Unit Four
Fun, Oh Boy.
Fun. You Could Die from
it
WARM-UP DISCUSSION

Is fun important in your life? How
important?
 What
is fun in your life? What is your
greatest fun?
 What
is your definition of “fun”?
 Fun is a rare jewel.
Fun is …
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Introductory P.
Body
Concluding P.
What is fun?
What is not fun?
• Definition
• negation
• How should
we treat fun?
• What is fun?
anecdote
Fun
Detailed Reading
Fun, Oh Boy. Fun. You Could Die from it
Suzanne Britt Jordan
1
Fun is hard to have.
2
Fun is a rare jewel.
3
Somewhere along the line people got the modern
idea that fun was there for the asking, that people deserved
fun, that if we didn’t have a little fun every day we would
turn into (sakes alive!) puritans.
4
“Was it fun?” became the question that overshadowed
all other questions: good questions like: Was it moral? Was
it kind? Was it honest? Was it beneficial? Was it generous?
Was it necessary? And (my favorite) was it selfless?
Detailed Reading
5
When the pleasures got to be the main thing, the fun
fetish was sure to follow. Everything was supposed to be fun.
If it wasn’t fun, then by Jove, we were going to make it fun,
or else.
6
Think of all the things that got the reputation of being
fun. Family outings were supposed to be fun. Sex was
supposed to be fun. Education was supposed to be fun.
Work was supposed to be fun. Walt Disney was supposed to
be fun. Church was supposed to be fun. Staying fit was
supposed to be fun.
7
Just to make sure that everybody knew how much fun
we were having, we put happy faces on flunking test papers,
dirty bumpers, sticky refrigerator doors, bathroom mirrors.
Detailed Reading
8
If a kid, looking at his very happy parents traipsing
through that very happy Disney World, said, “This ain’t fun,
ma,” his ma’s heart sank. She wondered where she had
gone wrong. Everybody told her what fun family outings to
Disney World would be. Golly gee, what was the matter?
9
Fun got to be such a big thing that everybody started
to look for more and more thrilling ways to supply it. One
way was to step up the level of danger or licentiousness or
alcohol or drug consumption so that you could be sure that,
no matter what, you would manage to have a little fun.
Detailed Reading
10 Television commercials brought a lot of fun
and fun-loving folks into the picture. Everything that
people in those commercials did looked like fun:
taking Polaroid snapshots, swilling beer, buying
insurance, mopping the floor, bowling, taking
aspirin. We all wished, I’m sure, that we could have
half as much fun as those rough-and-ready guys
around the locker room, flicking each other with
towels and pouring champagne. The more
commercials people watched, the more they
wondered when the fun would start in their own
lives. It was pretty depressing.
Detailed Reading
11
Big occasions were supposed to be fun.
Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter were
obviously supposed to be fun. Your wedding day
was supposed to be fun. Your wedding night was
supposed to be a whole lot of fun. Your
honeymoon was supposed to be the epitome of
fundom. And so we ended up going through every
Big Event we ever celebrated, waiting for the fun to
start.
12
It occurred to me, while I was sitting around
waiting for the fun to start, that not much is, and
that I should tell you just in case you’re worried
about your fun capacity.
Detailed Reading
13
I don’t mean to put a damper on things. I just
mean we ought to treat fun reverently. It is a
mystery. It cannot be caught like a virus. It cannot
be trapped like an animal.
The god of mirth is
paying us back for all those years of thinking fun
was everywhere by refusing to come to our party. I
don’t want to blaspheme fun anymore. When fun
comes in on little dancing feet, you probably won’t
be expecting it. In fact, I bet it comes when you’re
doing your duty, your job, or your work. It may even
come on a Tuesday.
INTRODUCTORY
PARAGRAPHS (PARA.1-5)


What is fun?
Definition
Qs:
1.
What is the thesis statement of the essay?
2.
What technique does the author employ in this
part of essay?
3.
In Para.4, a series of questions has been raised.
What’s the effect of it?



