Lesson 13- In My Day
Part Three
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Lesson 13- In My Day
Text Appreciation
I. Text analysis
1. Theme
2. Text structure
3. General analysis
4. Further questions on appreciation
II. Writing devices
1. Parallelism
2. Repetition
III. Sentence paraphrase
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Lesson 13—In My Day
I.
Text Analysis
Theme of the story
It is the responsibility of both parents and
children to bridge the generation gap. On
the one hand, young people should have
more interest and respect of what their
parents stand for. On the other hand, old
people should show understanding to young
people’s great interest in the future.
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The end of Theme.
Lesson 13—In My Day
I.
Text Analysis
Structure of the text
Part 1 (paras.1— 45) about:
Understanding of a mother
from a son’s point of view
Part 2 (paras. 46-53) about: Understanding of children
from a father’s point of view
Part 3 (paras.54-55) about: Meeting of the two views
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The end of Structure.
Lesson 13—In My Day
I.
Text Analysis
What was the character of the
mother when she was young?

straightforward
strongwilled
I tell people exactly what’s on my mind, …
She was a formidable woman, determined to
speak her mind, determined to have her way, …
energetic
She had hurled herself at life with an energy
that made her seem always on the run.
never
defeated
by life
life was combat, and victory was not to
the lazy, the timed, the drugstore cowboy, …
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Lesson 13- In My Day
I.

Text Analysis
Question: What values do you think were
reflected in the mother’s way of life when
she was young?
The mother was always on the run and working
hard because she believed that hard working is
the necessary part of one’s life. Life was a
struggle, a fight, a battle for survival, for salvation,
and for the glory of God. Only by hard working
can one be successful in the end. Those who were
lazy, timid, loitering and afraid to tell others the
true feelings were losers of the life.
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Lesson 13- In My Day
I.

Text Analysis
How did the author react to his mother’s
senility from a son’s point of view?
I could not accept the
inevitable.
at the beginning
My impulse was to argue
her back to reality.
I soon stopped trying to argue
her back to what I considered
the real world.
later
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(I) tried to travel along with
her on those fantastic journeys
into the past.
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Lesson 13- In My Day
I.

Text Analysis
Question: What made the author change his
reaction to his mother’s senility?
At the beginning, he tried to argue his mother back
to reality from his point of view because he believed
that his mother being a normal person would be
better for her and her family. But later when he
began to look at it from his mother’s point of view,
he understood his mother was much happier when
she could travel back to her childhood when she was
loved and needed. So he would like to travel along
with her into her past and understood his mother
more.
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Lesson 13- In My Day
I.

Text Analysis
How did the author understand the relationship
with his children from a father’s point of view?
I had developed the habit of
lecturing them on the
harshness of life in my day.
in the past
I tried to break the habit,
but must have failed.
Between us there was a
dispute about time.
now
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Lesson 13- In My Day
I.

