高级英语视听说(第二版) - 教师用书 及 课后答案

《高级英语视听说（第二版）》

教师用书

第二版说明

《高级英语视听说》为专业英语课程教材，供高等院校英语专业高年级本科生使用；同时也为高等院校非英语专业高年级本科生使用。近些年，大学英语及专门用途英语教学改革成果显著，非英语专业学生的英语水平提高很大，有些甚至好于英语专业的学生。教师和学生都感到特别需要更高要求、更深程度内容的英语教材满足这部分学生的智力和情感需求。这套教材既是很好的选择。本教材还可以供研究生英语课程使用，供有同等英语水平的自学者和工作者使用。

本套教材于2008年荣获北京市精品教材奖。目前已经重印十余次，受到教师和学生的广泛欢迎。

第二版教材去掉五部旧片，换上五部新片，其中三部电影，一部纪录片，以跟进时代。它们分别是《黑天鹅》、《帮助》、《朗读者》和《精神病人》。这些片子已在北外的课堂使用过，深受学生们喜爱。单元安排根据学生的兴趣、影片的新旧、影片的难易重新做了调整，现在的安排给人一种全新的感受。教师也可以按照自己的考虑、学生的水平重新安排一学期的课程顺序。

第二版教材建议每周学习一部片子，所用学时两小时。网络的发展以及各学校音视频的建设使学生随时可以看到新片，这样使一周完成学生课前的准备及课上的讨论成为了可能。 我们衷心希望第二版能够受到更多教师和学生的喜爱。在内容带给我们更多挑战的同时，也希望带给我们更多思考的快乐。

主编：王镇平 2013年4月23日

编写理念

21世纪是一个以经济全球化和信息化为显著特征的时代，我们的人才培养目标要适应这个时代，我们的教材则要适应这个新的培养目标。英语专业培养的人才应该是具有扎实的英语语言基础和广博的英语文化知识，并能在不同的工作和研究领域熟练运用英语的复合型人才，要同时兼具组织能力、实践能力和创新能力。这套教材就是在这样的需求中应运而生的。

根据2000年《高等院校英语专业英语教学大纲》（以下简称《大纲》）的要21世纪外语专业教材应具有以下几个特征：教材内容和语言能够反映快速变求，

化的时代；教材能处理好专业知识、语言训练和相关学科知识之间的关系；教材不仅仅着眼于知识的传授，还有助于学生的鉴赏批判能力、思维能力和创新能力的培养；教学内容有较强的实用性和针对性；注意充分利用计算机、多媒体、网络等现代化的技术手段。

本教材的编写理念符合《大纲》的要求，具有以下七大特征： 一、内容强调趣味性

近些年来，人们越来越认识到兴趣是学习者内在动力的源泉。所以，我们在选择教材内容时，尽量贴近大学生的生活，尽可能地满足大学生的智力因素和成长需求；能最大限度地做到这一点，就能最大限度地激发学生学习的积极性和主动性。语言学家Michael P. Breen和Christopher N. Candlin强调：教材应考虑学生的情感、态度和经历，适当的内容可激发学生的学习情趣，最终促进第二语言的学习。我们选择的影片包括《黑天鹅》、《朗读者》、《克莱默夫妇》、《毕业生》、《帮助》、《死亡诗社》、《闻香识女人》、《美国丽人》等，它们大都与时代同步，反映时代脉搏，与大学生的生活贴近。还有根据名著、名剧改编的《时时刻刻》、《芝加哥》等探索人生的电影，引人思考。电视节目《中央公园》、《高端访谈》和《精神病人》涉及人与自然的关系、联合国改革以及医疗体制的弊病及改革，这些内容有助于开阔学生的视野，会使他们产生发自内心的学习热情和学习动力。 二、选材强调知识性

当今的大学生不同以往，现代社会对他们的要求也比以往高得多，而且是多

2000年元的。只懂外语而缺乏对其他领域知识的掌握已经落后于时代的要求。《大

纲》提到21世纪英语专业人才应具备的五个特征之一就是宽广的知识面。这些知识指的是英语专业知识（即文学、语言、国情文化）和相关专业知识（如外交、金融、法律、科技等学科的知识）。但目前，许多课程的教学内容中普遍缺少其他相关学科的知识。为了扩展学生的知识面，我们增添了电视节目，电视节目比电影知识性强，信息量大，涉及面广，学生可以在短时间内获得大量信息，学习各领域的知识。我们这里选择了三个节目，通过学习这些内容，学生可以了解和掌握环境、医疗体制、联合国（国际组织）等方面的知识及词汇。这在一定程度上弥补了视听说课程相关学科知识不足的缺陷。

