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ECONOMICSTHE HARD SELL (Proficiency Masterclass, Unit 11)
Lesson 5. We shall discuss some strategies and ways of selling goods and you will try yourselves in the role of a salesperson. You will also be engaged in different vocabulary activities.
1. Talking points: Which products would you be prepared to pay the most money and why? (p.145)
2. ‘Tulipomania’ (pp.145-147): d) Multiple-choice questions. e) Vocabulary. f) Expressions with “pick”.
3. Selling your Wares (p.147).
4. The Ten-Point Plan (pp.154-155): c) Listening. d) Vocabulary: homonyms, expressions.
5. A Foot in the Door (p.153): c) Try to persuade your partner to buy something from you (a dialogue). d) Analyse your success.
6. Overview 11. Home task: Read the following statements. If the statement is true, write a T on the right. If the statement is false, correct it. Then translate the statements into good Russian: 1) The main purpose of an economic system is to establish government control of production. 2) Economic decision making in a market system is influenced by many people. 3) Most economic systems are made up of a combination of features from several types of systems. 4) Each economic system emphasises different economic goals. 5) Individual values influence the economic goals of a society. 6) Most public monopolies are regulated by the state or federal government. 7) The control of a product or service by one company is called an oligopoly. 8) Monopolistic competition has more sellers than an oligopolistic market. 9) The three main groups in our economy are individuals, businesses, and investors. 10) A market is a way by which goods and services are exchanged, usually for money. 11) Prices are set on the basis of government action. 12) Demand refers to the action of businesses that provide goods and services. 13) In general, as prices decrease market demand for an item increases. 14) The producer’s willingness and ability to sell a product is called supply. 15) Supply tends to decrease as the market price increases. 16) The point at which the forces of supply and demand are in balance is called the equilibrium price. 17) An increase in unemployment will usually increase the demand for goods and services. 18) When the price of beef increases, the demand for chicken and fish usually decreases. 19) Increased competition usually results in lower prices. 20) The economy of a country will benefit when its exports are greater than imports.
Home task: Read the following statements. If the statement is true, write a T on the right. If the statement is false, correct it. Then translate the statements into good Russian: 1) The main purpose of an economic system is to establish government control of production. 2) Economic decision making in a market system is influenced by many people. 3) Most economic systems are made up of a combination of features from several types of systems. 4) Each economic system emphasises different economic goals. 5) Individual values influence the economic goals of a society. 6) Most public monopolies are regulated by the state or federal government. 7) The control of a product or service by one company is called an oligopoly. 8) Monopolistic competition has more sellers than an oligopolistic market. 9) The three main groups in our economy are individuals, businesses, and investors. 10) A market is a way by which goods and services are exchanged, usually for money. 11) Prices are set on the basis of government action. 12) Demand refers to the action of businesses that provide goods and services. 13) In general, as prices decrease market demand for an item increases. 14) The producer’s willingness and ability to sell a product is called supply. 15) Supply tends to decrease as the market price increases. 16) The point at which the forces of supply and demand are in balance is called the equilibrium price. 17) An increase in unemployment will usually increase the demand for goods and services. 18) When the price of beef increases, the demand for chicken and fish usually decreases. 19) Increased competition usually results in lower prices. 20) The economy of a country will benefit when its exports are greater than imports.
ECONOMICS Taxes Lesson 6. The target skills: explaining economical terms, providing English-Russian equivalents and providing arguments to substantiate your viewpoint. 1. Reproduce the text and enlarge upon it, clarifying those points that, in your opinion, require explication: To most people a good tax is a low tax. But in addition to imposing taxes at a rate as low as possible, governments should tax high enough to generate enough revenue. Each level of government – state, local, and federal - uses a variety of different taxes. There are some specific criteria for judging a good tax: it should be (1) adequate, (2) easy to administer; (3) easy to understand, (4) flexible, (5 neutral, and (6) fair. By … we mean … *** provide enough money to pay for the services it must finance; vary with economic conditions; economic activity: booming or slow – adjust to increase or lessen the tax burden; interfere as little as possible with the production of income and wealth; pose an equal hardship on all taxpayers; inexpensive to collect
2. There are two basic, but very different, principles for judging how fair a tax is. One is called the benefits received principle, the other is called the ability to pay principle. Proponents of the former argue that an individual’s taxes should bear a close relationship to the benefits or services he or she receives. A good example of this principle is the gasoline tax. Motorists, when they purchase gas (in the USA), usually pay both a federal and state tax. The revenues from this are used to build and repair streets and highways. People who buy more gas – either because they drive more or drive bigger cars that consume more road space – pay a higher tax. The ability to pay principle is based on the idea that the higher people’s incomes, the more taxes they should pay. Most taxes, particularly personal and corporate income taxes, are based largely on the ability principle. On the face of it, both principles seem sound, to a point. Give your arguments in favour of one or the other.
3. Taxes are classified as progressive, regressive, or proportional. A progressive tax is one that imposes a higher rate of taxation on people with higher incomes. In contrast, a regressive tax imposes a higher tax rate on lower income groups. With a proportional tax the rate of taxation is the same for everyone. The best example of a progressive tax is the personal income tax. In 1977, a person who earned $2,200 per year, the lowest income level subject to taxes, paid a tax of 14% of his/her taxable income. At the other extreme, anyone with a taxable income above $102,200 paid a tax of 52% on the first $102,200, then 70% on all income above this amount. In practice, the income tax is much less progressive than it appears to be. Taxpayers are permitted to take exemptions and deductions from their payable income for expenses such as interest payments or charitable contributions. A good example of a regressive tax is the sales tax that most people in USA pay on most goods. It appears to be proportional. However, higher-income people generally spend a smaller proportion of their incomes on taxable goods and services, and they are able to save or invest more money. a) Is the progressive income tax fair or unfair? Give your reasons. b) Compare the American percentage of taxation with the one we now have in Russia and with the one you would like to be introduced. Give your reasons.
4. Draw a circle and divide it into sections. The circle will represent an 8-hour working day and, correspondingly, the money earned. In the USA, one third of the daily income (2 hr. 40 min.) is to be spent on for the state and federal taxes. Is this taxation fair? Would you increase or decrease the total percentage of taxes? How would you divide the remaining two thirds of the circle into segments? That is, what segment of the daily income, in terms of the hours and minutes, would you allocate for housing, food, clothing, transportation, medical care, recreation? What other costs are not envisaged in this list? Compare your diagrams and discuss your decisions.
5. (a) Translate the following terms into Russian:
6. Pracrise fluent translation into Russian (to be done at home and handed in!!!) a) Talk with the tax dodgers and tax agents across the country and you find workers moonlighting at off-the record jobs. Homeowners report maids and repair people who want only cash payments. Homemakers and retirees bring in free-and-clear cash by doing informal chores for others. Small-business owners frequently keep two sets of books. All are part of a vast and growing underground economy where income goes untaxed and much business activity is unmeasured. b) Workers’ wages or salaries are subject to withholding and they don’t have much opportunity to hide their pay. But there is no such barrier for people who are self-employed, do casual jobs or earn income on which withholding is not mandatory. c) Some people say they are forced into being accomplices in tax evasion. For instance, a married couple pays their once-a-week maid $60 in cash because she is on welfare, and recording her wages or paying Social Security would destroy her eligibility. d) Many investors in securities, real estate, artwork or livestock routinely conceal their profits. One of the attractions of investing in stamps or coins is the easy with which they can be sold without the tax collector’s knowing about it.
7. Make up a convincing monologue on behalf of one of these characters: ¨ A retiree who insists on an immediate and considerable increase of pensions. ¨ A tax collector bitter about tax dodgers. ¨ An otherwise law-abiding citizen who doesn’t see why he shouldn’t keep his extra income off the record. ¨ An expert in economics who is trying to explain how to make our taxation system work. ¨ A populist politician speaking to the voters during a pre-election campaign.
Economic Considerations THE GLOBAL ECONOMY lesson 7. The aim of the lesson is to teach you to compare management methods in different parts of the world. We shall also discuss the input of international monetary organizations into the global economy.
1. ORGANIZING OUR THOUGHTS: What are the advantages and disadvantages of economic growth?
2. Read the article “Economic Growth in Industrial Economies” and answer the following questions: a) What happened to the U.S. producers’ share of the domestic market for electronics between 1970 and 1987? b) What are the reasons the Japanese economy has been growing at a faster rate than the U.S. economy? (Incorporate the ideas from the lecture “Japanese and American Management Methods” into your answers.) c) How can Japanese growth be explained by their emphasis on “process innovation”?
