省级精品课程
《高级英语》第三版第二册
制作人：徐李洁
Lesson 2
Marrakech
By George
Orwell
Teaching Aims
• To familiarize with the background
knowledge of George Orwell, Morocco,
French colonies, Marrakech; Jews
• To learn expository writing;
• To analyze the theme and the writer’s
opinion of colonialism.
Background Knowledge
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George Orwell
Morocco
Marrakech
French Colonies
Jews
Analysis of the text
•
Definition of Colony
1. a. emigrants or their descendants in a distant territory
but remain subject to or closely associated with the
parent country. In politics and in history, a colony is a
territory under the immediate political control of a
geographically-distant state.
•
b. A territory thus settled.
2.
A region politically controlled by a distant country; a
dependency.
3. A group of people who have been institutionalized in a
relatively remote area
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Colonize vt. e.g. Britain colonized Australia.
Colonist (殖民地居民， 移民），
colonialism,
colonialist,
Colonization, colonizationist (主张开拓殖民地者）
Colonial country
Colony （殖民地， 居住区）
e.g. the artists’ colony in New York city
Detailed Analysis of the Text
1) Which sentence expresses the theme of the text? (or :
Which is the thesis statement?)
• All colonial empires are in reality founded upon this fact
(para.3)
2) What is the theme of the text?
•
The author denounces the evils of colonialism. He
mercilessly exposes poverty, misery and degradation of
the native people in the colonies. These people are not
considered nor are they treated as human beings.
3) How many scenes has the writer described to expose the
evils of colonialism? What are they?
Evils of colonialism
Scene 1 (1-3)
Scene 2 (4-7)
Scene 3 (8-15)
Scene 4 (16-18)
Scene 5 (19-21)
Scene 6 (22-26)
Six Scenes to expose the evils of colonialism
Scene 1: The burial of the poor inhabitants (para 1-3)
The idea: Life is cheap. People are so poor that they can not
afford proper burials.
Scene 2: The begging of bread of an employee (para 4-7)
The idea: Life is poor. People can’t afford proper food.
Scene 3: Living condition of the Jews (para 8-15)
The idea: Jews live in great poverty and under prejudice.
Scene 4: Cultivation of soil (para 16-18)
The idea: Hard way of making a living.
Scene 5: Life of women (para 19-21)
The idea: Miserable life of old women, no better than a donkey
Scene 6: the soldiers (para 22-26)
The idea: The negroes’ attitude towards the whites
• Why did the writer choose these scenes?
• What do you think they represent?
• Do you think these scenes are effective to
achieve the writer’s purpose?
• What else would you add?
• What is the tone of the writer throughout the text?
Scene 1: The burial of the poor inhabitants (para 1-3)
Life is cheap. People are so poor that they can not afford proper
burials.
Words and Expressions
wail: to cry out in mourning or lamentation 悲伤地哭号
The wind wailed through the trees
chant: a simple liturgical song in which a string of syllables or words is
sung to each tone
bier: a platform or portable framework on which a coffin or corpse is
placed
hack: to break up (land) with a hoe, mattock, etc.
oblong: adj. longer than broad; elongated
hummocky: adj. full of or looking like low, rounded hills 布满小丘的
derelict: adj. deserted by the owner; abandoned; forsaken
prickly pear: any of a genus of cactus plans having cylindrical or large,
flat, oval stem joints and edible fruits 仙人掌 (属)
…the flies left the restaurant table in a cloud and rushed
after it, but they came back in a few minutes later.
…the taxis and the camels…
When the friends get to the burying-ground they hack an
oblong hole a foot and two deep, dump the body in it
and fling over it a little of the dried-up, lumpy earth,
which is like the broken brick.
The list of action verbs are all single-syllabic, showing
the quick speed and simple burying procedure
Are they really…? Do they …? Or are they … individual
as bees or coral insects?
A list of rhetorical questions added force to author’s
denunciation
They rise out of the earth, they sweat and starve for a
few years, and then they sink back into the nameless
mounds of the graveyard and nobody notices that
they are gone.
alliteration, showing the monotonous life. They are
born. Then for a few years they work, toil and starve.
Finally they die and are buried in graves without a
name.
Scene 2: The begging of bread of an employee (para 4-7)
Life is poor. People can’t afford proper food.