PARAPHRASE
Somewhere along the line people got the modern idea that
fun was there for the asking, that people deserved fun,
that if we didn't have a little fun every day we would turn
into (sakes alive!) puritans.
Somewhere along the time: (informal) at some time during
an activity or period of time 不知从何时起
--- Somewhere along the line, Errol seemed to have lost
interest in her.
PARAPHRASE


Somewhere along the line people got the modern
idea that fun was there for the asking, that
people deserved fun, that if we didn't have a little
fun every day we would turn into (sakes alive!)
puritans.
Sometimes in our life people had the idea that we
could find fun everywhere, that it is natural for
people to have fun, and that if we didn’t have a
little fun every day, we would become (for
Heaven’s sake, be alive) puritans, who have a
killjoy way of life.
PURITANS 清教徒

Puritans refer to a group of radical English Protestants
that arose in the late 16th century and became a major
force in England during the 17th century. Puritans
wanted to purify the Church of England by eliminating
traces of its origins in the Roman Catholic Church. In
addition, they urged a strict moral code and placed a high
value on hard work. After the execution of King Charles I
in 1649, they controlled the new government, the
Commonwealth. Oliver Cromwell, who became leader of
the Commonwealth, is the best-known Puritan. Many
Puritans, persecuted in their homeland, came to America
in 1620s and 1630s, settling colonies that eventually
became Massachusetts. The words puritan and
puritanical have come to suggest a zeal for keeping
people from enjoying themselves.
RHETORIC FEATURES
"Was it fun?" became the question that
overshadowed all other questions: good questions
like: Was it moral? Was it kind? Was it honest?
Was it beneficial? Was it generous? Was it
necessary? And (my favorite) was it selfless?
The
reader is invariably impressed by the
forcefulness of the questions raised in succession,
which provokes his thought: one who is after fun in
everything is likely to be shallow for he regards
everything in the world as something trivial and
funny no matter whether it is in reality something
serious and grave.
BODY PART (PARA.6-PARA.11)
What is not fun?
 Negation

PARA.6


Think of all the things that got the reputation of being
fun. Family outings were supposed to be fun. Sex was
supposed to be fun. Education was supposed to be fun.
Work was supposed to be fun. Walt Disney was supposed
to be fun. Church was supposed to be fun. Staying fit was
supposed to be fun.
Qs: Are all the things mentioned really fun?
PARA.7
Qs: Are those who put happy faces on flunking test
papers, dirty bumpers, sticky refrigerator doors,
bathroom mirrors really having fun?
No,
these people who indulge themselves with
fun-seeking take their lives less seriously. They
don’t care about these trivialities.
PARA.8
Qs:
1.
2.
Is the anecdote real or imaginary?
Is family outings to Disney World fun in this anecdote?
What does the author suggest through this story?
As:
1.
2.
It is imaginary.
No. In the imaginary event, the elaborate preparation of
the parents was wasted and the child failed to have the
expected fun. The author suggests that what is
supposed to be fun may not enable people to have a
good time.
PARA.9
Qs:
1.
How do some people manage to have fun?
2.
How do you understand the second sentence?
PARAPHRASE


One way was to step up the level of danger or
licentiousness or alcohol or drug consumption so
that you could be sure that, no matter what, you
would manage to have a little fun.
In order to have a little fun under the stress of
modern life, people indulged themselves even
more intensively in dangerous adventures and
excessive sex, alcohol and drugs.
PARA.10
Qs: How does the advertising help to cultivate our
fun-seeking appetite?
Advertisements
help to develop modern people’s
fun fetish by setting an example for us to follow
and showing how much fun we can get from
consuming all the items being advertised.
PARAPHRASE
We all wished, I'm sure, that we could have half as
much fun as those rough-and-ready guys around
the locker room, flicking each other with towels and
pouring champagne.
I
am sure that all of us wished that we could have
half as much fun as those crude guys in the TV
commercials who appear to enjoy themselves
greatly by flicking each other with towels in the
locker room, or by pouring champagne on each
other.
PARA.11

Big occasions were supposed to be fun. Christmas,
Thanksgiving and Easter were obviously supposed to be
fun. Your wedding day was supposed to be fun. Your
wedding night was supposed to be a whole lot of fun. Your
honeymoon was supposed to be the epitome of fundom.
And so we ended up going through every Big Event we
ever celebrated, waiting for the fun to start.

