目前全球共有約8億文盲課件

1、 Straight-A Illiteracy James P. Degnan School of Foreign StudiesSouth China Normal Univ. 徐曼菲10801 May 9th, 2007 Unit TenThe Author James Philip Degnan (1933- ) received his B.A. from Memphis State College, Tennessee, U.S.A., in 1954, and his M.A. from the University of Notre Dame, University of Flor

2、ida and University of Santa Clara, California. He became professor of English at the University of Santa Clara in 1969. He contributes articles to such journals as Atlantic, Esquire, Nation, and Kenyon Review, to name a few.Harpers Magazine Straight-A Illiteracy first appeared in the September 1976

3、issue of this magazine. It is a monthly periodical published in New York City. This periodical is recognized as a leading commentator on political, economic, and social questions. The title: Straight-A illiteracyQ: What kind of student is a straight-A student?A: He is a student who gets As for all t

4、he courses he takes.Q: What kind of a person is an illiterate? A: Person 1). having little or no education; 2). Showing a lack of familiarity with language or literature; 3). Showing a lack of particular field of knowledge (musically illiterate)The issue of illiteracy (widely publicized) “Figures of

5、 1998 show that 20% of the world population is illiterate ” from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia “Since 1983, more than 10 million Americans have reached the 12th grade without being able to read at a basic level. Over 20 million have reached their senior year unable to do basic math. Almost 25 mil

6、lion have reached 12th grade without knowing the essentials of U.S. history.” -source: Illiterate America By Alan Caruba web posted February 5, 2001目前全球共有約8億文盲，主要分布在印度、中國(guó)、印度尼西亞、巴基斯坦、巴西、尼日利亞、埃及等國(guó)。中國(guó)文盲總數(shù)高居世界第二位，僅次于印度。世界上每10個(gè)文盲中就有一個(gè)以上是中國(guó)人。中國(guó)90%的文盲分布在農(nóng)村，一半文盲在西部地區(qū)，文盲中七成是女性。 /popread/popread882.htm How im

7、portant is literacy? some quotesLiteracy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity

8、. Especially for girls and women, it is an agent of family health and nutrition.For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human rightLiteracy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her fu

9、ll potential. “Literacy is absolutely essential for the success of any society.” To sum up: literacy is an important issue which concerns a society and nations sustained development in all accounts. Is straight-A illiterate a sub-type of illiterate? Q: Do you think it paradoxical to call someone a s

10、traight-A illiterate? Who are they actually? What is the purpose of writing?Purpose of WritingDegnans purpose of writing is: by demonstrating the sort of gibberish written by Straight-A students, he wishes to expose and condemn the use of professional jargon, which fills the reading materials highly

11、 educated people are forced to read as they pursue their education. His means to achieve such a purpose: Definition / Causal analysis / Personal experience Some examples of straight-A Illiteracy Can you identify some examples of writing by straight-A illiterates?P2: “The choice of exogenous variable

12、s in relation to multi-colinearity, is contingent upon the derivations of certain multiple correlaton coefficients” It simply means: “supply determines demand”.What is special in this writing that you find?Jargonsdifficult and academic termsReading task: Jargons 1. What are jargons? 2. What are the

13、functions of jargons? 3. What are the differences between jargons and terminology? Why well-educated students tend to write in such a way?Some erroneous assumptions Assumption 1. Long and complication = being erudite and profound“我國(guó)古人十分推崇凝練簡(jiǎn)潔的文風(fēng)，古往今來(lái)的一些傳世之作大都非常精煉。而不知從何時(shí)起，冗長(zhǎng)虛空的文章泛濫成災(zāi)起來(lái)，似乎文章寫(xiě)不長(zhǎng)，就不夠分量，

