If you only read the books that everyone else is reading , you can only think what everyone else is thinking.
— Haruki Murakami
Cosmic time is the same for everyone, but human time differs with each person.Time flows in the same way for all human beings; every human being flows through time in a different way.
— Yasunari Kawabata
Unit Goals
After learning the unit, students are expected to be able
·to know Haruki Murakami as a great contemporary writer and his unique writing techniques,
·to understand the artistic effects achieved by first person narration in fictions,
·to identify the modernist spirit in the story,
·to explore the themes and significance of the story,
·to enlarge English vocabulary and reinforce grammatical knowledge, and
·to improve language proficiency and critical thinking through the content of this unit.
Before You Read
1.Form groups of three or four students.Try to find information about Haruki Murakami and his famous works such as Norwegian Wood, Dance Dance Dance, The Elephant Vanishes and A Slow Boat to China. Prepare a presentation of ten minutes about the author and one of his works.
2.Study the social and literary context of this story to better understand the story in Text A.
Start to Read