NONVERBAL HUMOR
Do you find it funny to see
someone sliding on a banana skin, bumping into someone else round a corner, or
falling down a hole in the road? If you do, you are not alone. Some humor can
be cruel but some people seem to enjoy seeing other people’s bad luck at times
.Perhaps it makes us feel more content with our life because we feel there is
someone else worse off than ourselves.
However, some actors can
astonish us with the deep feelings they can inspire in us for a character they
are playing. Charlie Chaplin was just such an actor. He was born in poverty in
1889 and at that time films were silent. He became famous for using a
particular form of acting, including mime and farce. His entertaining silent
movies are still popular today. His charming character The Little Tramp is well
known throughout the world. He played a poor and homeless person, who wore
large trousers, worn-out shoes and a small round black hat and carried a
walking stick.. This character was social failure but he was loved by all who
watched the films for his determination in overcoming difficulties and being
kind even when people were unkind to him.
So how did he make a sad situation
entertaining? Imagine you are hungry and all there is to eat is a boiled shoe.
How would you make eating a boiled shoe funny? That was the problem facing
Charlie Chaplin in one of his most famous films The Gold Rush. He solved it by
using nonverbal humor and this is how it was done.
The film is set in California
in the middle of the nineteenth century when gold was discovered and thousands
of people rushed there in search of it. In the film, Chaplin and his friend are
in California, too. Their job is “panning for gold”. They wash sand from the
river in a pan of water, and expect to pick up gold , but they have been not
fortunate enough to find any. Instead they are caught on the edge of a mountain
in a snowstorm in a small wooden house, where they have nothing to eat. They
are so hungry that they have to boil a pair of leather shoes in a pan and eat
it. Chaplin sits down at the table with his plate and drinking cup. First he
picks out the laces and eats them as if they were spaghetti. Then he cuts off the
leather top of the shoe, treating it as if it were the finest meat. Finally he
tries cutting and eating the bottom of the shoe .You can imagine how difficult
it is to chew, but he seems to eat every mouthful with great enjoyment. He
makes it seem as if it were one of the best meals he has ever had! How hungry
would you have to be to eat a shoe?
Chaplin produced, directed, and
wrote the movies he starred in. In 1972 he was given a special Oscar for his
lifetime outstanding work. He lived the last years of his life in Switzerland,
where he was buried in 1977.
Reading
comprehension:
1.
Do some people seem to enjoy seeing other people’s bad luck at
times? Why?
2.
Why did Charlie Chaplin become famous?
3.
How did he make eating a boiled shoe funny? First….then…..finally…..
4.
Is the film The Golden Rush set in California in the early of the 19th century when gold
was discovered? If not, when?
5.
When was he given a special Oscar for his lifetime outstanding
work and where did he lived his last years of his life?
Language
points:
1.
Do you find it funny to see someone sliding on a
banana skin, bumping into someone else round a corner, or falling down a
hole in the road?
find it ……to do 发现做(某事)很难
eg. They found it impossible to keep doing it regularly.
bump into 撞上，巧遇，邂逅
eg. The two cars bumped into each other.
Mary was shopping when she suddenly bumped into her old friend Jane.
2.
Perhaps it makes us feel more content with our life because we
feel there is someone else worse off than ourselves.
feel (be) content with 对……感到满意
eg. People should be content with what they have.
worse off 境况更差
eg. I went to his home and found his living conditions were worse off
than mine.
3.
The character was a social failure but he was loved by all who
watched the films for his determination in overcoming difficulties and being
kind even when people were unkind to him.
failure 失败，失败者，未生产
eg. Their
experiment ended in failure.
As a musician he was a complete failure.
The dry weather caused crop failure.
overcome
difficulties克服困难
4. The film is set in
California in the middle of the nineteenth century when gold was discovered and
thousands of people rushed there in search of it.
Be set in…… 以….为背景
In search
of 寻找
Eg. He set
off in search of his missing dog.
He looked around as if in search of something.
5. mouthful 一口 -ful 是一个后缀，加在名词之前，表示“充满的”的意思。
eg.
He took a mouthful of the bitter medicine and made a face.
I felt so full that I couldn’t eat another mouthful.
联系并猜测：Handful, cupful, dishful,
spoonful, houseful, armful
6.
star主演
eg.
The director wants to star Jim in his new film.
She has starred in a lot of good films.
Keys: