Совершенствуйте навыки работы с текстом. Готовимся к государственному экзамену. Brush up your text skills. Getting prepared for the state exam. Учебно

Needless to say, you cannot write a proper summary if you are dealing with a short fragment that lacks a definite plot. But irrespective of the type of the text, its length and structure, you are supposed to be able to adequately identify its subject-matter and key points, plainly answering the question “What is it all about?”

II. Compare the following variants of presenting the subject-matter of the mini-context. What makes them different? Choose the most appropriate one or create a variant of your own.

Fragment 1

Sitting on that sofa while the rain slid out of the sky, the three women seemed to weave a conversation out of individu- ally-coloured wool. They had nothing in common and yet there were no silences, no awkwardnesses — random words threaded together, taking surprising turns, followed by revealing turns.

(J. Éclair “Having a lovely time”)

1.The fragment deals with the description of a talk between the three women.

2.The fragment deals with the description of an easy-flowing talk between the three women, into which each of them is offering her contribution.

3.The fragment represents a metaphoric description of a talk between the women, which they seem to be enjoying immensely as each of them is eager to participate in the conversation and share her memories and impressions with the others.

4.?

III. Identify the subject-matter of the following fragments and formulate it in 1-2 sentences.

Fragment 2

At the Point Break snooker hall, the bus emptied, and a river of black blazers poured along the pavement towards the gates of Abalene Grove Comprehensive.

(L.Evans “Spencer’s List”)

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Fragment 3

Cactus. The saguaro, pronounced ‘sa-uaro’, is the iconic, tall, comically limbed giant beloved of cartoonists. They often have holes in them where dedicated woodpeckers, finches and a bird called the Golden Flicker make their homes. Their stunning blossom is the state flower of Arizona and produces millions and millions of seeds, one of which, if it is lucky, will sprout in the summer rain and, over fifty to eighty years, grow a side arm and be tall enough to hit a ceiling. They have been known to live for a hundred and seventy-five years and achieve heights above forty feet. They are funny and noble and beautiful and silly and grand all at the same time. Rather like America, come to think of it.

(S. Fry “Stephen Fry in America”)

IV. Are you familiar with the works of literature mentioned in this chapter? Who wrote them? Add the names of at least three writers representing the literary heritage of this nation. Can you formulate the themes of some of their works?

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Block 3 ‘Text Types’

Any piece of writing can be classified according to the writer’s communicative intention. To describe the kinds of texts according to their pragmatic aspect various terms can be used: textualization strategies, discourse modes, compositional speech forms, etc. All of them concern the writer’s purpose in writing and refer to the following text types: description, narration, argumentation, explanation, instruction. It is not uncommon for a single text to incorporate parts which fall under different headings, for instance, a novel may consist of descriptive, narrative and argumentative episodes; a newspaper editorial is likely to contain narrative and argumentative parts; advertisements combine the elements of description, argumentation and instruction.

Explanation (explanatory writing) is the most common mode of discourse to be encountered in college / university reading. It is essentially factual writing with a straightforward purpose: to explain, to make clear, etc. The writer analyses and explains some relatively complex matter, mostly in an objective and precise way. Explanation is based on facts, not opinions. Dictionary definitions, entries in reference books and materials of textbooks are common text forms belonging to this text type.

Example 1

The word-stock of any given language can be roughly divided into three uneven groups, differing from each other by the sphere of its possible use. The biggest division is made up of neutral words, possessing no stylistic connotation and suitable for any communicative situation; two smaller ones are literary and colloquial strata, respectively.

(V. A. Kukharenko “Seminars in Stylistics”)

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In instructive texts such as rules and regulations, the writer or speaker tries to teach people something. Characteristic of instruction is the use of imperative sentences and the present tense group of verbs.

Example 2

Install the SIM Card:

1.Insert the end of the SIM eject tool into the hole on the SIM tray. Press firmly and push it straight in until the tray pops out. If you don’t have a SIM eject tool, you can use the end of a paper clip.

2.Pull out the SIM tray and place the SIM card in the tray. The angled corner of the SIM ensures that the card fits only the correct way in the tray.

3.With the tray aligned as shown, carefully replace the SIM tray containing the SIM card in iPhone.

Narration is the most easily recognized mode of discourse, which is simply telling a story. A writer employs narrative because his / her purpose is to relate events, either real or imagined, in a kind of temporal order (not necessarily chronological). The shortest narrative in world literature is Caesar’s story ‘Veni, vidi, vici’. Narration answers the questions “What happened? How? When? Where? With or by whom?” It varies in length from extremely short (news stories, jokes, anecdotes) to extremely long materials (novels). One of the simplest forms of narration is a fable, a short tale written or told to illustrate a moral truth.

Example 3

In the early 1970s Mrs. Helen Ireland of Auburn in California failed her driving test almost before she started. She got into the car, said ‘Good morning’ to the tester and started the car. Then she got confused, put the wrong foot down and drove straight through the wall of the Driving Test Centre.

