Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS an analysis of clause expansion in two thanksgiving day gentlemen based on systemic functional grammar and suggestions for teaching writing

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THUỲ LINH AN ANALYSIS OF CLAUSE EXPANSION IN ‘TWO THANKSGIVING DAY GENTLEMEN’ BASED ON SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR AND SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING WRITING Phân tích cú mở rộng tác phẩm ‘Hai quý ông ngày Lễ Tạ ơn’ dựa quan điểm Ngữ pháp Chức Hệ thống số gợi ý giảng dạy viết M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS CODE: 60 22 15 HA NOI - 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THUỲ LINH AN ANALYSIS OF CLAUSE EXPANSION IN ‘TWO THANKSGIVING DAY GENTLEMEN’ BASED ON SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR AND SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING WRITING Phân tích cú mở rộng tác phẩm ‘Hai quý ông ngày Lễ Tạ ơn’ dựa quan điểm Ngữ pháp Chức Hệ thống số gợi ý giảng dạy viết M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS CODE: 60 22 15 SUPERVISOR: PHẠM THỊ THANH THUỶ, M.A HA NOI - 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgement i Table of Contents ii Chapter I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Scope of the study 1.4 Methods of the study 1.5 Design of the study Chapter II: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 O‘ Henry and his work 2.1.1 O‘ Henry 2.1.2 O‘ Henry‗s stories 2.1.3 Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen 10 2.2 Systemic Functional Grammar & Clause 11 2.2.1 Systemic Functional Grammar & Its Three Metafunctions 11 2.2.2 Clause 14 2.3 Above the Clause: the Clause Complex 14 2.3.1 Clause Complex and Sentence 14 2.3.2 Parataxis and Hypotaxis 15 2.3.3 Projection and Expansion 16 a Expansion 16 b Projection 18 2.4 Summary 18 Chapter III: EXPANSION IN “TWO THANKSGIVING DAY GENTLEMEN” AND SOME SUGGESTIONS IN TEACHING WRITING 3.1 Expansion in ―Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen‖ by O‘Henry 20 3.1.1 Clause Complexes in ‗Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen‘ 20 3.1.2 Expansion in ‗Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen‘ 21 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 3.1.3 Conjunctions for Expansion in ‗Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen‘ 32 3.2 Some Suggestions for Teaching Writing 36 Chapter IV: CONCLUSION 4.1 Recapitulation 41 4.2 Limitations of the study and Suggestions for Further Research 41 REFERENCES 43 APPENDIX I APPENDIX VI APPENDIX XI LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the Study The world has seemed to become smaller and smaller together with the process of globalization which is considered natural People around the world need to know one common language to communicate and that language now is obviously English English has been used as an international language - a tool for numerous economic, cultural and social activities worldwide Realizing the importance of the language, English has been put in Vietnamese schools for a long time With this action, the movement of learning English has been blooming in all areas of the country, from the North to the South However, it seems that in primary and high schools, more attention has been paid on grammar and reading skill than on any other ones such as writing, speaking and listening Fortunately, learners have recently paid more attention to speaking and listening because they need these two to communicate well Then, how about their writing skill? As an instructor at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Thai Nguyen University, I was many times disappointed when receiving students‘ writings with simple errors A majority of these errors are not grammatical ones This means students not meet many difficulties with tenses or structures of noun phrases, verb phrases or prepositional phrase Most of their mistakes lie on higher structures Many of them are confused about relations between clauses: how to connect them together, whether it should be one sentence with one clause or one sentence with two clause, etc The thought of providing a theoretical framework for instructors and first year students to apply into studying writing skill is the main reason for this paper The story ―Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen‖ by O Henry is chosen to analyze Any stories can be the material for analyzing, but I find this one particularly interesting so I choose it for the thesis Students can take O Henry‘s way of writing as example to compare and correct their own writings (especially the ways to connect clauses in one sentence) LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com O Henry is a well-known American writer to Vietnamese Many people have read his famous short story – The Last Leaf Personally, I am interested in his stories not only because of the simple way of writing, surprising endings but also because of the humanity that we can sense through them ―Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen‖ is really a moving short story which is worth reading That is the reason why the story is chosen in this analysis but not others 1.2 Aims of the Study Within the framework of a minor M.A thesis, the study attempts to: - provide an overview of O.Henry and his work; - re-examine some of the most important issues related to Functional Grammar; - analyze the case of expansion in the story ―Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen‖ by O Henry; - offer some suggestions for teaching writing clause complex for first year students