三、题材和体裁注重多元化

我们认为，不断变换题材才是保护和保证学生兴趣的手段。我们选择的题材涉及范围广泛，包括家庭、教育、代沟、同性恋、艾滋病、种族、环境、联合国、医疗体制、希望、名利场和腐败、中年危机等。我们的体裁也较多元化，除了电影这一种艺术形式外，我们还选择了电视节目，其中有著名纪录片《精神病人》和电视节目《高端访谈》等。《精神病人》由美国著名导演迈克尔·摩尔（Michael Moore）执导制作，它抨击美国医疗体制的弊端并期冀改革。麦克尔诙谐、犀利、大胆，以纪录片的形式揭露美国现行社会尖锐问题而著名。从中学生可以了解美国医疗体制的现状并反思中国医疗体制。中国中央电视台著名主持人水均益，他的英语发音准确，字句使用恰当，表现得沉着、自信、敏锐。他主持的节目《高端访谈》收视率很高，受到广大观众的喜爱和关注。电视节目的特点是内容生动，形式新颖，紧跟时代节奏，提供最新信息，可以激发学生的强烈好奇心和求知欲。 四、以学生为中心

现代语言教学的走向是以学生为中心，教师为主导，教师引导学生积极地、主动地、独立地去完成学习的全过程。教材应该具有启发性、引导性，而不是传统的知识存储所。

认知理论认为，英语学习的过程是新旧语言知识不断结合的过程，也是语言能力从理论知识转化为自动应用的过程，而这种结合与转化都必须通过学生的自身活动才能得以实现。以学生为中心符合语言学习的规律。因此，教师与学生的角色发生了很大的变化，教师由原来知识的输出者变成学生的引导者和协调者；学生由听讲者变成自觉的学习者和研究者。

以学生为中心是一种新的教学模式，而教材又必须体现教学思想和教学模式。首先，这种教学模式要体现在整套教材的内容选择和编排上。内容的选择和编排要顺应学习者的学习过程，即内容要由浅入深，由熟悉到不熟悉，而且又有内在的连贯性。其次，这种教学模式还要体现在教材每一单元课前、课堂和课下的语言活动设计中。课前学生是自觉的学习者。他们要按教学计划观看影片或电视节目，然后分小组活动，组内成员进行分工合作，按照每人分配的不同任务分别到图书馆或网上查找相关的资料。最后，小组成员再一起讨论。教师的任务则是给予引导，比如，如何观看影片，如何进行思考，如何提出问题，如何查询资料等。课上学生是主要的参与者，学生需要轮流口述对影片或电视节目某一方面的评论。每一位学生讲述之后，其他同学向这位讲述者提出相关问题，讲述者要为此做好充分准备。教师在课堂上是协调者，保证每一位学生都有讲话的机会，都有运用语言的机会。课后，学生将口述评论写成文，教师进行批改并提出建议。教师最后根据学生课前、课堂表现和文章的水平给予一个综合分数作为本周成绩。

以学生为中心的教学模式就是把大部分时间给学生，让学生有更多的机会在课上和课下进行语言运用，以达到外语教学的最终目的。 五、语言活动的设计具有启发性

英语专业教材不仅仅要着眼于知识的传授，还要有助于学生的鉴赏能力、批判能力、思维能力和创新能力的培养。因此，教材只提供语言事实是不够的，这

些是死的东西，无法培养学生的思维和创新能力。那么，语言活动的设计就十分关键。我们设计的语言活动（课前、课堂、和课后的练习）都试图培养学生的批判能力和思维能力。语言活动应是一个过程，在这个过程中学生既是导演又是演员，他们需要对该活动进行分析、设计、编排、组织，直到最后实施。这样一个过程可以激发学生的学习热情和主动精神，也可以开启他们的聪明智慧，培养他们的思考能力和创新能力。 六、注重培养学生的科研能力

