love is a fallacy 详细讲解,复习

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. Introduction to the text:

1. This text is a piece of narrative writing, a story.

2. The narrator of the story, Dobie Gillis, a freshman in a law school, is the hero or

protagonist(主角，正派角色）. He struggles against two antagonists（反派角色）: Petey Burch,

his roommate whose girlfriend he plans to steal; and Polly Espy, the girl he intends to marry

after suitable re-education.

3. The climax（高潮） of the story is reached in paragraphs147 to150 when Polly

refuses to go steady with the narrator because she had already promised to go steady with

Petey Burch.

4. The denouement（结局） follows rapidly and ends on a very ironic tone.

About the Title---The title of the story is humorous and well-chosen. It has two meanings:

1. When “fallacy” is taken in its ordinary sense, the title means:

There is a deceptive（虚伪的，欺诈的） or delusive（欺瞒的，迷惑的） quality about love.

2. When “fallacy” is taken as a specific term in logic, the title means:

Love cannot be deduced（推理） from a set of given premises.

Perhaps Max Shulman wants the reader, after reading the story, to conclude that

“love” is an error, a deception and an emotion that does not follow the principles of logic.

But the writer, through this story has succeeded perhaps unwittingly(无意地) in revealing

what love may sometimes mean in the affluent society（物质社会）. Girls do not want brilliant,

gifted or educated husbands, but want husbands who are rich and wealthy enough to

provide all the things necessary in life— home, clothes, cars, etc..

Pay attention to his change of emotions:

1. favoring her with a smile .

. 2. chuckled with amusement

3. chuckled with somewhat less amusement

4. forcing a smile/ ground my teeth

5. croaked, dashed perspire

Detailed study of the text

enterprising: ad. having or showing enterprise 有事业心的；有胆量的；富于创业精神的

It’s very enterprising of them to try and start up a business like that.

as…as: a correlative construction used to indicate the equality or sameness of two things.

He is as strong as an ox.

month of Sundays: (colloquial口语体的) long time

unfettered: ad. (fml. or lit.) free from control; not tied by several rules

The new city developed quickly, unfettered by the usual planning regulations.

limp: ad. drooping; lacking firmness 无力的；易弯的

I like lettuce to be crisp, not limp and soggy.

我喜欢莴苣是脆的，不喜欢软而湿乎乎的。

flaccid: ad. soft and weak; flabby

spongy: ad. like a sponge; soft and porous

pedantic: ad. paying too much attention to details and unimportant rules 迂腐的；学究的

pedant: n.a person who pays more attention to formal rules and book learning than they

merit

discipline: a branch of knowledge or learning

trauma: a term in psychiatry meaning a painful emotional experience or shock, often

producing a lasting psychic effect. 心灵创伤；精神创伤 .

. Read, then, the following essay which undertakes to demonstrate that logic, far from being

a dry, pedantic discipline, is a living, breathing thing, full of beauty, passion, and trauma.

Metaphor(暗喻） and hyperbole（夸张）. It is a metaphor comparing logic to a living human

being. It is a hyperbole because it exaggerates for the sake of effect.

calculating: ad. coldly planning and thinking about future actions and esp. whether they will

be good or bad for oneself.

perspicacious: ad. (fml.) having or showing very clever judgment or understanding 聪敏的；睿智的

a perspicacious comment 有见地的评论

astute: ad. clever and able to see quickly something that is to one’s advantage; shrewd 精明的；敏锐的；狡黠的

an astute businesswoman/investment

acute: ad.

(1) (of the senses) able to notice small differences; sharp 感觉灵敏的；敏锐的

Dogs have an acute sense of smell. /He has very acute hearing.

(2) showing an ability to understand things clearly and deeply; penetrating. 深刻的

an acute analysis of the political situation

(3) severe; very great 严重的

acute pain/an acute shortage of water

dynamo: an earlier form of generator, a machine that converts mechanical energy into

electrical energy

chemist’s scales: Such scales are more precise and accurate for they have to weigh small

quantities of powder or other medicine. .

. scalpel: a surgeon’s sharp knife used in operations手术刀；解剖刀

My brain was as powerful as a dynamo, as precise as a chemist’s scales, as penetrating as

a scalpel. (Para.4)

Simile（明喻）, comparing his brain to three different things.

Hyperbole, exaggerating for effect.

dumb: (American colloquialism or slang) stupid; moronic; unintelligent

dumb as an ox: as stupid as an ox; very stupid

nothing upstairs: (American slang) empty-headed; a nitwit (笨蛋；傻瓜). The corresponding

British slang is “unfurnished in the upper storey.”

unstable: ad. easily moved, upset or changed