Words and Expressions
gazelle: n. any of various small, swift, graceful antelopes of Africa, the
New East , and Asia, with spirally twisted, backward pointing horns
and large, lustrous eyes. 瞪羚
hindquarter: n. either of two hind edges legs and loins of a carcass of
veal, beef, lamb, etc. (pl.) the hind legs of a four-legged animal
nibble: to eat (food) with quick bites, taking only a small amount at a
time, as a mouse does.
butt: to strike or push with the head or horns; ran with the head
navvy: (BrE) an unskilled laborer, an on canals, roads
sidle: to move sideways, esp. in a shy, fearful or stealthily manner
stow: to pack or store away, esp. to pack in an orderly, compact manner
municipality: a city, town, etc. having its own incorporated government
自治市
I took off a piece and he stowed it gratefully in some secret
place under his rags.
This man is an employee of the municipality.
This simple statement is very important. It serves to convey
a deeper meaning. “Even an employed laborer goes
starving, so you can imagine the plight of the poorer
people.
The Jews
Skull-cap
• 犹太小圆帽在希伯来语中叫“基帕”（Kipa）意为“遮
盖” ，
• 其意是表示对上帝的敬畏。头上有天，不可“光头”以对，
所以要用帽相隔。
• 以色列小圆帽颜色越深越表示虔诚，所以大多数圆帽的颜
色是黑色、蓝色，较少为白色。
• 在以色列如今约有20万极端犹太教派成员，他们许多人一
年四季头戴厚厚的黑毡帽或黑毛帽，身穿黑色长外套，即
便在夏日的酷暑天气也捂得严严实实。
• 现在，以色列的大多数世俗犹太人，尤其是年轻人，平时
不戴小帽，但他们人人都有小圆帽，而且一般有好几顶，
他们去犹太教堂时，还是会戴上帽子，并身披头巾，表示
对上帝和祖先的敬畏。
一部分杰出的犹太
人
• 自然·科技: 赫兹、梅契尼可
夫、爱因斯坦、奥本海默、
尼尔斯·玻尔、列夫·朗道、
冯·卡门、爱德华·泰勒
• 人文·思想: 斯宾诺莎、马克
思、大卫·李嘉图、弗洛伊德、
托洛茨基、维特根斯坦、格
林斯潘、萨缪尔森、伯南克
• 文学·艺术: 海涅、阿西莫夫、
斯皮尔伯格、帕斯捷尔纳克、
卡夫卡、门德尔松、伯恩斯
坦、罗曼·波兰斯基、梦露
• 商业·金融:罗斯柴尔德、李
维·斯特劳斯、谢尔盖·布林、
马克·扎克伯格、迈克尔·戴尔、
索罗斯、大卫·葛芬
(para9) …the houses are completely windowless.
Sore-eyed children cluster …, like clouds of flies.
A simile, comparing clusters of children to clouds of flies. The
repeated use of flies shows the unsanitary conditions and the
prevalence of diseases in colonial countries
whichever way you look… a good job Hitler wasn’t here.
It was lucky for the Jews that Hilter had not come to this place.
If he had, the Jews would have been exterminated as they
were in Poland and other Europeans countries.
(para 15) In just the same way, a couple of hundred years ago,
poor old women used to be burned for witchcraft when they
could not even work enough magic to get themselves a square
meal.
Scene 4: Cultivation of soil (para 16-18)
Hard way of making a living.
Words and Expressions
conspicuous: adj. attracting attention by being unexpected, unusual,
outstanding
Chances are that : (oral) it is possible
Chances are that he has heard the news.
ones’ eyes take in: see, look at
I was too busy taking in the beautiful furniture to notice who was in the
room.
Her eyes were taking in nothing but the expensive hats.
It was amusing to see his surprise as he took in the new car.
Foreign Legionnaires: France organized a foreign legion shortly after the
conquest of Algiers in 1830, enlisting recruits who were not French
subjects. Its international character and the tradition of not revealing
enlistees’ backgrounds have helped to surround the Foreign Legion
with an aura of mystery and romance
wring: v. to get or extract by force, threats, persistence, etc; extort
wring money from sb. 勒索某人
back-breaking: requiring great physical exertion; very tiring; nerve-racking
desolate: adj. uninhabited; deserted, forlorn
Paragraphing & Interpreting
(para 16) a white skin is always fairly conspicuous.
synecdoche: a white-skinned European is always fairly conspicuous.
It is only because of this…tourist resorts.
“This” here stands for the fact that people always miss the peasants
laboring in the fields because they have the color of the earth and are a
lot less interesting to look at.
(para 17) What does Morocco mean to a Frenchman?... Or to an
Englishman?
