Reading modern British literature. Part 2. Учебное пособие

Part 3

Pp.151-188

Pre-reading tasks

1.Follow the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BOPlRAQj9U

and watch the trailer to the film Nice Work, The complete Series by Reader’s

Digest. Compare the images that you have so far created in your mind with the actors’ representation. Share your impression.

2.Study secondary sources to define the term «alienation» in various

science domains.

Focus on the contents

1.Answer the following questions:

1)What result did Robyn’s kindheartedness lead her to?

2)Consider Vic’s family life; his relationship with his father, wife and

children.

3)What are Vic’s ideas about marriage? Why are they called old-

fashioned?

4)What is your image of Vic’s father? Describe him and his interests.

5)Why does Vic’s father like being collected in the Jag? What does he

say on this point?

6)What does Vic think about holidays? Consider the following passage:

“Nothing depressed him more than the thought of summer holidays: a fortnight of compulsory idleness, mooning about in the rain in some dreary English seaside resort, or looking for a bit of shade on a sweltering Mediterranean beach. Weekends were bad enough” (p.176).

7)Consider Robyn’s relationship with Charles; Basil.

8)Why did Robyn try “to conceal her boredom” talking to Basil and

Debbie?

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9)What does Robyn think of Charles’s girlfriend? Why does she judge

her “decidedly lower-class”?

10)What is the author’s opinion of Basil and Debbie’s work? Is it “nice”?

Focus on vocabulary

1. Glossary. Note down the words and word combinations, memorize

them.

Nouns: a plot (154), vertebrae (155), rancor (156), a crony (157), a huddle (157), a fee (161), a coincidence (161), a bosom (163), a scent (163), curlers (163), a loose cover (165), a dropout (169), a sod (169), puberty (170), a giro (170), a thaw (171), a decay (171), a molar (171), quid (174), Wellington boots (177), a hearth (177), a lull (182).

Verbs: to reek (153), to bully (155), to reckon (156), to snigger (156), to cease (160), to whine (162), to put up with … (165), to doze off (168), to bivouac

(168), to rehearse (169), to puke (170), to brandish (174), to vary (174), to sulk (175), to bleep (175), to turn down (176), to peep out (179).

Adjectives: abandoned (153), filthy (153), crucial (155), amicable (161), derisive (162), freckled (163), flimsy (163), buxom (165), futile (165), sophisticated (165), docile (165), arrogant (165), unwonted (168), nomadic (168), idle (169), foetid (170), dire (169), intact (173), inflatable (175), brisk (177), overdue (177), uppermost (178), apprehensive (179), scuffed (181), belligerent (185), obnoxious (188).

Adverbs: sympathetically (153), restively (158), reciprocally (161), slyly (162), desperately (164), daintily (164), apathetically (169), lavishly (171), virtually (173), precariously (173), irritably (175), literally (182), approximately (184), defensively (188).

Phrases: soaking wet (153), in a towering rage (153), to bring to a standstill (155), a qualm of conscience (156), to move up the career ladder (160), to summon up the energy (169), stifled laughter (170), to get a kick out of … (172), threadbare

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cuffs (174), to take the hint (175), to dress the salad (177), an idle threat (179), in jeopardy (183), to make redundant (184), in the long run (185).

2.Transcribe the following words: vertebrae, a bosom, a giro, a thaw, a hearth, to bivouac, amicable, foetid, irritably, qualm, stifled.

3.Guess the word by its definition.

1)a plastic or metal tube that you wrap your hair round in order to curl it;

2)to frighten or hurt someone who is smaller or weaker than you;

3)moving from place to place rather than staying in one place;

4)done according to an arrangement by which you do something for someone who does the same thing for you;

5)the stage of development when a child changes physically into an adult;

6)having marks where these things have been rubbed against a rough

surface;

7)used for showing that an amount, number, time etc. is not exact;

8)one of the large teeth at the back of your mouth, used for chewing food;

9)in the most basic, obvious meanings of the words that are used;

10)someone who leaves school or college without finishing their course of

study;

11)knowing and understanding a lot about a complicated subject;

12)money that you pay to a professional person or institution for their work. 4. Define the following words: a loose cover; obnoxious; to rehearse;

sympathetically; a crony; inflatable; quid; to put up with …; lavishly; Wellington

boots; unwonted.

5.Provide the context for the adverbs from the glossary list.

6.Use the phrases from the glossary list in the sentences of your own.

7.Study the context and extra sources to explain the meaning of the following words and expressions.

1)a bookie (p.182);

2)by golly (156);

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3)to get the wrong end of the stick (157);

4)hanky-panky (160);

5)foul-mouthed juvenile delinquents (161);

6)to put a finger on … (163);

7)out of the blue (164);

8)a roly-poly body (165);

9)to take hair-raising risks (165);

10)a hop, skip and jump (179);

11)it was a real lark (180);

12)to get hitched (182);

13)to bat on a losing wicket (185).

Focus on culture

1.What are the concepts flashing through Vic’s mind: “the restoration of National Service, or the workhouse, or transportation” (p.169)? Dwell upon each one in detail.

