Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to:
1.understand the main idea (Father meddled in children’s affairs with good intentions, but only to find his efforts unwelcome) and structure (three settings, three scenes) of the text;
2.appreciate the basic elements of a play;
3.grasp the key language points and sentence patterns in the text;
4.conduct a series of reading, listening, speaking and writing activities related to the theme of the unit.
Pre-reading task:
1.What is the major problem between father and his kids in this text?
2.Why does this problem exist?
3.What are the key elements of a play?
First Period
Part One: warming-up (10min)
Group discussion: make 2 students to form a group to ask each other the following questions. Then let 2 students to stand up to give a report of their discussion.
1. Do you love your parents?
---- Yes, of course.
2. Do you know when your parent’s birthdays are? Do they celebrate theirs?
---- Yes, I know them. And we celebrate theirs every year.
---- No, I don't know them. We never celebrate their birthdays.
---- I am not sure about their birthdays. We celebrate theirs on occasion.
3. Do you and your parents have the mutual understanding?
---- Yes/no/to some extent...
4. In what way do your parents want you to improve?
---- They want me to study harder and obey their orders all the time. But the truth is I can't do so.
5. In what way do you want your parents to improve?
---- I hope they can give me more freedom. I have grown up and have become an adult to make my decision.
Part Two: Culture Notes (10min)
1. Part time job: many American teenagers earn a good portion of their college expenses by working during the summer as waiters or waitress, construction workers, mother’s helpers, gas station attendants, telephone operators. They are not concerned with status. Being unskilled, they try to find jobs at whatever level they can. They seek not only money, but also experience.
2. Generation gap: it is a very popular expression in recent years. Different generations often have different opinions about the same thing. That is called "the generation gap.” We can feel that in our daily life. Most of our fathers and mothers like listening to revolutionary songs, while we, the young boys and girls, love pop songs. When my father hears my rock music records, he must say, "Turn it off. It is terrible!" And when I see my father watching Beijing Opera, I will switch the channel immediately. Why does the generation gap exist? Because the old generation and the young generation live in different periods. So they have different ideas about value, family, human relations, and friendship and so on. They don't have the same opinions about how to spend their lives and love others. The generation gap often causes some troubles and arguments. To make matters worse, some parents and their children quarrel with each other just because of the generation gap.
We're living in a more liberal world. Everyone, old or young, has the right to do things by themselves. Parents can't always have their children obey their orders. So what can we do? We should think more for others first. In order to get rid of the misunderstandings between different generations, we can explain our thoughts to each other and discuss together. If we tell our true feelings to others', we will be found to be friendly and sincere. And the different generations can understand each other well. If we do so, this world will become full of love and sun-shine!
Part Three: checking the preview homework (5min)
1.What is the major problem between father and his kids in this text?
---- Dad always wants to help his beloved children but the things always become worse.
2.Why does this problem exist?
---- Because of the generation gap.
As we find from our discussion, parents and children do not often see eye to eye. When parents interfere with their children's affairs, they believe that they are doing so in the interest of their children. However, the children may not be grateful, as is the case in the play we are going to study, Father knows better.
Part Four: (20min)
If you are a movie lover, you will know something about the newly-released movie The Banquet, which is directed by Feng Xiaogang, and The Curse of the Golden Flower, which is directed by Zhang Yimou. These two movies are both based on famous plays. The former is revised from Hamlet. Hamlet is a masterpiece of Shakespeare. And the latter is revised from the famous Chinese play The Thunder. A play is a piece of writing performed in a theatre or on television or radio, consisting of speeches and conversations between several characters. The person who writes a play is called a playwright. Today we will learn a play. So please turn to page 67.
1. A brief introduction to the elements of a play
1) Can you tell what elements there should be in a play?
---- There are several key elements in a play, that is to say, a play is made up of several components. Turn to Page 67 and there are three important elements we can find in this part beginning from the word CHARACTERS till the last sentence they listen as HEIDI addresses the audience
(1) Character: it is the people involved in the play.
How many characters are there in this play?
---- 7. They are father, mother, Heidi, Diane, Sean, Restaurant manager, Mrs. Higgins
(2) Setting: it is where (and when) the play takes place.
How many settings are there in this play?
---- three settings, including a fast-food restaurant, the Thompson family dining room, and an office at a high school.
(3) stage directions: to set up stage properties in the proper place; to indicate a change in the setting; to direct actors’ movement, etc..
Up Left Up Right Stage Left Centre Stage Stage Right
| Down left Down Right |
(4) language: it is the lines and the words. It is essential to the play.
