Unit 15 Clothes Make the Man --Uneasy An Integrated English Course (5)

PART I: CLASS PLANNING

1. Teaching Materials Textbook: An Integrated English Book 5; Teacher’s Book Dictionaries: Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary (Fourth edition); A New English-Chinese Dictionary .

2. Teaching Objectives To know some basic features of expositive writing; To grasp the new words and expressions;

3. Time Allocation Periods 1-2: Analysis of Text I and Rhetorical Notes; Part I of the text (Para. 1) Periods 3-4 : Part II of the text (Paras 2-5) Periods 5-6: Part III of the text (Para. 6); Comprehension questions; Exercises, Oral Activities; Text II

4. Teaching Methods Interactive teaching Communicative teaching

5. Teaching Aids Lecture notes prepared by the teacher

PART II: TEACHING LECTURES Periods 1-2 (80 min )

◆ Aid: Lecture notes prepared by the teacher ◆ Warm-up Questions: What kind of clothes do you like to wear? Is it important what a person wears, especially in public?

◆ Contents: ★ About the Lesson This expository essay deals with the changes in masculine fashion, focusing on the drastic changes in the West in the1960s, pointing out the significance of masculine choices of clothes, and laying bare masculine narcissism and vanity.

★ Structural Analysis of Text I: Para. 1 tells us that the 1960s saw a large number of men feeling more uneasy about what to wear, and that the choices men had to make always had an absolute anonymous meaning in the world of men, an identifying stamp usu. incomprehensible to female judgment.

Para.2-5 is the main part of the essay. Para.6 is the last part. In this part, the writer first offer reasons why men hate fashion risks and then describes masculine fashion preferences and their purposes in the contemporary age.

★ Detailed Study of Para. 1 of Text I: Analysis The first paragraph tells us that the 1960s saw a large number of men feeling more uneasy about what to wear, and that the choices men had to make always had an absolute and enormous meaning in the world of men, an identifying stamp usually incomprehensible to female judgment

◆ Gist Questions: 1)Why did the choices men made have an enormous meaning in the world of men? Because they marked or embodied men’s individual identity.

2) What do you know about men’s and women’s choices of clothes in the 1960s? Men’s choices of clothes were quite limited. Men had only a small range of possible alternatives. In contrast, women had a huge range of personally acceptable possibilities. The choices men had to make never looked very momentous to a feminine eye accustomed to a large range of personally acceptable alternatives, but they always had an absolutely enormous meaning in the world of men.

◆ Contents: Detailed study of Para. 1 of Text I 1)The idea that one might agonize over whether to grow sideburns or wear trousers of a radically different shape had never occurred to a whole generation.: A whole generation had never thought that one might suffer extreme agony about whether to grow sideburns or wear trousers of a completely different shape.

agonize: to suffer great pain, anxiety or worry intensely about sth. The woman agonized about her child's safety. He agonized himself with the thought of his possible failure in the exam. He agonized for a whole week about whether he should take this poorly-paid job after a long time of unemployment.

Radically: fundamentally; thoroughly; completely Everything has been changing radically. Terrorism is reported to be worsening radically.

Sideburns: patches of hair growing on the side of a man’s face in from of the ears. His sideburns grow luxuriantly, which makes it easy to recognize him. By the way, in British English, the word sideboards could be used instead of sideburns.

2)Before the mid '60s whether to wear a tie was the most dramatic sartorial problem: everything else was a subtle matter of surface variation.: Before the mid '60s whether to wear a tie was the biggest decision for men to make about (tailored) clothing; everything else was just trivial, superficial change that was hardly noticeable.

Dramatic: of a drama, i.e. of plays for the theater, radio or TV; of plays as a branch of literature or a performing art; The play is a dramatic representation of a real event. Her opening remarks were simply dramatic.

sartorial: elating to clothes, especially the style of clothes that a man wears - used especially humorously a man of great sartorial elegance Parson was distinguished for his lack of sartorial style.

Subtle: fine, delicate, not easy to detect or describe; ingenious; She has a subtle charm and a subtle humor. There is a subtle distinction between the two synonyms. The teacher made a subtle analysis of the problem.

