unit 8 The Life of Samuel Johnson

Unit 8

“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”--- By Samuel Johnson

Unit 8 The Life of Samuel Johnson biography by James Boswell. regarded as an important stage in the development of the modern genre of biography; Claimed as the greatest biography written in English.

The Life of Samuel JohnsonEarly life&Brief Introduction

education

Early career

The Life of Samuel Johnson

A dictionary

His patronage

A Brief Introduction of Samuel Johnsonone of England's best known literary figures of 18C.

Born

18 September 1709 (O.S. 7 September) Lichfield , Staffordshire ,England 13 December 1784 (aged 75) London, England

Died

Samuel Johnsonan essayist,biographer, editor, lexicographerThe Idler and The Rambler

Lives of the Poets

a collection of Shakespeare

A Dictionary of the English Language

a critic of English Literature.

a great poet, wit and prose stylist,well known for his aphorisms.格言

Early Life and Education born poor as a son of a bookseller. demonstrated signs of great intelligence as a child. At the age of 19, he entered Pembroke College, Oxford. After studying for 13 months, he was forced to leave Oxford without a degree because of a shortage of funds.

He eventually received MA just before the publication of his Dictionary in 1755 from Oxford University He was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1765 by Trinity College Dublin and in 1775 by Oxford University.

Johnson had rooms as an undergraduate on the second floor above the entrance of Pembroke College, Oxford

Early Career As the lack of degree, it‘s hard for him to find a job in school, even an usher‘s position接待员 . He eventually found employment as undermaster(助教) at a school after his father died in poverty and illness. His career was not so prosperous in this time, and he also suffered some illness.

In 1734, his close friend Harry Porter died and Johnson married the widow, who‘s got three children, in the next year. He lived on Tetty‘s money in his early years.Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise. Bachelors have consciences, married men have wives. A man is in general better pleased when he has a good dinner upon his table, than when his wife talks Greek

Quotes

In 1735, while worked as a tutor, he applied for the position of headmaster, but failed. In the autumn, he opened Edial Hall School as a private academy. He only had 3 pupils. The school finally closed.

Character Sketch poor eyesight, bad hearing a scarred face as a result of childhood scrofula. 淋巴结核 Obsessive Compulsive Disorder强迫性神经症 Tourette综合症,一种神经紊乱 a devout虔敬的, conservative Anglican a staunch坚定的Tory and a compassionate富于同情心的man an opponent of slavery

Between 1745 and 1755, he compiled A Dictionary of the English Language, was paid £1,575.

I

n July 1762, King George III granted Johnson an annual pension of £300

Features of Johnson's dictionary1. his careful & precise research; 2. his depth and breadth of definitions 3. his careful use of description, eg:PHILOLOGY Criticism; grammatical learning ―Temper all discourse of philology with interspersions (装饰 ) of morality." -- William Walker, English Examples of the Latine Syntaxis (1683)

His patronage In preparation for the work, Johnson wrote a Plan of his Dictionary. He was encouraged by the publisher and went to see in 1747 Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, who had expressed interest in being his patron. Johnson was neglected and felt outraged.

7 years later, just before the publication of the dictionary, at the request of the publisher, Chesterfield wrote 2 anonymous essays in The World recommending the Dictionary.

Johnson wrote a letter to express his view and harshly criticize Chesterfield. Chesterfield was impressed by the language of the letter; kept the letter displayed on a table for anyone to read.

Outline: match the paragraphs with the main ideas

1 2 3 4

(para1)

John‘s reaction to the essays: wrote a letter to criticize Lord Chesterfield Introduction of the relationship between Johnson and Lord Chesterfield. Influence of Johnson‘s experience of being patronized: reflected in his works.

(para2~4)

(para5~7)

(para 8-9)

Description of Lord‘s recommendation to Johnson‘s dictionary

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