EC134_Guide.pdf

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 134

TOPICS

American Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald; cigarette and alcohol advertising;

pronouncing -ed, someone’s John Hancock

_____________

GLOSSARY

to regard (someone or something) as (something) – to have a certain opinion

about someone or something; to think about someone or something in a certain

way; to admire someone or something in a certain way

* This is regarded as one of the best business schools in the country.

to break off – to end; to cancel; to decide not to do something that has been

planned

* They wanted to go to Alaska for vacation, but they broke off their plans when

they found out how expensive the airplane tickets would be.

to resume – to restart; to continue doing something that was temporarily

stopped; to begin doing something again after it has been stopped for a period of

time

* Isaac will resume his running once his knee stops hurting.

set – placed in a specific location and time, especially when talking about a book

or movie

* Star Wars is set in the future.

Jazz Age – a period of time in the 1920s in the United States, after World War I,

when the economy was doing very well and jazz music was very popular

* Women had short hair, beautiful dresses, and wore long necklaces during the

Jazz Age.

Prohibition – a period in U.S. history when making and selling alcohol was

against the law

* During the prohibition, many people started to brew alcohol secretly in their

bathtubs because they could make a lot of money by selling it.

lavish – very fancy, expensive, and generous; extravagant; with almost too much

* They are building a lavish home with marble floors and gold sinks.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 134

to bootleg – to make and sell alcohol when it is against the law

* Bootlegging was a great way to make money in the 1920s, but many of the

people who did it were arrested.

to degrade – to make something less pure or special than it should be; to make

something dirty; to demean or disgrace

* Many women feel degraded when men whistle at them on the street.

prominent – easily seen; obvious; well-known

* The Empire State Building is one of the most prominent buildings in New York

City.

in moderation – without too much or too little of something; with just the right

amount; with just as much as is necessary and good

* The doctor told me that when I begin exercising, do so in moderation, or else I

might hurt myself.

designated driver – a person who goes to a bar with friends but does not drink

alcohol even though everyone else is drinking, so that he or she can drive

everyone home at the end of the evening without driving dangerously under the

influence of alcohol

* If you and your friends don’t have a designated driver, let me help you call a

taxi.

self-regulation – the ability of a person, company, or organization to control its

own thoughts and actions, without another person or organization telling one how

to do it

* If companies had better self-regulation, we wouldn’t need to have so many laws

telling companies what they can and cannot do.

minor – a person who is not yet an adult, less than 18 or 21 years old; a child

* In the United States, minors are not allowed to go into bars.

(someone’s) John Hancock – someone’s signature, because the real John

Hancock made a very large, fancy signature on the Declaration of Independence

* Please put your John Hancock on this line of the contract, and then the job is

yours.

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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 134

WHAT INSIDERS KNOW

Famous Cigarette Mascots

Cigarette companies have very “effective” (good at doing what something is

supposed to do) advertising that is very “memorable” (easy to remember). Some

of their most memorable advertising campaigns are based around a “mascot” (an

imaginary person or animal that represents a company, organization, or school).

One famous mascot is Joe Camel for Camel cigarettes. The mascot is a “camel”

(a large, horse-like animal that lives in dry areas, drinks little water, and has an

unusually shaped back). The drawn camel wears sunglasses and holds a

“saxophone” (a musical instrument) while smoking a cigarette. In 1991, a study

showed that more young children could “recognize” (know who someone is) Joe

Camel than Mickey Mouse, which made many people believe that this cigarette

mascot is directed at children more than adults.

The Marlboro Man is a famous mascot for Marlboro Cigarettes. It is a

photograph of a “cowboy” (a man who rides horses and works with cows). He

appears to be very “rugged” (tough, manly, not soft) and usually is shown alone

in nature, usually in a “desert-like” (an area with little or no rain) or rocky area.

Originally, Marlboro Cigarettes were marketed to women. However, when the

Marlboro Man appeared in the advertising campaign in the mid-1950s, the brand

immediately began to “appeal” (be attractive) to men. Interestingly, two of the

men who were photographed in the ads later died of lung cancer.

Today, “anti-smoking groups” (organizations that want to help people stop

smoking) use these cigarette mascots. One anti-smoking advertisement shows

two Marlboro Men riding horses. One cowboy says to the other, “I miss my lung,

Bob,” where a “lung” is the organ that processes oxygen in the body and is

damaged by smoking.

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 134

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café number 134.

