"Do the scientists really know? Will it happen today, will it?"
"Look, look; see for yourself!"
The children pressed to each other like so many roses, so many weeds, intermixed, peering out for a look at the hidden sun.
It rained.
It had been raining for seven years, thousands upon thousands of days compounded and filled from one end to the other with rain, with the drum and gush of water, with the sweet crystal fall of showers and the concussion of storms so heavy they were tidal waves come over the islands. A thousand forests had been crushed under the rain and grown up a thousand times to be crushed again. And this was the way life was forever on the planet Venus, and this was the schoolroom of the children of the rocket men and women who had come to a raining world to set up civilization and live out their lives.
"It's stopping, it's stopping!"
"Yes, yes!"
Margot stood apart from them, from these children who could never remember a time when there wasn't rain. They were all nine years old, and if there had been a day, seven years ago, when the sun came out for an hour and showed its face to the stunned world, they could not recall. Sometimes, at night, she heard them stir, in remembrance, and she knew they were dreaming and remembering gold or yellow crayon or a coin large enough to buy the world with. She knew they thought they remembered a warmness, like a blushing in the face, in the body, in the arms and legs and trembling hands. But then they always awoke to the tatting drum, the endless shaking down of clear bead necklaces upon the roof, the walk, the gardens, the forests, and their dreams were gone.
All day yesterday they had read in class about the sun. About how like lemon it was, and how hot. And they had written small stories or essays or poems about it:
I think the sun is a flower,
That blooms just one hour.
That was Margot's poem, read in a quiet voice in the still classroom while the rain was falling outside.
"Aw, you didn't write that!" protested one of the boys.
"I did," said Margot. "I did."
"William!" said the teacher.
But that was yesterday. Now the rain was slackening, and the children were crushed in the great thick windows.
"Where's teacher?"
"She'll be back."
"She'd better hurry, we'll miss it!"
They turned on themselves, like a feverish wheel, all tumbling spokes.
Margot stood alone. She was a very frail girl who looked as if she had been lost in the rain for years and the rain had washed out the blue from her eyes and the red from her mouth and the yellow from her hair. She was an old photograph dusted from an album, whitened away, and if she spoke at all her voice would be a ghost. Now she stood, separate, staring at the rain and the loud wet world beyond the huge glass.
"What're you looking at?" said William.
Margot said nothing.
"Speak when you're spoken to." He gave her a shove. But she did not move; rather she let herself be moved only by him and nothing else.
They edged away from her, they would not look at her. She felt them go away. And this was because she would play no games with them and did not follow. When the class sang songs about happiness and life and games her lips barely moved. Only when they sang about the sun and the summer did her lips move as she watched the drenched windows.
And then, of course, the biggest crime of all was that she had come here only five years ago from Earth, and she remembered the sun and the way the sun was and the sky was when she was four in Ohio. And they, they had been on Venus all their lives, and they had been only two years old when last the sun came out and had long since forgotten the color and heat of it and the way it really was. But Margot remembered.
"It's like a penny," she said once, eyes closed.
"No it's not!" the children cried.
"It's like a fire," she said, "in the stove."
"You're lying, you don't remember!" cried the children.
But she remembered and stood quietly apart from all of them and watched the patterning windows. And once, a month ago, she had refused to shower in the school shower rooms, had clutched her hands to her ears and over her head, screaming the water mustn't touch her head. So after that, dimly, dimly, she sensed it, she was different and they knew her difference and kept away.
There was talk that her father and mother were taking her back to Earth next year; it seemed vital to her that they do so, though it would mean the loss of thousands of dollars to her family. And so, the children hated her for all these reasons of big and little consequence. They hated her pale snow face, her waiting silence, her thinness, and her possible future.
"Get away!" The boy gave her another push. "What're you waiting for?"
Then, for the first time, she turned and looked at him. And what she was waiting for was in her eyes.
"Well, don't wait around here!" cried the boy savagely. "You won't see nothing!"
Her lips moved.
