Unit 5
Lecturer: Meng Fanyan
Teaching Objectives
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To have a basic knowledge of the
terms in logic
To appreciate the humor in the
story
To analyze the structure of the
story
To appreciate the language
Teaching Contents
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Background Information
Introduction to the passage
Detailed study of the text
The chief attraction of the story
Language features
Exercises
Max Shulman (1919-1988)
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one of American best-known and
prolific humorists
a writer of many talents
He has written novels, stories,
Broadway plays, and television
scripts
Masterpieces
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Barefoot Boy With Cheek(无礼的赤脚少年）
The Feather Merchant（衣冠楚楚的商人）
Rally Round the Flag, Boys（孩子们，团结
在旗帜周围吧）
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Dobie Gillis (TV series)（多比·吉尔斯）
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His writing often focused on young
people, particularly in a collegiate
setting.
His book "Barefoot Boy With
Cheek," became a musical comedy
and ran on Broadway in 1947.

He is probably best remembered
for his creation of the character
"Dobie Gillis", who was the
subject of a series of short stories
compiled under the title The Many
Loves of Dobie Gillis.

Shulman died of cancer in Los
Angeles in 1988.
Logic

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The Concise Oxford English
Dictionary defines logic as “the
science of reasoning, proof, thinking,
or inference”.
Logic will let you analyze an
argument or a piece of reasoning,
and work out whether it is likely to be
correct or not.
Logic
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It is a science that deals with the
principles and criteria of validity of
inference and demonstration.
the science of the formal principles
of reasoning
Special Terms in Logic
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Argument （论证）
Fallacy (谬误)
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Argument （论证）
a statement which is offered as an
evidence or a proof
consisting of two major elements
(What are they?)
premises
argument
conclusion
Argument
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Premises -- a previous statement
serving as a basis for an argument
Conclusion--drawn from premises

Usually, an argument is correct
(deductively valid) if the premises
can provide enough conclusive
evidence for the conclusion.
Otherwise the argument is wrong. It
is said to be fallacious.
Fallacy