2.What idea do you get of the thing “bought from jumbles-sales”

(p.173)? What is special about them?

3.Comment upon the difference between the lexemes lunch-dinner taking into account the following passage: “Sunday lunch, or dinner as Vic called it in deference to his father” (p.174).

4.What does the phrase “seven-and-six” mean? Explain why the younger generation is at a loss when they hear it (p.175).

5.What event is called “a hunt ball” (p.180)? What sort of people are usually invited there?

6.What does Basil mean by the phrase “the rust belt” (p.183)?

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Focus on style

1.Comment on Charles’ tone and implication when he remarks to Robyn that she is not “the world’s tidiest housekeeper” (p.153).

2.Identify the stylistic value of Vic’s phrase: “that silly bitch from the University has caused me no end of trouble…” (p.164).

3.Share your opinion on Vic saying: “a wife was not like a car: you couldn’t part-exchange her when the novelty wore off, or the body work started to

go” (p.165). Comment upon it from the stylistic viewpoint.

4.Consider the peculiarities of the characters’ speech and justify them.

-Raymond: “Ullo, Dad…”\\”Jus’….” (p.169), “whatsisname” (p.170):

-Vic’s father: “I don't 'old with central 'eating'” (p. 173), “’Ave a look”

(p.174);

- Debbie: “Held in a sorter castle. Just like a horror film, wonnit? <…>

Suits of armour and stuffed animals' heads and everyfink” (p.180).

5. Comment upon the stylistic effect created in the description of Vic’s father’s dwelling: “Decay had set in at each end of the street, as if the molars had been the first to go in a row of teeth, and was creeping slowly towards the middle, where a few of the long-term residents, like his father, still remained stubbornly rooted” (pp.171-172).

6.Interpret the idea of the phrase “truth is to meaning as metonymy is to metaphor” (p.178). Share your opinion on the issue.

7.Provide your feedback on Robyn’s speech and choice of words: “You

could represent the factory realistically by a set of metonymies - dirt, noise, heat and so on. But you can only grasp the meaning of the factory by metaphor. The place is like hell. The trouble with Wilcox is that he can't see that. He has no metaphorical vision.' <…> `Oh, poor old Danny Ram, I don't suppose he has any metaphorical vision either, otherwise he couldn't stick it. The factory to him is just another set of metonymies and synecdoches: a lever he pulls, a pair of greasy

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overalls he wears, a weekly pay packet. That's the truth of his existence, but not the

meaning of it” (pp.178-179).

8.Reflect upon the tone and implication of Robyn’s conversation with

Basil:

1)“Daddy said you were getting disgustingly rich, but I didn't realize

just how disgusting” (p.181);

2)“She didn't go to university, you see.” “No, I thought she probably didn't” (p.181);

3)“So property governs sexuality in the City these days?” “Hasn't it always, according to Saint Karl?” (p.182).

9.Formulate the source of metaphor in the passage “companies… are batting on a losing wicket” (p.185).

10.Study the epigraph to the part (p.151), identify its source and report how it reflects the contents of the book. Comment on the spelling of the epigraph.

Post-reading activities

1.Comment on the following words.

4)“There is no "truth", in the absolute sense, no transcendental signified.

Truth is just a rhetorical illusion, a tissue of metonymies and metaphors, as

Nietzsche said”.

5)“That's what this Government is doing to the universities: death by a

thousand cuts”.

6)“Don't let's ever become rich, Charles,' said Robyn, suddenly anxious to mend the little breach that had opened up between them”.

7)“I don't think there's any danger of that,' Charles said, rather bitterly, Robyn thought”.

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Part 4

Pp.189-264

Pre-reading tasks

1.Consult the necessary secondary sources and report on the amount and role of immigrant workforce, in particular Asian employees, in the United Kingdom.

2.Define the term late capitalism and share your understanding of the

concept.

3.Research the image of Margaret Thatcher in the sphere of British education. Taking into account the data you have obtained, comment on the

following passage that presents Robyn’s opinion: “Thatcher has created an alienated underclass who take out their resentment in crime and vandalism”

(p.241).

Focus on the contents

1.Answer the following questions:

1)What made Robyn visit Pringle’s again?

2)Comment upon the relations between Vic and Brian Everthorpe.

3)What do the main characters’ musical tastes tell you about them?

4)How did Vic come into the business?

5)Explain why Vic changed his attitude to Robyn? What made him invite Robyn to lunch?

6)Comment upon the behavior of the characters before and during the

lunch.

7)Summarize Robyn’s opinion about the Wilcox. Do you share her point of view? Why does she call him “an artful tyrant” (p.220)? Try to provide the proofs to her saying that “he showed no reciprocal respect for her own

professional skills” (p.220).

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8)Compare Robyn and Marjorie. Make conclusions on the woman’s

position in the present-day society.

9)Do you think Marjorie has guessed about Vic’s attitude to Robyn?

Consider the following passage: “Marjorie stared at him. `I've never known you give a second's thought to serviettes in your life before,' she said. In her pale, tranquillized eyes, he saw, like something stirring indistinctly under water, a flicker of fear, a shadow of suspicion; and realized for the first time that she had grounds for these feelings” (p.234).

