B7 Unit8 Mr preble gets rid of__ his wife.ppt

1、Mr. Preble Gets Rid of His Wife,By James Thurber,Unit 11 Text I,Additional information about the author,James Thurber, one of the outstanding American humorists of the twentieth century, is known for his distinctively funny cartoons and short stories. His concise, witty prose spanned a breadth of ge

2、nres, including autobiography, fiction, childrens fantasy, and modern commentary, and two of his short stories, The Catbird Seat and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty are among the best-known classics of American literature.,The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1939) is a short story by James Thurber. The

3、 most famous of Thurbers stories. It first appeared in The New Yorker on March 18, 1939, and was first collected in his book My World and Welcome to It (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1942).It has since been reprinted in James Thurber: Writings and Drawings (The Library of America, 1996), and is one o

4、f the most frequently anthologized short stories in American literature. The story is considered one of Thurbers acknowledged masterpieces“. It was made into a 1947 movie of the same name, with Danny Kaye in the title role, though the movie is very different from the original story. The name Walter

5、Mitty and the derivative word Mittyesque have entered the English language, denoting an ineffectual person who spends more time in heroic daydreams than paying attention to the real world, or more seriously, one who intentionally attempts to mislead or convince others that he is something that he is

6、 not. In military circles, this usually refers to people who try and fake an impressive career. The story had an influence on other humorists, notably Mad founder Harvey Kurtzman, playwright George Axelrod (who employed Mitty-like fantasies in The Seven Year Itch),Thurber on humor.Humor is a kind of

7、 emotional chaos told about calmly and quietly in retrospect. Well, someone once wrote a definition of the difference between English and American humor. I thought his definition was very good. He said that the English treat the commonplace as if it were remarkable and the Americans treat the remark

8、able as if it were commonplace. I believe thats true of humorous writing.,Some Comments on Thurbers writing.E. B. White: During his happiest years, Thurber did not write the way a surgeon operates, he wrote the way a child skips rope, the way a mouse waltzes. E. B. White: His mind was never at rest,

9、 and his pencil was connected to his mind by the best conductive tissue I have ever seen in action. Peter De Vries: He was a storyteller, mimic, fantasist, realist, running commentator, and mine of information on every subject under the sun. The London Times said, There may be greater humorists writ

10、ing in America today than James Thurber, but none with quite his individual touch and his flavor.,Mr. Preble is a married, middle-aged suburbanite. After having fallen in love with his secretary, Preble begins to develop a plot to “get rid” of his wife. At home one night, after much suspicious behav

11、ior, Mr. Preble asks his wife to accompany him to the cellar. This is the opening gambit in their marital power struggle. Knowing her husbands motives, will Mrs. Preble allow herself to be eliminated so that her husband can run away with his secretary? The surprising outcome brings their marriage ba

12、ck to the status quo, which, in turn forces the audience to examine domestic power struggles in a new satirical light.,Detailed Study of the Text,Why did the stenographer laugh when Mr. Preble said, I dont suppose so? (Para.7) Why was Mr. Preble unusually silent at dinner one night? Why did Mr. Preb

13、le tell his wife the truth that he would like to get rid of her in the cellar? What does he mean when Mr. Preble said, “Youre never within a mile of what Im thinking”?,A: Questions on the content,5. What did Mr. Preble mean by saying “Women always expect to pick up a piece of iron anywhere”? 6. How

14、do understand the conversation at the end of the story? (- “All right,” said Mr. Preble. “Ill hurry.” - “And shut that door behind you!” she screamed after him. “Where were you bornin a barn?”) 7. What is the authors purpose of telling this story?,B. Questions on appreciation,What kind of life does

15、Mrs. Preble live? Is the story a tragedy or comedy? What details are given to show that Mr. Preble is a very weak character?; How do you understand the implication in Mrs. Prebles agreeing to go down to the cellar? Why would Mrs. Preble rather be buried in the cellar than get divorced?,C. Words and

16、expressions in the text (1),harp on (imfl and derog) to talk about sth. repeatedly or continually 嘮叨 e.g. She continued to harp on the theme of her wasted life. beat around the bush: delay talking about the most important part of a subject 說(shuō)話(huà)拐彎抹角， e.g. He beat around the bush for a half hour without

17、 coming to the point. What did Robert mean by beating around the bush? e.g. A fit of dizziness came over me, so I had to lie down. A great change came over his life.他的生活突然發(fā)生了巨大變化。,(sth.) come over sb. (whats come over you? Para.15) (of a sudden strong feeling ) to take hold of sb. strongly and stran

18、gely. get up sth.: arrange, organize （Para.16） put sb. up to (Para.33) if you put sb. up to sth. wrong or foolish or sth. that they would not normally do, you suggest that they do it and you encourage them to do it, used showing disapproval. 唆使某人做 e.g. How do you know he asked me out? You put him up

19、 to it. The big boy put the little ones up to the mischief in the class. be in on (informal): take part in, 參加， 在.中 e.g. She expressed her hope to the effect that she wanted to be in on the committee too.,The racket from outside the window made her unable to sleep, but she didnt know that her son wa

20、s also in on it. blab: (imfl) tell a secret e.g. Tom blabbed my confidences to everyone, I hate him. Dont confide in him, because he blabs.,D. About the arrangement of plot in the story,Plot is the causal arrangement of events and actions within a story. Therefore, when a reader describes the plot o

21、f a novel, he should describe both what happens to the characters and the meaning of these events.,A sequence of incidents that happen to the characters cause conflicts, or struggles (also called problems) Climax: point of highest tension and excitement in a narrative - the turning point of the stor

22、y. Resolution: Commonly called the “solution”, by resolution is meant that the characters problem being solved or going away.,Conclusion: The conclusion of a story is the last scene within the story. It is the final picture we have before the curtain falls at the end of the performance. Three basic

23、types of conclusions: closed, open and cliffhanger. Closed Endings: the endings that give us the warm fuzzy at the end of a story. There is a definite closure that allows us to leave the book feeling satisfied with the outcome. pen Endings: A story may end without a clear feeling of closure. The reader has to infer the outcomes based on t