English Children's Literature (Week Two)

1. Winnie-the-Pooh

• Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, is a fictional anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne. The first collection of stories about the character was the book Winnie-the-Pooh (1926), and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner (1928). Milne also included a poem about the bear in the children's verse book When We Were Very Young (1924) and many more in Now We Are Six (1927). All four volumes were illustrated by E. H. Shepard.

•  A. A. Milne 

  Like Grahame, Milne remembered his childhood as “the great, good time,” according to biographer, Ann Thwaite.1 These happy memories are reflected in his novels and poetry for children. Like Lewis Carroll, Milne was a mathematician. Revealing a mathematician’s humour, these authors typically conduct the logical pursuit of an idea to the point of absurdity.2

  After graduating from Cambridge, Milne worked as a freelance journalist in London, becoming an assistant editor at Punch, the British humour magazine.

• Milne’s writing

  Milne spent most of his life as a playwright. He wrote 34 plays, including Toad of Toad Hall, a stage version of Grahame’s The Wind in the Willow. Milne also wrote numerous children’s works as well essays, novels, and short stories.

  Although he wished to be remembered for his plays, Milne is now famous for his two Winnie-the-Pooh novels and two related books of humorous verse (When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six). His only child, Christopher, became the model for the character, Christopher Robin, who appears in these four books.  

  
  

• Introduction to the story

  Winnie-the-Pooh is the story of a toy bear and his toy friends. Their adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood are depicted with great perception and light-hearted humour. Milne worked closely with Ernest Shepard, an illustrator he met in his earlier days at Cambridge. To this day, Shepard’s illustrations accompany the text.

  The Winnie-the-Pooh books have been translated into numerous languages and have always remained popular with young children.

• Plot

  The episodic plot contains ten self-sufficient chapters that are independent of one another. This simple, unstructured plot reflects a young child’s unplanned and casual life.

• The toy genre

  The inspiration for Milne’s book came from his son’s stuffed animals. Benign toy animals are less frightening for preschool children than frightening real ones. The toy animals are in keeping with the insulated, protected world of the story.

  These toy characters blur the boundaries between toys, animals, and people. They are well suited to young children who do not draw distinctions between the real and the imaginary.

      

  
  

• Characters from Winnie the Pooh

Winnie the Pooh

He is a small golden bear, stands at nearly 22 inches tall and wears an old red color t-shirt. This bear is undoubtedly the world’s most loved and revered bear. He has little brains, does a lot of silly things, and his love for honey (hunny) is endless, yes the bear is none other than everyone’s favourite bear - Winnie the Pooh. The 1st chapter of the Winnie-the-Pooh book was published on December 24, 1925 while the entire book written by A. A. Milne was released on October 14, 1926. All over the world his birthday is celebrated with much fanfare on 14th October. Winnie the Pooh is also called Pooh Bear or just Pooh. He is best friends with everyone in the 100 Acre Wood. The first thing he says when he gets up in the morning is “what’s for breakfast”. Pooh invented the game ‘Poohsticks’. Things he likes to do is to exercise in the morning, go on an adventure with Christopher Robin or Piglet, visiting friends who he thinks have ‘Hunny’ and looking for “Hunny to Fill the Rumblee in his Tumblee.

Eeyore

Eeyore is a donkey and for some he is their favourite Pooh character amongst all the others. He is a blue-gray donkey, about 3-years in age and stands 18 inches tall & 27 inches in length. He is originally like the other Pooh character; stuffed with sawdust. His appearance is highlighted by a small light pink bow on his tail. He is an intelligent animal but tends to keep to himself. Eeyore is a extremely gloomy donkey and has a very bad habit of losing his tail! Mostly, he tends to depend on his friends to find his lost tail for him and thereafter Christopher Robin fixes his tail using a drawing pin. What he simply adores is that his friends remember him on his birthday and celebrates it with him. He often says “Thanks for noticin’ me” and “Oh, well”.

