Современная британская проза в элективном курсе по британской литературе для старших классов школ с углубленным изучением английского языка

Krystal burst in through the door at ten fifty-one and slammed it behind her. She slumped down in front of Tessa with her arms folded across her ample bosom, her cheap earrings swinging.

'You can tell your 'usband,' she said, her voice trembling, 'that I never fuckin' laughed, all right?'

'Don't swear at me, please, Krystal,' said Tessa.

'I never laughed - all right?' screamed Krystal.

A group of sixth-formers carrying folders had arrived in the library. They glanced through the glass pane in the door; one of them grinned at the sight of the back of Krystal's head. Tessa got up and let down the roller-blind over the window, then returned to her seat in front of the moon and sun.

'All right, Krystal. Why don't you tell me what happened?'

'Your 'usband said sumthin' abou' Mister Fairbrother, right, an' I couldn't hear what he was saying, right, so Nikki tole me, and I couldn't fucking - '

'Krystal! - '

' - couldn't believe it, right, an' I shouted but I never laughed! I never fuck - '

' - Krystal - '

'I never laughed, all right?' shouted Krystal, arms tight across her chest, legs twisted together.

'All right, Krystal'.

Tessa was used to the anger of students she saw most often in guidance. Many of them were devoid of workaday morals; they lied, misbehaved and cheated routinely, and yet their fury when wrongly accused was limitless and genuine. Tessa thought she recognized this as authentic outrage, as opposed to the synthetic kind that Krystal was adept at producing. In any case, the squawk Tessa had heard during assembly had struck her at the time as one of shock and dismay rather than amusement; Tessa had been filled with dread when Colin had publicly identified it as laughter.

'I seen Cubby - '

'Krystal! - '

'I tole your fuckin' 'usband - '

'Krystal, for the last time, please do not swear at me - '

'I told 'im I never laughed, I told 'im! An' he's still gave me fucking detention!'

Tears of fury gleamed in the girl's heavily pencilled eyes. Blood had flowed into her face; peony pink, she glared at Tessa, poised to run, to swear, to give Tessa the finger too. Nearly two years of gossamer-fine trust, laboriously spun between them, was stretching, on the point of tearing.

'I believe you, Krystal. I believe you didn't laugh, but please do not swear at me.'

Suddenly, stubby fingers were rubbing the smeary eyes. Tessa pulled a wad of tissues from out of her desk drawer and handed them across to Krystal, who grabbed them without thanks, pressed them to each eye and blew her nose. Krystal's hands were the most touching part of her: the fingernails were short and broad, untidily painted, and all her hand movements were as naive and direct as a small child's.

Tessa waited until Krystal's snorting breaths had slowed down. Then she said, 'I can tell you're upset that Mr Fairbrother has died - '

'Yer, I am,' said Krystal, with considerable aggression. 'So?'

Tessa had a sudden mental image of Barry listening in to this conversation. She could see his rueful smile; she heard him, quite clearly, saying 'bless her heart'. Tessa closed her stinging eyes, unable to speak. She heard Krystal fidget, counted slowly to ten, and opened her eyes again. Krystal was staring at her, arms still folded, flushed and defiant-looking.

'I'm very sorry about Mr Fairbrother too,' said Tessa. 'He was an old friend of ours, actually. That's the reason Mr Wall is a bit - '

'I told 'im I never - '

'Krystal, please let me finish. Mr Wall is very upset today, and that's probably why he ... why he misinterpreted what you did. I'll speak to him.'

'He won't change his fuck - '

'Krystal!'

'Well, he won'.'

Krystal banged the leg of Tessa's desk with her foot, beating out a rapid rhythm. Tessa removed her elbows from the desk, so as not to feel the vibration, and said, 'I'll speak to Mr Wall.'

She adopted what she believed was a neutral expression and waited patiently for Krystal to come to her. Krystal sat in truculent silence, kicking the table leg, swallowing regularly.

'What was wrong with Mr Fairbrother?' she said at last.

'They think an artery burst in his brain,' said Tessa.

'Why did it?'

'He was born with a weakness he didn't know about,' said Tessa.

Tessa knew that Krystal's familiarity with sudden death was greater than her own. People in Krystal's mother's circle died prematurely with such frequency that they might have been involved in some secret war of which the rest of the world knew nothing. Krystal had told Tessa how, when she was six years old, she had found the corpse of an unknown young man in her mother's bathroom. It had been the catalyst for one of her many removals into the care of her Nana Cath. Nana Cath loomed large in many of Krystal's stories about her childhood; a strange mixture of saviour and scourge.