14、就說(shuō)不清楚問(wèn)題，就顯示不出寫(xiě)作者的水平.” -提倡簡(jiǎn)潔務(wù)實(shí)的文風(fēng) 張虎山每日甘肅2005年04月13日Assumption 2. Difficulty = higher standard and better taste“報(bào)刊的大眾化定位和報(bào)刊的高品位高檔次并不矛盾。而報(bào)刊為普通大眾“立言”的形式，只能是通俗易懂的語(yǔ)言文字，只能是深入淺出的思想觀(guān)點(diǎn)。那種把艱深的晦澀的專(zhuān)業(yè)詞匯堆砌的，群眾想看但看的費(fèi)勁甚至看不懂的文章的報(bào)刊，看成是一種品位和檔次，其實(shí)是對(duì)品位和檔次的曲解用艱澀的文章逼迫普通的大多數(shù)敬而遠(yuǎn)之的報(bào)刊，算哪門(mén)子品位和檔次呢?” -是誰(shuí)“逼瘋”了時(shí)評(píng)約稿者 作者/賈如軍 / 江海論壇T

15、he use of simple, clear, concise language Contrary to what some people seem to believe, simple writing is not the product of simple minds. A simple, unpretentious style has both grace and power. By not calling attention to itself, it allows the reader to focus on the message-Richard Lederer and Rich

16、ards Dowis, Sleeping Dogs Dont Lay, 1999. More Words of Wisdom resource: http:/garbl/stylemanual/betwrit.htm Organization and Development of the textWriting Methods: causal analysis, combined with definition and exemplification(paras.2, 3 and 4)The way to organize the essay: from the effect to the c

17、auseThe effect: the phenomenon of the so-called straight-A illiteracy (Para. 1)The cause: the text-books and professional journals the straight-A illiterate is forced to read during his years of education. (Para. 3 & 4) Definition Whats the definition by the author which describes a straight-A illit

18、erate? A well-educated person, typically one with a Ph.D. degree, or working toward it, and with high I. Q., but disabled by long-term exposure to academic jargon to write in clear, plain English.Definition of “Straight-A Illiterate” The methods Degnan employs to define the straight-A illiterate are

19、: a) he says who it is by occupation; b) he describes the straight-A illiterate by his educational achievement; c) he names him “Mr. Bright” and talks of “Brights Disease”. An allegory with humorous effect. Analysis of the textPara. 1 the topic the effect generalPara. 2 personal experience specificP

20、ara. 3 & observation the cause general Para. 4 the conclusion the cause specificAnalysis of the textPara. 1 The person to whom I refer is the straight-A illiterate, and the following is Para. 2 .in the cure of a diseaseI have come to call straight-A illiteracy.Para. 3 many college seniors suffering

21、from Brights disease.Para. 4 As I have suggested, the major cause of such illiteracy is the stuff.The four paragraphs are closely connected.A closer look at the textParagraph 1. What is the para about? What sort of information or knowledge the author / to get rid ofStraight A illiteracy vs. Mr. Brig

22、hts diseaseWhat kind of person would be referred as being bright? Mr. Bright & Brights Disease Dr. Richard Bright (1789-1858), English physician, is famous for describing and defining severe kidney failure, today known as “Brights Disease”.Paragraph 2Degnans use of Brights Disease What is the Allego

23、rical meaning of Mr. Brights disease in the text? Library WorkFind out what an allegory is so that you may have a clear understanding of the meaning of “allegorically” on 1.181)An allegory is a form of imaginative literature constructed in such a way that their readers are encouraged to look for mea

24、nings hidden beneath the literal surface of the fiction. (from Encyclopedia Britannica)2)An allegory is a narrative in which the characters, events, and setting represent deeper truths or generalization than those suggested by the surface story. (Macmillan Family Encyclopedia) 3)An allegory is a bro

25、ad term covering any piece of writing or image which has the meanings additional to the literal sense. (Everymans Encyclopedia) Can you work out the allegorical meaning of Mr. Bright now?Try to observe the humorous effect by the use of such a term. Allegorical Meaning1). Someone who is seeming brigh

26、t when judged by their academic records, but who nevertheless fail to detect gibberish in their own writings or in those of others. 2). When the author calls his student Mr. Bright allegorically, he does not mean to refer to this particular straight-A student only. He is using the term to cover all

27、those students, college seniors, and Ph.D. s who suffer from such a similar “disease”.Brights Disease here = straight-A illiteracyDictionary WorkAs often as not-at least half the time; frequentlyplight-condition, state or situation, especially an unfavorable oneArticulate-using language easily and fluently; having facility with wordsA coveted fellowship-a fellowship ( I. e. , the money given to postgraduate students to allow them to continue their studies at an advanced level ) that everyone lo