《大纲》明确提出课堂教学要注重培养学生的学习能力和科研能力，同时也明确要求现代英语教学应注重培养学生利用图书馆、网络获取知识的能力，以适应新世纪的需求。要想真正成为独立的研究者，学生需要学习如何使用图书馆，如何利用网络来获取知识。为培养学生独立研究的能力，视听说课程增添了科研内容，要求学生在观看影片或电视节目之后走进图书馆，访问网站，寻找自己所需的资料，为小组讨论和课堂演讲寻找依据。这种科研体验为学生将来的独立学习和独立工作打下了良好的基础。

七、创造实践机会，实现视、听、说三位一体

《大纲》要求培养组织能力、实践能力、创新能力。外语教学的目标就是将课堂中学到的语言技能运用到实践中。教材是为教学服务的，它是通向教学目标的桥梁。那么，教材就应该有实践的内容。实践内容不同于某一课后的语言活动，它是一个完整的、大型的项目，它需要学生们走出校门，在社会实践中运用掌握的英语语言，运用电视节目主持人的采访技巧，就某一主题采访以英语为母语的外国人。在这样的实践活动中，检验自己的语言能力、知识面和采访能力，同时也锻炼自己的交际能力、组织能力和创新能力，实现语言训练的视、听、说三位一体。有位学生感慨地说：―这样的实践活动是我从未体验过的，我第一次将所学的知识运用到实践中，它不仅检验了我的语言水平，同时也培养了我的合作精神、组织能力和交往能力。‖

主编：王镇平

2013年5月

held for years.

14. What happens to Beth? What is Thomas’s attitude toward her? How does the

incident affect Nina?

Feeling abandoned, Beth walks to the street, gets hit by a car, and her legs are seriously injured. Thomas feels sure that Beth does it on purpose because she always acts out of a destructive impulse. Nina is quite shocked and feels guilty for taking the role from Beth. Though Thomas assures Nina it has nothing to do with her and she should not get distracted by the tragic incident, the guilt of destroying Beth and the fear of being later destroyed by someone else still adds up the pressure on Nina. 15. In their late hour practice, how does Thomas inspire Nina through action and

words? Does Nina think Thomas is a brilliant teacher? Why or why not? Thomas picks up the role of the prince to show Nina how to be seductive and dominant while dancing the Black Swan. At first, Nina moves stiffly and nervously, but soon she starts to respond to Thomas‘ seductive words, touches and kisses. Nina cries for her slow improvement, and she believes Thomas is a brilliant teacher. Thomas is harsh and tender, strict and helpful, making efforts to mobilize her full potential, helping her achieving real perfection on stage, and thus make her dream come true. 16. Nina has been feeling frustrated at not able to perform well the Black Swan.

What happens to Nina when she is taking a bath? What does Nina finally see in her mirror? Why is Nina being haunted by the dark figure of her other self?

Back at home, Nina is taking a bath and she starts to touch herself again, trying to follow the director's suggestion to let go of herself. When she immerses herself into the water and opens her eyes, she sees drops of blood dripping from above and suddenly, she sees her other self showing up right above her, giving a scary and evil grin at her. Jumping out of the water, Nina sees blood on two of her fingers. When getting out of the tub, Nina sees in the mirror the bleeding scratches on her back, and she starts to cut off her nails but only to see her vicious other self again in the mirror, staring at her with hatred. 17. Why is Nina’s mom so concerned about Nina’s career? How would you

describe the relationship between the mom and the daughter?

Nina's mom is once a ballerina who also dreams to be a star dancer. But then she falls in love with her director, gives birth to her daughter, Nina, and that brings an end to her career. Nina's mom wants Nina to achieve what she fails to achieve at a young age. However, the mom's high expectation and possessive control lead to an unbridgeable distance between the two of them. 18. How does the evening at the night bar affect Nina? Why does Nina fantasize

with Lily in her room? How does Nina feel about herself sexually and emotionally?

Nina resents her mom‘s control and to show protest, she accepts Lily's invitation to go out to the night bar for fun. The evening soon turns out to be a dramatic

adventure for Nina. Being pushed by Lily, she starts to try drugs, flirt with guys and indulge herself with wild movements on the disco dance floor. While coming back home, Nina, under the impact of drugs, has a fantasy about having sex with Lily, out of which she has experienced for the first time the ultimate sexual and emotional pleasure and freedom. For a time being, she sees Lily's face suddenly turn into her other self. This sudden shift of her fantasy indicates how Lily is taken by Nina‘s sub-consciousness as someone resembling her suppressed other self. When whispering \confront her and that seems to indicate a self-awakening moment when her sub-conscious other side of mind is fully aroused.

