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Who am I? People have been asking that question for thousands of years.

Many artists and writers search for the answer in their self-portraits and

autobiographies. For them, to know oneself does not simply mean to know one’s

name or his physical appearance. Personality, temperament, past experience or

future hopes... They are all parts of one’s deeper self. Self-portraits and autobi-

ographies give artists and writers a channel to voice their curiosity and exhibit

their efforts to know and present themselves to others. Have you ever asked

yourself such a question? What are your ways to know and understand yourself?

And how will you describe yourself to others? As college students, we should

think about these questions, and learn some basic skills in how to describe and

introduce ourselves to others. In this unit, we will focus our attention on describ-

ing our physical appearance as well as our character, and by doing so learn

more about ourselves.

Who Am I?Who Am I?Unit11111

In this unit, you will learn to

1.build up vocabulary;

2.describe a person’s physical appearance;

3.describe a person’s character;

4.describe and introduce yourself to others.

Setting Goals

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I. Warm-up

Look at the following self-portraits made by Vincent van Gogh. They were respectively made

in 1887, 1888, and 1889.

Session 1 Getting Started

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� After seeing these self-portraits, what kind of person do you think Vincent van Gogh is?� According to your understanding, why do artists make self-portraits? Can you name some other

artistic forms for artists to represent themselves?� Have you ever thought about the question—Who am I? What are your ways to find its answer?� If you are going to draw yourself a portrait, what message do you want to convey?

II. Listening Activities

Listen to the text about a girl’s self-portrait (see Text 1 for script).� Prepare to answer the following questions after the first listening.

1) Can you give a description of the girl’s appearance?

2) Is the girl satisfied with her look?

3) What kind of clothes does the girl prefer wearing?

� Prepare to discuss with your partner after the second listening.

1) According to the girl, how does the world define female beauty? Does she agree?

2) Can you describe the girl’s character from what she says?

3) How would you describe yourself ?

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Vincent van Gogh,

Self-Portrait, 1889

Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait

with Straw Hat, 1887

Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait

Dedicated to Paul Gauguin, 1888

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Listen to the tape about a speech entitled “I’m Special” (see Text 2 for script).� Prepare to answer the following questions after the first listening.

1) How many aspects does the author cover in claiming his specialness?

2) What does the author mean in saying “I’m a symphony”?

3) According to the author, what is the purpose of being special?

� Prepare to discuss the following questions with your partner after the second listening.

1) Do you think you are special? In what ways are you different from others?

2) Do you want to be different? Why or why not?

III. Getting Ready to Talk

1. Vocabulary Builder

a medium build �� ! hazel-brown hair �� !"#

bobbed adj. �� hedonic adj. �� !"

bottle nose �� optimistic adj. ��

bow legs O�� �� outgoing adj. �� !"��

carefree adj. ��� ! pessimistic adj. ��

chubby adj. ��� petite adj. �� !��

coarse adj. �� pragmatic adj. �� !"

conservative adj. �� robust adj. �� !��

cynical adj. �� !�� !" shapely adj. �� !��

dimple n. �� skeptical adj. ��

disheveled adj. �� !" solipsistic adj. �� !

dyed adj. �� stingy adj. ��

easygoing adj. �� stoical adj. ��

fatalistic adj. �� ! stout adj. �� !��

grumpy adj. �� !�� !" utilitarian adj. �� !"

2. Research Work

Read the following personality theories. You will need to use them and then comment on

them in later discussions.

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Theory IIn ancient Greece, a medical philosopher named Claudius Galen developed one of the first per-

sonality theories. Galen believed that there were basically four different moods in people: melan-

cholic—kind of sad, choleric—hot-tempered, phlegmatic—slow and deliberate and sanguine—warm

and pleasant. As with other personality systems, the goal is to find a balance between these different

aspects of one’s personality. Here is a brief description of these four types.

