Unit 1 Half a day

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Unit 1 Half a day

• Naguib Mahfous

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?.Questions for Discussion

• 1. Was it hard for you to leave home for the
  first time in your life? Who came to school with
  you? What did he/she say to you on the way?
• 2. Did you feel you were a stranger the first day
  you arrived?

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• 3. Do you find life at college rich and colorful
  or tedious and boring?
• 4. Do you have trouble adjusting life here?

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?. About the Author

• Naguib Mahfous was born in 1911 in a suburb of
  Cairo and was educated at the Secular University
  in that city. Mahfous is the first Arabic
  language author awarded the Nobel Prize in
  literature (1988). Sixteen of his novels have
  been have been adapted for films and his prose
  works have been compared in spirit and tone to
  the social realism of Balzac and Dickens.

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• His most famous work The Cairo Triology (1957)
  is a sequence of novels that describes the
  changes in three generations of a middle-class
  Cairo family. Half a Day first appeared in The
  Time and the Place and Other Stories which was
  published in 1991 by the school press of American
  University in Cairo.

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2.Introduction to the Text

• Writing skill flashback/ Rip Van Winkle
• Structure
• three parts?1st ( para.1-7)
• ?2nd ( para. 8-16)
• ?3rd (para.17-20)

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3. Detailed Study of the Text

• 1) I walked alongside my father, clutching his
  right hand.
• My mother stood at the window watching our
  progress.(para.2)
• I turned towards her from time to time,
  hoping she would help.(para.2)
• Im not punishing you,he said,
  laughing.(para.2)
• The bell rang, announcing the passing of the
  day and the end of work.(para.2)

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• 2) as this was the day I was to be thrown into
  school for the first time. ?
• (showing that the
  little boy didnt want to to go to school)
• ? to be thrown into (unpleasant place)? to be
  thrown into (prison/jail)
• ?to throw sb. out (of a place)to force sb.to
  leave a place, e.g.
• Theyll throw me out (of school) if I fail
  three exams.

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• 3) a street lined with gardens a street
• (past participle phrase)
• where there are gardens along both sides
• e.g. a novel written by Charle Dickens
• a car made in China

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• 4) Its a place that makes useful men out of boys
• ? to makeout of sb./sth to make sb./sth
  become,
• Eg. The army made a man of him. ?????????????
• I dont think you can make a football star
  (out) of Johnny.

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• 5). I did not believe there was really any good
  to be had in tearing me away from my home and
  throwing me into the huge, high-walled building.
• It is no good/use doing sth. Or there is no
  good to be had in doing sth.
• e.g. Its no good crying over spilt milk.
• Its no use talking to him.
• to tear oneself/sb. away from,
• e.g. Cant you tear yourself away from the TV
  for dinner?

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• 6) I didnt know what to say.
• Question word to do can often be used as
  the object of certain verbs, e.g.
• Faced with so many books I didnt know which
  to choose.
• Would you please tell me how to get to the
  National Library?

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• 7).woke up to go on with friendship and love,
  playing and learning after the
• nap, we continued our business at
  schoolmaking friends, falling in love, playing
  and learning.
• to go on with sthto continue an activity,
  esp.after a pause or break.
• e.g. Lets go on with it after the lunch
  break.
• They lifted a rock only to drop it on their
  own feet.(of result)

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• 8) It was not all a matter of playing and
  fooling aroundWhat we did at school wasnt just
  playing and wasting time doing nothing useful.
• ?a matter of sth./ of doing
• a) Learning is a matter of seeing much,
  studying much and suffering much.
• b) Wisdom is a matter of knowing when to speak
  your mind and when to mind your speech.
• ?to fool around to waste time instead of doing
  sth.that you should be doing.

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• 9) Rivalries could bring about pain and hatred,
  or give rise to fighting.
• ?to bring about sth, e.g.
• a) Sciences has brought about many changes in
  our lives.
• b) The war brought about great human
  suffering.
• ?to give rise to to cause sth.to happen or
  exist, e.g.
• Poor living conditions give rise to many
  disease.