19. In the next morning's stage rehearsal, does Nina perform differently from

previous days? How can you tell? Why does Nina throw away all her stuffed animals when getting home?

Nina's dancing in the next morning is no longer frigid and mechanical. For the first time, she smiles a hearty smile and for the first time, Thomas gives her an encouraging gesture, and later tells Nina her performance in that morning is a breakthrough. However, Nina is still deeply worried about the premier. Out of deep fear and anxiety, she convinces herself that Lily drugs her on purpose so that she can take advantage of her being late for the practice. Lying in bed, she is at first lost in thought, then suddenly knocks the music box off the bedside table and finally jumps up and throws all her stuffed animals into the garbage. While doing so, Nina appears no longer as her mom's sweet little girl, but a grown-up adult with full power and strong determination to exert control of her own life. 20. Why does Nina feel so upset when knowing Lily is picked as her alternate?

How does Thomas respond to Nina’s pleading at Lily as her alternate? Why does Nina see that Thomas is having sex with Lily? What is she actually scared of?

Nina takes Lily as her rival who has plotted all the time to steal from her the role of Swan Queen, and even worse, she believes it is all personal and Lily is out there to destroy her. When she gets very upset and goes to persuade Thomas to change his mind, Thomas assures her that it's a common practice to have an alternate and she should be confident and focused on the performance instead of worrying too much. He also suggests she should take some rest that night. However, Nina stays late, dancing and practicing. Still, she's haunted by the idea of Lily stealing her role by winning Thomas' favor. This fear can be seen from her hallucination of seeing Lily having sex with Thomas and the latter finally changes into the figure of Rothbart. What she actually fears is being replaced by Lily and thus loses her chance at the last minute to become a perfect dancer on stage. 21. Why does Nina visit Beth in the hospital again? What does Nina do with

Beth’s stuff? What does she seem to understand? What is it that makes them so much alike? What does Beth say about herself? Why does Nina have such hallucinations in hospital, and later at home?

Feeling devastated by what she sees about Lily and Thomas, Nina believes Lily has already taken her position and suddenly she seems to understand how Beth must have felt while being replaced. She feels close to Beth due to the similar experience of betrayal and desperation. Nina dashes into the dressing room, picks up all the stuff of Beth and rushes to the hospital in wish to get Beth's forgiveness and asks for advice about what she should do now. However, Beth doesn't feel the same, saying she is not perfect and she is nothing (at all). What Beth says feeds Nina‘s despair and finally triggers a mental breakdown, which in turn brings about the most twisted part of Nina's hallucination. She sees Beth stabbing her own face violently, yelling \Nina's own face. Scared by what she sees in the hospital, Nina runs all the way back home, only to be confronted by a ghostly figure and later her mom's monstrous pictures all calling her \because deep in her heart, she is convinced that her sweet but weak personality as well as her self-denial obsession with perfection should be blamed for her being unable to keep the role of Swan Queen. However, the \journey of transforming herself into another self is too demanding and scary for Nina to bear. The hallucination reflects on one hand her pain and fear, and on the other hand, her strong desire to liberate her other self.

22. Why are the Black Swan feathers bursting out of Nina’s back? Why do both

of her legs break? Is it a metamorphosis? If so, in what way? How would you regard this uncaged condition of Nina?

Locking herself in the bedroom, Nina is frightened to feel the pain in her back and then she sees little black feathers growing out of her skin. When her mom is trying to come in and check on her, she breaks her mom's fingers while violently forcing her out of the door. Right after that, Nina sees her legs spontaneously snap in strange directions. Unable to stand steadily, Nina falls down and passes out. All the series of scary hallucination reveals the fact that Nina is losing control of her mind. And the imagined metamorphosis reflects a moment of mental transformation in which Nina's once suppressed other self eventually breaks out of her self-control and rises up to the dominant position in her mind. 23. Why does Nina’s mom try to prevent her from going to the show? What does

it mean when Nina says that the sweet girl is gone?

