FUG ULC Det YOUR KEY TO LITERATURE r bs 2 a rs € Hy bs & = EI fee a ania Ti il ll Cum sa reusim la examen! Doane) 789736811234BIBLIOTECA JUDETEANA G.T. KIRILEANU " - NEAMT TERMEN DE RESTITUIRE hog We dOb, Alina-Antoanela Stefaniu READY FOR EXAMS Your Key to LiteratureAlina-Antoanela Stefaniu a absolvit in 1992 Facultatea de Litere,seciiaengleza-omana, Universitat «AN. Cuza, lagi, gi este profesoara de mba engleza, gradut | la Liceul Fait, Cuza’ lag. A beneficiat de o bursa FPSD la Institute of Appied Language Studies ‘din Esinburgh. De aceeagi autoare: Ready for Exams |. For Baccalaureate and Students’ Contests (incolaborare cu Radu Lupuleasa), Polrom, lagi, 1999 ; Ghid de conversajie roman-englez {in oolaberare cu Rady Lupuleasa), Polrom, lagi, 2001; Ghid de conversajie engiez-roman {in colaberare cu Radu Lupuleasa), Polrom, lagi, 200%; Practice Makes Perfect, Polirom, lagi, 2002; Dictionar romdn-englez da expres locuun, Polrom, 2002. ‘ww, polirom.s0 (© 2000, 2008 by Edtura POLIROM Editura POLIROM lagi, B-dul Copou nr. 4, P.O. BOX 268, 6600 Bucuresti, Bedul LC. Brtianu nr. 6, et 7, ap. 8; O.P. 97; P.O. BOX 1-728, 70700 Descriores CIP a Bibiiotect! Nationale a Romane: 'STEFANIU, ALINA-ANTOANELA Ready for exams: your key to Iterature: ede 2 ha revdzut Ane-Antoanele tetany ~ Ea 2a, rv. lagl:Polrem, 2008 240 p.: 28 em (BAC) ISBN: 973-681-123-8 a2s.tt.09 Printed in ROMANIA Alina-Antoanela Stefani READY FOR EXAMS Your Key to Literature Editia a ll-a revazuta POLIROM 2003ausorece DETERS ctaimcean NeaMT 413680 Contents Cuvéint tnainte .... t I. THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY COMPETENCE Literary notion: Heroie Poem Beowulf... 15 Literary notions: Frame-Story Technique; Characterization ; Objective vs. Subjective Presentation ‘The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer sessecee IT Literary notions : Tragedy; Tragic Character ; Conflict Hamlet ty William Shakespeare... Literary notions : Sonnet; Shakespearean Sonnet ‘Sonnets by William Shakespeare Literary notions : Tragedy; Imagery ; Figures of Speech Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare .. 3 Literary notions : Personal Prose ; Diary Diary by Samuel Pepys Literary notions : Mock Heroie Poem vs. Heroic Poem The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope ... 4Literary notions: Realism ; ‘The Realist Novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe nn Literary notions: Satire; Irony; Sareasm Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. a Literary notion: The Comedy of Manners The Rivals by Richard Brinsley Sheridan Literary notion: Romanticism Preface to Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth ......e.sstesteeseesese SL Literary notions: Ballad; Sound Devices; Simile; Symbol The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge ... Literary notions: Plot; Parts of the Plot ; Plot Devices ‘The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe .. Rhythm ; Rhyme 99 Literary notions: Dramatic Poe Eldorado by Edgar Allan Poe Literary notions: Atmosphere; Character and Characterization 2 Macbeth by William Shakespeare .. 65 Literary notions: Narrative Poetry ; Folk Ballad and Literary Balled La Belle Dame sans Merci by John Keats... Literary notions: Point of View; Characterization Middlemarch by George Eliot... 5 Literary notions: Novel of Manners; Victorian Literature Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen .. : penne 8 Literary notions: Allegory ; Setting ‘Moby-Dick by Herman Melville 85 Literary notions : Essay ; Types of Essay Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson cat seseee 90 Literary notions: Romanee; Romantic Vision ; Allégorical and Symbolical Vision The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Literary notions : Story and Plot; Flashback ; Suspense; Frame-story Technique ing Heights by Emily Bronté 97 Literary notions: Comedy ; Romantic Comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare... 103 Literary notions: Theme; Historical Background ; Narrator ; Autobiography Great Expectations by Charles Dickens .. 10 Literary notions : Vietorian Nonsense Literature; Fantasy ; Humour ; Paradox ; Pun Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. 6 Literary notion: Limerick Limericks by Edward Lear Literary notions ; Setting ; Subjective Narration; Humour ; Vernacular Language The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark TWain ....csassssseessessees 24 1B Literary notions : Naturalism The Naturalist Novel; Atmospheres Omniscient Narrator ; Tragic Vision X_Tess of he d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy ........es sus 129 Literary notions : Psychological Novel; Free Reported Speech ; Theme ; Style; Multiple Point of View The Portrait ofa Lady by Henry James . Literary notions : The Aesthetic Movement; Parndox The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde .. os ce 140 Literary notions : Interior Monologue; Stream of Consciousness {Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Wool ... 142 Literary notions: The Novel of the “Jazz Age” ; Observer Narration The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald . 2146 Literary notions: Objective versus Subjective Presentation ; Parable x The Old Man and the Sea by Emest Hemingway 149Literary notions : Drama; Problem Play ; Paradox Caesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw .. 153 Literary notions: Allegorical Novel; Symbol \S Lord of the Flies by William Golding 197 Literary notions: Poetic Creed; Free Verse xSong of Myself by Walt Whitman 161 Literary notions : Figurative Language (Epithet; Antithesis; Metaphor Metonymy ; Oxymoron ; Personification ; Simile; Symbol) eBmily Dickinson .. a : 164 Literary notions: Imagism ; Haiku .. Ezra Pound 168 168 Literary notions : Modern Poetry ; Ambiguity ; Connotation ; Literary Allusion ‘Thomas Stearns Eliot.. 170 II, CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES |A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare .......:sssssseescnoes 17S Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 17 Lord of the Flies by Wiliam Golding 179 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol. 180 The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James ... 12 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 188 Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy <.cc.-csecssesinssesennn: 186 ‘The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar WHIM ...s.ssesevvese senses 189 Caesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw 190 Song of Myself by Walt Whitman... 219 III, EXAM PRACTICE READING TEXTS FOR BACCALAUREATE, Limba englez\ ~ proba ora (1-2 ore/siptimang)... Limba si literatura englezi ~ proba oralk (3-4 ore/siptiman).. Limba englez& ~ proba orald (5-7 ore/siptiméng) ... Selected Bibliography ..... Index of Authors { Tiles .. Index of Literary Terms .....Cuvént inainte ‘Al doilea volum al Iucrlrii Ready for Exams, inttulat Your Key to Literature, se adreseazi elevilor care se pregitesc pentru examenul de bacalaureat, candidailor la faculitile cu profil filologic, precum si profesorilor de engleza care lucreazi cu elevii din cicll lceal ‘Scopul culegeri de fat este dea familiariza elevi cu tipul de subiecte propuse in anii precedent side ai ajuta sisi consolideze 5 sistematizeze cunostinfele pentru a fae fat eu sucees probe de limba englezd la examenul de bacalaureat, Prima parte a subiectului pentru proba orald const tn ctirea si comentarea unui text redactat tn limba englez. Tipul si nivelul de dificultate al textului varia in functie de numarul de ore de englezi pe care elevul le-a avut pe siptimén’ 1. text nom-lterar de diftcultate medie pentru 1-2 ore; 2, text lterar de dificultate medie pentra 3-4 ore; 3. text lterar cu grad sporit de dificultae pentru $-7 ore {In tratarea acestui subiect candidati trebuie si dovedeasca: 1. capacitatea de a citi corect si muanfat un text, folosind intonatia si pronuntia adecvate ; D. Ingelegerea conginutului textul e. 0 bunk cunoastere a limbii, imaginatie, creativitate si cunostinje teoretice de abordare a unui text literar (in eazurile 2 st 3). La probs scris, prima parte a subiectului testeaz’ capacitatea elevului de a sintetiea tun text 50 de cuvinte, desprinzand ideea de baz, si de a interpreta mesajul scris, folosind cunostinfeleteoretice acumulate in liceu. Pentru a veni tn sprijinul candidatilor, volumul Ready for Exams, Your Key 10 Literature ofera o preceniate sistematicd a nofiunilor de teorie literard utile in realizarea ‘uoui comentariu de text, precum si o gama largi de exerciti prin care se urmareste apli- carea acestor nofiuni Materialul este structurat in tre capitoe 1, The Development of Literary Competence cuprinde explicafile necesare infelegerii si consolidiritnogiunilor de teorieliterara studiate fn liceu, Operele liteare pe care se {ac aplicaii sunt incluse in manatee alternative aprobate de M.E.C. Fragmentele alese ‘nu sunt fntotdeauna cele din manuale, deoarece am preferat sf incurajim lectura gi comentariul unui text la prima vedere.2 (CUVANT INAINTE, 1. Claro Aas se atesue in pec proeorior de enlace po sh ta acetone rogetl de atv pen ole lisrn. Ace peas Sat Gain ns pees, lereaig fll cis, corepunted cle fuged atordae atx nc nei lei, Sut suerte ere mall de cxgszare clase pera sexe svi: Teal pe grupe spe pee ere Indie, dsc foley debt, Desi de cents pent simule ret ‘clevior unt eerie de compo care propa eacare nel game arate pr deter: sear, jul, aro, poste, land semi, pom TL. Exam Practice Rating Tes for acclarece pope sre estar cara fost Inpro oalte an 202 levi care pee pet ob isk pots celeste rope, cerinl in Ge acu ema women pent fear Inderal de natn rare cel de tort vin spi coh judd ssc over opin sail cup n prec Vor Consul expe tree hei teste exci din alegre Read for can, lv pot pon canine ein tse engee igure oma bun pred pn eamencedebcaaura’ ere Autoarea |. THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY COMPETENCE “The effective reader masters certain skills and strategies which allow him to convert the words on the page ofa literary work into literary meanings, He knows certain conventions about how a literary text should be read and understood. Literary competence includes a number of skills and sub-skills which the teacher should identify in order to plan his lessons and to offer his students clear procedures and techniques for dealing with literary texts, The literary skills which high school students need are: 1) the ability 10 recognise and decode : 4) figures of speech such as : metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, ‘epithet, apostrophe, oxymoron, metonymy ; b) narrative and poetic devices such as: plot, story, character, point of view, setting, irony, satire, paradox, assonance, alliteration, rhyme, rhythm; ©) specific text features (constructed by the writers use of specific narrative ‘and poetic devices) such as theme, style 6) literary trends such as Classicism, Romanticism, Realism, Modernism ; ¢) literary forms such as: the diary, the epigram, the heroic poem, the mock heroic poem, the ode, the sonnet; 1) literary genres such as: novel, play, short-story, poem, sketch etc 2) the ability-to use literary notions in order to interpret the text 3) the ability to produce a personal response to the text. Although the metalanguage to which the above-mentioned terms belong seems to be quite difficult for our students, the literary terminology provides therm with tools for identifying, interpreting and appreciating the value of the distinctive {features in a literary text. Besides, the learners feel more secure to express ‘personal opinions about the text if they master the appropriate language. ‘Another argument in favour of learning and using literary terminology is a more pragmatic one ~ the students are expected to be familiar with it in exams,« READY FOR EXAMS Instead of reproducing ready-made commentaries (which include metalanguage that they do not understand), or producing “impressionistic” literary inter- pretations (in which personal intuitions are not supported by evidence from the text, the students who master the literary metalanguage are able to express their cown opinions in a clear, appropriate and convincing manner. Literary notion HEROIC POEM BEOWULF IL, Understanding the heroic (epic) poem A. Definition: A long narrative poem presenting characters of high position and a central figure of heroic proportions in a series of adventures which require superhuman courage and great valour B. Characteristics: 1. The hero is a figure of heroic stature, of national importance, and of great historical significance. 2. The action consists of heroic deeds. 3. Supernatural forces ~ gods, angels, dragons, demons - interest themselves in the action, and fantastic happenings are included in the story. 4. The characters are either completely good ot completely evil. They are not complex. 5. The heroic poem has a moral purpose, the good always defeating the evil. 6. A style of sustained elevations and grand simplicity is used. . Representative epic poems ~_ The liad and The Odyssey ~ the Old English Beowulf ~ the East Indian Mahabharata = the Spanish El Cid = the Finnish Kalevala = the French La Chanson de Roland = the German Nibelungentied = Virgil's Aeneid ~ Dante's Divine Comedy = Milton’s Paradise Lost6 READY FOR EXAMS Assignments 4) Explore the characteristics of a heroic poem by answering the following questions about Beowulf: 1. Who was Beowulf? Why did he become the central figure of a heroic poem? 2. What heroic deeds are presented in the poem? 3. Find examples of ~ characters representing the good ; ~ characters representing the evil (physical evil; moral evil; meta- physical evil). Which of them are victorious in the end? 4. What is the moral of this poem? 5. Give examples of supernatural forces and fantastic happenings included in the poet. ’) Heroie poems share some characteristics with folktales. Find these common ome and draw a parallel between Beowulf and a Romanian/English tale. Literary notions FRAME-STORY TECHNIQUE; CHARACTERIZATION ; OBJECTIVE VS. SUBJECTIVE PRESENTATION ‘THE CANTERBURY TALES by Geoffrey Chaucer I. Understanding the frame-story technique A. Definition: A story within a narrative seting or frame, a story within a story is called frame-story. B. Representative literary works in which the “frame-story” technique is used “The frame-story technique is a convention frequently used in classical and modem writing. The best known examples are found in the Arabian Nights, the Decameron and the Canterbury Tales. In the Romanian literature M. Sadoveanu used the frame-story technique in Hanu Ancuel ©. The structure of The Canterbury Tales In Canterbury Tales the frame, or the narrative setting, is represented by the General Prologue, in which the author introduces a group of people making a pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas Beckett in Canterbury. The reader finds ‘ut from the Prologue bow the characters meet at Tabbard Inn, and how they proceed on their journey, The General Prologue contains a series of portraits ofthe pilgrims: the Knight, the Squire, the Yeoman, the Nun, the Prioress, the Monk, the Friar, the Merchant, the Oxford Clerk, the Franklin, the Dyer, the Carpenter, the Cook, the Doctor, the Woman of Bath, The Parson, ‘The Plowman, the Miller, the Pardoner. ‘The stories which the various pilgrims tell along the way are frame-stories, being included in the general framework Assignments 1. Find which of the following excerpts belongs to = the General Prologue 413680 = The Pardoner's Prologue = The Pardoner's Tale® READY FOR EXAMS 8) “But listen, gentlemen; to bring things down To a conclusion, would you like a tale? Now as I've drunk a draught of comn-ripe ale, By God it stands to reason I can strike ©n some good story that you all will like. For though I am a wholly vicious man Don’t think I can’t tell moral tales. I can! b) “My lords”, he said, “now listen for your good (..) Each one of you shall help to make things slip By telling two stories on the outward trip ‘To Canterbury, that’s what I intend, ‘And, on the homeward way to jourey’s end Another two, tales from the days of old; ‘And then the man whose story is best told, ‘That is to say who gives the fullest measure ; Of good moratty and general pleasure, | He shall be given a supper, paid by all, i Here in this tavern, in this very hall, i When we come back again from Canterbury.” | ©) Atonce the three young rioters began ‘To run, and reached the tree, and there they found A pile of golden florins on the ground. (..) “Brothers”, he said, “you listen to what I say, It’s clear that Fortune has bestowed this treasure To let us live in jollity and pleasure, (.).) And so as a solution I propose hil We draw for lots and see the way it goes, ‘The one who draws the longest, lucky rian, Shall run to town as quickly as he can i To fetch us bread and wine ~ but keep things dark ~ ‘While two remain in hiding here to mark Our heap of treasure. If there's no delay, ‘When night comes down we'll carry it away, All three of us, wherever we have planned”, _-Exactly-in the way they'd planned his death (7 They fell-oitfiim and slew him, two to one. ‘THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY COMPETENCE ‘Then said the first of them when this was done, “Now for a drink. Sit down and let’s be merry, For later on there'll be the corpse to bury”. ‘And, as it happened, reaching for a sup, He took a bottle full of poison up ‘And drank; and his companion, nothing loth, Drank from it also, and they perished both. (...) Thus these two murderers received their due, So did the treacherous young poisoner too. (G. Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, The Penguin Classics, 1973) 2. Which of the previous excerpts is part of: a) the largest narrative setting (frame) ») a framed-story 3. What is the moral of The Pardoner's Tale’? 44, Which are the two qualities of a good story mentioned by the innkeeper in The General Prologue? 3, Write a story about greedinesé. Then imagine a larger narrative setting to frame it. Use the frame-story technique 0 include your first story in the second (the frame). TI. Understanding characterization In fiction (drama, novel, short-story, narrative poem) the author reveals the characters of imaginary persons. The character is a network of character trait. ‘There are two basic methods of presenting characters 1. Direct definition: The trait is direcly named by the narrator by means of an adjective (¢-g.+ She was a kind woman) or of an abstract noun (e.g.: Her kindness knew no bounds). Such naming of a character's qualities by the authoritative narrator is accepted by the reader as a character definition 2. Indirect presentation : A presentation is indirect when, rather than mentioning a trait, the author displays and exemplifies it indifferent ways. Some of these ‘ways’ are: 4) action ~ a trait may be implied by the character's actions ') speech ~ the style of a character's speech may indicate his origin, social class, profession, individual characteristics e.g. : subtlety frankness, simplicity) ©) external appearance ~ a character's physiognomy, clothes, movements may bbe suggestive of is traits 5 © environment ~ a character's physical surrounding (room, house, street, town etc.) and his human environment (family, friends, social class) are used in order to connote some character traits.wll » READY FOR EXAMS Assignments 1. Read the portrait of the Knight in The General Prologue and find this char- acter's main traits. ‘There was a KNIGHT, a most distinguished man, Who from the day on which he first began To ride abroad had followed chivalry, ‘Truth, honour, generousness and courtesy. He had done nobly in his sovereign’s war ‘And ridden into battle, no man more, As well in Christian as in heathen places, ‘And ever honoured for his noble graces. ‘When we took Alexandria he was there. He often sat at table in the chair Of honour, above all nations, when in Prussia, In Lithuania he had ridden, and Russia, No Christian man so often, of his rank. In Anatolia he had been as well ‘And fought when Ayas and Attalia fell, For all along the Mediterranean coast He had embarked with many a noble host. In fifteen mortal battles he had been ‘And jousted for our faith at Tramissene ‘Thrice in the lists, and always killed his man, ‘And though so much distinguished, he was wise ‘And in his bearing modest as a maid, He never yet a boorish thing had said In all his life to any, come what might: He was a true, a perfect gentle-Knight, ‘Speaking of his equipment, ho possessed Fine horses, but he was not gaily dressed, He wore a fustian tunic stained and dark With smudges where his armour had left mark. (G. Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, ‘The Penguin Classics, 1973) 2. Find examples of direct presentation in the portrait of the KNIGHT, Which traits are directly named by the narrator’? "THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY COMPETENCE. a 3, Analyse the different ways of indirect presentation used in this excerpt, pointing to the qualities displayed and exemplified in these ways. 4. ‘Think of an unusually interesting or memorable character (a real person or ant imaginary one). Write an article for a magazine in which you show his/her special character traits, using the direct and the indirect presentation. Include references to his/her actions, speech, external appearance, environment in order to illustrate your statements about what he or she is like, IIL. Understanding objective vs subjective presentation ‘The literary convention known as “REALISM” considers OBJECTIVITY as a quality in a literary work of impersonaliry, of freedom from the expression of personal sentiments, attitudes or emotions by the author. ‘The objective presentation is connected with the MIMETIC THEORY OF ART, ‘according to which the artist should centre his attention on the thing imitated, trying to obtain a perfect correspondence between the representation and the subject. The realist writer usvally has a powerful interest in the audience to whom his work is addressed, feeling it to be his obligation to offer a truthful ‘treatment of material. ‘The objective presentation is opposed to the subjective presentation, which is characterized by an intensely personal manner of expressing the author's attitude towards the subject represented in his work. Assignments 1. To whom does the writer address in the following excerpt from the General Prologue? Bur first I beg of you, in courtesy, Not to condemn me as unmannerly If I speak plainly and with no concealings ‘And give account of all their words and dealings, Using their very phrases as they tell. For certainly, as you all know as well, He who repeats a tale after a man Is bound to say, as nearly as be can, Each single word, if he remembers it. However rudely spoken of unfit, Or else the tale he tells will be untrue ‘The things invented and the phrases new He may not flinch although it were his brother, If he says one word he must say the other.2 READY FOR EXAMS 2. What ideas about the use of language in literature does Chaucer express in this part of the General Rrologue? How can you connect these ideas with the mimetic theory of art? 3. Which literary trend emphasizes the objective presentation, the truthful treat- ‘ment of material in the work of art? Literary notions TRAGEDY ; TRAGIC CHARACTER; CONFLICT HAMLET by William Shakespeare I. Understanding tragedy A. Aristotle's definition of classical tragedy ‘Tragedy is a dramatic form, which was first defined by the Greek philosopher Aristotle in his Poetics. ‘According to his definition, tragedy is “an imitation of an ACTION that is, SERIOUS, COMPLETE and of a certain magnitude.” ‘+ The MAIN CHARACTER is a rioble person, of high rank, involved in a conflict of great significance that ends in disaster. His ruin is caused by a TRAGIC FLAW ot weakness. The PURPOSE of a tragedy is to arouse the emotions of PITY and FEAR in the audience. By the time the tragedy ends the audience has been cleansed of these emotions because they have exhausted them. This process is called CATHARSIS. Aristotle's definition in the Poetics is an inductive description of the Greek tragedies. The Elizabethan Tragedy ‘The tragedy of the Elizabethan Age was not the classical tragedy of Aristotle's definition. The greatest influence upon Renaissance playwrights was exerted by the plays of Seneca, a Latin philosopher. ‘The distinctive traits of the Elizabethan tragedy (also known as “Blood and Thunder” tragedy) are 1. THE PLOT of such a play is the murder by a person in power of a close relative of the main character. Sensational happenings (murders, horrors, exhibitions of dead bodies) and supernatural elements (ghosts) are placed ‘upon the stage. The play has a complicated intrigue and most of the characters die in the end. The author uses “the play within the play” as a ‘mirror to the main plot.™ [READY FOR EXAMS 2. The THEME of REVENGE and retribution through murder is borrowed from Seneca. The main character seeks revenge against the murderer, being directed by the ghost of the assassinated man, 3. The TRAGIC CHARACTER hesitates about whether or not o take revenge, ‘hich is seen as a duty by the family of the avenger, as a sin by the church and as a crime by the state 4, The BOMBASTIC RHETORIC, the reflective and aphoristic STYLE, the philosophic SOLILOQUIES prove the Elizabethan playwrights’ effort to elevate tragedy into the realm of austere philosophy. ‘The most important English Senecan tragedies were produced by Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Kyd (The Spanish Tragedy) and William Shakespeare (Titus Andronicus and Hamlet). Assignments 1. Is Hamlet a typical “Blood and Thunder” tragedy? Which characteristics of the revenge tragedy are to be found in Shakespeare's play and which traits are excluded from it? 2. Present the plot of the play, pointing to those elements which are typical ofthe Elizabethan tragedy. 3. Explain the theme of Shakespeare's tragedy. 4, What feeling or mixture of feelings does Hamlet inspire you at the end of the play? IL. Understanding conflict Conflict is a struggle between opposing forces in a plot. The conflict may be: 1. external, presenting the protagonist's struggle against : a) the forces of nature; ») another person, usually the antagonist; ©) & group of people, or society as a force; 2. internal, involving the protagonist's struggling to decide between two opposing values, ideas within himselffherself. Anoiher kind of conflict is the protagonist's struggle against Fate wr destiiy We seldom find a simple, single conflict in a plot, but rather « complex one, ‘combining the elements of the above-mentioned types. ‘The action in fiction or drama depends upon the conflict, which provides the tension as the action builds to the climax. ‘The term CONFLICT not only implies the struggle of a protagonist against someone OF something, it also implies the existence of some motivation for the conflict or some goal to be achieved by it. “THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY COMPETENCE. 2s Assignments 1. What types of conflict are combined in Hamlet? 2, Who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist in Shakespeare's tragedy ? Find the motivation of the conflict between them. Present the stages of the external conflict. 3, a) Which are the conflicting passions and values within the tragic character? ') Analyse Hamlet's hesitatons starting from the internal conflict between the opposing values and ideas, IIL. Understanding the tragic character ‘A tragedy results in a catastrophe for the main character. The tragic hero is @ noble person, a king, a hero, a ruler (in the ancient Greek tragedies, as well as in the Elizabethan tragedies), who is finally doomed, either by fate or by a certain ‘law/weakness in his character. In the “Blood and Thunder” tragedies of the Elizabethan Age, the tragic hero is faced with the problem of whether or not to seek revenge against a murderer ‘who Killed his relative (father, son). The tragic character hesitates to respond to ‘murder by another murder, he is fond of philosophizing and justifying his actions. The philosophic soliloquies are frequently used by the playwright in order to reveal and examine the character's thoughts and feelings. ‘A typical example is Hamlet’s soliloquy “To be, or not to be”. Assignments 1, Read the following excerpt from the soliloquy “To be, or not to be” and explain which are the alternatives Hanet has to choose from: Hamlet : To be, oF not to be that is the question Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer “The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, ‘And by opposing end them”... 2, Hamlet feels guilty for not taking immediate revenge. What preserves him from punishing his father's murderer, Claudius, from the moment he knows the truth? Read these lines before answering the question ‘Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, ‘And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought; ‘And enterprises of great pitch and moment, ‘With this regard, their current turn. awry, ‘And lose the name of action. 3. What ,weakness” does the character mention in these ines?[READY FOR EXAMS. 4, How does Hamlet's tragic flaw lead to his tragic end? . Is the source of tragedy inside the character (ie. : his own ideas, feelings, attitudes) or outside the character (i.e. his fate which can not be changed)? Analyse one scene in the play where Hamlet's pref specu ns where Hamlet’s preference for refined specu lation prevents him from actually taking revenge. Literary notions SONNET; SHAKESPEAREAN SONNET SONNETS by William Shakespeare 1. Understanding the sonnet A. Definition: A sonnet is a fourteen-ine lyric poem written in iambic pentameter (i.e. ten syllables, with each unaccented syllable followed by an accented one), with a particular shyme scheme. ‘An example of iambic pentameter is the following line «silt FcSmpare tite to & sumniér’s day 2" (Shakespeare, Sonnet XVIII B. Classification. The two forms of sonnets ‘The two characteristic Sonnet types are: 1) The Malian (Petrarchan) and 2) The English (Shakespearean). 1) The Iralian form is divided into an octave (eight tines rhyming abba abba) and a sester (six lines rhyming ede cde, ede edc, or cde dee). 2) The English (Shakespearean) sonnet contains three quatrains (vhyming tabab cdcd efef) and a couplet (rhyming gg). Usually each quarrain (ic. & {our-line group) explores a different aspect of the poem’s central idea. The couplet sums up the poem or comments on What was said in the quatrains. ‘These last two lines (the couplet) are indented (i.e. they start further in from the margin than the other lines). C. Representative sonneteers “The sonnet as a literary form appeared in Italy, probably in the thirteenth century. Petrarch, in the fourteenth century, raised the sonnet to its greatest Italian perfection. “This literary form was introduced into England by Thomas Wyatt, who translated the Petrarchan sonnets into English. Gradually, the Italian sonnet pattern was modified and this modified type was called The English (Shakespearean) sonnet. ‘The most famous sonneteets in English literature are: Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, D.G. RossettiPy READY FOR EXAMS "THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY COMPETENCE. » D. Shakespeare's sonnet sequence Cit oamenii privese si cét respi Certain poets, following the example of Petrarch, have written series of sonnets ‘rkiesti si tu in clntu-nchis in lia” linked one to the other, and dealing with some unified subject. Such series are 2, Read Sonnet XCI, find its central idea and discuss how each of the three called sonnet sequences. Some of the best-known sonnet sequences in English ‘quatrains explores a different aspect of this idea, contributing tothe general literature are those by Shakespeare (154 in the group), Sidney’s Astrophel and ‘development of the theme. Explain the concluding statement in the final couplet. Stella, Spenser's Amoretti, Rossett’s House of Life ‘The 154 Shakespearean sonnets, published in 1609, are unified by such themes as: love, the flight of time, the immortality of art. Assignments 1. Analyse the formal characteristics of the following sonnet (rtyme scheme, ‘metre, number of lines, the types of line groups) : Xxva “Shall T compare thee to a summer's day? ‘Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, ‘And summer's lease hath all too short a date ‘Sometime t0o hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed, And every fair from fair sometime declines, By change of nature's changing course untrimmed ; But the eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st, Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade ‘When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st. So long as men can breath or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” ‘The Romanian translation by Gheorghe Tomozei “Cu-o zi a verii poate si te semui? ‘Tu esti mai plin de farmec gi mai bland ! Un vant doboara creanga si blestemu-i cH frunza verii moare prea cursnd. Ades ¢ ochiul cerutui fierhinte si aur il precede-ntunecat Precum frumosul din frumos descinde sub cerul simplei firi, netulburat Dar vara ta eterna mu paleste si mai si pierzi ce astizi stapanesti XC “Some glory in their birth, some in their skill Some in their wealth, some in their body's force; Some in their garments, though new-fangled ill Some in their hawks and hounds, some in their horse, ‘And every humour has its adjunct pleasure, ‘Wherein it finds a joy above the rest; But these particulars are not my measure: [All these I better in one general best. ‘Thy love is better than high birth to me, Richer than wealth, prouder than garments’ cost, Of more delight than hawks and horses be ‘And having thee, of all men’s pride I boast ~ ‘Wretched in this alone, that thou mayst take Al this away, and me most wretched make.” ‘The Romanian translation by Gheorghe Tomozei “La unii fala, cum se nasc, adastl, alfii o au in viaga ori parale, tunii-n bulendre (nowa moda proasti!) ali in soimi, Ia alti intr-un cal e... iin lume fiecare-si are toana fn care-o bucurie-n plus giseste dar nu-s de mine, nu-mi cobor spranceana ccd soarta mea cu toate se-ntilneste. ‘Mai mult jubese fiptura-ti decdt cinul, ‘mulfimea de averi, podoabe, haine, oi cat $i soimt si desftiare ; plimul avandu-l, am si ale fumii taine... ‘Atit doar c& de-mi iei tot, atunci fn neagr& stricie ma arunci!" (W. Shakespeare, Sonnets ~ Sonete, Ed. Pandora, 1998) in umbra mori n-ai s& plimbi caleste 43. What stylistic device does the poet use in the first quatrain and what stylistic céind intr-un vers etern fi-e dat si crest. effect does he obtain’?12, 13. READY FOR EXAMS Find an example of syntactic repetition and explain its stylistic value in the context. ‘Read Sonnet 16 and indicate the rhyme scheme by writ Isa of ata on tte ste ah Let me not tothe marriage of true minds ‘Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove. ©, no! it is an ever-fixed mark, ‘That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, ... ‘Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken .. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks «. Within his bending sickle’s compass come, Love alters not with his breef hours and weeks, .. But ears it out even to the edge of doom ... «If this be error, and upon me proved, never writ, nor no man ever loved. .. Mark the rhythm on the first line of the sonnet. ‘What is the premise stated in the sonnet? ‘Which of the following describes best the theme of this sonnet: 8) True love is transient ») All love changes. ©) True love never dies 4) Love guides its lovers. How would you describe the tone sm? Melanckolic? Optimistic? Hw would you of the poem? Melanckolic? Optimist |. Which are the two “enemies” threatening true love? Which is the more dangerous? Why? |. Complete the following sentences with the poet's definitions in the sonnet: “True love is... ‘True love is .. ‘Can you finish this statement? Love is ‘Compare your ideas to those of the other students in your group. Read again Sonnet 91 and Sonnet 116, looking for phrases and ideas about the ppower of love and what love can do. Write an essay on the power of lov, using quotations and ideas from the two sonnets. : Literary notions TRAGEDY ; IMAGERY ; FIGURES OF SPEECH ROMEO AND JULIET by William Shakespeare 1. Understanding tragedy ‘A. The theme of tragedy ‘Thieme is the central or dominating idea in afiterary work. In drama, prose and poetry this abstract concept is made concrete through is representation in person, Trction and image. The theme ofa tragedy is the meaning ofthe central action and the main character's recognition ofthat meaning and its consequences. B. The source of tragedy ‘The conflict between opposing forces in the plot may be: 1) external or 2) internal (see Hamlet. Understanding conflict). Therefore, the source of ragedy may be 1) outside the tragic characters (if the conflict is an external one, for txample when it presents the protagonist's struggle against another person ~ an ‘antagonist ~ or against fate/destiny) or 2) inside the tragic characters (if the ‘onfict is an internal one, involving the struggle between opposite values, ideas, feelings within the character). Assignments 1. Present the central action of Romeo and Juliet, emphasizing the conflict berween the two feuding families and its consequences. 2, What is the theme of the tragedy (i.e. the meaning of the central action)? Comment on the oppositions deriving from the central theme: romance and revenge, love and hate, youth and age +3, What type of conflict is presented in Romeo and Juliet ~ an external of an internal one? Which are the opposing forces in the plot? 4 Analyse the sources of tragedy in Romeo and Juliet, pointing to the role of ‘unfortunate coincidences in destroying the protagonists. TL Understanding imagery Imagery is the use of vivid descriptions or figures of speech to create a mental image.READY FOR EXAMS Images may be 4) literal and sensory, appealing to the senses (visual, auditory, olfactory, tac- tile) and involving no change or extension inthe obvious meaning of words. ») nonliteral, figurative, including such figures of speech as : similes, metaphors, personifications, symbols, apostrophe, hyperbole, metonymy, oxymoron. * SIMILE isa figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two subjects by using the words like or as. By drawing together different, unlike things, effective similes make vivid and meaningful comparisons that clarify and enrich what the writer has to say. The portrait of Juliet in Act I, Scene 5 includes two vivid similes: “It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night ‘As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear” ; “So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows ‘As yonder lady over her fellow shows”. ‘+ METAPHOR is an implied comparison between things which are imagi- natively identified with one another (one thing is described as if it were the other). In a metaphor, a comparison is only suggested or implied, without "THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY COMPETENCE s Who is already sick and pale with grief, ‘That thou her maid art far more fair than she Romeo: Lady, by yonder blessed Moon T vow, ‘That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops Juliet: © swear not by the Moon th'inconstant Moon, ‘That monthly changes in her circled orb, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable. APOSTROPHE is a figure of speech in which a writer speaks directly to an idea, to a quality, to an object, orto a person who is not present. It is used in poetry and in speeches to add emotional intensity. In the following lines Juliet addresses the night, giving deep emotional expression to her love for Romeo: ‘Come gentle night, come loving black - brow'd night, Give me my Romeo, and when he shall die, ‘Take him and cut him out in little stars, ‘And he will make the face of heaven so fine, That all the world will be in love with night, Assignments 1. Comment on the theme of identity, as itis illustrated in the following lines from the balcony scene : Juliet: "Tis but thy name that is my enemy ‘Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. ‘What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot Nor arm nor face nor any other part Belonging to a man. , be some other name. ‘What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet (...). (Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Scene 2) 2. a) Analyse the sensory images in the description of Juliet. To which of the following senses: the sense of sight, the sense of hearing, the sense of touch using such words as: like, as, than (these words can be found in a simile). For example, “death is along sleep” or “the sleeping dead” are ‘metaphors, but “death is like a long sleep” is a simile. ' ‘A metaphor may be brief: “O she does teach the torches to burn bright", or extended, developed at length, as in this passage from Romeo and Juliet Act Il, Scene 1 ‘Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, Having some business do intreat her eyes i ‘To twinkle in their spheres tll they return. What if her eyes were there, they in her head, ‘The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, ‘As daylight doth a lamp, her eye in heaven Would through the airy region stream so bright, does Shakespeare's imagery appeal? ‘That birds would sing, and think it were no night. +) Discuss the symbolism of light and darkness in this description : i + PERSONIFICATION is a type of figurative language in which absiract Romeo: 0, she does teach the torches to burn bright! or inanimate objects are given human qualities, being described as if It seems she hangs upon the check of night i they were alive and animate ‘As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear ~ Jn Act Il, Scene 2, when Romeo and Juliet exchange vous of love, the Beauty to0 rich for use, for earth too dear! oct personifies the moon, the sun, the night, So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows Romeo: tis, fair Sun, and Kill the envious Moon, ‘As yonder lady over her fellows showsPy READY FOR EXAMS ‘The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand, ‘And touching hers, make blessed my rude hand Did my heart love till now? Forswear i, sight. For [ne'er saw true beauty till tonight (Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Seene 5) 3. a) Compare the use of sensory imagery in the portrait of Juliet and in this description of Cleopatra The barge she set in, like a burnished throne ‘Burned on the water the poop was beaten gold; Purple the sails, and so perfumed tha ‘The winds were love-sick with them the oars were silver, Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made ‘The water which they beat to follow faster, ‘As amorous of ther strokes. For her own person, Ie beggared all description: she did lie In her pavilion, cloth of gold, of tissue, COver-picturng that Venus where we see “The fancy outwork of nature. On each side her Stood prety dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids, With divers-coloured fans whose wind did seem ‘To alow the delicate cheeks which they did cool, And what they undid did. (Antony and Cleopatra) 1) What types of images does the author use in this passage : auditory, visual, olfactory, tactile? Find examples of such sensory images and explain theit siylistic value. «) Which ofthe two descriptions is richer in images and adornments? ) Which expresses feclings more direcly’? ©) Which do you prefer? Why’? i 4. Analyse the use of figurative. nonliteral images in the following lines Romeo [Coming forward] | ‘What light through yonder window breaks? i Itis the east, and Juliet is the sun! : Arise, fair Sun, and kill the envious Moon, ' Who is already sick and pale with grief ; ‘That thou her maid art far more fair than she. 3 Be not her maid, since she is envious i Her vestal livery is but sick and green, a And none but fools do wear it. Cast it off. It is my lady! O it is my love! THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY COMPETENCE 3s , that she knew she were! She speaks, yet she says nothing. What of that? Her eye discourses. I will answer it 1am too bold; "Tis not to me she speaks. ‘Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven Having some business, do entreat her eyes ‘To twinkle in their spheres till they return, ‘What if her eyes were there, they in her head? ‘The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars As daylight doth a lamp ; her eyes in heaven Would through the airy region stream so bright ‘That birds would sing and think it were not night. (Romeo and Juliet, Act Il, Scene 2) 5. Think of an aspect of nature that has special appeal for you. Describe it vividly using figurative language (personification, similes, metaphors) and sensory images (visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile).Literary notions PERSONAL PROSE; DIARY DIARY by Samuel Pepys IL. Understanding personal prose. The diary Personal or autobiographical prose includes such forms as: diaries, journals, letters, autobiographies, memoirs. A DIARY (JOURNAL) isa day-by-day chronicle of events, a personal and more or less intimate record of current events and thoughts kept by an individual, Although not openly intended for publication, many of the diaries imply the authors" assumption that their personal experience is of interest to the others. ‘Therefore, a diary may be considered both public and private. Most diaries, ‘when published, appeared posthumously. ‘The features which distinguish the diary from the novel are : = the diary is openty subjective (the diarist presents his personal opinions, impressions and feelings when commenting upon current events) ~ the diarist refers to actual people and evens, while the prose writer creates fictional characters and events. ‘The most famous diary in English is that of Samuel Pepys, which details events between January 1, 1660 and May 29, 1669. Other important English diaries are those of John Evelyn, Jonathan Swift, John Wesley, Fanny Burney. Assignments 1. Read the following excerpt from Samhwel Pepys’ Diary and find out what calamity in London's history the diarist refers to. 2. Underline the objective, impersonal details. Then write a 50-words objective report of the event, including the sime references, the places ant the persons mentioned in the text. 3. Extract the passages including the diarist’s personal opinions, feelings and ‘impressions. Find three examples of subjective information in the text below. ‘THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY COMPETENCE. ” ‘September 2nd (Lord’s day). Some of our maids sitting up late last night to get ‘things ready against our feast to-day, Jane called us up about three in the morning, to tell us of a great fire they saw in the City. So I rose, and slipped on my night-gown, and went to her window ; and thought it to be on the back-side of Marke-lane atthe farthest ; but, being unused to such fires as followed, I thought it far enough off; and so went to bed again, and to sleep, About seven rose again to dress myself, and there looked out at the window, and saw the fire not so much as it was, and further off. So to my closet to set things to rights, after yesterday's cleaning. By and by Jane comes and tells me that she hears that above 300 houses have been burned down to-night by the fire we saw, and that it is now burning experience as a war correspondent in Europe (1948-1947) 5 ~ the bullfighting ; = the big game hunting ; = the deep sea fishing ; = the airplane accidents, ‘The world of Hemingway's fiction is often violent and brutal. It is a world of war, of bullfighters and bullfight “aficionado”, of hunters and fishermen. But it10 READY FOR EXAMS is also a world of failures: men whose life has been destroyed by the war (Jake Barnes in The Sun Also Rises), writers who have betrayed their talert (the dying ‘man in The Snows of Kilimanjaro), bullfighters who have lost IIL. Hemingway's typical heroes Hemingway's typical heroes are active, athletic figures: hunters, fishermen, soldiers, bullfighters, who fight against fate and lose, but who adopt @ stoic endurance, being loyal to a code of honour, The code includes dignity, syle, discipline, which give the hero full humanity in his defeat. Hemingway's heroes live in a harsh, alien universe, in which violence, suffering and death are the rule. They try to overcome fear, to make terms with the outer and the inner threats. IV. Hemingway's style ‘The conciseness of Hemingway's style is one of the most characteristic features Of the writer's “anti-rhetoric”. His dialogues are short, his descriptions objective, his phrases simple, not related or subordinated to each other, but loosely linked by the coordinative conjunctions (and... and...). The figures of speech are almost, absent, only the simplest epithets can be found in the writer’s descriptions. ‘The journalistic style used by Hemingway the reporter is to be found in his fiction too. It is characterized by economy of language and precise, objective presentation of facts. YV. Objective versus subjective presentation ‘Something is objective if it has to do with a realty that is independent of any particular person's mind, or of any personal, internal experience, Statements of fact are objective (¢.g.: “The man killed the bull”). Such statemerts deal with ‘an impersonal, external reality Something is subjective if it is based on personal reactions or emotions rather ‘than on some objective reality. Opinions are subjective statements. Writers often try to recreate subjective experiences and feelings in their works. Objective presentation is a quality in a literary work of impersonality, ‘of freedom from the expression of personal sentiments, attitudes, or opinions by the author. Subjective is a term used to denote siting which is expressive of the inner convictions, beliefs, emotions, ideale the author. Subjective writing is opposed to objective writing, which is impersonal, concrete, and concerned largely with narrative, analysis or description of externalities. VI. Understanding parable ‘A parable is a brief story, usually with human characters, thi ‘moral lesson, The most famous parables are those told by CI told to teach a in the Bible. ‘THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY COMPETENCE as Assignments 1) The Old Man and the Sea can be read as a parable. What moral lesson does it teach? The following excerpt may help you to answer the question. He did not like to look at the fish anymore since he had been mutilated. When the fish had been hit was as though he himself were hit But I killed the shark that hit my fish, he thought. And he was the biggest dlentuso that I have ever seen. And God knows that I have seen big ones. It was too good to last, he thought. I wish it had been a dream now and that Thad never hooked the fish and was alone in bed on the newspapers. “But man is not made for defeat,” he said. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” 1am sorry that I killed the fish though, he thought. Now the bad time is coming and 1 do not even have the harpoon. (..) Now it is over, he thought. They will probably hit me again. But what can a ‘man do against them in the dark without a weapon ? He was stiff and sore now and his wounds and all ofthe strained parts of his body hurt with the cold of the night. I hope I do not have to fight again, he thought. But by midnight he fought and this time'he knew the fight was useless. They ‘came in a pack and he could only see the lines in the water that their fins made ‘and theit phosphorescence as they threw themselves on the fish. He clubbed at hheads and heard the jaws chop and the shaking of the skiff as they took hold below. He clubbed desperately at what he could only feel and hear and he felt something seize the club and it was gone He jerked the tiller free from the rudder and beat and chopped with it, holding it in both hands and driving it down again and again. But they were up to the bow ‘now and driving in one aftr the other and together, tearing off the pieces of meat that showed glowing below the sea as they turned to come once more. One came, finally, against the head itself and he knew that it was over. He swung the tiller across the shark's head where the jaws were caught in the heaviness of the fish's head, which would not tear. He swings it once and twice and again. He heard the tiller break and he lunged atthe shark with the splintered butt, He felt it go in and knowing it was sharp he drove it in again. ‘The shark let go and rolled aviay. That was the last shark of the pack that came. There was nothing more for them to eat. The old man could hardly breathe now and he felt a strange taste in his mouth. It was coppery and sweet and he was afraid of it for the moment, But there was not much of it He spat into the ocean and said, “Eat that, galanos. And make a dream you've killed a man.” Hee knew he was beaten now finally and without remedy and he went back to the stern (...). He sailed lightly now and he had no thoughts nor any feelings1s . READY FOR EXAMS of any kind. He was past everything now and he sailed the skiff to make his hhome port as well and as intelligently as he could. In the night sharks hit the carcass as someone might pick up crumbs from the table. ‘The old mar paid ‘no attention to them and did not pay aty attention to anything except steering. He only noticed how lightly and how well the skiff sailed now there was no great ‘weight beside her. She's good, he though. She is sound and not harmed in any way except forthe tiller. That is easily replaced. He could feel he was inside the current now and he could see the lights ofthe ‘beach colonies along the shore. He knew where he was now and it was ncthing 10 get home. "The wind is our friend, any way, he thought. Then he added, sometimes. And the great sea with our friends and our enemies. And bed, he thought. Bed will be ‘great thing. Itis easy when you are beaten, he thought. I never knew how easy it was. And what beat you, he thought. “Nothing”, he said aloud. “I went out too fat.” 2) Is Santiago defeated or not? Describe his behaviour throughout the fight against the sharks. Analyse his feelings and his attude after the sharks leave only the carcass of the big marlin, 3) Characterize Santiago, pointing to the features that make him one of Hemingway's typical heroes 4) Comment on the use of point of view in this fragment, 5) Which type of speech presentation is used : direct speech, free direct speech, indirect speech or free indirect speech? © Present the specific features of Hemingway's style, finding examples in the excerpt above, Literary notions DRAMA; PROBLEM PLAY; PARADOX CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA by George Bernard Shaw I. Understanding drama; twentieth-century drama Aristotle called drama “imitated human action”, There are three necessary elements in drama: 1) a story 2) told by means of dialogue 3) by actors who impersonate the characters of the story. ‘The twentieth-century literature is characterized by a rebirth of dramatic interest both in Great Britain and in the United States. In England the influence of Ibsen made itself strongly felt in the problem plays of G.B. Shaw and in the realism of John Galsworthy and Somerset Maugham. T.S. Eliot revived and enriched the verse drama, John Osborne expressed the rebellious attitude of the “Angry Young Men” in Look Back in Anger. Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller gave America a serious drama, with modern features, influ enced by the European experiments. Il. Understanding problem plays ‘The modern “drama of ideas” is exemplified in the plays of Ibsen, Shaw, Galsworthy, and many others. The problem plays represent in dramatic form a ‘general social problem, a philosophic idea, shown as itis confronted by or must, be solved by the protagonist. Shaw's plays are conflicts of ideas and his characters prime reason for existence is to put forward these ideas. His heroes were often created as mouthpieces for the playwright’s ideas. They tend to make a lot of witty. intellectual speeches through which Shaw's ideas are conveyed to the audience. The true subject of a debate drama being an idea, the events inthe plot are less important. Shaw said about his plots : “Shavian plots are as silly as Shakespearean plots and, like Shakespeare's they are all stolen from other writers.” The innovatory technique is based on reversal : Shaw takes a familiar theatrical type or situation and reverses it so that his audience is forced to reassess things radically. In Caesar and Cleopatra Shaw reverses the traditional view on the wo134 READY FOR EXAMS. legendary characters. His Caesar has no trace of heroism and grandeur. He loos like an old gentleman, a well-educated member of the English middle-class, endowed with a sense of dry humour. Cleopatra, the glamorous, ambitious and clever Queen of Egypt, appears in Shaw’s play as a rather common, timid young girl who has nothing from the majestic figure of the legendary queen. ‘TL. Understanding paradox A paradox is a surprising or even shocking statement that seems to be contra- dictory or absurd, but which may actually present a truth. Paradox is a rhetorical device used to attract attention, to secure emphasis. In Shaw's plays paradox is the most important comical device. TV. Shaw’s reinterpretation of history Shaw’s historical plays deglamorize history, underlining the discrepancy between the legend surrounding historical personalities and the reality that lies beneath the “myth”. The technique of reversal functions with great comic effect when applied to famous historical characters like Caesar and Cleopatra. Caesar, far from being a heroic figure, is seen by Cleopatra as an elderly gentleman, who ‘cannot scare even a girl, What is even funnier, he is told by a girl (for that is Cleopatra's image in Shaw's play) how to govern: “You are very sentimental, Caesar ; but you are clever; and if you do as I tell you, you will soon learn to govern.” G.B. Shaw explained in his Notes to Caesar and Cleopatra that be intended “to produce an impression of greatness by exhibiting Caesar as a man, not mortifying his nature by doing his duty, but as simply doing whet he naturally wants t0 do,” Assignments Read the following excerpt from Caesar and Cleopatra by G.B. Shaw and answer the questions below. The girl (who was wakened, and peeped cautiously from her nest to see who is speaking): Old gentleman. Caesar (starting violently, and clutching his sword): Immortal gods! The girl: Old gentleman: don't run awey. Caesar (stupefied): “Old gentleman: don't run away! !1" This! to Julius Caesar! The girl (urgently): Old gentleman. Caesar: Sphinx: you presume on your centuries. I am yourger than you, though your voice is but a girl's voice as yet. The girl: Climb up bere, quickly ; or the Romans will come and eat you. ‘THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY COMPETENCE 185 Caesar (running forward past the Sphinx’s shoulder, and seeing her): A child at its breast! A divine child! The girl: Come up quickly. You must get up at its side and creep round. Caesar (amazed) : Who are you” The girl: Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. Caesar: Queen of the Gypsies, you mean. Cleopatra’: You must not be disrespectful to me, or the Sphinx will let the Romans eat you. Come up. It is quite cosy here. Caesar (to himself): What a dream! What a magnificent dream ! Only let me not wake, and I will conquer fen continents to pay for dreaming it out to the end, (He climbs to the Sphinx’s flank, and presently reappears to her on the pedestal, stepping round its right shoulder.) Cleopatra : Take care. That's right. Now sit down: you may have the other paw. (She seats herself comfortably om its left paw.) It is very powerful and will protect us ; but (shivering and with plaintive loneliness) it would not take any notice of me or keep me company. I am glad you have come: 1 was very lonely. Did you happen to see a white cat anywhere’? Caesar (siting slowly down on the right paw in extreme wonderment) : Have you lost one? Cleopatra: Yes : the sacred white cat: is it not dreadful? I brought him here to sacrifice him to the Sphinx ; but when we got a little way from the city a black cat called him, and he jumped out of my arms and ran to it. Do you think that the black cat can have been my great-great-great-grandmother ? Caesar (staring at her): Your great-great-great-grandmother ? Well, why not’? Nothing would surprise me on this night of nights Cleopatra : 1 think it must have been. My great-grandmother’s great-grand- ‘mother was a black kitten of the sacred white cat; and the river Nile made her his seventh wife, That is why my hair is so wavy. And I always want to be let 0 do as I like, no matter whether it is will of the gods or not; that is because my blood is made with Nile water. Caesar: What are you doing here at this time of night? Do you live here? Cleopatra : Of course not: I am the Queen ; and I shall live in the palace at Alexandria when I have killed my brother, who drove me out of it. When 1am old enough I shall do just what I like. I shall be able to poison the slaves and see them wriggle, and pretend to Ftatateeta that she is going to be out into the fiery furnace. Caesar: Him! Meanwhile why are you not at home and in bed? Cleopatra : Because the Romans are coming to eat us all. You are not at home and in bed either.158 READY FOR EXAMS Caesar (with conviction) : Yes T am. I live in a tent; and 1 am now in that tent, fast asleep and dreaming. Do you suppose that I believe you are real, you impossible litle dream witch? Cleopatra (giggling and leaning trustully towards him) : You are a fuany old gentleman. I fike you. Caesar: Ah, that spoils the dream. Why don’t you dream that I am young? Cleopatra: 1 wish you were; only I think I should be more afraid of you. 1 like men, especially young men with round strong arms ; but I am afraid of them. You are old and rather thin and stringy ; but you have a nice voice ; and like to have somebody to talk to, though I think you are a little mad. It is the ‘moon that makes you talk to yourself in that silly way. Caesar: What! you heard that, did you I was saying my prayers tothe great Sphinx. Cleopatra: But ths isn’t the great Sphinx Caesar (much disappointed, looking at the statue): What! Cleopatra: This is only a dear kitten of the Sphinx. Why, the great Sphinx is so big that it has a temple between its paws. This is my pet Sphinx. Tell me: do you think the Romans have any sorcerers who could take us away from the Sphinx bby magic? Caesar: Why’? Are you afraid of the Romans? Cleopatra (very seriously): Oh, they would eat us if they caught us, They are barbarians. Their chief is called Julius Caesar. His father was a tiger and his mother a burning mountain; and his nose is like an elephant’s trunk. (Caesar involuntarily rubs his nose.) They all have long noses, and ivory tusis, and litle tails, and seven arms with a hundred arrows in each, and they live on ‘human flesh. (from Caesar and Cleopatra) 1) Which of the following adjectives do you associate with the two historical figures - Caesar and Cleopatra - and which of them do you associate with Shaw's characters : great, glamorous, majestic, funny, kind, timid, shy, attrac- tive, courageous, urbane, dignified, proud, humorous, intelligent, shrewd 2) Comment on Shaw’s original treatment of the historical figures. Find examples In the excerpt above. 