This is ESL Podcast’s English Café episode 134. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff

McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in

beautiful Los Angeles, California.

You can our website at eslpod.com – that’s www.eslpod.com. You can download

a Learning Guide for this episode on our website, which will give you some

additional help in improving your English. You can also look at our ESL Podcast

Blog, where several times a week we provide even more help to you in improving

your English.

On this Café, we’re going to continue our series on American writers – American

authors, focusing on F. Scott Fitzgerald. We’re also going to talk about cigarette

and alcohol advertising in the United States. And as always, we’ll answer a few

of your questions. Let’s get started.

Today we’re going to talk about the great American author F. Scott Fitzgerald,

who wrote four complete novels, including his most famous novel The Great

Gatsby , which we’ll talk about in a minute. A “novel,” is a work of “fiction,”

something that isn’t true, based on someone’s imagination. Many people regard

Fitzgerald as one of the greatest writers in English in the 20 th century. “To regard

someone as something” means to think of them in a certain way, usually to

admire someone in a certain way. Einstein, for example, is regarded as a genius

in physics, just as F. Scott Fitzgerald is regarded as one of the century’s greatest

writers – one of the 20 th century’s greatest writers.

Fitzgerald, whose last name is sometimes pronounced “ Fitz gerald,” was born in

St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 24, 1896. I was born in St. Paul, Minnesota,

on September 24, 1963, 67 years later to the date, meaning on the same date, in

this case, September 24 th . Fitzgerald’s mother was named McQuillan; my

mother, of course, was married to a McQuillan. So, as you can probably guess,

Fitzgerald is actually one of my cousins; he’s my second cousin.

He was a member of the Lost Generation. A “generation” is a group of people

who were born around the same time. We often give a name to these

generations, for example, people who were born after World War II, between

1946 and 1964 or so, are usually called “baby boomers.” People who are now in

their late 20s and early 30s are sometimes called “Generation X,” and people

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 134

who are in their early 20s are sometimes called “Generation Y.” The Lost

Generation refers to people who grew up or became adults during the first World

War, what was called then “The Great War,” we now refer to it as “World War I”

in English. Fitzgerald was one of these people, and his experiences at that time

are reflected, or seen, in the themes of his writing. A “theme” is a main idea,

what a book or story is about. Fitzgerald’s writing has themes of age, despair,

and youth. “Despair” means that you don’t see any hope.

Not everyone believed that Fitzgerald was going to be a successful writer. In

fact, his own fiancée didn’t believe it. A “fiancée” is a person that you are

engaged to – a person that you are planning to marry. It is a French word that

we use in English to talk about this person. Fitzgerald’s fiancée said that she

would marry him, but then she became worried that he would not be able to

support her with his writing. In other words, she didn’t think he would be able to

make enough money for the family by being a writer. So she “broke off,” or

ended, the engagement. Fortunately for Fitzgerald, later that year, I believe it

was 1920, he published his first novel, This Side of Paradise . He and his fiancée

then “resumed,” or restarted – continued, their engagement. This Side of

Paradise was a book I remember reading when I was in high school or college.

It’s about a boy who is growing up in St. Paul and then goes to a university on

the East Coast. For me, it was very interesting to read the descriptions of St.

Paul from Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald’s most well-known novel, however, is The Great Gatsby, which was

published in 1925. This novel is considered his masterpiece. A “masterpiece” is

the best thing that an artist creates in his or her lifetime. Many people might say

that the Mona Lisa is Leonardo DaVinci’s masterpiece.

Most people agree that The Great Gatsby is Fitzgerald’s masterpiece. The novel

is “set,” or takes place, in what we sometimes call the “Roaring 20s.” “To roar”

means to make a very loud noise. In this case, the Roaring 20s refers the very

economically successful decade of the 1920s. It is sometimes also called the

“Jazz Age,” a period of time after World War I when the economy was doing very

well; jazz became a very popular musical form in the 1920s. It is also sometimes

a period known as “Prohibition.” “Prohibition” comes from the word “to prohibit,”

which means not to allow something. As a noun, “Prohibition,” which is written

with a capital “P,” refers to a period in U.S. history when making and selling

alcohol – beer and wine, for example – was illegal, or against the law. Some

people made and sold alcohol anyway during this time, and they made a lot of

money. Some of these people were also involved in other crimes, but not all of

them. My grandfather worked in a bar – an illegal bar during the 1920s. These

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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