English 9

FICTION SECTION
TOAD & KATLIN

by Josh Stallings
Speaking. Task 1.
Look at the pictures and say what idea these pictures have in common. It is widely
believed that fathers have more affection to their daughters than their sons:
“Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a

daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our
daughters there is something which there are no words to express.”
Joseph Addison
Can you provide any explanation for such extraordinary love of fathers to
daughters?
Speaking. Task 2.
Read through the following quotations. Which quotation would you use as a caption
for the pictures given above? Which quotation echoes with your understanding of
father’s love?
 "Watching your daughter being collected by her date feels like handing over a
million-dollar Stradivarius to a gorilla." - Jim Bishop
 "Any fool can be a father, but it takes a real man to be a daddy." - Philip Whitmore Snr.
 "Fathers, like mothers, are not born. Men grow into fathers and fathering is a very
important stage in their development." - David Gottesman
Speaking. Task 3.
The depth and selflessness of parental love have often inspired writers and film
directors. Can you provide any examples of books or movies that center on parents-
children relationship? How is parents’ love conveyed in them?
For your reference:
There are identified six basic love styles — also known as "colours" of love — that people use in
their interpersonal relationships:
 Eros – a passionate physical and emotional love based on aesthetic enjoyment; stereotype of
romantic love;
 Ludus – a love that is played as a game or sport; conquest; may have multiple partners at once;
 Storge – an affectionate love that slowly develops from friendship, based on similarity;
 Pragma – love that is driven by the head, not the heart; undemonstrative;
 Mania – obsessive love; experience great emotional highs and lows; very possessive and often
jealous lovers;
 Agape – selfless altruistic love.
Reading. Task 1.
Read the following short story focusing your attention on how the author first depicts
the characters’ idea and expectations for their future meeting and then shows how
they develop a really close relationship:
TOAD & KATLIN
by Josh Stallings
"Stay Pure" was all she said, then walked out the door. Toad had no idea what to make of it.
Ever since he had moved down to the city he had had a feeling everything could, and most likely
would explode on him. "Maybe this was it, maybe this was the big bang I heard coming." He
thought, "or not. Probably too soon to tell anyway." Pulling on his hat and scarf he walked out into
the gray fog of San Francisco. A cup of espresso and it would all come into focus. His life had taken
so many strange turns, twists and almost acrobatic tumbles. Now at the ripe young age of thirty
eight he not only didn't know what door to walk through, hell he couldn't even see the hall way.
The rich almost bitter taste of the thick coffee would jump start his heart. Good coffee and fat
cigars were the only vices he still serviced. He had done drugs, booze and lust but they had all run
their course years back. A road that always ended in a boring cycle, as predictable as that nine to
five he had walked out of. Now he felt some big adventure was waiting, something fresh and new.
Stay pure, what had that meant. Shelly standing with her small suit case, the one that held all she
really cared about, stay pure. Was it the moment of parting that made it seem like worlds to live by.
Stay pure. He checked his watch, two hours and a thirty minute car ride til he had to pick his
daughter up at the airport.
Inside the 727 Katlin looked out the window, the clouds below looked like a field of cotton. She
toyed with the idea of pulling the emergency hatch and stepping out into that soft pure world. At
fifteen she was heading to spend the summer with her father. Was she giving her mother and new
stepfather space, running away from them or just trying to escape the boredom of Indiana? She had
thought allot about what she was leaving behind, but almost nothing of where she was going to.
What did she really know about Toad, he was more of a mythic character from her long gone
childhood than the man she would spend the summer with. He was San Francisco and side walk
cafes, jazz clubs and poetry. He was the freedom to dress how she wanted. He was freedom from
the fights with her mother as she struggled into womanhood. He was boys with flashing eyes. He
was... standing at the goddamn gate with a balloon bouquet and a nervous smile on his face.
As the passengers disembarked Toad noticed a hot young woman in a short skirt and leather
jacket. The legs were the first thing he noticed, both soft and strong at the same time. Heavy work
boots, a purposeful dichotomy to the femininity above. Letting his eyes rove up, past the budding
figure and onto her face. He was hit by a rush of embarrassment and fear. He had just been ogling
his daughter. Had she seen him? No. She scanned the crowd and finally seeing him, with a fleeting
smile she moved towards him. They hugged briefly, more because its what you do in airports than
out of any real need for contact. In three short years they had become strangers. He took her
shoulder bag, handed her the balloons and asked her the perfunctory baggage questions.
Standing in the claim area they fumbled for conversation. Mom was well, sure she liked Bill.
The wedding was nice. No, Shelly wouldn't be staying with them. Things just worked out that way
some times. They both were glad when the carousel started to turn and the baggage began to tumble
out, it gave them something to do, a mission, a place to put their eyes instead of staring at each
other, privately wondering what they had gotten themselves into.
In the city they parked the car. Down the street he pulled her roller bag, dragging it behind like a
silent dog. She dutifully held the balloons, knowing they made her look silly and young. This wasn't
who she wanted to be in the City. Up on the corner three young men were hanging out in their
leather jackets and long hair, she felt a sudden panic. Goddamn Toad and his balloons. Toad looked
at his daughters tense smile, her white knuckles clutched the balloons as if they were a venomous
snake that might at any moment strike. He followed her eyes to the young men. Somewhere in the
back of his mind he remembered what it felt like to be them, and her. To work so hard to be cool
only to have your dopey father blow it.
"Let them go." He said stopping his walk.
"What?" She asked, had he seen her watching the boys, was that it?
"The balloons, let them go. I bought them for this little girl I used to know. She didn't get off the
plane. She's somewhere in the Santa Cruz mountains playing with her Laura and Mary dolls in a log
doll house her father made her. Let them go, maybe that dad will find them and give them to the
little girl he loves so much."
Releasing her fingers the rainbow bouquet floated slowly up. Looking from them to her father,
Katlin felt something soften in her heart. It wasn't just the nostalgic memory of childhood past. This
summer might not turn out just as she had planned. With any luck it might turn out better. Walking
past the boys on the corner she took her father's arm. Yes they were cute, but he, the man they
called Toad, was noble and she was proud to be on his arm.
Reading. Task 2.
Interpreting the text:
1. What imagery does the author use to describe Toad’s idea of his life? What is his
life compared to (paragr.1, 2)?
For your reference: In this story the author employs the conceptual metaphor
LIFE IS A JOURNEY to depict Toad’s life.
The metaphor “LIFE IS A JOURNEY” takes as a source domain the concept “ JOURNEY” and as a target
domain the concept “LIFE”. The other related metaphors are an extension of that metaphor: the
instances of the “JOURNEY” metaphor with its underlying “PATH” schema. Its basic structure
includes a starting point or “source” of motion, the “ PATH” traversed, and a “GOAL”. This simple
basic structure implies other important notions such as “forward motion” in a certain direction
(making “progress”), “distance” traveled, or “speed” of motion. The “ PATH” consists of spatial
“points” in linear succession, which may include salient “landmarks”. The “path” may also feature
“crossroads” or “forks”. The traveler may be faced with “obstacles” that he has to go around.
There are three variations of the LIFE IS A JOURNEY conceptual metaphor in the text:
LIFE IS A CORRIDOR WITH DOORS
LIFE IS A ROLLER-COASTER
LIFE IS A CLOSED/VICIOUS CIRCLE
How are they verbalized in the story? Find the sentences that feature these
metaphorical images.
2. How is the boredom and emptiness of Toad’s life conveyed in the text? What
stylistic means are employed for this?
3. What are his expectations for the meeting with his daughter? How can you
interpret the quote “Now he felt some big adventure was waiting, something fresh
and new”?
4. Focus on the attitude of Katlin to her father (paragr.3). Find evidence in the text
that she treats him not as her nearest and dearest but rather as an opportunity to
change her life.
5. How does Toad perceive his daughter at first (paragr.4)? How is his first
impression of her verbalized in the text?
6. How would you characterize their first meeting? What was its general
atmosphere? Refer to the text to support your answer.
7. How does Toad’s behaviour change Katlin’s attitude to him in the end of the
story? How do the changes of Katlin’s attitude to balloons (What are the images
employed by the author to convey such changes?) reflect her changing relationships
with her father?
Reading. Task 3.
In the story the author manages to give a reader an insight into the thoughts and
feelings of both characters without changing the type of narration. This is possible
due to the shifts in focalization.
For your reference:

The term focalization was coined to describe a shift in perspective that takes place in literature
when an author switches from one character's perspective to another. In the understanding of the
French narrative theorist Gerard Genette focalization refers to the perspective through which a
narrative is presented. To tell a story from a character’s point of view means to present the events as
they are perceived, felt, interpreted and evaluated by her at a particular moment.
Zero focalization corresponds to what English-language criticism calls narrative with omniscient
narrator (where the narrator knows more than the character, or more exactly, says more than any of
the characters knows). In case of internal focalization, the narrator says only what a given character
knows. In case of external focalization, the narrator says less than the character knows.
A major point in Genette’s theory of focalization is his separation between focalization and the
narrator (referred to with the grammatical metaphor of “voice”). Genette believes that the question
who is the character whose point of view orients the narrative perspective? and the very different
question who is the narrator should not be confused. They can be put more simply, as the question
who sees? and the question who speaks?”. The separation of the two questions leads to
understanding that there is a possibility of a relatively free combination of different narrator types
and focalization types.
Which passages are focalized from Toad’s and which from Katlin’s perspective?
What is the effect of the changing focalization in the text?
Vocabulary focus
Linking words and phrases.

