Text Appreciation

●Text Analysis

1. General Analysis

● Plot:the cultivation of friendship between a boy and an old lady

● Setting:Bear wood

● Protagonists:"I" and Mrs. Robertson-Glasgow

● Writing techniques: go to Writing Devices

● Theme of the story:go to the next page

2. Theme

The theme is summed up at the very end. True friendship is both rare and precious. It exists deep in heart and does not change. It is enduring and rewarding.

3. Structure

1) Part 1 (paras. 1─4) about: The lonely boy found his pleasure in Bear Wood.

2) Part 2 (paras. 5─23) about: The boy met Mrs. Robertson-Glasgow in the Bear Wood and they became best friends.

3) Part 3 (paras. 24─27) about: Mrs. Robertson-Glasgow became sick and dead while their friendship flourished more than ever before.

4) Part 4 (paras. 28─37) about: The revelation of true love.

4. Further Discussion

Question:

1) What does the author intend to emphasize, using this sentence as the opening?

The author intends to impress the readers that the boy disliked moving very much. The comparison formed between "12" and "4" is impressive.

2) What can you learn from the first 3 sentences of Paragraph 2?

From the "Background information" we've already got a good idea that in Berkshire there are lots of historic interests, including some famous ancient castles. For little boys, ancient castles usually mean brave explorations and endless pursuit of mysterious treasures. The boy, however, had no taste for these kinds of things. Instead, he just loved nature. Maybe besides this reason, he was also trying to avoid any involvement with other boys.

3) In the beginning of the story, what did Bear Wood mean to the little boy?

● heaven—but a lonely heaven (Was he really happy about the situation?)

● a secret fortress (What to defend? Did it form attachments or loneliness?)

● almost a holy place (Why holy?)

● a private paradise (Who was going to intrude into it?)

4) What is the implication of Paragraph 7?

Following the 6 short sentences connected by 5 "ands" and 1 "so", the readers can feel, in a vivid way, the boy is not at ease and is eager to leave.

5) The owls are "introduced", "not native". What is indicated here?

In fact, neither the old lady nor the little boy is native in Berkshire. The only common thing is that they can share nature peacefully and happily with the introduced animals.

6) Compare the two sentences.

"… she was growing frailer and less inclined to laugh."

"I began to grow quickly. I played soccer and made a good friend."

With time passing, the old lady was dying; at the meantime, with the inspiration of the friendship, the boy was developing into a confident and open-minded boy and no longer afraid of having new friends.

7) What is the implication here?

The old lady was so kind to the boy. She was so involved in furthering the communication with the boy that he even failed to notice how ill she was. Of course, because she was quite open to him, he could understand her loneliness.

8) Why does the image of "the biscuit tin" reoccur so many times in the last part of the story?

Such an image entails a lot:

● the finest shortbread in the world made by the old lady;

● the everlasting friendship between them;

● the kindness best shown by the boy's favorite snacks even before her death;

● the odds and ends kept to remind how much the boy had learned from the old lady—not only knowledge about nature, but also about lively life and rewarding friendship.

● How did the boy come to live in England?

● How did he like the frequent moves?

● What did he usually do to amuse himself?

● Why did Bear Wood become his favorite?

● How did the boy come to meet Mrs. Robertson-Glasgow?

● How did they become friends?

● Why did they enjoy each other's company so much?

● What did the boy discover about the elderly woman?

● Can you imagine what kind of life she had had?

● How did the boy suddenly lose his dear friend?

● Why did the boy remember so fondly his days in the Bear Wood?

● Retell the story in your own words.

● Writing Devices

1. Homonyms

Homonyms:

words that happen to have the same sound and often the same spelling but differ in meaning. In dictionaries, they are put in different entries.

1. A ___ is an animal.

a. Bare b. bear

2. When it ___, it pours.

a. Rains b. Reigns c. reins

3. It is dishonest to ___.

a. Steal b. steel

4. A ___ is a type of tree.

a. Beach b. beech

5. Take me ___ your leader!

a. To b. Too c. two

6. What a ___ of good milk!

a. Waist b. waste

7. My ___ is naturally curly.

a. Hair b. hare

8. The team ___ the playoffs.

a. Won b. one

9. She vanished into thin ___.

a. Air b. heir

10. The ___ of France is Paris.

a. Capital b. capitol

11. Come ___ right this minute!

a. Hear b. here

12. The window ___ was cracked.

a. Pain b. pane

2. Antithesis

Antithesis:

the relation between successive units that are put in contrast

Familiarity sometimes makes people physically invisible, for you find yourself talking to the heart—to the essence, as it were, rather than to the face. (26)

Translation. Pay special attention to the italic words.