"Nothing!" he cried. "It was all a joke, wasn't it?" He turned to the other children. "Nothing's happening today. Is it?"
They all blinked at him and then, understanding, laughed and shook their heads. "Nothing, nothing!"
"Oh, but," Margot whispered, her eyes helpless. "But this is the day, the scientists predict, they say, they know, the sun..."
"All a joke!" said the boy, and seized her roughly. "Hey, everyone, let's put her in a closet before teacher comes!"
"No," said Margot, falling back.
They surged about her, caught her up and bore her, protesting, and then pleading, and then crying, back into a tunnel, a room, a closet, where they slammed and locked the door. They stood looking at the door and saw it tremble from her beating and throwing herself against it. They heard her muffled cries. Then, smiling, they turned and went out and back down the tunnel, just as the teacher arrived.
"Ready, children?" She glanced at her watch.
"Yes!" said everyone.
"Are we all here?"
"Yes!"
The rain slackened still more. They crowded to the huge door. The rain stopped.
It was as if, in the midst of a film concerning an avalanche, a tornado, a hurricane, a volcanic eruption, something had, first, gone wrong with the sound apparatus, thus muffling and finally cutting off all noise, all of the blasts and repercussions and thunders, and then, second, ripped the film from the projector and inserted in its place a peaceful tropical slide which did not move or tremor. The world ground to a standstill. The silence was so immense and unbelievable that you felt your ears had been stuffed or you had lost your hearing altogether. The children put their hands to their ears. They stood apart. The door slid back and the smell of the silent, waiting world came in to them. The sun came out.
It was the color of flaming bronze and it was very large. And the sky around it was a blazing blue tile color. And the jungle burned with sunlight as the children, released from their spell, rushed out, yelling, into the springtime.
"Now, don't go too far," called the teacher after them. "You've got only two hours, you know. You wouldn't want to get caught out!"
But they were running and turning their faces up to the sky and feeling the sun on their cheeks like a warm iron; they were taking off their jackets and letting the sun burn their arms.
"Oh, it's better than the sun lamps, isn't it?"
"Much, much better!"
They stopped running and stood in the great jungle that covered Venus, that grew and never stopped growing, tumultuously, even as you watched it. It was a nest of octopi, clustering up great arms of fleshlike weed, wavering, flowering in this brief spring. It was the color of rubber and ash, this jungle, from the many years without sun. It was the color of stones and white cheeses and ink, and it was the color of the moon.
The children lay out, laughing, on the jungle mattress, and heard it sigh and squeak under them, resilient and alive. They ran among the trees, they slipped and fell, they pushed each other, they played hide-and-seek and tag, but most of all they squinted at the sun until tears ran down their faces, they put their hands up to that yellowness and that amazing blueness and they breathed of the fresh, fresh air and listened and listened to the silence which suspended them in a blessed sea of no sound and no motion. They looked at everything and savored everything. Then, wildly, like animals escaped from their caves, they ran and ran in shouting circles. They ran for an hour and did not stop running.
And then —
In the midst of their running one of the girls wailed. Everyone stopped.
The girl standing in the open, held out her hand.
"Oh, look, look," she said, trembling.
They came slowly to look at her opened palm.
In the center of it, cupped and huge, was a single raindrop.
She began to cry, looking at it.
They glanced quietly at the sky.
"Oh. Oh."
A few cold drops fell on their noses and their cheeks and their mouths. The sun faded behind a stir of mist. A wind blew cool around them. They turned and started to walk back toward the underground house, their hands at their sides, their smiles vanishing away.
A boom of thunder startled them and like leaves before a new hurricane, they tumbled upon each other and ran. Lightning struck ten miles away, five miles away, a mile, a half mile. The sky darkened into midnight in a flash.
They stood in the doorway of the underground for a moment until it was raining hard. Then they closed the door and heard the gigantic sound of the rain falling in tons and avalanches, everywhere and forever.
"Will it be seven more years?"
"Yes. Seven."
Then one of them gave a little cry.
"Margot!"
"What?"
"She's still in the closet where we locked her."
"Margot."
