Unit 13 The Light of Depression Teaching plan 综合教程一

Unit 13 The Light of Depression

Pre-reading Activities

I. Pre-reading questions

Why do more and more people seem to suffer from psychological problems nowadays even though they are enjoying a much better-off material life?

II. Cultural information

1. Quotes

W. M. Thackeray: Dare and the world always yields. If it beats you sometimes, dare it again and again and it will succumb.

2. Depression

Some people say that depression feels like a black curtain of despair coming down over their lives. Many people feel like they have no energy and can't concentrate. Others feel irritable all the time for no apparent reason.

Most people who have gone through one episode of depression will, sooner or later, have another one. The symptoms vary from person to person, but if you feel "down" for more than two weeks, and these feelings are interfering with your daily life, you may be clinically depressed.

The common symptoms including:

＊poor concentration and memory

＊withdrawal from social situations and activities

＊an inability to experience pleasure in activities that were formerly enjoyed

＊preoccupied with thoughts and feelings of worthlessness, helplessness, self-hatred, etc.

＊thoughts of death or suicide, etc.

Learning to recognize these early triggers or symptoms and working with your doctor will help to keep the depression from worsening. There are many forms of treatment that can help you cope with depression, including medications, psychotherapy or counseling.

Global Reading

I. Main idea

What is the story narrated in the text about?

This narrative essay narrates and describes an unusual and unforgettable phase of the writer’s life, during which she experienced deep depression, voluntarily received clinical treatment,

conquered the illness in the end, and benefited a great deal from the experiences associated with her suffering.

II. Structural analysis

1. How are the events of the essay arranged?

The narration mostly follows a chronological order, but a few flashbacks are inserted in Paragraph 3 and 6.

2. Work out the structure of the text by completing the table.

Paragraph(s) Main idea

1-3 It provides the background of the story, telling us about the writer and her family and her problem.

4-10 The writer related her experiences with deep depression, including her attitude and reactions to it, focusing on her positive attitude and how she got better and

finally recovered.

11 It describes the writer’s mood and feeling on a moon-lit, starry night, and

stresses that her deep depression had been worth it, for suffering had painted

color into her life, and that she was thankful.

Detailed Reading

Text I The Light of Depression

Paragraphs 1-3

Questions

1. The writer stresses at the very beginning that when her sister was suffering from juvenile diabetes, her father cried bitterly for the first time. When do you think her father cried for the second time? (Paragraph 2)

It is not difficult to infer that the writer’s father cried for the second time when the writer was diagnosed with clinical depression.

2. Would you describe the writer’s personality as a child before she was seized with depression? (Paragraph 3)

As a child, the writer had a great passion for life and enjoyed being alive. The simplest of pleasures brought her great joy. She seldom demonstrated a melancholic personality. Any reason for celebration would find her in great excitement.

Paragraphs 4-10

Questions:

1. Why was the day the writer checked into the hospital considered to be one of the hardest days of her mother’s life?(Paragraph 4)

Leaving her daughter behind at the hospital, the author's mother was seized with extreme

sadness, feeling heart-broken. She wondered why her daughter was experiencing so much pain and couldn’t get over it this time.

2. What is the main idea of Paragraph 6? Illustrate or exemplify it. (Paragraph 6)

Paragraph 6 proves how deep the writer's depression had been before she was admitted into the hospital. While driving home from work before she was ill, she wished that she were n’t alive. When she arrived home, she had hoped to sleep and escape life because it hurt to breathe.

3. Which part in Paragraph 9 is a sentence fragment? Why is it separated from the previous sentence? (Paragraph 9)

"Lives I would have once felt pity for or wanted to distance myself from" is a sentence fragment. It is separated from the foregoing sentence for emphasis.

4. What do you know about other patients from whose worn lives the writer was learning? (Paragraphs 9-10)

They were the ones who possessed strength and courage and had suffered abuse, neglect, addiction and illnesses. They felt misplaced and forgotten. They shared their suffering with the writer. Also, they helped the writer get a truer sense of who she was, see through deception and realize and grasp the truth.

Paragraph 11

Question s

1. What symbolic meaning is conveyed by the bright night described at the end of the text?

The exceptionally bright night with the bright moon and brighter stars symbolizes a cheerful life the writer is enjoying and a very bright future that she could look forward to.

2. Why does the writer say that she could be thankful?

Because her deep depression had been worth it and she benefited a lot from it. The writer had gained a wealth of experience and had been able to look at life in a new light. Suffering had painted color into her life, and rendered her life entirely different.

Further Enhancement

Text II Remaining Positive When Facing a Chronic Illness

Lead-in questions

1. What might the patients with chronic illness suffer?

2. How can one help them?

Notes

1. Mary J. Yerkes is an American award-winning writer, teacher, and speaker, specializing in writing nonfiction articles, stories, and essays for the inspirational and general markets. Known for her dramatic storytelling skills, Mary has earned national recognition for her emotionally-evocative creative nonfiction. Mary was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 1997. She poured her struggles onto the pages of her journal, which finally turned into articles.

2. chronic illness(Paragraph 1): an illness that lasts a long time and is not likely to be cured.

Nearly one in two Americans is said to suffer from chronic illness. Chronic illness breeds physical, emotional and spiritual devastation.

3. But, at some point, the emotions subside and you are faced with a harsh reality – you are no longer the person you once were. (Paragraph 1): But, at one time or another when your feelings become less strong, you are aware of the fact that your illness has seriously affected your thoughts, emotions and personality.

4. Do you even stand a chance of rebuilding a meaningful life? (Paragraph 1): Do you still have an opportunity to recreate a meaningful life?

stand a chance: have an opportunity

e.g. Without your help, I stood the least chance of finishing the task in time.