Underline the most suitable word or phrase to complete each sentence:
1. They’ve got a terrible record over tax and education. Nevertheless/On the other
hand, I still think the Democrats will win the election.
2. Balding’s “People in the Sky” is a very disappointing painting. At any rate/In
contrast, Rae’s “Beach Scene” really brings this exhibition to life.
3. I would like to complain about the way I was treated in your shop. For one
thing/Besides, the assistant was rude...
4. Our dining room is a place which we keep strictly for eating, as opposed
to/whereas the sitting room, which is for sitting, talking and watching TV.
5. We saw the Eiffel Tower, the Seine and Louvre, what’s more/as well as
Eurodisney.
6. The country’s economy depends to a large extent/at least on the tourist industry.
7. I’m here on business in addition to/as opposed to pleasure.
8. The weather is likely to be dry and warm. In the far north-west of Scotland,
however/whereas, it will be wet and windy.
Debate
Read the quotes below. What idea do they have in common?
 “Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on.
They move away. The moments that used to define them are covered by moments of
their own accomplishments. It is not until much later, that children understand;
their stories and all their accomplishments, sit atop the stories of their mothers and
fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the water of their lives.” ― Paulo Coelho
 “We grow up opposing our parents only to become like them enough to oppose our
children who behave as we once did — a reminder of how dreadful we were toward
those now vindicated grandparents. And you thought God had no sense of humor.”
― Richelle E. Goodrich
 “Parents have to instill the right principles in their children, but then it's up to the
children to live up to those principles.” ― Mary Lydon Simonsen
The influence of parents on children is undoubtedly great. Should this influence be
limited in certain areas / cases / situations/ under certain conditions? What can be the
possible detriment of unlimited parental influence on children?
Writing
Offer your appreciation of the text based on its linguistic and stylistic analyses. Make
use of the questions that were offered in the Reading section to direct your
interpretation of the story.
How to Bring Someone Back from the Dead
by Veronica Schanoes
Speaking. Task 1.
Look at the pictures and say what literary work they both refer to.
The idea of death or borderline states between life and death has inspired people since
the times of the rise of first mythologies. What can be possible explanation for such
human interest in death? Why do fairy tales mostly center not on death but rather on
borderline states between life and death when the person can be saved and returned to
the world of the living by true love?
Speaking. Task 2.
Read through the following quotations. Which of them appeals to you the most? Why?
 “The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living” - Marcus Tullius Cicero
 “Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them” - George Eliot
 “A friend who dies, it's something of you who dies” - Gustave Flaubert
Speaking. Task 3.
Can you provide any examples of books or movies that center on 1) people’s facing
death and trying to fight it with the help of magic, love, sacrifice etc, 2) person being
between the world of the dead and that of the living, 3) life after death?
Pre-reading
The text you are going to read is a piece of postmodern literature which is often not
easy to interpret.
For your reference:

In literature, postmodernism represents the rejection of the modernist tenets of rational, historical,
and scientific thought in favour of self-conscious, ironic, and experimental works. In many of these
works, the authors abandon the concept of an ordered universe, linear narratives, and traditional
forms to suggest the malleability of truth and question the nature of reality itself, dispensing with
the idea of a universal ordering scheme in favor of artifice, temporality and a reliance on irony.
Postmodern text can have multiple meanings, one of which might be intended by the author, but
none of which is central to the text.
Postmodern texts may not adhere to traditional notions of narrative. Time is often conveyed
as random and disjointed; commonplace situations are depicted alongside surreal and fantastic plot
developments, and the act of writing itself becomes a major focus of the subject matter. Many
works feature multiple beginnings and endings. Much postmodern fiction relies on intertextual
bricolage, which is the liberal use of fragments of preexisting literary material to create a work that
places a higher value on newness than on originality. Thus, to discover and enjoy the diversity of
more possible and deep-lying meanings of postmodern texts the reader should be able to discern
intertextual references that these texts contain.
Have you ever read postmodern texts before? If yes, name them. Which
postmodernist authors do you know?
Reading. Task 1.
Read the following short story focusing your attention on text’s structure and on how
the author employs intertextual references to myths and fairy tales:
How to Bring Someone Back from the Dead