Tigger

He is a very Bouncy Animal and resembles a tiger. He is always in an electrifying & exuberant mood and loves to bounce, bounce and bounce. He is 23 inches tall and his most standout feature is his springy tail. His character is easily recognizable by the black & orange stripes, a springy tail, and a long chin, beady eyes which all mix well into his bouncy and fun loving personality. He is a bouncy, pouncy, flouncy and a trouncy creature that is always looking to make the most out of what life has to offer. The most wonderful thing about Tiggers is that "I'm the only one!" Tigger likes to bounce a lot, "cause that is what Tiggers do best." His favourite food is the extract of malt but is known to be an extremely fussy eater. He takes a lot of pleasure in being able to “unbounce” some of the other animals in the 100 Acre Wood.

Piglet

 Piglet is another of the original stuffed toy animals of Christopher Robin Milne in the Winnie-the-Pooh books. Piglet is a very brave animal as supposed to his diminutive size and frame of a timid pink pig. Piglet stands barely at 10 inches tall and is always seen wearing a long pink striped shirt. His original address in the 100 Acre Wood was the Beech Tree, south of Pooh's house, 100 Acre Wood Southwest. But from the time Owl moved into his house, Piglet has started living with his best friend Winnie the Pooh. What he loves doing best is going on adventures with Pooh, he is quite fond of bright colors and especially balloons, and he even likes blowing dandelions. Haycorns are his favourite food. Every Tuesday Piglet spends his day at Christopher Robin’s house. The first thing that Piglet utters when he gets up in the morning is “I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?”.

Rabbit

Rabbit is one of the 2 real animals that are recognized by their actual animal names in A.A Milne’s children’s story books. Since he is a real animal it is considered that he has brains and the same goes for Owl. He actually makes this clear in a conversation with Owl where he say “You and I have brains. The others have fluff”. He is pushy and takes his own decisions, is able to spell better compared to all the other animals. He is quite certain about the important things in his life. What he likes doing most is organizing a plan and to lead group events, even if nothing gets done. He is unhappy if anyone disturbs or interrupts him while he is engaged in any kind of activity, he doesn’t like being bounced either. He relishes gardening and his favourite food is the carrot and other vegetables, he makes it a point to avoid Pooh during lunch time.

Kanga and Roo

Kanga & Roo are 2 fictional characters that belong to Winnie the Pooh. Kanga is the sole female character in Winnie-the-Pooh and she is 30 inches tall. She is the mother of a young joey (baby kangaroo) named Roo, who is nearly 10 inches tall. Kanga carries her family in her pocket and is the fastest amongst all animals in the forest. She takes utmost care of Roo and shall often warn Roo of possible dangers involved in the activities that Roo undertakes. She often says "Now now Roo, you mustn't do that dear," to which Roo mostly replies "But moma!" Kanga & Roo live in the Northern section of the 100 Acre Wood. Every Tuesday Kanga goes to Pooh’s house and tries to teach him how to jump. Roo is the youngest member of the 100 Acre Wood, he love milk and most other eateries expect for the extract of malt. He really likes the game ‘Poohsticks’ and likes playing with Tigger too.

Christopher Robbin

He is boy for whom Winnie-the-Pooh was originally written. He is also a part of the stories and poems written by his father A.A. Milne. He is the master of the 100 Acre Woods. Christopher Robin’s address in the forest is – Top of the Forest (High Ground), 100 Acre Wood East. He is everyone’s best friend and mostly indulges in activities to help his friends to get them out of tricky situations, most of the times it’s the silly old Pooh bear that he helps. He will help Pooh collect honey, he will rescue Roo & Tigger when they are stuck in high trees in the forest and shall nail Eeyore’s tail. His favorite food is probably Birthday cake and one of his favourite things to do is hosting birthday and hero parties. But what he likes doing best is Nothing; "It means just going along, listening to all the thing's you can't hear, and not bothering".