3) What does the humour of the play consist in? 4) Analyse the comic effects produced by the technique of reversal in the fragment above, 5) Caesar and Cleopatra is a debate drama, the events and the characters illustrating a general idea about history. Discover the idea which represents the true subject of the play. Literary notions ALLEGORICAL NOVEL; SYMBOL LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding L Understanding allegory ‘An allegory is a story with more than on level of meaning = 1) a literal one and 2) one or more symbolic levels. Allegory allows the writer both to tell a story about literal characters and to make a moral, religious, or political point. Besides having literal surface meaning, the events, characters, or settings in an allegory also stand for ideas or qualities and have a second meaning at that level. Parable, fable, beast epic are types of allegory. 'W. Golding was considered by some critics “not a novelist, but an allegorist” Gohn Wain). The allegorical value of his novels is obvious in the moral issues ‘which lie beneath the surface level. Lord of the Flies is not a simple adventure story of boys on a desert island; it is essentially @ fable about the end of innocence, about the darkness of man’s heart. The defects of society are the result of the defects of human nature. The idea is thatthe evil, the “beast” is part of the human soul, of the human nature Il. Understanding the central symbol in Lord of the Flies A symbol is anything that stands for or represents something else. The central symbol in Golding’s novel is the “lord of the flies”. This name is a translation of the Hebrew Ba'alzevuv, meaning the Devil. However, the Devil is, not presented in any traditional, religious sense. It is its modern equivalent, the anarchic, amoral, driving force which lies deep in the human heart, The tenets of civilization, the moral and social codes can not destroy this uncontrollable evil force, they can only cover and disguise it temporarily. ‘The conch, the hunting expedition, the fire, the struggle between Ralph and Jack, the killing of the sow have symbolic meanings, suggesting the main theme, of the book ~ the flight between good and evil, between civilization and the basic. wildness in human heart,18 [READY FOR EXAMS Assignments 1) Read the following excerpts from Chapter two: Fire on the Mountain and ‘comment on the symbolic meanings of the island, the conch, the fire, the two leaders ~ Ralph and Jack, the rules established by Ralph. By the time Ralph finished blowing the conch the platform was crowed. Ralph sat ona fallen trunk, his left side tothe sun. On his right were most ofthe choir ; ‘on his left the larger boys who had not known each other before the evacuation ; before him small children squatted in the grass Silence now. Ralph lifted the conch to his knees and a sudden breeze scattered light over the platform. He was uncertain whether to stand up or remain siting. (...) “Well then.” All.at once he found he could talk fluently and explain what he had wo say. He ‘passed a hand through his fair hair and spoke. “We're on an island. We've been on the mountain top and seen water all round, We saw no houses, no smoke, no footprints, no boats, no people. We're ‘on an uninhabited istand with no other people on it.” Jack broke in. “All the same you need an army ~ for hunting. Hunting pigs -.” “Yes. There are pigs on the island.” “We saw —" “Squealing ~ “It broke away —" “Before I could kill it ~ but-next ime! * Jack slammed his knife into a trunk and looked round challengingly. “So you see,” said Ralph, “we need hunters to get us meat, And another thing. (..) We can’t have everybody talking at once, We'll have to have ‘Hands up" like at school”. He held the conch before his face and glanced round the mouth. “Then I'l give him the conch,” “Conch?” “That's what this shell’s called. I'l give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking. And he won’t be interrupted. Except by me.” Jack was on his feet. “We'll have rules!” he cried excitedly, “Lots of rules! Then when anyone breaks’em ~ “Whee-oh!” “Waco!” “Bong!” “Doink 1 ‘THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY COMPETENCE, 139 ‘Ralph pushed back the tangle of fair hair that hung on his forehead. “So we may'be here a long time.” Nobody said anything. He grinned suddenly. “But this is a good island. We - Jack, Simon and me - we climbed the ‘mountain, It’s wizard. There’s food and drink, and ~” “It’s like a book” At once there was a clamor. “Treasure Island -” “Swallows and Amazons -” “Coral Istand — Ralph waved the conch. “This is our island. It’s a good island, Until the grownups come to fetch us we'll have fun.” “Now we come to the most important thing, I've been thinking. I was thinking While we were climbing the mountain.” He flashed a conspiratorial grin at the other so “And on the beach just now. This is what I thought, We want to have fun, And ‘we want t0 be rescued.” ‘The passionate noise of agreement from the assembly hit him like a wave and he lost thread. He thought again. “We want to be rescued ; and of course we shall be rescued.” Voices babbled. The simple statement, unbacked by any proof but the weight of Ralph's new authority, brought light nd happiness. He bad to wave the conch before he could make them hear him. (...) Ralph waved the conch. Shut up! Wait! Listen.” Hee went on in the silence, borne on his triumph. “There's another thing. We can help them to find us. Ifa ship comes near the island they may not notice us, So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. ‘We must make a fire.” “A fire! Make a fire!” ‘At once half the boys were on their feet. Jack clamored among them, the conch forgotten. 2) How do you explain Ralph’s authority? Why do the other boys accept him as a leader? 3) Find clues in the text which point to Jack's hidden violence 4) Im the end Jack and the “savages” defeat Ralph and those who support him. Comment on the significance of this ending1 READY FOR EXAMS '5) The fragment that presents the most deeply symbolic incident in the book is the “interview” of Simon with the pig head, the Lord ofthe Flies. Analyse the symbolic meaning of the latte’s words: “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! said the head. For a moment or two the forest and all the other dimly appreciated places echoed with the parody of laughter. “You knew, didn’t you? I'm part of you’? Close, close, close! I'm the reason why it's no go? Why things are what they are?” ‘The message of the head frightens Simon because it reveals the usefulaess of Ralph and Piggy and Simon's attempt to impose human moral systems, t0 impose sensible rules. Finally “Simon found he was looking into a vast ‘mouth. There was blackness within, a blackness that spread. (...) Simon was inside the mouth. He fell down and lost consciousness.” What does the ‘blackness stand for? Comment on the symbolic meaning of the mouth swallo- wing Simon, 6) Inthe end the boys are rescued by a cruiser. Read the final passage of the novel and comment on the significance of Ralph's sorrow before leaving the island. ‘The officer nodded helpfully “L know. Jolly good show. Like the Coral Istand.” Ralph fooked at him dumbly. For a moment he had a fleeting picture of the strange glamour that had once invested the beaches. But the island was scorched up like dead wood ~ Simon was dead ~ and Jack had... The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body. His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island ; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. ‘And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy. Literary notions POETIC CREED; FREE VERSE SONG OF MYSELF by Walt Whitman I. Understanding Whitman’s conception about poetry Inhis Preface to Leaves of Grass, Whitman expressed his poetic creed, his views ‘on the poetic act which implies : 1) the poet, 2) his language, 3) the subject matter, 4) the reader. 1) The poet identifies himself with his world, his spirit “responds to his country’s spirit.” The poet’s “I” is everything and everybody. 2) The language of poetry is revitalized, the vulgar and the obscure words ‘become poetic. The language of the street is used by the poet. The style is simple and devoid of poetic ornaments. 3) The subject matter is primarily the nation, the “United States themselves”, with men and women, the “largeness of nature” and “the largeness and generosity of the spirit ofthe citizen.” As the poet identifies himself with his country, his own self becomes his great poetic subject. The poet must give free and full expression to his own self in his poetry. “I celebrate myself, and sing myself.” 4) The reader rust identify himself with the poet and re-experience the poet's revelation of the world: “what I assume you shall assume/ For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” (Song of Myself) Il. Understanding free verse Free verse is poetry uot waitten in a regular rhythmical pattern, or meter. Instead of having metrical feet and lines, free verse has a varying rhythm that suits its meaning. Free verse has greater rhythmical units than conventional verse. In conventional verse the unit is the foot or the line; in free verse the unit is the ‘stanza ot strophe. ‘This form is frequent in wentieth-century poetry, but it is not a contribution of our century. Walt Whitman used it before 1860 in Leaves of Grass. He wrote1a READY FOR EXAMS in “free verse”, without rhyme or stanza pattern and without a regular pattern of stresses and line lengths. The song-like musicality of his poems is created by ‘means of repetitions of words and syntactic patterns, alterations, assonances, Assignments 1) Read the following lines from Song of Myself and answer the questions below them. 1 celebrate myself, and sing myself, ‘And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. 1 loafe and invite my soul, ean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass. ‘My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air, ‘Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same, 1, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin, Hoping to cease mot till death. (...) A child said: What is the grass? fetching it to one with full hands ; How could I answer the child I do not know what it is any more than be, 1 guess it isthe handkerchief of the Lord, A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt, Bearing the owner’s name someway in the corners, that we may see and remark and say Whose? (Or I guess the grass is itself a child, the produced babe of the vegetation. (...) 4) What does the title of the poem suggest about the poet? 'b) What isthe purpose of his poetry? ©) What is the reader's role? ) Metaphor isan implied comparison that compares, like a simile; two objects, which are alike in one respect. However, instead of saying that A is like B, a ‘metaphor states that A is B ~ it equates the two terms. Therefore the words like oF as are not used in a metaphor. They appear only in smiles, eg.: “Moming is a new sheet of paper for you to write on” (Eve Mertiam) Extended metaphor: If a metaphor speaks about an object as if it were something else, an extended metaphor continues the main comparison, ealarging ‘on what has already been said, and it may include several other comparisons. ‘THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY COMPETENCE ues e.g.: “What mystery pervades a well: ‘That water lives so far ~ A neighbour from another world Residing in a jar Whose limit none has ever seen, But just his tid of glass ~ Like looking every time you please Inn abyss’s face !* (Emily Dickinson) ©) Personification is a figure of speech in which an object or an abstract idea is represented as a person. Personification of things or ideas makes them seem vital and alive, as if they were human. eg.: “Tonight the waves march in long ranks Cutting the darkness With their silver shanks.” a brief descriptive phrase used to point out a characteristic of a clouds”, “sweet ) Bpither person or thing. In literature epithets are figurative, as: “Iabouri “snarling trumpets”, “meek-eyed peace”, “glimmering landscape silent thought”, “dazzling immortality”. ©) Symbol is an object, action, or idea that represents something other than itself. A conventional symbol is one that is widely known and accepted such asa voyage symbolizing life, or a dove symbolizing peace. A personal symbol is one created for a particular work by a particular author. e.g.: The white whale in Moby-Dick is a personal symbol. ‘The voyage, the ocean in the same book are conventional symbols, being ‘pregnant with widely known meanings (The voyage ~ life) {) Antithesis is a figure of speech which consists in strongly contrasting words, sentences or ideas, one term being balanced against another for impressiveness or emphasis. e.g.: “Man proposes, God disposes” 8). Oxymoronis a figure of speech that puts together two opposing or contradictory terms. Such contrast makes for sharp emphasis e.g.: “eloquent silence”, “freezing fire”, “cheerful pessimist”, “wise fool”. i) Metonymy is a figure of speech in which the name of a thing is substituted for ‘another thing with which its usually associated because of their close relation. e.g: The word “crown” substitutes the word “king” because the crown is an ‘object closely associated with kingship. The word “sweat” often stands for “hard labour” , because of their close association166 READY FOR EXAMS I. Understanding Emily Dickinson's special usage of musical punctuation Emily Dickinson uses very frequently dashes instead of commas, semicolons, full stops. When we read her poems aloud we understand the musical effect of these dashes. The reader has to make significant pauses, which emphasize the meaning. ‘Another specific feature of her poems is the usage of capital leters for the important words, which often have symbolic value in the context. Assignments 1) Find the figures of speech in the following poems by Emily Dickinson ‘The Wind ~ tapped like a tired Man ~ ‘And like a Host ~ “Come in” boldly answered ~ entered then ‘My Residence within ‘A Rapid ~ footless Guest ~ To offer whom a Chair Were as impossible as hand ‘A Sofa to the No Bone had He to bind Him ~ iis Speech was like the Push ‘OF numerous Humming Birds at once From a superior Bush ~ His Countenance ~ a Billow ~ His Fingers, as He passed Let go a music ~ as of tunes Blown tremulous in Glass ~ He visited then like a ‘Again, He tapped ~ "twas flurriedly ~ ‘And I became alone. 1a) Who is the “Guest” entering the speaker’s residence? Who is the “Host* ? ’) What feeling does the speaker have towards this unusual “Guest” ? A narrow Fellow in the Grass Occasionally rides ~ You may have Him - did you not His notice sudden is ~ ‘The Grass divides as with a Comb ~ ‘THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY COMPETENCE 19 A spotted shaft is seen ~ ‘And then it closes at your feet ‘And opens further on ~ Several of Nature's People know, and they know me ~ 1 feel for them a transport Of cordiality ~ But never met this Fellow ‘Attended, or alone Without a tighter breathing ‘And Zero at the Bone”. ©) Who is the “narrow Fellow"? 4) Describe the observer's feelings aroused by this creature. 2) Punctuate the two poems in the regular way and then read them aloud. Compare the effect produced by your version with that produced by the original poem (in which dashes are used instead of other punctuation marks).Literary notions IMAGISM ; HAIKU EZRA POUND I. Understanding imagism Imagism, as a literary movement was founded in 1912 by a group of poets led by Ezra Pound. Most of their poems were published by Amy Lowell in Poetry (1917). The most representative figures of the imagist movement were Ezra Pound, Amy Lowell, Carl Sandburg and William Carlos Williams. ‘The major objectives of the movement were: 1) to use language of common speech, but to employ always the exact word; 2) to avoid all cliché expressions ; 3) to create new rhythms as the expressions of new moods ; 4) to allow absolute freedom in the choice of subject ; 5) to present an IMAGE (that is to be concrete, firm, definite, to avoid ‘vagueness in their pictures) ; 6) to strive always for concentration which is the essence of poetry: 7) to suggest rather than to offer complete statements The Imagists were influenced by the Japanese HAIKU, with its single sharp image. HAIKU is a form of Japanese poetry, which states in three lines of five, seven and five syllables a clear picture designed (0 arouse a distinct emotion and suggest a specific spiritual insight. ‘The “haiku” style may be exemplified by E. Pound's poem In a station of the ‘Metro. Getting out of the metro in Paris, the poet saw faces coming against him and passing him, and later he attempted to get his feeling in words. The result was this short poem “The apparition of these faces in the crowd Petals, on a wet black bough.” T ‘THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY COMPETENCE. 