They stood as if someone had driven them, like so many stakes, into the floor. They looked at each other and then looked away. They glanced out at the world that was raining now and raining and raining steadily. They could not meet each other's glances. Their faces were solemn and pale. They looked at their hands and feet, their faces down.
"Margot."
One of the girls said, "Well...?"
No one moved.
"Go on," whispered the girl.
They walked slowly down the hall in the sound of cold rain. They turned through the doorway to the room in the sound of the storm and thunder, lightning on their faces, blue and terrible. They walked over to the closet door slowly and stood by it.
Behind the closet door was only silence.
They unlocked the door, even more slowly, and let Margot out.
IDEAS AND QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION
1. Share your immediate reaction to the story and the feelings this literary work evoked in you.
2. What is the story about?
3. When and where do the events of the story take place? What language does R.Bradbury employ to establish the effective setting? How important is the setting to the story?
What time span do the events of the story cover?
4. Comment on the plot structure pattern the author uses in the story.
5. What are the conflicts the plot is based on?
6. Who narrates the events? What does the writer gain resorting to this narrative type?
7. Think about the descriptions of the characters. Give examples of similes, metaphors, other stylistic devices R.Bradbury chooses to create the character-images. What do they mean?
8. Look at the syntax in the story: the length of sentences, their forms, repetitions. Are they meaningful? What effect does the language of the story create?
9. Do any images (object-images, landscape-images, etc.) acquire a symbolic meaning in the story?
10. What is the theme of “All Summer in a Day”? Formulate the author’s message. How is it related to the theme of the story?
JFSOUND PRACTICE SECTION.
1.1. Do the following exercise paying special attention to the sound /eI/, sentence stress and nuclear tones.
Student A
Student B
1. It often rains in Maine in April.
Where …? When…?
2 Ray was late again for the play.
Who …? Where…?
3 They gave the papers and made me stay.
What…? Why…?
4 Fay never prays until the day breaks.
Who …? When…?
5 Her face was pale because of many grapes she ate.
Whose face…? Why …?
At A Newsagent's
Customer: Hello. My name is Jameson. I live at 28 Daisy Way. We have our newspapers delivered.
Newsagent: Yes sir. How can I help you?
Customer: This week, the papers have been late every day. And on Wednesday, we didn't get any papers at all.
Newsagent: Which papers do you have?
Customer: The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail.
Newsagent: Oh yes. I can explain. The Daily Mail came late. There was a breakdown at the printers. And The Daily Telegraph is on strike.
Customer: That's very strange. Well, can I take the Daily Mail now?
Newsagent: I'm afraid we're still waiting for it.
Customer: Will you send it, when it arrives? NEWSAGENT: Yes, I'll send it straight away.
LESSON 10
1. JFSOUND PRACTICE SECTION.
1.1. Do the following exercise paying special attention to the sound /aI/, sentence stress and nuclear tones.
Student A
Student B
1. My eyes are wide with surprise.
What…? Why…?
2 That guy has a windpipe and a kite.
Who …? What…?
3 Niles tried to survive on a cold night like tonight.
Who…? When…?
4 The Brights sighed side by side.
Who …? How…?
5 His wife is always right and pipes her eye like a crocodile.
Who …? What …?
Liza: Hi, Mike. How are you?
Mike: Oh, hi, Liza. I'm fine, thanks.
Liza: Mike, do you like hiking?
Mike: Sometimes. Why?
Liza: I'm going hiking later. Would you like to come?
Mike: Maybe some other time. I have 19 e-mails to write by five o'clock.
Liza: Would you like to go ice skating tonight?
Mike: I've never tried ice skating,
Liza: Why not try it tonight?
Mike: Not tonight, Liza. I'm driving Ryan to the eye doctor.
Liza: Well, how about bike riding'? I'm going bike riding on Friday.
Mike: I can't. My bike needs new tires.
Liza: Oh, all right. I'm going out to buy ice cream. Bye!
Mike: Oh, ice cream. I like ice cream.
Liza: (smiling) Would you like to come?