5. Judy Gann(Paragraph 2): Living in Washington State, Judy serves as Writers Coordinator/ Acquisitions Editor for Rest Ministries, an international support ministry for people with chronic illness and chronic pain. A member of the Christian Authors Network (CAN), she coordinates CAN’s marketing efforts to public libraries. Judy has published several magazine articles and contributed to compilations. In 1988, a severe allergic reaction to medication sever ely impaired Judy’s cognitive abilities. After spending nearly a year bedridden, she returned to work, only to find she’d lost the ability to write even a simple memo. Judy’s dream of writing crumbled. Over the next seven years her cognitive abilities –including writing - gradually improved. Judy Gann’s passion is to offer hope and encouragement through her writing and speaking.

6. fibromyalgia and other autoimmune disorders (Paragraph 2): 纤维肌痛症以及其他自体免疫失调症

7. God has transformed a shy, quiet woman into one who shares His comfort and hope with chronic illness support groups throughout the United States.(Paragraph 3): God has completely changed a shy, quiet woman into one who shares God’s bl essing with all the other Americans that are members of chronic illness support groups.

8. complications (Paragraph 4): A complication is a medical problem or illness that happens while someone is already ill and makes treatment more difficult.

9. Many with chronic illness have rebuilt their lives and have gone on to launch new

ministries, careers and friendships. (Paragraph 6): Many people with chronic illness have resumed their normal life and have started their careers with the government, entered their chosen professions, and made new friends.

10. The key is to keep it in perspective. (Paragraph 7): If you want to live normally again, you

must judge the importance of it correctly.

11. Georgia Shaffer (Paragraph 8): Georgia Shaffer is the author of the award- winning book A

Gift of Mourning Glories – Restoring Your Life after Loss and the producer of the syndicated radio feature The Mourning Glory Minute. Georgia is a licensed Psychologist in Pennsylvania and a Professional Coach working with leaders and communicators nationwide.

12. … her husband walked out on her. (Paragraph 9): … her husband deserted her, went away

and lived somewhere else.

13. After piecing her shattered life back together, … (Paragraph 9): After her upset life went

back to normal, …

14. Rebuilding your life requires that you explore unchartered territory. Sure, it might be

scary to head back to college at age 35, but why not give it a shot?(Paragraph 12):

Leading a normal life again requires that you explore your new life. Of course, it might be frightening to go back to college at age 35, but why not try to do it?

15. Few things are more draining than dysfunctional relationships. (Paragraph 13): Nothing

can be more exhausting than having an unhealthy relationship with others.

16. Learn to choose between our physical and emotional resources will limit your choices.

(Paragraph 15): Learn to determine who and what helps you when you are in need of it.

Being physically weak and deprived of joy and purpose in life will stop you from making a right decision.

17. Volunteering builds self-esteem, contributes to feelings of value and worth, helps

overcome social isolation and gives you a sense of belonging. (Paragraph 18): Being willing to help brings you praise and respect from others, enables you to feel important and worthwhile, helps you to actively participate in social activities and makes you feel happy and comfortable.

Questions for discussion

1. How do some people suffering from chronic illness feel about themselves?

2. Why does the writer quote the cases of Judy and Mari?

3. How can people with chronic illness make their life transition easier?

4. What is the social need that people with chronic illness should satisfy for rebuilding their lives?

5. According to the passage, how can people with chronic illness return to normal, productive lives?

Key to Questions for discussion

1. Chronic illness may seriously affect a person’s thoughts, emotions, personality, or behavior. Some people with chronic illness often experience pessimistic feelings. They may interpret a minor failing on their part as a sign of incompetence or minor criticism as condemnation.

2. The writer quotes the cases of a breast cancer survivor and a Type 1 Diabetes patient to give emphasis to her argument that people with chronic illness can rebuild a meaningful life.

3. Chronic illness lasts a long time and cannot be cured. Therefore, people with chronic illness must be prepared for a long period of supervision, observation and treatment, and realize the importance of rebuilding their lives. They can also learn from other sufferers to deal with their own problems.

4. It is the need to interact socially and be accepted by those whose opinions and friendship they value. Pleasant relations with co-workers and active participation in social and professional activities with family and friends satisfy it.

5. They need to learn how to change their thinking patterns to deal with the psychological and social consequences of their illnesses. They need to eliminate negative and undesirable thoughts and actively participate in social activities to a normal level of functioning.

II. Memorable Quotes

What should be the attitudes towards hardships suggested by the following quotes?

Guidance: Sometimes we hurt. Sometimes our hearts ache. Sometimes we cry out in pain. In the

quest to heal and recover from the hurts that are part of life, reasons might not make sense during periods of intense pain and suffering, and yet when given time and compassion, the sorrow would somehow lessen in intensity.

Marcel Proust (1871 –1922) was a French novelist, critic and essayist and best known for his monumental In Search of Lost Time.

Vittorio Alfieri (1749–1803) was an Italian dramatist, considered the "founder of Italian tragedy."

1. We are healed of a suffering by experiencing it to the full. – Marcel Proust Paraphrase: We could recover from the hurt by experiencing it to the greatest extent.

be healed of: (heal sb. of sth.) be made happy again, be cured of illness (formal)

e.g. She was healed of loneliness by his love.

2. Oft times the test of courage becomes rather to live than to die. – Alfieri Paraphrase:Often it takes more courage to live than to die.

Rather … than: used for expressing preference of sth. instead of sth. Structures in parallel are used after rather and than.

e.g. It was made shorter rather than longer.

I decided to write rather than (to) telephone.