by Veronica Schanoes
1. Pain
It hurts to come back from the dead. And it hurts to bring someone back from the dead.
2. The Journey
There is always a journey and it is often long. You will have to take the path of pins and the path of
needles. You will walk on the pins and your feet will bleed. You will walk on the needles and your
feet will bleed, red like your jacket (You must always wear bright colors when you go to the
underworld). This is your body mourning. It hurts to bring someone back from the dead.
You will need to be brave and to go into the woods. It is dark and cold, close and damp. You will be
there for a long time. You will be on foot. By the time you come out, flashing lights and bright
colors will confuse you. You will not be able to respond to them. Your open eyes will not focus,
and you will not remember how to turn your head. You will long for the woods and you will not
understand how to leave, how to be in the world outside of the woods. The woods will be the only
real place. That is why you must bring bright colors with you-dressing all in black is a mistake. You
will carry a torch in each hand as you search. Your feet will bleed. If the dead drink the blood, they
will be able to speak to you, but they will not come back with you. Be careful. Do not let the person
you want to bring back drink your blood.
You will travel for a long time, holding your two torches. You must not stray from the path and you
must not pick the flowers. You may ask for help. You will ask the sun for direction and you will ask
the moon. Neither will help you; the moon is not able and the sun is not willing. Triple Hecate will
have heard screaming and she will tell you where. You may ask an old woman who sits by the path
mumbling to herself. If you walk by without a word she will reveal herself to be a witch and eat you
in two bites, but if you ask her for help and offer to share an apple with her, she will give you
guidance. Do not throw stones at ravens. You may ask wolves for help, but you should not believe
what they tell you. They do not think carefully. They do not think as we do.
You will travel a long ways in the dark. Perhaps you will have to make your way through thorns
and brambles. The thorns will rip your skin and lay the delicate, palpating network of your veins
exposed to the cold wind. You may be caught and the thorns will reach over to block out the sky.
All you will be able to see will be the walls of thorns and you will forget that you even knew
anything else. The world will become patterns of thorns, patterns whose repetitions you'd counted
and memorized years ago, and never thought you'd have to see again. You will not want to leave;
nothing outside of the thorns will seem real. Perhaps the thorns will take out your eyes and you will
not see anything at all.
You will eat roots. Eventually you will eat stones.
3. Journey's End
You will finally find your beloved. She will be chained in outer darkness wailing for you in her
sleep. She will be covered with dust and cobwebs. She will be surrounded by others sleeping like
she sleeps. Or perhaps she will be in a clearing, behind glass like a dead duck in the window of a
Chinese restaurant. She will shine like a roasted duck as well. She will be surrounded by little men
muttering little words. You will not hear them.
Perhaps the men will be wearing white coats. The shine comes from the sweat on her skin as her
fever climbs. She is having no dreams.
Will you recognize her? Her face will be porridge, too hot and too pale, slumped like snow on a
fallen scaffolding. Her hair will be pulled back. There will be pallid florescent lights and no color
on the beige walls. The floors will be in washed out squares like the floor of your high school. Her
high school too. You will sit down next to her and take her hand. She is not there. You can see her.
You can touch her. You can smell her. But she is not there. Her chin is hanging in a very peculiar
way.
Her eyes are too big and so are her teeth. She is bleeding. She is dying, Egypt, dying. She is dead.
She is in chains, long whisper-thin chains. They are as slender as the skein of wool you have
unwound as you walked.
Did I not mention the skein of wool?
Do not forget the wool. It is your memories, your time.
The chains are not silver. They are not metal. They do not make a clinkety-clankety clattering noise.
They are pale and fuzzy. They are colorless. They look like dust bunnies stretched out, like gray
hairs knit together by dead skin. There are so many of them, they cover your beloved completely
and hide her face. She cannot breathe. The dust is in her throat and she cannot breathe.
4. Your Beloved
She is one of many and you cannot find her. You cannot recognize her. Also, you are exhausted.
You have come such a long way already.
You will always know her. She is young and she has long blonde hair. She is young and she has
cherry-red lips and hair black as the raven's wing. She is old, so old that she is dead, with short
white hair almost all fallen out.
She has hair like yours, short and coarse, dark and curly. She wears cats-eye glasses. She is shorter
than you are. She has mole in the center of her neck and a scar on her right temple from a cat's
scratch.
Cats are never up to any good.
Her fingers are swollen. Her tongue is swollen and chapped, and it has been bleeding.
She has a short tongue.
She is young enough to be your daughter.
She is your daughter.
She is only bones.
Her fingers are swollen. Her rings don't fit any more.
He looks like you, a warrior-king. Lean. Muscles. Scars.
She looks just like you, only she is dead.
5. What you will do
You will kiss her. Everybody knows that.
6. What else
You will kiss her.
You will jar her or perform the Heimlich maneuver. She might be choking on an apple or some
pomegranate seeds or maybe a plastic tube. Help her.
Play music. Play her favorite song on your wonder horn. Play a wild tearing song. Play a love song.
Play sixty-nine.
Draw the needle out of her arm with your lips. Stop the blood with your mouth. The tube and the
needle are not helping any more. And she hates them.
It will hurt. Paint your face now, so that you look like a warrior. There will be snakes crawling
beneath your skin. You will vomit from the pain, and because it is disgusting to be filled with
snakes.
Lower the guard rail at the side of her bed. Check her hair for poisoned combs. Unsnap the shoulder
of her gown.
Lie down next to her very carefully. Wrap your arms around her. She will not hug you back. Rest
your head on her shoulder. You will have to go to where she is. Close your eyes. It might hurt. It
will hurt.
You can cry. It won't help.
7. Afterwards
She will turn her head and look at you. Call her name. She will recognize you and smile. She is so
tired. And she hurts. She hurts so much. She is confused. She doesn't know where she is. She won't
thank you. She will blink and sit up.
Take her by the hand. Hold her tightly.
Give her one of your torches.
Don't worry if she doesn't talk at first. Voices take a long time to come back. And anyway, her
throat hurts from the tube. Or the apple. The pomegranate. Whatever.
Lead her out. Don't look back.
8. How to Bring Someone Back from the Dead
There is no way to bring someone back from the dead. But you will make the journey anyway.
Reading. Task 2.
The story under consideration is highly intertextual. It builds its meaning with the
help of allusions to numerous other texts.
For your reference:
Allusion is a reference, within a literary work, to another work of fiction, a film, a piece of art, a
geographical place or a historical figure/event. An allusion serves as a kind of shorthand, drawing
on this outside work to provide greater context or meaning to the situation being written about.
While allusions can be an economical way of communicating with the reader, they risk alienating
readers who do not recognize these references.
For deep understanding of this postmodern story the reader is supposed to recognize
the allusions used by the author. The majority of them are underlined in the text.
Study the reference material below and match each item to the underlined allusions:
1) In Greek mythology, Persephone ([pər'sefənē]), the goddess of vegetation and queen of the
underworld, was abducted by Hades, the god-king of the underworld, when she was gathering
beautiful red flowers grown by Hades. The great god Zeus forced Hades to return Persephone.
Hades complied with the request, but first he tricked her, giving her some pomegranate seeds to eat.
Persephone was released, but because she had tasted food in the underworld, she was obliged to
spend a third of each year (the winter months) there, and the remaining part of the year with the
gods above. This explained the change of seasons.
Interestingly, there are parallels between the Hades-Persephone myth and the fairy tale Beauty and
the Beast, as the Beauty had to go to the Beast’s place after her father had strayed away from the
path, got lost and wandered into the Beast’s garden, where he gathered a bright red flower.
2) Hecate (['hekətɪ]) or Hekate is an ancient goddess associated with crossroads, the Moon, magic,
witchcraft, necromancy, darkness, most often shown with three faces and holding two torches. Very
often she searches the cemeteries to look for lost souls and leads them out.
3) When Persephone was abducted to the underworld by Hades (['heɪdiːz]), her mother, Demeter
([di'mētər]), searched for her ceaselessly, preoccupied with her loss and her grief. Hecate assisted
Demeter with her search for Persephone, suggesting that Demeter should speak to the god of the
sun, Helios (['hēlēˌäs]).
4) According to the Greek legend, Minos attacked Athens after his son was killed there. The
Athenians asked for terms, and were required to sacrifice seven young men and seven maidens
every seven or nine years to the monster Minotaur (['mi:nəˌtôr]). One year, the sacrificial party
included Theseus (['θēsēəs]), the son of King Aegeus, who volunteered to come and kill the
Minotaur. Ariadne ([ˌarē'adnē]) fell in love at first sight, and helped him by giving him a sword
and a skein of wool, so that he could find his way out of the Minotaur's labyrinth.
5) Orpheus (['ɔːfɪəs ]), a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion, after the
death of his beloved Euridice ([jʊˈrɪdɪsiː]) travelled to the underworld and by his music softened
the hearts of Hades and Persephone (he was the only person ever to do so), who agreed to allow
Eurydice to return with him to earth on one condition: he should walk in front of her and not look
back until they both had reached the upper world. He set off with Eurydice following. He played
music to lead her out. However, in his anxiety, as soon as he reached the upper world, he turned to
look at her, forgetting that both needed to be in the upper world, and she vanished for the second
time, but now forever.
6) Some fairy tales mention such magical object as magical horn or pipe (e.g.: Jason and the
Wonder Horn by Linda Hutsell-Manning, Little Wonder-Horn by Jean Ingelow).
Nils (a boy from the fairy tale Wonderful Adventures of Nils) who travelled with geese saved the
castle from the invasion of rats blowing his pipe: charmed by the sound, rats followed Nils out of
the castle.
7) "Snow White" is a German fairy tale known across much of Europe and today one of the most
famous fairy tales worldwide. The fairy tale features such elements as the magic mirror, the
poisoned apple, the glass coffin, and the seven dwarfs. During one of her attempts to kill the Snow
White, the Queen dresses as a comb seller and convinces Snow White to take a beautiful one as a
present. She brushes Snow White's hair with a poisoned comb and the girl faints again, but she is
revived by the Dwarfs. Later the Queen gives the girl the poisoned apple.
8) "The Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault or "Little Briar Rose" by the Brothers Grimm is a
classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, enchantment of sleep, and a handsome prince.
After the curse started working and the beautiful princess fell asleep, the good fairy who altered the
evil prophecy was summoned. Having great powers of foresight, the good fairy sees that the
princess will be distressed to find herself alone and so puts everyone in the castle to sleep. The king
and queen kiss their daughter goodbye and depart, proclaiming the entrance to be forbidden. The
good fairy's magic also summons a forest of trees, brambles and thorns that spring up around the
castle, shielding it from the outside world and preventing anyone from disturbing the princess.
9) Little Mermaid after her transformation into human lost her beautiful voice and felt sharp pain in
her feet.
10) According to one of the interpretations of The Little Red Riding Hood, the girl was wearing red
cap for protection: in old times people believed that red colour was the colour of life and strengh, so
it could protect against evel eye, diseases, and evil spirits. For this reason children were given red
clothes or clothes with red elements/ornament on them to wear. According to another interpretation,
red colour is connected with blood and symbolizes the girl’s initiation into femininity.
11) The roads of "needles and pins" appear in old French versions of Little Red Riding Hood (The
Grandmother's Tale)
In Paul Delarue's recounting of these versions, the girl meets the wolf in the woods, who asks her:
"What road are you taking, the Needles Road or the Pins Road?"
"The Needles Road," said the little girl.
"Well I shall take the Pins Road."
The little girl enjoyed herself picking up needles. Meanwhile the wolf arrived at her Grandmother's.
12) Antony:
"I am dying, Egypt, dying."
Antony and Cleopatra (IV, xv, 41) by William Shakespeare
Mark Antony speaks these words to Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, as he lies dying in her arms in this
historic tragedy that sweeps across the world from Rome to the East
13) In fairy tales, a character-helper tests the hero and provides magical assistances to the hero
when he succeeds. The fairy godmother is a well-known form of this character. Many other
supernatural patrons feature in fairy tales; these include various kinds of animals and the spirit of a
dead mother.
Before giving the hero magical support or advice, the helper may also test the hero, by questioning
him, setting him tasks, or making requests of him. In some cases, to test the hero’s magnanimity,
the helper appears in some unattractive image (ugly old woman) Then, the helper may directly give
the hero a magical agent, advise him on how to find one, or offer to act on his behalf.
Reading. Task 3.
1. The text is build as the list of recommendations / instructions for the implied
reader to follow in order to bring the beloved person to life. What effect does it create
on you as a reader?
2. The author widely uses repetition, especially framing repetition, in the story. This
creates the effect of reading the text in circles, as if each time returning to some
important information mentioned above.
For your reference:

Influence of Repetition on People
If something happens often enough, I will eventually be persuaded.
Our brains are excellent pattern-matchers and reward us for using this very helpful skill. Repetition
creates a pattern, which consequently and naturally grabs our attention at first and then creates the
comfort of familiarity.
Repetition can also lead to understanding, as it gives time for the penny to drop. What at first may
be strange, after repeated exposure becomes clear and understandable. Thus? Repetition is a very
effective tool for convincing people.
Repetition is a core principle of music. It appears in runs, trills and stanzas, as well as in pounding
rock rhythms and dance music.
People dancing in clubs and waltz-halls commonly go into trance-like states. Music, rhythm and
repetition have a hypnotic effect that can lull people into following a pattern in unthinking ways.
Repetition is also a basis for trance states and is consequently a basis of hypnosis and hypnotic
techniques.
Find the examples of repetition in text, which refer the reader to the previously
mentioned facts. What is the function of such repetitions in the story?
3. The image of the beloved person in point 4. Your Beloved is split into several
different images. What is implied by such a split about the beloved person?
4. What images, colours, symbols are employed in the text to create the image of the
Underworld?
5. Oblivion in the story is rendered with the help of the image of dust in point 3
Journey's End. Is the association of dust and oblivion clear for you as a reader? Do
you believe it to be effective in the story? What can be other associations with
oblivion?
6. As postmodern fiction is often paradoxical and may combine several contradictory
and conflicting ideas and meanings with none of them being central, the author
widely uses the effect of defeated expectancy. Find the example of defeated
expectancy effect which ruins the romance and charm of the fairy tale in the first
paragraph of point 3 Journey's End. What is its influence on you as a reader?
7. Offer your interpretation of the last paragraph of the story.
Vocabulary focus
Linking words and phrases

Read the text and decide which answer (A, B, or C) best fits each space:
Starting your own business could be the way to achieving financial independence. (1)..... it
could just as well land you in debt for the rest of your life. (2).....,that is the view of Charles and
Brenda Leggat, a Scottish couple, who last week saw their fish farm business put into the hands of
the receiver. “We started the business at a time when everyone was being encouraged by the banks
to borrow money. (3).....,we fell into the same trap and asked for a big loan. (4)....., at the time we
were sure that we could make it into a going concern,” said Charles Leggat, a farmer from the
Highlands. “The bank analysed the proposals we put forward and they agreed that it would be a
highly profitable business”. Sure enough, within five years the Leggats were exporting trout and
salmon products to hotels all over Europe, and (5)..... they took on over fifty staff. (6)....., with the
advent of the recession, they began to lose ground as orders dried up. “(7)....., said Brenda ,”the
business has now been valued by the bank at a fraction of its true worth. If they had left us to work
our way out of our difficulties, (8)..... virtually bankrupting us, I am sure that we could have gone
back into profit. As it is, we have been left without a livelihood, and the bank has not recovered
what it lent us”. The Leggats both felt that their banks had not treated them fairly. “(9)....., they
were falling over themselves to lend us money initially, (10)..... now they are doing very little to
keep the business going, and fifty local people in work”. A spokesman from the bank concerned
refused to comment.
1) A Moreover B On the other hand C As well as

2) A At least B However C To make matters worse
3) A Incidentally B At any rate C As a result
4) A To put it another way B Nevertheless C In contrast
5) A what’s more B on the other hand C to tell the truth
6) A Hence B Consequently C However
7) A In contrast B Whereas C To make matters worse
8) A as opposed to B as well as C in addition to
9) A However B To tell the truth C As a result
10) A as well as B whereas C on the other hand
Debate
The story is full of paradoxes. The author often implies that the person that has to be
brought back from the dead is at the hospital. At the same time it is stated several
times that this person is already dead. However, the most paradoxical may seem the
idea of euthanasia (the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and
painful disease or in an irreversible coma) that is implied in the following excerpt:
Draw the needle out of her arm with your lips. Stop the blood with your mouth. The tube and the
needle are not helping any more. And she hates them.
It will hurt. Paint your face now, so that you look like a warrior.
Euthanasia is illegal in most of the countries. Nonetheless, there are many supporters
of this procedure, especially among the terminally ill patients. Many people are
against it. Religious people consider euthanasia to be a sin. Such radical difference in
opinions causes heated debate in society every time when this delicate issue is
discussed.
You are offered six quotations with arguments for and against euthanasia. Use them
to support your own point of view in debate “Should euthanasia be legalized or
banned?” As the topic is very sensitive respect the ideas of your opponents!
 “Dogs do not have many advantages over people, but one of them is extremely
important: euthanasia is not forbidden by law in their case; animals have the right
to a merciful death.” ― Milan Kundera, “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”
 “A dying man needs to die, as a sleepy man needs to sleep, and there comes a time
when it is wrong, as well as useless, to resist” ― Stewart Alsop
 “Think of all those ages through which men have had the courage to die, and then
remember that we have actually fallen to talking about having the courage to live.”
― G.K. Chesterton, “George Bernard Shaw”