Melancholic A melancholic person is often extremely talented. He can analyze things

very deeply. He has an eye for beauty. He is disciplined and diligent. But he

has a whole load of dark sides. He is often pessimistic, and is depressed

easily. He is too critical of himself and of others. He is revengeful and

easily offended.

Choleric Choleric people are definitely leaders. They have a strong will. They are

independent, practical, efficient and productive. When they get something

in their mind nothing can stop them. Unfortunately, choleric people have to

spend a lot of their time alone, as their social side is so poorly developed.

They scare people away with their coldness and their angry and cruel words.

They are insensitive and overly dominating.

Phlegmatic It’s easiest to get along with a phlegmatic person. He is calm and easygoing.

His carefree attitude and good sense of humor attract people. He is stable

and reliable and very diplomatic. But he is not perfect either. He is often

irritatingly slow and unable to make up his mind. He is selfish and stingy.

Sometimes he is totally indifferent to everything around him. All he’s interested

in is his daydreams.

Sanguine A sanguine person is happy, friendly, warm, and has an ability to sympa-

thize with others. He has lots of friends and everyone thinks he is fun

company. But he is often very self-centered and he lacks self-control. He

has a tendency to exaggerate and he is emotionally unstable.

Theory IIIn David Keirsey’s book Please Understand Me II, four temperaments have been described in

order of most prevalent to least.

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Guardians

If one did not know anything about a person, a good bet would be to guess that (s)he is of a

Guardian temperament. There are about 45% Guardians in the general population. Guardians are

conservative, business-minded, cautious, detail-oriented, reliable, and hard working. They are usu-

ally concrete in communicating and cooperative in implementing goals. Being highly skilled in logistics,

they are good at administering and conserving. They are usually stoical about the present, pessimistic

about the future, fatalistic about the past, and their preferred time and place is the past and the gateway.

Examples are as follows.

Colin Powell George Washington

Artisans

About 40% of the general population are Artisans. Artisans are fun loving, risk-taking, and

competitive. They can be artists, good tool users, improvisers, and great negotiators. Artisans are

concrete in communicating and utilitarian in implementing goals. Artisans are usually good at

promoting, operating, displaying, and composing. They are hedonic about the present, optimistic

about the future, cynical about the past, and their preferred time and place is the here and now.

Examples are as follows.

Elvis Presley Elizabeth Taylor

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Idealists

Only about 9% of the general population are Idealists. They are very friendly, people-oriented,

motivating, and inspiring. Idealists are usually abstract in communicating and cooperative in imple-

menting goals. Idealists are generally good at teaching, counseling, conferring, and tutoring. Idealist

types search for their unique identity, hunger for deep and meaningful relationships, wish for a little

romance each day, trust their intuitive feelings implicitly, and aspire for profundity. In their family

interactions they strive for mutuality, provide spiritual intimacy for the mates, opportunity for fantasy

for their children, and for themselves continuous self-renewal. Examples are as follows.

Plato Mohandas Gandhi

Rationals

Only about 6% of the general population are Rationals. This rare group is attracted to logic,

science, engineering, and the pursuit of knowledge. Being highly skilled in strategic analysis, Rationals

are generally good at marshalling, planning, inventing, and configuring. They are autonomous and

strong-willed. They are usually pragmatic about the present, skeptical about the future, solipsistic

about the past, and their preferred time and place are the interval and the intersection. Educationally

they go for the sciences, and vocationally for systems work. Examples are as follows.

Albert Einstein Marie Curie

3. People are making self-introductions for different purposes. The following

article discusses the self-introduction in the job field. Read it and get ready

to make your own self-introduction in Activity 4.

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Session 2 Making Your Voices Heard

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Some Points to Remember About Your Self-Introduction

We all know that it is important to develop a very brief self-introduction that tells people what we

want them to know about us. This brief introduction is often our one chance to make a good first

impression, so it warrants some careful attention:

� Make your introduction brief, focused, and hard-hitting.

� Remember who you are addressing. Try to select aspects that will be relevant to their interests.

� Be honest and truthful. If you oversell yourself, you are unlikely to sound convincing.

