1. Lesson 4
Everyday Use
for Your Grandmama
by Alice Walker

2. Alice Walker

3. Background Information
Alice Walker wrote quite a number of novels, among them were The Color Purple which won the Pulitzer Prize of Fiction （普利策小说奖） and The American Book Award（美国图书奖）. In 1985, the Color Purple was made into a movie which won great fame.

5. Important & Difficult points
The comprehension of the whole story
The understanding of colloquial, slangy or black English expressions
The appreciation of the writing technique
Cultural difference between nationalities in the US

6. Detailed study of the text:
1. wavy: having regular curves
A wavy line has a series of regular curves along it.
The wavy lines are meant to represent water.
Here in the text the word describes the marks in wavy patterns on the clay ground left by the broom.

7. Detailed study of the text:
2. groove: a long narrow path or track made in a surface, esp. to guide the movement of sth.(here the explanation is not proper)
A groove is a wide, deep line cut into a surface.
The cupboard door slides open along the groove it fits into.

8. Detailed study of the text:
3. homely: simple, not grand, (of people, faces, etc.,) not good-looking, ugly
If someone is homely, they are not very attractive to look at; used in Am.E.

9. Detailed study of the text:
4. awe: Awe is the feeling of respect and amazement that you have when you are faced with sth. wonderful, frightening or completely unknown.
The child stared at him in silent awe.

10. Detailed Study of the Text
Section 1 of part I
The setting: yard, house
Maggie: appearance
Comparison with her sister: eying her with a mixture of envy and awe
Sister has held life in the palm of one hand

11. Detailed study of the text
have made it: if you make it, you are successful in achieving sth. Difficult, or in surviving through a very difficult period.
I believe I have the talent to make it.
You are brave and courageous. You can make it.

12. Detailed study of the text:
5. confront: to face boldly or threateningly, encounter
If a problem, task, or difficulty confronts you, or you are confronted with it, it is sth. that you cannot avoid and must deal with
I was confronted with the task of designing and building the new system.

13. II. Detailed study of the text:
6. totter: to move in an unsteady way from side to side as if about to fall, to walk with weak unsteady steps
The old lady tottered down the stairs.

14. Detailed study of the text
curse: If you curse, you use rude or offensive language,usu. because you are angry about sth.
insult: If sb. insults you, they say sth. rude to you or offend you by doing or saying sth. which shows they have a low opinion of you.

15. Detailed study of the text:
embrace: to take and hold (another or each other) in the arms as a sign of love, hug
Smile into each other’s face:

16. Detailed study of the text
To smile into each other’s face

17. II. Detailed study of the text:
7. limousine: A limousine is a large and very comfortable car
sports car: a low usu. open car with room for only 2 people for traveling with high power and speed

18. Detailed study of the text:
8. Johnny Carson: a talk show anchorman
9. tacky: (Am.E, slang) shabby

19. Detailed study of the text:
10. overalls: are a single piece of clothing that combines trousers and a jacket.
11. hog: pig, esp. a fat one for eating

20. Detailed study of the text:
12. sledge hammer: large, heavy hammer for swinging with both hands, a large heavy hammer with a long handle, used for smashing concrete
13. barley: 大麦

21. Detailed study of the text:
14. pancake: a thin, flat circle of cooked batter (糊状物) made of milk, flour and eggs. usu. rolled up or folded and eaten hot with a sweet or savory filling inside
Who ever knew a Johnson…the woman’s family name

22. Detailed study of the text
With one foot raised in flight…with my head turned in whichever way is farthest from them: Indirect speech act meaning ready to escape,

23. II. Detailed study of the text:
15. sidle: walk as if ready to turn or go the other way
A man sidled up to me and asked if I wanted a ticket for the match.

24. II. Detailed study of the text:
16. shuffle: slow dragging walk
If you shuffle, you walk without lifting your feet properly off the ground
He slipped on his shoes and shuffled out of the room.

25. II. Detailed study of the text:
I was shuffling in my seat.
cf:
totter (n.6), sidle(n. 15), shuffle

26. II. Detailed study of the text:
17. blaze: to burn with a bright flame
A wood fire was blazing, but there was no other light in the room.
n. the sudden sharp shooting up of a flame, a very bright fire
The fire burned slowly at first, but soon burst into a blaze.

27. II. Detailed study of the text:
18. sweet gum tree: a large North American tree of the witch hazel (榛子) family, with alternate maplelike leaves, spiny (多刺的) fruit balls, and flagrant juice
美洲金缕梅, 落叶灌木或小乔木. 原产于北美和亚洲. 其分叉小枝从前用为魔杖, 这寻找地下水, 故俗称魔杖.