 “A man, even if seriously sick or prevented in the exercise of its higher functions, is
and will be always a man ... [he] will never become a 'vegetable' or an 'animal',"
the Pope said. "The intrinsic value and personal dignity of every human being does
not change depending on their circumstances” ― Pope John Paul II, 2004
 “You matter because you are you.
You matter to the last moment of your life,
and we will do all we can,
not only to help you die peacefully,
but also to live until you die” ― Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of Hospice
 “Not blocking the suicides of the terminally ill is a form of discrimination against
them. If you don’t interfere with their attempts to avoid unbearable suffering, it
means you don’t care about them. This is madness. If you cared, you listen to what
they are telling you. You would care more about their unbearable suffering than
imposing your backward religious superstitions or slippery slope paranoias on
them” ― Unknown
Writing
Offer your appreciation of the story based on its linguistic and stylistic analyses.
Make use of the questions that were offered in the Reading section to direct your
HOW HAS THE WORLD TREATED YOU?
by Tom Dwyer
Speaking. Task 1.
Look at the pictures and comment on how the photographers play with the ideas of
union and separation.
Speaking. Task 2.
Read through the following quotations about love and relationships. Which quotation
echoes with your understanding of love relationship?
 True love never dies, even if you have found a new love, the sweet memory of the
past will continue to hunt you for the rest of your life.”
 “If a man loves you, nothing can keep him away. If he doesn't love you, nothing can
make him stay.”
 “True Love burns the brightest, but the brightest flames leave the deepest scars.”
 “Love that we cannot have is the one that lasts the longest, hurts the deepest and
feels the strongest...”
 “It's hard to forget someone who gave you so much to remember.”
Speaking. Task 3.
Can you provide any examples of books or movies that center on 1) break-up of loving
couples, 2) people suffering from separation with beloved or unrequited love,
3) reunion of broken couples? What is your favourite love story?
Reading. Task 1.
Read the following short story focusing your attention on how the author portrays main
characters:
HOW HAS THE WORLD TREATED YOU?
by Tom Dwyer
I stopped in the Plaza Hotel to find a phone that worked. I figured if there was any place in New York
that a phone should work…it would be at the Plaza. I found one directly off of the main lobby. It was a small,
old fashion type situated in a dark corner. It even had a wooden seat to sit in while I made my call. The
doorman watched me for a moment or two as I searched through my pockets for the correct change. He
decided that I was fine and that I wouldn't cause a problem. in his hotel. The reason for my call was to cancel a
meeting I had with an agent who was interested in a book I had just completed. He was always interested in
things I wrote…but has never signed me to anything. So, it really wasn't that big of a deal to cancel on him. I
didn't feel like getting rejected today anyway. Which is how I ended up going to the bar in the Plaza after
making my apologetic phone call.
It was that wonderful afternoon hour when most of the lunch crowd had now departed, leaving only the
professional drinkers to hold court. Well-dressed drinkers drinking expensive scotches and fine wines, while
they sat in one of the most beautiful rooms in New York – a small, cozy, deeply paneled room that spoke of
money, and the joys it brought. I, on the other hand, made my living as a freelance writer. I figured I have a
beer or two, imagine being rich for a an hour or so, and then hurry back to my small apartment in Jersey City.
There were about eight people in the room when I sat down at the bar. Two business men arguing
about stocks, a very well dressed older women with two large suitcases tucked under her table as she worked
on her martini, a group of loud TV producers discussing some project, and a woman with her back to me
sitting at a far table facing a mirror. I ordered a beer, stared around the room some more, and wondered what I
would do with the rest of my day. After finishing the beer I walked to the bathroom. After finishing my
business I washed my hands and stared into the mirror. I saw a man in his mid-forties staring back at me. A
man who somehow missed the success boat that all his other friends had somehow gotten on. As I was making
my way back to the bar I passed the women sitting alone in the corner. As I passed her I heard her say, "How
are you, Jimmy?"
I didn't have to turn to find out who was talking to me. The voice was as familiar to me as it was
twenty-five years ago when we were in college together. I turned to see Margo Keene, one of the true loves of
my life. Smiling at me, and motioning for me to join her. I grabbed my beer from the bar and sat down across
from her. It's hard to know what to say to someone you haven't seen in twenty-five years. Especially someone
you almost married. She was the same Margo, except she had aged some. She was still beautiful with those
green eyes and black hair that was now peppered with gray.
"So how long has it been, Jimmy, twenty-five years?"
"Just about," I said back, starting to feel emotions I hadn't felt in a long time.
"So what brings you to the Plaza, Jimmy Abbott? Have you finally hit the big time?"
"Not yet," I said back to her…"but I keep trying."
She reached over and touched my hand. "You'll never change," she said. The feel of her skin took me
back to 1970, when we were just kids trying to find out way in life. She rubbed my hand and said, "No ring,
you never married?" I reached over and placed my hand on top of hers and sad, "No, it just never happened.
And you?" She removed her hand from mine and drank some wine, her full lips catching a few drops that tried
to escape.
"Divorced, two children."
"Do you live in New York now," I asked her. Not believing that we might have lived in the same city
for the past twenty-five years.
"No, I live up near Woodstock. My ex is a businessman, real estate. We broke up three years ago.
There was something about all those years between then and now that made me feel just how fast life
moved along. I looked at her face and could see the beautiful coed I had loved for two years, the smart woman
who was going to be a lawyer and save the world, the person I almost married but never did. I called the
waitress and ordered two more drinks. Margo studied me with an intensity of someone trying to figure out a
great puzzle.
"So why are you in New York?" I asked her. Breaking her concentrated stare.
"I'm here to see my doctor for my check-up."
"What, they don't have doctors in Woodstock?"
"He's a specialist for cancer," she said, as if telling me the time of day.
"Cancer? But you look fine."
"I am now," she said, squeezing my hand. "I'm beating it. Two years now."
Suddenly the past years seemed to lose their innocence in my mind. In my mind the two of us were
still somehow in that state college, frozen in time, nothing but promise. But now, she sat in front of me, telling
me about her cancer, and I sat in front of her, a man who never fulfilled his promise. I was beginning to see
how time had its own plans for people. We sat and talked for a good two hours. We covered our lives up to that
moment. There is something so wonderful about seeing a person you had once loved after a long period of
time. It clarifies one's existence.
"I'm staying at the Plaza for the evening before going back home," she said. Let's go up and have a
drink for old times sake.
I paid the bartender, and held Margo's hand as we entered the elevator. It was like old times, nothing
had really changed I told myself. Nothing, could break the ties between the two of us. I wanted to believe that
as the elevator stopped on the seventh floor. As we entered the plush room, we heard music coming from down
the hall. We stood there for a moment listening to the melody move towards us. The lyrics asked, "What's new,
how has the world treated you? Gee but it's great to see you again."
We poured ourselves drinks and stared out the windows onto Central Park. The sun was just beginning
to set. We stood together a good five minutes, not saying anything, just staring and thinking. Then we turned
towards each other, as if on cue and kissed. A warm, forgiven kiss that almost made me cry for some unknown
reason. I touched her back, her arms, her face. She softly moved away and told me to wait. She disappeared
into the bathroom, where she reappeared wearing a silk robe. The room was now dark. The last rays of sun
moving across the ceiling. She came to me and kissed my face. Then, she opened her robe, showing me the
place where her right breast had been. Showing me the jagged scar that ran across the right side of her chest
like an angry river. Showing me, showing us, what life had done to her. I lowered my face to the purple scar
and kissed it. I kissed her other breast. I could feel something release inside of Margo, like a vast breath
escaping from her. We moved to the bed and held each other like kids just learning about love. Then, she
moved her mouth close to my ear and said softly, (as to not rile the gods, as if telling me a secret that she
wanted only me to know) "I beat it, Jimmy, I beat it." Then she lowered her beautiful face to my chest as if
looking for something, then kissed my right nipple.
Reading. Task 2.
1. How does the author characterize Jimmy and Margo in the text?
For your reference:

Characterization is an important element in almost every work of fiction, whether it is a
short story, a novel, or anywhere in between. When it comes to characterization, a writer has two
options:
1. DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION - the writer makes direct statements about a
character's personality and tells what the character is like.
2. INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION - the writer reveals information about a character
and his personality through that character's thoughts, words, and actions, along with how other
characters respond to that character, including what they think and say about him.
Indirect characterization “shows” the reader. Direct characterization “tells” the reader.
As with most “show” versus “tell” decisions, “showing” is more interesting and engaging to the
reader, and seems to be more preferable. However, there are times when direct characterization is
useful. Whereas indirect characterization is more likely to engage a reader’s imagination and paint
more vivid images, direct characterization excels in brevity, lower word count, and moving the
story forward. For example, a writer may want to reveal a minor facet of a character’s personality
without distracting from the action in a scene. It is up to the writer to decide when each
characterization method is appropriate.
Indirect Characterization shows things that reveal the personality of a character. This form
of characterization is generally accomplished through a combination of speech, thoughts, effects,
actions, and looks, known as the STEAL method:
Speech
What does the character say? How does the character speak?
Thoughts
What is revealed through the character’s private thoughts and feelings?
Effect on other characters.
What is revealed through the character’s effect on other people? How do other characters feel or
behave in reaction to the character?
Actions
What does the character do? How does the character behave?
Looks
What does the character look like? How does the character dress?
2. To provide a deeper insight into Jimmy’s inner world the author pays a lot of
attention to this character’s attitudes and values. Look through the second and the
third passages attentively. What aspect of life, personal, material or professional, is
central to Jimmy’s image of the world? How is it verbalized in the text?
3. Jimmy realizes that he is not successful. What stylistic means does the author
employ to convey it?
4. Jimmy’s idea of success is represented metaphorically in the third passage. Find the
sentence that features this metaphor and comment upon the usage of repetition in
this sentence. Does this repetion of the adverb somehow imply Jimmy’s vision of
success as something that should be actively achieved or passively waited for?
5. What can be inferred about Margo’s character from her words and behaviour?
6. When Jimmy hears about Margo’s cancer he feels guilty. What stylistic means are
used by the author to reveal such Jimmy’s attitude in the passage “Suddenly the
past years <…>”?
7. How can you interpret Margo’s actions described in the last passage?
8. Provide your understanding of the title of the story.
Vocabulary focus
Prepositions
Complete each sentence with one suitable preposition:
1. The problem stems ................ the government’s lack of action.
2. I pleaded ............... John to change his mind, but he wouldn’t listen.
3. Could you please refrain ............... smoking in the lecture hall.
4. We walked on tiptoe .............. fear of being discovered.
5. As far as I remember, they are in dispute ............... the findings of the experiment.
Debate
Jimmy and Margo broke up because of Jimmy’s ambitious plans which did not make
room for a family in his life. Men are more likely to prefer career to family life. Use
quotations of famous women below to explain why females are more likely to
sacrifice career for happy family life:
 “A career is wonderful, but you can't curl up with it on a cold night” –