false reasoning (as in an argument)
a weakness and lack of logic
 Material fallacy（内容／材料谬误）
 Verbal fallacy（话语谬误）
 Logical/formal fallacy（形式谬误）
Material fallacy
fallacy
Verbal fallacy
Formal fallacy
Three kinds of fallacies
1. material fallacy --- in its material
content through a misstatement of
the facts.
 Material fallacies are mistakes in
reasoning that attempt to support
their conclusions with faulty or
inadequate evidence. (Definition)
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2. verbal fallacy --- in its wording
through an incorrect use of terms.
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3. formal fallacy --- in its structure
through the use of an improper
process of inference.
Fallacies
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1) Dicto Simpliciter (绝对判断的谬误)
2) Hasty Generalization (草率结论的谬误)
3) Post hoc
(牵强附会的谬误)
4) False Analogy
(错误类比)
Fallacies
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5)Evading the issue (Ad Misericordiam)
(文不对题)
6) Contradictory Premises（矛盾前提）
7) Hypothesis Contrary to fact（与事实
相反的假设）
8) Poisoning the well (井里投毒）
Dicto Simpliciter (绝对判断的谬误)
"Everyone wants to get married some
day."
 --- The example starts a logical train of
thought with an assumption that is false.
Not "everyone" wants to get married.
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Watching TV is a waste of time.
Money always brings happiness.
 unqualified generalization
Hasty Generalization (草率结论的谬误)
"Mr Wang's handwriting is terrible. Mr.
Hu's handwriting is also terrible and you
know how terrible men's handwriting is."
 --- It applies a special case to general
rule. That fact that certain person's
handwriting is bad doesn't imply that all
men’s handwriting is bad.
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Post hoc (牵强附会的谬误)
"The last five times that I've worn my
white pants, something depressing
has happened. I'm not going to wear
those pants again!"
 --- This fallacy assumes that if event
Y happened after event X, then X
must be the cause of Y.
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False Analogy (错误类比)
"High school should not require a
freshman writing course. Harvard doesn't
require a freshman writing course, and
the students get along fine without it".
 --- The analogy is false because the two
items don't have strong enough
similarities to predict that what happens
in one will happen in the other.
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Evading the issue (文不对题)
“This is a great restaurant : you can see
how shining and clean the kitchens are ".
 --- The example is called distraction
because the reader's attention is drawn
to the cleanness of the kitchen instead of
to the excellence of the food, which is
usually the determiner of a great
restaurant.
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Evading the issue (文不对题)
" Ms Bauer is a terrible English teacher.
She always wears blue jeans."
 --- Instead of pointing out faults in
teaching technique, it calls attention to
things about a teacher as a person that
are unrelated to her teaching
performance.
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Introduction to the Passage
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1. Type of Writing:
a witty mix between essay and
fiction
 This work proves that love is not
logical.
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2. Main characters
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Dobie Gillis---protagonist
Petey Burch---antagonist
Polly Espy---antagonist
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Question:
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How were you impressed by the
three characters at the first reading
of the story?
(Discussion)
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Main characteristics
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Dobie Gillis
intelligent/keen/calculating/
perspicacious/acute/astute
 self-important/conceited/pompous/
arrogant/smug
 cool, logical
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Petey Burch:
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as dumb as an ox; emotional;
unstable; stupid; faddist
Polly Espy
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beautiful; gracious; unintelligent;
empty-headed
3. The main idea
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It is about a law student who tries to
marry the girl after suitable re-education,
but he’s been too clever for his own
good. He has really got what he
deserved.
聪明反被聪明误
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The narrator of the story, Dobie Gillis, a
freshman in a law school, is the
protagonist. He struggles against two
antagonists: Petey Burch, his roommate
whose girl friend he plans to steal; and
Polly Espy, the girl he intends to marry
after suitable re-education.
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4. Theme of the passage
 Love is a fallacy. (stated in the
title)
Really?
Title: humorous, well-chosen
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Meaning of the Title:
 1) There is a deceptive or delusive
(false) quality about love.
 2) Love cannot be deduced from a set
of given premises.
 3) Love is an error, a deception and an
emotion that does not follow the
principles of logic.
5. Organization (Discussion)
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Part 1: (paras. 1-3) the author’s note
Part 2: (paras. 4-59) the bargain and the
deal between the law student and his
roommate over the exchange of the girl
Part 3 (paras. 60-124) the teachings of 8
logical fallacies or the dating with the girl
Part 4 (paras. 125-154) the backfiring of
all the arguments
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paras. 4-59: beginning
paras. 60-124: development
paras. 125-154: climax and end
Climax (Where?)
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The climax of the story is reached at
the part of Paras.147-150 when Polly
refuses to go steady with the narrator
because she had already promised to
go steady with Petey Burch. Then the
story moves rapidly to the end on a
very ironic note.
6. Language features
American colloquialism
 Informal style (short, elliptical
sentences, dashes, etc.)
 Rhetorical devices
 Sharp contrast in the language
(ultra and learned; clipped and vulgar)
 Inverted sentences
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Effect of language
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Informal;
Humorous;
Colorful;
Vivid
Question for discussion:
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Chief attraction: Humor
How does the author achieve
the effect of humor?
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Title;
His note;
Contrast;
Ending of the story;
Name of the character Petey (pity)
Part 1
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Paras. 1-3
It’s the author’s note
The author’s idea about this story
Charles Lamb (1775-1834)
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English essayist and critic
Pseudonym: Elia
He is now best known for his Essays of
Elia (伊利亚随笔集）and Dream’s
Children.
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He collaborated with his sister Mary
in adapting Shakespeare's plays into
stories for children.
“Tales from Shakespeare”
“莎士比亚故事集”
Question
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Why does the author mention
Charles Lamb? For what purpose?
--- Making a comparison. He tries to
indicate the following piece of writing is
even more informal than those of
Charles Lamb’s.
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enterprising: full of energy and
initiative; willing to undertake new
projects有进取心的；有魄力实施新计划的
month of Sundays: (infml.) an
indefinitely long period of time
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unfetter: free from fetters（脚镣；桎
梏）； loosen the chains that bond; free
from restraint of any kind; liberate; let
sth. go freely / be completely out of
control
Metaphor ( to make the essay informal)
Paraphrase
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－Charles Lamb is a very merry and
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enterprising person. You will meet such
a person only after a long time.
－He wrote the essays “Old China” and
“Dream’s Children” that set free the
informal essay.
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There follows an informal essay that
ventures even beyond Lamb’s frontier.
Metaphor
Comparing the limitations set by Lamb to
a frontier
－The informal essay that follows here is
even much freer than the one Charles
Lamb wrote.
specific characteristics of his essay
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limp: drooping; lacking firmness
flaccid: soft, flabby; hanging in loose
folds
spongy: like a sponge; soft and porous
The author is joking, not serious.
He gives the readers a suspense to
evoke their strong eagerness to read the
essay.
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Could Carlyle do more? Could
Ruskin? (Rhetorical question)
Implied meaning:
My writing is even more informal. I
can do better than them.
Thomas Carlyle ( 1795-1881)
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English author, Scottish writer
He influenced social thinking about the
new industrial working class through
his essay "Chartism" and his book “The
Present and the Past”.
He is best known for his epic history of
“The French Revolution” (1837)
John Ruskin (1819-1900)
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English critic and social theorist
a writer on art and architecture
In his later writings he attacked social
and economic problems.
 Modern Painters
 The Stones of Venice
 The Seven Lamps of Architecture
 Time and Tide
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…logic, far from being a dry, pedantic
discipline, is a living, breathing thing,
full of beauty, passion, and trauma.
Metaphor & Hyperbole
Comparing logic to a living human being
Exaggerating for the sake of effect
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It isn’t as though I was in love with
Polly…or going steady….
Petey Burch is trying to rationalize his action.
He is trying to find an excuse to justify his
action. In his mind he has decided to accept
the coat and give up Polly. Since he was
not in love nor going steady with Polly, it
wouldn’t be wrong to give her up to his
roommate in exchange for the coat.
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What’s Polly to me , or me to Polly?
Parody (仿拟)
What’s Hecuba to him or he to
Hecuba that he shold weep for her?
(Hamlet)
仿拟（Parody）
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仿拟是英语语言学分支修辞学的重要修辞手法。
这是一种巧妙、机智而有趣的修辞格。它有意仿
照人们熟知的现成的语言材料，如成语、谚语、
明言、警句等，通过联想、类比方式，根据表达
的需要临时创造出新的语、句、篇来，以使语言
生动活泼，或讽刺嘲弄，或幽默诙谐，妙趣昂然。
典型格式是“本体”和“仿体”一起出现。
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仿拟可以分为仿词,仿语,仿句和仿篇.
如:Lady Hermits---Down But Not Out. (潦
而不倒的女隐士们)
它仿拟的是习语down and out(贫困潦倒);
To Lie or Not To Lie, that is a question.
它仿拟的是莎士比亚名著哈姆雷特的名句：
To be or not to be, that is a question.
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It’s just been a casual kick– just a
few laughs, that’s all.
This is a final excuse that eases
Petey’s conscience. We occasionally
went out just for a bit of fun or
pleasure, that’s all.
Kick: (American slang) a sharp and
strong feeling of excitement
Part 3
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Paras. 60—124
the teaching of 8 logical fallacies
11 sub-divisions
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1) Paras. 60-61: a survey of the girl
2) Paras.62-74: the teaching of “Dicto Simpliciter”
3) Paras. 75-79: the teaching of “Hasty
Generalization”
4) Paras. 80-85: the teaching of “Post Hoc”
5) Paras.86-96: The teaching of “Contradictory
Premises”
6) Paras.97-98: (Interposition) He wants to
give the girl back
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7) Paras.99-104: The teaching of “Ad
Misericordiam”
8) Paras.105-108: The teaching of “False
Analogy”
9) Paras.109-114: The teaching of
“Hypothesis Contrary to Fact”
10) Paras. 115—122: The teaching of
“Poinsoning the well”
11) Paras. 123—124: Review and summary
of the teaching fallacies
Paras. 60-61 (1)
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a survey of the girl
first impression of the girl
He tries to find out how stupid she
is.
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This was in the nature of a survey.
The aim of this date was to find out
how stupid (or intelligent) Polly was
(so that he would have an idea of
how much work he had to do to make
her intelligent enough to be his wife).
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Exclamatory words like “Gee, Oo”
and clipped vulgar forms like “delish,
marvy, sensaysh” create the
impression of a simple and rather
stupid girl.
A contrast between “me” and “Polly”
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I went back to my room with a
heavy heart.
I went back to my room feeling sad
and depressed.
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This loomed as a project of no small
dimensions.
To teach her to think appeared to be a
rather big task.
loom: appear, or come in sight indistinctly
No small dimensions: a rather big task
Understatement (or Litotes)

