老人与海

老人与海1000字论文

浙江万里学院外语学院英语系综合英语研习作业

浙江万里学院外语学院

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读书报告题目 The Old Man and the Sea

2014 年 05 月 20 日

老人与海1000字论文

浙江万里学院外语学院英语系综合英语研习作业

The Old Man and the Sea

I. Introduction

The Old Man and the Sea is a novel written by the American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Cuba, and published in 1952. It was the last major work of fiction to be produced by Hemingway and published in his lifetime. One of his most famous works, it centers upon Santiago, an aging fisherman who struggles with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. The Old Man and the Sea was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 and was cited by the Nobel Committee as contributing to the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to Hemingway in 1954.

Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899-July 2, 1961) was an American writer and journalist. He was part of the 1920s expatriate community in Pairs, and one of the veterans of World War I later known as “the Lost Generation.” He received the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for The Old Man and the Sea and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. Hemingway settled in Cuba during 1939 to 1960 and said he was “ordinary Cubans.” After the success of the Cuban revolution, however, his emotional life is very complicated. He had fourth marriages through his whole life with the unrest and painful emotional life. Hemingway wrote during the period famous masterpiece The Old Man and the Sea. And his distinctive writing style is characterized by economy and understatement, and had a significant influence on the development of twentieth-century fiction writing. His protagonists are typically stoical men who exhibit an ideal described as “grace pressure”. Many of his works are now considered classics of American literature.

II. The Story or A Summary of the Book

The background of the story The old man and the sea is in the twentieth Century Cuba. In this book, there are two important people, one is the old fish man called Santiago and the other is the little boy called Manolin. In a sense, they are more like a close friend and take care of each other. And the hero is the old fisherman Santiago who is fishing for eighty-four days without a fish and almost starving to death. For this reason, Manolin’s parents don’t let him follow the old man who is unlucky. However, the old man refuses to admit the defeat and never give up. In his inner heart, he believes that he can get a big fish with many years

老人与海1000字论文

浙江万里学院外语学院英语系综合英语研习作业

experience. Thus, he is filling of fighting spirit in everyday and finally in eighty-fifth days his luck finally comes. He catches a large marlin with eighteen feet which has one thousand and five hundred pounds. The vessel is towed by the marlin to the deep sea and the old man still pulled tightly. He never loses heart, even if there has no water to drink, no food to eat, no weapons to guard him, no assistant to help him. After two days, he finally kills the big fish and then tied it to the vessel which attract many small sharks immediately come to rob his booty. He kills them one by one. At last, he only has a broken tiller as a weapon to guard him and his booty. The result is that the marlin still will not escape the fate being eaten by other fishes. Thus, the old man is completely tired and exhausted carrying the fish bones. The old man finally comes back after sailing out for so far and so long a time. It was deep in the night; he left the skiff and the fish and went to bed. In his dream, he saw lions playing on the beach in the coast of Africa. The story ended.

III. Comments or My Views on the Book

Hemingway is famous for his special writing style and skills. In this book The Ola Man and the Sea, his words are short but tough and people describe it as “telegraph style”. And from this typical work, we can easily find out something worth noticing. For example, the first paragraph of this book attracts me most, because it reads so natural and attracting. Some features can be seen that verbs and nouns are used mostly, but not adjectives. This will make the novel clean and easy to understand. Thus, it will lead you into the situation as soon as possible.

Nowadays, many people may be confused on the true sense of our lives. Some people even think that possessing a lot of money and having a rich life is their so-called true meaning of life. Maybe so do I at first. However, after reading the novel, I am shocked by the spirit of the old man. Although we cannot deny that Santiago is an old and poor fisher, the more important matter is that he is a mighty man. The reason is that he has a brave and benevolent heart, a firm belief and a strong spirit. Santiago is setting an excellent example for us when we meet the hardships. So in our daily life, we may be tiny, but our thought、heart and soul should become powerful.

As for me, I have a warm family to live comfortably and I can get everything what I want. In my life, parents like a big tree and I have been well protected by them. When getting

老人与海1000字论文

浙江万里学院外语学院英语系综合英语研习作业

bad grades or be criticized by others, I cannot accept it and I give up immediately. At that moment, I think that I am a failure, so I eager to avoid doing anything and meeting any person. But comparing with the old man, I am deeply ashamed of my behavior. As we all know, the old man used his old body and strong mind to fight against the nature and all unlucky thing. Although he wins the fish bones at last, he has a great zest for life. He behaves like a real man, a tough man. It is impressed me most and the old man’s positive attitude of life will always courage me.

We can be a spiritual victory when we face the invincible nature. Maybe the result is a failure, but in the process of struggle, we can see a person how to be a great man. In some words, we can learn to be tough like the old man when facing with hard times in our life, which is the best solution we should choose in a bad situation.