(5) conflict: without it, the play just turns out to be colorless. It may be a clash of actions, ideas, desires or wills. It may happen in three forms: man against man, man against environment, man against himself. When a conflict develops to the most intensified point, it becomes a climax.
(6) climax: A play’s climax is a peak of conflict that has been building since early in the play. It’s when all the major forces go into battle one last time.
(7) theme: it is the main purpose of showing a play and the thing that the playwright wants to tell us. But unlike a novelist or short-story writer, a playwright can not come forward, interrupt the action, and tell the audience what he means by a certain scene or explain to them what is going on in the minds of the characters. The audience must conclude by themselves, what the theme of the play is.
2. Text organization
According to the stage directions and setting, the play can be divided into 3 parts.
Scene One: Father embarrassed Sean by talking too proudly to the manager
Scene Two: Father embarrassed Diane by persuading a workmate into pressing his son to ask her to the prom.
Scene Three: Father embarrassed Heidi by boasting to an official of her new school about how bright she was.
Second Period
Scene One: (20min)
Understanding questions
1. What did Sean plan to do with the money he earned from his first job?
---- He planed to buy a guitar.
2. Why did Father make a point of coming to the restaurant?
---- He knew that how important the job was to his son. Therefore, he wanted to help the boy.
3. Why did Sean try to hide himself when he saw his father in the restaurant?
---- He was afraid that father may do something embarrassing.
4. What did Sean think of his father's unexpected visit?
---- It was completely a disaster.
Language points:
end up: (informal) to come to be in a particular situation or state, especially when you did not plan it.
end up doing sth: If you don’t know what you want, you might end up getting something you don’t want.
embarrass: to make someone feel anxious, ashamed, or uncomfortable, especially in a social situation.
embarrassed: A person who is embarrassed feels shy, ashamed or guilty about something.
embarrassing: something that is embarrassing makes you feel shy, or ashamed. = uncomfortable, awkward.
humiliate, humiliating, national humiliation,
happy about: if you are happy about a situation or arrangement, you are satisfied with it.
dumb: If you say something is dumb, you think that it is silly and annoying; an informal use.
He’s always pulling these dumb things on me: he’s always playing stupid tricks on me.
fade: 1) lose color or brightness 2) disappear gradually
Language style:
T invites one S to read aloud Heidi’s speech to the audience at the very beginning of the play, then ask another S to recreate Heidi’s words into a complete and grammatical paragraph in order to see the stylistic differences between speech and writing. In her words, most sentences are ungrammatical, incomplete and simple, which are the characteristics of the spoken language, while the written words are grammatical and complete.
Scene Two (25min)
Understanding questions
1. Why did Father invite Dan Lucas to lunch?
---- he wanted to help his daughter, who fell in love with the son of Lucas.
2. What did Lucas promise to do?
---- he promised to make his son to invite Diane to the prom.
3. How did Diane react to the surprise Father has for her?
---- she was really astonished to know it. She thought she had lost all of her face.
Language analysis:
As we can see, in her speech mother uses quite a number of do's and don't, please, dear's, and sweetheart's. She is the real head of the Thompson household, giving out commands to her children as well as her husband. Moreover, most times her orders are respected. On the other hand, knowing her children's attitude to Father's meddling, she tries to maintain the peace, as in the instances when she maintains Father's dignity by telling the children "don't interrupt", "don't distract your father", and "give your father the respect he deserves", or when she tries to divert the conversation by talking about her dessert. Meanwhile, the children respect the mother, as shown by their frequent "yes, Mum". Therefore, we can say that we can know more things besides the meaning of the words.
Third Period
Dictation: (select 2 of the Ss to come to the blackboard) (5min)
Jack has got some details of the new program, but he kept us in suspense. When Lisa asked him, Jack just beat around the bush and tried to distract her attention. If Lisa insisted, he would not hesitate to stop her, left her standing there, embarrassed.
Scene Three (15min)
Understanding questions
1. Why did Heidi change school?
---- Their family moved.
2. What did Father try to impress on Mrs. Higgins?
---- Heidi is a bright and talented girl and eager to learn.
3. Why was Heidi so eager to go to class?
---- She feels embarrassed and eager to escape.
Language points:
exceptional: unusual
fill out: complete by supplying required information
talented: gifted
humiliate: make sb. feel ashamed or seem silly, esp. in public
know better than(to do sth.): be wise or well-trained enough not to do sth.
Discussion of the theme (15min)
1. What does the title Father knows better mean?
---- Father thinks he is more sensible and knows his own children very well and he always interfere with his children’s life. At any rate, Father should be wise enough not to do those stupid things. The children hope that their father has never done such things.