at Thai Nguyen Faculty of Foreign Languages 1.3 Scope of the Study This study is hoped to help students improve their writing skills It seems to be a very big challenge Thus, in order to make the task manageable in keeping with the aims of the paper, there are some limitations: - Only issues relating to clause complex are taken into consideration because students often make mistakes with these - The approach of grammar used to analyze in the paper is Systemic Functional Grammar developed by M.A.K Halliday because of its clear system and easiness to understand as applied into the analysis - Only one short story of O Henry, Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen, is discussed due to the time constraints, knowledge restriction, and also the scope of an M.A thesis - Students mentioned in the study are all first year ones from Faculty of Foreign Languages of Thai Nguyen University LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1.4 Methods of the Study As the title of this the study has suggested, the following steps should be taken so as to make full analysis of the research paper Firstly, the original of ―Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen‖ by O Henry will be searched on some famous and reliable websites for reading There are some versions from Bookworm or A Ladder Edition, in which the story was re-written in simpler ways to meet with different reading levels of readers However, in this paper we would analyze the original one by O Henry through which his ways of writing complex clauses can be seen better Secondly, related issues such as Systemic Functional Grammar, Clause and especially notions about Clause Complex in the light of Functional Grammar will be made clear This would make it easier for readers to understand when the analysis of the story is shown Thirdly, ―Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen‖ will be analyzed in order to see what kind of expansion and what devices to connect clauses the author used in his writing Finally, the results of the analysis and difficulties in studying writing of first year students will be discussed in details to come to the suggestions about teaching writing for students in Faculty of Foreign Languages of Thai Nguyen University In order to achieve the goals of the study, two successive methods will be applied for better research results They are descriptive and analytical The general research methodology adopted in the paper is inductive Design of the Study This thesis is designed in five chapters Chapter one, Introduction, presents the rationale for choosing the topic, the aims, scope of the study and methods to be applied in the paper Chapter two, Theoretical Background, provides a careful examination of the fundamental, theoretical concepts and necessary knowledge as those about the author O‘ Henry, issues about Systemic Functional Grammar, Clause Complex, which are relevant to the purposes of this study LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Entitled Expansion in “Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen” and Suggestions in Teaching Writing, chapter three, which is the focus of the study, is aimed at describing the ways clauses are linked in a sentence This part is further divided into three sections Each section describes one aspect of expansion found in the stories After analyzing cases of expansion found, some suggestions for teaching writing for first year students are given out, applying expansion relationship The last chapter, Conclusion, is set up to summarize the whole paper and provide some suggestions for further research LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 O Henry and his work 2.1.1 O Henry O Henry was the penname of William Sidney Porter who was born on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina His middle name at birth was Sidney; he changed the spelling to Sydney in 1898 His parents were Dr Algernon Sidney Porter (1825–1888), a physician, and Mary Jane Virginia Swaim Porter (1833–1865) They were married April 20, 1858 When William was three, his mother died from tuberculosis, so he and his father moved into the home of his paternal grandmother As a child, Porter was always reading He read everything from classics to dime novels His favorite work was One Thousand and One Nights Porter graduated from his aunt Evelina Maria Porter's elementary school in 1876 He then enrolled at the Lindsey Street High School His aunt continued to tutor him until he was fifteen In 1879, he started working in his uncle's drugstore and in 1881, at the age of nineteen, he was licensed as a pharmacist At the drugstore, he also showed off his natural artistic talents by sketching the townsfolk Porter traveled with Dr James K Hall to Texas in March 1882, hoping that a change of air would help alleviate a persistent cough he had developed He took up residence on the sheep ranch of Richard Hall, James' son, in La Salle County and helped out as a shepherd, ranch hand, cook and baby-sitter While on the ranch, he learned bits of Spanish and German from the mix of immigrant ranch hands He also spent time reading classic literature Porter's health did improve and he traveled with Richard to Austin in 1884, where he decided to remain and was welcomed into the home of the Harrells, who were friends of Richard's Porter took a number of different jobs over the next several years, first as pharmacist then as a draftsman, bank teller and journalist He also began writing as a sideline Porter led an active social life in Austin, including membership in singing and drama groups Porter was a good singer and musician