Transcript Advanced English

Unit 10
The Trial That
Rocked the
World
John Scopes
Teaching Points
I. Background information
II. Text analysis
III. Introduction to the text
IV. Rhetorical devices
V. Questions for discussion
I. Background Information
Charles Darwin & his The Origin of
Species
The trial
The Person involved in the trial
1. Charles Darwin & The Origin of
Species
 (1809-1882) British, world famous
naturalist and bilogist
 Originator of the theory of man’s
evolution by natural selection
 Work: origin of species, descent of man
The process of natural selection
 “As many more individuals
of each species are born
than can possibly survive,
and as, consequently, there
is a frequently recurring
struggle for existence, it
follows that any being, if it
vary however slightly in any
manner profitable to itself,
under the complex and
sometimes varying
conditions of life, will have
abetter chance of surviving,
and thus be naturally
selected. From the strong
principle of inheritance, any
selected variety will tend to
propagate its new and
modified form.”
The Trial
 John Thomas Scopes
came to Tennessee fresh
out of college. In the
spring of 1925, he had
just completed his first
year as science teacher
and part-time football
coach at the high school
in the little town of
Dayton. Scopes planned
to return home to
Kentucky for the summer.
But in his words, "a
beautiful blonde"
distracted him and he
stayed for another week
hoping for a date. The
decision changed his life
forever.
The people involved
 i. John Scope:the
last surviving
principal of the
 famous Tennessee
“Monkey Trial” of
1925. The man
 whose name became
synonymous with the
teaching of evolution
in American schools.
 ii. Clarence Darrow(18571938): American lawyer.
 He acted professionally
in many cases against
monopolies or on the
side of labor;he pleaded
for the Negro defendants
in the Scottsboro trial
(1932).
 He was also the president
of the American League
to abolish Capital
Punishment
 iii. William Jennings Bryan
(1860 1925);American leader,
editor, and popular lecturer;
three times a nominee for
the
 presidency of the
US.,Secretary of State (1901 1913). Just before his death
(1925) Bryan
 figured as one of the
prosecuting attorneys and a
state’s witness against the
teaching of
 Darwinian evolution in the
famed Scopes trial held at
Dayton, Tennessee.
II. Text analysis
 Part I. A lead-in (para 1)
 A packed court on a sweltering July day in
1925,all the three main characters are present:
John Scopes,
 Darrow and Bryan.
 Part II. A flashback(paras2-9)
 The reason why I was brought to court:
1)Teaching Darwin’s evolution in American
schools.2) Fundamentalism was strong in
Tennessee
 Part III. The process of the Trial (paras10-43)
 The debate between the two sides--wentthrough several stages:
III. Introduction to the text
What is the main idea of the text?
Analyzing the title: The trial that
rocked the world?
Where, what , who
For
your
reference
The conflict between…
The trial:
State VS John Scope
fundamentalists VS the modernists
 The fundamentalists:
They adhered to a literal interpretation of
the
Old Testament.
 The modernists:
They accepted the theory advanced by
Charles Darwin – that all animal life,
including monkeys and men, had
evolved from a common ancestor.
Defendant :
John Scopes:
an unknown school-teacher
(science master
and football coach) at the
secondary school in
Dayton before the trial. He taught
biology using Hunter’s Civic
Biology.
The counsel for John Scopes’
defence:

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


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Clarence Darrow:
the famous criminal lawyer, well prepared and
quite sure of himself (L.13); shrewd, 68-year-old
(L.58); an agnostic
Dudley Field Malone:
handsome and magnetic; a Catholic (L.61)
Arthur Garfield Hays:
quiet, scholarly and steeped in the law; a Jew
The counsel for the prosecution:
 William Jennings Bryan:
 the silver-tongued orator, three times
 Democratic nominee for President of the
U.S., leader of the fundamentalist
movement; ageing, paunchy (L.55)
 Tom Stewart:
 Bryan’s son, a lawyer, Tennessee’s
brilliant young attorney-general
Tennessee vs. John Scopes
The “Monkey Trial” --1925
Clarence Darrow and William
Jennings Bryan during the trial

II. Introduction to the Passage
Type of literature:
-- a piece of objective description
Introduction to the Passage
 The purpose of a piece of objective
description:
---to record and reproduce a true
picture with opinions and emotions
of the author excluded
Introduction to the Passage
 Ways of developing a piece of
objective description:
 ---to begin with a brief general
picture, divide the object into parts
and organize the detailed
description in order of space
IV . Rhetorical Devices
1.
2.
3.
4.
hyperbole
transferred epithet
synecdoche
ridicule
V. Questions for Discussion
 1. How much do you know about the
author from this article?
 2. What do you think of the struggles
between fundamentalists and
modernists?
 3. Why was so much attention paid to
this trial in an out-of-the-way small town
in the U.S.?
 4. Try to elaborate the views of Darrow
and Malone and that of Bryan’s.
 5. What have you learned about the Bible?