Litotes: a figure in which something is
expressed by a negation of the contrary
(间接肯定）
 This is no small accomplishment.
 This is not at all unpleasant.
 The man is no fool.
 The face wasn't a bad one.
Paras.62—74 (2)
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the teaching of fallacy “Dicto
Simpliciter”
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I had all the facts at my finger tips.
I was completely familiar with all the
facts of logic.
have sth. at one’s finger tips:
to be completely familiar with; to
have available for instant use
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blubber: weep loudly, like a child
Paras 105-108 (8)
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The teaching of “False Analogy”
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I said in a carefully controlled tone.
He had to control his tone to keep
himself from screaming.
brief: a concise statement of the main
points of a law case, usually filed by
counsel for the information of the court
诉讼摘要；辩护状
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testy: easily annoyed; irritable
Paras. 109—114 (9)
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The teaching of “Hypothesis
Contrary to Fact”
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Nuts: (American slang)
It is an exclamation of disgust, scorn,
disappointment, refusal, etc.
Doggedly I pressed on.
I went ahead stubbornly. I kept on
persistently.
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Yummy: (echoic sound made in
expressing pleasure at a taste) very
tasty；delectable；delicious
It just knocked me out.
I was excited and filled with pleasure
by the movie.
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Knock (oneself) out:
(American slang) to elicit enthusiasm
or an emotional response, especially
deep sympathy or laughter
使高兴；使情绪激动