28. II. Detailed study of the text:
19. dingy: dirty and faded
This is the dingiest street of the town.

29. II. Detailed study of the text:
20. raise: to collect together
raise money for a holiday
His wife raised the money by selling her jewellery.
We’re trying to raise funds to establish a scholarship.

30. II. Detailed study of the text:
21. underneath: (so as to go) under (sth.)
The letter was pushed underneath the door.
Did you find very much growing underneath the snow?

31. II. Detailed study of the text:
22. make-believe: a state of pretending or the things which are pretended
She lives in a make-believe world / a world of make-believe.

32. II. Detailed study of the text:
Don’t be afraid of monsters - the story is only make-believe.
The little girl made believe she was a princess.

33. II. Detailed study of the text:
23. shove: to push, esp. in a rough or careless way
There was a lot of pushing and shoving to get on the bus.
Help me to shove this furniture aside.

34. II. Detailed study of the text:
If you shove sb. or sth., you push them with a quick, rather, violent movement.
He dragged her out to the door and shoved her into the street.

35. II. Detailed study of the text:
24. dimwit: (infml) an ignorant and stupid person
dim: faint, not bright
wit: intelligence, wisdom
at one’s wit’s end: at the end of one’s tether

36. II. Detailed study of the text:
25. organdy: (Br. E organdie) very fine rather stiff cotton material used esp. for women’s dresses
(蝉翼纱, 玻璃纱)

37. II. Detailed study of the text:
26. pump: low shoe that grips the foot chiefly at the toe and the heel
27. stare down any disaster in her efforts: face up and defeat any disaster with her efforts
stare down: two people looking at each other persistently until one shifts his eye

38. II. Detailed study of the text:
28. flicker: to move backwards and forwards unsteadily
shadows flickered on the wall
flickering eyelids

39. II. Detailed study of the text:
29. stumble: to stop and /or make mistakes in speaking or reading aloud
to catch the foot on the ground while moving along and start to fall
She stumble at/over the long word
He stumbled and stopped reading.

40. II. Detailed study of the text:
cf:
stammer: to speak or say with pauses and repeated sounds, either habitually or because of excitement, fear, etc. stammerer
stutter: to speak or say with difficulty in producing sounds, esp. habitually holding back the first consonant. stutterer

41. II. Detailed study of the text:
30. good-naturedly: naturally kind, ready to help, to forgive, not to be angry
A person or animal that is good-natured is naturally friendly and does not easily get angry.
a good-natured policeman

42. II. Detailed study of the text:
31. mossy:
moss: any of several types of a small flat green or yellow flowerless plant that grows in a thick furry mass on wet soil, or on a wet surface

43. II. Detailed study of the text:
32. hook: to catch with or as if with a hook
to hook a fish / a rich husband
hooknose
Here: to attack with the horn of the cow

44. II. Detailed study of the text:
33. soothe: to make less angry, excited or anxious, comfort or calm, to make less painful
soothing words
soothe one’s feelings

45. II. Detailed study of the text:
34. shingle: a small thin piece of building material (such as wood) often with one end thicker than the other for laying in overlapping rows as a covering for the roof or sides of building

46. II. Detailed study of the text:
cf: tile; a flat or curved piece of fired clay, stone, or concrete used esp. for roofs, floors, or walls and often for ornamental work

47. II. Detailed study of the text:
35. porthole: also port, a small usu. circular window or opening in a ship for light or air
36. shutter: a. one that shuts
b. movable cover (wooden panel or iron plate, hinged, or separate and detachable) for a window or door, to keep out light or burglars.

48. II. Detailed study of the text:
37. pasture: land where grass is grown and where cattle feed on it
38. furtive: stealthy, If sb. is furtive, he / she behaves as if he / she wants to keep sth. secret or hidden.

49. II. Detailed study of the text:
They suddenly looked furtive when I got into the room.
I watched him furtively pencil a note and slip it between the pages.
A woman with furtive look sidled up to me and asked furtively whether I had / wanted porn CDs.

50. II. Detailed study of the text:
39. hang about: to wait or stay near a place without purpose or activity
40. washday: also washing day, the day when clothes are washed

51. II. Detailed study of the text:
41. impressed with her: impressed by her manner,
42. well-turned: (of a phrase) carefully formed and pleasantly expressed
a well-turned phrase: 恰当的词语

52. II. Detailed study of the text:
43. cute: delightfully pretty and often small
If you describe sb. as cute you mean that you find them attractive, often in a sexual way

53. II. Detailed study of the text:
44. scald: to burn with hot liquid
He scalded his tongue on / with the hot coffee
scalding: boiling or as hot as boiling

54. II. Detailed study of the text:
court: If a man courts a woman, he pays a lot of attention to her because he wants to marry her.

