by Rod W. Horton & Herbert W. Edwards

I. Additional Background Knowledge

1.   Some terms:

--The Sad Young Men

--The Lost Generation

--The Beat Generation

--The Angry Young Men

--Greenwich Village

2.  Some literary figures:

--Gertrude Stein

--E. Hemingway

--F. Scott Fitzgerald

II. Introduction to the Passage

1.   Type of literature: a piece of expositive writing

2.   The thesis stated in the last paragraph of the essay

3.   The structural organization of this essay: clear and simple

--para. 1: introducing the subject

--paras. 2-9: supporting and developing the thesis

--paras. 10-11: bringing the discussion to an end

III. Effective Writing Skills:

1.  Effective use of topic sentences

2.  Developing a new but related aspect of the thought stated in the thesis in each paragraph or paragraph unit.

IV. Rhetorical Devices:

1.  metaphor

2.  personification

3.  metonymy

4.  transferred epithet

V. Special Difficulties

1.   Identifying and understanding Americanisms in this essay

--speakeasy

--sheik

--drugstore cowboy

--Babbitry

--flapper

--soap opera

2.   Understanding some terms

--Puritan morality

--provincial morality/artificial walls

--Victorian

--Prohibition

--the stalemate of 1915 – 1916

--Greenwich Village

--The Sad Young Men/The Lost Generation

--keep up with the Joneses

3.  Prefixes “-un” and “-in” (-im, -il, -ir) bearing a negative meaning

4.  Paraphrasing some sentences

5.   Identifying figures of speech

VI. Questions

1.  How did World War I affect the younger generation?

2.  Why did young intellectuals of this period emigrate to Europe?

3.  Why were these writers called the “lost generation”? Were they really lost?

4.  How does the writer develop his central thought? Does he support his opinions with convincing facts and details?

5.  Do you agree with the conclusion of the writer? Give your reasons. 　

Unit 11: The Future of the English

 by J. B. Priestley

I. Additional Background Knowledge

1.  A brief introduction to the author, Priestley:

--English novelist, dramatist and critic

2.  Admass

II. Introduction to the Passage

1.    Type of literature: part exposition and part persuasion or argument

--chief difference between exposition and argument

--honest persuasion and dishonest persuasion

--formal argument and informal argument

2.    The thesis stated in the title of the essay

3.    The structural organization of this essay: loose

4.    5 or 6 points of the argument around the central topic

5.    insufficient evidence to support the writer’s position, and his reasoning on some points not logically sound

6.    a quite informal piece of argument which appeals more to the emotion of his English readers

III. Style

1.    smooth and polished

2.    informal

IV. Rhetorical Devices:

1.    metaphor

2.    simile

3.    ellipsis

4.    transferred epithet

5.    metonymy

6.    euphemism

V. Special Difficulties

1.    Identifying and understanding British English in this essay

--to take a whip to

--whole troublesome mob of them

--cosy

--safe to say

--along the way

--shrug off

--nudge

2.    Understanding some colloquialism

--swing

--junk

--Victorian

3.    Paraphrasing some sentences

4.    Identifying figures of speech

5.    Understanding some important terms

--American counterculture

--Madison Avenue

--Hippy California

--Hippie

--road to Katmandu

--Englishness

--state of mind

--industrial action

--do-it-yourself

--repertory company

--Common Market

VI. Questions

1.    What role, according to Priestley, does instinctive feeling play in the behavior of an Englishman?

2.    How, according to the writer, are the real English people different?

3.    What is the dominant intention of this piece of argument? Is the proposition clearly stated?

4.  How does the writer make use of emotional appeals? Cite some examples.

5.  What conflicts or issues are put forward in this argument? Are all the conflicts resolved?

Unit 12: The Discovery of What It Means to Be an American by James Baldwin

I. Additional Background Knowledge

1. Some words about the author, James Baldwin, and his major works

--a leading Negro novelist and essayist in the 50’s

--a major spokesman for his race in the civil rights movement of the 60’s

2. Other Negro writers:

--Richard Wright

--Ralph Allison

 3. Expatriates

II. Introduction to the Passage

1. Type of literature: a piece of expository writing

2. The thesis expressed by the title of the essay

3. A brief discussion about the title of this essay:

--The Discovery of What It Means to Be an American or

--The Discovery of What It Means to Be an American Writer or

--The Discovery of What It Means to Be an American Negro Writer

4. Discoveries made in Europe

--five points

 5. A profound impact of Europe on Baldwin

III. Rhetorical Devices:

1  metaphor

2  simile

3   transferred epithet

IV. Special Difficulties

1    Some methods of developing ideas:

--a point by point analogy

--simultaneous comparison

--alternating comparison

2    Distinguishing synonyms:

--complex/complicated

--delusion/illusion

--intellectual/intelligent/clever

--probable/likely/possible

3    Paraphrasing some sentences

4    Identifying figures of speech

V. Questions

1  How did Baldwin discover “what it means to be an American?”

2  Why did the writer leave America for Europe?

3   Why did the writer go to Switzerland? Hoe did Bessie Smith help him?

4   Is the title well chosen? Could you suggest a more fitting title?

5  Comment on the first sentence of the essay. Is it an effective way of beginning this essay? Give your reasons.

6  What is the paradox in paragraph 13? How does the writer explain this paradox?

Unit 14: Loving and Hating New York

by Thomas Griffith

I. Additional Background Knowledge

1  A few words about the author

2  The importance of New York

II. Introduction to the Passage

1    Type of literature: a piece of expositive writing

2    The thesis stated in the title of the essay

3    The thesis developed by both objective and emotional description of New York and the life and struggle of New Yorkers

4   The structural organization of this essay: clear and simple

--paras. 1-5 acting as a general introduction

--the last sentence in the 5^th para. functioning as a transition to the actual description of New York city itself

 5  Full of American English terms, phrases and constructions.

III. Rhetorical Devices:

1.  metaphor

2.  personification

3.  metonymy

4.   transferred epithet

5.   alliteration

6.   simile

7.   synecdoche

8.   irony

9.   euphemism

IV. Special Difficulties

1.   Identifying and understanding Americanisms in this essay

--T-shirt

--holdout

--comeback

--put-down

--expense-account

--adman

--high-rise

--measure up

2.   Some terms/phrases/structures

--out-of-phase

--television generation

--economy of effort

--wrong side

--sitcoms cloned and canned

--Mecca

--measure up against

--Ivy League schools

--commercial Broadway/off-Broadway/off-off-Broadway

--Madison Avenue/Wall Street

--like seeks like

--Wasps

3.    Paraphrasing some sentences

4.   Identifying figures of speech

5.   Methods to develop the central idea of a paragraph: topic sentence

V. Questions

1.   In what fields can New York no longer be regarded as the leading American city?

2.   Why do many Europeans call New York their favorite city?

3.   Why did the writer go and live in New York?

4.   What technique does the writer use to develop his main theme? Is the technique effective? Cite examples.

5.   Does the writer really both love and hate New York? Cite examples to back up your analysis.

6.   Explain fully the following sentence from paragraph 11: “A market for knowingness exists in New York that doesn’t exist for knowledge.”