-
Unit 4
Preparing for
College
I
Teaching Objectives
1
Introducing the
autobiographical genre as in contrast with other
literary genres
2
Raising students interest in the text
by referring to some central issues in higher
education such as :
quality
–
orientation vs. test-
orientation
the role of the teacher and
the role of the learner
the adequacy of
the college entrance examination system
the essence and value of higher
education
so as to develop
the students? critical ability
.
3
Discussing
learner
differences (in
motivation, objective,
cognitive pattern etc)
in
second
language
acquisition,
referring
to
the
author
as
an
example,
and
encouraging students to
examine their own cases.
II
Teaching time: six class
periods
III
Teaching Procedure:
Step 1
W
arm-up Questions
1.
What?s your
general impression of the text? In what way is it
interesting?
2.
What?s
the
narrator?s
educational
background?
How
is
it
different
from
yours?
3.
Can you sum up
in your own words the kind of preparation the
narrator made
for his college
education?
4.
Why
is Nixon
special to the
narrator?
Do
you
think
he
is a
good
teacher? In
what way is he
good and special?
5.
Why
are
those
“Saturday evening conversations”
fascinating to
the
narrator?
What
has
he
learned
from
those
conversations?
In
what
sense
are
those
evenings the
preparation for Stephen to enter a university?
6.
What was your
preparation for college studies?
7.
Have
you
ever
come
across
teachers
like
Nixon,
or
any
teacher
who
has
1
influenced
you
tremendously,
i.e.
someone
you?ll
rememb
er
for
your
whole
life?
8.
Don?t
you
think
the text
is
not
just about
how an
individual
student prepares
for
his college education? What
message does the author
intend to convey to
us?
9.
What?s
your opinion of
good
college education and adequate
preparation
fo
r
it?
Step 2
Relevant Information
1.
Homer
(8
th
century
B.C.)
---
the
Greek
epic
poet
to
whom
are
attributed
the
Iliad
and the
Odyssey
, the
greatest epic poetry of all
time.
The
Iliad
,
the tale
of the siege of Troy
, is an
epic poem in twenty-four books. The
Odyssey
is an
epic
poem
which
records
the
adventures
of
Odysseus
or
Ulysses
,
a
Greek
leader
in
the
Trojan
War,
a
legendary
war
waged
anywhere
from
the
11
th
to
the
14
th
century B.C. It is also
in twenty-four books.
2.
Caius
Julius
Caesar
(100-44B.C.)---Roman
general
and
administrator
who
made
himself
master
of
the
Roman
world
by
defeating
Pompey
the
Great(106-48B.C.),
the
Roman
general
and
statesman
before
him.
Caesar
ruled supreme until
he was assassinated by a group of conspirators
headed by
Marcus Brutus and Cassius.
3.
Robert
Owen
(1771-1858)---British
socialist
reformer
and
founder
of
cooperative communities. He strove
against social disorders brought about by
the
Industrial
Revolution
and
urged
Parliament
to
enact
laws
that
would
alleviate the bad working conditions
in British
factories. He
assisted the trade
union
movement.
He
discouraged
the
hiring
of
children.
He
established
a
cooperative society for the purchase
and sale of commodities.
Step 3
Organization of the text
Part 1
(Paragraphs 1
–
4)
He
failed
in
a
number
of
examinations
required
for
entering
the
University
of
2
California and the cause
of it.
Part 2
(Paragraphs 5 -12)
His private tutor, Mr. Nixon, exerted
great influence on him; he encouraged his pupil
to think and discover all by himself.
Part 3
(Paragraphs 13 - 15)
He
found
the
best
preparations
for
college
in
the
stimulating
Saturday
night
conversations among all those Oxford
and Cambridge men.
Step 4
Analysis of the text
Direction:
Analyzing
the
text
with
two
focuses:
characterization
and
the
significance of “those
Saturday evening conversations”
1
Characterization
About
Steffen, the narrator
A
What
happened
to
him
when
he
sat
for
the
entrance
examination?
Why
did
he
fail?