Marilyn Monroe
 “I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine marriage and a
career” – Gloria Steinem
 “But the problem is that when I go around and speak on campuses, I still don't get
young men standing up and saying, 'How can I combine career and family?'” –
Gertrude Stein
 “I put my career in second place throughout both my marriages and it suffered.
I don't regret it. You make choices. If you want a good marriage, you must pay
attention to that. If you want to be independent, go ahead. You can't have it all” –
Lauren Bacall
What should be more important in a person’s life, career or family/love?
Writing
ESTRANGED
By Bruce Holland Rogers
Speaking. Task 1.
The pictures above are entitled Happy Headlights, Angry Mop and Exhausted Washing
Machine. What idea do these pictures have in common? Why is unconventional artistic
perception of the world (e.g.: surrealist pictures of Salvador Dali, movies by Quentin
Tarantino, Pedro Almodovar, books of Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel Garcia Marquez etc)
so popular nowadays?
Speaking. Task 2.
Read through the following quotations. Which quotation echoes with your
understanding of unconventionality?
 “New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other
reason but because they are not already common” – John Locke
 “One who walks in another’s tracks leaves no footprints” – Proverb
 “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation” – Herman Melville
 “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in
trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the
unreasonable man” – G.B. Shaw
Speaking. Task 3.
Can you provide any examples of books, movies or any other artistic works that
impressed you by the unconvential image of the world/plot/characters etc? Did you like
them? Why?
Reading. Task 1.
Before reading the story make sure that you know all the meanings of the word
estranged. In the text the author creates a surreal world in which people can be/work as
objects. Read the following short story focusing your attention on how the author
conveys material/social aspect of life with the help of images of objects.
Estranged
By Bruce Holland Rogers
After the divorce, my wife said she didn't know who or what she wanted to be. When I
heard that she had become a toaster, I felt vindicated. A toaster! Was that all she could be without
me? And she wasn't even good at it. She could only do two slices at a time, and they came out
charred on one side and white on the other. Obviously, she was the one with inadequacies.
True, I was unemployed myself. But a toaster! I would never fall as low as that. I would take
a job as a human being, or I'd stay on the dole.
Later, she worked as a hotel washing machine, then as a high-capacity dryer until she was
demoted. She became one of those laundry hampers with four wheels and a canvas hopper. Finally,
she lost even that job.
Soon, however, I felt less and less like gloating. I still couldn't find any work at all, no
matter how I tried.
I next saw her while on my way to an interview for janitorial work at a hospital. She was in
the parking lot, backed into a reserved space. And she was stunning.
There was no mistaking her, even with all the changes. She had white sidewalls. Her body
was lustrous teal everywhere but on the inward curving white panels that streaked back from her
front wheels. Her chrome sparkled in the sun.
I just stood there in front of her, searching for something to say until a man came out of the
hospital and walked up to her.
"Beautiful, isn't she?" he said, fitting a key into her door. "I restored her," he said, "built her
up a little from her original 283 small block, gave her some juice. Dual-Carter-carbed. You know
cars? Want to see under the hood?"
His generosity made me uncomfortable. "No."
I hadn't noticed the plates until now. They said "MD." He was a doctor.
"She's the finest 1960 Corvette on the road," he said, patting her roof affectionately.
She was older than that. But damn if she didn't look 1960.
"She used to be mine."
"What?"
"I said she used to be mine."
"I know something about her history," he said, trying to keep a smile in place.
"She was mine. She once belonged to me."
All the friendliness went out of his face. "I don't think so." He opened her door.
"Sure, just because she's gleaming now, you don't think she could ever have been attached to
someone like me!"
"I said nothing of the sort." He got in and closed the door. He started her. The way her
engine hummed, I could tell she was getting only the best of everything.
He revved her, but he couldn't drive off. I was in the way. I glared. He glared.
I looked from his face to the checkered flags of her hood ornament. Those little flags did
something to me. This was a side of her I had never imagined.
He rolled down the window. "Get out of the way," he said.
Oh, the sun on her satiny finish. The gleam of her front grille. . . .
He raced her engine again, menacingly now, then started to pull forward. He might have run
me over, but she stalled out. She still cared. But it was too late for reconciliations.
He started her again. I felt all the regret that I had concealed with my gloating. Too late. Too
late to change anything.
I stepped out of their way and let them drive off together. I went in for my interview, and I
got the job.
I am . . . a mop.
Reading. Task 2.
1. What reasons of the couple’s divorce are implied in the text?
2. What can be infered from the graphons in the first two passages about 1) the
relationships between the husband and wife; 2) husband’s character?
3. In the fictional world of the story people can work both as objects and as human
beings. How does the practical importance and value of the objects that the wife
worked as reflect her career moves?
4. How does the author convey the idea of the wife’s success through detailed car
description?
5. Which details of the hood ornament help the author to encode the sides of the
wife’s character that she managed to reveal only in her new relationship?
6. Where in the text is it obvious that the former husband becomes aware of the
social gap that has appeared between him and his ex-wife?
7. What stylistic means in the last passages of the story convey the depth of ex-
husbands despair about the broken marriage?
8. How can you interpret the title of the story?
Can the pictures at the beginning of the unit serve as illustrations for the story? Why?
Vocabulary focus
Word formation
Complete each sentence with a word formed from the word in capitals (opposite each
sentence):
1. Leisure habits won’t change much in the ........................... future. SEE

2. An election would have certainly led to the ............... of the Government. DOWN
3. The group has been performing all over Europe, most notably in Paris,
where they became ........................... celebrities. NIGHT
4. A list of ............................... events at our club for the autumn is being COME
prepaired.
5. The list of activities will be displayed on the club’s ............................ . NOTICE
Debate
Below there are three quotations about career achievements and two quotations about
marriage. Which quotations are most concordant with the message of the story?
 “If you wish to achieve worthwhile things in your personal and career life, you
must become a worthwhile person in your own self-development” – Brian Tracy
 “I think everyone should experience defeat at least once during their career. You
learn a lot from it” – Lou Holtz
 “It's not what you achieve, it's what you overcome. That's what defines your
career” – Carlton Fisk
***
 “Marriage requires the same effort as a career. And unlike a career, marriage
requires a joint effort” – Jessica Savitch
 “Never leave a true relationship for a few faults. Nobody is perfect, nobody is
correct and at the end ...AFFECTION is always greater than PERFECTION” –
Uknown
Is it possible to preserve a marriage that is almost ruined? Is it worth the effort?
Writing
LEAVING
by Eliot Lynn
Speaking. Task 1.
Look at the pictures and say what idea these pictures have in common.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said: “The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the
feeling of being unloved”. What makes child loneliness and abandonment especially
tragic?
Speaking. Task 2.
Read through the following quotations. Which quotation would you use as a caption
for the pictures given above?
 “We are guilty of many errors and many faults but our worst crime is abandoning
the children, neglecting the fountain of life. ― Gabriela Mistral
 “Since the earliest period of our life was preverbal, everything depended on
emotional interaction. Without someone to reflect our emotions, we had no way of
knowing who we were.” ― John Bradshaw, Healing the Shame that Binds You
 “What did these children ever ask for? They wanted love, family, and support. But
WE kicked them out onto streets like animals just because WE, as adults, were
scared of a situation WE weren’t used to.” ― Shannon A. Thompson, November Snow
Speaking. Task 3.
The tragedy of abandoned children deeply touched writers and film directors inspiring
their creations. Can you provide any examples of books or movies that center on this
topic? How is the drama of child loneliness conveyed in them?
Reading. Task 1.
Read the following short story focusing your attention on how the author uses the
setting to intensify the dramatic effect of the story:
LEAVING
by Eliot Lynn
It was the night of the year that few children can sleep. The night when everyone hopes that
snow will fall and they will wake up to a garden of glistening diamonds grown by the morning sun. It
was Christmas Eve.
As many had hoped, snow was falling. It slowly covered the houses and streets in a thick
blanket. The moon shone her silver light down on the white world, and but for one, there was nobody
to view the kind of beauty that things such as love and dreams are made of. The only one there to see
the spectacle was a small boy of five, or six years.
This little boy possessed a beauty not of this earth, a beauty that surpassed even all that
surrounded him. His curly blond hair had never seen a blade, and it framed a face that belonged to a
cherub of a painting of old. His eyes were of the brightest, clearest blue, and they sparkled like pools
of water born on the earth's first day. His skin was as pink and soft as a newborn child's. It was a
beauty born in the dreams of dead poets, and the few lucky enough to see it with their own eyes
would remember it as long as they lived.
On this night of happiness and anticipation, the little boy wandered sad and alone through a
painting so beautiful no one could ever paint it. The glistening tears frozen to his cheeks told a story,
but it is one that is lost to us. No one will ever know why the boy was alone, and there was no one to
even care that he was. And that was all he wanted. He walked through the snow hoping only that
someone would save him. That someone would come to him, and hug him, and tell him that
everything would be all right. And maybe, just maybe, someone would love him. That was the thing
the boy wanted most in the world on that cold night. On the night that every other child wished for
toys, and puppies, this little boy wished for love. And nothing more.
Finally, the little boy came to a stop, not wanting to ever take another step again. He raised his
downcast eyes, and in front of him stood a church. He remembered that he had been to church before,
and the building that loomed above him stirred vague memories. The boy made himself stumble a few
more steps, and pressed his face to the glass door he had arrived at. He looked in, and saw the church
was lit up inside. There was light coming from behind a man on a big cross, and two huge Christmas
trees shone in heavenly splendor. Looking at the man on the cross, he had a faint recollection. He
half-remembered, a long time ago, that someone reading from a big book had said that the man on the
cross would come on Christmas. That he came every Christmas.
The little boy supposed that if anyone would help him, it would be the man inside. He loved
everyone. So, the little boy laid down in front of the church, and as he slipped off into sleep, a
glimmer of hope, that the man would come and save him from the cold and loneliness, warmed his
heart. The snow continued to fall, and bells jingled far in the distance. Presents were laid under trees,
and visions of sugar plums danced in most children's heads. But not the little boy who slept on the
church steps under the winter sky. The little boy dreamt of warmly glowing, beautiful creatures that
came, and carried him far away from the cold church. They brought him to the man from the cross.
The man, whose name the boy did not know, hugged him and told him everything would be
all right. Then, the man who was as beautiful as the boy, gave him a present. It was a small gold chain
with a cross on it. The little boy held it tightly, and it glowed like the light that came from the man
and his friends. He looked down, and saw that his old clothes had been replaced with shining white
garments like those of the pretty things that had brought him here. Then he turned his head, and saw
wings that had grown and spread out from his back. The man loved the little boy, and had made him
one of his own. It was the best gift the little boy had ever gotten. It was the only gift the little boy had
ever gotten.
Then he looked back at the man, and saw that he had tears in his eyes. The man called the
little boy back to him, and held him close. Then, the man whispered in the boy's ear that he must go
back home now. And that he must be sure to show his present to everyone. So, the boy left the man,
and made his way home.
When he stepped inside his house, he found no one there. He walked through the darkness of
the house, and saw everything was covered in dust and cobwebs. He walked into the living room, and
over to the Christmas tree. It wasn't as he remembered it though. It had turned brown, and the needles
had fallen off long ago. The star had fallen from the top of the tree, and lay forlornly out of place on
the floor. The boy knelt down before the tree, and looked at the star. A beam of moonlight cut
through the darkness, and it made the star shine like one that had fallen from the heavens, rather than
from the top of the tree. The boy picked it up, put it in his pocket, and walked away.
Heading back through the house, the little boy heard and felt echoes of the past that were still
inside the house. Yelling and crying resounded in his head. Pain, and sadness flared in his breast.
Then, through the din, he heard someone singing. It was a little boy singing a Christmas carol, his
song breaking through all the sorrow and sadness in the house for a solitary moment. Then, it faded
away, and the little boy left his house for the very last time.
He wandered through the white streets again, and once again, stopped in front of the church.
This time though, he was not sad. He had no tears, and he was not alone. The man inside loved him,
and that was all he had wanted for Christmas. As before, he laid down on the church steps, and waited
for the man to come and take him away.
The next morning, on the most joyous day of the year, there was no joy in one small church.
Only sadness. More sadness than many had ever known. Early, on that glorious morning, churchgoers
found the little boy. He laid there on the church steps, covered in snow that he wore like a shining
white garment. The little boy had frozen overnight, but even death could not take his beauty away. It
was said, that the little boy looked more like and angel sleeping innocently on the church steps, and
less like a lifeless child. The little boy had died with a smile on his heavenly face, and clutched in one
hand was a gold chain with a crucifix, and in the other, was a small plastic star, covered in silver
glitter.
Reading. Task 2.
In the story under consideration setting helps the author to emphasize the boy’s drama
and the unfairness of the world.
For your reference:

There’s a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us…
There’s a time for us,
Some day a time for us…
There’s a place for us,
A time and place for us… Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim ”Somewhere” from West Side Story
This great song makes a strong illustration for the importance of setting, the place and time
of story. While plot and characters draw readers to fiction, stories must take place somewhere and at
some time. And where and when they take place can ultimately be as important as who’s involved
and what happens.
In fictional texts the setting includes the historical moment in time and geographic location
in which a story takes place, and helps initiate the main backdrop and mood for a story. Setting has
been referred to as story world or milieu to include a context (especially society) beyond the
immediate surroundings of the story. Elements of setting may include culture, historical period,
geography, and hour. Along with the plot, character, theme, and style, setting is considered one of
the fundamental components of fiction. Setting is often vital for assisting the plot.
In some books, a reader may scarcely recall where the narrative took place. Others could
have unfolded anywhere, at any time. This is a purposeful decision by the author – universality,
timelessness. Setting can also be used to put the reader in a specific frame of mind and can invoke
emotional responses from the reader. In many fictional texts time and place are symbolic, which
adds more dimensions to text meaning.
1. When do the events happen? In your opinion, why has the author chosen such
time for his story? Do you consider his choice to be apt for such a plot? Do you know
any similar plots with the similar setting in the world literarture?
2. Where do the events happen? In your opinion, why is the place, where the events
happen, not defined (there is no name, details)?
3. What is the general atmosphere of the evening? How does this atmosphere
contrast the boy’s loneliness?
4. Why does the author emphasize the boy’s beauty? How does it imply complete
indifference of people to abandoned children in general and to the boy in particular?
5. Which similes in the third paragraph suggest not only the boy’s beauty but also
the purity of his soul?
6. The author employs many bright similes in the story. Find them in the text. In
your opinion, which of them produce the strongest impression on the reader?
7. Find examples of syntactic stylistic means (repetitions, enumerations, parallel
constructions etc) that intensify the dramatic effect of the story. Comment upon their
functions in the text.
8. How is the boy opposed to other children? How is it verballised in the text? What
is the role of such contrast in the story?
9. Where in the text are implied the correlations light ≈ love, darkness and cold ≈
loneliness?
10. How do you interpret the boy’s encounter with Jesus Christ (the man on the
cross) and his subsequent return to his former house?
11. What can be inferred from the story about the boy’s past and social milieu?
12. What is the meaning of the mission that Jesus Christ entrusted to the boy? What
message do the star and the crucifix in the dead boy’s hands convey? What are the
correlations between the mission of Jesus Christ on Earth and of the boy in that town?
Vocabulary focus
Making sense
Complete the text with one suitable word in each space:
The relationship .......... the British royal family and the popular press is curious, to ......... the
least. In many respects the press has yet to realize that the royals are indeed the goose that ..........
the golden egg. Royal scandals and royal divorces illustrated .......... tasteless photographs and
supported by the worst kind of journalistic excess have proved to be just the thing .......... raising
newspaper circulations. The same papers that oozed sentimentally over royal weddings, ...........
drooled over idealized princesses, later ........... out of their way to hound various royals into
separation or divorce. Every photograph became a contribution to ............ new rumour or other;
even private telephone conversations were printed on the front page. ............ the press has yet to
realize is that ............. intrusions into the privacy of members of the royal family have also helped
to create an atmosphere in .......... the very existence of the monarchy has been called ..........
question. The prestige of the royal family has undoubtedly suffered. And how could this not ..........
so when their lives have been turned ............ some absurd soap opera? Just ........... the press feeds
the illusion that the characters on television, those awful creeps .......... “Neighbours”, are somehow
“real people”, so it has reduced the royal family .......... the status of .......... series of cardboard
characters.
There are real issues still .......... be debated about the role, and indeed the survival, of the royal
family, issues to which the popular press has hardly contributed. If the monarchy ........... lose its
constitutional role, the press will be largely to blame. And ironically it will then ......... lost one of its
main circulation boosters for .......... .
Debate
Read the quotes below. To describe the effects of tragedy on the spectator a metaphor
originally used by Aristotle in the Poetics used a metaphor of catharsis, which is now
understood as the purification and purgation of emotions—especially pity and fear—
through art or to any extreme change in emotion that results in renewal and
restoration. Why is the effect of tragedy on people so strong?
“In a world plagued with commonplace tragedies, only one thing exists that truly has
the power to save lives, and that is love.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich, Dandelions: The
Disappearance of Annabelle Fancher
“Tragedy allowed the audience to experience intense, sometimes disturbing emotions

that could not be experienced in real life without terrible cost.” ― Barry B. Powell,
Classical Myth
“You've faced horrors in these past weeks... I don't know which is worse. The terror
you feel the first time you witness such things, or the numbness that comes after it
starts to become ordinary.” ― Tasha Alexander, A Fatal Waltz
What is so dangerous about people getting used to tragedy and perceiving it as

something ordinary?
Writing
O Romeo, O, Like, Wow

By Mike Harden
Speaking. Task 1.
Look at the pictures and say what transformations of the famous literary work they
both refer to.
The story of Romeo and Juliet has become one of the most popular plots in the history
of cultural evolution. What can be possible explanations for such popularity?
“Any good piece of material like Shakespeare ought to be open to reinterpretation” -

Denzel Washington
In your opinion, what are the elements of the plot of “Romeo and Juliet” that should
not be reinterpreted for the story not to lose its topicality?
Speaking. Task 2.
Make sure that you know the age of Romeo and Juliet in Shakespeare’s play. Read
through the following quotations. Which quotation echoes with your perception of
teenagers?
 "At fourteen you don't need sickness or death for tragedy" - Jessamyn West
 "You don't know something? Google it. You don't know someone? Facebook it. You
don't find Something? MOM!" – Joke from the teenage blog
 "Don't bother discussing sex with teenagers, they'll just laugh at how little you
know" - Unknown
 "Why do they rate a movie "R" for "adult language"? The only people I hear using
that language are teenagers" - Unknown
 "In the time it takes you to understand a 14-year-old, he turns 15" - Robert Brault
 "My neighbors loved the music so much when I turned it up, that they invited the
police to listen" - Joke from the teenage blog
Speaking. Task 3.
The story of Romeo and Juliet inspired writers and film directors. Can you provide any
examples of books or movies that center on this plot? What are the famous remakes of
this famous plot?
Reading. Task 1.
Read the following short story focusing your attention on how the author reinterprets
the classical plot:
O Romeo, O, Like, Wow

