Lesson 3-Message of the Land
Part Three
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ENTER
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
Text Appreciation
I. Text Analysis
1. Style
2. Stylistic feature
3. Theme
4. Structure
5. Further discussion
II. Writing Devices
1.
2.
3.
4.
Simile
Metaphor
Personification
Zeugma
III. Sentence Paraphrase
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
I.
Text Analysis
Style
Style: essay (in a very broad sense)
or interview
The interviewees: a farmer and his
wife
(note: Since the World War II it has become
popular for writers to interview people, record
what they say and, after some, not too much,
editing, publish these people’s stories in book
form.)
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The end of Style.
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
I.
Text Analysis
Stylistic feature
straightforward language
colloquial
short sentences
small and easy words
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The end of Stylistic feature.
Please
find
supportin
g details
in the text.
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
I.
Text Analysis
Theme of the story
The text tells
about the deep
regret of the old
people over the
loss of traditional
values and the
way of life.
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The end of Theme.
The theme
is hidden in
the
message of
the land.
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
I.
Text Analysis
Structure of the text
Part I the wife’s speech
(paras. 1—3) The wife tells us briefly about
her family and how all her
children left.
(paras. 4—7)
This part focuses on the changes
that she finds she can’t adjust to.
The farmer tells about what he
Part II the farmer’s thinks are the root of all evils and
what joys he finds in life and
speech (paras. 8—11)
farming.
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The end of Structure.
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
I.

Text Analysis
the loss of traditional values and the
way of life
Changes in
family
Changes in the village
no barter, but cash
no pay-free help
plastic things instead
only the old on the land
no practice of the old customs
no respect for the old
All four
children
The wife’s went away.
complaints Children wear
jeans instead.
The
farmer’s
complaints
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None of the
children will
come back
to inherit
the land.
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•
•
Greed, anger, and lust are
the root of all evils.
No young man will care
what message the land gives.
To be continued on the next page.
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
I.
Text Analysis

What’s the message of the land?
For further
discussion
It’s our history, our culture, our
tradition and our life. In a word, it is our
root which we cannot live without.
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
I.

Text Analysis
Yes, these are our rice fields. They
belonged to my parents and forefathers.
The land is more than three centuries old.
Question: Why does the wife start
conversation with the talk about the land?
her
The wife has already regarded the land as part
of her life. This is the land where her parents
and forefathers lived and it is bound with family
history and tradition. It represents the root of
her family.
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To be continued on the next page.
In Para. 1
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
I.

Text Analysis
Question: What’s the main idea of Paras. 1—
3?
The wife makes a brief introduction of her
family and tells us how all her four children
left for cities. She feels sorry about this and
she also feels sorry about the land. The land is
no longer fertile, like her and her husband,
getting old and exhausted.
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
I.

Text Analysis
Question: What is the topic sentence of
Para. 4? What are the supporting details?
Topic sentence: “… we two haven’t changed
much, but the village has.”
Supporting details:
• Cash instead of barter
• Paid help
• Plastic things instead of village crafts
• The old alone on the land
• Young people’s different way of thinking,
dressing and behaving
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To be continued on the next page.
Pay
attention to
paragraph
organizatio
n.
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
I.
Text Analysis
 Question: What is the main idea of Paras. 5—6?
What is the function of the first sentence in
Para. 5?
With the first sentence in Para. 5 serving as
a transitional sentence, the wife shifts her
talk to the things that should not change,
which include people’s worship, and young
people’s respect to their parents and the
aged.
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
I.

Text Analysis
Question: How does the wife present her
speech? What is her attitude toward the
changes around her?
By comparison/contrast and exemplification,
the wife presents her idea of this changing
world. She dislikes the changes around her.
She
won’t
accept
the
changes
and
even
refuses to change with the life.
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To be continued on the next page.
Please find
examples in
the text.
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
I.

Text Analysis
Question: What can be inferred from
Para. 10?
The farmer is very traditional. He still
clings to the conventional idea of having a
big family with children around him.
Because of his strong attachment to the
land, he wants his children to follow in his
footsteps and be content with the farming
life.
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
I.
Text Analysis
Question: What can we learn from the

last paragraph?
The farmer nurses a strong love towards
the land. He loves the feeling when tilling
the land and the smell and sight when the
rice on the land is ripening. He feels so
close to the land that he can even read the
message of the land. He strongly hopes
that one day he can pass on the land’s
secret message to his grandchildren.
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
I.

