Lesson Twelve The Loons
by Margaret Laurence
Ⅰ. Background Information
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1. Introduction of the author
Margaret Laurence is one of the major contemporary Canadian writers. She was
born in Neepawa, Manitoba, a province in SC Canada, and was educated at the
university of Manitoba.
Margaret Laurence’s imaginative dealing with Africa life established her
reputation as a writer before she began to publish fiction with a Canadian
background. Her first novel about Canada, the Stone Angel (1964) is a remarkable
book, demonstrating superbly her ability to create characters.
2. Introduction of the novel
The Loons (1970) is included in the Norton Anthology of the Short Fiction, 2nd
Edition, 1981. This touching story tells of the plight of Piquette Tonnerre, a girl
from a native Indian Family. Her people were marginalized by the whitedominating society. They were unable to exist independently in a respectable and
dignified way. They found it impossible to fit into the main currents of culture and
difficult to be assimilated comfortably.
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At school, Piquette felt out of place and ill at ease with the white children. When
she had grown up she did not have any chance to improve her life. In fact her
situation became more and more messed up. In the end she was killed in a fire. Her
death is like the disappearance of the loons on Diamond lake. Just as the narrator’s
father predicted, the loons would go away when more cottages were built at the lake
with more people moving in. the loons disappeared as nature was ruined by
civilization. In a similar way, Piquette and her people failed to find their position in
modern society.
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3. Notes
1) Rid: Louis Rid (1844-85) led two rebellions of Indians and Metis (people of mixed French
and Indian blood) in 1869-70 and 1884-85.The latter rebellion was crushed in the battle of
Batoehe, Manitoba, and Riel was executed.
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2) patois: dialect 4) broken English: English that is imperfectly spoken with mistakes in
grammar and syntax
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3) neither flesh, fowl, nor good salt herring; also 'neither fish, flesh, nor fowl' meaning 'not
anything definite or recognizable'
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4) C. P. R. : Canadian Pacific Railroad
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5) Mountie: a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
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6) Nash: a former make of automobiles
Ⅱ. Questions after the detailed study of the text
 1. What would happen sometimes to old Jules or his son
Lazarus on Saturday nights?
 2. Why did the doctor propose taking Piquette to Diamond
Lake for the summer?
 3. What was the cottage on the lake called? What was the
scenery there like?
 4. Why did the narrator ask Piquette respectfully. “I bet you
know a lot about the woods and all that. Eh.”?
Ⅲ. Analysis and Appreciation of the text
 1. The outline of the text
 2. Type of literature – novel
Ⅳ. Effective Writing Skills
 1. making effective use of specific adjective
 2. using many elliptical and short sentences to achieve certain
effect
Ⅴ.Special difficulties in the text
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paraphrasing some sentences
dangling modifiers
illogical and faulty parallelism
translating some sentences
VI . Rhetorical Devices
 1. simile
 2. antithesis
 3. assonance
VII . Detailed study of the text
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1. the scrub oak: Oak is a large tree, Scrub oak is short, stunted oak tree.
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2. chokecherry: North American wild cherry tree
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3. thicket: a thick growth of shrubs, underbrush or small trees
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4. clearing: an area of land cleared of trees
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5. shack: a small house or cabin that is crudely built and furnished, shanty
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6. chinked with mud: closed the narrow openings with mud
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7. Metis: people of mixed French and India blood
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8. entered their long silence: put down, repressed
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9. as the Tonnerres had increased… and rusty tin cans:
1). The Yonnerres had increased: the Tonnerre family had become larger
2). Settlement: a small or isolated community, cillage
3) added to: expanded
4). A chaos of lean-tos: a disorderly place crowded with sheds having a one-slope
roof. Level-to: shed with a one-slope roof, the upper end of the rafters resting
against an external support, such as trees or the wall of a building
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10. half-breed: a person whose parents are of different ethnic types, esp. an
offspring of a North American India and a person of European ancestry.