Rhetoric features: repetition

Qs: Are big occasions necessarily fun?
–dom:
1)
the state of being sth., freedom, wisdom, stardom
2) a. a particular rank, an earldom/ dukedom 伯爵爵位 / 公爵
爵位
b. an area ruled by a particular type of person, a kingdom
3) all the people who share the same set of interests, have
the same job, etc., officialdom官员, yuppiedom雅皮士
(uncountable nouns)
BODY PART (SUMMARY
QUESTIONS)
1.
What writing style does the author
create and how does she create it?
2.
In what way has the author further
elaborate what fun is?
CONCLUSION PART (PARA.12PARA.15)
How should we treat fun?
 What is fun on earth? (anecdote)

PARA. 12



It occurred to me, while I was sitting around waiting for
the fun to start, that not much is, and that I should tell
you just in case you're worried about your fun capacity.
When I was sitting around waiting for the fun to start, I
suddenly thought of one thing: fun is not much. I tell you
this for fear that you might be worried about your ability
to find fun in life.
The author says “not much is” . She feels we ought to be
more reverent about fun, to feel it more as a mystery
than as something to which we are automatically
entitled.
PARA.13
Qs:
1.
According to the author, how should we treat
fun?
2.
How does author develop this paragraph?
PARAPHRASE


It is a mystery. It can not be caught like a virus.
It can not be trapped like an animal. The god of
mirth is paying us back for all those years of
thinking fun was everywhere by refusing to come
to our party.
We have long assumed that fun was easy to have,
but now we are paying a price for that shallowmindedness, i.e. our party is hardly as much fun
as it is intended to be.



It may even come on a Tuesday.
Tuesday is a workday, the day following the blue
Monday. It is commonly regarded as an ordinary
day when everyone is supposed to do the routine
work. As a rule, no holidays, no big occasions
would take place on this day. But if we treat fun
properly, we can have fun even on such an
ordinary day.
It suggests fun does not come from playing or
enjoying oneself on weekends but probably from
working and the fulfillment of one’s duty during
weekdays.
PARA.14-PARA.15
Q1: An imaginary event is presented in Para.8 and a real
event in Para.14. what’s the function of the narration
of the anecdote in this paragraph?
A: In this real event, the simple childish behavior gave the
children the satisfaction and joy. With a comparison of
these events, the author suggests that what is
supposed to be fun may not turn out to be fun at last.
The simple joy of life is the real fun people are seeking.
Q2. Why do you think the author ends the text with
such an anecdote?
A: Perhaps she wants her readers to begin and end
this essay with the idea that “fun” is really quite
simple—not so complicated and busy as all the
“things” she describes in the body of the essay.
She wants to suggest that it is easier for children
to have fun than it is for grown-ups.
Q3: Two simple and direct statements are used to
begin and end the essay. What is the effect of
these statements?
A: Simple and direct as they are, the two
statements are effective enough to convey the
message that fun is a rare jewel, but fun could
also be easy to have if we treat it properly.
THE LANGUAGE STYLE OF THE TEXT

The tone is talky and slightly cynical although
essentially it remains a lighthearted irony through the
use of conversational words and phrases.
snakes alive! (3);
 by Jove (5);
 flunking (7);
 this ain’t fun, ma (8);
 Golly gee (8);
 those rough-and-ready guys (10)

THE TONE OF THE TEXT


Para. 12 serves as a transitional paragraph,
whereas para. 13 is the first one to be mostly
affirmative (“It is a mystery.”) The switch turns
the tone of the essay from ironic or cynical to
more serious and reminiscent of fun times in the
past
Disney World (8); Polaroids (10); Bit-O-Honey,
Chunky, M & M’s (14). By using specific brand
names, she brings specificity and familiarity to
her illustrations.
1.OVERSHADOW(使担忧，伤心；遮蔽，
使黯然失色；使显得不重要）
她的新书将会使她以前写的书都黯然失色。
 Her new book will overshadow all her earlier
ones
 Large trees overshadow the garden
 高大的树把花园遮得很暗.
 Be overshadowed by与…相比相形见绌
 Despite her professional success, she is always
overshadowed by her husband.
 尽管她事业有成，但和丈夫相比总觉逊色。

