1、A Debt to Dickens？Main ideaThis text tells us about the most indelible experiences the writer went through when she lived an isolated life as a child in the remote Chinese countryside.The text describes and relates how she discovered and read and digested Dickens novels. It highlights the ways the w

2、riter benefited immensely from Dickens.ContentBrief introduction of author & DickensStructural analysisParagraph analysisPearl S. Buck（June 26, 1892March 6, 1973）Chinese name Sai Zhenzhu (賽珍珠）In 1892born in the United States3 months oldwas taken to ChinaIn 1579his father passed awayIn 1934moved perm

3、anently to the USFrom 1920 to 1933On the campus of Nanjing UniversityIn 1938won the Nobel Prize in literature for The Good EarthIntroduction of authorHer Works A bridge for Passing Come, My Beloved East Wind: West Wind Fighting Angel the Hidden Flower Imperial Woman The God Earth All Man Are Brother

4、sDickensthe foremost English novelist ;the greatest critical realist writer of the Victorian era;one of the Englishlanguages greatest writer.First success:The Pickwick Papers, 1836Next: Oliver Twist,1837 Nicholas Nickleby ,1838-39Barnaby Rudge,1841 BackStructural analysisSection 1(Para 1):It states

5、the writing purpose:to express a feeling of warm gratitude to Charles Dickens.Section 2(Para 23):It gives an account of her special childhood, her feeling of loneliness and alienation.Section 3(Para 47):It describes how she discovered Dickens and benefited from reading his novels.Detailed ReadingPar

6、agraph AnalysisPara. 11)How do you interpret the debt which the writer has owed since she was seven years old ?2) In the eyes of the writer, what is the best way to pay her debt to Charles Dickens? Paraphrase It is no burden, except as the feeling of warm gratitude may ache in one until it is expres

7、sed.My debt is not a burden at all, but I may feel anxious and worried if I do not express my great thanks.I know no better way to meet my obligation than to write down what Charles Dickens did in China for an American child.I know the best way to fulfill my duty is to write downLanguage points Ache

8、: 1)feel painThe noise of the traffic made my head ache. 2)have a strong desire to do something ache to do somethingShe is aching to won the first place in the writing competition. Inestimable: too precious to be estimatedHis advice has been of inestimable value to us.Language points Render: 1)give

9、or supplyThe estate rendered some revenue for the family. 2)cause to becomeThe shot rendered her immobile. 3) give backThe sages of ancient times taught us to render good for evil. Obligation: moral or legal duty to do somethingYou can look at the books without any obligation to buy. Obligatory: com

10、pulsoryBackPara. 2-3What is the message that is stressed in the second paragraph? What is the main idea of Paragraph 3? ParaphraseIn the near distance wound that deep, treacherous, gloden river, the Yangtse, and some of the most terrifying and sinister, as well as the most delightful and exciting mo

11、ments of that childs life, were spent beside the river.(分析一下句子成分）Not far away, the Yangtse, bright yellow in color, wound its way along, deep, dangerous and unpredictable. Beside this river, the child spent her childhood, with some of the most terrifying and dangerous, as well as the most delightful

12、 and exciting moments.ParaphraseOnce when she was very small, before she knew better, she turned as worms will, and flung back a word she had learned among the boat folk when they quarrelled.For a long time, she had been bearing their teasing laughter, and this time she stroke back with a bad word s

13、he learned from the boat folk though she was very small because she couldnt bear any more.However kindly the people about her might be, and they were much more often kind than not, she knew that she was foreign to them.No matter how friendly and kind the people around her might be ,and they were ver

14、y kind indeed, she felt she was alien to them.( more often than not: most of the time; usually)Language pointsPerch: to come to sit; rest; settle Perch down/on/upon/over The birds like to fly and perch on rooftops, but none have flown away.Treacherous:1) dangerous, esp. when something seems to be sa

15、feThere are treacherous currents in the bay.2) tending to betrayHis treacherous actions brought ruins on himself.BackPara.4-7Why did the narrator say she was an impossible voracious reader? InwhatwayswasthenarratorgreatlybenefitedorenlightenedbyDickens?ParaphraseBut being desperate she put a three-c

16、ornered bamboo stool on top of a small table and climbed up and stared at the bindings and in faded black titles she read “Oliver Twist,” by Charles Dickens.But she wanted very much to get these books, so she put a three-cornered bamboo stool on top pf a small table and climbed up. She stared at the

17、 covers and, among the black titles which had lost colour over the years, she discovered Oliver Twist, written by Charles Dickens.ParaphraseShe took “Oliver Twist” out of his place it was fat and thick, for “Hard Times” was bound with it and in great peril descended, and stopping in the pantry for a

18、 pocket full of peanuts, she made off to a secret corner of the veranda into which only a small, agile child could squeeze, and opened the closely printed pages of an old edition, and discovered her playmates.She took out Oliver Twist, very thick with Hard Times bound with it, and came down carefull

19、y. After she got a pocket of peanuts at the pantry, she hurried to a secret corner of the corridor, which was hardly big enough to hold a very small child. There she opened the old a version of the novel and found her playmates.ParaphraseThis program I carried on consistently, over and over, for abo

20、ut ten years, and after that I still kept a Dickens book on hand, so to speak, to dip into and feel myself at home again. I kept reading the novels one after another, again and again, for about ten years. After that, I still had one at hand always. It can be said that I would pick it up and read a f

21、ew pages whenever I felt like it, just to feel comfortable again.Paragraph 7The last paragraph associated with the first one in the following way:In the first paragraph, the writer makes it clear that she has owned Dickens a heavy debt, and she knows no better way to honor her obligation than to wri

22、te down what Dickens did for her.The last paragraph begins with “This is what Charles Dickens did for me.” And she continues to point out:“His influence I cannot lose. He made himself a part of me forever.”Thus, the concluding part of the narrative test is naturally connected with the beginning part

23、.Language pointsVoracious: having a strong desire to door have a lot of sth.The wolf is a voracious animal, its hunger never satisfied.Somber: dark and without any bright colorsA funeral is a somber occasion.Indefatigable: incapable or seemingly incapable of being fatigued; tirelessHis indefatigable spirit helped him to cope with his illness.Language point