Literature often refers to creative works of the imagination, such as peotry, drama, and fiction. Literature expresses ideas of permanent or universal human interest. As the American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald said, "You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. you belong." Literature paints the world that we live in, and sometimes, it even escorts us to strange unknown universes that lie deep within the realm of fantasy. Each time we finish reading a book, we complete a literary journey - a journey that is essential for our personal growth and intellectual evolution. Ultimately, we may discover meaning in literature by looking at what the author says and how he or she says it. By reading literature, we expand ourselves beyond the superficial issues of our own personal lives, and with curiosities we develop an aesthetic attitude toward history, mythology, geography, and psychology of distinct cultures of the world. Charles Bukowski said, "Without literature, life is hell."

Warming Up

Task 1

Listening Aids

cast lots:  抓阄

cellar (n.):  a room under a house or other building, often used for storing things

gruel (n.):  稀粥（常用燕麦和牛奶或清水煮成）

You are going to hear a story about the wretched life of a poor child, adapted from Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist.

(Charles Dickens and his novel)

    

Answer the following questions.

1) Why did Oliver and other boys live in a workhouse?

_____________________________________________________________________

2) Why did they suffer from “slow starvation”?

_____________________________________________________________________

3) How was Oliver chosen to ask for more gruel one day at supper?

_____________________________________________________________________

4) Why did the fat master turn pale at Oliver’s request?

_____________________________________________________________________

5) What happened to Oliver when he asked for more food?

_____________________________________________________________________

[Note]

Charles Dickens was a 19th century British writer. One of his novels, Oliver Twist, is about the life of an orphan, Oliver Twist. Task 1 is an adaptation from the part describing his miserable life in a workhouse where he suffered from hunger.

II. Oliver Twist, or The Parish Boy's Progress, novel by Charles Dickens, published serially under the pseudonym "Boz" from 1837 to 1839 in Bentley's Miscellany and in a three-volume book in 1838. The novel was the first of the author's works to realistically depict the impoverished London underworld and to illustrate his belief that poverty leads to crime.

Plot Summary

The novel follows the journey of the titular character, Oliver Twist. Oliver, an orphan since birth, spends much of his childhood at a "child farm" (orphanage) with too many children and too little food. The farm is located roughly 70 miles outside London. One night, after being served his portion of gruel, Oliver asks for a second helping. This is unacceptable, and Oliver is sent to work as an apprentice to an undertaker. Eventually, after suffering repeated mistreatment, Oliver runs away and heads for London. He soon finds himself in the presence of the Artful Dodger, who tells him to stay at the house of an "old gentleman" (named Fagin) with a number of other boys. Oliver learns that these boys are trained pickpockets. On an outing, Oliver witnesses the boys take a handkerchief from Mr. Brownlow, an elderly man, which prompts Oliver to run away in fear and confusion. The elderly man mistakes Oliver's behaviour for guilt and has him arrested. However, after learning more about Oliver, Mr. Brownlow realizes his mistake and offers to take care of him at his home.

Oliver assumes that he is now rid of Fagin and the pickpockets, but his knowledge of their crimes causes them to seek Oliver out. Nancy, a prostitute and mistress of one of Fagin's men, Bill Sikes, is sent to take Oliver from Mr. Brownlow back to Fagin. She does so successfully, and Oliver is sent on a burglary mission with another member of the group to the countryside around London. On this errand, Oliver is shot in the arm and then is taken in by the family (the Maylies) that he attempted to rob. While he is there, Fagin and a man named Monks plot to get him back. Rose Maylie, while on a trip to London with her family, meets with Mr. Brownlow to talk with Nancy, who has slipped away from Sikes to explain the plans made by Monks and Fagin to get Oliver back. She describes Monks and tells them when he might most easily be apprehended. Unfortunately for Nancy, news of her betrayal reaches Sikes, and he beats her to death. Sikes accidentally hangs himself soon after. The Maylies reunite Oliver with Mr. Brownlow, who forces Monks to explain himself. The reader and Oliver are then informed that Monks is Oliver's half-brother and that Oliver is entitled to a large fortune. He receives his share of the money, Fagin is hung, and the Maylies, Oliver, and Mr. Brownlow move to the countryside where they spend the rest of their days together.

 

1. Watch the film Oliver Twist based on the Charles Dickens' novel. 

2. Read the article "Dickens' Oliver Twist: Summary and Analysis" by James Topham. Then discuss the following questions in groups of 4.

Oliver Twist Asking for More Food -- J. Mahoney. Bettmann Archive / Getty Images

Oliver Twist is a well-known story, but the book is not quite as widely read as you might imagine. In fact, Time Magazine's list of the top 10 most popular Dickens' novels put Oliver Twist in 10th place, even though it was a sensational success in 1837 when it was first serialized and contributed the treacherous villain Fagin to English literature. The novel has the vivid storytelling and unimpeachable literary skill that Dickens brings to all his novels, but it also has a raw, gritty quality that may drive some readers away.

Oliver Twist was also influential in bringing to light the cruel treatment of paupers and orphans in Dickens' time. The novel is not only a brilliant work of art but an important social document.

'Oliver Twist': Indictment of the 19th-Century Workhouse

Oliver, the protagonist, is born in a workhouse in the first half of the nineteenth century. His mother dies during his birth, and he is sent to an orphanage, where he is treated badly, beaten regularly, and poorly fed. In a famous episode, he walks up to the stern authoritarian, Mr. Bumble, and asks for a second helping of gruel. For this impertinence, he is put out of the workhouse.

Please, Sir, Can I Have Some More?

He then runs away from the family that takes him in. He wants to find his fortune in London. Instead, he falls in with a boy called Jack Dawkins, who is part of a child gang of thieves run by a man called Fagin.