2.REPUTATION AND FAME
(FAME仅指好名声，强调较高的知名
度;REPUTATION可指好名声，亦可指坏名
声，强调人们心目中的形象）
 His
biting words at the meeting
blasted his reputation. 会上尖刻的
话语使他声誉扫地。
 She came from nowhere into national
fame. 她从无名之辈变成全国闻名。
3.BUMPER
adj.丰盛的
This
year we have a bumper
harvest in grain. 今年我们谷物丰收。
n.保险杆，减震器，缓冲器
Part of the car’s bumper had come
adrift. 汽车的保险杆有一处松动了.
v.撞，干杯，装满
4.LICENTIOUSNESS(N.放肆，放
荡）
adj.
licentious放肆的
Without law, liberty also loses its
nature and its name, and becomes
licentiousness. 没有法律，自由也
同样名实具亡，就是无法无天。
This kind of freedom is licentious.
这样的自由是放肆的。
5.SWILL
 n.泔水，痛饮，洗涤
You feed them swill and such stuff? 你肯定喂了它们剩
饭残羹这类东西了吧？
 v.冲洗，痛饮
 The rugby players were swilling mugs of bear at the
bar.橄榄球运动员正在酒吧里痛饮啤酒。
 swill down
 用大量水把…冲洗干净：；[俚语]狂饮；滥吃
 swill out
 把…冲洗干净，冲刷(地面等)：；用水冲洗，涮

6.EPITOME(缩影，梗概；典型，
摘要）
The center is an epitome of
Beijing‘s environment
treatment. 这是北京市治理环境的
一个缩影。
He is the epitome of diligence.
他是勤勉的典型。
the epitome of sth. …的典范/缩影
Epitomize概括，作为…的典型
PHRASE:

step up v.走近,逐步增加,提升,提高
step out v.暂时离开,外出娱乐,下台,辞 职,加快脚步
step on 踏上,走上
step in v.走进,插手帮助,作短时间的非正式访问
step down v.走下,逐步减低,辞职,下台
step by step 逐步地,循序渐进地
END UP 竖着;结束,告终;死
end on 一端向前地
 dead end n. 闭塞不通的一头,死胡同
 bitter end n. 最后, 结局,到底,至死
end up with 结束；以…而结束；以…告终

C – E TRANSLATION
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
It goes without saying that Shakespeare overshadows
all the other playwrights throughout the ages.
The Great Gatsby is commonly deemed as the epitome
of the Jazz Age of the last century in America.
It is advisable for you not to put a damper on his
enthusiasm to further his studies at Harvard.
Young people tend to make a fetish of glamorous stars
in sports and entertainment circles.
They traipsed all the way to the People’s Square for the
celebrations of the National Day.
He does not deserve such severe punishment as he has
committed neither serious errors nor grave crimes.
Every time I met him, he would talk a whole lot of
nonsense.
He said that reputation is a trap into which many
people are ready to fall.
E – C TRANSLATION

有人认为, 生活中乐趣胜过生命中其他一切事情。他们甚至
从不考虑任何严肃的事，从来不对这种乐趣是否道德、是否诚
实或是否有必要这类问题提出疑问。当然，许多事情确实有乐
趣。全家郊游有乐趣，打一场篮球有乐趣，喝着咖啡聊天有乐
趣。但是，如果你把找乐子看成是生活中必不可少的东西的话，
那么，你必然会追求越来越刺激的方法来从中获得乐趣，其中
一个典型的方法是不断提升冒险或酗酒的程度，以设法得到一
点乐趣。你应该避免亵渎乐趣，否则，过火的代价可能会是，
不管你如何努力，就是没有乐趣。所以，正确的方法是带着一
份敬意来看待乐趣，这样，你时常可以有一点新鲜的乐趣。