Tin Lizzie – nickname for Ford Model T

Read chapters from 26 to 28 and answer the following questions:

1.Speak about the “grand parade”, what was metaphoric about all the description of it?

2. What tones does Doctorow bring out in the idea of spring as it comes to the city? What characters are mentioned in the relation? Quote the text to prove it.

3. Houdini’s obsession with his late mother turns out to be crucial for his career? Why, prove it.

4. What interrupted Houdini’s performance? Describe the situation and the family’s reaction.

5. What great inventions of the twentieth century are mentioned in this part of the novel? What makes their juxtaposition incongruous?

Look up the dictionary for the following words and phrases:

Mourn (v)

Dirge (n)

Suspension cable (n)

Fling (v)

Crocus (n)

Fox grape (n)

Forsythia (n)

Daffodil (n)

Standing ovation (n)

Wreath (n)

Bestow (v)

Nimbly (adv)

Exultant (adj)

Simian lope (n)

Abduct (v)

Divulge (v)

Solicit a comment (v)

Dogwood (n)

Petal (n)

Coffin (n)

Impenetrable (adj)

Close-up (n, v)

Crank (v)

Relive (v)

Redolence (n)

Clairvoyant (adj)

Gullibility (n)

Rube (n)

Spiritual fraud (n)

Rampant (adj)

Far-fetched (adj)

Pragmatist (n)

Swarm (n)

Rebuff (v)

Abreast (adv)

Brooch (n)

Pulley (n)

Pry (v)

Death-defying (adj)

Padlock (v)

Heed (v)

Chunk (n)

Proscenium (n)

Scorch (v)

Char (v)

Debris (n)

Homicide (n)

Buckshot (n)

Forensic (n)

Steam engine (n)

Rig (n)

Incur (v)

Awry (adj)

Ignite (v)

Suggestive of (adj)

Arsonist (n)

Accomplice (n)

Vigilance (n)

Vigil (adj)

Carafe (n)

Indigent (adj)

Thug (n)

Eulogy (n)

Insurrection (n)

Cultural Notes:

Gaudeamus Igitur - "De Brevitate Vitae" ("On the Shortness of Life"), more commonly known as "Gaudeamus Igitur" ("Let Us Rejoice") or just "Gaudeamus", is a popular academic commercium song in many European countries, mainly sung or performed at university graduation ceremonies. Despite its use as a formal graduation hymn, it is a jocular, light-hearted composition that pokes fun at university life. The song dates to 1287 and was already known by the time of founding of the first European university, the University of Bologna. It is in the tradition of carpe diem ("seize the day"), with its exhortations to enjoy life.

Columbia the Gem of the Ocean- is a United States patriotic song which was popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was used on occasion as an unofficial national anthem in competition with "Hail, Columbia" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" until the latter's formal adoption as the national anthem of the United States in 1931. For many years the song's melody was used as the Voice of America's interval signal.

Music box- is a 19th century automatic musical instrument that produces sounds by the use of a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc so as to pluck the tuned teeth of a steel comb. They were developed from musical snuff boxes of the 18th century and called carillons à musique. Some of the more complex boxes also have a tiny drum and small bells, in addition to the metal comb. Note that the tone of a musical box is unlike that of any musical instrument.

Margaretta and Kate Fox- The Fox sisters were three women from New York who played an important role in the creation of Spiritualism, the religious movement. The three sisters were Kate Fox (1837–1892), Leah Fox (1814–1890) and Margaret Fox (also called Maggie) (1833–1893).

Luther Burbank - was an American botanist, horticulturist and a pioneer in agricultural science.

Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor, scientist and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park" (now Edison, New Jersey) by a newspaper reporter, he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large teamwork to the process of invention, and therefore is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory.

Steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The idea of using boiling water to produce mechanical motion has a long history, going back about 2,000 years. Early devices were not practical power producers, but more advanced designs producing usable power have become a major source of mechanical power over the last 300 years, enabling the Industrial Revolution, beginning with applications for mine water removal using vacuum engines. Subsequent developments using pressurized steam and converting to rotational motion enabled the powering of a wide range of manufacturing machinery anywhere water and coal or wood fuel could be obtained, previously restricted only to locations where water wheels or windmills could be used. Significantly, this power source would later be applied to prime movers, mobile devices such as steam tractors and railway locomotives. Modern steam turbines generate about 80 percent of the electric power in the world using a variety of heat sources.