He played both the guitar and mandolin He became a member of the "Hill City Quartet," a group of young men who sang at gatherings and serenaded young women of the town Porter met and began courting LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Athol Estes, who was seventeen years old and from a wealthy family Her mother objected to the match because Athol was ill, suffering from tuberculosis On July 1, 1887, Porter eloped with Athol to the home of Reverend R K Smoot, where they were married The couple continued to participate in musical and theater groups, and Athol encouraged her husband to pursue his writing Athol gave birth to a son in 1888, who died hours after birth, and then a daughter, Margaret Worth Porter, in September 1889 Porter's friend Richard Hall became Texas Land Commissioner and offered Porter a job Porter started as a draftsman at the Texas General Land Office (GLO) in 1887 at a salary of $100 a month, drawing maps from surveys and field notes The salary was enough to support his family, but he continued his contributions to magazines and newspapers In the GLO building, he began developing characters and plots for such stories as "Georgia's Ruling" (1900), and "Buried Treasure" (1908) The castle-like building he worked in was even woven into some of his tales such as "Bexar Scrip No 2692" (1894) His job at the GLO was a political appointment by Hall Hall ran for governor in the election of 1890 but lost Porter resigned in early 1891 when the new governor was sworn in In the same year, Porter began working at the First National Bank of Austin as a teller and bookkeeper at the same salary he had made at the GLO The bank was operated informally and Porter had trouble keeping track of his books In 1894, he was accused by the bank of embezzlement and lost his job but was not indicted He then worked full time on his humorous weekly called The Rolling Stone, which he started while working at the bank The Rolling Stone featured satire on life, people and politics and included Porter's short stories and sketches Although eventually reaching a top circulation of 1500, The Rolling Stone failed in April 1895, perhaps because of Porter's poking fun at powerful people Porter also may have ceased publication as the paper never provided the money he needed to support his family By then, his writing and drawings caught the attention of the editor at the Houston Post Porter and his family moved to Houston in 1895, where he started writing for the Post His salary was only $25 a month, but it rose steadily as his popularity increased Porter gathered ideas for his column by hanging out in hotel lobbies and observing and talking to people there This was a technique he used throughout his writing career While he was in Houston, the First National Bank of Austin was audited and the federal auditors found several discrepancies They managed to get a federal indictment against Porter LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com REFERENCES Anh, Tôn Nữ Thục & Huy, Nguyễn Văn (Ed.) (2002) Functional Grammar Huế: Trung tâm Biên soạn Phát hành Tài liệu dạy học Đại Học Huế Ca, Trần Hữu (1999) Themes in English and Vietnamese: A Systemic Functional Comparison – M.A.Thesis Hà Nội: College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, Hanoi Cambridge Advanced Learner Dictionary (3rd ed.) (2008) Cambridge: CUP Chamberlain, E (Ed.) (1994) O Henry’s American Scenes Washington D.C: A Ladder Edition Downing, A., & Locke, P (1995) A University Course in English Grammar (2nd ed.) Hertfordshire: Phoenix ELT Eggins, S (2004) Systemic Functional Linguistics (2nd ed.) Retrieved March 15, 2010 from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=sS7UXugIIg8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR13&d q=systemic+functional+grammar&ots=x9ttSrUy_e&sig=qwtoJ3QwtqcZaqOyKoteN6 1IZ4A#v=onepage&q=systemic%20functional%20grammar&f=false Fitzpatrick, M (2005) Engaging Writing: Paragraphs and Essays New York: Pearson Education Halliday, M.A.K (1994) An Introduction to Functional Grammar (2nd ed.) London: Edward Arnold Lộc, Dương Văn (2001) Research Paper as a Genre in English and Vietnamese: A Systemic Functional Comparison – M.A.Thesis Hà Nội: College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, Hanoi 10 O Henry Retrieved March 04, 2010 from http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._Henry 11 Oshima, A & Hogue, A (2003) Writing Academic English (3rd ed.) New York: Addison Wesley Longman 12 Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary (7th ed.) (2005) Oxford: OUP LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 13 Phượng, Nguyễn Thị Kim (2003) Mental Process in English and Vietnamese: A Systemic Functional Comparison – M.A.Thesis Hà Nội: College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, Hanoi 14 Systemic Functional Grammar Retrieved March 10, 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemic_functional_grammar 15 Thompson, G (1996) Introducing Functional Grammar London: Arnold 16 Trí, Nguyễn Minh (2000) Finite Clauses as Circumstantials in English and Vietnamese Clause Complex – M.A.Thesis Hà Nội: College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, Hanoi 17 Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen Retrieved February 27, 2010 from February 27, 2010 from http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/2020 18 Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen Retrieved http://www.literaturecollection.com/a/o_henry/211/ 19 Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen Retrieved February 27, 2010 from