Mike: Would you mind?
1. JFSOUND PRACTICE SECTION.
1.1. Do the following exercise paying special attention to the sound /A:/, sentence stress and nuclear tones.
Student A
Student B
1 Every dog barks in its own yard.
Where …?
2 My house is my castle.
What …?
3 We all are for art for the heart.
Who…?
4 Arnold was charming at the party.
Who …? Where…?
5 Aunt Margaret laughed at his smart answer.
Who…? What …at?
Dialogue
Charlie: The dance doesn't start till half past, Martha. Let's park the car under the arch by Farmer Palmer's barn. It's not far. Ah, here we are. There's the farm cart.
Martha: Ooh, Charlie, it's dark!
Charlie: The stars are sparkling. My heart is enchanted. Martha you are—marvellous!
Martha: Your father's car's draughty, Charlie. Pass me my scarf.
Charlie: Rather let me clasp you in my arms, Martha, my darling.
Martha: Ah, Charlie! Your moustache is all nasty and sharp. I can't help laughing Aren't you starved? Mere, have half a Mars Bar. Ssh! There's a car passing.
Charlie: Keep calm, can't you? It's only Sergeant Barker. He plays darts in the bar of the Star and Garter. Martha . . . darling . . .
Martha: Don't be daft, Charlie! You can't start making a pass till after the dance!
Theme 9. THE ARTICULATORY ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH BACK VOWELS: [A:], [Q], [O:], [U], [u:]
Back vowels are those which are produced with the bulk of the tongue in the back part of the mouth while the back of the tongue is raised in the direction of the soft palate, forming an empty space in the front part of the mouth.
The vowel [A:]
Definition. The vowel [A:] can be defined as a monophthong, long, tense, unrounded, back, low vowel phoneme of broad variation.
Articulation. 1. The bulk of the tongue is in the back part of the mouth cavity.
2. The back of the tongue is slightly raised.
3. The tip of the tongue is retracted from the lower teeth.
4. The lips are neutral. The jaw is considerably lowered.
5. The opening between the jaws is fairly wide.
Comparison with the Ukrainian [a]. The English [A:] greatly differs from the Ukrainian [a]. The Ukrainian [a] is short, less tense and more advanced than the English one. The vowel [A:] is also more retracted than the Russian [a] in the word ãàëêà.
Typical Mistakes. 1. Ukrainian learners are apt to replace the English [A:] by the Ukrainian [a] and make the sound short. To prevent or eliminate this mistake the bulk of the tongue must be rather retracted as compared with its position when the principle variant of the Ukrainian phoneme is pronounced. It can also be recommended to pronounce the vowel [A:] on a lower pitch of voice.
2. The substitution of the Ukrainian or Russian [a] for the English [A:] is a phonemic mistake. In this case the English words as mast [mA:st] and must [mVst] would sound alike and might be confused.
The vowel [Q]
Definition. The vowel [Q] may be defined as a monophthong, short, lax, slightly rounded, back, low vowel phoneme of broad variation.
Articulation. 1. It is pronounced with the tongue held in a position which is farther back than that of [A:].
2. The back of the tongue is raised a little more than for [A:].
3. The lips are slightly rounded.
4.The opening between the jaws is wide.
Comparison with the Ukrainian [o]. The Ukrainian sound [o] is closer and in pronouncing it the lips are more rounded and protruded.
Typical Mistakes. Ukrainian learners are apt to replace the English [Q] by the Ukrainian sound [o]. In order to prevent this mistake the tongue must be held as low down in the mouth and as far back as possible, while the lips must be slightly rounded and slightly protruded.
The difference in the lip position in pronouncing the Ukrainian [o] and the English [Q] can be observed in a hand-mirror. To prevent or correct the mistake of lip-protrusion students may be told to open the mouth, show the upper teeth and pronounce the vowel on a lower pitch.
The vowel [O:]
Definition. The vowel [O:] can be defined as a monophthong, long, tense, rounded, back, low vowel phoneme of narrow variation.