'Our crew'll be fucked now,' said Krystal.

'No, it won't,' said Tessa. 'And don't swear, Krystal, please.'

'It will,' said Krystal.

Tessa wanted to contradict her, but the impulse was squashed by exhaustion. Krystal was right, anyway, said a disconnected, rational part of Tessa's brain. The rowing eight would be finished. Nobody except Barry could have brought Krystal Weedon into any group and kept her there. She would leave, Tessa knew it; probably Krystal knew it herself. They sat for a while without speaking, and Tessa was too tired to find words that might have changed the atmosphere between them. She felt shivery, exposed, skinned to the bone. She had been awake for over twenty-four hours.

1. What have we learnt about the main hero, Krystal?

Prove the evidences about her with statements from the text

Таблица 3 - Информация о главной героине

Evidence	Statements from the text which prove it
Krystal didn't like school.
Krystal wasn't a polite girl.
Krystal had a certain reputation among schoolchildren, they laughed at her.
Krystal often lied.
Krystal was a frequent guest at Tessa's office.
Krystal wanted to look older than she was.
Krystal was nervous.
Krystal's family situation was far from ideal.
Krystal was sure she would give up her hobby.

2. Express your opinion

1. Do you think Tessa Wall was behaving as a school psychologist should behave? Was she speaking with the girl in the right way? __________________________________________________________________

2. If Barry Fairbrother were alive, could he be the person who would completely change Krystal's life in your opinion? Do you believe that one person like a teacher or friend can change your life, making you a much better person and bringing you to a happier future? ______________ __________________________________________________________________

3. Do you think Tessa's and Krystal's second names are speaking? (Wall and Weedon (from `weed' = a plant that grows very quickly where it is not wanted and covers or kills more desirable plants)? __________________________________________________________________

4. Can you try to imagine what future the girl will have? __________________________________________________________________

Focus on stylistics

1. In the text you've come across some spelling features, for example: Your 'usband said sumthin' abou' Mister Fairbrother, right, an' I couldn't hear….. This method is called `eye dialect'. It means nonstandard spellings that indicate a standard pronunciation. Do you think the person speaks incorrectly or it's just one of the ways to show everyday colloquial speech?

2. Is Krystal's speech polite? _________________________________

3. What can speech tell us about a person? __________________________________________________________________

4. What conclusion can we make about her social status judging by her speech? _________________________________________________________

Focus on socio-linguistics

Read the text given to you by your teacher and in your group fill in one of the blanks that corresponds to what you've read.

1. A group of sixth-formers carrying folders had arrived in the library.

Is the sixth-former in a British school the same as in Russia? If not, who are they?

They are ______ years old.

They study at ________________________________.

They study to ______________________________________.

They study ________ years.

2. The room set aside for the guidance department at Winterdown Comprehensive opened off the school library.

The people who work in a guidance department are called _____________.

There functions are

_____________________________________________________________

Their main focus is on _____________________.

3. An' he's still gave me … detention!

Detention is a kind of ___________________.

If you are given detention, you have to __________________________________________________________________

If you've committed something really bad, you'd probably have to __________________________________________________________________

5. Tessa hardly ever looked at herself in full-length mirrors, and boycotted shops where this was unavoidable.

Initially, the word `boycott' (either verb or noun) was _________________

This man was __________________ and lived in the _________ century.

At that time there was a conflict between Irish _________ and landlords, because there was a crisis in the country, farmers were poor and couldn't pay the rent.

Boycott tried to punish the farmers but they __________________________________________________________________

Since then, his name has been used to describe this particular ______________ strategy.

Focus on language

1. Match the words in two columns to make the phrases from the text

1. boosting

2. walked out

3. devoid

4. filled

5. sarcastic

6. authentic

7. numb with

8. rueful

A. with dread

B. of workaday morals

C. self-esteem

D. smile

F. fatigue

G. of school

H. outrage

I. remark

2. Choose the right particle for the phrasal verb used in the text

in up out in up

1. Can you imagine that he turned ______ at the party?! Nobody expected to see him there!

2. She entered the room suddenly, with a lot of noise, just burst _____ it.

3. He was listening to music and beating _______the rhythm of his favourite songs by a hand.

4. I was comfortably sitting in an armchair, watching TV but I had to get ____ to walk my dog.

5. My elder sister is always listening ____ my talks with friends. She knows all my secrets!

3. In the next sentences three verbs which in the story were used with preposition `down' are missing. Insert them in the appropriate form.

slump slow let

1. When you close the roller-blind, you _____ them down.

2. If a person is very tired or depressed or angry, he can ______ down in a chair or on a sofa meaning that s/he sits heavily.