10)Describe Vic’s house and family through Robyn’s eyes. Why does she say that “the eldest son is still working through his Oedipus complex at the age of twenty-two by the look of it” (p.246)? Do you share her opinion?

11)What does Robyn think of the proposed trip to Frankfurt?

12)Consider phone conversations between Robyn and Basil; between Robyn and Charles. What conclusion can you draw from their analysis?

13)Summarize the changes that you may have observed in the characters’

state of mind, behavior, position.

Focus on vocabulary

1. Glossary. Note down the words and word combinations, memorize

them.

Nouns: prudence (192), conduct (192), a tyre (193), veneer (194), a singsong (197), a pretext (197), a dashboard recess (198), a roundabout (198), sesame (199), a wickerwork basket (199), seduction (201), a dolly-bird (201), an aside (204), a stooge (204), reps (205), a relay race (206), a baton (206), an adversary (209), a layout (210), a leer (210), an outburst (213), dusk (214), environs (214), an index finger (216), a snigger (217), a fogy (218), commodities (219), derision (220), a highbrow (221), dungarees (225), an intruder (226), a fist (226), woolgathering (227), a folly (227), a spyhole (229), hanky-panky (230), adultery (230), a culprit (231), a booth (231), a connoisseur (234), a tribute (235), an emery

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board (237), a rebuke (238), a graveyard (241), frills (241), a yob (241), a loo (245), goose pimples (252), fishnet stockings (252), a swivel chair (253), a time span (256), pandemonium (261), sauerkraut (264).

Verbs: to relish (192), to garnish (199), to stint (199), to betray (199), to choke on … (201), to throb (202), to guffaw (206), to linger (209), to bask (216), to coax (219), to muse (224), to groan (224), to sacrifice (224), to fidget (226), to peep (226), to nudge (226), to conjure up (227), to yawn (228), to nibble (235), to snore (237), to maraud (238), to escort (264).

Adjectives: ferocious (193), portly (194), shifty (196), suspicious (196), desperate for … (196), luscious (199), tangy (199), crisp (199), succulent (199), abstemious (199), queer (201), literate (202), drowsy (203), lugubrious (203), broke (205), adrift (205), shrewd (205), full-blooded (206), elated (209), dim (210), hasty (212), obsequious (212), dismal (214), handy (215), obsolete (216), alien (216), exasperated (218), feline (219), daft (221), plausible (223), forlorn (224), cropped (225), chaste (226), half-baked (228), sinister (228), underripe (236), well-groomed (240), high-flown (243), scared stiff (245), bored stiff (245), downtrodden (245), averse (250), posh (256), teeny-weeny (261), pissed off (261).

Adverbs: mercifully (192), luxuriously (193), expectantly (194), desultorily (194), reverently (195), guardedly (198), boisterously (199), earnestly (199), grandiloquently (200), grimly (201), conciliatorily (202), guardedly (202), reproachfully (204), piously (206), icily (208), indignantly (212), remorselessly (213), deftly (219), warily (221), off-handedly (224), stealthily (228).

Phrases: to cast a curious glance at… (194), mustn’t grumble (194), to lift an eyebrow (195), you can bet on that (195), to nurse a plot (197), couldn’t care less (197), to drop a hint (201), to relapse into silence (202), to wag one’s head (204), retard one’s progress (209), on the spur of the moment (210), a touch of flu

(211), to put it mildly (212), to and fro (214), a twisted mind (220), to stand to reason (225), to let the matter drop (227), in the throes of … (228), sharp hearing (228), to run out of… (234), to take smth for granted (239), to get rid of … (243),

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peace and quiet (247), that’s easier said than done (256), relationship with no

strings (261).

2.Transcribe the following words: too guffaw, grandiloquently, veneer, luscious, sesame, to yawn, succulent, environs, a connoisseur, obsequious, to maraud, sauerkraut, luxuriously, dungarees, exasperated, to conjure up, indignantly.

3.Guess the word by its definition:

1)done in a quiet and secret way so that no one sees or hears you;

2)expensive and attractive; typical of people from a high social class;

3)you cannot breathe because there is not enough air or because something is blocking your throat;

4)a circular area where three or more roads meet that you have to drive around in one direction in order to get onto another road;

5)to breathe noisily while you sleep;

6)treated in a cruel or unfair way by someone in a position of power;

7)very small lumps that appear on your skin and your hairs stand up straight, because you are cold, frightened, or excited;

8)extremely small; this word is used mainly by children or when speaking to children;

9)not practical because it has not been thought about carefully;

10)to think about something in a careful slow way;

11)a very noisy and confused situation, especially one caused by a lot of angry or excited people.

4. Define the following words: piously, a baton, cropped, to nudge, literate, chaste, hanky-panky, to bask, woolgathering, to coax, a yob.

5. Provide the context for the adverbs from the glossary list.

6. Use the phrases from the glossary list in the sentences of your own.

7. Study the context and extra sources to explain the meaning of the following expressions.

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