综合英语BookIII_Unit13.pptVIP

Unit 13 Christmas Contents I Background II Questions III Text structure IV The Writing style V Language points VI Discussion VII Homework I Background About the author: Floyd Dell (1887—1969 ), U.S. versatile and prolific writer and an editor for several newspapers and magazines. “Christmas” is an excerpt from his Homecoming— An Autobiography (1933). About the author Floyd Dell was born on 28th June, 1887 in Pike County, Missouri. His father, Anthony Dell, found it difficult to find regular work and the family experienced a great deal of poverty. At school Dell developed a love of reading. He later claimed that it was books by William Morris and Frank Norris helped convert him to socialism. At sixteen, he joined the Socialist Party and gave speeches on street-corners about his political beliefs. He also produced material for a small Socialist monthly, Tri-City Workers Magazine. About the author Dell believed that the everyday life of the middle and working classes provided subjects worthy of serious literary treatment. Dell valued authenticity and accuracy of detail and welcomed those like Russell and Phillips who wanted to use literature to bring about social reform. Dell, like most of the people working with The Masses, was opposed to USA involvement in the WWW I. After the USA declared war on the Central Powers in 1917, The Masses came under government pressure to change its policy. When it refused to do this, the journal lost its mailing privileges. About the author After the war Dell published the best-selling autobiographical novel, Moon-Calf (1920). Other novels such as The Briary-Bush (1921), Janet Marsh (1923) and Runaway (1925), were less successful. As well as writing for the left-wing magazines such as the New Masses (1924-39) Dell produced several non-fictional works including Upton Sinclair (1927), Love in the Machine Age (1930) and an autobiography, Homecoming (1933). Floyd Dell died in 1969. II Questions 1.