3. When you start to calm down and stop breathing so fast, your breaths _____ down.

What meaning does usually the preposition `down' has? ______________________________

Can you give any examples with other verbs used with down? __________________________________________________________________

Did you know? Reading Harry Potter books makes children more tolerant and open-minded - it's now scientifically proved! The research has been carried on by several Italian universities and is called The Greatest Magic of Harry Potter: Reducing Prejudice. To find more go there: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/08/study-finds-harry-potter-may-teach-kids-empathy.html

Multiculturalism and Kazuo Ishiguro

Multiculturalism is one of the most important tendencies of modern English literature. It dates back to the 1950s but now is developing especially actively. Multiculturalism is the result of the intensive, so-called “reactive” migration (the coming of former colonies' inhabitants to the territory of the former monopoly). So nowadays in the UK live plenty of people for whom English is not a mother tongue. It influences the literature as well, for example, since 2014 the Booker prize is awarded for any novel written in English, no matter the author's nationality. Before it could be awarded only to an author-Commonwealth citizen or the one from Ireland or Zimbabwe for a novel in English. The attitude to this tendency is different; there are absolutely controversial points of view on it. It's brightly shown in two last volumes of the Oxford History of English Literature which describe the post-World-War II period. The volume 1960-2000: The Last of England is written by Randall Stevenson, who has the reputation of a Scot who claimed that the idea of English literature is outdated, and the volume 1948-2000: The Internationalization of English literature by the Canadian Bruce King, who is praising multiculturalism as a revival of the English literature. Speaking about the main themes in the literature of `new Englishmen' they are trying to reconsider their cultural dualism, social marginality, the intercultural conflict, living far away from their Motherland.

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction (commonly known simply as the Booker Prize) is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original novel written in the English language and published in the UK. A high-profile literary award in British culture, the Booker Prize is greeted with great anticipation and fanfare. It is honourable for writers to be selected for the shortlist or even to be nominated for the longlist.

Рис. 3 - Эмблема Букеровской премии

1. How is multiculturalism connected with globalization? __________________________________________________________________

2. What's your attitude to the fact that nowadays there are a lot of people (emigrants, refugees, etc.) who live in a country that is not there Motherland?

What are the most important problems, created by immigration? Rank the following ones from 1 to 5 (according to how serious they are in your opinion) and be ready to give reasons for your decision:

__ higher criminal rate

__ extra money spent on social service, housing, language courses for migrants

__ less working places for citizens

__ racism, clashes between ethnical groups

__ difficult to preserve traditions (for hosting nation)

In what way does the society benefit from migration? Give 3 examples:

1. ______________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________

What qualities do we need to live a globalized world? List 5 of them:

1. _______________________

2. _______________________

3. _______________________

4. _______________________

5. _______________________

3. Can you think of any Russian writers who left the USSR/Russia and wrote their works in other languages? ______________________________________.

4. Who are called marginal people? What is it like to be a marginal person? Is marginalization nowadays a typical, unavoidable feature of our society?

_____________________________________________________________

Kazuo Ishiguro

Рис. 4 - Кадзуо Исигуро

Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan in 1954. His family moved to Britain in 1960 because of his father's work as he began to do research at the National Institute of Oceanography. He studied in a boys-only school in Surrey and later at the University of Kent, where his majors were English and Philosophy. For some time after graduation he worked as a residential social worker in London.

In 1981 his first three short stories were published and since 1982 he has dedicated himself entirely to writing. In 1983 he was nominated by Granta as one of the twenty Best of Young British Writers.

A considerable place in Ishiguro's novels takes the theme of memory. His protagonists, who very often try to overcome a loss of a close person, rarely reveal themselves through storytelling. Author's idea is not to retell the past as it was but to show how people try to interpret their past and reconstruct it. Ishiguro's novels often end without any sense of solution. The problems his characters confront are buried in the past and remain unresolved. Many of novels by Ishiguro are melancholic. His characters accept their past and who they have become, typically discovering that this realization brings comfort and an ending to mental pain.

His best books are considered to be Artist of the Floating World (1986), The Unconsoled (1995) and The Remains of the Day (1989) which was awarded the Booker Prize for Fiction. His books have been translated in more than 30 languages. Ishiguro counts Fyodor Dostoyevsky among his influences. His works have also been compared to Jane Austen though Ishiguro himself doesn't agree with this comparison.