6 Assignments 1) Which features of the “haiku” style can you notice in Pound's poem Personae 1 will sing of the white birds In the blue waters of heaven, ‘The clouds that are pray to its sea. 2) Read the following poem and find the central image. Why is this an Imagist poem? Girl ‘The tree has entered my hands, ‘The sap has ascended my arms, ‘The tree has grown in my breast ~ Downward, ‘The branches grow out of me, like arms. Tree you are, Moss you are, ‘You are violets with wind above them. Acchild ~ 50 high ~ you are, ‘And all this is folly to the world,Literary notions MODERN POETRY ; AMBIGUITY ; CONNOTATION ; LITERARY ALLUSION THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT 1. Understanding elliptical constructions; their role in modern poetry Ellipsis isa figure of speech characterized by the omission of one or more words which, while essential to the grammatic structure of the sentence, can be supplied by the reader. The device often traps the reader into difficulties. Modern poetry often seems difficult to understand because of the extensive use of elliptical constructions. The poet intentionally skips some connecting words or ideas and the reader must have an active role, filling in what is missing TL. Understanding ambiguity Ambiguity isthe expression of an idea in language of such a nature as to give more than one meaning and to leave uncertainty as to the true significance of the statement. ‘The chief causes of ambiguity are : brevity and compression of statement (i.e. elliptical constructions), unusual (poetical) word order, the use of a word with two or more meanings. In literature words have an astounding capacity for suggesting two or more senses in a given context, for conveying a core meaning and accompanying it with overtones of great richness and complenity. ‘The great poets supercharge words with great pressures of meaning, exploiting the resourcefullness of language. The ambiguity, which results from this capacity of words to stimulate simultancously several different streams of thought, all of Which make sense, is a genuine characteristic of great modern poetry. IIL. Understanding connotation ‘The connotation of a word is the set of associations that the word calls to the mind. Words with similar denotations, i.e. literal, dictionary meanings, often have different connotations. As a result, the words can create different emotional y CULTURE AND CIVILISATION TESTS m reactions and feelings. Poets choose words with appropriate connotations in order to create a specific mood. For example, in the following lines, T.S. Eliot uses the nouns “ash” and “dust” which call to the mind the idea of death, creating a depressing mood, ‘Ash on an old man’s sleeve Is all the ash the burnt roses leave. ‘Dust in the air suspended Marks the place where a story ended, Dust inbreathed was house ~ ‘The wall, the wainscot and the mouse. ‘The death of hope and despair, This is the death of air. TV. Understanding mood Mood, or atmosphere, is the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage. The mood may be suggested by the writer’s choice of words, by images, or by the physical setting. The connotations of words are important in literature because they produce certain emotions and attitudes. ‘Understanding the mood of a poem is important in order to understand its meaning. For example, in a poem about death, a speaker may assume a tone of intense grief, resignation or despair. Understanding the specific tone, the reader understands the poet's way of looking at death, and thus the theme of the poem. YY. Understanding allusions ‘Through allusions a writer makes reference to famous historical or literary figures or events. Biblical allusions are conimon in English literature. Complex literary allusion is characteristic of much modern poetry. A good example is TS, Elio’s The Waste Land, which is a tissue of allusions, explained by the author in the Notes. Eliot developed a real technique of allusion in poetry. He created new contexts for the passages from past authors, bringing the oid texts to full relevance. ‘Through these allusions the poet calls to the reader’s mind a host of related associations that add (0 the meaning of the poem. Assignments 1) Read the following poem and comment on the mood suggested by the poet. Find the adjectives, the verbs and the nouns which contribute to the specific atmosphere ‘Ash on an old man’s sleeve Is all the ash the burnt roses leave Dust in the air suspendedREADY FOR EXAMS ‘Marks the place where a story ended. Dust inbreathed was a house ~ ‘The wall, the wainscot and the mouse. ‘The death of hope and despair, ‘This is the death of the air. ‘There are flood and drouth Over the eyes and in the mouth, Dead water and dead sand Contending for the upper hand. ‘The parched eviscerate soil Gapes at the vanity of toil, Laughs without mirth. ‘This is the death of the earth, ‘Water and fire succeed ‘The town, the pasture and the weed. Water and fire deride The sacrifice that we denied. Water and fire shall rot ‘The marred foundations we forgot, (Of sanctuary and choi. ‘This is the death of water and fire. 2) Find words and images that relate to death and extinction, In a brief essay analyse the effect of these images. 3) How does Eliot use images to convey a bleak mood in the following lines from Prelude 2? ‘The morning comes to consciousness Of faint stale smells of beer From the sawdust ~ trampled street With all its muddy feet that press ‘To early coffee ~ stands. ° ‘With the other masquerades ‘That time resumes, ‘One thinks of all the hands ‘That are raising dingy shades In a thousand furnished rooms. 4) Underline the allusion in the following lines. Explain which famous book/ quotation is alluded co and tell how the allusion adds to the meaning of TSS. Eliot's poem. CULTURE AND CIVILISATION TESTS ‘Words move, music shoves Only in time; but that which is only living ‘Can only die. Words, after speech, reach Into the silence. Only by the form, the pattern, ‘Can words or music reach ‘The stillness, as a Chinese jar still Moves perpetually in its stillness.ll. CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM by William Shakespeare 1, Pre-reading activities a) Students are given a list a characters from the play with a brief description of each one. They are asked to imagine how these characters are connected. ‘© Oberon ~ King of the fairies ‘+ Titania ~ Queen of the fairies * Puck - an elf + ‘Theseus ~ Duke of Athens + Hippolyta - Queen of the Amazons ‘+ Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia, Helena - young people of Athens * Quince, Bottom, Snug, Snout, Flute, Starvelling ~ actors in Athens. ») The teacher gives the students a summary of the play. The students read it or listen to it and check their predictions. 2, While-reading activities a) Tell the students that the relation between illusion and reatity is a main theme of the play. Ask them to underline the words and phrases which refer to the terms of this opposition in the excerpts below. Bottom : Thave had a most rare vision. I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was Methought I was ~ there is no man ean tell what, ‘Methought I was, and methought I had... Puck: — If we shadows have offended, ‘Think but this and all is mended, ‘That you have but slumbered here ‘While these visions did appear. And this weak but idle theme, No more yielding but a dream.176 READY FOR EXAMS Theseus: The lunatic, the lover and the poet, ‘Are of imagination all compact. ‘One sees more devils than vast hell can hold : ‘That is the madman. The lover, all as frantic, ‘Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt. ‘The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, Doth glance’ from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven ; ‘And as imagination bodies forth ‘The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing A local habitation and a name. ') Students are given a list of characteristics of different literary genres, all jumbled up. They have to find which of the following characteristics are exemplified in. A Midsummer Night's Dream, and to decide to which literary ‘genre the play belongs. ‘© the audience/the readers feel pity, fear and admiration for the heroes/ heroines in the play ; ‘© witty dialogues and play on words are frequently used ; * the main character is destroyed by a tragic flaw ; ‘the writer creates comic characters and a comic intrigue ; ‘© the play ends with a funeral (the hero's death) ; ‘© the play ends with a wedding (a happy ending) ; ‘© the events are treated with dignity and seriousness ; the main character is a noble, outstanding person, 3. Follow-up activities a) The students are asked to invent mini-biographies for the characters in the play by imagining a past for them. They may work in group or in pairs, each ‘group/pair choosing one character. ) Ask the students to imagine that the play is not a comedy, but a tragedy. What ‘would they change in the plot? Which characters would they alter? In pairs, they have to write a summary of the modified plot. GREAT EXPECTATIONS by Charles Dickens 1, Pre-reading activities 1) Ask the students to think about the following situations and to discuss them with their partners (pair work). They should give advice to the person in these situations. ‘© Pip, an orphan boy, meets an escaped convict on the marshes of Kent. He is afraid of the unknown man who looks quite scary. The convict asks Pip to help him to get rid of his chains. What should the boy do? ‘© Pip is taken to rich old woman's house and asked to play with her ward, Estella, The girl is beautiful, proud and cruel to him, How does he fect in ‘Miss Havisham’s house? ‘What are his feelings for Estella? How should he behave to make her like him? ‘* Pip has become a gentleman, He lives in London now ; he has rich friends, elegant clothes and fine manners. His sister's husband, Joe, the modest lacksmith who brought him up, comes to the city and pays Pip a visit. Could Pip introduce Joe to his new friends? How should he treat Joe? © Pip finds out that Magwitch, the convict, is his benefactor and Estella's father. Should he accept the convict’s money in order to lead a gentleman's life? Should he love Estella in spite of her origin? 1b) What does the title of the novel suggest about Pip ~ the main character and his destiny? 2, While-reading activities a) Write a brief character description of Pip the narrator based on the evidence in the text. b) Read the following excerpt and underline the “incorrect” forms used by the character - Magwitch. Then re-write the text in standard English ‘What stylistic effect do these “mistakes” have in the text? ‘And then, my dear boy, it was a recompense to me, look’ee here, to know in secret that I was making a gentleman.vs READY FOR EXAMS “The blood horses of them colonists might fling up the dust over me as I was walking ; what do I say? I says to myself “I'm making a better gentleman nor ‘ever you'll be” When one of ‘em says to another, “He was a convict, a few years ago, and is an ignorant, common fellow now, for all he's lucky,” what do I say? I says to myself, “If I ain’t a gentleman, nor yet ain't got no Jeaming, I'm the owner of such. All on you owns stock and land ; which on you owns a brought-up London gentleman’ This way I keep myself a (Grom Great Expectations) ny eepmscieine ‘Which stylistic characteristic of realistic novels does the excerpt above illustrate? 3) Follow-up activities 4) Ask the students to read the whole novel or a cert le novel or a certain chapter and write comprehension questions for each other. In class they work in pairs each student answers his partner's questions. >) The students are asked to imagine they are Pip-th child and then write a page inthe boy’s diary about his first visit to Miss Havisham. LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding 1. Pre-reading activities ‘a) Name at east two novels which present the characters’ life on a desert island, "These characters lose contact with their civilisation, Do they turn into savages ? ») How can life on a desert island alter a civilised man’s personality ? In groups of four, write a list of dangerous alterations in personality. 2. While-reading activity Read the following fragments from the novel Lord of the Flies and put down the rules for organising life on the island. Why are such rules necessary? Ralph: “We've got to have special people for looking after the fie. Any day there may be a ship out there and if we have a signal they'll come and take us off ‘And another thing. We ought to have more rules. Where the conch is, that’s a meeting.” ‘Ralph: “So remember. The rocks for a lavatory. Keep the fire going and smoke showing as a signal. Don't take fire from the mountain. Take your food up there... Things are breaking up. I don’t understand why. We began well; we were happy. And then, then people started getting frightened.” Ralph: "We've got to have rules and obey them, After all, we're not savages. ‘We're English, and the English are best at everything. So we've got to do right things.” Relph: “The fire's the most important thing. Without the fire we can't be rescued, I'd like to put on war paint and be a savage, But we must keep the fire ‘buming, The fire's the most important thing on the island”, 3. Follow-up activity : In spite of Ralph's attempts to impose order and sensible rules of behaviour, some of the boys prefer to abandon their old ways and to live like savages, painting their faces, hunting, and obeying Jack, who rules by fear. Divide the class into two groups: one should rake sides with Ralph (the supporters of “civilisation”), the other with Jack (the supporters of savage life). ‘The students in either group bring arguments in favour of the type of life they have chosen.ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll 1, Pre-reading activities 4) Fill in the blanks with one word only ‘The pseudonym Lewis Carroll is the reversed and transmogrified Christian 1) ... of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898). He was the third 2)... in a clerical 3) ... of eleven children. As.a child, he enjoyed literary pursuits, even 4).... family magazines in 5) ... we can see Carroll’s early love 6) ... parody, word 7)... and puzzles. He was a... 8) ....rate mathematician, and after a conventional middle-class education, 9)... Rugby and Christ Church, Oxford, he 10)... a lecturer in mathematics at his college in 1855. He was very Il... of the three daughters of Henry Liddell, Dean of Christ Church. The middle Liddell daughter was Alice, for 12)... Atice’s Adventures in Wonderland was writen. Other books 13) ... fantasy and nonsense 14) ... the remarkable Hunting of the Snark (1876), Sylvie and Bruno (1881). As Charles Dodgson 15) ... wrote several mathematical texts. ») The students, working in pairs, speak about their favourite fairy-tale and fairy-tale characters ©) In groups of four the students write a paragraph about the typical charac- teristics of fairy-tales. 2. While-reading activities a) Read the following statements about Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and i choose the ones which are true. Explain the reasons behind your choice. ; Alice is the only rational being in a mad world. ‘* Alice is a narrow-minded conventional girl who cannot cope with the uuvouventivual siwatious aud characters in Wonderland, ¥ '* Wonderland is an irrational, impossible world. * Wonderland is an imaginary, fantastic world ‘+ The nonsense situations are funny. 4 * The nonsense situations are weird (unusual, unnatural, bizarre). b) Ask each student to select a chapter from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to ‘make a xerox copy of the text, and to prepare 5-10 questions om it In the next CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES 181 lesson the students are paired, they read the chapters selected by their partners and answer the questions. ©) Tum the following dialogue into Indirect Speech : “The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this ; but all he said was, “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” “Come on, we shall have fun now!” thought Alice. “I’m glad they've begun asking riddles. I believe I can guess that”, she added aloud. “Do you mean that you think you can find the answer to it?” said the March Hare. “Exactly $0,” said Alice “Then you should say what you mean,” the March Hare went on. “Ido,” Alice hastily replied ; “atleast ~ atleast Imean what I say ~ that’s the same thing, you know.” Not the same thing a bit!” said the Hatter. You might just as well say that ‘T see what I eat” isthe same thing as ‘I eat what I see", 3. Follow-up activities a) Ask the students to prepare for the next lesson a script, with stage directions, starting from a passage in Lewis Carroll's book. They work on this project in ‘groups. In the next lesson the groups of students act out their scenes. ») The students are asked to select a contemporary news story which contains absurd, nonsensical elements and to re-write it in the manner of Lewis Carroll. ‘They may use Alice as a narrator and fantastic characters instead of the real persons.‘THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY by Henry James 1, Pre-reading activities 4) Ask the students to imagine that they live in America in the 19 ceatury. They have the opportunity to visit Europe. Which countries would they choose 10 see? What would they appreciate most in these European countries: the history, the people, the landscape, the cultural traditions? Would they change their views, their old habits, their life style in Europe? Give the snidents a very general overview of the subject: A young American ‘woman, Isabel Archer, inherits a large sum of money and settles in Europe. Three suitors propose to her: Caspar Goodwood (an ambitious American industrialist), Lord Warburton (a British aristocrat), and Gilbert Osmond (an American art collector living in Italy). Ask the students to predict whose proposal will be accepted by Isabel, and to support their choice ‘with arguments b 2. While-reading activities 1) The students read a summary of the plot and then they have to cemplete the following sentence © Isabel Archer comes from ‘+ Her uncle, Mr. Touchett leaves her a large sum of money because * Isabel mects Lord Warburton in her uncle’s house and he proposes to her, but the girl refuses him because ‘+ Caspar Goodwood comes from America in order to ... * Gilbert Osmond wants to marry Isabel for ... * Isabel accepts Osmond because ‘* When Isabel realizes that ..., she does not leave her husband because .. 'b) Choose from this list of adjectives the ones which are the most appropriate for describing Isabel Archer : naive, experienced, loyal, independent, generous, mean, proud, conventional, sophisticated, sensible, sensitive, natyral, libertine, frivolous, serious. ‘The students have to support their choice with arguments. ‘CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES 18. 