55. II. Detailed study of the text:
45. flashy: over-ornamented, unpleasantly big, bright, etc. and perhaps not of good quality Something that is flashy is so smart, bright and expensive that you find it unpleasant and perhaps vulgar
a flashy sports car / cheap flashy clothes

56. II. Detailed study of the text:
46. recompose:
compose: to make (esp. oneself) calm, quiet, etc.
Jean was nervous at first but soon composed herself.

57. II. Detailed study of the text:
47. kinky: (esp. of hair) having kinks
kink: a backward turn or twist in hair, a rope, chain, pipe, etc.
48. wriggle: to twist from side to side
49. loud: attracting attention by being unpleasantly colourful

58. II. Detailed study of the text:
50. rope: (of 2 or more mountain climbers) to be fastened together with the same rope
The word here means the plaits or the pigtails are fastened together

59. II. Detailed study of the text:
51. gliding: to move noiselessly in a smooth, continuous manner, which seems easy and without effort
glider: a plane without an engine

60. II. Detailed study of the text:
52. something of a(n)... : (infml) rather a(n), a fairly good
If you say that a person or thing has something of a particular quality, feeling, etc., you mean that they have it to some extent.

61. II. Detailed study of the text:
He is something of a book collector / a liar / a musician.
I am something of a carpenter myself, you know.

62. II. Detailed study of the text:
make sth. of oneself: be successful
He is a clever boy--- I hope he'll make sth. of himself.

63. II. Detailed study of the text:
53. peek: (infml) to look at sth. quickly, esp. when one should not
They caught him peeking through the hole at what was going on in the room

64. II. Detailed study of the text:
peep: to look at sth. quickly and secretly
It’s rude to peep at other people’s work.
He took a peep at the back of the book to find out the answers to the questions.

65. II. Detailed study of the text:
Peek & Peep are not clearly distinguishable when denoting to see what is concealed, or hidden.

66. II. Detailed study of the text:
peer: to look very carefully or hard, esp. as if not able to see well
She peered through the mist, trying to find the right path.
He peered at me over the top of his glasses.

67. II. Detailed study of the text:
54. stoop: to bend the head and shoulders forwards and down
55. cower: to bend low and draw back as from fear, pain, shame, cold etc.

68. II. Detailed study of the text:
56. go through motions with Maggie’s hand:
Here “motions” refer to trying to shake hands with Maggie.

69. II. Detailed study of the text:
If you go through the motions, you say or do sth. that is expected of you without being very sincere or serious about it. Or you pretend to do sth. by making the movements associated with a particular action.

70. II. Detailed study of the text:
The doctor was sure that the man wasn’t ill, but he went through the motions of examining him.
I can go through the motions of putting imaginary food into my mouth.

71. II. Detailed study of the text:
57. give up on
If you give up on sth., you abandon all hope of doing it or of understanding it

72. II. Detailed study of the text:
57. limp: lacking strength or stiffness
n. a way of walking with one foot dragging unevenly
v. to walk with an uneven step, one foot or leg moving less well than the other

73. II. Detailed study of the text:
58. There you are: I told you so.
There you are. I knew I was right. That’s what I expected. I knew you couldn’t trace it further back.
There I was not: You are not right.

74. II. Detailed study of the text:
crop up: arise, happen or appear, unexpectedly
Some difficulties have cropped up at work so I’ll be late coming home tonight.

75. II. Detailed study of the text:
Literally the sentence in the text could possibly understood as follows:
I was not there before the name “Dicie” appeared in our family, so why...
But “There I was not” is obviously a quick, short cut answer to “there you are”.

76. II. Detailed study of the text:
59. Model A car: in 1909 Henry Ford mass-produced 15 million Model T cars and thus made automobiles popular in the States. In 1928 the Model T was discontinued and replaced by a new design - the Model A - to meet the needs for growing competition in car manufacturing.

77. II. Detailed study of the text:
Here he thinks she is quaint, attractive because it is strange and something rather old fashioned
60. ream: sl. say it, spit it

78. II. Detailed study of the text:
61. out of the way: not blocking space for the forward movement of
We overcame the difficulty and managed to pronounce it at last)
I will move the chair out of your way.

79. II. Detailed study of the text:
He ran through the crowd, pushing people out of his way.
Her social life got in the way of her studies.
We got the name out of the way: we finished talking about it, we set the problem aside.
When we got topic A out of the way, we discuss topic B.

80. II. Detailed study of the text:
62. trip: If you trip over something, you knock your foot against something when you are walking and lose your balance so that you fall or nearly fall.
I tripped and fell...
She tripped over a stone...