In 2017, Ishiguro was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, because `in novels of great emotional force, [he] has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world'.

How well do you know the biography of Kazuo Ishiguro now? Fill in the crossword below (Рис.5):

Рис. 5 - Кроссворд по биографии Кадзуо Исигуро

Across

1. The mood of books written by Ishiguro is often …

7. Ishiguro was born in …

8. He studied at the University of …

Down

2. The genre of his first published works is …

3. Now he is well-known mainly as the author of …

4. The theme of … is often in his books.

5. Ishiguro was awarded the … Prize in 2017.

6. After graduation he worked for some time as a …

Writer's words

“I am a writer who wishes to write international novels. What is an 'international' novel? I believe it to be one, quite simply, that contains a vision of life that is of importance to people of varied backgrounds around the world. It may concern characters who jet across continents, but may just as easily be set firmly in one small locality”.

Have you ever read a novel you can call `international'? Why do you think it is one? _________________________________________________________

Ishiguro was born to Japanese parents but has lived in the UK since his childhood. Do you think he feels more like an Englishman or a Japanese?

Now read Ishiguro's words to find out what he thinks.

`I'm not entirely like English people because I've been brought up by Japanese parents in a Japanese-speaking home. My parents didn't realize that we were going to stay in this country for so long, they felt responsible for keeping me in touch with Japanese values. I do have a distinct background. I think differently, my perspectives are slightly different'. When he was asked to what extent he identifies as either Japanese or English the author answered, `People are not two-thirds one thing and the remainder something else. Temperament, personality, or outlook don't divide quite like that. The bits don't separate clearly. You end up a funny homogeneous mixture. This is something that will become more common in the latter part of the century - people with mixed cultural backgrounds, and mixed racial backgrounds. That's the way the world is going'.

Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall (2009)

After many years of publishing only novels Ishiguro returned to writing short stories and in 2009 published a poetic short story cycle called Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall. The set of all five Nocturnes is different - from Venice to London and Hollywood. Their protagonists are musicians - guitarists, crooners, saxophonists and cellists. However, they are all connected by a special melancholy atmosphere and as it is stated in the title, by music and dusk.

The nocturne Come rain or come shine has the same title as the song, composed by Harold Arlen (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics). It is a popular-music song written for a musical, and published in 1946. Although the song did not actually make the charts in the period following its publication, it has become a jazz standard. Many famous singers sang it, for example, Frank Sinatra or Ray Charles.

Рис. 6 - Рэй Чарльз

`Come rain or come shine' means always, no matter what happens, in any case.

Listen to the song and fill in the gaps.

Come rain or come shine

I'm gonna love you, like nobody's loved you Come rain or come shine High as a mountain, deep as a ________ Come rain or come shine I guess when you _______ me It was just one of those things But don't you ever bet me 'Cause I'm gonna be ______ if you let me You're gonna love me, like nobody's loved me Come rain or come shine We'll be happy __________, unhappy together Now won't that be just fine The days may be _________ or sunny We're in or out of the money But I'm with you ________ I'm with you rain or shine

Did you like the song? What is it about? Keeping in mind that the song has the same title as the nocturne, try to predict what the story will be about. Some facts about the plot, about the relationships of the main heroes? Will it be a happy story or a sad one? __________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

Comprehension questions and tasks

1. Do these sentences describe Ray's or Charles's life? Write R or C near each one.

__ He has stability in life

__ He makes friends all over the world

__ He is quite wealthy

__ He lives in foreign countries

__ He gets to know other cultures

__ He travels but for business

2. Compare Charlie and Ray. Add more criteria if you feel it's needed

Таблица 4 - Сравнение главных героев произведения

Criteria for comparison	Charlie	Ray
Job
Wealth
Family status
Satisfaction with life

3. Why has Charlie asked Ray to stay in his house for several days? _________________________________________________________________

Discussion questions

1. Are Charlie and Ray real friends? Would you dare to ask your friend to do such a favour? Would you agree if your friend proposed you something like this?

_____________________________________________________________Whose lifestyle would you prefer - Charlie's or Ray's? Why? __________________________________________________________________________________________________What is important for you in life? An opportunity to travel? Stability in work? List the five most important things for you. Do you think your list may change with ages?

1. __________________________________

2. __________________________________

3. __________________________________

4. __________________________________

5. __________________________________

2. Do you agree with Charlie that Ray is not a successful person? What does it mean to be successful? __________________________________________________________________

3. Rank these things from 1 to 10 according to how they define `being successful in life' for you.

a) have a lot of money

b) have a big loving family

c) travelling a lot

d) have a lot of friends

e) have interesting hobbies, true passions apart from your main job

f) be famous

g) be respected by others

h) wear fashionable clothes

i) be well-educated

j) have a high-rank job

Comment on the following quotes:

Success is liking yourself, liking what you do and liking how you do it.