Owl

He is the wisest amongst all the animals living in the 100 Acre Wood. He is a large owl and stands at nearly 28 inches in length and when he spreads his wings they are 42 inches wide. Owl, like Rabbit wasn’t an original toy belonging to Christopher Robin Milne. Along with Rabbit he is considered to be an animal with brains. His intelligence is often called upon to aid a certain bear of very little brain. He is always forthcoming in offering his advice, opinions and anecdotes irrespective of others wanting it. He also loves telling stories related to his relatives. His original residence is called The Chestnuts but when a storm blows away his house and thereafter he makes Piglet’s residence his new residence. His residence has amenities like a pull- bell and a door knocker. Owl is capable of writing and some illustrations show him holding a pen in his talons.

Gopher

Gopher’s full name is Samuel J. Gopher. Gopher wasn’t a part of the original stories and poems written by A.A. Milne and was introduced by Walt Disney as the felt that the then existing characters of Winnie the Pooh weren’t American enough for the American audience to be able to relate to. This fact is recurrently pointed out he says "I'm not in the book you know." Gopher is a Bricklayer, Builder, Excavation and Demolition Expert. His address is perhaps more apt when describes as all over the 100 Acre Woods as he lives under tunnels he creates. What he likes doing most is working on projects that involve building tunnels or projects which could be used by the other members in the forest. Gopher is 15 inches tall and the biggest problem he will encounter is that he falls into the tunnels that he engineered. Since he is a Walt Disney character there are neither illustration of him nor is he there in the stories written by A.A. Milne.

• 小熊維尼相關推薦書

Pooh and the Psychologists          Pooh and the Philosophers        

      The Tao Of Pooh                      Pooh！小熊維尼

2. An ass eating thistles

Developed by authors during Renaissance times, the story of an ass eating thistles was a late addition to collections of Aesop's Fables. Beginning as a condemnation of miserly behaviour, it eventually was taken to demonstrate how preferences differ.

3.Onomatopoeia

An onomatopoeia (Listeni/ˌɒnɵmaːtəˈpiːə/, or chiefly NZ /-ˈpeɪə/; from the Greek ὀνοματοποιία; ὄνομα for "name" and ποιέω for "I make", adjectival form: "onomatopoeic" or "onomatopoetic") is a word that phonetically imitates, resembles or suggests the source of the sound that it describes. Onomatopoeia (as an uncountable noun) refers to the property of such words. Common occurrences of onomatopoeias include animal noises such as "oink", "miaow" (or "meow"), "roar" or "chirp". Onomatopoeias are not the same across all languages; they conform to some extent to the broader linguistic system they are part of; hence the sound of a clock may be tick tock in English, dī dā in Mandarin, or katchin katchin in Japanese, or "tik-tik" (टिक-टिक) in Hindi.

4. Literary nonsense

→ Literary nonsense (or nonsense literature) is a broad categorization of literature that balances elements that make sense with some that do not, with the effect of subverting language conventions or logical reasoning. Even though the most well-known form of literary nonsense is nonsense verse, the genre is present in many forms of literature.

The effect of nonsense is often caused by an excess of meaning, rather than a lack of it. Its humor is derived from its nonsensical nature, rather than wit or the "joke" of a punchline.

→Elememt: amusement, redicule

(1). Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Those who seek a profound meaning cloaked within the bizarre and absurd scenarios of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland are sure to be frustrated.  Lewis Carroll was no Tolkien or C.S. Lewis whose works, while they can be enjoyed solely as epic adventures, contain clear Christian references beneath the surface.  Neither was he aiming to teach an adult audience a meaningful message told in the language of a childish tale.  Some have gone so far as to turn their scrutiny on the author himself, searching his life for an explanation behind the mad caperings of his peculiar story.  The portrait of the author, however, serves only to confuse matters rather than to elucidate them.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is exactly what it appears to be and nothing more, i.e. a whimsical fairy tale written expressly for the amusement of children. There are no analogies, secret agendas or symbolisms here. It is simply the story of a girl who fell down a rabbit hole into an upside—down world, where things are not as they seem, unbounded by laws of convention, reason and logic. The literary enthusiast who strives to decipher the senseless riddles of the Mad Hatter or the reason for the Queen of Hearts’ unbridled rage will only find himself going round and round in a meaningless “caucus race,” returning to where he began, perhaps a little drier but no wiser than before.