Question and answer both elliptical. This paragraph means that this
colonial country arouses people’s interest for various reasons except
true concern for the people living in poverty
• The author is extremely bitter and ironical. Instead of openly blaming
the white colonialists who don’t pay the least attention to the people
who suffer from poverty and hunger, he pretends that they have a sound
reason to ignore such people just because they have the color of the
earth.
A passage from Invisible Man --Ralph Ellison
I AM An invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those
who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your
Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of
substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids—and I
might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible,
understand, simply because people refuse to see me.
Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus
sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by
mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach
me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or
fragments of their imagination---indeed, everything
and anything except me. (Prologue )
Scene 5: Life of women (para 19-21)
Miserable of old women, no better than a donkey
file: a line of persons or things situated one behind another 纵队
mummify: v. to dry up (become a mummy)
register: v. record 记录, 登记
to register the birth of a baby’ /
to register the names of absent students
damnably: adv. In a damnably manner
to be damnably treated 遭到虐待
packsaddle: a saddle designed to support the load carried by a pack animal 驮鞍
bridle: n. a head harness for guiding a horse; it consists of stall, bit and reins
halter: n. a rope, cord, strap, etc. usually with a a headstall, for trying or leading an
animal, with or without a lead rope （缰绳）（马）笼头
gut: （usu. Pl.) the bowels; entrails 内脏 have the guts to do sth. 有胆量做某事
plight：n. condition or state of affairs; esp. now, an awkward, sad, or dangerous
situation
tip: v.t to pour sth. from one place or container into another
She wiped out the flour and tipped it into a bowl
The comparison of fate between the donkey and the
women
•
Donkey
Women
• no bigger than a St. Bernard dog
tiny, mummified
• Overloaded, working for weeks
vast of load of wood
• A willing creature
accepted status as a beast of
burden
• When dead, tipped into a
buried simply, dumped into a
ditch, thrown to dogs
hole, no name, no graveyard
• People feel enraged at
nobody feels sympathetic for
them, unnoticed
By describing the fate of donkey the author’s purpose is to arouse the
sympathy and anger of the readers for “people”, People are also
cruelly treated but they are not noticed, simply invisible
Scene 6: the soldiers (para 22-26)
The negro’s attitude towards the whites
Words and Expressions
stork: n. any of a group of large, long-legged wading birds, having a long neck
and bill, and related to herons 鹳
infantry: soldiers who fight on battle 步兵
clump: v. to cause to form the sounds of heavy footsteps
Grandpa clumped along in his boots.
clatter: n. A rapid succession of loud, sharp noises 急促的敲击声
reach-me-down: adj. colloq. Second-hand or ready made
sullen: showing resentment, sulky; glum 揾怒的，闷闷不乐的
syphilis: n. an infectious venereal disease, caused by a spirochete and usu.
transmitted by sexual intercourse or acquired congenitally 梅毒
charger: n. a horse ridden in battle or on parade 战马，军马
garrison: n. troops stationed in a fort or fortified place 驻军
reverence: n. feeling or attitude of deep respect, love and awe, as for sth. sacred;
glitter: v. to shine with a sparkling light; glisten; sparkle; be bright
(para 24) It was the shy, wide-eyed Negro look, which actually is a look of
profound respect.
wide-eyes: with the eyes opened widely, as because of surprise, fear, lack
of sophistication.
The Negro generally looks at the white masters with his eyes opened
widely showing bashfulness, fear, uneasiness, etc. it is a docile,
subservient look.
(para 24) This wretched boy, who is a French citizen and has therefore
been dragged from the forest to scrub floors and catch syphilis in
garrison towns
This miserable black boy is, as a result of the colonization of his country,
a French citizen. Therefore he has been conscribed and forced to leave
his home in the forest to come to a garrison town where he will catch
syphilis.
(para 25) In this connection it doesn’t matter twopence if he calls
himself a socialist.
it doesn’t matter twopence: it does not matter at all.
Every white man, even those who call themselves socialists can’t help
but think this thought when he sees a black army marching past.
(para 26) And really it was like watching a flock of cattle to see the long
column , … like scraps of paper.
Watching the one-or-two miles long column of soldiers marching
peacefully. Up the road was just like watching a flock of cattle. Cattle
don’t think, don’t ask questions, but follow their masters blindly. These
black soldiers were just like cattle.
