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Lesson Eight
1.
Discuss the metaphor of drama used by
Cowley to describe the role of an old
person.
The
author compares the old life to a drama, elderly
people play a new role in it
that must
be improvised. That is because old age gives
nobody any mental preparation
to
get
oneself
ready
for
it.
What’s
more,
t
he
infirmities
are
likened
to
a
prompter,
reminding them of
the fact that they are old and should behave like
old people. This
metaphor vividly shows
the state of getting into the old age. And the
author suggests
that one has to act and
response to old age although getting old may
happen suddenly
to him or her.
2.
What is the implication of the
metaphor?
The author uses this image of
the captain
who stands on
the bridge of the ship and
bravely defy
against the overpowering force of the sea
to analogize
the
elderly
who
refuse to
surrender and stand up to the old age. He
expresses his admiration for the
captain as well as those old
people. He implied that one should
accept old age as a
series of
challenges instead of giving in.
3.
H
ow does the author explain
and illustrate “the vices of age”? Does he offer
any explanation for the formation of
such vices?
The author gives specific
explanations for the three vices of age he listed
--avarice,
untidiness and vanity:
?
Firstly, he
explains
avarice as
the old
people’s paranoiac insistence of
hoarding
money
through
exemplification.
He
also
discusses
the
reason
for
it--
the
accumulation of money, which is
regarded as a form of power by the elderly, can
give them a sense of comfort.
?
And secondly,
as for untidiness, the author uses the story of
Collyer to illustrate
the old persons’
habit of accumulating junks as well as the bad
consequence of i
t,
and
points out
two reasons
for
the formation of it---laziness and their belief
that
things including their bodies,
which were once useful, should be preserved.
?
Finally, with
regard to
vanity, the author
uses several
examples of an athlete, a
physician, a judge and others to
explain why it forms--with less expectation for
the future, the elderly yearn for
recognition of what they have been.
4. Tell how the tone and
figures of speech used by Cowley describe the
pleasure
of sitting still.
1)
The
pleasure
of
sitting
still
is
expressed
in
a
tone
of
positive.
The
author
appreciates the relaxation, peace and
tranquility of sitting still.
2)
The figures of
speech used by the author includes
?
Analogy:
draw
an
analogy
between
an
old
man
sitting
still
and
a
snake
on
a
sun-warmed
stone
?
transferred epithet: a delicious
feeling of indolence
“delicious” is often used to
modify food, but here it is transferred
to modify people’s feeling of indolence
?
rhetorical
question
：
but why, do they
work so hard when the most they can hope
for is a longer obituary?
?
Contrast:
contrast between old people’s relaxation and young
people’s suffering
of the competition
with others
?
Rhyme: scrounging and gouging
?
Specific
details
5.
What
are
the
physical
compensations
of
old
age
and
how
does
Cowley
illustrate them?
1)
Physical
compensations are like dozing in the sun and the
satisfaction of a few of
the simplest
needs such as eating and sleeping.
2)
Cowley
illustrates them by exemplification, analogy,
contrast and so on.
3)
When it comes to illustrating the
pleasure of sitting still, the author uses analogy
and contrast.
4)
In order to
illustrate the pleasure of eat and sleep, the
author uses the example of
an old woman
in nursing house who can only look forward to
meals and sleep.
However, to young
people, sleep is a mere interruption of their
work.
These are
physical compensations of old age
6.
Show how the analogy used in the poem
“Terminus” helps convey its theme.
1)
By analogizing
one’s life to a voyage,
the
god of bounds to destiny, the finality
of life to the shore,
one’s
ambitions to the
branches and roots,
one’s
horizons to
the firmament, the author
suggested some disadvantages of aging.
2)
The
god
of
destiny
brings
infirmity
and
senility
which
is
a
kind
of
restraint,
leaving
elderly
people
unable
to
exert
their
strength
and
continue
with
their
ambitions.
3)
What’s
more,
he
limit
s
old
people’s
imagination
and
creativity
and
finalizes
their death.
7. What does
the writer think of giving up?
1)
The writer thinks giving up is the
greatest temptation of age. The givers-up
see no reason for working. They decide
that their efforts are useless.
2)
The author thinks that he
hasn’t the right to blame them, not being able to
put
himself in their shoes.
3)
He sympathizes with their
problems and understand their reasons for giving
up, but he admires those who accept old
age as a series of challenges and make