 (2).小皮球

小皮球

香蕉油

滿地開花二十一

二五六

二五七

二八二九三十一

(3).  James Joyce’s final novelFinnegans Wake 

"full of portmanteau and strong words, it appears to be pregnant with multiple layers of meaning, but in many passages it is difficult to say whether any one human’s interpretation of a text could be the intended or unintended one."

 5. 其他補充知識

 (1)One man's meat is another man's poison.

蘿蔔青菜，各有所愛。

【聯合報╱執筆／台科大應用外語系助理教授黃玟君】

這句話直譯是「一個人的食物，可能是另一個人的毒藥」，意思就是「一個人很喜歡的東西，可能是另一個人很厭惡的」，或是「對一個人有益的東西，可能對另一個人有害」。當我們說這句話時，通常暗示對方「每個人有其癖好，大家各取所需、各愛所愛，不需大驚小怪」。

例如很多台灣人愛吃stinky tofu（臭豆腐）和salt & pepper chicken（鹽酥雞），可是這麼香的氣味仍舊有人受不了，屢屢投訴EPA（Environmental Protection Agency；環保署）。前陣子EPA終於公告「異味為空氣污染」，只要個人聞了後有不良的情緒反應，「肇事者」都有可能被處以罰鍰，可見one man's meat is another man's poison！

實用對話Conversation

A: I love Jay Chou; he can sing, act, and direct movies. No way Wang Leehom can compete with him.

B: I disagree. I love Wang Leehom because he's multi-talented. I despise Jay Chou!

A: I love warm summer days and hate bitter cold winter days!

B: Not a chance. I love cold winter days and hate hot and humid summer days!

A: Why do you keep disagreeing with everything I say?

B: I'm not. One man's meat is another man's poison. Alright?

字彙Vocabulary

act (v.) 演戲

direct (v.) 導（戲）

no way（口語）當然不

compete with... 比得上…；媲美…

disagree (v.) 不同意

multi-talented (adj.) 多才多藝的

despise (v.) 鄙視；瞧不起

bitter (adj.) 極冷的

not a chance 門都沒有；不可能

humid (adj.) 潮濕的

meat (n.) 食物；肉

poison (n.) 毒藥

(2) "我很滿足"

I am content with…

I am satisfied.

Example:

Be grateful to the human world . Cultivate frugality. Be content with what you have . Practice generosity.

對世間要有感恩的美德,對生活要有勤儉的習慣, 對物質要有知足的修養,對他人要有喜舍的布施.

You must cut your coat according to your cloth and be content with a smaller house.

你應量入為出,住小一點的房子就行了.

Don't be content with such a small success.

不要滿足於這樣小的成功.

She was satisfied with the outcome of her efforts.

她對自己努力的結果很滿意。

The particular may have to be satisfied to the general.

為顧全總體個別的項目也許不得不放棄。

I'm not at all satisfied with the present situation.

我對目前的情況一點都不滿意。

3. May I know your under graduate major? 你大學主修甚麼?

Undergraduate

n.（未獲學士學位的）大學生，大學肄業生；

adj.大學生的，大學的

4.  盡量不要用"Oh my God"這個詞!(對上天不禮貌,多為中下階層的人會講)

5. 很多跟聲音有關的字"ch"都發/k/

Ex: choir, chorus, (character也是)

6. 英式英文 v.s 美式英文

er與re對調

「中心」center（美）與centre（英）

「公升」liter（美）與litre（英）

英式英文在o的後方多加一個u

「顏色」color（美）colour（英）

「榮譽」honor（美）honour（英）

「最愛的」favorite（美）favourite（英）

美式英文單字中的z，在英式英文中則是s

「組織」organize（美）與organise（英）

「分析」analyze（美）與analyse（英）

還有一些完全不同的拼音方式

「輪胎」tire（美）與tyre（英）

「支票」check（美）與cheque（英）

7. 規則發音

_i_e→[aɪ] site, fine, time

_a_e→[e] name, pale

_i_→[ɪ] pin, pig