S
u
m
m
a
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y
The text is a piece of objective exposition of the poverty, misery and
degradation of the inhabitants in Marrakech. The ordinary local funeral,
which treats the dead as animals, is merely one episode of the miserable
lives of native people. However, this fact is the basis upon which all the
imperialists build up their empires. The author illustrates the following
facts to show the plight of the inhabitants. An Arab navvy, an employee
of the municipality, begs for a piece of bread which is formerly the food
of the gazelles. In the unsanitary ghettoes which are crowded with Jews,
people overwork in a wretched situation, but they cannot possibly afford
a piece of cigarette. The brown laborers working in the barren fields in a
backward way are partly invisible to the white colonists who are insensitive to the suffering all around them. The old women carrying firewood
are more invisible for their skinny and distorted figures. Ironically,
oblivious to the miseries of the human beings, the white express more
sympathy to the damnable fate of the donkeys. However, the colonized ,
such as one of the Senegalese soldiers, bear blind deep respect for the
white masters. This provokes the white to reexamine themselves as well
as their ways of treating the colonized people.
Stylistic features
•
Generally speaking, Orwell describes objectively the suffering and
misery of the colonial people in Marrakech, yet he manages to show
that he is outraged at the spectacle of misery. He succeeds in
imparting this feeling to his readers:
a) through the clever choice of the scenes he describes
b) through the appropriate use of words: concrete
c) through the tone in which he describes these scenes: objective, matterof-factly, yet readers can see his anger beneath.
d) by contrasting the indignation at the cruel handling of the donkey with
the unconcern towards the fate of the human beings.
e) figures of speech used: simile, metaphor, parallelism, repetition,
rhetorical question, synecdoche, analogy, transferred epithet
Groups of synonyms
• Weep, cry, sob, wail, whimper
• Weep and cry: often used interchangeably
weep is more often used in writing than in
speech, and gives greater emphasis to the
shedding of tears than to the accompanying
sounds.
• Cry may indicate also the act of silently shedding
tears. It does not always indicate depth of
feelings: Babies cry loudly
• Sob and whimper: describe different varieties of
weeping.
• To sob is to weep with audible convulsive
catches of breath and the heaving of one’s chest.
Sobbing is usually accompanied by gasps and is
akin to sighing.
• To whimper is to cry or shine with plaintive
broken sounds. Whimper introduces the
suggestion of defencelessness or timidity, and is
most often associated with fright: a lost child
whimpering for his mother.
•
Glisten, glitter, flash, glimmer, sparkle
•
These words refer to wavering coruscations of light, whether
reflected from a moving surface or emitted unsteadily by the
source of light itself
Sparkle and glitter
Sparkle it is almost exclusively restricted to uneven, bright flashes
reflected from light-catching objects:, it suggests intenser stabs of
more fleeting light.
a sparkling drop of dew
sparkling diamonds.
Glitter suggests a larger mass of reflecting material that can be
seen over a long period of time and that casts reflections not so
dependent on an exact perspective. : to shine by reflection with
many small flashes of brilliant light :
the sequins glittered in the sun
glittering, rain-washed garden
•
•
•
•
Flash suggests most strongly regular on-and-off
alteration of light and darkness:
the flashing red of the level-crossing light.
Glisten is almost exhaustively restricted to reflected
light, suggests in addition to dimness an undulating
reflection or a moist surface: glistening rain-drenched
leaves
Rain made the streets glisten.
The streets glisten in the rain.
Her eyes glisten with tears.
a long beach of glistening sand
• Glimmer and shimmer both suggest a subdued or dim
wavering of light. Glimmer : to give off a subdued
unsteady reflection
Candles glimmered in the windows of the inn.
Moonlight glimmered on the pond.
• Shimmer : to shine with a soft tremulous or fitful light : to
reflect a wavering sometimes distorted visual image
The road shimmered in the heat.
a sequined dress shimmering under the studio lights
Dictation
1. wail a chant
2. hack an oblong hole
3. inhabitants
4. undifferentiated 5. derelict
6. medieval ghettoes
7. fly-infested
8. warp out of shape
9. conspicuous
10. frenzied rush
11. grope in the air
12. eroded soil
13. desolate place 14. conserve water
15. mummified with age
16. invisibility
17. be infuriated
18. plight of human beings
19. slump under weight 20. glisten with sweat 21. contemptuous
22. reverence 23. sullen
24. inquisitive 25. scraps of paper
26. hummocky 27. prickly pear 28. bumpy
29. hindquarter
30. nibble
31. sidle
32. stow
33. municipality
34. skull-cap
35. booth
36. prehistoric 37. clamour
38. self-contained 39. grove
40. witchcraft 41. hobble
42. damnably
43. bridle
44. packsaddle 45. halter
46. reach-me-down 47. squash 48. syphilis
49. garrison
50 George Orwell