2. What do you think causes the generation gap? (Students may refer to Page 79, quotations)
---- Every generation lives in a different period of the time, and they are influenced by the culture, politics, economy, etc of that time, therefore their attitudes towards the life may differ.
Translation of the exceptional expressions:(8min)
1. I'll do anything I can to help him through life's dangerous sea.
我将竭尽所能助他驶过人生的惊涛骇浪。
2. I bet you know it. 我打赌你知道。
3. Don't keep us in suspense. 不要卖关子了。
4. I owe you one. 我欠你个情。
5.What has come over you? 你是怎么了？
Homework:(2min)
Divide the Ss into several groups and let them prepare to perform the play.
Fourth period
1. Show time
Select some groups to come to the front of the classroom. After the performance, T should give the advice and suggestions, such as the pronunciation, intonation, action and expression.
2. Homework: page 80 exercise, Vocabulary, page 85, Translation
Fifth period
Exercises: Vocabulary
1. Fill in the blanks with the suitable words.
1)The artists stood before the paintings almost dumb with astonishment at their beauty.
2)Overall, by 1990 black unemployment was 2.5 times higher than white unemployment in the United States.
3)William Byrd composed many pieces of music, but his Latin church music is considered his most glorious work.
4)Governments establish welfare systems to provide a safety net to prevent people from suffering the effects of poverty.
5)Through the ages the land emerged and re-submerged repeatedly, and consequently many different rock types formed.
6)Many animals face extinction as the result of human interference.
7)Her hope of her husband’s return is fading as years go by.
8)A frank reply is much more appreciated than beating about the bush (转弯抹角).
9)Call me, write to me, email me; at any rate, let’s keep in touch.
10)Xiao Li has narrowed down his choice of MBA programs to three American universities on the East Coast.
11)When I entered the Japanese-owned store, all shop assistants bowed to me in unison.
12)You quit that respectable, well-paid job for this unpromising one? What has come over you?
2. Rewrite the sentences.
1) Five generals and four police officers make up the Security Council.
The Security Council consists of five generals and four police officers.
2) The plan is to locate the hotel somewhere overlooking the lake.
The new hotel will be in a location overlooking the lake.
3) Her comments about my clothes made me feel uncomfortable.
I was embarrassed by her comments about my clothes.
4) Can you prove that it was Henry who stole the computer?
Do you have any proof that it was Henry who stole the computer?
5)The long cycle ride tired the boy out.
The boy was exhausted after the long cycle ride.
3. Translation
Directions: Translate the following passage into English, using the words and phrased given below.
interrupt community exhaust interference frank
| embarrass come over trade for overall know better than |
George, the son of Mr. Johnson, liked listening to heavy metal music in the evenings, and the noise interrupt the sleep of other residents in the community. Eventually the exhausted neighbors lost their patience and decided on direct interference. They called Mr. Johnson to tell him in a frank manner what they were thinking. Embarrassed, Mr. Johnson scolded his son: “What has come over you? You should know better than to disturb others for the sake of your own interest.” As a result George traded his records for computer games software from his classmates. Overall, the whole thing has worked out quite satisfactorily.
Sixth period
Text B WHEN FATHER DOESN’T KNOW BEST Andrew Merton
Part I New words: (30min)
1. read & exercise (10min): T and Ss read the new words together, then Ss finish “Language Practice” on p.93-94. Class one: 1-10; class two: 11-20. After finishing, they should check their answers by themselves.
2. Story: Ss use the new words on p.87 to make up a short story. (20min)
Suggested answer: One day, when I was wandering on the street, I came across an old friend. At first, I was not sure whether she was my friend. So I said “Hello” lightly to her. She responded full of surprise. When she recognized me, she became extremely glad. From our talk, about our present life, we knew we lived in the same city, only in the contrary direction. In order to avoid the disturbance of cars and passerby, we chose a coffee bar nearby to chat with each other. This bar was beautiful and cozy and all of the tables were polished clearly. Because it was only 9a.m., we had the bar nearly to ourselves. We ordered two cups of coffee, then we began our long talk. First, we recalled the time we spent together. Then, topics turned to the present. She had a son of two years old, and for the sake of this little baby, she resigned from her former company. She acknowledged that thinking of her job, she would felt pitiful sometimes, and she was always looking forward to having a job again. But she was aware of what was more important. To make her lift up her head, I asked something about her lovely son. She became talkative immediately. She said her son always defined and justified much of his behavior by his age, and began to bargain with her. Fortunately, she accepted the new notions of teaching little children, so she knew she should let go of her dream of how things should be, and pay more attention to the building up of his creativity. We spent almost the whole day together in a good mood.