Nina's mom finds Nina scratching herself all the night so she prevents her from going to the show for fear that she's not well enough for the performance. Nina fights fiercely with her mom and finally breaks out of her grasp. When saying to her mom the sweet girl is gone, Nina means she's no longer the fragile and obedient little girl who has no strength to speak for herself. Instead, she's now fully grown into an independent self who's determined to get whatever she wants. 24. What does Thomas say to Nina in the dressing room right before the show?

What happens when Nina is dancing the White Swan? Why does this occur? Thomas says to Nina that the only person standing in her way is herself and she should let it go and loose herself on stage. While dancing the White Swan, Nina

is back to her usual fearful and unconfident self. She starts to have hallucination again and sees Lily wearing her costume and flirting with the male dancer and she herself showing up not as the Swan Queen but an ordinary ballerina in the corp. She gets so distracted by the horrible hallucination that she falls off on the floor while the dancer of the Prince is trying to hold her up.

25. Who is sitting in Nina’s dressing room when Nina runs back into the room,

devastated? Why do they start to fight? Who does Nina think that she is fighting with and who does she see lying dead on the floor? What does this dressing room scene reveal on Nina’s psychological struggle and level of breakthrough?

Running back into the dressing room with tears in eyes, Nina is surprised to see Lily sitting in her chair, humiliating her, and suggesting she play the part of the Black Swan. Nina throws herself at Lily and the two start to fight on the floor with broken pieces of the mirror scattered around. During the fight, the face of Nina‘s opponent shifts into her other self and while her other self is strangling her, crying for a ―turn‖ of domination, we can see the strange physical changes on Nina. With extreme anger, Nina grabs a sharp piece of broken mirror and stabs her opponent with it, but then only to find Lily lying dead on the floor. This dressing room scene reveals to us the very point of a complete mental breakdown on the part of Nina, who by the time is totally possessed by her other self, body and mind. 26. What happens to Nina’s arms while she gets back onto the stage? Does Nina

dance well for the part of the Black Swan? How does she make it? How does she look while getting off the stage and being hailed by all? Why does Nina kiss Thomas and in what way does she kiss him?

While getting back onto the stage and dancing to the music as the Black Swan, Nina's arm starts to grow black feathers and with Odile's coda coming to the climax, her arms grow into two big black wings. Her dance of Black Swan is hailed by all as a great success and Nina looks enchanted and triumphant. Walking with her tiptoes as a ballerina does on stage, Nina moves towards Thomas and gives him a forceful kiss as a best salute that a ballet dancer can give to her inspiring director. The kiss is actually given by the passionate and aggressive Nina to the one who helps grant her ultimate freedom. 27. Who is knocking at the door when Nina is putting on her costume of the

White Swan? Why is Nina so shocked at seeing her? What actually happens to Nina?

When Nina changes into the White Swan costume, she starts to worry about the killing of Lily. Then someone is knocking at the door and she's extremely shocked to see it is Lily giving her congratulations. After Lily leaves, Nina checks around and suddenly sees the sharp piece of glass stabbed deep in her stomach. With tears rolling down, she finally comes to realize it is herself that she stabs with all her strength.

What does she realize about her struggle in the past few days?

All her desperate struggle in the past few days starts to make sense to Nina whose mind for the time being comes back to its soberness. It's a struggle she carries against herself, a struggle between her obedient and self-controlled side of personality and the aggressive and passionate other.

29. How does Nina dance the White Swan again? What does Nina say in the end?

How do you understand the satisfying smile on her face?

Nina returns to the stage as the White Swan and dances with a tragic air just like the White Swan in the story. While lying on the matt, dying, Nina says with a smile to Thomas ―I felt it. It was perfect… I was perfect‖. As Thomas once says, being perfect is not only about observing the discipline but also about losing control. At that moment, Nina feels the satisfaction of having both sides of her personality perfectly blending into one and thus enables her to give a perfect performance on stage and make her dream of being a perfect Swan Queen come true. 30. What kills Nina? What makes Nina so obsessed with the role of Swan Queen?

What does this obsession bring to Nina, perfection or destruction?

Nina kills herself during a mental breakdown. Being brought up as a sweet and obedient girl, Nina is obsessed with perfection and to make herself appear perfect, she adopts strong self-discipline and suppresses all her desire and passion, not knowing such a self-denial, once coming to an unbearable point, can only lead to self-destruction. V. Research Activities

Four basic aspects of the movie

Background: historical background, social background, the novel on which the

movie is based, the author of the novel, production of the movie, etc.

