About myself and my future profession

Plan:

1. The basic problems raised by English realists of the 19th century in their works.

2. Charles Dickens – his life and work. His best novels.

3. William Thackeray – his life and work.

4. Snobbism according to Thackeray. 'Vanity Fair'.

Lecture 20

CHARLES DICKENS

(1812-1870)

Charles Dickens is the greatest representative of English critical realism, a classic of world literature. He was born near Portsmouth. His father was a clerk in the navy Pay Office. When the boy was ten years old, the family settled in a mean quarter in London. Things went from bad to worse until Dickens' father was imprisoned for debt. The little boy, weak and sensitive, was now sent to work in a blacking factory for six shillings a week. His poverty, however, brought him into contract with the homes of very poor and he saw with his own eyes all the horrors and cruelty in a large capitalist city. He later described this period of his childhood.

When his father's affairs took a turn for the better, Dickens was sent to school. In fact, his education consisted in extensive reading of miscellaneous books. After his schooldays, he entered the employment of an attorney and in his spare time studied shorthand writing.

At the end of 19, Dickens became a parliamentary reporter. This work led naturally to journalism and journalism to novel-writing. His first novel 'The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club' appeared in 1836. This work at once lifted Dickens into the foremost rank as a popular writer of fiction. Charles Dickens is famous as one of the world's best humorists, but among his humorous books there is only one that can be called essentially humorous, and that is his earliest novel 'The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'.

His novel 'Oliver Twist' published in 1837-9 deals with social problems and is one of the best works of Dickens. The novel tells the story of a little boy born in a workhouse and left an orphan. Brought up under cruel conditions, the hero runs away from the workhouse to London. The boy kind and honest by nature falls into the hands of a gang of thieves and lives through dreadful hardship. The adventures of the hero boy were used by Dickens to describe the lower depths of London. He makes his readers aware of the inhumanity of city life under the conditions of capitalism.

As Dickens believes in the inevitable triumph of good over evil, it is only natural; therefore, that Oliver Twist overcomes all difficulties and eventually eludes all dangers. The novel ends in a happy issue which has become a characteristic feature of the greater part of Dickens' works.

In 1841 Dickens visited the USA to lecture on his work. It is with great indignation that he describes the conditions under which the Negroes live in America. The writer's impression of the USA was summed up in his 'American Notes'.

In 1847 Dickens began to publish one of his most popular novels 'Dombey and Son'.

In 1850 he wrote 'David Copperfield' which is to a great extent, an autobiographical novel. In the character of David Copperfield Dickens disclosed many features of his own life. The hero of the novel is a virtuous young man who lives through hardships and injustices but finally attains well-being. Clinging to the idea that a hard-working and honest man can achieve his little individual happiness in capitalist society Dickens tinges the novel with optimism.

In 1852-53 Dickens writes 'Bleak House'. The novel is a bitter criticism of England's court of justice and aristocracy. In 1854 Dickens published 'Hard Times' – a novel of social criticism directed against the English bourgeoisie and its reactionary ideology. 'Little Dorrit' (1855-57) – is the story of a little girl whose parents are thrown into a debtors' prison. The complicated plot of the novel serves as a background against which the author lays bare the reactionary essence of the English state system.

Dickens' next novel 'A Tale of Two Cities' (1859) is devoted to the events of the French revolution (1789-94).

The greatest English realist of the time Charles Dickens with a striking force and truthfulness created pictures of bourgeois civilization of his time. In his works he utters his protest against workhouses, debtors' prisons, bad schools, the exploitation of children, and the rich class. He wants to teach and reform these exploiters rather than stir up revolution among the suffering and exploited.

About myself and my future profession

This year is the crucial one in my life because I have left school. Before people leave school, they should understand that the time to choose their future profession has already come. It's not an easy task to make the right choice.

Someone goes further in his education and enter an institute, university or college. Others can start their working career or go into business. Usually there are a lot of universities and institutes in every big city. Our city is not an exception.

