高级英语第一册Unit4 Everyday Use.pptVIP

Unit4 Everyday Use Alice Walker Alice Walker (1944-), poet, novelist and essayist, was born Into a poor rural family in Eatonton, Georgia. Her writing career began with the publication of a volume of poetry in 1968,with was followed by a number of novels, short stories critical essays and more poetry. Her works include The Life of Grange Copeland(1970), Meridian (1976), a biography of Langston Hughes (1973), a volume of poetry Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems (1973), a collection of short stories In Love and Troubles: Stories of Black Women (1973) and a recent novel The Temple of My Familiar (1989). Her most significant novel is The Color Purple, published in 1982. Everyday Use “Everyday Use” (1973) is included in the Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, 2nd, Edition, 1981. It describes three women. The mother is a working woman without much education, but not without intelligence or perception. The two daughters form a sharp contrast in every conceivable way: appearance, character, personal experiences, etc. The story reaches its climax at the Moment when Dee, the elder daughter, wants the old quilts only to be refused flatly by the mother, who intends to give them to Maggie, the younger one. The old quilts, made from pieces of clothes worn by grand- and great-grand parents and stitched by Grandma’s hand, are clearly a symbol of the cultural heritage of black people. Their different feelings about the quilts reveal their different attitudes towards their heritage as blacks. Effective Writing Skills 1. Successful portrayal of characters 2. Using many elliptical and short, simple sentences to achieve certain effect E.g. When the hard clay is swept clean as a floor and the fine sand around the edges lined with tiny, irregular grooves. Before the word “lined,” the link verb “is” is omitted. 3. Using languages which suit the background of characters E.g. the church and me is incorrect grammar, and it should be the church and I. Rheto