Lesson One

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Lesson One
Thinking as a Hobby
By William Golding
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Life Story of the Author

• William Golding (1911-1993), a British writer who
  won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983, and
  who is known especially for his novel Lord of the
  Flies.

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William Golding won the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1983
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William Golding and His Family
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• When William Golding (1911-1993) was awarded
  the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983, the Nobel
  Foundation cited"his novels which, with the
  perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the
  diversity and universality of myth, illuminate
  the human condition in the world of today".

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Golding was born in Cornwall and educated at
Brasenose College, Oxford.
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Before WWII, he worked as a writer, actor, and
producer with small theatre companies and as a
teacher.
William Golding acted in Shakespeares Winters
Tale
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A Brief Introduction to the Text
This text is about thinking, which is of extreme
importance, because the linguistic competence is
not just grammar and vocabulary, and a good
training in logical and critical thinking is
considered as a must in a good liberal arts
education, which is employed to deal with more
serious subjects and discuss more complex
problems.
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Questions for discussion

• 1. What does hobby refer to?
• 2. Why does author use this word in the title?

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Its very interesting for the author to use
hobby in the title. By using this word he
means that thinking is not just for professional
thinkers like philosophers. It is something all
educated people should enjoy doing. This special
interest is often referred to as idle
curiosity, and it is considered one of the most
precious qualities in young scholars.
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OUTLINE OF THE TEXT

• The first part tells us how the subject of
  thinking was first brought up to the author and
  how he came to understand the nature of what he
  calls grade-three thinking, which he
  discovered, was no thinking at all, but a
  combination of ignorance, prejudice and
  hypocrisy.
• The second part deals with grade-two thinking,
  which has nothing constructive to offer and
  destroys without the power to create.
• The last part deals with the grade-one
  thinkerspeople who set out to find the truth
  and get it.

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Detailed study of the Text

• hobby an activity or interest pursued outside
  one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily
  for pleasure.
• eg. He works in a bank, but his hobby is building
  model boats.
• ??????,??????????????
• Any personal hobbies such as sports, music and
  collecting stamps never had a place in his life.
• ???????????,?????,??,?????????????????

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• Paragraph 1
• 1. I came to the conclusion that thee were three
  grades of thinking
• to come to a conclusion means to reach/ arrive
  at/ draw a conclusion
• grade an accepted level or standard
• ???????????
• eg. This grade of wool can be sold at a fairly
  low price.
• ??????????????????.

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Paragraph 2

• grammar school
• In Britain, it refers to a school for children
  over 11 who are academically bright. Today, there
  are few grammar schools. Most secondary schools
  are called comprehensive and take in all
  children over 11 whatever their abilities.In the
  US, a grammar school used to mean an elementary
  school, but it is now considered ole-fashioned.
• study a room intended or equipped for studying
  or
• writing
• eg. The dictionary is in my study.
• ???????????

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statuetten. a small statue ???
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• One was a lady wearing nothing but a bath towel.

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• nothing but nothing except only
• eg The doctor told her that it was nothing but a
  cold.
• He cared for nothing but his name and position.
• He was nothing but a coward.

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She seemed frozen in an eternal panic lest the
bath towel slip down any farther lest conj. for
fear that ??,?? Note The subjunctive mood is
used in the clause lest introduces. eg. Be
careful lest you fall from that tree. ???,
????????? I was afraid lest he might come too
late. ????????
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• and since she had no arms, she was in an
  unfortunate position to pull the towel up again.
• be in position to do sth to be able to do sth
  because or have ability, power or money to do it.
• eg I am not in a position to lend you money.

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Next to her, crouched the statuette of a leopard,
ready to spring down at the top drawer of a
filing cabinet. crouch 1. to stoop, especially
with the knees bent eg They crouched over the
grate with a flashlight, searching for the lost
gem. 2. to press the entire body close to the
ground with the limbs bent eg. a cat crouching
near its prey.
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Rodins Thinker This is the most famous piece of
art by the French sculptor August Rodin. It is
said to be the statue that most clearly shows
that abstract idea of thinking. The thinker is
pondering so intensely that his toes are tightly
clutching the ground.
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Paragraph 3

• delinquent n. a person who neglects or fails to
  do what law or duty requires.
• adj. failing to do what law or duty
  requires.
• 2. She was just busy being beautiful.
• P From the boys point of view, the Goddess of
  Love was simply trying to remain beautiful.

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Paragraph 4

• I was not integrated. I was , if
  anything,disintegrated.
• integrated forming a part of a harmonious group
• disintegrated Here, it is used by the author to
  mean the direct opposite of integrated, and
  therefore means some kind of a trouble-maker.
• if anything on the contrary
• eg. He is not known for his generosity. He is, if
  anything, quite miserly.
• The weather forecast says that it will not be
  warmer this winter. It will, if anything, even
  colder than last year.

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Paragraph 9

• The muscular gentleman contemplated the
  hindquarters of he leopard in endless gloom.
• contemplate to think for a long time in order to
  understand better.
• Eg. contemplated the problem from all sides
• contemplated the mystery of God.
• hindquarters the posterior part of a quadruped,
  adjacent to the hind legs

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• His spectacles caught the light so that you could
  see nothing human behind them.
• P The teachers glasses caught the light and
  therefore the boy could not see the teachers
  eyes. He could not have any eye contact. He could
  not have any communication with him.