3. AUDING: Listen to the text and explain for what purposes the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were established. What is the World Bank today? (Make use of the tape).
4. Study the article “The IMF and the LDC’s: Friend or Foe?” and do the following tasks: a) Explain the statement, “The source of the debt crisis of the 1980s was the oil crisis of the 1970s.” b) Those who favor the IMF rescue of the private banks say that it is necessary to prevent a collapse of the American economy. Those who oppose it argue that banks that made unwise loans should suffer the consequences. Which view do you support? c) What are the present-day relationships between the IMF and our country?
5. Is there any difference between ‘international trade’ and ‘global trade’? What do you understand by the term ‘Global Economy’? supplement Vocabulary study. Provide definitions to the italicised words: 1) In order to keep a business afloat, good management is necessary. 2) The panel was beset by criticism that it was anti-labor. 3) When the manufacturing plant shut down, its 1200 workers faced a calamitous situation. 4) Environmentalists are confronting those corporations responsible for polluting our air and water. 5) If you default on your mortgage, the bank may repossess your home. 6) Ever since the national currency was devalued, the local people have been having a hard time, but foreign tourists find everything inexpensive. 7) The tax forms have been rewritten to embrace the new tax reforms. 8) The skindiver was in great peril when a shark approached. 9) She prodded her son to try out for track when he was rejected for football. 10) The living conditions in many cities of the world have gotten worse because of rampant population growth. 11) The two countries had failed to reach an agreement on trade, and both initiated retaliatory measures against the other. 12) The reporter said his statements were not retractable because he had firm evidence that his facts were correct. 13) During the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt initiated several government projects that would stoke up the economy of the United States.
TAsk 3 (Auding)
the problem of coping with inflation and variation in the dollar’s value, as well as the generally volatile nature of the world economy, has led many observers to call for adjustment or reform of the world monetary and financial system. Concrete efforts at reform began as early as 1944, when most of the world’s leading nations sent representatives to a conference at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was established for the purpose of stabilizing national currencies. It was created with a fund of $8.8 thousand-million, of which the United States contributed approximately 25 percent. The Bretton Woods conference also resulted in the establishment of the World Bank, a multilateral institution designed to promote world trade and economic development by making loans to nations that might not otherwise be able to raise the funds necessary for participation in the world market. The World Bank receives its capital from member countries, which subscribe in proportion to their economic importance. The United States contributed approximately 35 percent of the World Bank’s original $9.1 thousand-million capitalization. The members of the World Bank hope they will be paid back in full by nations that have used their loans to strengthen weak economies. Eventually, it is hoped, these countries will have developed to such an extent that they can become full trading partners with the more developed countries, manufacturing their own products and trading them for other goods.
TAsk 3 (Auding)
the problem of coping with inflation and variation in the dollar’s value, as well as the generally volatile nature of the world economy, has led many observers to call for adjustment or reform of the world monetary and financial system. Concrete efforts at reform began as early as 1944, when most of the world’s leading nations sent representatives to a conference at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was established for the purpose of stabilizing national currencies. It was created with a fund of $8.8 thousand-million, of which the United States contributed approximately 25 percent. The Bretton Woods conference also resulted in the establishment of the World Bank, a multilateral institution designed to promote world trade and economic development by making loans to nations that might not otherwise be able to raise the funds necessary for participation in the world market. The World Bank receives its capital from member countries, which subscribe in proportion to their economic importance. The United States contributed approximately 35 percent of the World Bank’s original $9.1 thousand-million capitalization. The members of the World Bank hope they will be paid back in full by nations that have used their loans to strengthen weak economies. Eventually, it is hoped, these countries will have developed to such an extent that they can become full trading partners with the more developed countries, manufacturing their own products and trading them for other goods. TAsk 3 (Auding)
