關於英語課外書
1
The Life and Sensibility of Jane Austen
Jane Austen has often been considered a woman who led a narrow, inhibited life and who rarely traveled. These assertions are far from the truth. Jane Austen traveled more than most women of her time and was quite involved in the lives of her brothers, so much that it often interfered with her writing. Like most writers, Jane drew on her experiences and her dreams for the future and incorporated them into her writing. Her characters reflect the people around her; the main characters reflect parts of herself. In Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Mansfield Park, Elinor Dashwood, Elizabeth Bennet, and Fanny Price all reflect aspects of Jane Austen and dreams she had that were never fulfilled.
Sense and Sensibility's Elinor Dashwood mirrors Jane Austen's strait-laced sense of propriety and her concern and care about family members. Jane was "practical and sensible, and she did what she thought best" (Tomalin 186). For example, after her father died, Jane managed to gather herself together and send her father's pocket compass and pair of scissors to her brother Frank as a memento of their father. Elinor in Sense and Sensibility is the sister who holds down the family and discusses the practicality of situations. She too distributes cherished mementos of her father when he dies. Elinor is the sister who is concerned with the welfare of her relations and takes it upon herself to look after their well-being. Feeling afflicted when her sister Marianne is hurt by Willoughby, she tries her best to comfort her sister, resolve the situation, and find out the facts of what happened.
Marianne Dashwood, Elinor's younger sister, represents the type of girl Jane wanted to be. Marianne is light and airy with a flighty personality. Her emotions dictate her actions. Jane's nieces remember her as being "youthful, playful, and inventive" (Nokes 368) before she prematurely turned into middle-age. Only once in her life did Jane behave similarly to Marianne, and it was an evening she relived until her death. When she was twenty, Jane attended a ball given by the Lefroys at Manydown House. There she met Tom Lefroy, a handsome young Irishman who had come to stay with his aunt and uncle (Tomalin 113). Jane danced and flirted with him the entire evening - more than was proper for a young lady. In writing to her sister the night after the ball, Jane writes unabashedly for her sister to imagine "everything most profligate and shocking in the way of dancing and sitting down together" (Tomalin 114). Throughout her years of spinsterhood she looked back on the evening when she acted like Marianne, controlled solely by her emotions. She did not let the dictates of society control her that evening.
Jane Austen created Elizabeth as one girl among five. While Lizzy, as she was affectionately called, was surrounded by girls, Jane was surrounded with boys. She had five brothers, and her parents ran a school for boys in their house as part of their rectory. "Growing up in a school meant that Jane knew exactly what to expect of boys, and was always at ease with them; boys were her natural environment, and boys' jokes and boys' interests were the first she learnt about" (Tomalin 30). One can imagine that growing up amidst so many boys, Jane must have often wished for sisters to play with. She creates Elizabeth with a family that she must have wished for herself.
The most significant similarity between Jane and Lizzy is their close relationships with their sisters. Jane and her sister Cassandra were extremely close. They lived together their entire lives. When they moved into a house in Chawton, they shared a bedroom. They were dependent upon each other and supported each other in all aspects of their lives. They supported each other's decisions and wrote to each other when apart. They even wore the same bonnet. Cassandra said of Jane after her death, "She was the sun of my life, the gilder of every pleasure, the soother of every sorrow, I had not a thought concealed from her, & it is as if I had lost a part of myself" (Tomalin 269). Lizzy and her older sister Jane were extremely close. They too supported each other's decisions and were always there for the other. They discussed suitors and marriage just as Jane and her sister must have done.
Jane creates Fanny as an extremely modest character, which is a quality held by Jane. When referring to her book in a letter to her sister, Jane fails to capitalize the title of her book. She believes it will not be acclaimed or widely recognized. When her books are finally published, Jane publishes them anonymously. Only her immediate family knows that she is the author of the books that have received wide recognition and acclaim in England. The Columbia Encyclopedia writes that "she received little public recognition in her lifetime." Only years later does Jane allow her name as author of the books to be made public. Some say that if Jane were alive today to witness the extent of her celebrity and how much she is revered, her "porcelain English cheeks might have colored like a tea rose" (Eady 87). Fanny Price is also a very modest character. She lets herself be treated poorly by her aunt and cousins, for she feels she is entitled to nothing better. She does not feel fit to converse in the evenings with her cousins and their friends. She declines to participate in their conversations. Both Jane and Fanny have low recognition of themselves and are modest women.