Read chapters from 29 to 30 and answer the following questions:

1. What impact on the family’s living conditions did the aftermath of the Coalhouse’s act make? Why was it the Father who suffered more severely?

2. Speak about Willie Conklin and some transformations of the public opinion towards him.

3. Describe the baseball match and how it changed the Father’s mood. Speak about the atmosphere in which the most loves sport of America was being played? What didn’t the Father approve of?

4.

Look up the dictionary for the following words and phrases:

Adversity (n)

Flamboyance (n)

Industrious (adj)

Instantaneous (adj)

Mot­tle (v)

Persevere (v)

Deployment (n)

Deliberation (n)

Cuspidor (n)

Veal (n)

Bombastic (adj)

Craven (adj)

Shenanigan (n)

Felon (n)

Vile (adj)

Billet (v)

Demean (v)

Sway (v)

Perpetrator (n)

Ostensibly (adv)

Bait (v)

Cobblestone (n)

Abreast (adv)

Presence of mind (phr)

Inferno (n)

Engulf (v)

Pall (n)

Swear in (v)

Fluster (v)

Drove (n)

Brute (n)

Excrescence (n)

Tail (n)

Snare (n)

Forthright (adj)

Physiognomy (n)

Stifling (adj)

Waif (n)

Wedlock (n)

Stable (n)

Admonish (v)

Plod (v)

Emulation (n)

Smug (adj)

Hawk (v)

Raucous (adj)

Inning (n)

Barreled trunk

Pugnacious (adj)

Taunt (n)

Strident (adj)

Caw (n)

Dugout (n)

Roundhouse (n)

Blotch (v)

Expectorant (n)

Antic (n)

Mascot (n)

Avidly (adv)

Scaffold (n)

The diamond (n)

Hurler (n)

Pennant (n)

Remand (v)

Cultural Notes:

Saratoga Springs -a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American place name, authorities disagree on what the exact word was, and hence what it meant. The city is near the center of Saratoga County in upstate New York.

Roman candle -Roman candle is a traditional type of firework, that ejects one or more stars or exploding shells.

The Philippine campaigns -was the Allied campaign to defeat Japanese forces occupying the Philippines, during World War II. The invasion commenced on October 20, 1944 and hostilities continued until the war's end.

Boogie man -is a legendary ghost-like monster. The bogeyman has no specific appearance and conceptions of the monster can vary drastically even from household to household within the same community; in many cases, he simply has no set appearance in the mind of a child, but is just an amorphous embodiment of terror. Bogeyman can be used metaphorically to denote a person or thing of which someone has an irrational fear. Parents often say that if their child is naughty, the bogeyman will get them, in an effort to make them behave. The bogeyman legend may originate from Scotland, where such creatures are sometimes called bogles, boggarts, or boggers.

Mick -an ethnic slur for a person of Irish heritage (possibly deriving from the patronymic Mac or Mc in many Irish surnames); a Roman Catholic of Irish descent.

The Giants -are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area.

Coogan’s bluff -is the name of a promontory located in upper Manhattan in New York City. Rising abruptly from the Harlem River, it is colloquially regarded as the boundary between the neighborhoods of Harlem and Washington Heights.

The bluff overlooks the former site of the Polo Grounds, where Major League Baseball's New York Giants played their home games prior to their move to San Francisco after the end of the 1957 season; as a result, the name "Coogan's Bluff" was often used, particularly by journalists, to denote the Polo Grounds itself, much the same way "Chavez Ravine" is frequently used today to refer to Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles (just as the Angels did during their time there), the latter being located therein. However, the ballpark sat in Coogan's Hollow, the bottomland beneath the bluff. The John T. Brush Stairway down Coogan's Bluff is one of the few remaining parts of the Polo Grounds, which now occupied by the Polo Grounds Towers housing complex.

The El –a rapid transit system that serves in the United States. This name for the rail system applies to the whole system, as well as its elevated, subway, at-grade and open-cut segments. The use of the nickname dates from the earliest days of the elevated railroads. Newspapers of the late 1880s referred to proposed elevated railroads in Chicago as '"L" roads. The first route to be constructed, the Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad gained the nickname "Alley Elevated", or "Alley L".