Themes: the main ideas that the movie intends to convey to the audience.

Conflicts: conflicts within oneself, conflicts with others, conflicts with the

society, conflicts between events, conflicts of ideas, etc.

Performances: actor, actress, director, playwright, song, music, Academy

Awards, etc.

These four aspects, however, can never be clear-cut; they are often interrelated. The information provided below serves as some supplementary material only. The students are free to present any material relevant to the four aspects. Their presentations should include both factual information and their own opinions or comments. Background

Aronofsky was inspired by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky's novel The Double when he was conceiving the film, first published in 1846 as a novella The Double: A Petersburg Poem. It centers on a government clerk, Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, who turns crazy with the idea that a colleague has usurped his identity. The novel delineates his internal psychological struggle when he keeps encountering

willingly? Why or why not?

Ben promises he will not take Elaine out. He is not quite willing to make such a promise because he finds that Mrs. Robinson does not think he is good enough for her daughter. That hurts Ben and makes him reflect on their affair, and he feels sick of it.

13. Does Ben keep his promise? Why or why not?

No. His parents insist he should ask Elaine out because both of them think Elaine is a very good girl for him. Besides, Mr. Robinson keeps asking Ben‘s parents to let Ben call Elaine, and that makes Ben‘s parents rather embarrassed when Ben keeps refusing to call the girl. So, the parents decide if Ben doesn‘t want to ask her out, they‘d like to invite the Robinson family to have dinner at home. To make things less awkward, Ben finally agrees to ask Elaine out. 14. How does Ben behave himself on his first date with Elaine? Why does he do

so?

He behaves very rude on purpose. He drives fast, pretends to be not hungry, making Elaine feel he has no intention to have dinner with her, and he walks very fast, making it difficult for Elaine to follow. Then, he takes Elaine to watch a stripper‘s show which makes Elaine feel insulted and hurt. He tries to hurt Elaine because he thinks it‘s better for both of them to keep away from each other. 15. How does Elaine get to know that Ben had an affair with her mother? How

do the daughter and the mother react to the revealing of the truth?

Ben tells her something about his having an affair with an older woman, but he doesn‘t tell her who the woman is.

However, later Mrs. Robinson demands that Ben stop seeing Elaine and she threatens to tell Elaine the truth if Ben turns a deaf ear to her warning. With Mrs. Robinson following him to Elaine‘s room, Ben decides to tell Elaine the truth himself. Just at that moment, Mrs. Robinson appears, and Elaine can tell from their expressions that her mother is the older woman.

Elaine is on the edge of breaking down while getting the truth. Mrs. Robinson remains cold and untouched because she takes it as an acceptable price for stopping Ben and Elaine from seeing each other.

16. How does Ben know that Elaine left for Berkeley? What does he decide to do

then?

He often stands outside the Robinson house, watching Elaine from far away and one day he sees Mr. Robinson and Elaine putting her luggage in the car and driving away. Then he knows Elaine is leaving for Berkeley.

He decides to go to Berkeley to look for Elaine and make a proposal to her. 17. Does Ben have a substantial conversation with Elaine after he arrived in

Berkeley? Why or why not? What does he do then?

No. At first, he cannot get an opportunity to have a real conversation with Elaine

for she always stays together with a group of students. Besides, he is very nervous, having no idea how to talk with Elaine about his incident with Mrs. Robinson and how to make her understand him and forgive him. So, he just stands somewhere watching Elaine on campus. Later, he finds Elaine is going out with another guy and he just thinks it‘s impossible for them to have any further talks.

18. Why does Elaine go to visit Ben and then ask Ben to leave her alone? Does

she believe in Ben’s words about his relationship with her mother?

She wants to tell Ben she can never forgive him for doing such a terrible thing to her mother, for her mother tells her that she was raped by Ben. When Ben tells her everything, she finds it too hard to believe; but deep in her heart, she knows that her mother might be lying to her. 19. How does Mr. Robinson get to know the affair? What does he decide to do?

Mrs. Robison tells him about her relationship with Ben, but she obviously lies. Mr. Robinson comes to Berkeley to warn Ben not to get close to Elaine again. Otherwise, he says he will prosecute Ben and send him into prison. 20. Why does Elaine refuse Ben’s proposal?