Articulation. 1. 1. The bulk of the tongue is in the back part of the mouth cavity.
2. The back of the tongue is raised in the direction of the soft palate, higher than for [Q].
3. The lips are rounded and slightly protruded to form an opening which is much smaller than for [Q].
4. The opening between the jaws is medium.
Comparison with the Ukrainian [o]. The English [O:] resembles the Ukrainian [o] but the English [O:] is more back and open. The position of the lips for the English [O:] also differs from that for the Ukrainian [o]. In forming the English [O:] the lips are not protruded to a great extent, the opening between them is smaller.
Typical Mistakes. 1. There is a tendency with many students whose native language is Ukrainian to make the English [O:] too front and close. To avoid this mistake, the learners should observe a more back position of the tongue in pronouncing the English [O:] in comparison with the Ukrainian [o].
2. The substitution of the English long sound [O:] for the short vowel [Q] is a phonemic mistake. In this case such English words as port [pO:t] and pot [pQt] would sound alike and might be confused.
The vowel [U]
Definition. The vowel [U] can be defined as a monophthong, short, lax, rounded, back-advanced, high vowel phoneme of broad variation.
Articulation. 1. It is produced with the bulk of the tongue in the back part of the mouth, but somewhat advanced.
2. The back part of the tongue is raised in the direction of the front part of the soft palate.
3. The tip of the tongue is retracted from the lower teeth.
4. The lips are slightly rounded.
Comparison with the Ukrainian [ó]. The Ukrainian [y] is more front and close. It is pronounced with the lips far more rounded and protruded than for [U].
Typical Mistakes. Ukrainian learners are apt to replace [U] by the Ukrainian [y]. To avoid this mistake one should keep the lips flat without the slightest trace of lip protrusion. A very near approach to the correct quality of the English [U] can be obtained by trying to pronounce a vowel intermediate in quality between the Ukrainian [y] and [u].
The vowel [u:]
Definition. The vowel [u:] may be defined as a monophthong, long, tense, diphthongized, rounded, back, high vowel phoneme of narrow variation.
Articulation. 1. It is pronounced with the bulk of the tongue retracted more than for [U].
2. The back of the tongue is raised in the direction of the soft palate higher than for [U].
3. It is long and tense.
4. During the pronunciation of [u:] the tongue may move from a more advanced and open position to a closer and more retracted position, as a result of which the vowel is diphthongized.
5. At the beginning of [u:] the lips are fairly rounded. Towards the end the lips are still more rounded.
6. The opening between the jaws is narrower than for the phoneme [U].
Comparison with the Ukrainian [ó]. The English [u:] is not so retracted , or so close as the Ukrainian [y].
Typical Mistakes. 1. Ukrainian learners are apt to replace the English [u:] by the Ukrainian vowel [y]. In order not to make this mistake the lips must be less rounded and less protruded. Students may also be recommended to give a shade of [è] to the vowel.
2. The substitution of the English long sound [u:] for the short vowel [U] is a phonemic mistake. In this case such English words as pool [pu:l] and pull [pUl] would sound alike and might be confused.
LPhonetic Theory Discussion Section.
2.1. Learn the following words and phrases to Theme 10.
#
The English word/phrase
Its Ukrainian equivalent
a complex sound
ñêëàäíèé çâóê
to form a single syllable
óòâîðþâàòè îäèí ñêëàä
to glide gradually in the direction of
êîâçàòè, ðóõàòèñÿ ïîñòóïîâî â íàïðÿìêó ÷îãîñü
to be accomplished
áóòè çàâåðøåíèì
dropping the glide
îïóùåííÿ ãëàéäó
to replace the sound
çàì³íþâàòè çâóê
the required vowel sound
ïîòð³áíèé ãîëîñíèé çâóê
to observe the proper length
äîòðèìóâàòèñü íåîáõ³äíî¿ äîâãîòè
a closing diphthong
çàêðèòèé äèôòîíã
a centring diphthong
öåíòðóþ÷èé
2.2. Read Theme 10 and be ready to answer the questions given in 2.3.