Text Analysis
Question: What does the author mean by “a
dispute about time”? (53)
It is one of the reasons why there is generation
gap between parents and children. The parents
always like to talk about their past to the children
because that was once their “future” they dreamed
of and struggled for. But for the children, they are
indifferent to the parents’ “future” because it is
past for them. They are now dreaming for their
future. This is the dispute of time.
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The end of General Analysis.
Lesson 13- In My Day
I.
Text Analysis
Further questions on appreciation
What happened to the author’s mother at the age
of 80? What became of her after her “last” fall?
What exactly is the problem with his mother?
What kind of a woman was the author’s mother
when she was young?
Was she happy when she was young? Is she
happy now? What are her main complaints?
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Lesson 13- In My Day
I.
Text Analysis
Further questions on appreciation
Does the author feel that he has been a good son?
What do you think he is trying to say when he
hopes that he can step into his mother’s time
machine?
How does the author understand the generation
gap? What’s his advice to the younger generation?
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The end of Further Questions.
Lesson 13- In My Day
II.
Writing Devices
Parallelism and Repetition
Example
from the text
And so she was, a formidable woman, determined
to speak her mind, determined to have her way,
determined to bend those who opposed her. (14)
repetition
Parallel structure means using the same
pattern of words to show that two or more
ideas have the same level of importance. This
can happen at the word, phrase, or clause
level.
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Lesson 13- In My Day
II.
Writing Devices
Parallelism and Repetition
She ran after chickens, … She ran when she
made the beds, ran when she set the table. …
she ran. (15)
parallelism
Repetition is a major rhetorical strategy for
producing emphasis, clarity, amplification, or
emotional effect.
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Parallelism
more examples
Repetition
more examples
Lesson 13- In My Day
II.
Writing Devices
Parallelism: more examples
1. Words and phrases
•
Not Parallel: The teacher said that he was a poor
student because he waited until the last minute to
study for the exam, completed his lab problems in
a careless manner, and his motivation was low.
•
Parallel: The teacher said that he was a poor
student because he waited until the last minute to
study for the exam, completed his lab problems in
a careless manner, and lacked motivation.
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To be continued on the next page.
Don’t mix
forms.
Lesson 13- In My Day
II.
Writing Devices
Parallelism: more examples
2. clauses
•
Not Parallel: The salesman expected that he would
present his product at the meeting, that there
would be time for him to show his slide
presentation, and that questions would be asked
by prospective buyers (passive).
•
Parallel: The salesman expected that he would
present his product at the meeting, that there
would be time for him to show his slide
presentation, and that prospective buyers would
ask him questions.
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To be continued on the next page.
A parallel structure
that begins with
clauses must keep
on with clauses.
Changing to another
pattern or changing
the voice of the verb
(from active to
passive or vice versa)
will break
the parallelism.
Lesson 13- In My Day
II.
Writing Devices
Parallelism: more examples
3. Lists after a colon
•
Not Parallel: The dictionary can be used for
these purposes: to find word meanings,
pronunciations, correct spellings, and
looking up irregular verbs.
•
Parallel: The dictionary can be used for
these purposes: to find word meanings,
pronunciations, correct spellings, and
irregular verbs.
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Be sure to keep all
the elements in a
list in the same
form.
Lesson 13- In My Day
II.
Writing Devices
Repetition: more examples
• Would you please please please please
please please please stop talking.
(Ernest Hemingway, Hills Like Whites Elephants)
• It’s like a windfall, like a godsend, like an
unexpected piece of luck.
(Joseph Conrad, Youth)
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Lesson 13- In My Day
II.
Writing Devices
Repetition: more examples
There are words like Freedom
Sweet and wonderful to say.
On my heartstrings freedom sings
All day everyday.
There are words like liberty
That almost make me cry.
If you had known what I know
You would know why.
James Langston Hughes, Words Like Freedom
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The end of Writing Devices.
Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase 1
Through all this she lay in bed but moved
across time, traveling among the dead decades
with a speed and ease beyond the gift of
physical science. (1)
the present participle phrase
ability, talent
as adverbial of attending
circumstances
… traveling among the decades that had
gone quickly, so quickly and easily that it
defied science.
go to 2
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More examples
Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase
1. He entered college at the age of
eighteen, graduating four years
later as head of his class.
2. Teams of sweepers with twig
brooms move along in unison,
sweeping the water away.
back to 1
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Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase 2
She gazed at this improbably overgrown figure
out of an inconceivable future and promptly
dismissed it. (4)
impossible to
comprehend
or grasp fully
to refuse to
accept that
something
might be true
to grow
beyond
normal size
She could not conceive of the future when
here little Russell would be that tall and
big. Therefore she immediately put that
thought out of her mind.
go to 3
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Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase 3
It showed in that angry challenging thrust
of the chin when she issued an opinion,
and a great one she had always been for
issuing opinions. (10)
a quick hard push
Inversion, showing
emphasis
When she expressed an opinion, her chin would come
forward which made her look angry and defiant. She
liked to give her opinion and was never afraid of