3. Follow-up activities 4) Working in groups, the students have to imagine a different ending for Isabel's story. Then discuss with the whole class their alternative endings, and explore the reasons why such endings were not desirable, or possible in the base text 'b) Ask the students to write a page in Isabel's diary. They have to choose among the following important moments in the heroine's life: the day when she accepts Osmond’s proposal, the day when Caspar Goodwood asks her to leave her husband, the day when she refuses Lord Warburton’s first proposal.THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN by Mark Twain 1. Pre-reading activities 2} Aske students to read a fragment from Twain's preface to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and to fill n the blanks with the words inthe box below the text. “Most ofthe 1). ecorde inthis book really 2). one or two were 3) of my ovin, the ret of boys who were schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is 4)... from life; ‘Tom Sawyer also, but 5)... from an individual: he is a combination ofthe 6)... of three boys who I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite onder of architecture, The odd 7)... touched upon were all prevalent among children and slaves in the West atthe 8). of the story, tha isto say thirty or forty years 4g0 Although my book is ntended forthe 9)... of boys and girls, Thope it wil not be shunned by men and woman on that account, for part of my plan has been to 10) .. adults of what they once were themselves, and how they felt and thought and talked, and what tl)... enterprises they sometimes engaged in" remind queer no entertainment raven adventures characteristic | experiences period ‘superstitions | occurred b) ‘The students are given some situations which they have to discuss with their Partners (pair work). Then they are asked to give advice to the person(s) in those situations. ‘+ Huck and Tom, two poor American boys, find a large sum of money hidden by some robbers in a cave, What should they do with the money? * Huck is taken by a respectable widow for her son. The woman tries to “civilise” him, to teach him decent manners, but his friend, Tom Sawyer, tells him that he is going to start a band of robbers and that he might join it, What would you have chosen if you had been Huck: a conventional, respectable life in the widow’s house, or an adventurous, free life tozether with your former friend? ‘* Huck meets a run away negro slave, Jim, on Jackson Island. Should he announce the authorities or should he help Jim to escape slavery’? (CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES a 2. While-reading activities 8) Ask the students to read the whole novel (or parts of it) at home and retell the story as a chain activity in the classroom. ») Underline the colloquial words and the ungrammatical forms used by Twain's hero in the following fragment. Write the excerpt in standard English and then comment ion the stylistic differences between your text and the original one, “The first time I catched Tom, private, I asked him what was his idea, time of the evasion? What it was he’d planned to do if the evasion worked all right and ‘he managed to set a nigger free that was already free before? And he said, what he had planned in his head, from the star, if we got Jim out all safe, was for us to run him down the river, on the raft, and have adventures plumb to the mouth of the river, and then tell him about his being free, and take him back up home on a steamboat, in style (....) We had Jim out of the chains in no time, and when Aunt Polly and uncle Silas ‘and Aunt Sally found out how good he helped the doctor nurse Tom, they made a heap of fuss over him, and fixed him up prime, and give him all he wanted to teat, and a good time, and nothing to do. And we had him up to the sick-room ; and had a high talk; and Tom give Jim forty dollars for being prisoner for us so patient, and doing it up so good, and Jim was pleased most to death...” (from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) 3, Follow-up activities 18) Ask the students to imagine that they are in a law court, Huck is on trial for having helped the negro Jim to run away. In groups of four or six they have to role play the scene of the trial. The roles are: Huck, Jim, the prosecutor who, brings a criminal charge against Huck, the jurrors, 'b) Read some cover blurbs for novels in the classroom. Discuss the format and the special features with the students. In pairs or in groups the students write their own blurb for M, Twain's novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.‘TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES by Thomas Hardy 1. Pre-reading activities 2) Give the students a series of jumbled sentences which summarise the plot of the novel. They have to re-ofder them. * Tess isthe daughter of a poor peasant in Marlott, John Durbsyfeld. ‘© There she meets Angel Clare, a clergyman’s son with whom she falls deeply in love. * A clergyman suggests John Durbeyfild at his family maybe of noble scent * She bears his child, which dies after an improvised baptism, + Her love is reciprocated and Tess and Clare marry, © After this tragic episode, Tess goes to work on a prosperous farm as dairymaid. * Trying to establish @ connection with the aristocratic d’Urberviles family, she is seduced by Alec d’Urberville, the son of a newly-rich family which bought its name. * On their wedding night they indulge in mutual confessions, and although Clare expects his sins to be forgiven, he cannot forgive Tess for her past. Believing that Clare will never forgive her, she returns to Alec d’Urberville as his mistress + Angel deserts Tess ‘Some years later, Clare returns repentant, and Tess, desperate not to lose him again, stabs and kills Alec. by The students discuss, in groups, the features of a tragic hero. Then they write a paragraph about the characteristics of tragedy, referring to the main hero, the style, the reader’s feelings for the tragic character ©) Give the students to read the following critical comment on the rovel Tess of the d’Urberilles “Henry James (...) did not admit to himself that tragedy could exist outside the traditions of Aeschylus and Shakespeare, in which it isthe patrician who is pulled down by the workings of an implacable Fate. CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES ro For all its rustic setting, Tess is high tragedy indeed. It tells of the ambitions of lovely Tess Durbeyfield to establish a connection with the aristocratic @Urbervile family, an ambition born when an antiquarian clergyman inno- cently suggests that her family may be of noble descent. From this simple conceit, Tes is propelled by Fate to a tragic end. In Tess ofthe d’Urbervilles, Hardy reveals his view of life which was shaped by the prevalent materialistic and deterministic theories of 19% century sciences, which saw man as subject to forces he could neither contro! nor understand. In this novel, characters are defeated in their struggle against their physical and social environment and their own impulses by the malevolent caprices of chance.” ‘The students have to find in this text arguments in favour of the idea that Tess is a tragic heroine. 2. While-reading activities 1) Read the following excerpt from Chapter LVIII and extract words or expres- sions to be listed under these headings [order cas Words rt Taee | Words at nee] Words aie owl mca abou. ‘sounds x Tr was about midnight when they went along the deserted sets, lighted fieally by the few lamps, keeping off the pavement that it might not echo their footsteps The graceful ple of eatbedral architecture cose dimly on thei let and, but it was lost upon them now. Once out of the town they followed the turmpikesoud. which afer a few mils plunged across an open plain, ‘Though the sky was dese with cloud a diffsed light frm some fragment of a moon had hitherto helped tem a Title. But te moon had now sunk, the Clouds seemed to sete almest on their heads, and the night grew as dark as sreave, (All round was open loneliness and black solitude, over which @ duff breeze blew. ‘They had proceeded thus gropingly two or Uree miles further when on a sudden Clare became conscious of some vas erection close in is fron, rising Sheer fom the grass. They had almost stuck themselves agains it “What monstruous place is this?” said Angel. “hums,” sid she He listened, The wind, playing. upon the edifice, produced a booming tune, lke the note of some pigantc one-sringed harp. No other sound came from i, and leftng his hand and advancing a step or two, Clare felt the Nentcal surface of the structure. I seemed to be of solid stone, witout joint or moulding...)i es READY FOR EXAMS “What can it be?” “It is Stonehenge!” said Clare. “The heathen temple, you mean?” “Yes, older than the centuries ; older than the d’Urbervilles |..." (Grom Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy) 3. Follow-up activities 8) Write a 100-words paragraph, about Hardy's descriptive art, starting from the excerpt above. b) Read the whole Chapter LVII, find arguments to support the idea that Tess is a tragic heroine, and write an essay on this topic. ‘THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST by Oscar Wilde 1. re-reading activities ‘The teacher gives the students a list of the characters in The Importance of Being Earnest, and presents the relations among them. Then he asks the students {0 speculate on the story, the characters, the sitting. ‘© What kind of people do the characters seem to be? Urban/country folk? ‘Simple/sophisticated ? Rich/working class? Honest/dishonest? Affectionate/cold? ‘* Where does the action take place? In town/in the country? In England/abroad? Indoors/outdoors?” ‘© Is the setting important/unimportant? © Does the story have a happy end/a tragic end? 2, While-reading activities 44) The students are divided into groups, each group with a different extract from the play. The groups write five questions about the text they have been given, ‘They rehearse reading it aloud, and then they perform it for the class. ‘The other students then answer the questions which have been set. When all the questions on all the texts have been answered, the students try to piece together the full story of the play. ») The students in groups act out an extract from the play, paying attention to the non verbal features of the conversation: gesmres, body language, movement, how far people stand from each other etc. 3. Follow-up activities a) The students write an imaginary letter in which Lady Bracknell relates her conversation with Jack about Cecily and Algernon’s marriage and about Jack’s proposal to Gwendolen. ») The students read an excerpt from the play and turn it into a narrative passage,CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA. by George Bernard Shaw 1, Pre-reading activities 8) Make all the changes and additions necessary to produce, from the following series of words and phrases, a short biographical text about G.B. Shaw. Born 1856/ father a com miller who was a heavy drinker/ his parents’ marriage ‘was an unhappy one/ mother left the family home in Dublin and moved to London with Shaw's two sisters/ Shaw joined them in 1876/ Shaw had various jobs-assistant to a land agent, book reviewer, music critic/ married a rich Irishwoman at the age of 42/ was notorious as a “freethinker”/liced to shock ‘conventional society/ Nobel Prize for Literature 1925/ wrote moze plays than Shakespeare/ died in Hertfordshire in 1950. ’) The students are given the situation inthe first scene of the play - the setting, the relations between characters, the author's perspective on the events The opening episode of Shaw's play presents Caesar's first encounter with Cleopatra. Caesar is addressing the Sphinx and wakes Cleopatra who was asleep between its paws. The Roman leader, far from being a heroic figure, is seen by Cleopatra as an elderly gentleman, quite a harmless and kind one. Cleopatra herself is almost a child and Caesar does not believe Fer when she tells him she is the Queen of Egypt. Shaw uses a comic, paradoxical perspec- tive om history. ‘Ask the students to imagine the dialogue between Caesar and Cleopatra. Some pairs act out or read their dialogues. 2. While-reading activities ) The students are given a questionnaire and they have to tick the appropriate box: agree, disagree, not sure. ‘Statements Agree Disagree Not sure Caesar is an impressive legendary figure * Historic personalities should be presented ina serious, espectfil way in iterature CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES 1 ‘Statements ‘Agree Disagree ‘Not sure * Cleopatra influenced the world history due to her charm and intelligence * GBB. Shaw's heroine - Cleopatra is very different from the legendary Queen of Exypt ™ Caesar was presented by G.B. Shaw in a realistic q manner. * Shaw's play, Caesar and Cleopatra, alters the historical uth. ') The students write a 10-lines paragraph about G.B. Shaw's treatment of historical figures. ©) The students read an excerpt from Act / and underline the passages which refer to the legendary Egypt. How does Shaw present this mythical realm? 3. Follow-up activities 1) The students in groups design a poster or advertisement for the play for other students to read. : by The students have to write a page in Julius Caesar’s diary about his unusual encounter with the Queen of Egypt.SONG OF MYSELF by Walt Whitman 1. Pre-reading activities 4) Divide the class into groups of four. Give the groups different lines from the poem and ask them to suggest the theme of the poem, Does this change when they hear the other lines read aloud in the class? Group 1 “T celebrate myself, and sing myself, ‘And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” Group 2: “Walt Whitman, a Kosmos, of Manhattan the son, ‘Turbulent, fleshy, sensual, eating, drinking and breeding No sentimentalist, no stander above men and women or apart from them, No more modest than immodest.” Group 3 “I speak the pass-word primeval, I give the sign of democracy, By God! 1 will accept nothing which all cannot have their counterpart of ‘on the same terms.” Group 4: “Through me forbidden voices, ‘Voices of sexes and lusts, voices veil’d and I remove the veil, Voices indecent by me clarified and transfigur'd, 1 do not press my fingers across my mouth, keep as delicate around the bowels as around tiead and heart, Copulation is no more rank to me than death is.” Group 5 “I loaf and invite my soul, ean and loaf at my ease observing a spear of summer grass. My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this ai, Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same, CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES 19 1, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin, Hoping to cease not till death. (..)” ) Ask the students to free-associate round the word “GRASS”, which carries symbolic connotations in the poem. Then they read the metaphoric definitions of grass in Whitman's poem A child said “What is the grass?” fetching it t me with full hands ; How could I ansier the child’ I do not know what itis any more than he. T guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven. (Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord, A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt, Bearing the owner's name someway in the comers, that we may see ‘and remark, and say Whose ? Or I guess the grass is itself a child, the produced babe of the vegetation (...) 2. While-reading activities 2) Which of the following statements about the meanings of the poem Song of Myself are true and which of them are false? ‘The poet is in favour of democracy. ‘The poet's self includes the universe. ‘The poet is characterized by modesty. ‘The poet expresses pride in his noble origin ‘The poetic, delicate aspects of realty are prevalent in his poetry. ‘The poetic ego is the very subject of Whitman's poern, 'b) Remove certain words from the poem and ask the students to fill in the gaps using a list of words provided. celebrate myself, and sing 1) .. ‘And what I assume you shall 2) For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to 3) .. 4) ... loaf and invite my son, 5) .». lean and loaf at my ease 6) ... a spear of summer grass. My tongue, every 7) ... of my blood, from’d from 8) ... soil 9) ... air, Born here of parents born here from parents the sand, and 10)... parents the same, I, ow 1) ... 12) .. 13) .. im perfect health begin, Hoping to cease 14)... till death”. (from “Song of Myself” in Leaves of Grass) thiny-seven years od [assume myself ei198 READY FOR EXAMS 3. Follow-up activities ) Analyse the style of Whitman's poem, starting from a list of stylistic features. she Sides have tok inthe right column and t'provide examples from text: Syste feature | Tampie | ayia ate | Bample ones wo art wd Tia ning frie mening tenia colons 7 (recognizable word- eta (wom aloetons Tong ence ee coordinated ont sree sic Ser seis mol oy nouns dete, mick) arin of repstilon of wots Ps ad ventece rare ’b) Write an essay on Whitman’s specific style, using the information in this chart as a starting point. lll. EXAM PRACTICE READING TEXTS FOR BACCALAUREATE. LIMBA ENGLEZA ~ PROBA ORALA (1-2 ore/stiptiimana) — Texte pentru Subiectul I 1 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either toa text you have studied or to your own life experience. Reverend Martin Luther King headed toward the speaker's platform. His introduction was drowned out by the roaring cheers of those present. “The Negro”, he said, “lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity and finds himself an exile in his own land. It ‘would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and 10 underestimate the determination of the Negro, ‘This sweltering’ summer of the [Negros legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.” Already, King’s particular magic had enslaved his audience, which roared “Yes, Yes!” to almost everything he said. “T have a dream,” King cries. The crowd began cheering, but King, never pausing, brought silence as he continued. “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood”. “Thave a dream,” King went on, relentlessly® shouting down the thunderous swell of the crowd's applause, “that my four little children will one day live in a 1. Very hot 21 Not shopping, not giving up.| 196, [READY FOR EXAMS nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” It was a quiet night in, Washington ~ after a day that would never be forgotten, (Time, Anniversary, 1983) 2 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. While Johan was on his way to work, Mr. Hannik came to see us. A truck was Boing from house to house, he said, checking “Checking what” Dientje gasped', but Mr. Hannik had already gone. Sini and 1 went into the hiding place as fast as we could. Diente closed up the hiding place with the piece of wood. We heard her lower the shelf and close the closet? door. We heard her footsteps as she ran down the stars, Then nothing ‘Where were they? What took them so long? We could suffocate in here if they didn't come for a long time. I leaned up against Sini. Footsteps. Loud ones. Boots. Coming up the stirs. Wooden shoes. Coming behind. Sini put her arms around me and pushed my head against her stoulder. Loud voices. Usly ones. Furniture being moved. And Opoe's protesting voice ‘The closet door was thrown open. Hands fumbled on the shelves. Sini was trembling. She tightened her arms around me. Ino longer breathed throagh my nose. My heart was beating too loudly. What if they could hear us ? Would they stick a bayonet through the wall? They could, All over the wall, to be sure to hit ‘whoever was behind the wall Johanna Reiss, The Upstairs Room) 3 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. 