2.3 The Preference for Plants and Nature 5

2.4 Her Trying to Prove Her Health and Value 6

2.5 Her Gratefulness and Satisfaction to the Life 7

3. The Research on the Causes of the Infantile Aging 7

3.1 The Innocence in Her and the Love of Nature 8

3.2 The Respect of the Bodily Various Systems Function Decline 8

3.3 To Attract Others’ Attention 8

3.4 To Find the Inner Sustenance to Support Herself to Fight against the Disease 9

3.5 To Prove Her Own Value 9

4. What Infantile Aging Can Bring to May Sarton 9

4.1 Mental Difference 9

4.2 Physical Difference 9

5. Conclusion 10

5.1 The Summary of the Essay 10

5.2 The Value of the Research 10

Reference 11

1. Introduction

1.1The Background of Aging Time

World Health Organization gives the definition of old people that those who are more than 65 years old can be called old people. With the development of Health Professions, the quantity of the old people has been increasing. In a country, once the proportion of the people more than 60 years old to the whole population reaches10 percent or the proportion of the people more than 65 years old to the whole population reaches 7 percent, then we regard the country hasthe problem of population aging. It’s the social standard of population aging. In the 21st century, population aging becomes a global problem. According to the United Nations, by 2025 the proportion of the old will have been 10.4%.

As the population of the old is becoming lager and larger, a great number of people begin to pay more and more attention to it. Especially in today’s society, which speaks highly of the humanism, how to improve the qulity of their life attracts many eyes. The gerontology gradually booms. In the literature area, people can see and feel much about the physical and mental situation of the old. From those works, we can know more about the present life condition of the old and some common characteristics or potential problems in old people, which provides us large quantities of hints to study further to do with the gerontology.

1.2 Brief introduction about May Sarton and Encore: A Journal of the Eightieth Year

May Sarton is the pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton (May 3, 1912-July 16, 1995), a famous female American memoirist, novelist and poet. She is specially known for her Journal of Solitude (1973), The House by the Sea (1977), Recovering (1980), At Seventy (1984) and After the Stroke: A Journal (1988), Encore: A Journal of the Eightieth Year (1993). Those six series of journals can be regarded as the most enduring works by May Sarton. Despite her success in the career, she was not so fortunate with her health. She got breast cancer and suffered a lot in her old age. However, she did not give in to the destiny. Instead, she still leads a happy, positive life. In her works, she talks about death, friendship, nature, poetry and records her daily life and describes her sense as well as feeling in confront of the disease and aging.The life of her old age was detailed and vivid. That’s why her works is considered of much importance in the gerontology study.

Among them, Encore: A Journal of the Eightieth Year (1993) is the most special one because even the author herself thought it would be the last diary she could write. In this book she also shares her personal thoughts of aging. Getting closer to the end and hearing the footstep of death, it must be some change and more details waiting us to be found.