithetical contrast

48. Paragraph 1 • Here was the very heart of industrial America, the center of the most lucrative and characteristic activity. ---- The rigion around Pittsburgh was one of the most important industrial centers of America. Here was the center of the most profitable and characteristic American activity– industrial activity.(manufacture and produstion of goods as distinguished from agriculture)

49. Paragraph 1 • the boast and pride of the richest and grandest nation ever seen on earth. ---- The United States, the richest and grandest nation ever seen on earth, both boasts about and feels proud of this center of industrial activity.

50. Paragraph 1 • And here was a scene so dreadfully hideous, so intolerably bleak and …depressing joke. ---- The scene that met the eye was terribly ugly and the whole region was so miserable and gloomy that it was unbearable. This dreadful scene (in a region which produces through its industry the wealth to make America the richest amd grandest nation) makes all human endeavors to advance and improve their fortune appear as a terribly saddening joke.