Discovery of a Father By Sherwood Anderson

Lesson Two

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Background Information

Introduction to the Story

Word Study

Vocabulary Study

Song about father

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Background Information

The WriterSherwood Anderson was a great American writer. He is the author of 27 works including Winesburg, Ohio, and seven novels that include Poor White, Many MarriagesMany Marriages and Dark LaughterDark Laughter .Anderson was also a poet and a playwright, a newspaper editor and a political journalist.

His Life:“Sherwood Anderson was not only a great American writer, but he was also a businessman, husband and father.”

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Introduction to the Story

This is a story about a father told by his son who later became a well-known writer. The author gives a vivid character sketch of his father whom he used to despise but gradually learns to understand and appreciate when he grows up.

It is interesting because contrary to the common belief that children always worship their fathers, they sometimes feel the opposite when they are young.

The story began when the author described how he used to feel ashamed of his father. When he was a child, he had hoped that his father would be proud, silent and dignified.

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He had also hoped that his father would be rich and successful. But to his great disappointment, his father was none of these, in fact he was just opposite.

He was poor because his business failed; his business failed because he was foolish in giving too much credit; he was often idle and spent most of his time showing off and acting like a clown to amuse people.

And above all, he was never quiet and serious, talking nonsense all the time, making up stories that everybody knew were untrue. What’s more, he did not seem to have any sense of responsibility and often would disappear for weeks when there was nothing to eat in the family.

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So as a little boy, the author thought that his father was a failure, a clown, a loafer, and a windbag. He despised his father so much that he even secretly wished he had

a different father.

The boy did not understand why his father was so popular and had so many friends including some of the most respectable local celebrities, and he could not understand why his mother never complained, but actually seemed to be proud of him.

Then one day everything suddenly dawned on him, the day he suddenly “discovered a father”. Why was the day so important for the boy?

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The father took the boy swimming in the dark. Father and son, completely naked, striking together in the dark. The boy suddenly saw his father as a dignified man, powerful, loving, and ready to face the harsh life.

Through the swimming his father seemed to be communicating with him, trying to give him courage and strength. Slowly the boy began to understand that his father was not foolish.

He was just too generous and too kind-hearted. He was not a clown. He was just a natural actor, and he loved life and loved people around him.

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He was popular because everybody knew that he was a nice man and he could “liven up” the dull life of the sleepy little town.

Above all, he was not a windbag. He was just a born storyteller, a born writer.

Now the son had come to realize that his father was a man with rich imagination and rare talent.

Towards the end of the text, the author realized that he himself had become a story writer because of his father’s influence, because he had his father’s genes of literary creation.

HOMEPAGE

Word Study

strike remember

credit

cover sympathize

HOMEPAGE

Strike(struck)他用棍子打我。 He struckstruck me with a stick. 我心中忽然产生一个念头。An idea suddenly struckstruck me. 工人们在罢工，因为他们要求增加工资。The workers were strikingstriking because they wanted more mon

ey. 我没有听到钟响。 I didn't hear the clock strike.strike.火柴划不着。 The match wouldn't strike strike .

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Remember

请代我向你父母问候。 Please remember remember me to your parents.我记得曾见过她一次。I rememberremember seeing her once. (=I remember remember that I saw her once.)你记着喂牲口了吗？Did you rememberremember to feed the animals? 祖父留下遗嘱，把一部分财产给我。 Grandfather rememberedremembered me in his will.

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Credit

她的信用好。Her creditcredit is good. 你相信那人讲的话吗？Do you give creditcredit to what the man said? 他的成功使全家增光。His success brings creditcredit to his family.这家商店概不赊欠。No creditcredit is given at this shop.请将 1000 美元存入我的帐户。 Please creditcredit my account with $1000. 那发明该归功于他。 He is creditedcredited with the invention

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Cover

她用一块布把桌子罩起来。 She coveredcovered the table with a cloth. 小镇占地 5 平方英里。The town coverscovers 5 square miles.我想在天黑之前走完 100 英里。I want to covercover 100 miles by dark.这些费用都由国家负担。These expenses are covered covered by the state. 警察瞄准了罪犯。The police had the criminal covered.covered. 琼，你今天能顶替约翰吗？Will you covercover for John today, Jean? 最优秀的记者被派去作战地报道。

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Sympathize

我曾经是个犯人，因此我对其他在监狱里的人深表同情。 I have been a prisoner, so I have a lot of sympathysympathy with ot

her people in prison. 当我告诉她我着急的原因时，她很同情。 When I told her why I was worried, she was very sympatsympat

hetic.hetic.

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Vocabulary Study

used to

use, apply, avail, employ, utilize

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Used to

He used toused to smoke a lot, but he has long given up smoking.

He didn’t use touse to smoke cigarettes.

He usedn’t tousedn’t to smoke cigarettes.

Didn’t Maria use touse to be interested in the theatre?

Usedn’t Usedn’t Maria to to be interested in the theatre?

UsedUsed you toto go to the same school as Edward?

Did you use touse to go to the same school as Edward?

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Use, apply, avail, employ, utilize

He used used up all his resources in experimenting with the new paint.

We should not only know the theory but also know how to apply apply it to practice.

I don’t think complaints will availavail you much.

We availavail ourselves of every opportunity to speak English.

He doesn’t know how to employ employ his energy and time.

She hopes to utilizeutilize her artistic talents in the job.

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Back when I was a child Before life removed all the innocence

My father would lift me high

And dance with my mother and me And then...

Spin me around til' I fell asleep Then up the stairs he would carry me

And I knew for sure I was loved If I could get another chance

Another walk, another dance with him

I'd play a song that would never ever end How I'd love love love...

To dance with my father again

When I and my mother would disagree To get my way I would run from her to him

He'd make me laugh just to comfort me

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Then finally make me do just what my momma said Later that night when I was asleep

He left a dollar under my sheet Never dreamed that he would be gone from me

If I could steal one final glance One final step

One final dance with him, I'd play a song that would never ever end

Cause I'd love love love...

To dance with my father again Sometimes I'd listen outside her door

And I'd hear how my momma cried for him I pray for her even more than me...

I pray for her even more than me I know I'm praying for much too much

But could you send back, The only man she loved. I know you don't do it usually

But dear Lord she's dying To dance with my father again

Every night I fall asleep And this is all I ever dream..

HOMEPAGE

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制作人：陈诗涛 甄真制作人：陈诗涛 甄真

外语学院外语学院 20062006 级级 11 班班