B
What kind of student would you describe
Steffen?
a
Not
“made for” the examinations
不是
“
考试型
”
的学生
b
Not “made for ”
standardization of education
C
What?s typical
of Steffen?s learning habit?
a
Learning what
he is interested in
b
Learning what he thinks is relevant to
him
D
How would
you evaluate such learning pattern?
E
In
contrast
with
Steffen,
what
kind
of
students
are
the
“elect”
as
defined
by
Steffen? Do
you
have students of this kind around
you? What?s
your opinion of
them?
a
able to do well, to memorize/recite
what they are asked to;
b
“quiz kids”
c
Learning to win
honour, to compete with others,
d
Learning for
the sake of learning, lacking intellectual
curiosity
3
About Steffen’s parents
A
What?s special
about the way they brought up Steffen?
B
What did they
do after Steffen?s failure in
examination?
a
sending him to a best private school
b
finding him a
tutor
c
giving him enough freedom
About Evelyn Nixon
A
How much do we
know about Nixon ?s background?
a
An Englishman
b
Oxford graduate (double-first) with
distinction
c
Coming to San Francisco for health
reason (lung-trouble)
d
Teaching Greek, Latin /English at
school/ private tutor to Steffen
B
How would you
describe Nixon as a teacher?
a
eliciting /
method of elicitation
b
stimulating students interest/curiosity
c
encouraging students to solve problems
by their own
d
open and liberal-minded
About Nixon’ friends
A
learned
scholars (precise, accurate, innovative, creative)
B
integrated
upright
scholars
(with
cultivating/conflicting
minds,
respecting
truth
but truth
only
, appreciating the good and the
beautiful)
C
gentlemen
in
true
sense
(with
different
religious
belief,
different
political
allegiance, but
courteous and respectful to each other)
D
critical,
open-minded
and
with
immense
intellectual
curiosity
(to
explore
the
unknown, to seek truth in the universe)
The significance of “those
Saturday evening conversations”
A
witty conversations (free, passionate,
profound, refined, eloquent, etc.)
B
revealing the desirable approaches for
knowledge pursuit
C
revealing the
desirable qualities in good scholars
4
[After
discussing each point above,
refer
students
to the paragraph(s) concerned,
so as to reinforce the students?
adequate understanding of the text.]
Step 5
background information
1
Homer
The
Greek
epic
poet
to
whom
are
attributed
the
Iliad
and
the
Odyssey
,
the greatest epic poetry of all
time. The Iliad, the tale of the siege
of
Troy (an
ancient
city
in
Asia
Minor),
is
an
epic
poem
in
twenty-four
books.
The
Odyssey
is
an
epic
poem
which
records
the
adventures
of
Odysseus
or
Ulysses, a
Greek
leader
in the
Trojan War, a
legendary war
waged anywhere
from the 11th
to the 14th century B.C. It is also in twenty-four
books.
2
Dante
Alighieri
Italian poet whose reputation
rests chiefly on
The Divine
Comedy (ca.
1309
–
1320), an epic poem that
describes
his spiritual
journey
through
Hell
and Purgatory and
finally
to Paradise, or
the
way of an
individual soul
from
sin to purification.
3
Caius Julius
Caesar
Roman
general
and
administrator
who
made
himself
master
of
the
Roman
world
by
defeating
Pompey
the
Great
(106
–
48
B.C.),
the
Roman
general
and
statesman
before
him.
Caesar
ruled
supreme
until
he
was
assassinated
by
a
group
of
conspirators
headed
by
Marcus
Brutus
and
Cassius.
4
Robert Owen
British
socialist
reformer
and
founder
of
cooperative
communities.
He
strove against social
disorders brought about by the Industrial
Revolution and
urged
Parliament
to
enact
laws
that
would
alleviate
the
bad
working
conditions
in
British
factories.
He
assisted
the
trade
union
movement.
He
discouraged
the
hiring
of
children.
He
established
a
cooperative
society
for
the
purchase
and
sale
of
commodities,
and
organized
cooperative
communities
to
create
a
better
environment.
William
Owen
is
said
to
be
a
5