1148504蒋蕾蕾第二次作业——台词赏析

The joy luck club
1.
The old woman remembered a swan she had bought many years ago in shanghai for a foolish sum. “This bird,” boasted the market vendor, “was once a duck that stretched its neck in hopes of becoming a goose. “And now look, it is too beautiful to eat.” Then the woman and the swan sailed across an ocean many thousands of li wide, stretching their necks toward America. On her journey, she cooed to the swan “in America I will have a daughter just like me. But over there, nobody will say her worth is measured by the loudness of her father’s belch. Over there, nobody will look down on her because I will make her speak only perfect American English. And over there, she will always be too full to swallow any sorrow. She will know my meaning because I will give her this swan, a creature that became more than what was hoped for.
Comments:
It’s an voice-over and also the beginning part of the film, showing a picture where a woman is holding a swan and heading for a new country which stands for hopes and dreams. One may wonder what will happen when reading this, and also, when one finishes the film, he will think about the inner meaning of the SWAN and the dream of the mother.


2.
“she bring home too many trophy. All day she play chess. All day I have no time do nothing but dust off her winnings. You lucky you don’t have this problem.”

“our problem worser than yours. If we ask Jing-mei wash dish, she hear nothing but music. It’s like you can’t stop this natural talent.”
Comment: there are many grammar mistakes, but it’s very real. The two ladies came from China and their English were kind of Chiglish. When we were writing or speaking, I don’t think it’s very necessary to focus on the Standard English, for different characters need different styles of language speaking.

第一部分应该说是人物内心的独白，但又经过加工被展现出来，stretched its neck in hopes of becoming a goose和stretching their necks toward America这个表达非常好，就像以前精读课文Message of the land里 in a bad year, it's not only the ploughs that break but our hearts, too.一样，还有she will always be too full to swallow any sorrow.中swallow的使用，和龚炫衣作业里面那个swallow your anger属于异曲同工。第二部分就和我们课上说的一样，对话在真实和可读性之间有一个平衡，这里应该是作者有意而为之，也比较符合人物的背景。