3)Brace: to mentally or physically prepare yourself or someone else for something unpleasant that is going to happen brace yourself (for something) Nancy braced herself for the inevitable arguments. You had better brace yourself - I have some bad news.

brace yourself to do something Cathy braced herself to see Matthew, who she expected to arrive at any minute. To make something stronger by supporting it Wait until we've braced the ladder. Workers used steel beams to brace the roof.

4)All the delicate shades of significance expressed by the small range of possible alternatives used to be absorbing enough: All the subtle degrees of significance made know or conveyed by the limited number of alternatives were often difficult enough in the past.

Absorbing: holding one’s attention fully; interesting and appealing What an absorbing film it is! The scenic spot presents an absorbing view.

Double-breasted: having two fronts with two sets of buttons and buttonholes, and the two fronts overlapping across the body. I bought a double-breasted suit. As far as I know, some people don’t like double-breasted overcoats.

5)A hat with a tiny bit of nearly invisible feather was separated as by an ocean from a hat with none, and white-on-white shirts, almost imperceptibly complex in weave, were totally shunned by those men who favoured white oxford-cloth shirts.

A hat with a little bit of hardly discernable feather was absolutely differentiated from a a hat with no feather at all, and white shirts decorated with white patterns, which were nearly subtly complex in weave, were totally avoided by those who preferred to wear white oxford-cloth shirts.

Shun: to avoid; keep clear of, keep away from The country did not want to shun the war. She tries to shun publicity. Most medical graduates shun posts in geriatric medicine.

6)mystify: to bewilder, puzzle Her mystifying disappearance puzzled us. I am mystified; I just can’t see how he managed to climb to the top of the tower. ferocity: quality of being fierce, a ferocious act The criminal that committed ferocities received due punishment. Our fighters resumed their attack against the enemy with the greatest ferocity.

7)padding: soft material used to fill out things; unnecessary material in a book, essay, speech, etc. The padding feels soft and touches smooth. The sofa is filled with padding and springs. There is a lot of padding in the novel.

Cuff: the end of a coat or shirt sleeve at the wrist. The frayed cuffs of his coat are an obvious indication of his financial status.

Periods 3-4 ( 80 min )

◆ Aid: Lecture notes prepared by the teacher ◆ Gist Questions: 1) What can you infer about masculine fashion in the 1960s?

Nipped-in waistlines, vivid turtlenecks, long hair with sideburns, and bell-bottom trousers constituted the typical masculine fashion in the 1960s. those who ignored the popular fashion were stamped as convinced followers of the old order. Men found it impossible to resist the changes, and they had to follow the popular fashion.

2)Why did the author say that the difference between men’s and women’s clothes used to be an easy matter from every point of view? The writer said so because clothes worn by men and women used to be so sexually distinctive that it was no trouble for anyone to tell the difference.

◆ Contents: Detailed study of Paras 2-5 of Text I Analysis Paragraphs 2-5, the main part of the expositive essay, first inform us that it had never been very hard for men to dress themselves until the early 1960s, when the rate of change in masculine fashion accelerated with disconcerting violence, shedding a new light on all the steady old arrangements, and men found it impossible to ignore the changes. Next, this section illustrates that fact that in general, men of all ages want to retain the habit portraying a suitable self-image and then carefully tending it.

1) Even imaginative wives and mothers could eventually be trained to reject all seductive but incorrect choices with respect to tie fabric and collar shape that might connote the wrong flavor of spiritual outlook, the wrong level of education, or the wrong sort of male bonding.

Even wives and mothers full of imagination could finally learn to say "No" to all attractive but improper choices concerning tie fabric and collar shape, because such choices might give strong suggestions of incorrect mental attitudes, the low level of education or the inappropriate sort of male intimacy.

Fabric: cloth made of threads knitted, woven, or felted together These are cotton fabrics. We must expose the cracks in the social fabric. Many elements formed the fabric of his character.

Connote: to imply in addition to the literal or primary meaning The word mother generally connotes love, care, tenderness, etc. Smoke connotes fire. Terrorism connotes killing of innocent people.

Flavor: taste, flavoring; characteristic atmosphere Condiments give flavor to food. It is a drama with a European flavor. Visiting this rural area, you can enjoy the full flavor of English country life.

