George Silverman's Explanation – Charles Dickens
邊玩邊學
回答這些題目賺取能量，接著就能釣魚、探索。不需要帳號。
給教育者： 為 George Silverman's Explanation – Charles Dickens（English、World Literature）準備好可直接使用的課程投影片, 複習筆記——用於你的課程，或把這個主題當成互動班級活動，讓學習者以即時遊戲的方式進行。
課程筆記
The story at a glance
- "George Silverman's Explanation" (1868) by Charles Dickens (1812–1870) — one of his last completed stories, first published in the United States.
- A first-person confession in nine short chapters: George Silverman, now over sixty, writes to explain his life, "for the relief of my own mind".
- Born in a Preston cellar, called a "worldly little devil" by his mother, he spends his life trying not to be worldly — and is repeatedly misunderstood.
- His great sacrifice — giving up the woman he loves, Adelina, and marrying her to his pupil — is denounced by her mother as a "worldly" scheme for money.
- Key ideas: worldliness and self-denial, misjudgement, religious hypocrisy, class, sacrifice and love.
Chapters 1–4: the cellar
- The story struggles to begin: "IT happened in this wise—" is written, abandoned, repeated — George finds it hard "to explain my explanation".
- His infant home: a cellar in Preston. His mother, gripped by poverty, calls him "O, you worldly little devil!" for being cold, hungry or greedy — and he believes her.
- Both parents die of fever; George is lifted out, blinking, and says only "I am hungry and thirsty!" — the crowd looks on in horror.
- Mr Verity Hawkyard of West Bromwich, a pious drysalter, takes charge, sprinkling him with vinegar "as if to get my devil out", and sends him to a farm at Hoghton Towers to be "purified".
Chapter 5: Hoghton Towers and Sylvia
- The ruined, ancient house seems to look at him "sorrowfully" and whisper "Alas! poor worldly little devil!" — his first sense of beauty and pity.
- Seeing rats scuffling, he recoils from his old self: "How not to be this worldly little devil?" — and cries for the first time for a reason "not purely physical".
- Afraid he might give the farmer's daughter, Sylvia, the fever, he hides in the ruins all day to protect her, going hungry — his first unselfish act.
- She invites him to her birthday dance; he refuses. She calls him "a disagreeable, ill-humoured lad"; the farmer calls him "moody and broody".
- He watches the lit windows from the dark ruin: the first of many times he is misread — and the start of his shy, self-denying character.
Chapter 6: Brother Hawkyard
- Hawkyard puts him to school; George becomes a Foundation-boy and wins a place at Cambridge.
- Hawkyard's chapel is full of conceit and ignorance: he boasts of being "the best servant the Lord has had… (O, I have!)" — the self-confirming parentheses sound doubtful.
- Hawkyard's rival, Brother Gimblet, prays pointedly against "appropriation of the orphan's house-property" — hinting that Hawkyard has cheated George of his grandfather's houses.
- George, afraid his suspicion is itself "worldly", writes Hawkyard a letter of thanks; the brothers turn it into a sermon against George's "worldly-mindedness".
- Hawkyard and Gimblet go into partnership; Hawkyard later leaves everything to Gimblet. Hypocrisy is exposed quietly, through irony.
Chapters 7–9: Adelina
- At college George lives "always in the shadow looking on"; he is praised for his "gift of quiet explanation".
- Lady Fareway, "a managing woman" with a "steady glare", gives him a church living in Devonshire (on condition he does her accounts) and makes him tutor to her daughter Adelina.
- George falls in love with Adelina — and discovers she loves him. Believing marriage to her would be taking her fortune, he resolves on a sacrifice.
- He brings her together with his pupil, Granville Wharton, makes himself dull and "fatherly" — his hair turns white — and finally marries them himself.
- Lady Fareway slaps him and calls him "You worldly wretch!", accusing him of taking a percentage of Adelina's fortune. He resigns; the bishop reprimands him; his name is tarnished for years.
- Adelina, Granville and his college friends stand by him; he ends in a quiet college living, writing beside a churchyard, "equal resting-place for sound hearts, wounded hearts, and broken hearts".
Methods and themes
- Confessional first-person narration — hesitant, repetitive, self-doubting; the false starts show his pain.
- Irony: the man who fears worldliness above all is repeatedly accused of it; the "unworldly" chapel folk are the most worldly.
- Motif of "worldly": from his mother's curse to Lady Fareway's insult — the story's structure is a circle.
- Light and shadow: the cellar, the dark ruin, the "shadow looking on" vs others in the sunlight.
- Sympathy for the misjudged and the poor; satire of religious hypocrisy and of rich, "managing" snobbery.
- Section B pairings: "The Shrinking Shoe" (love and sacrifice), "Lappin and Lapinova" (marriage), "The Nightingale and the Rose" (sacrifice misunderstood).
投影片
練習題
免費預覽——38 題中的 8 題。註冊即可查看全部。
1.Who wrote 'George Silverman's Explanation'?
Easy- ACharles Dickens
- BThomas Hardy
- CWilkie Collins
- DGeorge Eliot
2.Where does George spend his early childhood?
Easy- AA farm in Devon
- BA London workhouse
- CA castle in Scotland
- DA cellar in Preston
3.What does his mother call him?
Easy- AA good-for-nothing
- BA poor lamb
- CA worldly little devil
- DA little angel
4.How do George's parents die?
Medium- AIn a fire
- BOf fever
- CIn an accident
- DOf starvation in the street
5.What are George's first words when he is lifted out of the cellar?
Medium- AI am hungry and thirsty!
- BWhere are my parents?
- CHelp me!
- DThank you, sir.
6.Who takes charge of George after his parents die?
Medium- ALady Fareway
- BBrother Gimblet
- CThe farmer
- DMr Verity Hawkyard
7.Where is George sent to be 'purified'?
Medium- AA hospital in Manchester
- BA ship at sea
- CA farm at Hoghton Towers
- DA school in London
8.Why does George avoid Sylvia?
Medium- AShe is rude to him
- BHe fears he might give her the fever
- CHe dislikes her
- DThe farmer forbids it
歷屆試題
這個主題的歷屆試題練習即將推出。
即將推出