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A. PRE-READING
1. Think before you read.
- nervous - overanxious - resentful - terrified - gratified - proud
2. Literary Terms
synonyms-specifiers – two or more synonyms that follow one another to characterize the object in a more precise way. Their main functions are to make the description as exhaustive as possible under the circumstances and to provide additional shades of the meaning intended. allusion – is a brief reference to some literary or historical event commonly known. hyperbole – is the use of word, a word-group, or a sentence which exaggerates the real degree of a quantity of the thing spoken about. euphemism – a polite word or expression used instead of a more direct one, to avoid shocking or upsetting effect. oxymoron – a subordinate word combination in which elements have polar meanings. asyndeton – the deliberate omission of conjunctions.
Focus As you read the passage from “Doctor in the House” by R. Gordon, identify these stylistic phenomena the author uses to create the images which describe the students’ experience in taking their examinations.
B. THE STORY
Provide basic biographical information about Richard Gordon.
Phonetics
Consult a dictionary and practice the pronunciation of the following words: authority, contest, prize-fighter, enthusiastic, solo, despondently, paths, invigilator, flagrant, anonymous, nonchalant, admirably, viva, imminent, tetanus, plough, opiate, sponge.
Idioms and Expressions
Phrasal Verbs
Match the phrasal verbs with their definitions.
Supply the appropriate particle:
Translate the following sentences:
Idioms
Go over the idioms connected with problematic situations. Think of the situations in which these idioms can be used.
Complete the following sentences inserting proper idioms:
Grammar
Confusing verbs: lie – lay; sit – set; rise – raise; arise – arouse.
Consult grammar reference books for the right usage of each of the verbs. Provide brief comments on them. In the exercise that follows use the right verb in the appropriate grammar tense and form according to the context.
C. THINKING ABOUT THE STORY
1. Sharing Ideas Discuss the following question with a partner, in a small group, or with the whole class: What are the main problems highlighted in the story?
2. Analyzing the story 1. What is the stylistic tone of the passage?
- neutral - humorous - sarcastic - ironical - nerve-(w)racking - relaxing
2. What type of presentation is chosen by the author?
- narration - description (static / dynamic) - reported speech - direct speech
Give examples and state their functions.
3. Divide the text into logically completed fragments. Think of the headings for each part.
4. How can you characterize the bulk of the vocabulary of the extract in question? Find examples of the following groups of words and comment on their function in the text.
- academic words - medical terms - emotionally coloured words - bookish (learned) words - colloquial words - students jargons 5. Study the syntactical organization of the text. Mention types of sentences used in the text: - simple - complex - compound
Define their function in the context of our interpretation.
6. Look back at the Literary Terms and discuss:
a) the effectiveness of the allusion “judgment day” for conveying the students’ fear of the examinations. b) what figure of speech is employed to describe the difference between the psychological types of students at the examinations? Render the experience of anticipating the exams as if you were one of the students introduced by the author? c) the example from the text: “One comes down, one muffs, one is ploughed, plucked, or pipped”. Bring out the effectiveness of this linguistic means in the text under consideration. d) the meaning and stylistic value of the expression “frustrated brilliance” used in the presentation of some type of students at the written part of the final examination. e) the stylistic means employed in the passage “The world stood still. The traffic stopped, the plants ceased growing, men were paralysed, the clouds hung in the air, the winds dropped, the tides disappeared, the sun halted in the sky.”
8. By commenting on the cases of simile chosen from the text discuss the effectiveness of this stylistic means in the description of examinations. Would you agree that the attempt to find similarity between such distant domains of activities like medicine and boxing contributes to the ironical style, on the one hand, and underlines the seriousness of the events, on the other hand?
Date: 2015-01-12; view: 1706
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