Part II Baseball (10min)
T makes small dialogues with several Ss talking about sports.
T: Do you like sports? S: …
T: What is your favorite sport? S: My favorite sport is … (I like …).
T: In our country, what sports do most young people go in for?
S: Young people usually go in for such sports as running /playing basketball, tennis, football, etc.
T: Could you name some ball games?
S: basketball, tennis, football, American football, volleyball, table tennis, softball, handball, baseball, water polo, ice hockey, field hockey …
T: We know that table tennis (or ping-pong) is very popular in China. Do you know what the American’s favorite sport is?
S: …
T: American football and baseball are very popular in America, but baseball is their favorite. Millions of people are happy about the start of the North American baseball season. For the next seven months, many newspapers will be filled with stories about the games and players. Perhaps no other sport has become as deeply rooted in American life as baseball. And none has created so many popular traditions. There are many poems, songs, books and films about baseball. Famous players of the past and present are as well-known to Americans as the country’s great scientists, writers and political leaders. People of all ages play baseball in the United States. There are thousands of baseball teams across the country. There are school teams, company teams and teams supported by religious groups. Baseball has even become part of the English language. For example, Americans may admit to "striking out" when we fail to do something we want to do.
Americans love baseball. Part of the reason is that they have been playing it for more than 150 years. No one knows for sure when the modern game of baseball began. Many people believe baseball developed from a game called “rounders圆场棒球”. People in America played it in the Eighteen- Hundreds. Over time, the rules changed and the game began to be called baseball.
The early baseball players were not paid. But now baseball has become a business. The New York Yankees team(the text: Para6) paid its players more than any other team - a total of one- hundred-thirteen- million dollars.
baseball terms:
1. baseball player棒球运动员 2. baseball field, baseball ground棒球场3. base垒bag垒垫, 垒包4. catcher 接手catcher's box接手区 5.home plate本垒板6. batter击球员batter's box击球员区on deck circle击球员准备区batting practice击球练习7. pitcher's mound投手土墩8. pitcher投手9. coach's box跑垒指导员区10. first base一垒11. second base二垒12. third base三垒13. foul line边线14. fair territory界内地区15. foul territory界外地区16. fielder守场员17. infield, diamond内场18. outfield外场19. glove手套, 分指手套milt合指手套20. bat球棒21. mask护面chest protector护胸leg protector护腿supporter护裆helmet护帽 22. home run 全垒跑 23. strike好球
Part III Homework(5min)
1. Do you agree with such a way of education as Joe Frazier’s? Give your reasons.
2. to make monologues of the father’s and the son’s according to Para15.
3. to compare the two fathers in text A&B and to tell their similarities and differences.
4. to use the new words on p.87 to retell the whole story in your own words.
Seventh and eighth periods
Part I Class report (5min)
Part II Text Analysis (50min)
After learning text A, we know that father always makes his children embarrassed though every time he means to help them. Although we may say that to a great degree this is caused by generation gap, we still don’t expect such a father. Here, in text B, we will meet another father who is not like the first one. This father is far better at seeing things from his son’s point of view. In fact, it is not easy for every father to do so. If your father always sees things from your point of view, you should consider yourselves lucky enough.
1. Part Division
Q. How many parts can text B be divided into? (T asks Ss to answer this Q.)
A: Part I (1-3): The author uses a story between a father and his son to introduce his own story between his son and himself.
Part II (4-20): This is the main body of the text. It is about the author story.
Part III (21-24): What does the author conclude from this story.
2. Further Explanation
Part I: In the 1st para., the author gives the readers a story between Joe Frazier and his son.
Q1: What do you know about Joe Frazier from this para.?
A1: He is the former heavyweight champion and now he is his son’s manager. (para1, L8)
Q2: Do you like this father? Do you agree with such a way of education?
A2: This is an open question. To a certain degree, I like this father, and agree with such a way of education. This is the difference between Chinese parents and the western ones in the way of education. Chinese parents tend to protect their children, while in the western countries parents are more willing to encourage their children to try what they didn’t do before. In our daily life, we can see such examples at any time and in any place. For example, if a Chinese boy tells his parents that he wants to learn to swim, his parents will say “No, it’s dangerous.” Then they will forbid their son to approach the river bank. If western parents meet the same thing, they will adopt different attitude. Perhaps they will say “Ok, we think it is very easy for you to learn it.” And then they will go with their son to learn to swim, or find a good coach for him. Form these parents’ different reactions to their sons, we may see the result clearly. The Chinese boy can’t control his curiosity and will not obey his parents. He will go to swim by himself or with his young pals. This is really dangerous. Let’s have a look at the western boy. It is certain that he will grasp how to swim without danger. And the relationship between parents and the son will be closer because they understand each other. Living in such a family, the son will be self-confident.
