Maheegun My Brother

Lesson Two Maheegun My Brother Eric Acland

Lesson Two Part One: Warm-upPart Two: Background InformationPart Three: Text Appreciation (Key Points)Part Four: Language Study (Difficult Points)Part Five: Resource Extension W B T L E

Part One Warm-up I.Easter Day II. Question

I. Easter Day • Origin of Easter Day • Some Symbols of Easter Day

I. Easter Day Easter is a religious festival celebrating the resurrection of Christ observed on the first Sunday after the Spring Equinox . 1. Origin of Easter Day

Lesson 2 – Maheegun My friend I. Easter Day 2. Some Symbols of Easter Day • 1) Easter Bunny • 2) Easter Egg • 3) Easter Egg Games • 4)Easter & Lily

I. Easter Day 1) Easter Bunny • The Easter bunnies have become the most favorite Easter symbol. It's universal in its appeal. And, most important of all, it relates to Easter historically. • Also the hare and eggs have something to do with the Anglo-Saxon spring goddess Eostre. Possibly, this is because both of them were regarded to be emblems of fertility.

I. Easter Day • As with today, children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along with the modern version of real Easter eggs—those made of plastic or chocolate candy. • The Armenians would decorate hollow eggs with pictures of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and other religious designs.

I. Easter Day 2) Easter Egg • As with the Easter bunny and the holiday itself, the Easter egg predates (先于) the Christian holiday of Easter. The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by Christians. • From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers.

I. Easter Day Easter egg hunts can be part of a community's celebration of the holiday. The eggs are hidden in public places and the children of the community are invited to find the eggs. The rules of anEaster egg rollare to see who can roll an egg the greatest distance or can make the roll without breaking it, usually down a grassy hillside or slope.

I. Easter Day 4) Easter & Lily • The lovely white trumpet lily, main flower of the Easter floral arrangements, has been enjoying a great favor in being included as a principal item for church decoration for quite some time. It is a perfect gift of nature to beautify our Easter.

I. Easter Day 3) Easter Egg Games On Easter morning the children of the house join in a search to locate the eggs that the Easter bunny has hidden while they were asleep. The searching might continue throughout the house with the older children helping the youngest. Sometimes prizes of candy are awaiting the child finding the most eggs.

I. Easter Day • But its acceptance in America, as such, dates back around the 1800s. It came in with the rise in the Easter observances by the Protestants in America. And, strange, it took some more time to find a widespread acceptance.

II. Question How do human being and animals live in harmony with each other? ● environment ● affection ● respect ...

Part Two Background Information • Wolf and Man • Wolf Phrases

I. Wolf and Man Many ancient cultures held the wolf in high regard. In Egypt, the wolf was worshipped at Lycopolis—“the City of the Wolves”. In Greece, the god Apollo was a wolf-god. A bronze wolf guarded his altar in the temple of Delphi. Mars/Areshad a wolf for his emblem and was sometimes known to change into a wolf by donning a wolf-skin.

I. Wolf and Man The Norse god Odin was also a wolf-god. He also resided over eagles and bears. Also in Norse myth, the great wolf, Fenrir, was a giant who took upon the permanent shape of a wolf soon after birth. Many Christian saints were associated with wolves. The Slavs called St. Peter “the wolves shepherd”. In the traditions of Eastern Europe, St. George was accompanied by wolves wherever he went.

I. Wolf and Man St. Francis of Assisi made a pact with the fearsome wolf of Gubbio, and the townspeople observed this agreement by feeding the wolf for the rest of his life. In Roman mythology, the god Mars considered the wolf a sacred animal, and the founders of Rome were raised by a wolf. Eastern Europeans often viewed wolves as protectors of the harvest.

I. Wolf and Man The wolf is now extinct in Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Hungary. It is endangered in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain. Only in Alaska, Canada and Russia, has the wolf found its last stronghold. Thus the tale of the wolf is indeed tinged with blood—but it is less the blood of Man than of the wolf itself.