1. Take a quick breath, especially when surprised or in pain. 2. A small room/space used for storing things. EXAM PRACTICE w Thate February. ‘There is no natural excitement about the second month of the year. Valentine's Day makes me embarrassed. used to think this was a fault and covered it up. Despite me, the valentine is always there on the table when I getup, a boxful of something padded! with hearts ‘on the front and a plausible poem inside that I always scour” with my eyes, trying to get below the surface and feel what it was that made him choose this one. ‘Which parts of it are closest to what he would say himself if he ever said things like this out loud. Only he doesn’t. People don’t, he says. That's what the cards are for. ‘This morning the valentine is roughly A4 size with a baby-blue background and a gold border, two rabbits on the front. The rabbits have inflated faces, cheeks all swollen up like they have mumps and the bandages fell off. You can tell cone is a lady rabbit because she has longer eyelashes and a pink bow round her neck. He has buck’ teeth. Nonetheless, their whiskers intertwine. Inside, it says never thought that life could be/AS wonderful as this/You mark may hours with happiness/And thou’ it's true 1 sometimes fail/To say what's really true/At least T have this special day/To tell you I love you. My eyes fill up. They really do. Uanice Galloway, Valentine) 4 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas, with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either toa text you have studied or to your own lite experience, Brian Fischer was destined to become a hero, although you'd never know it from his appearance. In fact, he was the original ninety-eight-pound weakling, But size has nothing to do with courage, and Brian did have courage. He wouldn't think twice about dashing into a burning building or diving into a stormy sea if it meant saving someone's life. ‘The only thing that bothered Brian was his size. Too small for football and too short for basketball, Brian went out for the one sport in which size didn't matter ~ swimming, Quick off the blocks* and able to swim long distances, he had won 1, Filed/covered with, 2. Go over thoroughly searching for sth, 3. Male, 4. Making a prompt start.198 READY FOR EXAMS any medal available, Still, at the beach, Brian felt shy around the larger, more aggressive boys his age. Pretending to prefer his solitude to the lively game of volleyball, he let his eyes wander over the surfers attempting to ride the rough ‘waves. Brian particularly admired the skill of the surfer in the red wet suit. All at once, Brian noticed a surfboard without a rider. Scanning the ocean, Brian saw a flash of red disappear beneath one of the waves. Brian looked for the lifeguard, but she was busy trying to tow away a child on a raft back to shore. (WK. Durr, Triumphs) 5 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by relerring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. Stella has heart-shaped sandwiches for lunch. She says she bought a cutter to ‘make heart-shaped sandwiches asa surprise for Ross when be opens his lanch-box (she can hardly eat for giggling, thinking about the surprise when he peels the lid of the tupperware’, she'd LOVE to see his face) and she thought she might as well cut her own like that while she was about it. She opens one out t9 let me see. Perfect pink hearts of ham. No butter. She is on a diet. For Ross. He told her she ‘was getting fat. I imagine Ross in his factory, opening the lunch-box she has prepared and trying to hide what he finds. If he can’t hide it then he will talk about Stella as though she is a retard: tell the boys (maybe not overtly”, but tell ‘them anyway) how stupid she is, what an embarrassment. Some of the boys have tattoos. They are all glad it isn’t them with the sandwich problem. Ross will eat them anyway, the shapes ofthe hearts hidden inside his hands, just enough to bite poking through. ‘The boys know to laugh, irrespective of deeper, more ambiguous emotions. Maybe they would like their women to be as little-gil cute as Stella. Maybe that is why they laugh at her, encourage Ross to do the same behind her back. Maybe they are jealous: maybe they worry their women don't love them enough to do something that stupid, Ganice Galloway, Valentine) 1. A wpe of plastic container that closes very tightly and is used to store foo. 2. Openly or publicly EXAM PRACTICE, 199 6 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring elther to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. ‘As Ellen rode home from the store, she thought about what had happened three weeks ago. co ‘She had been rearranging the figurines in her mother's curio! cabinet. Instead of replacing a small porcelain rabbit in the cabinet, she put it down on the table by the sofa... . “Let's play catch,” Brian begged. “Mom said you'd play with me, Please Brian tossed the ball, Ellen jumped, but it was too Inte. The porcelain rabbit lay in pieces on the floor. Brian began to ery, “I didn’t mean it.” { know.” Ellen said, picking up the pieces. “It's really my fault. T was rl I Mom.” supposed to play with you. I guess I'll have tote vSBut Gramps gave her that!” cried Brian, “Mom will be angry with me Don't tel.” . ; Billen didn’t want to upset her mother or get Brian in trouble. “I have some money saved up", she said quitly. “I'll buy Mom a new one, She won't know the difference.” “You are the greatest,” Brian said ; Bllen had eighteen dollars. She needed twenty more. Three weeks of weeding, baby-sitting, running errands for Mr. and Mrs. Stewart ~ through ital she kept thinking of Brian's words, “you're the greatest.” ‘Now Ellen quietly entered the house. She put the new rabbit in the curio ‘cabinet. When she turned around, she saw her mother, standing in the doorway: rian just told me what happened,” Mom said as she gave Ellen a big hus, “You are the greatest!” (WK. Durr, Triumphs) TA sinallobjeot that Is raze or unusual (th that people cole),20 READY FOR EXAMS 7 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. Father Christmas found the children’s room and opened the door quietly. “Bang!” said a loud voice. “You're dead.” A young boy was sitting on the bed and pointing a toy pistol at him. His smaller sister sat beside him and giggled. “Why aren't you in bed, asleep?” asked Father Christmas. He sat on a chair next to the bed and took a deep breath. He wasn't as young as he used to be and. the stupid boy had shocked him badly. “Who are you?” asked the girl, still giggling. “I'm Father Christmas” replied the old man, “Ho, ho, ho!” “Doesn't he look funny?” said the girl. “You can't be Father Christmas,” said the boy. “Daddy says you don'texist.” “Well, Daddy's wrong, isn’t he? You can see I exist.” “T'll bet your beard isn’t real,” said the girl, pulling it. “Oh! Listen. I'm Father Christmas and if you want your presents, you'd better believe me and be quiet!” 8 Read the toxt below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas With relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. ‘When Father Christmas mentioned the presents, the children's faces brightened, “That's better,” said Father Christmas, opening his sack, “Now, for you, little boy, something very special. Hand-made by one of the dwarfs.” He proudly pulled a small wooden car out of his sack and gave it to the boy. “And for you, litte girl, a pretty doll.” He saw the disappointment on their faces, “I wanted a computer,” said the boy. “And Mummy promised me a Barbie doll.” said the girl, beginning «0 cry. “That isn’t a Barbie doll!” “Don't cry, little girl. I hate it when children cry.” ‘The boy threw his wooden car across the room in a rage, eee og EXAM PRACTICE, 20 “I knew you couldn't be Father Christmas,” he shouted. “I don’t believe in Father Christmas.” “Me neither,” cried the girl, putting the doll back into the sack. Father CCiristmas stood up sadly and picked up the car. A wheel had fallen off it. He put the broken car into his sack and said quietly. “To tell you the truth, litle boy and lite girl, 1 don't believe in children any more.” ‘And hie left the room, carefully stepped over the snoring' dog, climbed out of window, got onto his sleigh and went home. 9 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and exampies. Make associations by referring either toa text you have studied or to your own life experience. It has been twenty years since I last visited the house where I spent my childhood. I don’t know \ hy I wanted to see the place again — I am not by nature ‘2 nostalgic person, It must have been some chance remark or unimportant incident that reminded me of it Thad only happy memories of the house, with its large back garden where 1 used 10 climb the apple trees as a child. So, one bright clear Sunday, I decided to revisit it. I filled the car with petrol and set off on the 100-mile tip. don’t know what I expected, It looked very much the same as I remembered it, but smaller, No one lived there anymore and the garden was overgrown. The apple trees T used to climb were still there, but seemed small and bent like old men. I remembered the colours of the surrounding places very well, even the smell of freshly-cut grass, of the animals the neighbours used to have. I found the tee where we had a little house built on the top branches ; the house was no longer there anymore and the tree had been split into two during a summer storm. Memories are still vivid but the place was less beautiful than what { knew it had been when I was a child T. Making a loud noise while aseep.om READY FOR EXAMS 10 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. ‘The sun was shining brightly inthe clear, blue sky. It was very hor in the city center. Ted Brown was sitting in his office, daydreaming. “I wish I were on a sandy beach in an exotic place,” he thought to himself, as he looked out of his office window atthe busy streets below. Just then, the telephone rang loudly. Ted jumped in surprise. When he picked it up, a voice said, “Come to the Grand Hotel at six o’clock. I have something for you.” “Who's there?” Ted asked, but there was no answer. Puzzled, he looked at his watch. It was already five o'clock and the hotel was on the other side of the city. He knew he'd have to hurry if he ‘was to get there in time, so he quickly left the office. The traffic outside was terrible, so Ted decided to make the trip to the hotel on the underground. ‘The station was crowded with people and so was the train. It took him almost an hour get to the hotel, At exactly six o'clock Ted was entering the impressive building. Ted walked towards the reception desk and asked if anyone hal left anything for him. The receptionist gave him a small white envelope with his name printed on the front. un Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas. with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. ‘The influences that come from within me are immigrant and 1 artived in this country only a generation ago with my parents. My parents came through this place (Elis Island"), at the turn of the century. (...) My father often talked to me about his journey here and his arrival on this ‘sland. His adventures on tis ship were really summed up by one love affair. He fell in love with a herring! All his life he'd only ever had the tail of a herring to chew on. He'd been part ofa big family and that was all that was usually left for 1. Asana island in Upper New York Bay ~ former examination center for immigrants seeking tocenter the US. EXAM PRACTICE, 28 him, But on the last day, before they reached New York, there was a party in the 's hold! given by the ship's captain and my father found himself confronting an entire herring - a symbol of wealth to him. He remembered that moment for the rest of his life. It was for him, the symbol of America ~ enough to eat. But there was Ellis Island to be faced. There must have been so much confusion, so much doubt, so much fear. People were tursied back you know, families were split, daughters were aliowed in, parents were kept out. There were stich agonizing decisions to make that few families today could even think of. A million heartaches went on in this istand. (Desmond Wilcox, Americans) 12 : Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas. with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. Suddenly the summer is over, Jenny comes into my room early one morning, to drag the sheets off my bed and all the clothes she can find in the room, Everything has to be washed before I go to school. Then she gets me to clean out my room, all the old comics and plates and cups which I have been collecting under my bed all summer, all the dust and the pots of paint I've been using on my boat, She finds a small table in the garage and I help her carry it to my room. It’s going to be my desk for doing homework on. She takes me into the village for a treat, and she won't tell me what it is. When we get there it turns ont to be @ haircut. I'm about to walk away when she puts her hand on my shoulder. “Don't be silly,” she says. “You can’t go to school looking like that, you won't last a day.” So I sit still for the barber and let him cut away my whole summer while Jenny sits behind me, laughing at me. She also bought me a school uni- form, a red blazer and a cap, two pairs of black leather shoes and five grey shirts. ‘That evening she empties my drawers of my rock collection to make room for the new clothes, and she gets me to put on the whole uniform. 1, The par ofa ship of plane where goods are stored. =m“eaten ne nem SRR ee eR IRAN EER RSS OE TERCERA SND AEG AEN AOL IEC 208 READY FOR EXAMS 3 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples, Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. “What's going on?” I wondered as I came round the corner and saw a huge crowd gathered in the middle of the usually quiet street. Two fire engines were parked outside my block of flats. ‘At first I noticed that their ladders were raised as fast as the third floor, just below my flat. While I was rushing towards the building I became aware of the ‘group of bystanders and some fire fighters standing around the entrance. As soon. as I came close to them, they recognised me. Being on the 8 o'clock news every night definitely makes you familiar to a lot of people. ‘After they had greeted me I asked what was happening. They told me thatthe flat below mine had caught fire, but they had managed to put it out. As T was ‘going into the building a man carrying a large television set stopped me. “Hi, Paul,” he said, “Could you give me a hand loading this into my van over there?" While I was helping him 1 wondered who he was, but then I realised that hhe must have recognised me from TV. “Thanks, Paul,” he said, after he bad put the TV in the van, “I'd really love to get your autograph but I’m in a real hurry. See you,” the man said and drove off. Smiling, I entered the building and headed for my flat, When I reached it 1 saw that the door was open. Nervously I entered the flat. It was then that Inoticed ‘that my tclevision was missing. I had just helped a burglar to steal my own television set! LIMBA SI LITERATURA ENGLEZA ~ PROBA ORALA (3-4 ore/siptimana) ~ Texte pentru Subiectul I 1 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either toa text you have studied or to your own life experience. ‘Cambell isn’t going to think about Gita any more since her father told him not to come over again, On the last day of summer, her brother and some of his friends came aver to the café where Cambell works. Cambell wasn't scared of them, They were almost all small and wearing glasses. They looked like they EXAM PRACTICE, ns speit all their time studying in the library. They walked in, laughing loudly and filing the café with the sour smell of old sweat. They sat around for a while, saying, “Hey cool, man, this place is really cool. Hey, firungi-bhai, get us some drinks, what do you think we're waiting for?” Most of the time, they dida’t speak English, but he knew they were talking about him, “So you are Cambell’? You think my sister is prety. But you are wrong. She is not pretty, she is beautiful. And she is too pretty for garbage who works in restaurants. She is a ‘good Indian girl and she is engaged.” The other guys laughed. “She already has 4 husband waiting for her in India. And he is very rich." They all laughed again. “go you leave her alone or we will come and beat you and there is nothi_ 2 you can do.” One of the other guys added. “And we will come and pick her up every day, 50 don’t think you can drive her.” (Ameena Meer, Open Sesame) Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. Delia didn’t know what to make of that, She understood it better when the next note came, some two weeks later. Please forgive me if you felt I sounded *mother-in-lawish” and that's why you didn't answer my letter. I had no intention of offering excuses for my son. I’ve always said he was forty years old when he ‘was born, and I realize that’s not easy to live with Delia bought another posteard ~ this one the kind with a picture on it, a rectangle of unblemished white captioned Bay Day in Bay Borough, so there was even less space to write on. Dear Eleanor, she wrote, I'm not here because of Sam, so much. I'm here because. ‘Then she sat back, not knowing how to end the sentence. She considered starting over, but these postcards cost money, and so she settled, finally, for /’m here because I just like the thought of beginning again from scratch. She signed it, Love Delia, and mailed it the following morning on her way to work. ‘And after all, wasn’t that die true reason? ‘Trucr than she had realized when she wrote it, in fact. Her leaving had very litle 10 do with any specific person. ‘Unlocking the office door, she noticed the pleasure she took in the emptiness of the room. She raised the white window shades ; she turned the calendar to a fresh page; she sat down and rolled a clean sheet of paper into a typewriter. It ‘was possible to review her entire morning thus far and find not a single misstep. (Anne Tyler, Ladder of Years)206, READY FOR EXAMS 3 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas, With relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring elther to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. Stil she felt contented here. She had her comfortable routine, her niche in the ‘general scheme of things. Making her way from office to library, from library to café, she thought that her exterior self was instructing her interior self, much like someone closing his eyes and mimicking sleep in order to persuade sleep to ‘come. It was not that her sadness had left her, but she seemed to operate on a smooth surface several inches above the sadness. She deposited her check each Saturday ; she dined each Sunday at the Bay Arms Restaurant. People nodded not ‘when they saw her, which she took, not just for greeting but for confirmation Ah, yes, there's Miss Grinstead, exactly where she belongs. ‘Although every so often something would stab! her. A song from Ramsay's, Deadhead period about knock-knock-knocking on heaven's door, for instance, Or 1a mother and a little girl hugging each other in front of the house across the street. “She's leaving me!” the mother called mock-plaintively? to Delia. “Going off to her very first slumber party !” Maybe Delia could pretend to herself that she was back in the days before her marriage. That she didn’t miss her children at all because they hadn't been born yet. But in retrospect it seemed she hid missed them even then. Was it possible «there had been a time when she hadn’t known her children? (Anne Tyler, Ladder of Years) 4 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas. with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. ‘The fact was, Delia was expandable*, She was an extra. She had lived out her ‘married life like a litde girl playing house, and always there'd been a grown-up standing ready to take over ~ her sister or her husband or her father. 