Read chapters from 31 to 32 and answer the following questions:

1. How did the family finally resolved to calm their situation?

2. What as the tangible proof of Coalhouse’s grievance that was presented to public?

3. How come Mother’s Younger Brother appeared n Coalhouse’s gang? Describe the gang, their common idea and some peculiarities of their interrelationship.

Look up the dictionary for the following words and phrases:

Borne (adv)

Totter (v)

Spite (n)

Dissemble (v)

Crutch (v)

Concoct (v)

Cohort (n)

Trip (v)

Drip (v)

Tangible (adj)

Waterlogged (adj)

Aldermen (n)

Implacable (adj)

Renegade (n)

Alienist (n)

Irate (adj)

Martyr (n, v)

Torpor (n)

Concession (n)

Defame (v)

Commodious (adj)

Corrugate (v)

Concourse (n)

Intermittent (adj)

Mortician (n)

Appraisal (n)

Commence (v)

Pilferage (n)

Clandestine (adj)

Mercenary (adj)

Munificent (adj)

Cot (n)

Barracks (n)

Cultural Notes:

Pennsylvania Station—commonly known as Penn Station—is the major intercity rail station and a major commuter rail hub in New York City. The station is located in the underground levels of Pennsylvania Plaza, an urban complex located between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue and between 31st Street & 33rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, and is owned by Amtrak. It is the busiest passenger transportation facility in the United States and by far the busiest train station in North America.

The Baths of Caracalla -(Italian: Terme di Caracalla) in Rome, Italy were Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between AD 212 and 216, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla. The baths remained in use until the 6th century when the complex was sacked by the Ostrogoths during the Gothic War, destroying the hydraulic installations. The extensive ruins of the baths have become a popular tourist attraction.

Read chapters from 33 to 34 and answer the following questions:

1. Describe the summer the family spent in the seaside. Speak of their activities and the other guests of the hotel.

2. Who of the family would recalled the good old days in New Rochelle and how?

3. How did the two families meet? Describe Tateh’s new life and hoe he achieved it.

4. Speak about the little girl and the boy’s relationship. What made them cling together?

Look up the dictionary for the following words and phrases:

Breaker (n)

Strut (v)

Starched (adj)

Shir (v)

Fluted (adj)

On nodding acquaintance (phr)

Escalloped (adj)

Spout (v)

Fringe (n)

Twinge (n)

Ablution (n)

Heedless (adj)

Prod (v)

Limber (adj)

Sheepish (adj)

Ebullient (adj)

Incessantly (adv)

Malapropism (n)

Reel (n)

Mischievous (adj)

Fleck (v)

Defiance (n)

Audacity 9n)

Shuttle (n)

Footage (n)

Ebb tide (n)

Lappet (n)

Crust (n)

Squat (v)

Casing (n)

Freak show

Penny arcade

Tableaux vivants

Behemoth (n)

Irrepressible (adj)

Oscillation (n)

Unflagging (adj)

Comely (adj)

Rodent (n)

unencumbered (adj)

cow (v)

ample (adj)

Winslow Homer - rescue

Somersault (n)

Cartwheel (n)

Consternation (n)

Cultural Notes:

Buffalo nickel -Indian Head (or Buffalo) (1913-1938) - These pieces are known as Buffalo, Bison or Indian Head nickels. In the first year of issue, 1913, there were two distinct varieties, the first, showing the bison on the mound, and the second with the base redesigned to a thinner, straight line. James E. Fraser designed this nickel employing three different Indians as models. His initial "F" is beneath the date. The bison was modeled after "Black Diamond" in the New York Central Park Zoo. Matte Proof coins were made for collectors from 1913 to 1916.

One-reeler -It is traditional to discuss the length of theatrical motion pictures in terms of "reels." The standard length of a 35 mm motion picture reel is 1,000 feet (300 m). This length runs approximately 11 minutes at sound speed (24 frames per second) and slightly longer at silent movie speed (which may vary from approximately 16 to 18 frames per second). Most films have visible cues which mark the end of the reel. This allows projectionists running reel-to-reel to change-over to the next reel on the other projector.

A so-called "two-reeler" would have run about 20–24 minutes since the actual short film shipped to a movie theater for exhibition may have had slightly less (but rarely more) than 1000ft (about 305m) on it. Most projectionists today use the term "reel" when referring to a 2,000-foot (610 m) "two-reeler," as modern films are rarely shipped by single 1,000-foot (300 m) reels. A standard Hollywood movie averages about five 2,000-foot (610 m) reels in length.