Native Americans also held the wolf in high regard and believed that wolves carry some characteristics that humans should also find important, such as strong family structure and teaching the young. Things changed however, and the wolf became a devourer of livestock and supposedly also a devourer of people, especially children. I. Wolf and Man

II. Wolf Phrases Guess the Chinese translation of following wolf phrases: cry wolf a lone wolf wolf in sheep's clothing have/hold a wolf by the ears have a wolf in the stomach 喊叫“狼来了”，发假警报独居单干的人披着羊皮的狼骑虎难下，进退两难饿到极点

II. Wolf Phrases Guess the Chinese translation of following wolf phrases: keep the wolf from the door see a wolf ugly enough to tree a wolf wake a sleeping wolf set the wolf to keep the sheep 免于饥饿，勉强度日说不出话来，目瞪口呆丑陋已极，不中用到极点自找麻烦引狼入室

Part ThreeTextAppreciation • Text Analysis • 1. Theme of the Story • 2. Structure of the Text • 3. Further Discussion • II. Writing Devices • 1. Language Style • 2. Simile, Metaphor & Personification • III. Sentence Paraphrase

Theme of the Story I. Text Analysis The story depicts the ideal relationship between humans and wild animals—they are fellow creatures on earth, and therefore should treat each other like brothers.

Structure of the Text I. Text Analysis 1—3 The introduction. Part 1 (Paras. ): Part 2 (Paras. ) : The happy days the boy and Maheegun had together in the short period of less than a year, and how Maheegun returned to the wild where he belonged. 4—17

Structure of the Text I. Text Analysis The reunion of the two when the boy’s life was endangered by two hungry wolves. Part 3 (Paras. ) : Part 4 (Paras. ) : 18—40 The brothers returned to the place where they each belonged—the boy to his warm home, the wolf to his kind in the wild. 41—44

Further Discussion I. Text Analysis • How do you think Maheegun came to be abandoned? • Why did the boy say that the year he was 14, he was the happiest boy on earth? What did they do together? • What happened one day that convinced the boy’s grandpa that the time had come to say goodbye to Maheegun? • How did Maheegun return to his kind?

Further Discussion I. Text Analysis Describe the snow storm that got the boy lost in the forest, using the following key words and expressions: snowshoes/to dim/flakes of snow/to drift/to thicken/to stumble into/to move in a circle/to be filled (covered/smother) with snow/to make a blanket of/white stillness/fierce whiteness/to storm for days/biting cold (bitterly cold/freezing)

Simile, Metaphor & Personification II. Writing Devices • We hunted the grasshoppers that leaped • about like little rockets. • For the next two years I was as busy as a • squirrel storing nuts for the winter. • Gone was the puppy-wool coat. In its place • was a handsome black mantle. • The whole world thrilled to that wild cry.

Language Style II. Writing Devices Inversion can make the description more vivid. Inversion • Gone was the puppy-wool coat. In its place was a handsome black mantle. (Para. 6) • In sailed Mrs. Yesno, wild anger, who demanded... (Para. 8) • On the top was the clear outline of a great wolf sitting still. (Para. 11) • There, about 50 feet away, crouched my two attackers… (Para. 33) • There stood a giant black wolf. (Para. 33)

III. Sentence Paraphrase 1 Not that we didn’t have our troubles. (Para. 5) although it is not true that… e.g. She loved music but seldom went to concerts—not that she couldn’t afford to. When I say the year I got Maheegun was the happiest year of my life, I don’t mean that Maheegun never caused troubles.

III. Sentence Paraphrase 2 Maheegun would poke his head around the corner, waiting for things to quiet down. (Para. 5) would + v.: a past habit (At such times) he would move and stay somewhere out of Grandma’s sight, and wait until her anger died down.

III. Sentence Paraphrase 3 And in the fall, after the first snow our games took us to the nearest meadows in search of field mice. (Para. 6) to make sb./sth. go from one level, or situation to another, e.g. His job as a UN official took him to over sixty countries. When it was getting cold, and there were no more grasshoppers, we had to go the nearest meadow to hunt field mice.

III. Sentence Paraphrase 5 On top was the clear outline of a great wolf sitting still, ears pointed, alert, listening. (Para. 11) Absolute construction that describes the state the wolf was in sitting on the rock. The clear figure of a big wolf was sitting without moving on the top of the rock. His ears were raised and he seemed to be listening to something.