Q3: What about the author’s opinion about this father’s behavior?
A3: The author disagrees with this father because in the author’s opinion, this father imposed his own expectation on his son and forced him to do what he didn’t like to do or can’t do. The author’s analysis in para3 leads to his own story.
Part II: the author’s story →subdivide into two sections ①to watch a baseball game;
②to visit the Boston Museum of Science.
①to watch a baseball game
Para4: People generally define and justify much of little children’s behavior by their age. Here both the son and the father (the author) do so. The son thinks that a child of 4 can put on his own clothes, and can run faster than those who are younger than him. But the adult’s angle is different from children’s. The father thinks his son of 4 should be interested in baseball games and should be taken to watch one.
Para5: From this Para the author tells their story in detail. The 1st sentence in Para5 is a traditional and typical start of a story. It tells the readers something about the weather.(time) Then we readers meet the main characters: the father and the son. (person)
What did they do? (pay attention to the verbs)
drive to →park→ enter(place) →go to the bathroom → walk through the tunnel 【para6 is a flashback: the author’s experience】→ find our seats → eat 〓 their divergence appears: to leave the stadium or not.
Result: the father gives up.
Q: What is the essence of their divergence?
A: para19. (Ss recite para19.)
Para15: After they left the park, they have different feelings:
Father: in bad temper; upset; hate; couldn’t shake his mood; not look forward to…
Son: be aware; trouble look; a combination of fear and pain
Practice: Ss make monologues of the father’s and the son’s.
Suggested answer:
Father: I am very annoyed about his performance. I am not willing to buy him an ice-cream, but at last I bought him one. He knows that I was angry, so he looks troubled. In fact, I hate that look and I am still in a bad mood. What’s more, I am not looking forward to the drive back to New Hampshire.
Son: I know that he is upset, but staying in the park really makes me feel painful. Therefore, I have mixed feelings now: on the one hand, I am not interested in watching the baseball game; on the other hand I am frightened of his bad temper. The look on my face now must be troubled.
Although the father gave up, he simply couldn’t accept this result willingly. So we have another stage: the Boston Museum of Science.
②to visit the Boston Museum of Science
the father’s mental changes:
Para18: “I wanted Gabe to be like me.” (The father was analyzing his own feelings.)
Para19: The father was rethinking of their competition at the ball park,
Para20: What did they do at the museum?
Verbs: view → try out → make waves → view 〓result〓 “I was excited.”
Part III: the father’s mentality
Para21: After this thing, the father compared his son and himself. (Ss recite this Para.)
Para23: From this Para., we know the father forgives his son’s ignorance of the baseball game.
Para24: But he was still full of hope for his son.
Part III retell the whole text (20min)
Suggested answer:
In the face of clear evidence to the contrary, the former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier was unable to give up the notion that his son would succeed him as champion, so he encouraged his inexperienced son to compete with the heavyweight champion of the world, Larry Holmes. After his son was knocked out, he embraced him and comforted him. I think perhaps his behavior would disturb his son, which makes me think of my son and I.
My son was 4 and he always defined and justified much of his behavior by his age. So do I, but I did from different angle. I thought he was ready for a baseball game, then I took him to Boston with a bag of fruit and vegetables. As we walked through the tunnel beneath the stadium, I recalled my first time to watch baseball game with my father. I had thought my son would be as excited as I was when he first looked at the field. But I was wrong. After polishing off most of the fruits and vegetables, he said that he wanted to go home. In the competition between us, I gave up at last. My son was aware that I was in a rotten mood. Because I was not looking forward to going home, I advised to go to the Boston Museum o Science. This time, he agreed. We spent three quick hours at the museum excitedly. After this incident, I realized that I should let go of my dream of how things should be. I forgave my son, but I still expected to watch a baseball game with him.
Part IV Comparison (15min)
Q: to compare the two fathers in text A&B and to tell their similarities and differences.
A:
| similarity | differences | Your comments | ||||
| Father | motivation | behavior | feelings of children | result/effect | Self-examination | |
| Text A | to help their children; | He never told his children his decision even though that is related to them. | embarrassed | His behavior destroyed his family relationship and his image in their children’s eyes. | He always thought what he did was right. | Not acceptable |
| Text B | Before he decided to require his son to do something, he would talk him over to his way of thinking | satisfied | His son can gain something useful. | Whenever divergence appears, he would re-examine his behavior and his decision. | Like him | |
1. recite Paras 15,18, 19&21
2. preview Unit4
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