(S. Pile “The Book of Heroic Failures”)

Descriptive texts present the physical characteristics of objects, people, animals, places, etc. The presentation can be either based on exact observation and objective information, or it can give a suggestive mental picture based on the writer’s or speaker’s subjective impressions. This kind of writing refers to how something or somebody looks

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like; thus, the writer’s purpose is to paint a picture in words. Needless to say, descriptive texts abound in adjectives. Description always relies on concrete details that appeal to the reader’s senses. Descriptions can be either static or dynamic; a good example of the dynamic description of a thunderstorm is presented in the following text.

Example 4

Directly it began to rain, and it rained like all fury, too, and I never see the wind blow so. It was one of these regular summer storms. It would get so dark that it looked all blueblack outside, and lovely; and the rain would thrash along by so thick that the trees looked dim and spider-webby; and here would come a blast of wind that would bend the trees down and turn up the pale underside of the leaves; and then a perfect ripper of a gust would follow along and set the branches to tossing their arms as if they were just wild; the next, when it was just about the bluest and blackest — fst!

(M. Twain “Huckleberry Finn”)

A special type of description in fiction is landscape, or scene description, which does not only serve as the background for the events described; it also helps to create a special mood and arouse certain feelings and emotions.

Example 5

It’s an enormous pub, the Lauder, with ceilings so high that the cigarette smoke gathers above your head like a cartoon cloud. It’s tatty, and draughty, and the benches have had the stuffing slashed out of them, and the staff are surly, and the regular clientele are either terrifying or unconscious, and the toilets are wet and smelly, and there’s nothing to eat in the evening, and the wine is hilariously bad, and the bitter is fizzy and much too cold; in other words, it’s a run-of-the-mill north London pub.

(N.Hornby “High Fidelity”)

Scene description, weather description in particular, is relevant to the story since sometimes it helps to reveal the inner state of the character, which is either in harmony with the environment, or vice versa.

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Example 6

It was a sunny day, a bright, heartless, all-seeing sunny day and the light was coming down clearly between her own building and the one opposite and showing up the thick layer of dust on the windowsill outside. Merrion sighed and drummed a little rhythm on the double glazing with her fingers. It would have suited her mood better if it had been raining.

(J. Trollope “Marrying the Mistress”)

One more type of description — portrait — serves as a very important means of characters’ individualization, providing readers with information not only about the looks of personages, but also defining their status and background. Portraits in fiction are always evaluative since they convey the author’s attitude towards his / her character; in some cases the humorous effect can be achieved thanks to the exaggerated form of the description.

Example 7

It was a warm day, almost the end of March, and I stood outside the barber shop looking at the jutting neon sign of a second floor dine and dice emporium called Florian’s. A man was looking at the sign too. He was looking up at the dusty windows with a sort of ecstatic fixity of expression, like a hunky immigrant catching his first sight of the Statue of Liberty. He was a big man but not more than six feet five inches tall and not wider than a beer truck. He was about ten feet away from me. His arms hung loose at his sides and a forgotten cigar smoked behind his enormous fingers.

Slim quiet Negroes passed up and down the street and stared at him with darting side glances. He was worth looking at. He wore a shaggy borsalino hat, a rough gray sports coat with white golf balls on it for buttons, a brown shirt, a yellow tie, pleated gray flannel slacks and alligator shoes with white explosions on the toes. From his outer breast pocket cascaded a show handkerchief of the same brilliant yellow as his tie. There were a couple of colored feathers tucked into the band of his hat, but he didn’t really need them. Even on Central Avenue, not the quietest dressed street in the world, he looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food.

(R. Chandler “Farewell, My Lovely”)

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Argumentative texts deal with controversial matter and express a clear opinion on the topic. Comments, interviews, leading articles and letters to the editor are common text forms belonging to the text type of argumentation. In fiction argumentation is realized in the form of a lyrical digression, where the writer explicitly states his or her position. It offers causes and effects of the characters’ behavior, or the author’s considerations about moral, social, historical and other issues. Argumentative texts are often called persuasive, thus, the basic intention of the author in this kind of writing is to convince the reader that a particular idea or opinion is worth holding, to win the reader over a certain point of view, or to make the reader change his / her mind. By its very nature, argumentative writing relies more on opinion that on fact, since, by definition, it represents a subjective or personal point of view. The two essential components of this text type are appeals to reason and appeals to emotions, either alone or in combination. The aim to persuade by appealing to our emotions is evident in the following example where the author relies on the emotionally charged language — words that have a strong (in this case, negative) emotional impact.

Example 8

I would like to make an admission up front: I have a thing about drunken drivers.

I hate them. I really hate them. Every time I read about another innocent person slaughtered by a drunken driver, I become enraged.

So when I saw the nationally broadcast PBS special on drunken driving last week, I did not react as many did. I did not think it was sensitive and forthright.

I did not react as Phil Donahue, the host, did when he came on at the end and said: “I was enormously moved by this documentary, as I’m sure you were.”

Not me, Phil. I wanted to kick in the set.