III. Sentence Paraphrase 6 The whole white world thrilled to that wild cry. (Para. 14) to feel excited at sth. Everything in the snow-covered wildness seemed to be aroused/stirred by the passionate cry of Maheegun.

III. Sentence Paraphrase 7 “He will take her for life, hunt for her, protect her. This is the way the Creator planned life. No man can change it.” (Para. 16) God all ones’ life Cultural Note: According to the first part of the Bible, God created the world and everything in it in six days, and on the seventh day God rested. When God made human beings, he made a man called Adam out of the earth, and then made a woman called Eve out of Adam’s ribs (one of the curved bones that surround your chest). God assigned different roles to Adam and Eve—the first man and woman, Adam’s role being to take care of Eve, provide for her and protect her, and also to guide her. God created living creatures in the same way.

III. Sentence Paraphrase 4 It all served to fog my mind with pleasure so that I forgot my Grandpa’s repeated warnings, and one night left Maheegun unchained. (Para. 8) Figurative, to confuse or hide to have a particular effect or result, e.g. The blanket could serve to keep the rain out for a while. Objective complement

III. Sentence Paraphrase 8 There was only one thing to do. Camp for the night and hope that by morning the storm would have blown itself out. (Para. 25) Subjunctive mood is used here because the storm didn’t stop the next day. I knew that it was dangerous to move on in the blinding snow, and that the only thing to do was to stay where I was and get some sleep during the night and hope that I would find the snowstorm had stopped the next morning.

III. Sentence Paraphrase 9 The light of another day still saw no end to the storm. I began to get confused. I couldn’t recall whether it had been storming for three or four days. (Para. 26) to be the time when/the place where an event happens; to witness When the first gray light of another day came, the storm was going on. I found myself unable to think clearly. I couldn’t tell whether the snowstorm had continued into its third or fourth day.

III. Sentence Paraphrase 10 The cold and loss of blood were taking their toll. (Para. 36) to have a bad effect on sb./sth. over a long period of time As I had lost a lot of blood, and it was extremely cold, I was sick and weak.

III. Sentence Paraphrase 11 It was quite some time before my eyes came into focus enough to see my grandfather sitting by my bed. (Para. 41) It took quite some time for my eyes to adjust themselves to be able to see clearly my grandfather sitting by my bed.

P art Four Language Study I. Word Study II. Phrases and Expressions III. Word Building IV. Grammar

I. Word Study Word list: • alert • chase • crouch • detain • pace • poke • smother 8. thrill 9. toll 10. whimper 11. start 12. sail 13. serve 14. see

I. Word Study 1. alert v. to notify of approaching danger or action; to warn a. vigilantly attentive; watchful n. a signal that warns of attack or danger

I. Word Study • Examples: • The doctor alerted me to the dangers of smoking. • The radio alerted the citizens to prepare for the hurricane. • an alert bank guard • One should not run about aimlessly during an alert.

I. Word Study 2. chase v. a. to put to flight; to drive away b. to follow rapidly in order to catch or overtake; to pursue c. to seek the favor or company of persistently Word formation n. chase • Examples: • to chase the dogs away • to chase the thief • to chase girls

I. Word Study 3. crouch v.to stoop, especially with the knees bent Word formation n. crouch • Examples: • They crouched over the grate with a • flashlight, searching for the lost gem. • She crouched by the fire to get warm.

I. Word Study 4. detain v.a. to keep from proceeding; to delay or retard b. to keep in custody or temporary confinement Word formation n. detainer n. detainee n. detainment • Examples: • I was detained by an unexpected caller that morning. • The disruptive students were detained after school until their parents had been notified.

I. Word Study • Examples: • The fence is only ten paces from the house. • The work progressed at a slow pace. • He paced the room. • to pace out a distance of 100 yards

I. Word Study 5. pace n.a.a step made in walking; a stride b.the rate of speed at which a person, an animal, or a group walks or runsV.a.to walk or stride back and forth across b. to measure by counting the number of steps needed to cover a distance

Maheegun My Brother