http://www.readprint.com/work-3810/Two-Thanksgiving-Day-Gentlemen-O-Henry 20 Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen Retrieved February 27, 2010 from http://www.online-literature.com/o_henry/2831/ 21 Vân, Hoàng Văn (Ed.) (2004) Dẫn luận Ngữ pháp Chức Hà Nội: Nhà Xuất Bản Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội 22 Vân, Hoàng Văn (2006), Introducing Discourse Analysis Hà Nội: Nhà Xuất Bản Giáo Dục LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX 1: ANALYSIS OF “TWO THANKSGIVING DAY GENTLEMEN” INTO CLAUSE COMPLEXES There is one day that is ours (1) There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to (2) Bless the day President Roosevelt gives it to us We hear some talk of the Puritans, but don't just remember who they were (3) Bet we can lick 'em, anyhow, if they try to land again (4) Plymouth Rocks? Well, that sounds more familiar Lots of us have had to come down to hens since the Turkey Trust got its work in (5) But somebody in Washington is leaking out advance information to 'em about these Thanksgiving proclamations The big city east of the cranberry bogs has made Thanksgiving Day an institution The last Thursday in November is the only day in the year on which it recognizes the part of America lying across the ferries (6) It is the one day that is purely American (7) Yes, a day of celebration, exclusively American And now for the story which is to prove to you that we have traditions on this side of the ocean that are becoming older at a much rapider rate than those of England are-thanks to our git-up and enterprise (8) Stuffy Pete took his seat on the third bench to the right as you enter Union Square from the east, at the walk opposite the fountain (9) Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years he had taken his seat there promptly at o'clock For every time he had done so things had happened to him Charles Dickensy things that swelled his waistcoat above his heart, and equally on the other side (10) But to-day Stuffy Pete's appearance at the annual trysting place seemed to have been rather the result of habit than of the yearly hunger which, as the philanthropists seem to think, afflicts the poor at such extended intervals (11) Certainly Pete was not hungry He had just come from a feast that had left him of his powers barely those of respiration and locomotion (12) His eyes were like two pale gooseberries firmly imbedded in a swollen and gravy-smeared mask of putty (13) His LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com breath came in short wheezes; a senatorial roll of adipose tissue denied a fashionable set to his upturned coat collar (14) Buttons that had been sewed upon his clothes by kind Salvation fingers a week before flew like popcorn; strewing the earth around him (15) Ragged he was, with a split shirt front open to the wishbone; but the November breeze, carrying fine snowflakes, brought him only a grateful coolness (16) For Stuffy Pete was overcharged with the caloric produced by a super bountiful dinner, beginning with oysters and ending with plum pudding, and including (it seemed to him) all the roast turkey and baked potatoes and chicken salad and squash pie and ice cream in the world (17) Wherefore he sat, gorged, and gazed upon the world with after-dinner contempt (18) The meal had been an unexpected one He was passing a red brick mansion near the beginning of Fifth avenue, in which lived two old ladies of ancient family and a reverence for traditions (19) They even denied the existence of New York, and believed that Thanksgiving Day was declared solely for Washington Square (20) One of their traditional habits was to station a servant at the postern gate with orders to admit the first hungry wayfarer that came along after the hour of noon had struck, and banquet him to a finish (21) Stuffy Pete happened to pass by on his way to the park, and the seneschals gathered him in and upheld the custom of the castle (22) After Stuffy Pete had gazed straight before him for ten minutes he was conscious of a desire for a more varied field of vision (23) With a tremendous effort he moved his head slowly to the left And then his eyes bulged out fearfully, and his breath ceased, and the rough-shod ends of his short legs wriggled and rustled on the gravel (24) For the Old Gentleman was coming across Fourth avenue toward his bench Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years the Old Gentleman had come there and found Stuffy Pete on his bench (25) That was a thing that the Old Gentleman was trying to make a tradition of (26) Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years he had found Stuffy there, and had led him to a restaurant and watched him eat a big dinner (27) They those things in England unconsciously But this is a young country, and nine years is not so bad (28) The Old Gentleman was a staunch American patriot, and considered himself a pioneer in American tradition (29) In order to become picturesque we must keep on doing one thing for a long time without ever letting it get away from us (30) Something like collecting the weekly dimes in industrial insurance Or cleaning the streets LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com The Old Gentleman moved, straight and stately, toward the Institution that he was rearing (31) Truly, the annual feeling of Stuffy Pete was nothing national in its character, such as the Magna Charta or jam for breakfast was in England (32) But it was a step It was almost feudal It showed, at least, that a Custom was not impossible to New Y ahem!