the problem of coping with inflation and variation in the dollar’s value, as well as the generally volatile nature of the world economy, has led many observers to call for adjustment or reform of the world monetary and financial system. Concrete efforts at reform began as early as 1944, when most of the world’s leading nations sent representatives to a conference at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was established for the purpose of stabilizing national currencies. It was created with a fund of $8.8 thousand-million, of which the United States contributed approximately 25 percent. The Bretton Woods conference also resulted in the establishment of the World Bank, a multilateral institution designed to promote world trade and economic development by making loans to nations that might not otherwise be able to raise the funds necessary for participation in the world market. The World Bank receives its capital from member countries, which subscribe in proportion to their economic importance. The United States contributed approximately 35 percent of the World Bank’s original $9.1 thousand-million capitalization. The members of the World Bank hope they will be paid back in full by nations that have used their loans to strengthen weak economies. Eventually, it is hoped, these countries will have developed to such an extent that they can become full trading partners with the more developed countries, manufacturing their own products and trading them for other goods. The Entrepreneur in Market Economies Lesson 8. The aim of the lesson is to learn to test your qualities and abilities of becoming a successful entrepreneur in a democratic society and comment upon them. 1. Read the following statements aloud and underline the key words that describe the qualities of an entrepreneur. There are two things that entrepreneurs have that others do not. One is a kind of visionary imagination to spot a commercial opportunity where others simply do not see it. And the second is the ability to persevere in the face of scepticism or criticism or even the fear of failure. Entrepreneurs perform the function of creative distraction. They rethink conventional assumptions and discard those that no longer apply. They reform or revolutionise the pattern of production by exploiting an invention or an untried technological possibility for production, by opening up a new source of supply for materials or a new outlet for products, by reorganising industry.
2. Drawing upon some of the key words and phrases used above to describe entrepreneurs, write a definition of an entrepreneur. Consider such a definition from at least the following two points of view: (a) an outside observer, a layman, (b) a person working for a business. Identify the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship. Do you think it is preferable to be solely responsible for a business or to share responsibility with a partner or within a corporate structure? Compare your definitions with those of your partner. Share them with the teacher drawing on your partner’s definitions.
3. Before you read the article “Against all odds: Barbara Proctor, Millionaire”, look through the following questions: What obstacles did Barbara have to overcome? What personal qualities did she possess to overcome such obstacles? Barbara Proctor stated that she would not accept any client whose product demeans blacks or women. Should personal convictions influence business decisions? Read the article and answer the questions explaining your standpoint.
4. Entrepreneurial Skill Survey. Working independently, complete the following survey. Then join with your desk-mate and discuss your ratings. Report on your conclusions.
Do you have the personal characteristics that might help you become a successful entrepreneur? Read each question on the Rating Scale below. Place a check mark ( ) on the line at the point where you believe successful entrepreneurs would rate themselves. Explain your decisions. Repeat the exercise for yourself by placing an “X” closest to the point that best describes you. The check mark need not be placed directly over one of the suggested answers of your rating lies somewhere between two answers. Be honest with yourself. How do the ratings compare?
5. Continue the following list of questions. Pair up and discuss them. 1. Would you like to start your own business? Why and why not? If so, would you prefer to buy an existing business or start one yourself? Explain. 2. What product or service would you provide? Give brief arguments. 3. Where would you want to locate the business and for what reasons?
6. Running your own business is possible only in a democratic society. But it does not mean that governmental decisions do not influence the course of events in the economic system. Scan the following article, arrange the arguments according to “for and against” model, sum it up in English and draw your own conclusions.
Supplement
1. Vocabulary study. In each set of words, cross out the word that does not have a similar meaning to the first. Explain why the words are similar.
2. Reproduce the sentences aloud for your partner to translate them into Russian.
1. Considering the fact that Joan has an aggressive personality, it is not surprising that she is the newspaper’s leading reporter. 2. She coaxed her husband to take a week off from work for what would be their first vacation in two years. 3. Nothing too unusual for me! I’m quite conventional in my tastes. 4. This winter’s record snowfall has depleted the city’s supply of salt for melting the ice from the roads. 5. After careful consideration, we discarded that idea and kept to our original plans. 6. The team always has strong players and dominates the league. 7. They began to explore the mineral resources of the country by setting up a number of new mines. 8. The telephone at work was ringing incessantly and I felt like I was going crazy. 9. My insurance gives me limited liability in case someone has an accident while inside my home. 10. We tried to maximize his disappointment by taking him out to lunch. 11. I found the desk clerk’s behaviour offensive so I complained to the manager. 12. The first patrons to enter the store on Saturday morning will receive a small gift. 13. We revamped our proposal and awarded the contract. 14. With the closing of that branch, its responsibilities will be shuffled to the three remaining branches. 15. Knowing the company’s poor performance record, I look on the new proposal with great scepticism. 16. He knew the stock market was highly speculative, but still he was shocked at the extent of his losses. 17. They stimulated my interest in company stock when they reported on its recent profi ts. 18. Inventors and successful corporate leaders differ from most people in that they are usually visionaries.