� Deliver your introduction with confidence. Do not make hesitations or excuses. No company

will hire a person who isn’t even sure of himself.

� Look at your listeners to show that they really matter to you. Make sure that you retain eye

contact with the persons you are talking to.

� Know when to stop. Do not try to add more and more information as it only dilutes the impact.

Keep your introduction succinct.

� Don’t keep talking so that your listeners cannot ask the questions you would like them to ask.

Leave space for a response.

Activity 1 Developing Skills for Oral Communication

How to build up vocabulary

The old-fashioned approach to vocabulary building was to sit down and memorize lists of

words and their meanings. But experts now agree that you can increase your word power

faster and gain a more useful vocabulary by adopting the inductive method—the modern

way.� Look at the word first in its context, guess at its meaning, and then confirm or correct

your guess by referring to the dictionary.� Even if you have never seen the word before, you can usually get some idea of its

meaning from the way it is used.� Collecting lists of synonyms is a productive and often entertaining way to enlarge your

vocabulary.� A knowledge of the most important roots, prefixes, and suffixes from Latin and Greek

is a splendid vocabulary stretcher.

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No matter how many tips you’ve learned in building up your vocabulary, the most important is al-

ways to use them. Now, suppose you were the only eyewitness in a robbery. Describe the criminal to

the policeman, whose role would be played by your partner. Use at least one word in each square.

Hair Eyes Face Nose

long/short round broad long/short

black bright oval high-bridged

white brown round sharp

brown black lean big/small

gray blue bony shapely

blond deep long fleshy

golden dreamy grave up-turned

bobbed eager sunny straight

coarse far-sighted ashy broad

dark near-sighted pale flat

soft keen rosy snub nose

curly observant proud button-shaped

dyed penetrating plain Roman

disheveled sharp smooth bottle nose

wavy smiling clean-shaven

bald sleepy chubby

Hands Legs Build Character and Personality

long/short long/short long/short honest/candid/upright

big/small strong big/small kind-hearted

thin thin strong/weak humorous

bony bony fat/thin hot-/quick-/short-tempered

skinny skinny petite generous

beautiful hairy cute grumpy

delicate beautiful lean sly

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shapely tanned robust calculating

rough muscular chubby sophisticated

soft bow legs stout naïve/simple-minded

heavily built carefree

slender/slim absent-minded

muscular stubborn

broad-chested broad (open, narrow)-minded

bony easygoing

skinny reserved

shy

introvert/extrovert

Activity 2 Presentation (Pair Work)

Work in pairs. Describe yourself to your partner, and explain why you can be a good friend to

him/her.

Activity 3 Problem Solving (Group Project)

Form into groups of three. Each reads a passage below, and then discuss with other group

members which character types these persons belong to. You can use the personality theo-

ries you’ve learned in Session 1.

Passage 1Mary is usually quiet around strangers, but when she speaks, people listen. Her voice is soft but

commanding. To nearly all she is distant and guarded. Mary is extremely intelligent and her mind

works on a higher level than most. She seems shy, but she is merely cautious. She always acts upon

her instincts and thinks with her intuition. She is a dangerous adversary, but incredibly caring to those

who are her friends. She likes to have control of situations, but when she doesn’t, she will find a way

to turn it to her advantage.

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Passage 2Tom loves most people, especially children. He is trustworthy, and loves making people laugh.

He finds humor in almost everything. Older people sometimes think he is immature for a 22-year-old

boy unless he goes into advice mode and uses his knowledge to help them. Tom is not good at plan-

ning beforehand, but he is truly optimistic and likes to encourage others, especially his younger sisters.