-America (33) The Old Gentleman was thin and tall and sixty He was dressed all in black, and wore the old-fashioned kind of glasses that won't stay on your nose (34) His hair was whiter and thinner than it had been last year, and he seemed to make more use of his big, knobby cane with the crooked handle (35) As his established benefactor came up Stuffy wheezed and shuddered like some woman's over-fat pug when a street dog bristles up at him (36) He would have flown, but all the skill of Santos-Dumont could not have separated him from his bench (37) Well had the myrmidons of the two old ladies done their work "Good morning," said the Old Gentleman (38) "I am glad to perceive that the vicissitudes of another year have spared you to move in health about the beautiful world (39) For that blessing alone this day of thanksgiving is well proclaimed to each of us If you will come with me, my man, I will provide you with a dinner that should make your physical being accord with the mental (40)." That is what the old Gentleman said every time (41) Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years The words themselves almost formed an Institution Nothing could be compared with them except the Declaration of Independence Always before they had been music in Stuffy's ears But now he looked up at the Old Gentleman's face with tearful agony in his own The fine snow almost sizzled when it fell upon his perspiring brow (42) But the Old Gentleman shivered a little and turned his back to the wind (43) Stuffy had always wondered why the Old Gentleman spoke his speech rather sadly (44) He did not know that it was because he was wishing every time that he had a son to succeed him (45) A son who would come there after he was gone a son who would stand proud and strong before some subsequent Stuffy, and say: "In memory of my father (46)." Then it would be an Institution But the Old Gentleman had no relatives He lived in rented rooms in one of the decayed old family brownstone mansions in one of the quiet streets east of the park In the winter he raised fuchsias in a little conservatory the size of a steamer trunk In the spring LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com he walked in the Easter parade In the summer he lived at a farmhouse in the New Jersey hills, and sat in a wicker armchair, speaking of a butterfly, the ornithoptera amphrisius, that he hoped to find some day (47) In the autumn he fed Stuffy a dinner These were the Old Gentleman's occupations Stuffy Pete looked up at him for a half minute, stewing and helpless in his own selfpity (48) The Old Gentleman's eyes were bright with the giving-pleasure His face was getting more lined each year, but his little black necktie was in as jaunty a bow as ever, and the linen was beautiful and white, and his gray mustache was curled carefully at the ends (49) And then Stuffy made a noise that sounded like peas bubbling in a pot (50) Speech was intended; and as the Old Gentleman had heard the sounds nine times before, he rightly construed them into Stuffy's old formula of acceptance (51) "Thankee, sir I'll go with ye, and much obliged I'm very hungry, sir." The coma of repletion had not; prevented from entering Stuffy's mind the conviction that he was the basis of an Institution (52) His Thanksgiving appetite was not his own; it belonged by all the sacred rights of established custom, if not, by the actual Statute of Limitations, to this kind old gentleman who bad preempted it (53) True, America is free; but in order to establish tradition some one must be a repetend a repeating decimal (54) The heroes are not all heroes of steel and gold See one here that wielded only weapons of iron, badly silvered, and tin (55) The Old Gentleman led his annual protege southward to the restaurant, and to the table where the feast had always occurred (56) They were recognized "Here comes de old guy," said a waiter, "dat blows dat same bum to a meal every Thanksgiving (57)." The Old Gentleman sat across the table glowing like a smoked pearl at his cornerstone of future ancient Tradition (58) The waiters heaped the table with holiday food and Stuffy, with a sigh that was mistaken for hunger's expression, raised knife and fork and carved for himself a crown of imperishable bay (59) No more valiant hero ever fought his way through the ranks of an enemy Turkey, chops, soups, vegetables, pies, disappeared before him as fast as they could be served (60) Gorged nearly to the uttermost when he entered the restaurant, the smell of food had almost caused him to lose his honor as a gentleman, but he rallied like a true knight (61) He saw the look of beneficent happiness on the Old Gentleman's face a happier look than LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com even the fuchsias and the ornithoptera aniphrisins had ever brought to it and he had not the heart to see it wane (62) In an hour Stuffy leaned back with a battle won "Thankee kindly, sir," he puffed like a leaky steam pipe; "thankee kindly for a hearty meal (63)." Then he arose heavily with glazed eyes and started toward the kitchen (64) A waiter turned him about like a top, and pointed him toward the door (65) The Old Gentleman carefully counted out $1.30 in silver change, leaving three nickels for the waiter (66) They parted as they did each year at the door, the Old Gentleman going south, Stuffy north (67) Around the first corner Stuffy turned, and stood for one minute (68) Then he seemed to puff out his rags as an owl puffs out his feathers, and fell to the sidewalk like a sun stricken horse (69) When the ambulance came the young surgeon and the driver cursed softly at his weight (70) There was no smell of whiskey to justify a transfer to the patrol