To the Ladies
by Lady Mary Chudleigh
Wife and servant are the same,
But only differ in the name :
For when that fatal knot is tied,
Which nothing, nothing can divide :
When she the word obey has said,
And man by law supreme has made,
Then all that's kind is laid aside,
And nothing left but state and pride :
Fierce as an eastern prince he grows,
And all his innate rigour shows :
Then but to look, to laugh, or speak,
Will the nuptial contract break.
Like mutes, she signs alone must make,
And never any freedom take :
But still be govern'd by a nod,
And fear her husband as a God :
Him still must serve, him still obey,
And nothing act, and nothing say,
But what her haughty lord thinks fit,
Who with the power, has all the wit.
Then shun, oh ! shun that wretched state,
And all the fawning flatterers hate :
Value yourselves, and men despise :
You must be proud, if you'll be wise.
Notes:
The word obey
The traditional marriage service called for the wife to "love, honour, and obey" her husband; the husband promised to "love, honour, and cherish" his wife.
Questions
Who are the intended audience of this poem?
Unmarried women
According to this poem, when does a man start to treat a woman as a servant?
When she the word obey has said,
And man by law supreme has made,
Then all that's kind is laid aside,
And nothing left but state and pride
How is the tone of the poem "To the Ladies"?
Her tone is desperate, regretful, despair.
She uses words like fatal,nothing, and never throughout the poem.
List the terms used to describe men in the poem.
An eastern prince, God, a haughty lord
Vocabulary
Vocabulary in "To the Ladies"
The Poet
Lady Mary Chudleigh (1656-1710)
Lady Mary Chudleigh (1656-1710) was a devout Anglican who educated herself and, ahead of her time, challenged traditional gender roles. “To the Ladies” appeared in Poems on Several Occasions (1703); it echoes the feminist argument she set forth in The Female Advocate; or, A Plea for the Just Liberty of the Tender Sex and Particularly of Married Women.
Reference
To the Ladies By Mary, Lady Chudleigh
Edited by Jack Lynch
Selected Bibliography:
Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Project
Mary, Lady Chudleigh from Wikipedia
Lady Mary Chudleigh
What is the theme of Mary, Lady Chudleigh's poem "To the Ladies"?
Close Reading "To the Ladies" by Mary, Lady Chudleigh
MP3下載
MP3 - Download Audio audio因為special English速度非常友善,所以請先抓mp3下來聽
準備紙跟筆.不管多少,將你聽到的都寫下,
多聽幾次更好.
原文連結
Money: He Hit the Jackpot如前文
VOA:Special English 的 Wordmaster介紹,
個人認為這些廣播稿是幫助使用英英字典的絕佳練習.
從文中找個簡潔的例子來demo.
My friend was not a
deadbeat. He was not the kind of person who never paid the money he owed.
這表示
deadbeat= a person who never paid the money he owed一個從不還錢的人
這系列的文章都是用paraphrase的方式寫成的
也就是不斷的"
換句話說"
這是拿來訓練習慣英英字典解釋的良好練習.
最近的景氣讓人不得不正視金錢的重要性
讓我們來學些跟金錢有關的term吧.
Money: He Hit the Jackpot
是的,全台灣人沒有分歧的相同的願望:樂透中頭獎
hand over fist informal
if you gain or lose something hand over fist, you gain or lose it very quickly:
Five years ago, the company was losing money hand over fist.
born with a silver spoon in one's mouth= to have a rich family
be hard up for something= to lack something; own few and far from enough
deadbeat = the kind of person who never paid the money he owed.
pinch pennies = very careful with the money spent
burning a hole in one's pocket = to spend money very quickly
附檔為使用Collins Cobuild Dictionary對本文單字的補充
Vocabulary for Money: He Hit the Jackpot
Vocabulary file
(PS.經測試後,改用Google Doc,來顯示IPA 音標)
相關閱讀
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如何使用第一本英英字典就上手
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英文學習網站分享及使用心得(VOA Special English篇)
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學習英文到一段時間,幾乎大家都會有的一個瓶頸－字彙.
應該很多人都聽過那種前人背字典苦學的例子.
坦白說這個方法,小弟傻傻的試過很短暫的一段時間,
很慚愧,我的毅力連A都沒撐完.
而且a字部背一背就出現一個打擊我們的字
3.to stop doing something because there are too many problems and it is impossible to continue
雖然不是背到這個字就放棄,不過還是連A字部都沒完成.
最近發現一個網站
Just Vocabulary
從圖面上就可以看出來
這個網站提供RSS,Podcast,Facebook,E-mail這幾種方式訂閱,
每次介紹兩個單字,大部分的字來自於 GRE word list,
所以單字其實是有一定的難度的.
對於準備GRE,SAT,TOEFL應該是合適的來源
目前(2009/2/4)總共出了500集總共1000字.
如果短期內就要參加這些英文檢定的話,
這個網站可能不是個讓你能快速長肌肉變猛男的類固醇型學習材料.
不過想拿高分的人,慢慢的把這些字吸收起來應該是個很好的底子.
相關閱讀
英文學習網站分享及使用心得(NYT篇)
在推薦一樣對學習英文有興趣的朋友使用英英字典的過程中,
常常有人認為門檻太高了,三不五時就出現生字無窮迴圈情況.
大量閱讀時有時候會遇到那種慣用語是每個字都認得,
但是卻無法準確的抓到其中的意思.
以上這兩種問題,有沒有循序漸進的進步方式呢?
有,VOA Special English有個特別的單元
Wordmaster: A Weekly Analysis of American English
首先這個單元裡的文章整個就是不斷的paraphrase
(If you paraphrase someone or paraphrase something that they have said or written, you express what they have said or written in a different way.)
舉個例子來看,Money: He Hit the Jackpot
顧名思義,這裡面有很多term都是跟錢有關的,
這裡摘錄幾個句子來解釋什麼是paraphrase.
勘誤:這篇其實是屬於Words & Their Stories
He did not have a rich family.
He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
這個是大家耳熟能詳的含金湯匙出生,就是出生在好野人家裡.
為什麼中文變成金的不是銀的,這我就不知道了.
西方有錢人家會使用純銀餐具,大概是中文覺得金的比較貴吧.
He was not the kind of person who never paid the money he owed.
He simply pinched pennies.
He was always very careful with the money he spent.
跟上下兩句合起來一起看,就很清楚pinch pennies的意思是指什麼了.
個人的淺見是如果持續配合VOA這個單元使用英英字典.
去熟悉練習paraphrase的方式並同時累積字彙量的話.
相信應該慢慢的對於英英字典的使用就可以上手了.
延伸閱讀
英英字典的使用心得
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