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[摘 要]人教版英語教材M6 U2 閱讀文本A Few Simple Forms of English Poems 介紹了 5種簡單形式的英語詩歌的特點,并舉例說明每一種詩歌的特征。教師在教學中可以以討論的形式讓學生歸納詩歌的寫作目的,通過詩歌鑒賞分析英文簡體詩的特點,教會學生英文簡體詩的寫作方法,并且讓學生嘗試創作英文簡體詩。
[關鍵詞]高中;英文詩歌;簡體詩;教學
[中圖分類號] G633.41 [文獻標識碼] A [文章編號] 1674-6058(2018)13-0035-02
詩歌是語言的精華。英文詩歌不僅語言凝練、韻律感強、意境優美,而且滲透了大量的英語語言文化內容和文化底蘊。詩歌學習對培養高中生的審美能力、觀察力和想象力有重要作用。《普通高中英語課程標準》在語言知識八級目標描述中指出,高中生應能初步了解英語詩歌的節奏和韻律。人教版英語教材M6 U2中的 A Few Simple Forms of English Poems 是一篇介紹性說明文,文章介紹了5種簡單形式的英語詩歌的特點,并舉例說明每一種詩歌的特征。本課的目的在于讓學生通過閱讀文本了解英文簡體詩的基本特征和寫作手法,學會欣賞英文簡體詩,并自己嘗試寫簡單的詩歌。
一、以討論的形式讓學生歸納詩歌的寫作目的
筆者在Warming up部分,先提問學生:Do you remember any poems you have read in high school, either in Chinese or in English? Can you recite any?然后讓學生討論:Why do people write poems?根據學生的討論,歸納出詩歌的寫作目的: to tell a story; to recall an experience; to play with words; to let others think;to express feelings, such as love, homesick, delight, sorrow, patriotism, love of nature, friendship, etc.
二、通過詩歌鑒賞分析英文簡體詩的特點
在閱讀文本的學習中,先讓學生通過skimming 快速閱讀并找出文中介紹的5種簡體英文詩的形式:nursery rhymes、list poem、cinquain、haiku、Tang poems。然后讓學生閱讀A—H八首詩歌,了解詩歌的內容和主題,感受詩歌的韻律和節奏,分析五種英文簡體詩的特點。
Nursery rhymes:The language is concrete and imaginative. They rhyme, have strong rhythm and a lot of repetition. They are easy to learn and recite.
List poems have a flexible line length and repeated phrases. Some rhyme while others not.
Cinquain, a poem made up of five lines, can convey a strong picture in just a few words.
Haiku is made up of 17 syllables, which can give a clear picture and create a special feeling using the minimum of words.
Tang poem is a translation of Chinese poetry.
三、介紹英文簡體詩的寫作方法
在學生了解英文簡體詩的特點后,給學生介紹英文簡體詩的寫作方法。
nursery rhymes(童謠)是讀者對象為兒童的短詩,強調節奏和押韻,形式簡短,通俗易懂,內容取材貼近兒童生活和自然,想象豐富,語言活潑,朗朗上口。教學時可列舉學生熟悉的童謠,如:
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are
When the blazing sun is gone
When he nothing shines upon
Then you show your little light
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night
list poems (清單詩)是一種很簡單的詩歌,其主題很隨意,通常是列舉一系列事物。這類詩的行數沒有具體的限制,作者可以按照自己的喜好來決定詩歌的長短,可以重復一些短語,較為靈活,形成固定句型和詩的節奏。它可以押韻也可以不押韻,但是不等于記流水賬;它要求具有一定的邏輯性、可讀性和趣味性,并且要注意語言的簡潔性、語義的條理性和連貫性。
cinquain(五行詩)的寫法:五行詩總共五行,每一行要求有不同的詞數,而且詞性也不同。
Line 1: a noun which names the topic of the poem
Line 2: two adjectives describing the topic
Line 3: three verbs ending with –ing that describe the topics action
Line 4: four words that give the writers opinion or feelings about the topic
Line 5: a word that gives another name for the topic
如:
Spiders
Bold, silent
Jumping, hunting, spinning
Amazing predators with style
Spiders
haiku(俳句),英語俳句,源于日本的俳句, 是日本的一種古典短詩,由“五—七—五”共十七字音組成;以三句十七音為一首,首句五音節,次句七音節,末句五音節,不要求押韻,但是受“季語”的限制。俳句中必定要有一個季語。所謂季語,是指用以表示春、夏、秋、冬及新年的季節用語。在季語中除“夏季的驟雨”“雪”等表現氣候的用語外,還有“櫻花”“蟬”等動物、植物名稱。另外,如“壓歲錢”“陽春面”這樣的風俗習慣用語也多有應用。這些“季語”通常帶著現代日本人民對于幼年時代或故鄉的一種懷念眷戀之情。haiku不屬于傳統的英文詩,但這種詩歌形式在用英語寫作的人們中間非常流行,haiku能用最少的詞語向讀者呈現出一幅清晰的畫面,表達特殊的情感。如:
A fallen blossom 5個音節
is coming back to the branch 7個音節
Look, a butterfly!5個音節
Tang poems(唐詩)是我國文學的一朵奇葩,在世界文學史上的地位也很高。唐詩作為一種獨特的文學體裁,是按照一定的格律來寫作的,主要分為律詩和絕句兩種。說英語的人喜歡唐詩,許多唐詩已經被翻譯成了英文。譯文將原詩的形式與內涵用英文忠實地再現,體現原詩的“意美”,或者說“詩境”,使讀詩的異國讀者能夠盡可能從譯作中獲得共鳴、震驚和美的感受。如:
Night Thoughts (靜夜思)
In front of my bed the moonlight is very bright.
I wonder if that can be frost on the floor?
I list up my head and look at the full moon, the dazzling moon.
I drop my head, and think of the home of old days.
(Tr. Amy Lowell)
四、讓學生動筆寫英文簡體詩
學生了解了英文簡體詩的寫作特點和寫作方法之后,要親自動筆寫詩,都很興奮。大多數學生選擇五行詩,都能用正確的形式寫出英文簡體詩。以下是學生詩作摘選。
1.俳句
A cherry blossom
is falling to the field
Listen, the winds voice.
2.五行詩
(1)Your eyes
Clear, colorful
Sparkling, charming, shining
Like diamond, like zircon
Fabulous
(2)English
Difficult, easy
Listening, reading, writing
Both pain and happiness
Great
(3)Movie
Funny, boring
Crying, laughing, thinking
Dream and reality, too
Great
(4)War
Rude, crazy
Bleeding, killing, dying
Winners, losers and killers
Struggling
3. 清單詩
(1)I have a magic cat
It can fly in the air
It can dig
It can grow up like a man
It can help me with home work
It can take a train
It can cosplay all kinds of cartoon animals
It can discover new chemical elements
It can operate my computer
(2)A flower withers
Another sprouts
Everything goes like that
One comes and another goes
Hard to keep, hard to predict
(責任編輯 周侯辰)