wagon, so Stuffy and his two dinners went to the hospital (71) There they stretched him on a bed and began to test him for strange diseases, with the hope of getting a chance at some problem with the bare steel (72) And lo! an hour later another ambulance brought the Old Gentleman And they laid him on another bed and spoke of appendicitis, for he looked good for the bill (73) But pretty soon one of the young doctors met one of the young nurses whose eyes he liked, and stopped to chat with her about the cases (74) "That nice old gentleman over there, now," he said, "you wouldn't think that was a case of almost starvation (75) Proud old family, I guess He told me he hadn't eaten a thing for three days (76)." LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX 2: TWO THANKSGIVING DAY GENTLEMEN O Henry There is one day that is ours There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to Bless the day President Roosevelt gives it to us We hear some talk of the Puritans, but don't just remember who they were Bet we can lick 'em, anyhow, if they try to land again Plymouth Rocks? Well, that sounds more familiar Lots of us have had to come down to hens since the Turkey Trust got its work in But somebody in Washington is leaking out advance information to 'em about these Thanksgiving proclamations The big city east of the cranberry bogs has made Thanksgiving Day an institution The last Thursday in November is the only day in the year on which it recognizes the part of America lying across the ferries It is the one day that is purely American Yes, a day of celebration, exclusively American And now for the story which is to prove to you that we have traditions on this side of the ocean that are becoming older at a much rapider rate than those of England are-thanks to our git-up and enterprise Stuffy Pete took his seat on the third bench to the right as you enter Union Square from the east, at the walk opposite the fountain Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years he had taken his seat there promptly at o'clock For every time he had done so things had happened to him Charles Dickensy things that swelled his waistcoat above his heart, and equally on the other side But to-day Stuffy Pete's appearance at the annual trysting place seemed to have been rather the result of habit than of the yearly hunger which, as the philanthropists seem to think, afflicts the poor at such extended intervals Certainly Pete was not hungry He had just come from a feast that had left him of his powers barely those of respiration and locomotion His eyes were like two pale gooseberries firmly imbedded in a swollen and gravy-smeared mask of putty His breath came in short wheezes; a senatorial roll of adipose tissue denied a fashionable set to his LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com upturned coat collar Buttons that had been sewed upon his clothes by kind Salvation fingers a week before flew like popcorn; strewing the earth around him Ragged he was, with a split shirt front open to the wishbone; but the November breeze, carrying fine snowflakes, brought him only a grateful coolness For Stuffy Pete was overcharged with the caloric produced by a super bountiful dinner, beginning with oysters and ending with plum pudding, and including (it seemed to him) all the roast turkey and baked potatoes and chicken salad and squash pie and ice cream in the world Wherefore he sat, gorged, and gazed upon the world with after-dinner contempt The meal had been an unexpected one He was passing a red brick mansion near the beginning of Fifth avenue, in which lived two old ladies of ancient family and a reverence for traditions They even denied the existence of New York, and believed that Thanksgiving Day was declared solely for Washington Square One of their traditional habits was to station a servant at the postern gate with orders to admit the first hungry wayfarer that came along after the hour of noon had struck, and banquet him to a finish Stuffy Pete happened to pass by on his way to the park, and the seneschals gathered him in and upheld the custom of the castle After Stuffy Pete had gazed straight before him for ten minutes he was conscious of a desire for a more varied field of vision With a tremendous effort he moved his head slowly to the left And then his eyes bulged out fearfully, and his breath ceased, and the rough-shod ends of his short legs wriggled and rustled on the gravel For the Old Gentleman was coming across Fourth avenue toward his bench Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years the Old Gentleman had come there and found Stuffy Pete on his bench That was a thing that the Old Gentleman was trying to make a tradition of Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years he had found Stuffy there, and had led him to a restaurant and watched him eat a big dinner They those things in England unconsciously But this is a young country, and nine years is not so bad The Old Gentleman was a staunch American patriot, and considered himself a pioneer in American tradition In order to become picturesque we must keep on doing one thing for a long time without ever letting it get away from us Something like collecting the weekly dimes in industrial insurance Or cleaning the streets The Old Gentleman moved, straight and stately, toward the Institution that he was rearing Truly, the annual feeling of Stuffy Pete was nothing national in its character, such LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com as the Magna Charta or jam for breakfast was in England But it was a step It was almost feudal It showed, at least, that