《大学思辨写作1》练习答案-Unit2EmpathyandJustice.doc

Unit 2 Empathy and Justice

Pre-class exploration

2. Look at the people around you. Select one of them and make a carefulobservation of this person such as his or her appearance, clothing, hairstyle, facialexpression and behavior (such as chewing gum or typing a text message). As youlook at the person, what general impression do you get? Do you like his or her lookor not? Does the person make you smile, chuckle, frown or feel annoyed? Then writedown your observations and discuss them with your partner.

Suggestions for instructors:

1 The instructor can ask students to describe someone in class in detail and let the others guess who that person is.

2 The instructor can provide some pictures from newspapers or magazines so that the students can use those as discussion materials. Ask one group to describea certain character in words and another group to draw the characterbased on the description.

Part I: Learning the Skills

Activity 1 Beaver Goes Shopping

Read the following story and discuss with your partner the techniques used in developing the character Beaver.

What Beaver says

Beaver talked to different animals about what food to buy. He communicated with several animals about his food.

What Beaver does

Beaver talked and acted and kept trying different food after listening to different people’s advice.

What Beaver thinks and feels

He felt sad ( unhappy) when he couldn’t find the food he wanted and happy when he got the carrots.

Activity 2

The following two passages are about two best friends, Deanna and Beverly. Read thetwo passages carefully and discuss with your partner the techniques the authors useto develop the characters in each passage. In Passage 2, highlight those sentences thatcan correspond tothe sentences ([1], [2], [3] and [4]) in Passage 1 and think about theimpact of these differences on readers’ impressions of the two characters.

The technique here is whether using showing or telling in character development. While the first uses telling, the second mostly used showing with specific details and dialogues.

Part II: Case Analysis

Activity 3

Read Text A and consider how the author keeps moving the plot of the story forward. What techniques are employed to develop the characters?

Task 1 Understanding the text

Character(s):

A policeman, the man waiting for his friend.

Setting:

Adimly-lightedstreet corner in New York at a chilly night.

Plot:
Beginning: A policeman was patrolling the street.
Middle: The man who was waiting for his friend talked to the policeman.

Ending: The man turned out to be a man wanted by the police.
Point of view:
Objective third point of view.
Theme:
Justice comes before friendship.

Task 2 Responding to the text

Write your answer to each question in full sentences. Then discuss your answers withyour partner.

1) What had happened in the past 20 years to Jimmy and Bob?

Jimmy became a policeman while Bob got rich by involving in criminal activities.

2) What kind of person was Jimmy in the eyes of Bob? Could you imagine Bob’sfeeling while he was waiting for Jimmy?
Jimmy was a nice and honest guy. He was excited and proud that he had been “successful”.

3) How did Jimmy deal with the awkward situation? He did not reveal his real identity.

4) If you were Jimmy, how would you deal with the awkward situation? Answers may vary.

Activity 4

Read Text B and consider how the author presents the change of the Selfish Giant. What techniques are employed to develop the character Giant?

Task 1 Understanding the text
Complete the chronological outline of the text. Include the most important events in the story.
1) Children liked to play in the Giant’s garden.

2)One day the Giant came back and _put a sign up to keep the garden to himself__. 3)Then the Giant had a long winterandspringnever came.

4) One morning the Giant heard some lovely music and saw a most wonderful sight.
5) Every afternoon, when school was over, the children came and played withthe Giant.
6) Years went over, and the Giant grew very old and feeble.

7) One winter morning he looked out of his window he found a tree covered with lovely white blossomsand underneath it stood the little boy he had loved.

8) When the children ran in that afternoon, they found the Giant lying deadunder the tree, all covered with white blossoms.

Task 2 Responding to the text

Write your answer to each question in full sentences. Then discuss your answers with your partner.

1) Why was the Giant unhappy to see the children playing in his garden when he cameback from his visit to his friend? Have you ever seen a similar phenomenon in your life?
He thought the garden was his and he did not want to share it with others.
2) How did the author present the Giant’s realization of his selfishness?

Through a monologue “my own garden is my own garden” and his action of putting a no trespassing sign.

3) What did the Giant gain by allowing the children to play in his garden? He gained happiness.
4) What role did the little boy play in the development of the story?

The little boy changed the selfish giant into a loving giant and as a symbolic figure(angel); he was very important.

Part III: Language Study

Activity 5

Read Text A and Text B and find more examples of concrete language and figurative language. Then discuss their functions with your partner.