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Paragraph 11

• Be in anguish extreme unhappiness caused by
  physical or mental suffering.

Paragraph 12
leap to ones feet to jump up Please pay
attention to the following phrases containing the
word feet rise / struggle / stagger to ones
feet.
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Paragraph 17

• Sometimes, exalted by his own oratory, he would
  leap form his and hustle us outside into a
  hideous wind.
• P Sometimes he got carried away and would leap
  from his desk and hurry us outside into a cold
  and unpleasant wind.

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Paragraph 20

• Yet in the middle of these monologues, if a girl
  passed the window, his neck would turn of itself
  and he would watch her out sight.
• P Here author is not laughing at the teachers
  interest in young girls. Rather he is ridiculing
  the contradiction between his high moral tone and
  the working of his genes which compels him to
  turn his head toward young girls.

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Paragraph 23

• Technically, it is about as proficient as most
  businessmens golf, as honest as most
  politicians intentions, or as coherent as most
  books that get written.
• P This, ironical sentence shows that the author
  not only considers these people incompetent,
  dishonest and incoherent, but also despises most
  businessmen, distrusts most politicians and
  dislikes most publications.

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Paragraph 25

• To hear our Primer Minster told about the great
  benefit we conferred on India by jailing people
  like Nehru and Gandhi.
• confer sth on sb offer or give sth to sb.
• eg. conferred a medal on the hero
• ????????
• conferred an honorary degree on her
• ???????

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Gandhi (1869-1948) and Nehru (1889-1964) were
both leaders of the Free-India Movement which
aimed at winning national independence for India
through non-violent, civil-disobedience means. In
the course of this struggle, they were jailed by
the British government several times. But their
efforts finally brought about the independence of
India on August 15, 1947.
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Gandhi (1869-1948)
Nehru (1889-1964)
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Paragraph 26

• Saint Jeromes Vulgate
• This is the Latin translation of the Bile made by
  Saint Jerome at the end of the fourth century
  A.D. It is now used in a revised form as the
  Roman Catholic authorized version.

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• Argument flagged.
• flag to decline in interest to become dull
• eg. his flagging interest in the subject
• ??????????
• P Argument flagged because Ruth did not know how
  to respond to this.

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Paragraph 27

• If we were counting heads, the Buddhists were
  the boys for my money.
• P if we were talking about the number of people
  who believe in this. I would bet on the
  Buddhists I believe the Buddhists are greater in
  number.

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Paragraph 28

• I lost Ruth and gained an undeserved reputation
  as a potential libertine.
• libertine one who acts without moral restraint
  a dissolute person.
• ????????????????????

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Paragraph 31

• I came up in the end with what must always remain
  the justification for grade-one thinking. I
  devised a coherent system for living. It was a
  moral system, which was wholly logical.
• P According to the author, grade-one thinking
  must be based on a coherent and logical system
  for living, in other words, a moral system,
  without which you cannot prove yourself to be a
  grade-one thinker. Judging buy the context, this
  system probably refers to ones world out look
  and basic political beliefs and moral principles.

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Paragraph 32

• It was Ruth all over again.
• P What happened to Ruth and me now happened
  again. My grade-two thinking frightened away many
  of my acquaintances.

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Paragraph 33

• Had the game gone too far? In those prewar days,
  I stood to lose a great deal, for the sake of a
  hobby.
• P In those prewar days when many people were
  fully worked up to a political frenzy, it was
  very dangerous to voice different opinions. You
  might lose friends or your job.

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Paragraph 34

• Now you are expecting me to describe how I saw
  the folly of my ways and came back to the warm
  nest.
• P Now you think I will tell you how I gradually
  saw my stupidity in being a grade-two thinker and
  therefore decided to give it up and return to the
  majority.

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Paragraph 35

• But you would be wrong. I dropped my hobby and
  turned professional.
• P But you guessed wrong. I did not drop my
  hobby and give up thinking. Instead I went
  further and became a professional thinker.

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Writing Style of the Passage

• The essay is written with a great sense of humor.
  Laughter is his chief weapon. Through those
  hilarious anecdotes, he laughs at the headmaster
  and Mr. Houghton, ridicules British and American
  politicians and teases his girlfriend Ruth. He
  also laughs at himself as the disintegrated boy
  in school, and it should be noted self-mockery is
  a very important kind of humor and can have an
  unusually powerful effect.

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What is Self-mockery?

• Self-mockery is defined as a linguistic act in
  which the speaker makes a statement and then
  denies, invalidates, or expresses his/her
  non-serious attitude toward the content of the
  utterance.

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Some Examples of Self-mockery

• My picture was not yet displayed, so I was
  waiting for them to come and take a photograph of
  me. Oh, just kidding!

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Sometimes self-mockery is shown in the form of
pictures
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Assignments

• 1. Finish the exercises of this lesson
• 2. Make up three sentences of self-mockery and
  try to answer what special effect they can
  achieve?
• 3. Write an essay in about 200 words on the
  topic What Kind of Thinker Are You?