She feels it‘s best for her to refuse Ben because her father gets very angry with Ben. If they get married, her father will definitely take a revenge on Ben. Besides, her mother will also be mad at them. So, Elaine feels it will never work out. 21. How does Ben get to know that Elaine is going to marry Carl?

When he goes to look for Elaine at the Robinson house, he meets Mrs. Robinson, who tells him in a triumphant way that Elaine is going to marry Carl. 22. How does Ben find the wedding church and how does he prevent the

announcement of the marriage?

First, he finds out where Carl lives and then he goes to the fraternity house asking the boys about the wedding place. Then on his way driving to the place, he makes a phone call to Carl‘s father‘s office, saying he‘s supposed to be at the wedding but gets lost. Thus, he gets the exact location of the wedding church.

When he finds a way to get into the church, the ceremony is already taking place and he can just watch everything going on through a glass window of a corridor on the second floor. Then, to stop the ceremony he starts to punch the window and yell for Elaine‘s attention. Soon, everyone sees him and the ceremony is interrupted.

23. How do Ben and Elaine manage to flee from the church?

Elaine is startled at her first sight of Ben, but soon she is overwhelmed by his persistence and love for her and starts yelling back at him. Ben is encouraged and starts going downstairs and moving close to Elaine. Mr. Robinson, Mrs. Robinson and Carl all come to stop him. However, Ben fights them bravely and finally manages to grab Elaine‘s hand and lead her toward the door. After getting out of the door, they jam the cross through the door handle and run away from the church. Later, they take a bus and go away.

24. What do you think of Mrs. Robinson? Why does she seduce a boy who is

almost 20 years younger than herself? And why does she try to stop Ben from seeing her daughter?

Answers to these questions may vary. 25. What do you think of Ben? Why does he start an affair with his father’s

partner’s wife who is almost twice his age? Answers to these questions may vary. V. Research Activities

Four basic aspects of the movie

Background: historical background, social background, the novel on which the

movie is based, the author of the novel, production of the movie, etc.

Themes: the main ideas that the movie intends to convey to the audience.

Conflicts: conflicts within oneself, conflicts with others, conflicts with the

society, conflicts between events, conflicts of ideas, etc. Performances: actor, actress, director, playwright, song, music, Academy

Awards, etc. These four aspects, however, can never be clear-cut; they are often interrelated. The information provided below serves as some supplementary material only. The students are free to present any material relevant to the four aspects. Their presentations should include both factual information and their own opinions or comments.

Background:

a. The Graduate is adapted from a novel by Charles Webb, made into a 1967 film of the same name by director Mike Nichols. ―Just one word: plastics.‖ ―Are you here for an affair?‖ These lines and others became cultural touchstones, as 1960s youth rebellion began to influence the California upper-middle-class in Mike Nichols‘ The Graduate. In the mid to late 1960s, youth across North America and Europe began to ―turn on, tune in and drop out.‖ Fed up with the establishment—parents, schools, police—they went looking for a new way of life. The rebellious youth came, preaching peace, love and non-conformity. During the late 1960s many young people turned against the lifestyle of their parents. Some turned to radical politics. b. Parents found it difficult to understand their children, some of whom wore hippy clothes, long hair, followed eastern religions, used drugs (LSD/acid and cannabis) and had liberal sexual attitudes. Most of them were white middle-class college students who ―were angry over the war in Vietnam/rejected the idea of getting a well-paid job.‖ Some lived in hippy communes, inspired by San Francisco where the ―flower power‖ idea had started. True hippies were non-violent; some came into confrontation with the police especially when anti-Vietnam demonstrations turned into physical conflict. Many students went on strike or took over their own universities demanding a say in how they were run.

c. The Graduate stands as one of the most influential films of the late 1960s, as its truthful description of the generation gap helped lead the way to the youth-oriented Hollywood artistic ―renaissance‖ of the early 1970s. The decade from 1960 to 1970 is definitely one of those eras and it became known as the Counter Culture Era (the Hippie Generation). It was known as the Counter Culture Era because the young people involved in it rejected the old-fashioned American values and lifestyles. The youth was no longer satisfied with being replicas of the generation that preceded them. Instead, young people longed for change. The changes affected lifestyles, values, laws, education, and entertainment. The dream of love, peace, happiness, and freedom was what many young Americans longed for. The most striking change is that during the 1960s a radical crowd called the hippies stunned America with their unusual lifestyle and radical beliefs. They were young people who enjoyed life and lived it to its fullest. They used illegal drugs and listened to rock and roll music. With their different beliefs and practices they bewildered America‘s traditional middle class. Concerned primarily in protesting the Vietnam War and advocating civil rights they made a huge impact on America and the world. Even today the effects of the hippie movement are still felt.