speaking her mind.
go to 4
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Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase 4
Life was combat, and victory was not to the
lazy, the timid, the drugstore cowboy, the
mush-mouth afraid to tell people exactly
what was on his mind. (15)
excessively
sentimental person
one who wears
cowboy’s clothes but
has had no
experience as a
cowboy; a loafer
who loiters on street
or in drugstores
go to 5
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Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase 5
For ten years or more the ferocity with which
she had once attacked life had been turning to a
rage against the weakness, the boredom, and
the absence of love that too much age had
brought her. (38)
relative clause
(preposition
a very strong feeling
+relative pronoun)
of anger
modifying “ferocity”
She once attacked life with fierceness, but now
it was gone. In its place was an uncontrollable
anger. she was angry about her declining
go to 6
health, her boredom and her loneliness.
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Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase 6
I… had written her with some banal advice to
look for the silver lining, to count her blessings
instead of burdening others with her miseries.
(39)
commonplace,
a reason for thinking uninteresting to think about the
that the situation is
good things that have
not that bad
happened to her
I had written to my mother, advising her to
think about the pleasant and good times and
about how lucky and cheerful she had once
been. I told her not to complain and have
other people worry about her.
go to 7
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Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase 7
This one was written out of a childish faith in the
eternal strength of parents, a naive belief that
age and wear would be overcome by an effort of
will, that all she needed was a good pep talk to
recharge a flagging spirit. (39)
damage done by
continuous use for to put the new
energy into the
a long time
two
weaker spirit
appositive
Parents would be strong
clauses
and be able to take care of
children forever.
go to 8
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Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase 8
A world had lived and died, and though it was
part of my blood and bone I knew little more
about it than I knew of the world of the
pharaohs. (45)
comparison:
more… than
no
Though I was related to them, I knew very little
about them. They lived in a world that was past
and gone. They were as remote to me as the
ancient Egyptian kings.
go to 9
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More examples
Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase
• I know no more Spanish than I
know Greek.
我对西班牙语和希腊语同样不懂。
• The officials could see no more
than the Emperor.
这些官员们与国王一样什么也没看到。
back to 8
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Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase 9
The orbits of her mind rarely touched present
interrogators for more than a moment. (45)
Metaphor:
her way of thinking
She could seldom respond to the questions put
to her today because her mind was moving in a
different way.
go to 10
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Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase 10
If a parent does lift the curtain a bit, it is often
only to stun the young with some exemplary
tale of how much harder life was in the old days.
(46)
Metaphor: lift the
curtain of life and
let you see a story
serving as a model
a moral lesson
If a parent does tell his children a little bit
about the past, he/she will usually just say
how much harder life was in the old days.
go to 11
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Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase 11
It irritated me that their childhood should be, as
I thought, so easy when my own had been, as I
thought, so hard. (47)
used for describing a fact or event
that someone has a particular
feeling or opinion about (表达惊异或不
以为然等情绪)
go to 12
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More examples
Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase
1.
How sad that she should have no one to
comfort her.
2.
It’s odd you should mention Ben—I was
just thinking about him.
3.
It seems so unfair that this should
happen to me.
back to 11
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Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase 12
At dinner… a son offended me with an
inadequate report card, …he gazed at me with
an expression of unutterable resignation and
said, … (52)
beyond
description
not good
enough; not
up to
standard
acceptance of an
unpleasant
situation without
complaining
go to 13
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Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase 13
I was angry with him for that, but angrier with
myself for having become one of those ancient
bores whose highly selective memories of the
past become transparently dishonest even to
small children. (53)
old people who
bore the young
by endlessly
teaching them
moral lessons
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Old people must have made
mistakes in their time. But in
order to set a good example
for their children, they have
to select what they consider
would be suitable from their
memories.
go to 14
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Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase 14
When she was young, with life ahead of her, I
had
been
her
future
and
resented
it.
Instinctively, I wanted to break free, and cease
being a creature defined by her time. (54)
When my mother was young, I was her future.
But I didn’t like it. I wanted to be free and
independent. I wanted to live my own life and
did not want to live my life by my mother’s
standards any longer.
go to 15
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Lesson 13- In My Day
III. Sentence Paraphrase 15
These hopeless end-of-the–line visits with my
mother made me wish I had not thrown off my
own past so carelessly. (55)
visits paid to
someone during the
last stage of their life
subjunctive mood
Those last visits made me wish I had valued
my past more, and had paid more attention to
the world she represented.
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The end of sentence paraphrase.
Lesson 13- In My Day
Part Three
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