Concrete language:

Text A
Text B
He was a kind of plodder,though, good fellow

as he was.

There was now a fine, cold drizzle falling, and
It was a large lovely garden, with soft green
the wind had risen from itsuncertain puffsinto
grass. … and there were twelve peach-trees
a steady blow. The few foot passengers astir in
thatin the spring-time broke out into delicate
that quarterhurrieddismally and silently along
blossoms of pink and pearl, and in theautumn
with coat collars turned high and
bore rich fruit.
pocketedhands.
Years went over, and the Giant grew very old

and feeble.
The two men started up the street, arm in
Every day for three hours he (the
arm. The man from the West, his
Hail)rattledon the roof of the castle till he
Egotismenlarged by success, was beginning to
broke most of the slates…
outline the history of his career.
The birds were flying aboutand twittering with
The other, submerged in his overcoat, listened
delight.
with interest.
Downstairs ran the Giant in great joy, and out

into the garden. He hastenedacross the grass,

and came near to the child.
Figurative language:

Text A
Text B
He and I wereraised here in New York, just like
Here and there over the grass stood beautiful
two brothers, together.
flowers like stars,
I’ve had to compete with some of
Once a beautiful flower put its head out from
thesharpestwits going to get my pile.
the grass, but when it saw thenotice-board it
A man gets in a groove in New York. It takes
was so sorry for the children that it slipped
the West toput a razor-edge on him.”
back into the groundagain, and went off to

sleep.
There was now a fine, cold drizzle falling, and
“You let me play once inyour garden, today
the wind had risen from itsuncertain puffs into
you shall come with me to my garden, which is
a steady blow.
Paradise.”

And the Giant’s heart melted as he looked out.

Activity 6

The following sentences are developed from the sentence Sheila replied, “I don’t know where he is.” With different concrete details, Sheila becomes different kinds of person. Discuss with your partner your understanding of what kind of person Sheila is in each context.

1) Sheila rolled her eyes and sighed loudly, then threw up her hands in exasperation and replied curtly, “I don’t know where he is.”

Sheila was quick-tempered.

2) Staring blankly out of the window, Sheila exhaled softly, closed her eyes for a moment and replied, “I don’t know where he is.”

Sheila was gentle.

3) Sheila stared at her mother, teary-eyed, shuddering with fear, and sobbingly replied, “I don’t know where he is.”
Sheila was timid /fearful.

4) Sheila continued to pass the items over the scanner, staring down at the counter, and without even looking at the customer, replied indifferently, “I don’t know where he is.”
Sheila was impolite.

Activities 7-8

Suggestions for instructors:

These two activities would help students to practice the characterization skills as well as characterization through concrete and/or figurative language.We suggest that the teacher could ask students to work on the two activities themselves first. If in class, the teacher could ask students to select one task from each activity and work in pair about 10 minutes. Then the teacher could ask students to share their work and arrange the whole class to appreciate their writing.

More examples for Activity 8

The old woman looked old and sad. A.

When I came out of the train, I heard someone sobbing. I headed towards the direction whereby the sobbing came from. I spotted an old woman with wrinkled skin and silver hair. She had teeth that had yellowed with age. She also looked miserable and gloomy. The old woman was sitting in a humid corner whereby no one cared about her. As I went closer to her, I could see tears streaming down her face. I realized that she was hunched-back. I could tell from her appearance that she was a burden to her family.

B.

The frail-looking lady inched forward like she only had a limited space to move her feet. From a far distance, I could see her wrinkled skin and her teeth that had yellowed with age. She looked cheerless with sunken eyes and cheeks. Her sinewy hands looked like she had worked hard for many years. She looked really feeble and seemed like she could not even swat a fly without missing it. Her silvery hair was no longer bright and shiny, but instead it was dull. Her face was gloomy and her smile was gone. She hunched her back and took a couple of steps forward. She looked up in dismay and sighed.

If time permits, the instructor can ask students to work in groups and list five ways to show that a person is sad, or angry or happy.

For example:

On entering the door I remembered the doll I had broken. I felt my way to the hearth and picked up the pieces. I tried vainly to put them together. Then my eyes filled with tears; for I realized what I had done, and for the first time I felt repentance and sorrow.—The Story of My Life

He stopped, distracted, seeing that his wife was weeping. Two great tears ran slowly from the corners of her eyes toward the corners of her mouth.—The Diamond Necklace