E.g. The music was just brilliant
and really knocked me out.
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dreamy: (American slang) excellent,
wonderful, delightful
fracture: (American slang) to evoke a
strong reaction in someone
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They ought to put Walter Pidgeon
in more pictures.
Thy ought to let Walter Pidgeon act in
more movies.
Paras. 115-124 (10)
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The teaching of “Poisoning the
Well”
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One more chance, I decided.
I decided that I would give her one
more chance.
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There is a limit to what flesh and
blood can bear.
Synecdoche
There is a limit to what any human
being can bear.
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I watched her closely as she knit
her creamy brow in concentration.
I watched her as she thought very
hard.
knit the brow: to draw the brows
together (as when thinking very hard)
creamy: soft
Suddenly, a glimmer of intelligence
— the first I had seen – came into
her eyes.
 From her eyes I could see that for the
first time she was beginning to
understand the problem.
 a glimmer of: a little, a bit of
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indignation: anger or scorn resulting
from injustice, ingratitude, or
meanness; righteous anger
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had by the throat: attack by seizing
and squeezing one’s throat
Frantically I fought back the tide of
panic surging through me.
Desperately I tried to stop the feeling
of panic that was overwhelming me.
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At all costs I had to keep cool.
I tried, by every means possible, to
keep calm.
at all costs: regardless of the cost or
difficulty involved; by any means
required
to keep cool: to keep calm; not to get
excited
Metaphor
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1. Charles Lamb, … unfettered the
informal essay with his memorable Old
China and Dream's Children.
2. There follows an informal essay that
ventures even beyond Lamb's frontier.
3. Don't you want to be in the swim?
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4. Maybe somewhere in the extinct
crater of her mind, a few embers still
smoldered.
5. Maybe somehow I could fan them
into flame.
6. The first man has poisoned the well
before anybody could drink from it.
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
7. He has hamstrung his opponent
before he could even start.
8. You are the whole world to me, and
the moon and the stars and the
constellations of outer space.
9. Logic, far from being a dry, pedantic
discipline, is a living, breathing thing, full
of beauty, passion, and trauma.

10. At first everything was work, sweat,
and darkness. I had no idea when I
would reach the light, or even if I would.
But I persisted. I pounded and clawed
and scraped, and finally I was rewarded.
I saw a chink of light. And then the chink
got bigger and the sun came pouring in
and all was bright.
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11. First he looked at the coat with the
expression of a waif at a bakery window.
12. Back and forth his head swiveled,
desire waxing, resolution waning .
Mixed metaphor

My brain, that precision instrument,
slipped into high gear.
Metonymy
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1. She was, to be sure, a girl who excited the
emotions but I was not one to let my heart
rule my head.
2. You are guilty of Post Hoc.( You are guilty
of the logical fallacy called Post Hoc.)
3. Surgeons have X-rays to guide them
during an operation.
4. The time had come to change the
relationship from academic to romantic.
Parody
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
What's Polly to me, or me to Polly?
( Hamlet by Shakespeare: What’s
Hecuba to him or he to Hecuba that he
shold weep for her?)
Synecdoche

There is a limit to what flesh and blood
can bear.
Hyperbole
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1. My brain was as powerful as a
dynamo, as precise as a chemist's
scales, as penetrating as a scalpel.
2. It is not often that one so young has
such a giant intellect.
3. "Holy Toledo!" he repeated fifteen or
twenty times.
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
4. he just stood and stared with mad
lust at the coat.
5. I had made a logician out of Polly.
6. I paused for a moment while my
massive brain chose the proper words.
Euphemism

Intelligent she was not. In fact, she
veered in the opposite direction.
Understatement (Litotes)

This loomed as a project of no small
dimensions.
Antithesis
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1. It is, after all, easier to make a
beautiful dumb girl smart than to make
an ugly smart girl beautiful.
2. Back and forth his head swiveled,
desire waxing, resolution waning .
3. If there is an irresistible force, there
can be no immovable object. If there is
an immovable object, there can be no
irresistible force.
Transferred epithet