Outlook: a view from a place; foreseeable future; metal attitude The outlook from the top of the mountain is breathtaking. The economic outlook of our country is bright. I detected that his outlook on life had changed.

2) double standard a set of principles concerning dressing permitting greater opportunity or liberty to the male than to the female. Flourish: to be very successful;, very active, prosper No new business can flourish in the present economic climate. This species of flower flourishes in a warm climate. His sideburns are flourishing.

3) disconcerting: making you feel slightly confused, embarrassed, or worried a disconcerting question discomfiture: a state of being disconcerted or baffled The discomfiture in the ruling party was well known to the public. Our fondest dreams ended in discomfiture.

4) A look in the mirror suddenly revealed man to himself wearing his obvious chains and shackles, hopelessly unliberated. Seeing his own image in the mirror, a man suddenly realized that he was obviously wearing old-fashioned clothes which were binding him to the old order, thus having no hope of ever catching up with the new fashion.

It is to be noted that the phrase chains and shackles in the above sentence is used metaphorically, referring to outdated clothes which made the man so uncomfortable as if he was wearing a straightjacker. Tend: to take care of , look after When his wife is busy with housework, he had to tend their baby. Look at his carefully tended moustache.

5) So universal was the skirted female shape and the bifurcated male one that a woman in men's clothes was completely disguised, and long hair or gaudy trimmings were never the issue.

It was a usual phenomenon that women wore skirts and men wore trousers It was a usual phenomenon that women wore skirts and men wore trousers. This fashion was so widespread that a woman wearing men's clothes was completely disguised, and those who had long hair or those who wore clothes with gaudy trimmings were identified at a glance.

6) incur if you incur a cost, debt, or a fine, you have to pay money because of something you have done, to experience, suffer sth. unpleasant as a result of one's own behavior. incur expenses/costs/losses/debts etc

If the council loses the appeal, it will incur all the legal costs. the heavy losses incurred by airlines since September 11th If you incur something unpleasant, it happens to you because of something you have done incur somebody's displeasure/wrath/ disapproval etc She wondered what she'd done to incur his displeasure this time.

Periods 6( 80 min )

◆ Aid: Lecture notes prepared by the teacher ◆ Gist Questions: 1)Why do men secretly hate fashion risks?

According to the last paragraph, men secretly hate fashion risks for the following reasons. Firsts, most men find it impossible to leap backward across the traditional centuries into a comfortable renaissance zest for these dangers, since life is difficult enough nowadays. Secondly, along with fashion came the pitiless exposure of masculine narcissism and vanity, so long submerged and unknown. Thirdly, men had lost the habit of showing their concern for personal appearance. Fourthly, men formerly free from doubt wore their new finery with immense self-consciousness.

2)What do you know about the men referred to at the end of the text? Some men still have been wearing shoes with high heels and platform soles, because they want to look after and to change their gait. Men who suddenly find that they are quite willing to wear long hair and fur coats and carry handbags have excluded shoes with high hells and platform soles and got rid of the waist-length shirt opening that exposes trinkets lying embedded against the chest hair.

★ Detailed Study of Para. 6 of Text I: Analysis Paragraph 6, the last section of the essay, first offers reasons why men hate fashion risks and then proceeds to describe masculine fashion preferences and their purposes in the contemporary age.

1) Most of them find it impossible to leap backward across the traditional centuries into a comfortable renaissance zest for these dangers, since life is hard enough now anyway. Most men find that they are not in a position to keenly appreciate or comfortably enjoy running fashion risks just as people in the Renaissance did, since life is difficult and strenuous enough now anyway.

2) vanity: too much pride in yourself, so that you are always thinking about yourself and your appearance Sabrina had none of the vanity so often associated with beautiful women. vanity table: a dressing table

Vanity Fair (1847-48) a novel by William Thackeray about upper class English society at the time of the war against Napoleon. The characters in the book, who include Becky Sharp, are often shown to be stupid or to have no moral principles.

Blatantly: in a flagrant, unashamed way or manner; offensively noisy or obtrusive That big country blatantly intruded into the small nation’s national affairs. They are telling lies blatantly.