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11. patois: a form of language, differing from the accepted standard, as a
provincial or local dialect
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12. Cree: a member of a North American India people, living mainly in the
Canadian Prairie Provinces
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13. obscenities: offensive, repulsive remarks or ideas
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14. they did not belong among the Cree…: they did not have a proper and suitable
place among the cree…
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15. odd jobs: jobs that are not regular but occasional, incidental
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16. section hands (also section gang) a crew of persons who do the maintenance
work on a railroad section
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17. on relief: receiving government aid because of poverty, unemployment, etc,
relief: aid in the form of goods or money given, as by a government agency, to
persons unable to support themselves
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18. one of the Tonnerre youngster, with a face…: One of the Tonnerre youngsters,
who looked deadly serious, never laughed.
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19. for sale: to be sold, offered for purchase.
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20. bruised wild strawberries: wild strawberries with injured surface. Bruise: to
injure the surface or the outside of so that there is spoilage, abrasion, denting, etc.
e.g. bruised peaches, a bruised auto fender.
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21. lure: suggest an irresistible force, as desire, greed, curiosity, etc, in attracting
someone, esp. to something harmful or evil
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22. rather: more likely / exactly / truly
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23. swam like a dog: swam heartily with all my might
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27. sullen: silently showing dislike or hostility or lack of cheerfulness and interest
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28. lore: all knowledge or learning having to do with a particular subject, esp. of a
traditional nature
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24. thrash: move wildly / violently about; fish ~ in the net
25. output: I was swimming so energetically and wildly that I didn’t feel cold at all
26. squash flat: crush or force into a flat shape, press into a flat mass
29. shrug: a gesture to show indifference to things around or lack of interest
30. so what: even if so, what then; then why is that important; even if you are
interested in this place, why should I care about it
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31. distant voice: she said this in a detached manner, there’s a lack of participation and
involvement in her tone; she is absent-minded while talking with me
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32. point: cape; a piece of land with a sharp end stretching out into the water
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33. hang around: stay near a place or person with no clear purpose or activity
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34. dogged: obstinate, unyielding, not giving up easily
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37. scramble: crawl hurriedly
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38. overhung: stand out over
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39. pier: bridge-like framework built out into the sea where boats can stop
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40. crash: move noisily
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41. bracken: growth of large, coarse, weedy ferns
35. goddamn: even a small, unimportant amount
36. as an Indian…dead loss: it is useless to go to Piqutte for information of Indians,
though she is an Indian
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42. cold flickering: the sight of the flickering starlight makes you feel cold;
synesthesia (a sensation produced in one mood when a stimulus is applied to another
modality, as when hearing of a certain sound induces a vision of a certain color)
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43. flicker: shine with unsteady wavering light
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44. phantom birds: ghostlike birds that seem to appear to the sight but have no
physical existence
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45. still: flat, with no motion or sound
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46. ululating: loud sound of wailing and lamenting
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47. plaintive: sad, melancholy
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48. chilling mockery: a cold, discouraging sense of scorn for or laughing at sth.
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49. voice of angels (the sound of loons) can only be found in the fairyland, paradise,
heaven; the birds must have sounded like that before their habitat is disturbed by
human beings, but now their peaceful life is disturbed or spoiled by the presence of
mankind; a situation similar to that of Indians, both are turned into a minority group,
deprived of the original living place and driven somewhere else, association between
Piquette and loons
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50. it only strikes you…loons: it is the sound of loons alone that impresses you that
way; you will think of this only when hearing the sound of loons
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51. suspect: think it probable or likely; anticipate
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52. I am saying sth. against my own will. I am afraid that her presence might spoil my
experience. I would rather she was absent.
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53. a bunch of; a number of
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54. squawk: make a loud rough-sounding, harsh cry
VIII. Assignment
 Write a short composition on either of the two topics:
 1). My childhood
 2). A Summer holiday