By Mike Harden
At the end of the school year, my 14-year-old daughter's English class tackled Shakespeare's
Romeo and Juliet, and she had to give an oral report. Having listened her talk on the phone, I can all
too easily imagine just how it went.
This is like a real super-sad play about this dude Romeo and this dudette Juliet. They had
names like that 'cause it was like the real old days, before MTV. So, no one had cool names like
Heather or Brandon or Shawna. They all had really geeky names like Benvolio and Tybalt and
Mercutio.
Anyway, these two families, see, the Montagues and Capulets, really hate each other. I
mean, they can't even walk down the street without thrashing on each other, 'cause, like, that's what
happens right at the beginning.
This dude, Sampson, who works for old man Capulet, he sees this other dude, Abraham,
who hangs with Montague, and he bites his thumb. I mean, like, Sampson bites his own thumb, not
Abraham's thumb, which in the old days was like saying "Your mama!" And Abraham says, "Are
you dissing me?" So they start beating down. But it gets broken up before anybody's really messed,
you know. And the Prince—he's like the principal of this whole town—he says, "Yo, next time you
people get in each other's face, I'm gonna twist someone's head around so their cap's on straight."
So then Juliet's old man decides he's going to have this party. But he has to send this servant
out to tell everybody, 'cause, like, they didn't even have phones then. But this servant is like
dyslexic or something, and he can't make out the names on the list, so he, like, stops someone to
help him read it. Duh! It's Romeo.
So Romeo looks at the list, and there's all these names of dweebs freaks, jocks, stoners,
nerds, goobs and motorheads. But then he sees Rosaline's name. She's this chick he thinks is really
fly, so he decides to crash the party, which is like, easy, see, 'cause it's a masquerade party.
Meanwhile, Juliet's mom, she's trying to fix Juliet up with this guy named Paris. Is that a
dorky name or what? I mean, I thought Dweezil and Moon Unit were weird. But Paris? I guess he's
lucky he wasn't born in, like, Fort Wayne.
Romeo goes to the party even though he's totally bummed because he loves Rosaline and
thinks she, like, doesn't love him. But Romeo's homey, Mercutio, tells him, like, "Chill. Just go.
Party down. There's going to be some fly babes there."
So Romeo gets to the party and starts checking out the chicks. He sees Juliet and he goes,
"Who is that babe?'' And she goes, "Who is that hunk?" Which is bad, see, 'cause, like, Shakespeare
already said they got "fatal loins," whatever that means and they're "star crossed," which means
both of them are Aquarians, I think.
But that don't stop them. So Romeo starts hitting on her, and they hold hands for a while
and, like, he goes, "O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do." And he kisses her, and it's, like,
super-rad, I mean totally awesome for both of them. But then Juliet's nurse pulls her away, 'cause,
like, in the old days they really had a cow if they caught you sucking face.
Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, sees that Romeo is trying to ease in on a Capulet, even though he's a
Montague, so Tyb says, "Yo, hand me that sword." But Juliet's dad says, "Be cool."
Then it's curfew or something 'cause everybody has to leave, but when Romeo is heading for
his pad, he says, "Check it out, dudes, I'm gonna bail," and he jumps over this big fence into Juliet's
yard. He's like creepin' in the trees and he looks up at Juliet's bedroom and goes, "Who left that light
on?" or something like that, and she goes, "O, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" And it's
like, duh, 'cause he's standing right under her balcony. But maybe, like, she took her contacts out to
go to bed.
So he goes, "Do you want to get married?" and she goes, "Yeah." So they do...only in secret.
But then, like, right after this, Juliet's pushy cousin Tybalt shows up again and starts getting
in Romeo's face. See, he don't know they're married 'cause he didn't get an invitation or nothing.
And, like, he should be happy, because he didn't have to buy an electric can opener or anything. He
wants to kill Romeo. But Romeo won't fight him, so Tybalt jumps in Mercutio's face, and him and
Mercutio start thrashing on each other. Mercutio gets killed, So Romeo kills Tybalt, which is, like,
dumb, cause now him and Juliet ain't gonna get any wedding presents.
Then the Prince exiles Romeo, which is, like, being grounded but like in a whole nother
state or something.
So Romeo and Juliet have to split for a while. Juliet goes, "O, think'st thou we shall ever
meet again?" 'cause, like, some guys act like they like you a bunch at school but then they never call
you up. You know?
Romeo leaves and Juliet is really bummin' cause her old man wants her to marry Paris. Duh!
She's already married. But her parents are still planning a wedding, so it looks like she's going to get
an electric can opener one way or another, or maybe even a microwave. But then this priest guy
gives Juliet this stuff to drink so that everyone will think she's, like, dead until Romeo can get back
from being grounded. But this stuff is so good that everybody thinks she really is dead, and they put
her in this tomb thing, you know.
Then Romeo dreams Juliet has found him dead, and even though he's grounded in another
state, he says, "Later. I'm outta here." He takes off to see Juliet, but he stops, like at a drugstore, for
some poison. So he misses this letter that the priest sent that Says, "Juliet isn't dead. She's, like,
sleeping."
But then Romeo sees Juliet and he goes, "Ah, dear Juliet, why art thou yet so fair?" 'cause,
you know, if she was dead she ought to be green and starting to smell funny. And that totally bums
him, so he takes the poison. Duh! Then you'll never guess this part. She wakes up and sees Romeo
and goes, "O happy dagger!" and kills herself.
I mean, are these people serious, or, like, what?
Reading. Task 2.
The story under consideration is humorous. Humorous effect is achieved due to the
reinterpretation of classical plot through the prism of modern teenage perception.
For your reference:

Humour frequently contains an unexpected, often sudden, shift in perspective, which gets
assimilated by the Incongruity Theory. This shift may be from seriousness to play. Nearly
anything can be the object of this perspective twist. Humour also results when two different frames
of reference are set up and a collision is engineered between them. Quite often this can be the
collision of different points of view on the same issue, or different cultural viewpoints.
1. There are two narrative voices in the text. What is the role of the grown-up
narrator?
2. What is the effect of the 1st-person narration in the story?
3. How do the following issues contribute to creation of the humorous effect in the
text:
a) slang;
b) terms (e.g. dyslexic);
c) teenager’s reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s quotes;
d) teenager’s interpretation of the names?
4. How do the grammatical mistakes and parasite words make the teenage narrator’s
speech authentic?
5. What is the teenager’s reinterpretation of the balcony scene?
6. How does the teenage narrator’s reinterpretation of the historical customs and
characters’ behaviour unveil the cultural shift?
7. What does the rheotorical question at the end of the story imply about the
teenager’s understanding of the classical drama?
Vocabulary focus
Formal vs Informal
Replace each word or phrase underlined with the most appropriate of the more formal
words from the box:
abandoned scrutinized dismissed beneficial investigated

commensurate discrepancy rudimentary inopportune lucrative
1. George was given the sack yesterday.

2. I am afraid I have only a/an basic knowledge of physics.
3. The whole matter is being looked into by the police.
4. I’m looking for a job on a level with my abilities.
5. The actual voting is carefully watched over by special officers.
6. Terry was left somewhere by her parents when she was a baby.
7. I must apologize if I have arrived at a/an bad moment.
8. There is a/an difference between the sum of money sent, and the sum received.
9. Carol’s new catering business turned out to be very profitable.
10. I am sure that a month’s holiday would be good for you.
Debate
Do you agree with the following quotation:
 "Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new" -
Henry David Thoreau
Can criticism or denial of previous customs / philosophy / worldview etc serve as the
stimulus to progress?
Writing

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FICTION SECTION

TOAD & KATLIN

“Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a

For your reference:

Linking words and phrases.

Read the quotes below. What idea do they have in common?

For your reference:

How to Bring Someone Back from the Dead

For your reference:

Linking words and phrases

1) A Moreover B On the other hand C As well as

― G.K. Chesterton, “George Bernard Shaw”

For your reference:

 “A career is wonderful, but you can't curl up with it on a cold night” –

1. Leisure habits won’t change much in the ........................... future. SEE

For your reference:

“Tragedy allowed the audience to experience intense, sometimes disturbing emotions

What is so dangerous about people getting used to tragedy and perceiving it as

O Romeo, O, Like, Wow

“Any good piece of material like Shakespeare ought to be open to reinterpretation” -

O Romeo, O, Like, Wow

For your reference:

abandoned scrutinized dismissed beneficial investigated

1. George was given the sack yesterday.

Do you agree with the following quotation:

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