Text Analysis
Question: What are the traits, as shown in
the old couple, shared by other farmers?
In the couple we find traits that are shared by
many farmers who till the land:
• love of land and physical labor, and love of family
• being honest and kind, and easy to be satisfied
• clinging to traditional values and the way of life
We can still find the common problems:
• generation gap
• confusion of the old towards the changing world
• young people’s quitting of the farming life
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Further
study of the
text
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
I.
Text Analysis
Further discussion about the text
What does the wife think of her husband?
How does the husband counterattack his
wife’s opinion of him?
Does “a pair of jeans” carry any other
meanings in the text?
How do young girls nowadays differ from
those in the old days?
Why is the question “Are you happy?”
never occurred to her?
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
I.
Text Analysis
Further discussion about the text
What is the wife’s philosophy of life?
Why is the farmer at peace with his
conditions now?
Does the farmer have any regrets?
What, in his opinion, is the root of all evils?
Do you agree?
How does he feel about his wife? Do you
think he loves her?
Why does he want to leave his land to his
children? Why can’t he sell the land and give
the money to them?
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The end of Further discussion.
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
II.
Writing Devices
Simile
Examples
A simile consists of two parts: tenor and
vehicle. The tenor is the primary
subject; the vehicle is the thing to which
the main subject is compared to.
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
II.
Writing Devices
Simile
subject /
tenor
Records (fell)
simile
marker
like
reference/
vehicle
ripe apples (on a
windy day.)
The data
processing (is
going on)
as (slow) as
a snail.
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The end of Simile.
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
II.
Writing Devices
Metaphor
A metaphor is also a comparison. The
difference is that a simile compares things
explicitly—that is, it states literally that X is
like Y.
A metaphor compares things implicitly. Read
literally, it does not state that things are alike;
it says that they are the same thing, that
they are identical.
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Examples
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
II.
Writing Devices
Metaphor
subject / tenor
reference/ vehicle
Cape Cod (is the
bared and bended)
arm of
(Massachusetts.)
He (is)
a wolf (in sheep’s
clothing.)
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
II.
Writing Devices
Please find the sentences in the text which
contain either simile or metaphor and point
out the rhetorical device in each sentence.
1. Sometimes, they get bullied and insulted,
and it is like a knife piercing my heart. (2)
2. When each of them has a pair of jeans,
they are off like birds on the wing. (10)
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
II.
Writing Devices
3. The soft cool breeze moves the sheaves,
which ripple and shimmer like waves of gold.
(11)
4. Yes, this bag of bones dressed in rags can
still plant and reap rice from morning till
dusk. (7)
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The end of Metaphor.
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
II.
Writing Devices
Personification
Our piece of land is small, and it is no longer
fertile, bleeding year after year and, like us,
getting old and exhausted. (3)
personification
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Referring to inanimate
things or abstractions as
if they were human.
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To be continued on the next page.
Personification is
really a special
kind of metaphor.
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
II.
Writing Devices
Personification: more examples
As London increased, however, rank and
fashion rolled off to the west, and trade,
creeping on at their heels took possession of
their deserted abodes.
The youth were singing, laughing and playing
the music instruments. The trees and flowers
around them danced heartily as if touched by
merry mood.
How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,
stolen on his wing my three and twentieth year!
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The end of Personification.
The purpose
of
personificatio
n is to explain,
to expand,
and to vivify.
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
II.
Writing Devices
Zeugma
The soil is not difficult to till when there is a lot
of rain, but in a bad year, it’s not only the
ploughs that break but our hearts, too. (3)
Zeugma: a single word is
made to modify or govern
two or more words in the
same sentence
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Examples
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
II.
Writing Devices
Zeugma: more examples
1.The senator picked up his hat as well as his
courage.
2. COATTAILS: Clothes that fit the man and the
times. (Advert. In New York Times Magazine, 1980)
3. Miss Bolo rose from the table considerably agitated,
and went straight home, in a flood of tears and a
sedan chair.
4. Ten minutes later, the coffee and Commander Dana
of Naval Intelligence arrived simultaneously.
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
II.
Writing Devices
Zeugma: more examples
5. She had to swallow bread and butter and a
spasm of emotion.
6. He fought with desperation and a stout club.
7. Yesterday he had a blue heart and coat.
8. I got up yesterday and managed to catch a bus
and a cold.
9. … old people gathering in the social hall for
comradeship and a hot lunch.
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The end of Zeugma.
Zeugma is a comic
figure of speech. At
its best Zeugma is
witty and amusing,
and it increases
meaning by
revealing hidden
connections.
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase 1
My husband moved into our houses as is the
way with us in Esarn. (1)
“As” introduces a defining relative clause
and functions as its subject, representing
what is stated in the main clause.
(When we got married) my husband came
to live in our house. It was the tradition
here in Esarn that the bridegroom should
come to live with the bride’s family.
go to 2
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Examples
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase
1. As is known to all, Taiwan belongs to China.
(as—subject of the clause)
2. As is often the case, girls learn a language
more quickly than boys.
(as—subject of the clause)
back to 1
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase 2
The rest, two boys and two girls, went
away as soon as we could afford to buy
jeans for them. (1)
the remaining
people; the others
appositive of
“the rest”
to have enough
money to do
Our other children—two boys and two girls—left as
soon as we had the money to buy them jeans.
