1. How do you interpret “fallacy” in the title? What is the implication of the author?

回答：

When “fallacy” is taken in its ordinary sense the title means: “there is a deceptive or delusive quality about love. When taken as a specific term in logic the title means: “love cannot be deduced from a set of given premises.” The implication of the author is therefore that “love” is an error, a deception and an emotion that does not follow the principle of logic.

2. What is the theme of the story? Where is it stated?

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回答：

The theme of the story is that “love is a fallacy”—“it is inconsistent with logic.” The theme is started in Para. 145—“you know that the things you learn in school don’t have anything to do with life.”

3. How is the story organized? Where does the story reach its climax?

回答：

The story goes forward at a fast pace with racy dialogues full of American colloquialism and slang. It reaches its climax in Paras. 147-150 when Polly refuses to go steady with the narrator because she had already promised to go steady with Petey Burch.

4. What role does the raccoon coat play in the development of the story?

回答：

The raccoon coat was given by the narrator to Petey Burch for the privilege of dating his girl. The raccoon coat which the narrator disliked and abhorred, was the instrument of his undoing. Polly Espy promised to go steady with Petey Burch because he owned a raccoon coat, a coat that all fashionable people on campus were wearing.

5. What is the purpose of this narration? Can you find the evidence from the text?

回答：

The purpose of this narration is to tell the readers that love does not follow the principle of logic. The whole story is good evidence.

6. How does the author bring out the pomposity of the narrator? What makes the satire of narrator humorous?

回答：

Para. 4 brings out the pomposity of the narrator. “Cool was I and logic. Keen, calculating, perspicacious, acute and astute—I was all of these. My brain was as powerful as a dynamo, as precise as a chemist’s scales, as penetrating as a scalpel.” “It is not often that one so young has such a giant intellect.” The hyperbole employed here makes the satire of the narrator humorous.

7. How does the language used by Polly strike you? Find some examples from the text and explain what effect her language creates.

回答：

The writer deliberately makes Polly Espy use a lot of exclamatory words like “Gee, Oo, wow-dow” and clipped vulgar forms like “delish, marvy, sensaysh”, etc. to create the impression of a simple and rather stupid girl. This contrasts strongly with the language of the narrator, thus increasing the force of satire and irony.

8. As the story progresses, Polly turns out to be much smarter than the narrator has previously thought. How does this contrast contribute to the humor of the piece?

回答：

The result of the story is that the self-conceited man is finally refused by the girl whom he has despised. That is, the so-called clever man is refused by the so-called stupid girl, because love, a matter of emotion, does not follow the principle of logic. Therefore the story is made humorous.

9. What is the top sentence of Para. 50? How does the writer develop the idea expressed in the topic sentence?

回答：

The top sentence is “He was a torn man”. The idea expressed in the topic sentence is developed by illustrative examples of the behavior of the torn man.

10. What is the level of speech in Para. 61? What purpose does it serve?

回答：

The language in this paragraph is more formal. The narrator felt depressed after the first date with Polly. To bring this feeling out, and to create a humorous effect, the writer uses formal phrases such as “with a heavy heart”, “gravely underestimated the size of the task”, “lack of information”, “a project of no small dimensions”, etc.

11. How does the story end? In what sense is the conclusion ironic?

回答：

The story ends with Polly’s answer “He’s got a raccoon coat” which makes the irony complete.

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