1. Hua. 2. With fake sadness 3. Friendly, warmly communicative, EXAM PRACTICE a Logically, she should have found that a comfort. (She used to be so afraid of dying while her children were small.) But instead, she had suffered pangs of jealousy. Why was it Sam, for instance, that everybody turned to in times of crisis? He always got to be the reasonable one, the steady and reliable one ; she was purely decorative. But how had that come about? Where had she been looking while that state of affairs developed? She read another story, which contained several lengthy nature descriptions. ‘She enjoyed nature as much as the next person, but you could carry it too far, she felt. ‘And was anybody Keeping an eye on Sam’s health? He had that tendency, lately, to overdo the exercise. But, It’s none of my concer, Delia reminded herself. His letter had freed her. No more need to count cholesterol grams ; pointless to note that the Gobble-Up carried fat free mayonnaise. She called back some of the lettr’s phrases: You cannot have been unaware and Nor am [entirety clear. Bloodless phrases, emotionless phrases. She supposed the whole neighborhood knew he hadn’t married her for love (Anne Tyler, Ladder of Years) 5 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas. with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. It is a sweltering! afternoon in the year 2000, in the biggest city ever seen on earth. Twenty-eight million people swarm about an 80-mile-wide mass of smoky slums?, surrounding high-rise islands of power and wealth, (One-third of the city's workforce is unemployed. Many of the poor have never seen the city center, In a nameless, open-sewer° shanty* town, the victims of yet another cholera epidemic are dying slowly, without any medical attention. And from the parched countryside a thousand more hungry peasants a day pour into what they think is their city of hope. ‘That nightmare of the not-too-distant future could be Cairo or Jakarta or any of a dozen other urban monsters that loom’ just over the demographic horizon. Unpleasanly hot ‘Areas of a city where very poor people live, Pipes used to carry sewage avay from houses, factories, te, ‘A small house, buil of pieces of wood, metal and cardboard, where very poor people live ‘Appeat as a large, unclear shape, especially in a threatening way.208 READY FOR EXAMS Already Mexico City, Sao Paulo, and Shanghai are among the largest, most ‘congested cities on earth. Over the next two decades, they ~ and many others ~ are expected almost to double in size, generating economic and social problems that will far outstrip all previous experience. Just 30 years ago some 700 million people lived in cities. Today the rumber stands at 1.800 million, and by the end of the century it will top 3.000 million — more than half the world’s estimated population. (S. Reiss, Nightmare of Monster Cities) 6 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. Morality is concerned with what men ought and ought not to do. But ifa man hhas no freedom to choose what he will do, if whatever he does is done compulsion‘, then it does not make sense to tell him that he ought not to have done what he di and that he ought to do something different. All moral percepts would in such case be meaningless. Also if he acts always under compulsion, how can he be held morally responsibile for his action? How can he, for example, be punished for what he could not help doing? It is to be observed that those learned professors of philosophy or psychology who deny the existence of free will do so only in their professional moments and in their studies and lecture rooms. When it comes to doing something practical, ‘they inevitably behave as if they and others were free. They will, for example, ask a child why he told a lie, and will punish him for not having chosen the way to truthfulness, his is inconsistent with the disbelief in free will. Consequently, the problem has been created by the fact that learned men have assumed an incorrect definition of free will, and then finding that there is nothing in the worlé which answers their definition, have denied its existence. (Gary B. Kessler, The Problem of Morals) ‘T. Strong, unreasonable desive that is difficult to control EXAM PRACTICE, 20 7 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas «with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either toa text you have studied or to your own life experience. According o the popular stereotype, North American and British fashions are separate and mutually incomprehensible languages. In reality, however, (like ‘American and British speech) they are merely different dialects, not hard to ‘understand once the basic Hingustic principles have been grasped. ‘America has a history of political isolation and economic self-sufficiency ; its ” citizens have tended to regard the rest of the world as a disaster area from which lucky and pushy people emigrate to the Promised Land. Alternatively, they think the other nations as mere showplaces for picturesque scenery, odd flora and fauna, The American tourist abroad therefore wears clothes suitable for a trip to ‘a disaster area, or for a visit to a museum or zoo: comfortable, casual, brightly ‘coloured, relatively cheap : not calculated to arouse envy or pick up dirt Britain, on the other hand, remains in imagination a world empire. Its citizens ‘g0 abroad as representatives of the Top Nation, concerned to uphold its reputation ‘and present a good example to lesser races. Britons therefore dress up rather than down for travel, whatever the local conditions. Even today one can see British tourists (especially those born before World War Il) silently and courageously perspiring in three-piece suits and ties ~ in the: extreme summer climates of ‘Athens, Rome, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. The legendary British custom fof changing for dinner under the most inauspicious' colonial conditions als survives as a tendency to dress up even more uncomfortably after dark. (Gary B. Kessler, Britons and Americans) 8 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. ‘The easiest way to decorate your skin is with cosmetics. In previous centuries it was not uncommon for men as well as women to use them discreetly ; today only females are supposed to paint themselves. More conventional men may 1. Unfivoursble210 READY FOR EXAMS smear their skins with greases or astringent, or choose to smell like leopards or old leather. To counteract the suspicion of effeminacy, male cosmetic are always sold in a very macho manner. Manufactures tend to appeal to the warrior, the ‘he-man, in selling cosmetics to men; scents, creams and after-shaves are advertised by boxers, footballers and cricketer. Men are told that the producis will make them feel bold, brash?, ragged’, commanding, vigorous, brisk* and stimulating Female make-up is conventionally thought of as a means of distinguishing age and imperfections. Infact, it only does this partially; its main effect isto create the appearance of erotic arousal : the wide eyes, the swollen, reddened lips, the flushing of the skin, Make-up has also been used to give the illusion that a face ‘conforms to the current ideal: in the twenties women appeared to hve bee-sting mouths ; after World War II they showed their sophisticated skepticism by narrowing their eyes; in the sities thir eyes grew unfortunately lage and round with surprise. Under the influence of the back-up altogether. Today i: seems to be making a comeback, though it is still scorned by some of the young and by almost all the serious feminists. (Gary E. Kessler, Paint and Powder) 9 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by reterring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. ‘There are situations when our words matter tremendously. You may have been interviewed before you came to your present school and what you said then must ‘have been listened (0 carefully. If you are ever involved in an accident or witness to acrime, your words will count. Some people are so good with words that they can make a living out of them. Professional writers and speakers have developed the skill for arguage which all of us have. Sometimes their speeches and books are never forgotten; libraries are full of the words of people who have been dead for hundreds of years. But their voices come alive again every time someone opens one of their books, Sometimes their words pass into the language and are used over and over again by other people Daring and free in behaviour. Bold and discespectfl Strong and virile Quick and active EXAM PRACTICE, a ‘Often at special times like birth, marriage and death, or in places like a courtroom or a church, forms of words which have been very carefully worked out are used over and over again. Most people feel that, on occasions such as funeral or weddings, these set forms are better and stronger than if someone had just made the words up on the spot ; these particular phrases may seem strangely powerful, (Tom Peryer, English in the Making) 10 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either toa text you have studied or to your own life experience. | five on the beach in a refurbished! beach house. 1 have a large cool sitting room with a front wall of sliding doors that give directly on to a wide sundeck. Behind the house is my garden: sandy, patchy grass, some prosaic shrubs, vegetable plot and a hibiscus hedge, thick with brilliant flowers. ‘Behind my house, beyond the palm trees, is the village ~ an attenuated poor town of mud huts and cottages, occupying the little strip of ground between the shore and its tre line and the main road to the airport. I live alone ~ which suits ze fine ~ but there is enough life around to prevent me from ever being lonely ‘love the beach, but sometimes I ask myself, what am I doing here? I'm young, I'm single, Thave a family in England, I possess all manners of impressive ‘academic qualification. So why has the beach become my home...” Lam here because two sets of strange and extraordinary events happened to re, and I needed some time to weigh them up, o evaluate them. I have to make sense of what has taken place, before I can restart my fe inthe world, as it were ‘Do you know that feeling? That urge to call a temporary halt, to say; enough, slow down, give me a break (William Boyd, Brazaville Beach) 1. Made bright, clean and fresh again 2, $0 to speak.a READY FOR EXAMS in Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support yourideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. ‘The information or misinformation we want our clothes to convey about status, age, occupation, opinion, mood and sexual tastes may make it hard for us decide what to wear. What often happens in such cases in that the outer layer represents the external of public person and the inner one his or her private self ‘When both layers are visible, the message, though contradictory, is easy to read. Many combinations of outer and inner message are possible. A costume may be childish without and adult within, like the bright apron over the severe dark dress which informs guests that a serious career woman is only playing at cooking. It may be casual and countrified' without and citified? within, lice the tan cord suit of the architect worn with a business shirt and tie to reassure his clients that their buildings will not run over the cost estimate or fall down. yen when the styles of the inner and outer layer are the same, there may be 4 significant difference in colour. Someone whose visible under layer of clothing. is red may be telling us the heat and passion beneath his or her subdued excerior. When a colour combination is conventional, its meaning is conventional rather than personal, The wearing of a white shirt with a dark suit means that this cha- racter type has always been considered desirable in business and the professions. ‘The reverse outfit ~ the gambler’s white suit and dark shirt ~ suggests someone ‘whose character and motives are somewhat shady, whatever the lightness and charm of his manners. (Gary B. Kessler, Outer and Inner Selves) 2 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support yourideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. ‘And now for our announcement, In order to follow through on the success of this evening, to spread the word even further, Neal and I have decided to start a ‘magazine. T'm not one hundred per cent sure of what the name will be yet. The 1, Typical of the countryside (manners, dress, et.) 2. ‘Typical of city life (manners, dres, et). EXAM PRACTICE, a obvious answer would be something like one of the great Beat journals. But we'll decide on a name in the next couple of days. We hope to have the first number out by the end of August. Any contributions from you would be extremely cool. 1 think Neal’s right, its time to go, not stay ~ it’s time to do, not say. If you'd like to put your name down as a subscriber, please speak to Maggie here. Thanks again for your kind attendance.” ‘We continued to applaud the empty resounding stage for a full minute or so. Byes occasionally turned to the door, as if expecting the poets to reappear and take a bow. Jane stood up, from the other end of the front row. “I think the best way we can express our thanks, now Neal and Jack have fled, is by subscribing to what I'm sure will be a fantastic magazine. Thank you.” (Coby Litt, Beatmiks') 13 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring elther to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. [Nowadays we are surrounded by words and there is very litte silence. Because ‘we use and hear so many words we may not take them as seriously as people used to, or as they still do in many pars of the world. It may be that we have lost something ofthe deeper magic and strength of words, But its still very clear that being able to use words well is a great weapon or tool in our town lives. ‘There are many skills which you need to learn and develop, but few, if any, are 1s important as being able to say and write what you mean in a way which pets through to other people, Pethaps you can think now of times when words failed you and you wished that you hed been able to say something. That may have been in an argument or when you wanted to write but couldn't find the words for it. All ‘your life you will be fuced with times and opportunities when words will be vital. ‘You may have to defend yourself or make a speech ot try to borrow money. The better you are with words the more chance you will have f doing what you want to do in life. (Fom Peryer, English in the Making) 1. Young people in the late 1950s and early 1960s, who rejected social conventions (dress, speech, attiudes)ae READY FOR EXAMS 14 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and exampies. Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. Words have energy and power. They are in some ways stronger than armies oF ‘bombs - even nuclear bombs. Words can go where people cannot. Words can cchange people and situations. They can lie hidden in human minds and then suddenly leap out to surprise and shock. A powerful speech can stir up a nation to revolution o¢ war, Politicians know that words are their weapons. Many of the people in history who have deeply influenced their own times and later generations ‘were people who used words powerfully. ‘That's why in many countries of the world people are not allowed to talk freely, The government may outlaw! groups of more than, say, six people meeting together. Books may be banned form coming into the country ; secret printing presses may be confiscated. People can be put in prison for writing an article or Aiscussing an idea. However, even in our own lives words can have a great impact. We forget most of the words we hear and read but there will be some that will stick in our minds. 1 may be that someone has said something good about us. We may have been shouted at and never forget it. A chance remark may point us in a new direction ‘or a way of thinking that has never occurred 10 us. (Tom Peryer, English in the Making) LIMBA ENGLEZA - PROBA ORALA (5-7 ore/siptiman’) 1 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. ‘The sheer embarrassment of this clusive, oblique identity of the English struck me in the early nineties when I had to attend the funeral in South Africa Of a friend and colleague killed when his car ran off the road as he was trying to Declare sb or sth unlawful or illegal EXAM PRACTICE, ais rake a deadline. The church was in a prosperous white suburb, where the roads ‘were lined with BMWs and every house had a sign hanging warning of “Instant ‘Armed Response”, The service was conducted by a liberal Afrikaner minister ‘who bad not, I imagined, known John very well. The choir was made up of cleaning-ladies from the building where John had his office. They were poor, shoeless people (some literally), but when they sang “Nkosi Sikeleli Aftika”, the black anthem, the cavernous mock-gothic church rang with sweet passion. They were singing something they believed in, Then the minister spoke a simple tribute and, turning to a photocopied sheet, announced the next hymn. It was to be “Jerusalem”, W. Blake's strange British Israelite poem beginning, “And did those feet in ancient time walk upon England’s mountains green?” “Sing, you, English,” the minister boomed from the pulpit, “sing!” ‘We did our best, in a self-conscious kind of way. But our music had none of the sweetness, or ardour, of the cleanning ladies”. “Jerusalem” is the closest thing the English have to an anthem, with a stirring tune and enigmatic words. ‘But we couldn't manage it with any conviction. I guess we were embarrassed, Dut the truth is, the English have no national song, as they have no national dress ‘when the national costume was a requirement of the Miss World pageant', “Miss England” appeared ludicrously decked out as a Beefeater, Geremy Paxman, The English) 2 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either toa text you have studied or to your own life experience. Up the black walls; over the wet rocks; on and on through the twisting tunnel. The rope still dragged behind him, By now it must have been almost at its full fength, and its weight pulled heavily at his waist. But atleast it had not got caught. And bie himself did not get caught again. The shaft? widened slightly. t bent tothe left and leveled off; steepened again and bent tothe right. And then, suddenly, he had stopped, he was staring upward, and this time it was neither fear nor exertion? that made his heart beat faster. For the shaft was no tonger dark, but filled with a greyish light, and straight above, framed by a rim of rock, was a patch of blue, gleaming sky. Now at last he could shout. And did, And the sound of it echoed wild and free in che core of the mountain. ‘Then he was climbing 1, Public entertainment consisting of a procession of people in costume. 2. Along, narrow, usually vertical passage (wunne). 3. Physical or mental effort.216 READY FOR EXAMS again - faster now ~ up, up, as fast as his strength would take him. He was halfway - two thirds of the way ~ almost there. Then he was there. He was crawling up onto the rim. Coming out of the shaft. He was standing in snow, in bright sunlight, on the shoulder of the Citadel. He had climbed up past the Needle... through the Needle’s Eye. He tore his eyes away. There were things to be done... He was waving and calling. He was tying one end of the rope around a knob of rock and lowering the other down the wall below. The men tied on the packs, and he hauled them up. ‘Then they themselves were coming: one... two... three... They were all up, all standing together on the shoulder of the Citadel, and his uncle had put his rms around him and was holding him tight. (James Ramsey Ullman, Banner in the Sky) 3 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring ether to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. Soames turned away and, hidden in the recess, gazed into the lighted room. It was cooler out there. He saw the new arrivals, June and her grandfather, enter. ‘What had made them so late? They’ stood by the doorway ; why hadn't June come to Irene as she usually did? And it occurred to him suddenly that he had seen nothing of June for a long time now. Watching her face, he saw it change, grow so pale that he thought she would ee (James Thurber, University Days) TD Make a rough noise by forcing sie down the nose, often jn impatience or ans Small spots or grains. ‘Small spots or grins. 1A Tong very high ery. oo ‘Look with parlly closed eyes in order to see ett{ READY FOR EXAMS her passing coffin - that he travellers in their own land. ‘The flower-throwers had learnt of ets & working flamel = in he ug, she vince Bh.” te eed, despere re SIFT into het stricken eyes, he would te at lost. Gone would be a EXAM PRACTICE ni resolve. Sunday afternoon would come again next week and capture him in its nest of intolerable boredom. There'd never be a gramophone, never a bicycle. Only the twins growing into defrauded’ girlhood and another clamorous? baby. ‘They went with him as fast as they could ; out through the broken wire fence, up the yellowed slope of wheat paddock to the road. They clung to him as though to hold him back, and tried to make him accommodate his pace to theirs. But his eyes were on the horizons, and at the road he said: “I'd better get a move on. You kids look after Mum.” At the look of anguish in her eyes, his own filled with foolish tears. He kissed her quickly. “Hurtoo,” he said, and with a bravado born of the shabby youth he hurried off down the road. ‘The unbelieving cry of protest died in his mother’s throat. The boy looked back. “I'll write soon’s I get there, Mum,” he called. Then the dust moving with ‘him was all they could see. Slowly they went back through the empty afternoon. (Lyndall Hadow, Sunday Afternoon) 10 Read the text below and express your opinions about it. Support your ideas with relevant arguments and examples. Make associations by referring either to a text you have studied or to your own life experience. Being English used to be so easy. They were one of the most easily identified Peoples on earth, recognized by their language, their manners, their clothes and the fact that they drank tea by the bucketload. It is so much more complicated now. When, occasionally, we come across someone whose stiff upper lip, sensible shoes or tweedy manner identifies them as English, we react in amusement: the conventions that defined the English are

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