Unit Three The Fourth of July

1. Unit Three The Fourth of July

2. Background Information • Audre Lorde(1934--1992) she was a Carribbean-American writer, poet and activist. She attended Hunter College and Columbia University and later became a professor of English at HunterCollege in New York. Her writings included Between Ourselves(1976)and Chosen Poems(1982). "The Fourth of July"is taken from her autobiography, Zami:ANew Spellingof My Name(1982).

3. Background Information Lorde identified issues of class, race, age,gender and even health as being fundamental to the female experience. In Audre Lorde's own words,she was a"black,lesbian, mother,warrior,poet." Her writings are based on the "theory of difference", the idea that the binary opposition between men and women is overly simplistic: although feminists have found it necessary to present the illusion of a solid, unified whole, the category of women itself is full of subdivisions.

4. Background Information • Independence Day Independence Day,commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

5. Independence Day • Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, and political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States.

6. Pre-reading Questions • Pre-reading Questions 1: What is special with the date, the Fourth of July in the United States. 2: What does the name Washington, D.C. signify? 3: What do you think of the title and the content of the text?

7. Detailed Study • The first time I ...stop being a child. on the edge of: at the beginning of be supposed to do sth: be required to do sth be expected to do sth You are supposed to hand in your homework today, Everybody is supposed to buckle up in the car.

8. Washington D.C. Washington D.C.,formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved thecreation of a federal district to become the national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution.

9. Washington D.C. • Architecture The architecture of Washington varies greatly. Six of the top 10 buildingsof "America's Favorite Architecture" are located there. the White House; the Washington National Cathedral; the Thomas Jefferson Memorial; the United States Capitol; the Lincoln Memorial; and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

10. Washington D.C. The White House

11. the Washington National Cathedral

12. Washington D.C. The Thomas JeffersonMemorial

13. Washington D.C. • The Lincoln Memorial

14. Washington D.C. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

15. Detailed Study • But as graduation...famous capital of our country. fabled: legendary,very famous and often talked about but rarely seen. he is a fabled student in our college. Beijing is a fabled city to Yunnan students . Why did the family go on a Fourth of July trip? What does the first paragraph tell us?

16. Detailed Study • Preparations were in the air...school was even over. • in the air: • people all have a similar feeling, esp. a feeling that sth exciting or new is happening. • there was great excitement in the air • there was a feeling in the air that it was time for a change. • Paraphrase: Preparation were being made in our house even before the school was closed for the summer vacation.

17. Detailed Study • In fact, my first trip...after Philadelphia. • mobile: sth that can be moved easily and quickly. • a mobile shop • mobile phone • feast: a large and special meal, esp a lot of people celebrate sth. • a feast for eyes as well as for palate • ensconce:if you ensconce yourself somewhere, you put yourself into a comfortable or safe position. • I ensconced myself in an armchair. • How do you understand the mobile feast?

18. Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of American Independence, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Bells were rung to mark the reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776, and while there is no contemporary account of the Liberty Bell ringing, most historians believe it was one of the bells rung.

19. Detailed Study • My mother had roasted...bite-size pieces. • dainty: delicious have a very pleasant taste • be dainty about sth: • be particular about sth • be picky about • bite-size food: a mouthful of food : the amount you can put in your mouth at one time

20. Detailed Study • She packed slices of brown...Cushman's Bakery. • slice: wide flat thin piece • violently: extremely bright and almost painful to look at • her dress was a violent pink • scallop:n.a shellfish that can be eaten, with two flat round shells that fit together. • Scallop:v.decorate the edge of sth with small curves. • They decorated the cake with scalloped edges.

21. Marigold • Marigold: any of various types of a garden plant with orange or yellow flowers.

22. Detailed Study • There was a spice bun...mayonnaise jar. • Spice bun: a bun to which spices were added during the making process.

23. Detailed Study • rock cake：a small currant cake with a hard rough crust. • Mayonnaise: thick creamy sauce made of egg-yolks, oil and vinegar, used esp. on cold foods such as salads.