I was plenty moved for the victims. I was plenty moved for the people who were crippled, paralyzed, reduced to vegetables or killed. But the drunken drivers themselves did not move me. I thought most got off real easy.

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First, let me tell you about the magnitude of the problem. Someone is killed by a drunken driver every 20 minutes in this country. On any given weekend night, on any road in America, 1 out of every 10 drivers is drunk.

Which is why drunken drivers will continue to get off easy. Because so many of the lawmakers, so many of the jurors, so many of the judges have driven drunk themselves. They have a certain amount of sympathy for those who get caught.

(R. Simon “No Compassion for Drunk Drivers”)

Follow-Up

I. Check yourself and insert the necessary words:

a)… texts basically deal with factual phenomena, e.g. objects and people. Therefore you find many verbs of ‘non-change’ (to be, to stand, to lie, to sit) and adverbs of place. Technical … tends to be neutral, exact and impersonal, while artistic … also expresses the writer’s moods and feelings.

b)…texts deal mainly with changes in time, i.e. with actions and events. Typical text type markers are verbs that denote ‘change’ as well as expressions of time (time-sequence signals); and adverbs of time are not excluded. … is to be found in short stories, novels, biographies, anecdotes, news and reports.

c)… texts tend to be explanatory: they explain objects and ideas in their interrelations. Typical verbs for the identification and explanation are: to refer to, to be defined, to be called, to consist of, etc.

Typical of this text type are the definition, the summary, the …essay.

d)… texts deal with problems and controversial ideas. The ultimate aim is to win over the reader or the listener. It has a dominantly dialectical text structure, and words like but, by contrast, however, etc are its linguistic signals. The basis of any … text has to be provided by expository passages, by the explanation of facts, concepts, developments or processes.

e)…texts are usually ‘tenseless’ and have an instructive aim. They are said to be directive: the writer’s aim is for the reader to be able to do something.

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II. Identify the types of the following texts. Give your reasons:

a)Languages are like towns: they must grow organically and for good reason. Esperanto is like a new town, Telford or Milton Keynes; it has, linguistically speaking, ample walkways, spacious parking, rational traffic flow and all the modern amenities: but there are no historic sites, no great towering landmarks: there is no feeling that mankind has grown and lived and worked here, shaping the architecture according to necessity, power or worship.

The English language, however, is like York or Chester or Norwich or London — absurd narrow twisting streets that strangers are so lost in, no parking, no velodrome: but there are churches, castles, cathedrals, customs houses, the remnants of old slums, and old palaces. Our past is there. But not just our past, these cities are not museums, they contain the present too: estates, office blocks, contraflow cycle paths. They are living things, towns and languages. When we speak English, the old of the King James Bible, Shakespeare, Johnson, Tennyson, and Dickens is uttered in the same breath as the new of advertising and Blankety Blank and Any Questions. In our language the Barbican Centre stands near St Paul’s.

(S. Fry “Paperweight”)

b)One of the most familiar of all [images] is a landscape by Bruegel, sometimes known as The Return of the Hunters, more usually as The Hunters in the Snow. There they go again, those weary men with their gaunt dogs on the walls of hospital waiting-rooms and students’ lodgings, on your mantelpiece Christmas after Christmas, trudging away from us off the winter hills behind our backs, down into the snowbound valley beneath. Their heads are lowered, their spoils are meagre. Three hunters, with thirteen dogs to feed and nothing but a single fox to show for their labours. There’s no great rejoicing at their return; the women making a fire, outside the inn with the sign that’s hanging half off its hooks, don’t give them a glance, any more than the ploughman looks up to see Icarus vanishing into the sea in that earlier painting of Bruegel’s that Auden made almost as famous as the Hunters. What takes the eye is the landscape that opens away at the foot of the hill we are on: the village turned in upon itself by the cold,

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the tiny figures on the unfamiliar ice, the sky leaden above the white flood plain around the frozen river, a planning magpie black against the whiteness, leading the eye on to the broken teeth of the mountains on the other side of the valley, and the distant town at the end of it beside the winter sea.

(M. Frayn “Headlong”)

c) Did you hear about the teacher who was helping one of her kindergarten students put on his boots?

He asked for help and she could see why. With her pulling and him pushing, the boots still didn't want to go on. When the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost whimpered when the little boy said, «Teacher, they're on the wrong feet.» She looked and sure enough, they were. It wasn't any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on.

She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on -- this time on the right feet. He then announced, «These aren't my boots.» She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream,» Why didn't you say so?» like she wanted to. Once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off. He then said, «They're my brother's boots. My Mom made me wear them». She didn't know if she should laugh or cry. She mustered up the grace and courage she had left to wrestle the boots on his feet again.

She said, «Now, where are your mittens?» He said, «I stuffed them in the toes of my boots...»

III.Find in the book you are reading now (Home Reading, Extensive Reading, or any work of fiction you are reading for fun) fragments illustrating the text types mentioned above.

IV. Creative Writing. Choose any of the five text types and make up your own fragment (150-200 words) within the framework of the chosen type. Do not mix the text types! Make your groupmates guess the text type which your fragment represents.

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