a Custom was not impossible to New Y ahem! America The Old Gentleman was thin and tall and sixty He was dressed all in black, and wore the old-fashioned kind of glasses that won't stay on your nose His hair was whiter and thinner than it had been last year, and he seemed to make more use of his big, knobby cane with the crooked handle As his established benefactor came up Stuffy wheezed and shuddered like some woman's over-fat pug when a street dog bristles up at him He would have flown, but all the skill of Santos-Dumont could not have separated him from his bench Well had the myrmidons of the two old ladies done their work "Good morning," said the Old Gentleman "I am glad to perceive that the vicissitudes of another year have spared you to move in health about the beautiful world For that blessing alone this day of thanksgiving is well proclaimed to each of us If you will come with me, my man, I will provide you with a dinner that should make your physical being accord with the mental." That is what the old Gentleman said every time Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years The words themselves almost formed an Institution Nothing could be compared with them except the Declaration of Independence Always before they had been music in Stuffy's ears But now he looked up at the Old Gentleman's face with tearful agony in his own The fine snow almost sizzled when it fell upon his perspiring brow But the Old Gentleman shivered a little and turned his back to the wind Stuffy had always wondered why the Old Gentleman spoke his speech rather sadly He did not know that it was because he was wishing every time that he had a son to succeed him A son who would come there after he was gone a son who would stand proud and strong before some subsequent Stuffy, and say: "In memory of my father." Then it would be an Institution But the Old Gentleman had no relatives He lived in rented rooms in one of the decayed old family brownstone mansions in one of the quiet streets east of the park In the winter he raised fuchsias in a little conservatory the size of a steamer trunk In the spring he walked in the Easter parade In the summer he lived at a farmhouse in the New Jersey hills, and sat in a wicker armchair, speaking of a butterfly, the ornithoptera amphrisius, that LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com he hoped to find some day In the autumn he fed Stuffy a dinner These were the Old Gentleman's occupations Stuffy Pete looked up at him for a half minute, stewing and helpless in his own self-pity The Old Gentleman's eyes were bright with the giving-pleasure His face was getting more lined each year, but his little black necktie was in as jaunty a bow as ever, and the linen was beautiful and white, and his gray mustache was curled carefully at the ends And then Stuffy made a noise that sounded like peas bubbling in a pot Speech was intended; and as the Old Gentleman had heard the sounds nine times before, he rightly construed them into Stuffy's old formula of acceptance "Thankee, sir I'll go with ye, and much obliged I'm very hungry, sir." The coma of repletion had not; prevented from entering Stuffy's mind the conviction that he was the basis of an Institution His Thanksgiving appetite was not his own; it belonged by all the sacred rights of established custom, if not, by the actual Statute of Limitations, to this kind old gentleman who bad preempted it True, America is free; but in order to establish tradition some one must be a repetend a repeating decimal The heroes are not all heroes of steel and gold See one here that wielded only weapons of iron, badly silvered, and tin The Old Gentleman led his annual protege southward to the restaurant, and to the table where the feast had always occurred They were recognized "Here comes de old guy," said a waiter, "dat blows dat same bum to a meal every Thanksgiving." The Old Gentleman sat across the table glowing like a smoked pearl at his cornerstone of future ancient Tradition The waiters heaped the table with holiday food and Stuffy, with a sigh that was mistaken for hunger's expression, raised knife and fork and carved for himself a crown of imperishable bay No more valiant hero ever fought his way through the ranks of an enemy Turkey, chops, soups, vegetables, pies, disappeared before him as fast as they could be served Gorged nearly to the uttermost when he entered the restaurant, the smell of food had almost caused him to lose his honor as a gentleman, but he rallied like a true knight He saw the look of beneficent happiness on the Old Gentleman's face a happier look than even the fuchsias and the ornithoptera aniphrisins had ever brought to it and he had not the heart to see it wane LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com In an hour Stuffy leaned back with a battle won "Thankee kindly, sir," he puffed like a leaky steam pipe; "thankee kindly for a hearty meal." Then he arose heavily with glazed eyes and started toward the kitchen A waiter turned him about like a top, and pointed him toward the door The Old Gentleman carefully counted out $1.30 in silver change, leaving three nickels for the waiter They parted as they did each year at the door, the Old Gentleman going south, Stuffy north Around the first corner Stuffy turned, and stood for one minute Then he seemed to puff out his rags as an owl puffs out his feathers, and fell to the sidewalk like a sun stricken horse When the ambulance came the young surgeon and the driver cursed softly at his weight There was no smell of whiskey to justify a transfer to the patrol wagon, so Stuffy and his two dinners went to the