Themes:

a. Innocent and Confused Youth: The movie shows that an innocent and confused youth is exploited, misdirected, seduced and betrayed by a corrupt, decadent, and discredited older generation. This idea is well understood by film audiences and captures the spirit of the times. Ben is at a loss as to how to plan for his future. His confusion, emptiness and desire for adulthood are well reflected in the movie. It reveals the grossness of the upper-middle-class adult world. It is a study of coming-of-age, of alienation, of frustration, and of empty values. One of the film‘s posters proclaims the difficult transition from innocence into experience for the recent, aimless college graduate: ―This is Benjamin. He‘s a little worried about his future.‖ b. Identity Crisis: In a word, the hero Ben is suffering from ―identity crisis.‖ He looks so cheerless and depressed. His future is being arranged by his dominating father. To show his repulsion for it, Ben takes an attitude of cynicism, idling around and indulging himself in the affair with Mrs. Robinson. Being dominated all the time, he feels powerless and finds his life meaningless to himself. He has no idea what path he wishes to take. The question of future weighs on him heavily, but all he knows is that he doesn‘t want to become someone like his parents—upper-middle-class professional suburbanites with swimming pools. Not that he knows what he actually does want. All of us, young and old, can hear the ironical sting when a family friend advises Benjamin about his future with that one darkly predictive word: plastics.

Conflicts:

a. New Graduate vs. Alien World: Ben returns home after graduation only to find a

world painfully alien to him, as his ideal and value go far against the sophisticate and fundamentally hypocritical society at that time. Ben‘s trouble begins right at the party welcoming him home. As an innocent young man just out of college, he wants to search out an honest and sincere way to live his future life, but he is confused and worried as people around him seem to be from a different world—they are all his parents‘ friends and there is a huge generation gap in between. Instead of caring about what he feels and thinks, they just keep on acting the smiling faces and saying complimentary words. Even the one who does give him advice on his future is considering no further than financial success.

b. Youth vs. Adult: The transition from youth to adult is a burden that many have yet to experience and others yet to forget. The catalyst of his sexual liberation is Mrs. Robinson. As a friend of his parents she should be no more than a boring distraction to him. She sees in him a boundless youthful passion that she can draw upon to make up for her husband‘s inadequacies. She seduces him and he tries to resist. As it turns out, his resistance is to prove futile and once broken, he is all too keen to continue their fling. c. Affair vs. Love: Ben falls in love with Mrs. Robinson‘s daughter Elaine. She is his age and as innocent and sincere as him. They belong to the same world. The affair between him and Mrs. Robinson blows them apart. However, Ben determines to get Elaine back because he decides that she is ―the one‖ for him. After Elaine goes back to Berkeley, Ben leaves everything and goes there too to marry her though the road ahead is tough. d. Confinement vs. Rebellion: The society itself never compromises and it may be easier for one to adopt its customs and values. However, Ben is different. He acts as a countercultural hero, living by his own standard of truth, thinking for himself and doing what he needs to do for love and happiness. He distinguishes himself by rebelling against the confining lifestyle of his parents.

Performances

Mike Nichols won the Oscar for Best Director for The Graduate. Director Mike Nichols was, as a result of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, already established as one of the most promising young directors of the ―New Hollywood.‖ But The Graduate made him (for a while, at least) the most powerful and influential of those people who were reshaping the American motion picture product. First, Nichols decided to make a major motion picture with no big-name stars, and in so doing, introduced Dustin Hoffman, who would quickly become, ironically enough, the new big name to be reckoned with. Second, Nichols employed a series of camera techniques that had been extensively used in television commercials and avant-garde pictures, but were new to the Hollywood product. Third, there was the equally important decision to change the notion of the musical score, and instead of just featuring music composed expressly for the picture, Nichols included currently popular songs by folksingers Simon and Garfunkel (The Sound of Silence, Scarborough Fair) without necessarily correlating them directly to a scene. The

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