Assignment II (Chapters 4 – 6)
1. Discuss the background of the book (see “Morality play” by Barry Unsworth (A Commentary with annotations)).
Find some information about “The Play of Adam” (p.18) and present it in class.
2. Transcribe, read phonetically correctly and give a possible translation of the following words paying attention to their «archaic» meaning:
the King’s Justice (28), breastplates (29), ostler (29), palfrey (29), surcoat (30), the Knight (30), jousting (31), fief (31), the Sheriff (32), retinue (32), the nobles (34), the Church (35), the Eucharist (35), the Commons (35), Orders (35), the Prologue (40), an attendant demon (40), the King of Heaven (41), the Creator (48), subdeacon (49), the Plague (51), Judgement Day (51).
3. Read, translate and memorize the following words and phrases. Describe the contexts they were used in. Give each word a definition in English (explain the words). Think of a situation (in Russian) using this vocabulary and let your fellow-students translate it into English.
to haggle for (v) (28). Compare with: “to bargain”
brawny (adj) (28)
bustle (n) (29). Compare with: “turmoil”, “noise”
alms (n) (31)
to cavil (v) (33). Compare with: “to carp”, “to find fault”
to concubinage (v) (35)
cupidity (n) (35). Compare with: “greediness”, “avidity”
brawler (n) (38). Compare with: “troublemaker”
foray (n) (40)
timorous (adj) (43)
copulation (n) (44)
elation (n) (46)
gaunt (adj) (47). Compare with: “emaciated”, “thin”, “slim”, “slender”
profanities (n) (49). Compare with: “blasphemy”, “obscenity”, “profanation”
to resurrect (v) (51)
Phrases:
with one eye turned inward (28)
to be tethered to smth (37)
to be with small play of mind (31)
to serve the time is the mark of wisdom (35)
4. Translate the following extracts paying attention to linguistic and stylistic peculiarities of the text:
a) p. 31 – 32 from “Why, he said…” up to “before Christmas.”
b) p. 50 – 51 from “We drank” up to “Dream of Pilate’s Wife.”
5. Questions:
Describe the scenery and the mood of the main characters on the arrival to an unknown?
Will you depict the preparations to the performance and the part of each of the character of the company in the first performance?
What unexpectedly clever talk did the company have after the performance?
What is the Seventh Commandment? What other Commandments do you know?
Show how Martin arrives at the decision of making their performances really popular? Would you relate the late-night talk between Nicholas and Martin in the tavern?
6. Discussion:
Comment on the following phrase: “The nature of power is always the same, though the masks it wears are various. The masks of the powerless are various also” (p. 54).
Assignment III (Chapters 7 – 9)
1. Discuss the background of the book.
Find some information about “the play of Thomas Wells” (as it was described in the book) and present it in class.
2. Transcribe, read phonetically correctly and give a possible translation of the following words paying attention to their “archaic” meaning:
shroud (57), vestry (57), plague-mound (57), Beast from the Pit (59), Reverlation (59), mare (59), bonnet (60), bowman (61), the nobility (64), Holy Writ (64), the Nativity (66), Lucifer (65), Vespers (68), Order of Knighthood (70), Order of Benedictines (70), the common (74), the mask of Avarice (79), livery servants (80), to stable (a horse, horses) (81), vermin (84), lewdness (91), exhortation (91),
Divine Justice (96), the (Heavenly) Host (98).
3. Read, translate and memorize the following words and phrases. Describe the contexts they were used in. Give each word a definition in English (explain the words). Think of a situation (in Russian) using this vocabulary and let your fellow-students translate it into English.
superfluous (adj) (56). Compare with: “extra”, “excess”, “excessive”, “unnecessary”
to be sated (v) (57)
to gash (v) (57)
mutilation (n) (59)
devious (adj) (63). Compare with: “insidious”, “cunning”
to reprove (v) (64)
blithe (adj) (73)
to dispel (v) (77). Compare with: “allay”, “scatter”, “refute”, “debunk”
to wince (v) (86). Compare with: “shudder”, “flinch”
temptress (n) (90)
lascivious (n) (92). Compare with: “voluptuous’
to impel (v) (94)
ruffian (n) (95). Compare with: “thug”, “hooligan”, “villain”, “bully”
flattery (n) (99)
Phrases:
to be delivered from evil (59)
Pater Noster (59)
to beat about the bush (62)
to live smb in the void (65)
to stake all on the throw (70)
to flounder in smth (71)
4. Translate the following extracts paying attention to linguistic and stylistic peculiarities of the text.
a) p. 58 – 59 from “I was in this state…” I had not.”
b) p. 96 from “The strangling of Thomas Wells” up to “we were possessed.”
5. Questions:
Convey the facts and the emotional atmosphere of Brendan’s funeral?
What other fresh grave did the players see nearby and how (as you learnt later) did this discovery contribute to the development of Martin’s plan of a new play?
What unexpected scene occurred at the appearance of a riding Knight and his squire? Would you try to describe all the Knight’s munition?
Give an account of the players’ preparations for the Play of Thomas Wells? What kind of a new turn does Barry Unsworth’s book acquire since the moment the actors, already familiar to you, turn into medieval “detectives”?
In what way does a new performance of the players extend your idea of a morality play as one of the earliest British theatrical genres? What do you think about the mastery of rehearsals, the choice of scenery and actual acting of the main characters of the book? What proofs of a much closer contacts of the players with the audience during their second performance (The Play of Thomas Wells) can you bring forth?
In what way does the entire atmosphere of the book change with the new parts the actors start to play?
Comment on a rather stained and sometimes gloomy accord of the weather with the development of the plot of the book?
6. Discussion:
Comment on the following phrase: “….Some fascination of power led us to imprison ourselves in this Play of Thomas Wells” (p.104).