МИНИСТЕРСТВО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ

КОМИ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ПЕДАГОГИЧЕСКИЙ ИНСТИТУТ

КАФЕДРА АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА

АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК

по книге Айрис Мердок

«Замок на песке»

Iris Murdoch (1919-1999)

Iris Murdoch is a representative of existentialism, a philosophical trend centered upon the analysis of existence and stressing the isolation of the individual and his inability to change anything in the world and his life. The prevailing atmosphere of her books is dark and sinister and her characters seem helpless in the face of unpredictable ominous forces that are at work. In her opinion, love is a driving force in the life of her characters, but it makes their existence even more complicated and unhappy. There are elements of realism in some of her novels (e.g. “The Sandcastle”) where she presents real characters against the social background.

The “Sandcastle” is about the love affair of an elderly teacher of a public school who has a wife and two children. A young artist comes to St. Bride’s to paint the portrait of the retired school-master. She comes to know Mor and brings into his life beauty and romance he has never known before.

Chapters 1, 2

I. Active vocabulary:

● to sulk p.5

● boarding-school p.5

● to nag smb. About smth. p.6

● to sit for an examination p.6

● vulnerable p.8

● to think oneself (to be) in the wrong p.8

● to be tired for the life to smb. p. 8

● to make a fool of oneself p.10

● a right-hand man p.14

● proficiency in work p.14

● to take to smb. p.15

● to sum up p.21

● to lead smb. up the garden (path) p.21

● to make smth. of smb. p.26

Vocabulary exercises:

Give the situations in which the active vocabulary units are used in the chapters under discussion.

Make up your own situations with the active vocabulary.

II. Exercises:

1. Use conversational formulas of disagreement and correct the following statements:

Mr. Demoyte was all against Mor becoming a Labour candidate.

Bill and Nan were on best terms as Nan was very sympathetic and understanding.

Demoyte never cared about the teacher’s proficiency in work; he was interested in the training of morality.

Felicity took after her father.

Don was the very image of his mother.

Mr. Mor was a spiteful man and he mocked at Miss Handforth.

2. Complete the following sentences. Use your active.

Miss Handforth disliked Nan; what’s more she…

Dom set his heart on going on a climbing holiday, but his father…

Rain Carter spent the greater part of her life in France where…

Though Demoyte usually wore an old velvet jacket, during the dinner he was dressed in a lounge suit and a regular tie. The fact is that…

III. Questions and tasks:

1. Give a brief summary of each chapter.

2. What do you think of the atmosphere in the Mor family? Prove your point of view.

3. Discuss Mor’s social status and his secret ambitions. Why was Nan opposed to them?

4. Sum up Nan.

5. Sum up Demoyte. Comment on his view of school morality.

6. Speak of the impression Rain Carter made on Mor. What did Nan make of Rain?

7. Why does the novel open with a dialogue?

IV. Discuss:

1. Speak of the author’s description of Demoyte’s character. Your opinion of him.

2. Discuss the point of view on the training of morality and character held by Demoyte and by the Reverend Giles Everard, whom do you side with?

3. Recount the episode: dinner at Demoyte’s. What is felt between the lines in the description of this scene?

4. Why do you think the author described in detail how Miss Carter and Mr. Mor cut the roses?

Chapter 3