Fifth Avenue, Uptown: A Letter From Harlem
James Baldwin
Pre-class work
Pre-reading Questions:
1. How much do you know about the fifth avenue of New Your city?
2. How much do you know about Harlem and what do you think you may find in this area?
3. What do you think the author writes about in this open letter?
II. Lexical Work
1. commission: a body of persons appointed to perform certain duties 处理专门事务的委员会
rel. commissioner: 局长
a governmental official in charge of a department
2. hideous: extremely ugly and unpleasant
rel: dreadful; frightful; ghastly; horrible; horrid; terrible; ugly
3. bleak: cold, bare, and cheerless
冷的, 阴冷的, 荒凉的, 凄凉的
e.g. bleak wind 冷风 bleak region 荒凉的地区
bleak prospect 暗淡的前景
rel. bare; chilly; dismal
4. invincible: undefeatable, unchangeable
rel. impregnable; invulnerable; unbeatable; unconquerable
5. squalor: wretchedness, squalidness, degraded condition; misery n. 肮脏, 邋遢, 贫穷
6. maimed: injured for life
rel. maim: to disable, to impaire
7. hooked: (be) addicted to drugs 对毒品上瘾的
8. niched: placed as in a niche, i.e. a hollow area in a wall
9. at one’s discretion: completely according to one’s own decision
discretion: ability to make responsible decisions
rel. discreet: careful, prudent
10. cynicism: the attitude of a cynic, i.e. one who is contemptuously distrustful of human nature; fault finding; scorn
Diogenes: (412-323B.C.) Greek philosopher who founded the Cynic school of philosophy, stressing self-control and the pursuit of virtue. He is said to have once wandered through the streets of Athens with a lantern, searching for an honest man.
(for more information about Diogenes please see Text 2 of Unit Nine on page 180)
11. earmark: set aside for a particular purpose
n. an identifying feature or characteristic
e.g. a novel with all the earmarks of success
一本融合所有成功特质的小说
12. corralled: driven into an enclosed area (as if he were an animal)
corral : n. an enclosed area where cattle, horses, etc. are kept 畜栏
13. circumspect: prudent; discreet, acting after careful thought
14. shiftless：lazy and lacking the desire to succeed
rel. indolent
15. insuperably: insurmountably; here, incomparably
rel. insuperable
e.g. insuperable odds 不可逾越的差距
16. unnerving: upsetting, discouraging
17. hostile: antagonistic; belonging to an enemy
18. anguish: suffering, agony, despair
19. seep: pass slowly through small openings 渗出, 渗漏
20. callousness: insensitiveness, hardheartedness, indifference
III. Library Work
1. Fifth Avenue is a street in Manhattan, New York City, which runs from north to south. It begins at Washington Square, extends uptown (northward) in a straight line, and ends at the Harlem River, which cuts across 138th Street. Between 34th and 59th Streets (at the southern end of the street), Fifth Avenue is mainly a business section of large department stores and smaller shops; it passes the Empire State Building, the New York Public Library, Rockefeller Center, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. From 59th to 110th Streets, it borders Central Park. At the south and southeast end of the park are elegant hotels and apartment houses. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Guggenheim Museum (古根海姆现代艺术博物馆) are on Fifth Avenue between 70th and 80th streets. North of the park, Fifth Avenue runs through congested Harlem.
2. Harlem is the congested residential and business section of upper (i.e., northern) Manhattan, New York City, bounded roughly by Central Park and 110th Street on the south, the East River and Harlem River on the east, 168th Street and Amsterdam Avenue on the north and Morningside Park on the west. The rapid influx of Blacks to Harlem began in the decade 1910 to 1920. Today, it is the largest Black community in the U.S.A.
Washington Square