24. Detailed Study • There were sweet pickles...keep them from bruising. • pickles: vegetables preserved in vinegar or salt water. • fuzz: fluff, short, fine hair that sticks up. • bruise: If a fruit, vegetable, or plant bruises or is bruised, it is damaged by being handled roughly, making a mark on the skin. • ...bruised tomatoes and cucumbers... • Be sure to store them carefully as they bruise easily.

25. Detailed Study • And for neatness... for wiping sticky mouths. • dampen: to make sth slightly wet • Perspiration dampened her face and neck. • He dampened his hair to make it lie flat. • rosewater: a liquid made from roses which has a pleasant smell. • glycerine: a thick sweet colourless liquid made from fats and oils and used in medicines, beauty products and explosives • Please give a list of different foods the writer's mother had prepared and packed.

26. Detailed Study • I wanted to eat...same hands had been just before. • remind sb of sthremind sb that... • I remind my students that we will have a quiz on Tuesday. • for the umpteenth time: sth happens again and again and you feel annoyed when it happened too many times. • For the umpteenth time, I tell you I don't know. • Besides adv also in addition moreover

27. Detailed Study • I learned later...would not be happy. • Senior:student in the year before graduation from a high school or college. • Nun: a lady who promises to serve god all through her life. • Deposit: part of a large sum, and the rest of it you have to pay later. • in private: with no one elso present. • She asked to see him in private.

28. Detailed Study • We still take among-you...measly fleabag hotel. • among-you: your kind; you in a group. • avow: declare admit confess openly • avow my commitment to the communism • Measly: very small very disappoiting • fleabag hotel: cheap dirty hotel Paraphrase: We will still take you, all three of you, to Washington... not merely staying for one night in a small lousy hotel.

29. Detailed Study • In Washington D.C.,..who was in real estate. • double bed: a bed for two people. • cot: a small narrow bed that can be folded up. • A camp bed or a bunk bed on a ship is a typical cot. • back-street: a very narrow and small street with little traffic. • real estate: is a kind of business that sells house land and building.

30. Detailed Study • ...and I spent the whole...she was black. • Mass: in the roman catholic church, church ceremony. it is a celebration of Christ's last supper,people eat bread and drink wine to memorize it. • squint: look at sth with your eyes half shut. • squint at/through/up • squint through the keyhole • the bright sunlight made me squint • I squinted at her in the sun. • Auditorium:a really big room in a school or theater, where audience could watch or listen.

31. Lincoln Memorial • Lincoln Memorial • The Lincoln Memorial is an American memorial built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor of the main statue (Abraham Lincoln, 1920) was Daniel Chester French.

32. Marian Anderson • Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897 – April 8, 1993) • She was an African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century. Music critic Alan Blyth said "Her voice was a rich, vibrant contralto of intrinsic beauty."

33. D.A.R. D.A.R.:The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence.

34. Detailed Study • I was squinting...exposed to the summer brightness. • dilate: cause sth to become wider, large or further open. • the pupils of your eyes dilate when you enter a dark room. • vulnerable: to be easily physically, emotionally and mentally hurt, influenced or attacked. • As you are very young , you are vulnerable to temptation and fraud • be Exposed to sth: leave sth uncovered and unprotected • My skin is exposed to the sun.

35. Detailed Study • Paraphrase: • As they were often exposed to the summer brightness, my eyes became larger and wider and more vulnerable, which made me suffer silently and terribly throughout all of my childhood summers, from the time school let out in June to the end of July. As I was in that silent agony my eyes were half shut or turned sideways while looking at things.

36. Detailed Study • I viewed Julys...for Black people in this country. agonizing:something that causes you to feel great physical or mental pain. corolla:The petals of a flower considered as a group or unit and usually of a color other than green. dazzling :A dazzling light is so bright that you cannot see for a short time after looking at it a dazzling white light Travesty distortation, used in order to say that something is extremely bad and is not what it is claimed to be. Their marriage was a complete travesty.