● Caring for a family member yourself can be enriching and rewarding but also demanding and draining.

● As a spot on the weather map, Rochester is one chilly town. But as a model for educational reform, it's shaping up as the hottest place in America.

● Terms like liberal and conservative do more to muddle than to clarify.

● 自己照顾家人，虽然可以让你在心灵上得到充实和回报，但这也是一份对你要求很高、甚至使你精疲力尽的工作。

● 在气象图上，罗彻斯特只是一个寒冷的小城。但作为教育改革的典范，该城市正渐渐成为全美的炙热焦点。

● 自由、保守等字眼非但没有澄清反倒让人糊涂。

3. Onomatopoeia

… I’d leave the bright sun and the twitter and rustle of insects and animals outside and creep into another world—a vaulted cathedral,…(4)

Onomatopoeia:

the formation of words that are like natural sounds

● the twitter of birds

● the rustle of leaves

● the hiss of the snake

● the gurgle of the water

● the cracking of the fire

● the cracking of the fire

● the fluttering of the flag

● the rumbling of the waves

● the tick-tock of the clock

Tom Carvel, 84, the ice-cream tycoon whose voice—a near-indescribable mix of grumble, mumble, rasp and gasp― peddled his company’s wares in radio and TV ads for 35 years, died in his sleep in Pine Plains, N.Y., Oct. 21.

"What be ye looking at?" asked a man who had not observed the incident.

"Ho-ho-ho!" laughed dark Car.

"Hee-hee-hee!" laughed the tippling bride, as she steadied herself on the arm of her fond husband.

"Heu-heu-heu!" laughed dark Car's mother, stroking her moustache as she explained laconically, "Out of the frying-pan into the fire!"

● Sentence Paraphrase

1. When I was 12 years old, my family moved to England, the fourth major move in my short life. (1)

2. My father's government job demanded that he go overseas every few years, so I was used to wrenching myself away from friends. (1)

1) In the past men generally preferred that their wives _______ in the home.

A. worked     B. would work

C. work     D. were working

2) Jean Wagner's most enduring contribution to the study of Afro-American poetry is his insistence that it ______ in a religious as well as worldly frame of reference.

A. is to be analyzed

B. had been analyzed

C. be analyzed

D. should have been analyzed

3. Loving nature, however, I was most delighted by the endless patchwork of farms and woodland that surrounded our house. (2)

4. In the deep woods that verged against our back fence, a network of paths led almost everywhere, and pheasants rocketed off into the dense laurels ahead as you walked. (2)

5. Keeping to myself was my way of not forming attachments that I would only have to abandon the next time we moved. (3)

● You can have it for the asking.

● I feel like going shopping today. How about you?

● Our family make a point of going to church every Sunday.

● The old lady had great difficulty getting on the bus.

● The children are having fun playing on the playground.

6. My own breathing rang in my ears, and the slightest stirring of any woodland creature echoed through this private paradise. (4)

7. I proceeded quietly, careful not to alarm a bird that might loudly warn other creatures to hide. (5)

● "They're not?" I asked, fascinated.

● At a quarter to three, he got up and crept downstairs, careful of the creaky boards, and let himself out.

● The cows looked at him, sleepy and surprised.

8. Soon I saw a small brick cottage that glowed pinkly in the westering sun. (18)

9. …and my well of knowledge about natural history began to brim over. (24)

10. Familiarity sometimes makes people physically invisible, for you find yourself talking to the heart—to the essence, as it were, rather than to the face. (26)

11. My mother was regarding me with a strange gentleness. (29)

12. It is a wisdom tutored by nature itself, about the seen and the unseen, about things that change and things that are changeless, and about the fact that no matter how seemingly different two souls may be, they possess the potential for that most precious, rare thing—an enduring and rewarding friendship. (37)