3) Men formerly free from doubt wore their new finery with colossal self-consciousness, starting covertly at everyone else to find out what the score really was about all this stuff.

Men who used to have full confidence in the way they were dressed wore their new gaudy dress with excessive awareness of their own appearance, casting furtive glances at everyone else to find out what they thought of the new showy dress.

Covertly: in a secret or secretive way Terrorists had been operating covertly in the United States long before the 9/11 incident. The opposition party is scheming covertly to overthrow the prime minister.

4) appropriate: to take something for yourself when you do not have the right to do this He is suspected of appropriating government funds. to take something, especially money, to use for a particular purpose appropriate something for something Congress appropriated $5 million for International Woman's Year.

Dandy: a man that is too much concerned about his elegant appearance The man warned his son to stay away from those upper-class dandies. Of all the books on the desk, this novel is a dandy. It is to be heeded that the word great in the great dandies is used as a case of irony.

5) cultivated: applying oneself to improve or developing the mind; nurtured. He is a very cultivated young man. They are people with cultivated tastes. trinket: a trifling ornament, jewel, etc. esp. one worn upon the person The shop sells postcards and trinkets. He bought her a few trinkets and took her to the theatre.

Nestle: to settle oneself comfortably; press oneself against another in affection She nestled into the cushions. A dog nestled at her feet. The mother nestled her baby’s head close against her chest.

6) Skirts, I need not add, never caught on: I do not have to add that skirts never became fashionable among men. Catch on: to become popular or widespread The movie did not catch on as predicted. Foreign festival, such as Valentine’s, would catch on in big cities of China.

2. Comprehension Questions: 1) To what degree is the statement "men knew how lucky they were" true? 2) What does the expression "to dress for all that complex multiple role-playing" imply?

3 . Oral Activities clothes for men and women. What is your opinion about this trend? Give reasons.

1)Positive reasons: With the development of society, men and women, despite their biological differences, are playing more and more similar roles in all walks of life. Since the social demarcation lines is blurred, why is it necessary for men and women to dress in such different ways?

2)Negative reasons: Variety is the spic of life 2)Negative reasons: Variety is the spic of life. Life would be colorless and boring if people of different sexes wear similar clothes. Men and women, on the other hand, are still considerably different in many aspects, in spite of the fact that the difference between men’s and women’s roles seems to be lessening.

4. Text II : Questions for discussion: 1)What does the author conclude about women in the old days? As a source of cheap labor for business and industry, and unpaid labor in the home, women were allowed only limited roles in society and didn’t have completed political, economic, and social equality with men.

2)What is implied about women’s role expectations in modern societies? Today, in most societies, women’s role expectations are often formed by female stereotypes ----oversimplified characteristics applied as a generalization to all women. The prevailing view is that women’s abilities in the workplace and in public life are limited by their physical fragility and by their roles as mothers. As a result, there is a continuing domestic bondage of women.

3)What facts does the author give to counter the argument that women are physically inferior to men? Many top women gymnasts have demonstrated their extraordinary strength. Girls and women have fewer orthopedic injuries than men. Women’s smaller hearts can work relatively harder than men’s without any ill effects, which equips women to participate in all sorts of hitherto exclusively male activities. Furthermore, women have greater tolerance for fatigue, which tends to even things out.

4)According to the passage, what is fundamentally proper in the differentiation between the roles of the two sexes? Differences between the roles of two sexes don’t necessarily make much of a difference where relative performance is concerned. There are many objective pieces of evidence for the erosion of man’s status. In the first place, many characteristics traditionally regarded as masculine and feminine are not different, they are just relative, and frequently irrelevant in comparison to skill. Secondly, there are many convergencies between male and female behavior.

5)What is the authors’ purpose in this writing? In most human societies men’s role is tied up with their right, or ability, to practice some activity that women are not allowed to practice. The author challenges several long-established attitudes, especially the notion that women are physically inferior to men and therefore they could find fulfillment only as wives and mothers. They contend that this notion constitutes a conspiracy to prevent women from competing with men. What has to be changed are the obsolete feminine and masculine sex roles that dehumanize sex and women.