Read chapters from 35 to 39 and answer the following questions:

1. Why did Coalhouse and his accomplices decide to take over the Morgan’s library? How did it happen?

2. Speak on the personality of Charles S. Whitman and his dedication to work, why was he the one to be in charge for the Coalhouse’s case?

3. What personalities of his time did Whitman choose to help him resolve the situation, why exactly them?

4. Describe Booker T. Washington’s speech as he entered the library, what words of Coalhouse made him affronted and disappointed?

5. Speak on how the situation unfolded as Father became a part of it. What was problematic about the demands from the side of Coalhouse and Morgan (whose interests Whitman was meant to protect)?

6. How did Father become a negotiator between the two sides? How did he help?

7. Why did Coalhouse’s final intentions revolt his men? What were his arguments? Describe the final plan itself.

Look up the dictionary for the following words and phrases:

Bigot (n)

Reverberate (v)

Fiefdom (n)

Reconnoiter (v)

Edifice (n)

Impunity (n)

Thug (n)

Pince-nez (n)

Vellum (n)

Incunabula (n)

Fretful (adj)

Wedge (n)

Flinch (v)

Stein (n)

District Attorney (n)

Untenable (adj)

Statute (n)

Grecian (adj)

Fund-raising (n)

Deplore (v)

Exponent (n)

Vocational training (n)

Homburg (n)

Gilded (adj)

Facsia (n)

Pilaster (n)

Alcove (n)

Straddle (v)

Admonitory (adj)

Frame of mind (n)

Fornicating (adj)

Impecunious (adj)

Shackle (n)

Probity (n)

Icebox (n)

Spittoon (n)

Investiture (n)

Absolve (v)

Dray horse (n)

Grate (v)

Misgiving (n)

Glee (n)

Feller (n)

By the scruff of the neck (phr)

Somber (adj)

Apprehensive (adj)

Recompose (v)

Wilted (adj)

Underling (n)

Lair (n)

Defy (v)

Magneto (n)

Windshield (n)

Den (n)

Fervor (n)

Slack (n)

Sibilant (adj)

Cultural Notes:

Tammany machine -Tammany Hall, or simply Tammany, was the name given to a powerful political machine that essentially ran New York City throughout much of the 19th century. It began modestly as a patriotic and social club established in New York in the years following the American Revolution, when such organizations were commonplace in American cities.

The Society of St. Tammany, which was also called the Columbian Order, was founded in May 1789 (some sources say 1786). The organization took its name from Tamamend, a legendary Indian chief in the American northeast who was said to have had friendly dealings with William Penn in the 1680s.

The original purpose of the Tammany Society was for discussion of politics in the new nation. The club was organized with titles and rituals based, quite loosely, on Native American lore. For instance, the leader of Tammany was known as the “Grand Sachem,” and the club’s headquarters was known as “the wigwam.”

Before long the Society of St. Tammany turned into a distinct political organization affiliated with Aaron Burr, a powerful force in New York politics at the time.

Portico -(from Italian) is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea first appeared in Ancient Greece and has influenced many cultures, including most Western cultures.

Adoration of the Magi -is the name traditionally given to the Christian subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, lay before him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and worship him.

Ionic column -The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian.

The Hell’s Kitchen -is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City that covers roughly the area between 34th Street and 57th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River. Several different explanations exist for the original name. An early use of the phrase appears in a comment Davy Crockett made about another notorious Irish slum in Manhattan, Five Points. According to the Irish Cultural Society of the Garden City Area: When, in 1835, Davy Crockett said, '"In my part of the country, when you meet an Irishman, you find a first-rate gentleman; but these are worse than savages; they are too mean to swab hell's kitchen," he was referring to the Five Points.

The Tenderloin -was a once-seedy neighborhood in the heart of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Police Captain Alexander S. Williams allegedly coined the term in the late 1870s. This district was in Midtown Manhattan from 23rd Street to 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue to Seventh Avenue, much of which is known now as Chelsea and the Garment district. The northwest corner of the Tenderloin was Longacre Square, now called Times Square.

Tuskegee Normal -Tuskegee University is a private, historically black university located in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1097