MARK TWAIN “THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN” Chapters 1-15 The aim of the lesson is to teach you to analyse the principal characters of a literary work and the nature of their relationship. You will also explain the psychological value of separate episodes.
1. REPRODUCE THE PIECE OF INFORMATION AND FORMULATE ITS PURPOSE: "Huckleberry Finn" is a finer book than "Tom Sawyer", showing a more mature point of view. Here Twain returned to his first idea of having the chief actor tell the story. Huck's speech is saltier than Tom's, his mind is freer from romance. Huck is midway between the town-bred Tom and Negro Jim, full of primitive superstition. The school of life has taught him scepticism & a tenacious grasp on reality. But it has not turned him into a cynic.
2 (a). Prove that you remember the details of the chapters you've read by pointing out the correct choice among those offered. Add a sentence or two to each point: "It happened before/after/because of..." or: "So..." or: "That is why...", etc.
1) Tom proved his honesty early by: a) leaving five cents for the borrowed candle; b)telling Jim about the joke he had played on him; c)returning what the gang stole. 2) Jim became a celebrity when he: a) found treasure; b) joined Tom's pirates; c) told everybody how the witches rode him. 3) Miss Watson's comments on religion and Providence: a) persuaded Huck to remain with the Widow Douglas; b) influenced his Pap to reform; c) were unattractive to Huck. 4) Huck's father forbade the boy's: a) smoking; b) going to school; c) wearing shabby clothes. 5) Huck failed to convince Mrs.Loftus that he was a girl because he: a) walked like a boy; b) had fixed his hair poorly; c) brought the needle to the thread.
(b) Make up five similar sets of choices for your partner to choose the only correct one from those offered.
3. FILL IN THE BLANKS TO MAKE A SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTERS (to be done at home!!!):
Adopted by the kind-hearted Widow Douglas, Huck Finn desperately resists respectability. He can't fall into the habits of ...……. It is a great relief to him to join Tom Sawyer at night. Tom is organizing "a band of robbers", and at first Huck is nearly ruled out because ...…….Being deprived of a normal childhood, Huck finds himself unable to share whole-heartedly the childlike vision of the fantasy world. Instead of …..... promised by Tom, he sees nothing but ......... . He takes oriental tales for granted, but after experimenting with an oil lamp he comes to the conclusion that............. . Before being taken away by Pap who …………, Huck discovered that he ………… . To avoid his father's abuse and being "sivilized" by Widow Douglas, Huck escapes to Jackson's Island. There he meets ……… They both make up their minds to ……… . Escaping from pursuit down the river, Huck and Jim come across .................... . Having safely drifted away, they find their raft a few miles down the river, and Huck sends a rescue party to the steamboat. Looking through the things the gang stole off the wreck, they discover ................. among them, and spend their time discussing ….......... . As the journey goes on, they lose each other in a dense fog, and when Huck catches up with the raft again, ............... .
4. Though being foils, Tom and Huck, the romantic and the realist, go hand in hand together.
1) HOW DOES THE JUXTAPOSITION OF THE TWO CHARACTERS REVEAL HUCK’S ATTITUDE TO LIFE? HOW DOES HUCK REACT TO TOM’S IDEAS? Explain what each of them values in the other. 2) What trait(s) of character does Huck show that make(s) him appear before his reader as a boy who was denied entrance into the world of childhood? (Provide details to illustrate your explanations).
5. Huck would be incomplete without Jim, who is almost as notable a creation as Huck himself. As the book progresses, we’ll certainly come to know Jim better - to know and love him. At first he seems to us merely a simple, unlettered person, beset by superstitions and his enslaved position. What facets of Jim's character do we see in the given chapters? 6. In any novel, the reader may find some PLOT-INCIDENTS, which push the story forward, and CHARACTER-INCIDENTS, which do not influence the development of the plot but show a character in development, and are important psychologically (="add tissue to character"). Find vivid instances of episodes of both kinds. How can the very last episode in chapter 15 be classified? Explain.
