"A classic is a book that never finished saying what it has to say." --Italo Calvino

Like many other art forms, literature is a way to reveal the world and to reflect human nature. Through reading literature, we get to glimpse into the nature of life and to reflect upon ourselves. The Multi-media Service Center of the Main Library launches "Classics reading amidst light and shadow: an exhibition of films adapted from American Literature" in December, and carefully selects four movies adapted from the classics of American literature dated between 1850 and 1950 for faculty and students. Of these four movies, "To Kill a Mockingbird" explores the issues of racial discrimination in the American South during the Great Depression; "Moby Dick" relates a story of a man who chased and confronted a whale; "Little Women" casts its background in the American Civil War; and "Scarlet Letter" dwells upon a love story which took place during the colonial years of the Pilgrims.

Participation in this year's Intercollegiate Japanese Speech Contest has been very enthusiastic. After the preliminaries, a total of 22 contestants were selected for the finals. A panel of judges comprised of representatives from the Japan Interchange Association, Taipei Japanese School, Sankei Shimbun and Jiji News Agency's correspondents stationed in Taiwan asked the finalists to make an impromptu speech on a topic assigned to them on the spot (the topics were decided by lots drawing) and answer questions raised by the panel of judges. After these procedures, the judges gave their evaluation by tendering a score for each individual contestant. This speech contest has been held for six years and has won critical acclaim from many sectors of society. Therefore, many high schools and vocational schools in Taiwan expressed their wishes that a similar contest could be held at the high school level. The topics for this year's contest revolved around six major themes: 1) financial crisis; 2) environmental protection; 3) saving energy; 4) global warming; 5) computer and high-tech living; 6) cultural interchange for the youth.

Professor Yong-Hway Hsi from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature will lead the audience to appreciate the meanings of "The Scarlet Letter" on December 25th, after the showing of the film. For information on this activity, please log onto:
http://cvweb.lib.ntu.edu.tw/guide/activity/200812usa/200812usa_index.html。

In addition, the "Literary study: chapter on American literature" on the e-learning website of NTU Library offers guided readings and analyses on American literature written by scholars and experts.
URL: http://elearning.lib.ntu.edu.tw/al/index.html

Screening Venue: Multi-media Center, Main Library, 4th floor, Room 418.
Screening Time: Thursdays 14:20 p.m. to 17:20 p.m. in December

Order of showing:
1. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, written in 1960.
2. Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, written in 1851.
3. Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott, written in 1868.
4. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, written in 1850.