I said with a mysterious wink and closed
my bag and left.
Parallelism


1. My brain was as powerful as a
dynamo, as precise as a chemist's
scales, as penetrating as a scalpel.
2. After he promised, after he made the
deal, after he shook my hand!
Rhetorical question

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1. Could Carlyle do more? Could Ruskin ?
2. Who knew?
Allusion

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1. Just as Pygmalion loved the perfect
woman he had fashioned, so I loved
mine.
2. I was Frankenstein, and my monster
had me by the throat.
Characters

Dobie Gillis (the narrator)
 Intelligent, cool, logical, keen, calculating,
perspicacious, acute, astute, shrewd
 self-centered
 selfish
 self-important/self-conceited/pompous/
arrogant/smug
Characters

Petey Burch
 as dull as an ox;
 pitiful;
 emotional; unstable; impressionable
 stupid;
 faddist
Characters

Polly Espy
beautiful;
 gracious;
 unintelligent;
 lack of knowledge;
 simple-minded
 kind-hearted
 sympathetic

Word explanation

1. fallacy
A. religious belief
B. false belief
C. bankruptcy
D. dropping

2. incredulous
A. unbelieving
B. increasing
C. industrious
D. unbelievable

3. scalpel
A. a carpet
B. a piece of bread
C. a small, light knife
D. a rising market

4. perspicacious
A. determinate
B. flagitious
C. prestigious
D. discerning

5. trauma
A. emotional shock
B. mental work
C. the state of not having enough
D. a reinforced structure for
observers

6. shed
A. take shelter
B. prevent from
C. lose hair
D. keep company with

7. pedantic
A. of a person who likes music
B. of a person who pays attention
to unimportant news
C. of a person who stresses on
sports
D. of a person who emphasizes
trivial points of learning

8. desist
A. insist on
B. cease
C. heckle
D. castrate

9. proportions
A. property
B. portions
C. massages
D. dimensions

10. waif
A. homeless child
B. wandering musician
C. countryman
D. smuggler

11. perspiration
A. convincing
B. encouraging
C. pledging
D. sweating

12. blubber
A. speak quickly
B. talk repeatedly
C. say with sobs
D. say with hiccups

13. modulate
A. make a change in the tone
B. cause to do or believe sth.
C. make or become soft
D. change the place or position

14. infamy
A. being famous for
B. being shameful
C. being honest
D. being refused

15. contrite
A. sad
B. honest
C. penitent
D. overjoyed

16. wax
A. grow bigger or greater
B. become less or smaller
C. drop heavily
D. cover with thick coating

17. acme
A. large group of plants
B. highest point
C. sharp crisis
D. highest mountain peak

18. veer
A. move forward
B. look sideways
C. change directions
D. pour out

19. exultant
A. triumphant
B. foreign
C. exhausted
D. overflowing

20. unsightly
A. invisible
B. ugly
C. precipitate
D. provisional

21. testy
A. examining
B. proving
C. impatient
D. judging

22. fracture
A. break
B. combine
C. disagree
D. repeat

23. tug
A. pull
B. push
C. place
D. fix

24. covet
A. surround
B. cover
C. avoid
D. desire

25. grueling
A. complaining
B. moaning
C. tiring
D. unwilling

26. mince
A. decrease
B. minimize
C. increase
D. euphemize

27. clap
A. strike
B. walk
C. fall down
D. climb up

28. wince
A. push forward
B. draw back
C. incise up
D. draw out

29. qualify
A. equal
B. propose
C. restrict
D. count

30. chink
A. a precise piece
B. a small piece
C. a big valley
D. a narrow opening

31. shamble
A. walk in an awkward way
B. tremble terribly
C. close in mild way
D. shine brightly

32. contrite
A. permitting easily
B. seeing clearly
C. feeling regret
D. looking worried

33. chirp
A. a long loud sound
B. a short low-pitched sound
C. a low murmuring sound
D. a short, high-pitched sound

34. contradict
A. take out
B. be contrary to
C. withdraw
D. be relevant to

35. immovable
A. permanent
B. quick
C. immediate
D. cold

36. penetrate
A. spread
B. pierce
C. take part
D. formulate

37. specification
A. a blank or empty area
B. a detailed, exact statement
of particulars
C. a partial excuse
D. the evolutionary formation
of new biological species

38. scrap
A. special place
B. particular area
C. small piece
D. unseen item

39. tremendous
A. unique
B. genuine
C. unexpected
D. enormous

40. clutch
A. grasp tightly
B. hang loosely
C. touch softly
D. hold lightly