7. In "Huck Finn", as in any other book, it is very important through whose eyes and mind the reader is receiving the story. In this case, of course, it is the first-person narrator /Huck/. What advantages and disadvantages did the author have in adopting this point of view? How might the first part of the book have been different if it had been told by Tom or Jim? What would either of the two have laid stress upon? How would it have sounded?
MARK TWAIN “THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN” Chapters 16-30 The aim of the lesson is to teach you to explain the role of episodes in revealing the psychological development of the character and to show how a single turn of phrase lends a peculiar tone to an episode and reveals both the character's and the author's attitude to the events.
1.Reproduce the information and sum it up in a sentence. In the previous chapters, Huck debates the value of education. It never seems vital to him. He can't learn from books because he is well-tutored by Nature. But life as it is more than books and nature. The essence of man is revealed to him in the given chapters. It complicates his way from innocence to knowledge making him shun the human being because of his inhumanity. Huck hardly ever passes any direct judgement. Yet his attitude is felt in every turn of phrase. In a word, ...........................………………………….
2. Huck feels miserable because "his conscience goes to stirring him up hotter than ever" on account of his helping Jim to run for his freedom. Yet he "smartly dodges" the men who are looking for runaway slaves. After the raft is smashed by a steamboat, Huck finds himself with the Grangerfords, "a high-toned tribe", engaged in a deadly feud with another clan of the same kind. Huck is a bewildered witness to their killing each other in cold blood. Finding each other again Huck and Jim feel that "there is no home like a raft", but the home feeling is shattered by the intrusion of the two swindlers, the Duke and the Dauphin. Having witnessed a few incidents of small-town life, Huck and Jim, in the company of the Duke and the Dauphin, resume their journey down the Mississippi. …………………. Enlarge upon the given summary (changing the colloquial expressions in the inverted commas into neutral style) by giving more emphasis to episodes of primary importance and bring it to an end (to be done at home in writing!!!).
3. In his description of the activity of the swindlers and their intended victims, Mark Twain presents some of the sharpest criticism of mankind. In the given chapters, the victims, by conscious choice rather than necessity, keep to their own innocence. They will accept life only on their own terms. They will not compromise their innocence or ignorance or conscience - call it what you like - even for the sake of common sense. Mark Twain only seems to conform to typical American values. In fact, he mocked at the Americans' pseudo-patriotism, their confidence that the United States was the greatest nation on earth. Mark Twain's attitude towards society, especially its weaknesses, is quiet clear in the novel. We see his distaste for false holiness, stubborn ignorance, narrow-mindedness and excessive sentimentality. These are often emphasised in episodes that are less important for the development of the plot than for revealing the author's attitude. What does the account of the practices of the Duke and the Dauphin tell us about the people who were taken in by them – both the participants and the observers?
4. Answer the given questions showing your understanding of the inner meaning the author ascribes to the events: a) What makes Huck "feel so mean and miserable" while he and Jim are drifting on the raft towards Cairo? b) How is Huck's basic decency revealed when it is contrasted to the behaviour of the men looking for runaway slaves? c) What details of the family feud between the two families show that hatred eliminates the borderlines between chivalry and meanness, honour and crime, courage and stupidity? d) What does the Boggs incident with Colonel Sherburn tell us about the ordinary man in a small town of that day? How do the people act in a mob that threatens Colonel Sherburn? e) How does the circus episode in chapter 22 reveal that Huck, for all his knowledge of life, is still a child?
5. Mark Twain is able to hint at profound social facts through the mouth of a boy without violating the boy's point of view. In this respect, Huck's dialect is a marvel of artistry. Show the great imagination of Mark Twain, who manages to give us details justifying the author's choice of Huck for his first-hand narrator. Provide examples of Huck's implicit judgement of the events and the people. Explain how the effect is achieved. e.g., "They was as high-toned and well born and rich and grand as the tribe of Grangerfords." (p.99) (The author uses cumulation and at the same time opposes these flattering epithets to the word "TRIBE" which denotes just a family, but implicitly suggests barbarism. This contrast lends an ironic colouring to the whole phrase.)