All of Jane's female characters end up happily married, a state Jane herself never felt. A woman was defined in terms of her husband; if she did not marry, she had nothing. Jane's aunt traveled to India in order to find a husband. Well into her twenties, Jane still had dreams of getting married. When she was twenty-five, Harris Bigg, a brother of her good friends, proposed marriage to Jane. At first she accepted: she would become mistress of a large estate, and "be able to ensure the comfort of her parents to the end of their days" (Tomalin 180). Most importantly, she would have children and raise a family of her own. The next day, however, Jane reneged the proposal. She did not love him and did not want a "marriage based on nothing but money" (Grunwald A16). After this proposal, Jane gave up all hopes of ever having a family of her own. Instead, she fulfilled her dreams through her characters and found "passion" (Romano 424) through them. All her characters marry for love (which happens to also be financially advantageous). They make Jane's dreams become a reality within her imagination.
湯姆叔叔的小屋：
Its simple plot relates the misfortunes of the loyal Christian slave, Tom, who, deprived of familial love and affection and destined for the harsh life of plantation slavery, doesn’t rebel or curse God, but philosophically accepts his cruel fate. He could leap overboard Cold River to save the drowning daughter of a wealthy white passenger who gratefully rewards the brave Negro by buying him.
Tom seems destined, now, to live out his life in a pleasant New Orleans mansion, spending his days reading Bible aloud and singing religious hymns with the angelic little Eva. But the child dies of tuberculosis, having first elicited a promise from her father to free the loyal Tom. The father is killed , however, in a brawl before he can fulfill his pledge and his widow is forced to sell Tom, who becomes the property of the heartless Simon Legree. He soon learns how really harsh the life of plantation can be, but he remains true to his religious training, elated by his pious acceptance of God’s will. Harassed by the evil Legree ,Tom displays his Christian charity by refusing to flog another slave .Simon Legree may not own Tom’s soul ,but he can do as he chooses with the body, and he orders two of his slaves, Sambo and Quimba, to whip the unresisting Tom, whose only responses to the merciless beating is a plea to stop in order that Legree might save his own soul.
The theme of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, for its all apparent simplicity, is representative of much of 19th century American fiction of the good man opposed by evil personified under the circumstance of slavery.
What strikes me is Tom’s loyalty to his religious belief. All of us has our own belief , it plays a most important part in our life, it supports us whenever we are caught in rough conditions ,it helps us get out of the dark to see the sunrise, it teach us how to adapt ourselves to different circumstances.
Life is full of ups and downs; we should hold our belief to fight against them to realize our goals!
2
"Uncle Tom has been a good and faithful servant (slave) for the entirety of his (now adult) Master's life. He has been dealt with fairly and kindly by the Master, his wife and son. However, the Master gets into some debt and decides to settle up by not only selling Tom, but also the young mulatto boy of the demure house slave Eliza. This is despite the Master's various estates, numerous horses, and opulant style of living.
Eliza overhears this plan, and runs away with her boy; refusing to give him up. Tom, on the other hand, decides to remain loyal to his Master's wishes and put his faith in God.
What ensues is the harrowing flight of Eliza, her husband George, and their child to Canada. Aided by kind strangers, and Godly Quakers, they fight for man's basic rights - freedom. Tom, on the other hand, is sold down the river. He witnesses many brutal and heartwrenching events before being bought by a young, intelligent dandy and his angelic daughter. It is here that we find a curious sentiment towards the humanity of the slaves, and find a northern abolition-minded woman showing her disgust at ugly and spirited little Topsy.
After a few years, when Uncle Tom is on the brink of being granted freedom by this benevolent new Master, the man dies suddenly. Tom is then sold once more to a beast of a farmer, who abuses slaves in the worst ways he can imagine.
