L2 Cathedral.pptVIP

Lesson 2 Cathedral (1983) Raymond Carver I. Pre-reading Tasks 1. What are the famous cathedrals in the world and try to describe them? (绘画或图片展示) 2.Why is there so little communication between many husbands and wives nowadays? II. While-reading Tasks 2.1Raymond Carver (1938-1988) Influential short story writer of the last decades of the 20th century; influence comparable to Hemingway’s in the earlier part of the century Born in Clatskanie, Oregon, raised in Pacific Northwest, married girlfriend right after high school (divorced in 1982) Blue-color background: worked as janitor, sawmill worker (like his father); he often wrote about lower middle class workers Struggled with alcoholism, like his father; quit drinking in 1977 Raymond Carver (1938-1988) got college degree and received M.F.A. from prestigious University of Iowa Writers Workshop (from which Flannery O’Connor had graduated) Taught at several universities, including Syracuse University in New York state Married poet Tess Gallagher in 1988; died that year of lung cancer Raymond Carver (1938-1988) His style has been called “minimalism” for its simple, spare narration; Carver rejected the term because it “smacks of smallness of vision and execution.” Some early stories are bleak but later ones, like Cathedral, developed a more positive, spiritual dimension. 2.2 Minimalism In the 1970s and 1980s, a mode of writing known as Minimalism became very popular. Minimalism presents what is often a bare, simplified snapshot of some event, insisting that the reader imagine the rest of the circumstances and guess about their impact. Minimalism can be characterized by ordinary subject matter, straightforward narratives, and slightness of story. Minimalism reflects a number of contemporary thoughts. First of all this style reflects the growing complexities of the world by refusing any attempts at explaining the presented reality to the reader. Minimalism also suggests that contemporary life has become too bland and