go to 3
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To be continued on the next page.
Examples
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase
1. Your father, a proud and unbending man,
refused all help that was offered him.
2. Playing football, his only interest in life,
brought him many friends.
3. A dry lightning storm, that is, a
thunderstorm without rain, started a fire in
a remote part of the forest in August.
back to 2
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase 3
It’s easier for my husband. He has ears which
don’t hear, a mouth which doesn’t speak, and
eyes that don’t see. (2)
parallel structure
restrictive relative clause
News about my children’s problems doesn’t make
my husband as sad as me. He doesn’t bother
about what is happening around us and to our
children. He never says anything about them.
go to 4
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase 4
He has always been patient and silent,
minding his own life. (2)
present participle phrase
functioning as adverbial of
accompanying circumstances
take care of;
attend to
He’s always been patient and talks little. He
just does his duty and carries on his life.
go to 5
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase 5
Our piece of land is small, and it is no longer
fertile, bleeding year after year and, like us,
getting old and exhausted. (3)
present participle phrases
functioning as a cause
personification
Our land is getting poorer with each passing
year, like us who are getting old, weak and
tired.
go to 6
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Examples
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase
1. They sent us their statement, hoping to get
our support.
2. They went on with their struggle, thinking
theirs was a just cause.
3. Not having received an answer, he decided to
write another letter to them.
4. The doctor, not wishing to make her nervous,
did not fully explain the seriousness of her
condition.
back to 5
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Present
participle
phrases act
as
adverbials
of cause.
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase 6
… but in a bad year, it’s not only the ploughs
that break but our hearts too. (3)
emphatic structure
zeugma: “break” governs
both
“ploughs”
and
“hearts”.
… but when there is a drought, the land is so
hard that the ploughs break. And we become
very, very sad.
go to 7
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Examples
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase
The emphatic
structure “It
is/was… that…”
can be used to
emphasize any
part of the
sentence
except the
predicate.
1. It was the policeman that/who caught a
pickpocket on No. 933 bus yesterday.
(The subject is emphasized.)
1. It was a pickpocket that the policeman
caught on No. 933 bus yesterday.
(The object is emphasized.)
3. It was on No.933 bus that the policeman
caught a pickpocket yesterday.
(The adverbial of place is emphasized.)
4. It was yesterday that the policeman caught
a pickpocket on No. 933 bus.
(The adverbial of time is emphasized.)
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back to 6
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase 7
Shops have sprung up, filled with colorful
plastic things and goods we have no use for. (4)
appear suddenly
relative clause
past participle phrase functioning as postmodifier to modify “shops”
Many shops appear in a short time. In these
shops there are lots of colorful plastic things
and things that are useless for us.
go to 8
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Examples
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase
1. The men, soaked with sweat from an allnight march, immediately went into action.
2. The substance, discovered almost by
accident, has revolutionized medicine.
3. The book, written in 1957, tells of the
struggle of the miners.
back to 7
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A postmodifying
past
participle
phrase
corresponds
to an
elliptical
relative
clause.
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase 8
If that kind of thing had happened when I was
young, the whole village would have condemned
such an ungrateful son, and his father would
surely have given him a good beating. (6)
scold severely
subjunctive mood
hit him as a
punishment
In my day if a boy had screamed at his mother,
the whole village would have scolded him for
his lack of gratitude, and his father would
certainly have punished him.
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go to 9
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase 9
Yes, this bag of bones dressed in rags can
still plant and reap rice from morning till
dusk. (7)
very thin
metaphor:
as thin as a bag of
bones
past participle
phrase functioning
as post-modifier
It’s true I’m not strong and my clothes are full
of holes, but I can still work in the rice fields all
day.
go to 10
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase 10
My eyes do see—they see more than they
should. My ears do hear—they hear more than
is good for me. (8)
“do” is used
to emphasize
verb.
“more than is good”
is the same as
“more than what is
good”.
I’m not what my wife says I am. I do see and
hear—I see and hear too much evil, too many
ugly and terrible things, things that I wish I did
not have to see and hear. And this is not good
for me.
go to 11
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Examples
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase
1. He drank more than (what) was good for
him.
2. Kate meant more than (what) was said.
3. Some of the stories were really more than
(what) could be believed.
back to 10
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase 11
It’s good to smell the scent of ripening rice in
November. The soft cool breeze moves the
sheaves, which ripple and shimmer like
waves of gold. (11)
simile
non-restrictive
relative clause
gerund
functioning as
modifier
The ripening rice is so pleasant to smell in
November. In the soft cool breeze, the
sheaves move and shine in the sun like a
golden sea.
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Examples
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase
1. They were infuriated by this insulting
demand.
2. No soaking rain fell in the period.
3. Our industry is developing at an
astonishing speed.
back to 11
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Lesson 3-Message of the Land
III. Sentence Paraphrase 12
Yes, I love this land and I hope one of my
children comes back one day to live, and
gives me grandchildren so that I can pass on
the land’s secret message to them.
hand or give sth. to sb.
Yes, I love this land and I hope one of my
children returns one day to live on it, and
produces a lot of grandchildren for me so that
I can tell them what this land means to us. It
is our history, our culture, our tradition, and
our life.
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The end of Sentence Paraphrase.
Lesson 3-Message of the Land
Part Three
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