This book does not pull any punches. It shows the brutality of slavery in explicit detail, and the narrative is amazing in its ability to capture the sentiment of the time. "
湯姆叔叔的小屋：
Its simple plot relates the misfortunes of the loyal Christian slave, Tom, who, deprived of familial love and affection and destined for the harsh life of plantation slavery, doesn’t rebel or curse God, but philosophically accepts his cruel fate. He could leap overboard Cold River to save the drowning daughter of a wealthy white passenger who gratefully rewards the brave Negro by buying him.
Tom seems destined, now, to live out his life in a pleasant New Orleans mansion, spending his days reading Bible aloud and singing religious hymns with the angelic little Eva. But the child dies of tuberculosis, having first elicited a promise from her father to free the loyal Tom. The father is killed , however, in a brawl before he can fulfill his pledge and his widow is forced to sell Tom, who becomes the property of the heartless Simon Legree. He soon learns how really harsh the life of plantation can be, but he remains true to his religious training, elated by his pious acceptance of God’s will. Harassed by the evil Legree ,Tom displays his Christian charity by refusing to flog another slave .Simon Legree may not own Tom’s soul ,but he can do as he chooses with the body, and he orders two of his slaves, Sambo and Quimba, to whip the unresisting Tom, whose only responses to the merciless beating is a plea to stop in order that Legree might save his own soul.
On his deathbed, Tom charitably forgives the harsh Legree. Ironically, he lives long enough to witness the arrival of his former master’s son, come to redeem the family pledge by buying him back and granting his freedom.
The theme of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, for its all apparent simplicity, is representative of much of 19th century American fiction of the good man opposed by evil personified under the circumstance of slavery.
What strikes me is Tom’s loyalty to his religious belief. All of us has our own belief , it plays a most important part in our life, it supports us whenever we are caught in rough conditions ,it helps us get out of the dark to see the sunrise, it teach us how to adapt ourselves to different circumstances.
Life is full of ups and downs; we should hold our belief to fight against them to realize our goals!
2
"Uncle Tom has been a good and faithful servant (slave) for the entirety of his (now adult) Master's life. He has been dealt with fairly and kindly by the Master, his wife and son. However, the Master gets into some debt and decides to settle up by not only selling Tom, but also the young mulatto boy of the demure house slave Eliza. This is despite the Master's various estates, numerous horses, and opulant style of living.
Eliza overhears this plan, and runs away with her boy; refusing to give him up. Tom, on the other hand, decides to remain loyal to his Master's wishes and put his faith in God.
What ensues is the harrowing flight of Eliza, her husband George, and their child to Canada. Aided by kind strangers, and Godly Quakers, they fight for man's basic rights - freedom. Tom, on the other hand, is sold down the river. He witnesses many brutal and heartwrenching events before being bought by a young, intelligent dandy and his angelic daughter. It is here that we find a curious sentiment towards the humanity of the slaves, and find a northern abolition-minded woman showing her disgust at ugly and spirited little Topsy.
After a few years, when Uncle Tom is on the brink of being granted freedom by this benevolent new Master, the man dies suddenly. Tom is then sold once more to a beast of a farmer, who abuses slaves in the worst ways he can imagine.
This book does not pull any punches. It shows the brutality of slavery in explicit detail, and the narrative is amazing in its ability to capture the sentiment of the time. "
電影，鋼琴家：
What strikes you first about The Pianist, aside from the fact that it is Roman Polanski's most personal and powerful film in years, is its rigorous lack of sentimentality. Polanski and screenwriter Ronald Harwood (The Dresser) never resort to phony Life Is Beautiful uplift in telling the true story of young pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody), a Polish Jew who survived the Nazi invasion of Warsaw (where much of this film was shot) by hiding out and living like an animal. If the film lacks the heroic heft of Schindler's List, it is second to none in unflinching honesty.
In telling this harrowing tale, adapted from Szpilman's 1946 memoir, Polanski draws on his own childhood in Poland (he escaped the Krakow ghetto, though his mother died in a concentration camp) and his soul-deep faith in the tender mercies of art. Szpilman is first seen playing Chopin for Polish radio when the Nazi bombs fall in 1939. Until the end of war, when a Nazi officer (the superb Thomas Kretschmann) asks him to play, Szpilman is mostly alone, observing the horror through windows, hearing music only in his head.