Oliver is brought into the gang and trained as a pickpocket. When he goes out on his first job, he runs away and is nearly sent to prison. However, the kind person he tries to rob saves him from the terrors of the city gaol (jail) and the boy is, instead, taken into the man's home. He believes he has escaped Fagin and his crafty gang, but Bill Sikes and Nancy, two members of the gang, force him back in. Oliver is sent out on another job—this time assisting Sikes on a burglary.

Kindness Almost Saves Oliver Time and Again

The job goes wrong and Oliver is shot and left behind. Once more he is taken in, this time by the Maylies, the family he was sent to rob; with them, his life changes dramatically for the better. But Fagin's gang comes after him again. Nancy, who is worried about Oliver, tells the Maylies what's happening. When the gang finds out about Nancy's treachery, they murder her.

Meanwhile, the Maylies reunite Oliver with the gentleman who helped him out earlier and who—with the kind of coincidental plot turn typical of many Victorian novels—turns out to be Oliver's uncle. Fagin is arrested and hanged for his crimes; and Oliver settles down to a normal life, reunited with his family.

The Terrors Awaiting Children in London's Underclass

Oliver Twist is probably not the most psychologically complex of Dickens' novels. Instead, Dickens uses the novel to give readers of the time a dramatic understanding of the deplorable social situation for England's underclass and particularly its children. In this sense, it is more closely linked to Hogarthian satire than Dickens' more romantic novels. Mr. Bumble, the beadle, is an excellent example of Dickens' broad characterization at work. Bumble is a large, terrifying figure: a tin-pot Hitler, who is both frightening to the boys under his control, and also slightly pathetic in his need to maintain his power over them.

Fagin: A Controversial Villain

Fagin, too, is a wonderful example of Dickens ability to draw a caricature and still place it in a convincingly realistic story. There is a streak of cruelty in Dickens' Fagin, but also a sly charisma that has made him one of literature's most compelling villains. Among many film and television productions of the novel, Alec Guinness's portrayal of Fagin remains, perhaps, the most admired. Unfortunately, Guiness's makeup incorporated stereotypical aspects of portrayals of Jewish villains. Along with Shakespeare's Shylock, Fagin remains one of the most controversial and arguably antisemitic creations in the English literary canon.

The Importance of 'Oliver Twist'

Oliver Twist is important as a crusading work of art, although it did not result in the dramatic changes in the English workhouse system that Dickens may have hoped. Nevertheless, Dickens researched that system extensively before writing the novel and his views undoubtedly had a cumulative effect. Two English reform acts addressing the system actually preceded the publication of Oliver Twist, but several more followed, including the influential reforms of 1870. Oliver Twist remains a powerful indictment of English society in the early 19th Century. 

Questions for study and discussion:

    1) What are the themes of the movie/ novel?

    2) In the world of Oliver Twist, is the middle class always morally superior to the working class?

    3) Why isn't Fagin able to corrupt Oliver?

    4) Why do both of the "fallen women" of the novel (Nancy and Agnes) die before the end of the            novel?

    5) Does the novel create sympathy for the members of Fagin's gang at any point?

    6) How would the novel be different if Oliver were a girl?

    7) Is this novel potentially dangerous to readers' morals? Why did some contemporary critics                 think so?

Task 2

Listening Aid:  trout (n.) -  鳟鱼

(Mark Twain with his story)

    

You are going to have a funny little story about Mark Twain, a great American writer known especially for his humor and satire.

A. Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F) according to the tape.

    1) The game warden did not tell Mark Twain his identity at first because he felt humble before this         famous writer. [    ]

    2) Mark Twain was lying when he said he had caught three trout the previous day. [    ]

    3) By telling the game warden that he was lying, Mark Twain wanted to deny catching any fish             there. [    ]

B. Choose the best answer to each of the following questions.

1) What was the duty of a game warden? (    )

    a) Raising animals.

    b) Acting as tourist guide.

    c) Guarding prisoners.

    d) Protecting wild animals.

2) Why did Mark Twain call himself “the biggest liar in the country”? (    )

    a) He didn’t want others to know that he was the famous writer.

    b) He was trying to convince the game warden that he had lied.

    c) He wanted to boast of how well he could write.

    d) He wanted the game warden to allow him to fish there.

Task 3

You are going to hear an introduction to a 19th century British writer, Lewis Carroll, and his works.

(Lewis and Alice)

    

A. Fill in the blanks or circle the right word(s) in brackets to finish the brief introduction of the writer.

Name:    (Lewis Carlo,  Lewis Carroll )

Occupation:    Lecturer in ___________ at ____________

Literary works:    ( Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ,  Alice's adventures in Wonder Lands) 

                            published in the year __________

                            (Through the Looking Grass,  Through the Looking-Glass ,  True Looking-Glass) 

                            published in the year __________

B. Answer the following question.

What are the two children's books about?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Task 4

In this part, you are going to hear the famous story about the Trojan horse.

Complete the following summary of the story.

Many years ago, __________ attacked the city of Troy. But the Trojans _______________________________, 

and the Greeks could not seize the city.

Then __________ thought of a plan. They built _____________ so that some soldiers could ____________. 

They took _________ to the gate of Troy. In order to confuse their enemies, they even burnt their 

camps and pretended to sail away, though in fact _______________ at a place near Troy where the 

Trojans could not see them, and _____________.

A ____________ persuaded the Trojans to bring ____________ into the city. The next night, all the Trojan 

soldiers fell asleep after heavy festive drinking. T____________ climbed out of ____________ and opened 

the city gates to let their army in. Thus the city of Troy was taken.

[Note]

The story of the Trojan horse is based on an important historic event, it has become one of the recurring themes in many literary works. The phrase “Trojan horse” itself is also often used to refer to an enemy in disguise.