6. What is Twain’s attitude toward “sivilisation”?
7. What ideas expressed by the critics (see the list below) are vividly demonstrated in the chapters under discussion? Formulate them and illustrate by examples.
The critics to be studied: 1) Brander Matthews. Saturday Review. (pp.231-234) 2) Walter Besant. “My Favourite Novelist and His Best Book.” (pp.241-245) 3) Van Wyck Brooks. The Ordeal of Mark Twain. (pp.258-261) 4) Bernard de Voto. Mark Twain’s America. (pp.268-273) 5) Ralph Ellison. (pp.280-283) 6) Philip Foner. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. (pp.300-303)
MARK TWAIN “THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN” Chapters 31-the last The aim of the lesson is to teach you to penetrate into the author's conception trying to sum up everything you know from the book & about it.
1. “What is it that we want in a novel? We want a vivid and original picture of life; we want characters naturally displayed in action, and if we get the excitement of adventure into the bargain, and that adventure possible and plausible, I so far differ from the newest school of criticism as to think that we have additional cause for gratitude. If, moreover, there is an unstrained sense of humour in the narrator, we have a masterpiece, and Huckleberry Finn is nothing less.” (Andrew Lang. The Art of Mark Twain.) How does the novel under discussion differ from the other 19-century novels we have analysed?
2. “The odyssey of Huck’s voyage through the South reveals aspects of life darker than the occasional melodrama of Tom Sawyer. We are shown the sloth and sadism of poor whites … We remark the cowardice of lynching parties; the chicanery of patient medicine fakers, revivalists, and exploiters of rustic ribaldry; the senseless feudlings of the gentry. In the background broods fear: not only a boy’s apprehension of ghosts, African superstitions, and the terrors of the night, not the adult’s dread of black insurrection, but the endless implicated strands of robbery, floggings, drowning, and murder. Death by violence lurks at every bend of road or river.” (Dixon Wecter. Mark Twain.) Dwell upon one of the themes mentioned in detail. (You may concentrate on some other themes as well.)
3. “The book commends itself by the humorous treatment of perfectly serious situations. It is unconsciously humorous, it is humorous because the narrator sees no humour in anything. In some places, when an English boy would have rolled on the floor with laughing, the American boy relates the scene without a smile. Indeed, from beginning to end, there is hardly a smile. Yet, while all the situations lie open for sentiment, for moralizing, or for laughing, the actors are perfectly serious – and perfectly comic. (Walter Besant. My Favourite Novelist and His Best Book.) Comment upon the piece of criticism, provide examples.
4. The opposition between Nature - the river and civilisation - and towns on the banks - is more simple than the facts of the novel warrant. The raft is the third estate. It is not, after all, a floating Eden; if anything, it is rather Noah's ark. The two people on it are locked in an anomalous situation nor can they escape the guilt of a land which stays always within sight. Speak about the usage of the following devices in the novel: FORESHADOWING, SYMBOLISM, ALLEGORY.
5. Some critics have expressed disappointment at the way the book reaches its concluding episodes, after Huck arrives at the Phelpses place. They have gone as far as to say that the book goes downhill there, that Mark Twain deserted his artistic purpose to introduce conventional or melodramatic elements that distract from the quality of the central development. What are your feelings about the concluding chapters? To what extent did you experience a let-down, if any?
6. "To be or not to be; that is the bare bodkin" - this is the fighting philosophy of the book. Try to show that though Huck tries to avoid trouble, he is the one who has to decide not only for himself but for those who depend on him. 7. What could have been the reasons for Twain’s prefacing the book with the Notice (see p.25)?
8. What do YOU appreciate in the novel?
Make use of the following critical reviews + those mentioned in the previous plans: 1) William Dean Howells. Mark Twain: An Inquiry. (pp.246-250) 2) H.L.Mencken. The Burden of Humor. (pp.255-256) 3) Waldo Frank. Our America. (pp.256-258) 4) W.H.Auden. Huck and Oliver. (pp.293-297) 5) Maxwell Geismar. The River and the Raft. (pp.308-309)
‘THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN’ Date: 2015-01-29; view: 1315
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