That we never get inside Szpilman's head is the film's nagging flaw. Brody (Summer of Sam) works miracles at showing bruises beyond words and tears. But the script, eager to avoid glib posturing, denies the character fullness. That note of detachment could cost The Pianist in the Oscar race, as could the statutory-rape charges against Polanski that prompted the now sixty-nine-year-old director to flee the U.S. three decades ago. Still, nothing can detract from the film as a portrait of hell so shattering it's impossible to shake.
功夫熊貓
Kung Fu Panda is an American animated comedy film released in 2008. After its release it is welcomed by most adults and children and receives very positive and favorable reviews. I think the film is trying to tell us that if you have a dream and hold on to it, you will be successful one day.
The movie is about a lazy, fat and clumsy panda called Po. He helps his goose father in his family noodle shop every day. And his father expects him to take over the shop and tell him the secret ingredient of making noodle soup. However, Po is fanatic of Chinese Kung Fu and is always dreaming to become a Kung Fu fighter.
In my opinion, the most impressive part of the movie is the sacred Dragon Scroll and the secret ingredient of making noodle soup. When Po is ready to open the sacred Dragon Scroll, which promises great power to its possessor, he finds nothing but blank. He was in despair and everyone is shocked and desperate. So Shifu has to order his students to lead the villagers to safety while he stays to delay Tai Lung for as long as he can. Then Po meets his father on the way back, and unexpectedly his father tells him the secret ingredient of the family's noodle soup: nothing. He explains that things become special when people believe they are. I think this is the theme of the movie. Once you hold a firm belief, you can get what you want.
格列佛遊記讀後感：
Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift's brilliant, satirical adventure, is a must-read. It is an appealing novel containing both, whimsy and wit. Swift seamlessly blends fact with fiction in this tale of an English ship surgeon. It pokes fun at the travelogues of this time period.
Lemuels Gulliver goes on four remarkable voyages across the globe and gets himself in several different situations. Symbolism, humor, and intelligence fill all three-hundred and eleven pages. The reader gets a good laugh all through the book at the expense of the main character. Gulliver has no sense of humor and adapts to every single environment that he is in. The book is well written masterpiece full of details. It is impossible to lose interest while reading each eventful chapter. The reader can never really predict what is next for the adventurous, gullible Gulliver.
Gulliver's travels is a novel that anyone who has an imagination would find entertaining and appealing. On the other hand, some members of the book club will find this book to ridiculous. This novel is not the typical satire, drama, comedy or adventure. Most books that we book worms read are serious or sometimes dark but this novel is neither. It is a fun read that doesn't take itself too seriously.
老人與海讀後感：
The Old Man and the Sea is the most classic and concernful novel of Hemmingway's. Its compendious expression and exciting fighting narrative attracts numerous readers. The author repeatedly emphasized his customary key thoughts in the story: despairing courage, struggling on both physically and psychologically, and the hero's brave, glory and noble character.
One of the pivotal sentences, "a man can be destroyed but not defeated" draws our attention. This sentence is gorgeous in surface but a little doubtful in a certain angle. In the end of the story the old man told to the boy that he was a loser who beaten by the sharks. With his bloody hands and the skeleton of the fish, it was really difficult to judge that he was defeated or not. However, he was undoubtedly destroyed in the fighting at the hopeless sea. Therefore, the difference between "destroy" and "defeated" was just something untraceable. We are not expected to tell one word form another, but to feel the antinomy and contact of them.
In my opinion, the most splendid thing in Hemmingway and his the Old Man and the Sea is not the VICTORY OF DEFEAT, but the relationship between the two words "defeat" and "destroy" as well as the novel and the author.
LZ如還有需要，把郵箱留壹下，我把書名，頁數，作者簡介的英文不給妳
因為為了想讓妳多參考壹些，我只寫了些內容簡介，簡單的人物分析和讀後感