英语短篇小说教程 虞建华 高等教育出版社 课后答案

英语短篇小说教程 虞建华 高等教育出版社 课后答案

Keys to Unit Two

(1) I. B. Singer: The Washwoman

(2) Frank Sargeson: A Piece of Yellow Soap

1) Questions for Discussion:

(Suggested answers for reference)

(1) Does the piece of washing soap have the ―power‖ as the narrator tells us? What is the ―power‖ that forces him to take off?

(The piece of yellow washing soap is, of course, an ordinary one. The narrator is a ―naïve narrator‖ who believed that it had some sort of mysterious ―power,‖ while the readers are expected to know better. This power comes from the narrator’s deep sympathy for the tragic fate of the washing woman. Seeing the situation, he simply could not continue to demand the payment which he knew the woman was unable to produce.)

(2) In this Unit, we have two stories about two washwomen. There are a lot of similar descriptions and common characteristics in the two stories. Find and list them.

(They were both reduce to desperation, depending solely on washing for living. Both were hard-working and uncomplaining, quietly but almost heroically bore their burden and struggled for a hard existence. The author describes their common feature – the white and shrunken fingers – as symbol of suffering in the lives of the working people. They both were both dead by the end of the stories.)

(3) The two first-person narrators tell two stories of two washwomen who shared similar tragic fate. Discuss the differences in the narrators that result in the differences in the way the two short stories are told.

(Singer’s narrator knows more and tells more about the washing woman, often making direct comments and revealing his own feelings about the life of the woman whose story he is telling. He frequently emphasizes that what he is telling is real, and hints that the story has significance. The narrator’s voice is very close to the author’s. Please see more in ―Reading Tips‖ on page 11. On the other hand, Sargeson’s narrator is a naïve one, that is, the narrator’s understanding is purposely made shallow, and the reader need find by himself the real meaning in the situation. So the narrator stands at some distance from the author. Please see more in ―Reading Tips‖ on page 15. Therefore, in Text I, we, as readers, are basically ―given‖ or ―received‖ the story, while in Text II, we need to participate imaginatively in the story to ―dig out‖ the true meaning the naïve narrator has left unexplained.)

2) Explanation and Interpretation:

(Explain the implied meaning of the following sentences, and point out their significance in the context of the story.)

英语短篇小说教程 虞建华 高等教育出版社 课后答案

From “The Washwoman”:

(1) She had been so sick that someone called a doctor, and the doctor had sent for a priest.

(According to the custom, a priest should be present while one is dying. The implied message is the doctor thought that he could do nothing to save her, and the best thing to do was to prepare for her death.)

(2) ―With the help of God you will live to be a hundred and twenty,‖ said my mother, as a blessing.

―God forbid!...‖

(―My Mother‖ extended a good wish for long life to her, but the washing woman thought that a long life was a terrible thing, because it only meant suffering longer.)

(3) Her soul passed into those spheres where all holy souls meet, regardless of the roles they played on this earth, in whatever tongue, of whatever religion.

(A good person, like the old washwoman, would go to heaven because she had a noble soul. She would rise above all the earthly considerations of class, race, nation and religion. )

From “A Piece of Yellow Soap”:

(4) My eyes would get fixed on her fingers and the soap, and after a few minutes I would lose all power to look the woman in the face. I would mumble something to myself and take myself off .

(The narrator could not bear to look at this washing-tub slave for too long. He would have to find some excuse and leave. He could not push her over the cliff while she was standing on the verge of total desperation.)

(5) She had a way too of feeling inside her handbag as she passed me, and I always had the queer feeling that she carried there a piece of soap. It was her talisman powerful to work wonders… (Possibly in the bag there were a few pennies that the woman had earned from her washing, and she was going to buy food or some necessities. Seeing the narrator, to whom she knew she owed money, she unconsciously or protectively put her hand in the bag. The narrator, being ―naïve,‖ misunderstood her reaction while they met in the street.)

Suggested Homework:

Translate the following paragraphs from “The Washwoman” into Chinese:

The bag was big, bigger than usual. When the woman placed it on her shoulders, it covered her completely. At first she stayed, as though she were about to fall under the load. But an inner stubbornness seemed to call out; no, you may not fall. A donkey may permit himself to fall under his burden, but not a human being, the best of creation.

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