hospital There they stretched him on a bed and began to test him for strange diseases, with the hope of getting a chance at some problem with the bare steel And lo! an hour later another ambulance brought the Old Gentleman And they laid him on another bed and spoke of appendicitis, for he looked good for the bill But pretty soon one of the young doctors met one of the young nurses whose eyes he liked, and stopped to chat with her about the cases "That nice old gentleman over there, now," he said, "you wouldn't think that was a case of almost starvation Proud old family, I guess He told me he hadn't eaten a thing for three days." -THE END- LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX 3: SOME RANDOMLY-CHOSEN FIRST YEAR STUDENTS‟ WRITINGS Task: In a paragraph of about 150 to 200 words, describe one of your possessions? Writing 1: From Nguyễn Thị Thu Vân, Chinese-English Class - Group My mobile phone On my birthday My parents presented a mobile phone to me This is one of my highly-valued possessions I‘m impressed on its exterior It is covered by white plastic, is set slide It looks nice on its face has a Mickey Mouse image which is very lovely My mobile phone has many functions The first, it helps me to contact with every one eveniently It is small and snugly, so I can bring it in my pocket In addition, it also likes my close friend After busy and tired working days, I usually listen to music, play games or send a message to my friends Finally, this mobile phone helps me study well I can look up English new works favourably with this small friend, I usually exchange to my classmate when I have any difficulty in studying All of my gift, I like most parents gift With me, it isn‘t a normal possession Because it is the noble and beautiful feeling of my parents Moreover, it is my spiritual dynamic I will keep it carefully Writing 2: From Trương Hồng Hải, Russian-English Class - Group My diary I have a close-friend This friend can‘t speak, can‘t sing, can‘t go…but can chat to me as a really friend It‘s my diary First of all, it‘s not only a diary but also it‘s my possession which I like most It‘s a gift which my close-friends gave to me on my 18th birthday It‘s first birthday in my life so I‘m very happy It‘s a black notebook Its exterior is covered by glassic paper On the cover It has bears, school bus, and one sentence ―A wakening from a dream with a new relaxed sensivity you are dream will come true‖ It look no big much and so lovely Second, my diary stays beside me at all the time Each pages in the interior are smooth, are decorated by bears, plowers, cars, trees…with many different colour I wrote my sweet LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com souvernir as my past day from childhood to now Whenever, I read it as well as I see my life again Finally, I love it so much as love my life Therefor, I know that I‘ll have to continue Writing 3: From Phạm Thị Mai Hương, English Class - Group My book When I went to the university I rewarded a book by my close friend It is gift to congratulate me enter to school I like it first of all its mean The name of book is ―Dare to dream, Dare to success‖ Content of book talks about experiences, the way of living and extremely valueable lesson Secondly, I use this book when I have a hard time in life I read it Then I feel more self-confident and have energy to pass every difficult Once, when I went to school and I forgot it in class After that, I came back and found it But I didn‘t see it in that I though that some one had walketed off with my book And I would never see it again But the following day, I was given back it Because I had written my address in that I love it very much It looks small and beautiful It is a handbook, so I can carry it in my bag everywhere Finally, I keep it carefully stand by me It likes a lucky gift This book helps me always remember about my close friend and don‘t forget memories with each other I think that I must try more study hard and I believe that I will pass every difficult in my life Writing 4: From Dương Thị Thanh, Chinese-English Class - Group My book – My best friend I want to talk about my friend – my book I received it from my friend at the my birthday on 19th That‘s interesting with me It is blue colour and a lot of picture around it When I bore and happy, it is always by my side Some people think that as more and more people have television in their homes, fewer and fewer people will buy book to read Why read when television can bring you all the information and stories with colour, picture and action But, follow me, television has not killed reading Today, more books of very kind are sold than ever before Books are still a cheap way to get information and entertainment, in addition I can keep my book forever and read it many times My book make me growup and know living by my life, it give me knowledge and pleasure I feel pround of it – my best friend LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ... Expansion 16 b Projection 18 2.4 Summary 18 Chapter III: EXPANSION IN ? ?TWO THANKSGIVING DAY GENTLEMEN? ?? AND SOME SUGGESTIONS IN TEACHING WRITING 3.1 Expansion in ? ?Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen? ?? by O‘Henry... grouped into two main types: expansion and projection a Expansion Expansion is the relationship by which one clause expands the meaning of another by elaborating, extending, or enhancing it,... for Expansion in ? ?Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen? ?? 32 3.2 Some Suggestions for Teaching Writing 36 Chapter IV: CONCLUSION 4.1 Recapitulation 41 4.2 Limitations of the study and Suggestions for