summaryofloveisafallacy.docx
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summaryofloveisafallacy.docx
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summaryofloveisafallacy
SummaryoftheText
ThisessaysurpassestheveryinformalwritingstyleofCharlesLamb,whowasextraordinarilyimaginativeandenterprising,andindeeddemonstratesthefunandbeautyoflogic.Itistoldbythemaincharacterwhosenameisneverrevealed.
Thoughonly18yearsold,Iwastheeliteofmypeers.OneFridayafternoonIfoundmystupidroommatePeteyBurchlyinginbedingreatdistress.AtfirstIthoughthewasillbutthenIdiscoveredhewasdesperateforaraccooncoat,thefadatthattime,declaringhewouldgiveanythingforit.ItoccurredtomethatIcouldgetanoldraccooncoatfrommyfatherandexchangeitfor"something"Ihadbeencovetingforsometime--hisgirlfriendPollyEspy.
ThenextMondaymorning,Ireturnedtoschoolandshowedhimthehairycoat.Hewentcrazy.However,hewasnotsohappywhenItoldhimmyrequest.AfterlongthoughthegaveinandallowedmetodatethebeautifulPolly.
MyfirstdatewithPollyonTuesdayeveningdisappointedmesomuchthatIalmostreturnedhertoPetey,forsheseemedtoofoolishtobemywife.However,herphysicalcharmswereirresistiblesoIdecidedtoteachhertothinkandtolearnlogic.
Thenexttime,atthecampustrystingplaceItaughtherthefallaciescalledDictoSimpliciter,HastyGeneralization,PostHoc,andContradictoryPremises,butherheadwaslogic-proof.AgainIwantedtogiveherbacktoPetey.Yet,inforapenny,inforapound.IdecidedtoteachherAdMisericordiam,FalseAnalogy,HypothesisContrarytoFact,andPoisoningtheWell.Atthisfinalfallacy,aglimmerofintelligencesparkedinhereyes.IenthusiasticallyfolloweditupwithareviewofallIhadtaughther.Myfivegruelingnightspaidwell:
IhadfinallymadealogicianoutofPolly.Whennextwesatunderouroaktree,Itriedtochangeourrelationshipfromacademictoromantic,onlytofindeachofmyromanticphrasesandproposalsrefutedbyherasfallacies,finallyrejectingmeinfavorofPetey!
Atmyquestionforthereasonofhernotgoingoutwithme,shesaidthatthatveryafternoonshehadpromisedtogosteadywithPetey.Iwasfurious,andaskedherforthelogicalreasonforherpreferenceofPeteyoverme.
Polly'sanswerwasthatPercyhadgotaraccooncoat!
TheraccooncoatthatIdislikedandabhorredandhadgiventoPeteyfortheprivilegeofdatingPollywasnowtheveryinstrumentofmyundoing!
Loveisdelusiveandlogicallyunpredictable!
Style&Appreciation
Thetitleofthestory,humorousandwellchosen,hastwomeanings:
whenfallacyistakenliterally,thetitlemeans:
"Loveisdeceptiveanddelusive."Whentakenwithitslogicalmeaning,thetitlemeans:
"Lovecannotbededucedfromasetofgivenpremises."
Thestoryissatirizingaself-conceitedfreshmaninalawschool--thenarratorofthestory.Hegoesaroundsmuglyboastingandpraisinghimselfateverychancehegets.FromPara.4,hebeginstoemployallthebeautifulwordshecanthinkof,like"cool,powerful,precise"and"penetrating"todescribehimself.Meanwhile,hetakeseveryopportunitytorundownPeteyBurch,callinghim"dumb","nothingupstairs","unstable","impressionable"and"afaddist",andPollyEspyas"abeautifuldumbgirl",whomight"smartenup"underhisguidance.
Thepurposeofthisessayistodemonstratethatlogicisaliving,breathingthing,fullofbeauty,passion,andtrauma,farfrombeingadry,pedanticsubject.Humorously,thewriterexaggerateseverysituation,withtheresultthatlogicbecomesaninterestingsubject.Thelogicallinkofpassageideasis"logic--alivingthing"---"exchangeofaraccooncoatforaprettybutfoolishgirl"---"teachinghertobelogicalandclever”---"aPygmalionbecomesaFrankenstein",thusthetheme"Logicisfun;loveisnotforlove'ssakebutforfashion'ssake,forwealth'ssake."
Toachievehispurpose,thewriteremploysavarietyofwritingtechniquesandalexicalspectrum--fromtheultra-learnedtermsusedbytheconceitednarratortotheinfra-clippedvulgarformsofPollyEspy--tomakehisstoryvalid,dramaticandcolorful.Hisfigurativelanguage,grammaticalinversionforspecialemphasis,shortsentences,ellipticalsentencesanddashesthroughoutthestoryaddtotheimmediacyofthestory.
Forinstance,PollyEspy'sexclamatorywordslike"Gee,Oo,Wow-dowandclippedvulgarformslike"delish,marvy,sensaysh,"etc.createtheimpressionofasimpleandratherstupidgirl,contrastingstronglywiththeboastingofthenarrator,andthusincreasingtheforceofsatireandirony.
Again,everymanhasafooluphissleeve.InPara.145,thenarratorarguesthat"thethingsyoulearninschooldon'thaveanythingtodowithlife",committingafallacyofDictoSimpliciterhimselfinhisfinaldesperateattempttomakePollyEspyforgetthefallacieshehastaughtherandconvinceherthathelovesherandthatsheshouldgosteadywithhim.