37. Detailed Study • Even the pavement...than back home. • A shade: small amount I think it's a shade warmer today. • She feels a shade better than yesterday. • Paraphrase: Even the footpath or sidewalk on the streets was lightly lighterin color than back home.

38. Detailed Study • We were a proper caravan... in-between. • caravan: a group of people traveling together across a place such as a desert. • in-'between: in the middle between two points, sizes, periods of time etc. • Paraphrase: We were just like a group of tourists traveling together across a desert, feeling hot and thirsty, mother in possession of a bright complexion, father a brown complexion, and the three of us girls looking neither bright nor brown, but in gradual shades from bright to brown.

39. Detailed Study • My father decreed yet another treat. • Decree: give an official order • Decree sth • Decree that • The president decreed that there will be a full investigation • Paraphrase: My father decided to give us another special treat.

40. Detailed Study • He had great sense of history... and a trip. • flair:natural ability to do sth well 天资; 天分: • He doesn't show much flair for the piano. • Oxymoron: two words used together which have, or seem to have, opposite meanings • a deafening silence • a cruel kindness • specialness: a state of being particular, being out of the ordinary; peculiarity. • How do you understand the sentence"He had a great sense of history."?

41. Detailed Study • Indoors, the soda...my scorched eyes. • fan-cooled: cooled by blowing a current of air on with or as if with a fan. • my scorched eyes: my eyes affected by strong light and heat; my eyes injured by heat. • Paraphrase: Inside the store, the soda fountain was glum and gloomy and cooled by electric fans, which agreeably relieved my eyes of the strong sunlight and heat outdoors.

42. Detailed Study • Corded and crisp and pinafored...at the counter. • corded: tied, bound, or connected by thick strings or laces. • crisp: with a stiff, uncreased, or unspoiled surface. • pinafored: wearing a sleeveless, collarless outer garment that is tied at the back. • Paraphrase: Still wearing our well-tied, smoothly-ironed outer garments, the five of us seated ourselves on by one on counter stools.

43. Detailed Study • Along the white mottled marble counter: • marbled: like marble • marbled skin: smooth skin, • marbled heart:a cold heart • Marbled meat: with lines of fat in it • Paraphrase: a long the counter made of white marble marked with patches of different colors without any regular patterns

44. Detailed Study • Straight-backed...we had never been Black before. • Indignant: you are very angry ,and that anger has a reason when you are treated unfarly • be indignant with sb at sth • She is very indignant at the way she was treated • Stool:a backless and armless single chair ,normally found in a bar • March: walk like a soldier with regular steps so it connotes walk purposefully and with great determination • I marched in and demanded an apology • How do you understand "as if we had never been Black before"?

45. Detailed Study • No one would...anything other than a guilty silence. • Guilty: when you do sth wrong, you feel unhappy and ashamed. • guilty silence: silence affected by a sense of guilt. • Here, the word guilty is used as a transferred epithet.

46. Detailed Study • My parents wouldn't...and avoided it. • anticipate: to see what might happen in the future and take action to prepare for it • anticipate the storm by shutting the window • Try and anticipate what the interviewers will ask. • Paraphrase: The parents suffered from the sense of guilt because they let their children experience the social discrimination, they believed they did not take full measures to distance their children from the injustice.

47. Detailed Study • My fury was not going to be acknowledged by a like fury. • acknowledge: If you acknowledge a fact or a situation, you accept or admit that it is true or that it exists. • the government has acknowledged the problem... • he acknowledged that he was a drug addict • Paraphrase: My rage was not going to be echoed by a similar fury.

48. Detailed Study • Even my two sisters...anti-American had occurred. • Copy: imitate, mimic, follow as a pattern or model. • Anti-American: Opposed or hostile to the government, official policies, or people of the United States. • Paraphrase: Even my two sisters followed my parents pretending that nothing unusual and anti-american had happened.

49. Detailed Study • ...Made me sick to my stomach. • Paraphrase: • 1:made me feel sick at heart; • 2:deeply affected me with repellent or repulsive disgust; • 3: made me obsessed with the detestable experience.

50. Thank You!