Carson McCullers [US] 1917-1967 Sucker SUCKER: 傻蛋、衰仔 One who is easily deceived; a dupe. 笨蛋，雏儿，笨鸟：容易受骗的人，涉世未深的人 创思英语：http://www.tronest.cn Carson McCullers [US] 1917-1967

OUTLINE Author Plot Questions Characters Lessons Language Theme 讲课提纲 Andy原创！ Characters Lessons Language

1. About the Author Carson McCullers was an American writer. She wrote novels, short stories, and two plays, as well as essays and some poetry. A series of strokes she suffered as a child left her partly paralyzed. She typically set her stories in small Southern communities and depicted the inner lives of lonely people. Read more in the NOTE. 卡森•麦卡勒斯（Carson McCullers）1917年2月19日出生于乔治亚州府哥伦布，是一个珠宝店主的女儿。她从五岁开始学习钢琴，十五岁时从父亲处得到一台打字机，立志成为作家。十七岁去纽约哥伦比亚大学学习文学创作，十九岁开始构思，二十二岁完成《心是孤独的猎手》The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter的创作。重要作品还有《伤心咖啡馆之歌》、《黄金眼睛的映象》、《婚礼的成员》等。她的多部作品被改编成电影，如《伤心咖啡馆之歌》、《婚礼的成员》等。 麦卡勒斯一生倍受病痛折磨，从十五岁风湿热rheumatic fever开始，一系列疾病严重摧残了她的身体，导致她在29岁时残废。1967年9月29日她因脑出血在纽约去世。遗留下未完成的自传《照亮及暗夜之光》（ILLUMINATION AND NIGHT GLARE）。 In The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, an enigmatic deaf-mute draws out the haunted confessions of an itinerant worker, a young girl, a black doctor, and the widowed owner of a small-town café. Two shorter works, Reflections in a Golden Eye (1941) and The Ballad of the Sad Café (1943), use melodramatic scenarios and freakish characters to explore the disfiguring violence of desire. The Member of the Wedding (1946), on which the play and film were based, tells of a young girl's fascination with her brother's wedding and is perhaps McCullers' most moving and accomplished novel. In Clock Without Hands (1960), the story of a terminally ill druggist, McCullers produces some of her most forceful and indignant social criticism. (19 Feb 1917 – 29 Sept 1967)

2. Plot Summary I had a cousin nicknamed Sucker sleeping in my bed with me. I used to take no notice of him. On the night when my relationship with Maybelle began to take a favorable turn, I talked a lot with Sucker and came to understand his loneliness better and treat him better. One night after my finish with M, I got so mad at Sucker and hurt him deeply with humiliating remarks. 故事情节摘要 I regreted about what I had done to him, but I didn’t find the courage to get things straight.

3. Questions about Details Why did Sucker come to live with my family? How did he get the nickname? How did I use to treat him? Give an example. When did all this trouble begin? When did the real trouble start? Why? How did his look change throughout the story? Act Sucker’s entering the cinema. Act out the dialogue between S and me that night? 37-8 What did I do to make up for the wrong? Why? 段落大意 Part 1 (in green) Description of Oliver’s present life, previous endeavor and psychology Part 2 (in blue) The deal/exchange of the duchess and the jeweller

4. The Theme “Her first novel The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter explores the spiritual isolation of misfits and outcasts of the South. Her other novels have similar themes and are all set in the South.” "No one has written more feelingly than her about the plight of the eccentric, " Kiernan contended, "and no one has written more understandingly than she about adolescent loneliness and desperation." 中心大意 主题思想 McCullers's career was short, but it was filled with daring and unusual work. Critics may disagree on her place in American literature, but clearly her writings were unique in their treatment of isolation, loneliness and people who were outcasts from conventional society. "No one has written more feelingly than her about the plight of the eccentric, " Kiernan contended, "and no one has written more understandingly than she about adolescent loneliness and desperation."

5. Character Analysis Sucker Pitiful, credulous/trustful, pure-hearted, lonely, fragile, timid, quiet, etc. I Self-centered, concerned about face saving, etc. 人物性格刻画分析 peacockish, vain, casual, vague Maybelle Enjoying dressing up, beautiful, etc.

6. Lessons Learned … it is the person who doesn’t notice you that you are apt to admire. You understand people better when you are happy … sometimes words cut more than swords. Love and reason don’t go together. A friend who shares is a friend who cares. 谈恋爱或多或少影响学习。

7. Language Points Expressions Have … to oneself, meddle with, take in, come to, make out, run after, put my mind on, on my mind, fool with, get on my nerves, etc. Sentences Either she would act almost nice and I would begin thinking how things would finally clear up and she would care for me—or else she'd behave so that if she hadn't been a girl I'd have wanted to grab her by that white little neck and choke her. 语言点 词汇的准确性 Your questions?