There are a huge number of professions to choose. But we should take our time while choosing our future career. Some teenagers make their choice according to their parents will, others do it in their own way and there are some boys and girls, who want nothing. Anyway it is a dilemma for all the family.

Fathers usually want their children to follow their footsteps. Mothers don't want their sons and daughters to leave the native town or city. So, sometimes they persuade their kids to enter local colleges. But only hard work and personal life experience can help us to find out the best from the best that is to separate the wheat from the chaff.

To make the right choice, we should consider our possibilities, character traits and routine aspects of the future job. To become a good doctor, you must be patient, easygoing and smart. A graduate from the Medical Academy may choose his place of work and occupation from a number of possible ones. He can be either a therapeutist or a surgeon; he can also be a dentist, a paediatrician, an emergency doctor, etc. As for me, I always wanted to become a doctor. I think it is a very prestigious and noble profession. I was good at biology and zoology at school. I want to help people, who have health problems. I know that a doctor should be kind and attentive to people, honest and prudent. A doctor who is selfish and dishonest can't be successful in his profession. So I’ll try to do my best to develop my personality this way.

More and more people realize now that every educated person should know a foreign language. That is why all students of our academy study one foreign language and Latin. For instance, I study English. I liked it from the first lesson we started learning it at school and it is still my favourite subject. English is to help us communicate with our foreign collegues and comprehend English and American professional literature. Latin is considered to be the basis of international medical terminology so its importance for future doctors can scarcely be overestimated.

As a rule, young people should study five years at universities or institutes to become specialists. If you want a bachelor’s degree, you have to study four years. But medical student study six years. When your final exams have been passed, you get a diploma of a qualified specialist. Some students keep studying and enter post-graduate courses to follow an academic career. Some university graduates take up teaching and return to their Alma Mater as tutors.

So, choosing a career and then getting a job are two things any person does in his lifetime. If we don't think about the future, we won't have the one.

Task 1. Learn the following words by heart:

Task 2. Find the following words and word-combinations in the text, reproduce the context they are used in and translate it into Russian.

1. leave school

2. to make the right choice

3. enter an institute

4. working career

5. a huge number of professions

6. make their choice

7. to follow their footsteps

8. hard work and personal life experience

9. to become a good doctor

10. I was good at

11. kind and attentive to people

12. every educated person

13. foreign colleges

14. international medical terminology

15. a diploma of a qualified specialist

Task 3. Answer the questions:

1. When do people understand that the time to choose future profession has already come?

2. What are the opportunities for school leavers?

3. Why should we take our time while choosing our future profession?

4. Do all teenagers choose their future professions in their own way?

5. Why do some parents persuade their kids to enter local colleges and universities or institutes?

6. What should we consider to make the right choice of profession?

7. How can we characterise a good doctor?

8. Why do we study foreign languages at universities? How can they help us?

9. How long should a person study to get a diploma of a qualified specialist?

10. What are the career opportunities?

Task 4. Match the English sentences to their Russian equivalents.

Task 5. Translate the given sentences into Russian, close your book and translate them back into English.

1. This year is the crucial one in my life because I have left school. It's not an easy task to make the right choice.

2. Someone goes further in his education and enter an institute, university or college. Others can start their working career or go into business.

3. There are a huge number of professions to choose. But we should take our time while choosing our future career.

4. To become a good doctor, you must be patient, easygoing and smart. A graduate from the Medical Academy may choose his place of work and occupation from a number of possible ones.

5. I want to help people, who have health problems. I know that a doctor should be kind and attentive to people, honest and prudent. So I’ll try to do my best to develop my personality this way.

6. All students of our academy study one foreign language and Latin. English is to help us communicate with our foreign colleges and comprehend English and American professional literature. Latin is considered to be the basis of international medical terminology.

7. Medical student study six years. When your final exams have been passed, you get a diploma of a qualified specialist.

8. Some students keep studying and enter post-graduate courses to follow an academic career.

9. Choosing a career and getting a job are two things any person does in his lifetime.

Task 6. Retell the text.

Date: 2014-12-28; view: 2510