Passage 3When I first met Barrie this year, I thought of him as being a rather small boy with a medium

build for his age. He has hazel-brown hair, matching eyes, normal ears, nose and mouth. All of these

sit on a rather thin neck which perches on his shoulders. After making friends with Barrie, you wouldn’t

really be able to apprehend how talkative and humorous he is. If you are feeling down, Barrie could

cheer you up in a matter of seconds. Everyone who knows Barrie will certainly agree with me. He is

hard to dislike; he is also very excitable and outgoing, and he is also very reliable. What about the bad

points about Barrie? Well, on certain occasions, he can be quite quick-tempered, and his humor can

sometimes get out of control. But all in all, Barrie is a terrific friend, and I hope that we will be friends

for a long time to come.

Activity 4 Job-hunting (Role Play)

Form into two groups. The first group will act as the chief managers from different companies.

Each of you in this group write a want ad, and then hold individual interviews in search of

applicants for your respective companies.

The other group will be the applicants. Each of you write a resume, and then begin to look for

every chance to introduce yourself to those “managers”. Pay attention to the points you’ve

learned in making self-introductions in Session 1.

When the students have finished the job-hunting activity, the teacher then� asks those in group two what are the jobs they have found.� asks those in group one to explain their criteria for employing someone.

Probing for Answers—After-Class Activities

� Describe a person you like/dislike/respect/hate... Your description should include physical

appearance, hobbies, personalities, character, and mood.� Describe what kind of person you want to be, and compare yourself to your description. What are

the similarities? What are the differences? Are you satisfied with your present self ?

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Text 1

My Self-Portrait

I am quite satisfied with how I look like physically. I am not slim. I am not petite. Neither am I fat

nor gigantic. Let’s just say I am somewhere in between. I am 5#6 ## tall, and I weigh around 120

pounds. My hair is long, shiny but thin. My eyes are somewhat doe-like, according to a friend of

mine. My eyebrows are unfortunately short at the outer edges, and my lower jaw is prominent. I have

a dimple in my right cheek, just like my dad. My nose is quite smaller than it should be, and I always

say it is “cute” (because it’s small).

Thank God, I am quite endowed above and below, if you know what I mean. I can be really thin

if I want to, and I can also be chubby if I want to, just like in my mid-teenage years, but I choose to be

“just right”.

The world may define female physical beauty as “tall, thin, and white”. I am tall, but I’m neither

thin nor white. I am proud to be what I am, and I have already asked a lot of male friends whether they

prefer having slender girlfriends or “just right” girlfriends, and they always tell me that it’s much

much better to be “just right”.

As for my fashion sense, I should say that I prefer wearing comfortable clothes to signature ones.

Unlike other girls in my peers, you would probably see me often in department stores, or anywhere

where there’re cheap but really nice clothes, and I don’t mind if it is mass-produced. I always say that

it all depends on how you carry yourself, and your timing of course.

Text 2

I’m Special

I’m special. In all the world there’s nobody like me.

Since the beginning of time, there has never been another person like me. Nobody has my smile.

Nobody has my eyes, my nose, my hair, my hands, or my voice. I’m special.

No one can be found who has my handwriting. Nobody anywhere has my tastes for food or music

or art. No one else sees things just as I do. In all of time there’s been no one who laughs like me, no

one who cries like me, and what makes me laugh and cry will never provoke identical laughter and

tears from anybody else, ever. No one reacts to any situation just as I would react. I’m special.

I’m the only one in all of creation who has my set of abilities. Oh, there will always be somebody

who is better at one of the things I’m good at, but no one in the universe can reach the quality of my

combinations of talents, ideas, abilities and feelings. Like a room full of musical instruments, some

may excel alone, but none can match the symphony sound when all are played together. I’m a symphony.

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Through all of eternity no one will ever look, talk, walk, think, or do like me. I’m special. I’m rare.

And, in all rarity there is great value. Because of my great value, I need not attempt to imitate

others. I will accept—yes, celebrate—my differences.

I’m special. And I’m beginning to realize it’s no accident that I’m special. I’m beginning to see

that my Higher Power made me special for a very special purpose. He must have a job for me that no

one else can do as well as I. Out of all the billions of applicants, only one is qualified, only one has the

right combination of what it takes.

That one is me. Because... I’M special.