Topic-centeredparagraphwritingisalsooneofthefeatures.Takeforexample.Itstopicsentenceisthesecondsentence—Hewasatornman."Thewriterdevelopstheparagraphbydescribingthebehavioroftheman,usingillustrativeexamplestodevelopthethemestatedinhistopicsentence.
Also,hisallusionsareaptlychosen.ThenarratorreferstoPygmalionandFrankensteinbecausehecourtsPollyandPollyrefuseshim.HegetsthesameresultasFrankensteindid.Heisdestroyedbythemonsterhehascreated,whereasPygmalionwaslovedbythestatueofGalatea.
TheconclusionisironicinthatthewholethingbackfiresonthenarratorwhenPollyrefutesallhisargumentsaslogicalfallaciesbeforefinallyrejectinghim.Hehasbecomethevictimofhisowncleverness;heistoocleverforhisowngood.Affluencehasreplacedlove,thusthereisnoquestionoftakingbrilliance,talent,oreducationintoconsiderationwhenchoosingaboyfriendandahusband.IthasreducedthesearchtoamatterofseekingwealthandkeepingupwiththeJoneses.Indeed,thiskindofloveisafallacy!
Anintroductiontothetext:
LoveisaFallacy
Thepurposeoftheessay,accordingtothewriter,is"todemonstratethatlogic,farfrombeingadry,pedanticsubject,isaliving,breathingthing,fullofbeauty,passion,andtrauma."ThestoryissetinalawschoolattheuniversityofMinnesota,U.S.A.Theprotagonist,aself-conceitedfreshmaninalawschool,ismadethenarratorofthestory,whogoesonsmuglyboastingandsingingpraisesofhimselfateveryconceivableopportunity.Fromtheverybeginning,hestartstoheaponhimselfallthebeautifulwordsofpraisehecanthinkof---"cool","logical","keen","calculating","perspicacious","acute","astute","powerful","precise"and"penetrating."Atthesametime,thenarratortakeseveryopportunitytodowngradePeteyBurch.Heconsidershim"dumb","nothingupstairs","emotional","unstable","impressionable",and"afaddist".Whatismore,heregardsPollyEspyas"abeautifuldumbgirl",whowouldsmartenupunderhisguidance.Inordertosmartenherup,thenarratordecidestogiveheracourseinlogic.Unfortunately,hesucceedstoowellbecausethewholethingbackfiresonhimwhenPollyrefutesallhisargumentsaslogicalfallaciesbeforefinallyrejectinghim.Indesperationthenarratorarguesthat"thethingsyoulearninschooldon'thaveanythingtodoinlife."ThisappealdoesnotmovePollybecauseshedoesnotrejecthimonlogicalgrounds.SherejectshimbecausehedoesnotownaraccooncoatasPeteyBurchdoes.Attheendofthestory,thereaderfeelsthenarratorhasgotwhathedeserves:
lovecannotbededucedfromasetofgivenpremises.
Thewriteremploysawholevarietyoftechniquestomakehisstoryvivid,dramatic,andcolorful.Thiscanbeshownbyhavingacloserexaminationoftheoriginaltextfromthefollowingfouraspects---lexicaldevices,syntacticdevices,figuresofspeech,anddiscourseanalysis.
Generalideaofthetext:
全文概述
Thistextisapieceofnarrativewriting.Thenarratorofthestory,DobieGillis,aself-conceitedfreshmaninalawschool,istheprotagonist.Hestrugglesagainsttwoantagonists:
PeteyBurch,hisstupidroommatewhosegirlfriendheplanstosteal,andPollyEspy,thebeautifuldumbgirlheintendstomarryaftersuitablere-education.Petey,afaddist,iseagerforaraccooncoat,andhedecidestoexchangehisgirlfriendPeteyforitwithDobie.DobiehasaffectionforPollyforlongoutofpracticalasPollyis,shehasthemakingstobecomeasuitablewifeofalawyer.Inordertosmartenherup,Dobiedecidestogiveheracourseinlogic.Heteachesherhowtorecognizethecommonfallaciesoflogic.Hesucceedstoowellbecausethewholethingbackfires(造成相反结果)onhimwhenPollyrefutesallhisargumentsaslogicalfallaciesbeforefinallyrejectinghim.IndesperationDobiearguesthat“thethingsyoulearninschooldon'thaveanythingtodoinlife.”TheappealdoesnotmovePollybecauseDobiedoesnotownaraccooncoatasPeteyBurchdoes.Ironically,theraccooncoatwhichDobiegivestoPeteyfortheprivilegeofdatinghisgirl,theraccooncoatwhichDobiedislikesandabhors,istheinstrumentofhisownundoing(毁灭).
美文欣赏及写作特点
Thewholestoryisapieceofnarrationoflight,humoroussatire.Itsthemeisstatedinthetitle:
“Loveisafallacy”,whichcanbeunderstoodintwoways.When“fallacy”istakenliterally,thetitlemeans:
“Loveisdeceptiveordelusive”.Whentakenasaspecificterminlogic,itmeans:
"Lovecannotbededucedfromasetofgivenpremises."Thestoryreachesitsclimaxinparagraphs147-150whenPollyrefusestogosteadywithDobiebecauseshehasalreadypromisedtogosteadywithPeteyButch.Thedenouement(结局)followsrapidlyandendsinaveryironicnote.Dobieignoresthefactthatloveisthesincereattachm
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