81. II. Detailed study of the text:
He put each foot down carefully to avoid tripping up.
Here: to make a mistake as in a statement or behavior
This lawyer always tries to trip witness up by asking confusing questions.

82. II. Detailed study of the text:
63. salt-lick shelters: shelters where blocks of rock salt were kept for cattle to lick
66. doctrine: A doctrine is a principle or belief, or a set of principles of beliefs, which is thought by its supporters to be absolutely true and therefore the only one acceptable

83. II. Detailed study of the text:
64. style: The style of a particular person is all the general attitudes, likes, dislikes, and ways of behaving that are characteristic of him or her.
Raising cattle is not my style: I am not interested in raising cattle.

84. II. Detailed study of the text:
65. gone and married: colloq.
66. collard: 宽叶羽衣甘蓝
67. go on through the chitlins etc.
68. chitlins: also chitlings, chitterlings: the intestines of hogs esp. when -prepared as food

85. II. Detailed study of the text:
69. talk a blue streak: speak very fast and very much
70. rump: the part of an animal at the back just above the legs.

86. II. Detailed study of the text:
71. her hand closed over the butter dish: A butter dish is a small rectangular container which you can simply put your hand close over

87. II. Detailed study of the text:
72. if I could have: here if means whether
73. churn: a container in which milk is moved about violently until it becomes butter , Am.E a large metal container in which milk is stored or carried from the farm (搅乳器, 盛奶罐)

88. II. Detailed study of the text:
74. clabber: (not found in Longman or Collins) curdle --- to form into curds, cause to thicken
75. whittle: to cut (wood) to a smaller size by taking off small thing pieces

89. II. Detailed study of the text:
76. dasher: a devise having blades for agitating a liquid or semisolid
77. centerpiece: The centerpiece of a set of things that is greatly admired is sth. that you show as the best example of the set

90. II. Detailed study of the text:
78. alcove: an alcove is a small area in a room which is formed by one part of a wall being built further back than the rest of the wall, a partially enclosed extension of a room, often occupied by a bed or by seats, 凹室

91. II. Detailed study of the text:
79. to do with the dasher: use the dasher to make sth. artistic

92. II. Detailed study of the text:
80. sink: a depression (part of a surface lower than the other parts) in the land surface
The rain collected in several depressions on the ground.

93. II. Detailed study of the text:
81. rifle: to search through and steal everything valuable out of a place
The thieves rifled his pockets of all their contents.
The burglar rifled the safe.
The bad boy rifled the apple tree.

94. II. Detailed study of the text:
Here in the text, the word “rifle” means to look thorough to see what to take, and indicates that Dee was trying to find sth. she did not deserve.

95. II. Detailed study of the text:
82. hung back: be unwilling to act or move
The bridge looked so unsafe that we all hung back in fear.

96. II. Detailed study of the text:
83. scrap: small piece, bit
a scrap of paper
Scrap of bread were thrown to the birds.
There was not a scrap of food left, we’ve eaten it all.

97. II. Detailed study of the text:
84. teeny: teeny weeny: also teensy weensy (used esp. to children) very small

98. II. Detailed study of the text:
85. furious: frenzied, angry, violent

99. II. Detailed study of the text:
86. stump: n. the part of a plant, (esp. a tree) remaining attached to the root after the trunk is cut
v. put an unanswerable question to, puzzle, perplex
If something stumps you, you cannot think of any solution or answer for it.

100. II. Detailed study of the text:
The question has stumped philosophers since the beginning of time.
You’ve go me stumped there.

101. II. Detailed study of the text:
87. snuff: tobacco made into powered for breathing into the nose, esp. used in former times
88. dopey: [‘doupi] showing dullness of the mind or feelings caused or as if caused by alcohol or a drug, sleepy and unable to think clearly, stupid

102. II. Detailed study of the text:
89. hangdog: (of an expression on the face) ashamed, guilty, cowed
90. portion: lot, fate, or fortune, destiny
Utter disaster was my portion.
What would be my portion after graduation?

103. II. Detailed study of the text:
91. heritage: property that descends to an heir, sth. transmitted by or from a acquired predecessor, sth. possessed as a result of one’s natural situation or birth

104. IV. Character Analysis Dee:
She has held life always in the palm of one hand.
"No" is a word the world never learned to say to her.
She would always look anyone in the eye. Hesitation was no part of her nature.
She was determined to share down any disaster in her efforts.

105. I. Rhetorical devices: Parallelism:
chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle
Metaphor:
She washed us in a river of...burned us... Pressed us ...to shove us away
stare down any disaster in her efforts...

106. The end
Thanks