Maya Angelou, American poet

Success? I don't know what that word means. I'm happy. But success, that goes back to what in somebody's eyes success means. For me, success is inner peace. That's a good day for me.

Denzel Washington, American actor

Focus on language

1. Match the words or phrases from the extract you read with their definitions.

1. tedious

2. to swap stories

3. a life-long friend

4. it's dead simple

5. to be moved by smth

6. to be destined for

7. to vanish

8. to give smb a hand with smth

a. it's very simple

b. to disappear

c. to be affected, touched, impressed by smth

d. to tell stories to each other, to exchange stories

e. to help smb with smth

f. dull, tiresome, boring

g. a friend since your childhood and for the whole life

h. to be certain to achieve something: certain to have a particular job, status like following a pre-existing plan

1. There are many words which can be built using the root `achieve'. Try to translate these words and insert them in the sentences.

to achieve

an achievement

an underachievement

an overachievement

an achiever

an overachiever

achievable

unachievable

achievability

1. Their gold medal at the Olympics was a(n) _________________ because they had been expected to get a silver or a bronze but not a gold.

2. It is often a good idea to start with smaller, easily ____________ goals.

3. They call themselves `dreamers, believers, ____________ ' and they are really motivated to succeed.

4. She got only C for her exam what definitely was a(n) ____________________ as she studied well and everyone had been sure she would get A.

5. He was an ambitious person, worked hard and finally he managed to ____________ all his goals.

6. The organisation has demonstrated the ______________ of its objectives.

7. It was a great _____________ for her and she was satisfied as two months of hard work paid off.

8. This result is _______________ in such a short period of time.

9. My friend who studies at university in the USA is an _______________ - she works extremely hard and always gets only A-levels for all her papers.

Task 3. In the text you came across a phrase: … to get a job in any faraway corner you fancied.

The verb to fancy can be tricky as it has several meanings. Read the information below, translate the examples and built your own ones.

1. with object

a) British informal - Feel a desire or a liking for

Example: `do you fancy a drink?' = do you want a drink?

Your example: ___________________________

b) Find attractive.

Example: `I really fancy him' = I really like him, I find him attractive

Your example: ___________________________

2. (fancy oneself) Have a too high opinion of oneself, or of one's ability in a particular area.

Example: `he fancied himself as an amateur psychologist' = he thinks himself to be an amateur psychologist who he isn't.

Your example: ___________________________

3. British - Regard (a horse, team, or player) as a likely winner.

Example: `I fancy him to win the tournament' = I think he is likely to win the tourmanent

Your example: ___________________________

4. [with clause] Imagine; think.

Example: `he fancied he could smell the perfume of roses' = he thought he could smell the perfume of roses

Your example: ___________________________

5. British [in imperative] Used to express surprise at something.

Example: `fancy meeting all those television actors!' = Can you imagine meeting all those television actors!

Your example: ___________________________

Task 4. In the text you came across the idiom: to be on one's last legs (Things are on their last legs with us). It means:

1. = to be finishing, to be dying (about relationship (like here))

2. = to be finishing (about some action). E.g.: The ballet was on its last legs...

3. = to be dying (about a person). E.g.: This old man was on his last legs.

4. = to be exhausted, close to collapsing. E.g.: I knew I was on my last legs, so I was very relieved to see the marathon's finish line so close.

In English there are many idioms with the word `leg'. Try to match them with their meanings!

1. to be on one's last legs

2. to pull someone's leg

3. to cost someone an arm and a leg

4. not have a leg to stand on

5. to give someone a leg-up

6. to shake a leg

7. with one's tail between one's legs

a. cost somebody a lot of money

b. hurry up

c. be very tired or ill

d. tease somebody, make somebody believe something that is untrue

e. have nothing to support one's opinion

f. in a obedient or sad manner

g. help somebody towards success

Now insert the idioms from the table to complete these sentences:

a) You can't say that, you _______________________________!

b) After working all day, he felt he _______________________________.

c) Move! _______________ or you'll be late again!

d) The defeated player left the field _____________________________.

e) When he joined the company I noticed his talent, so I ______________ he needed.

f) I don't believe you, you are _______________________.

g) I don't have enough money to buy this computer. It would ____________________.

There's also an expression: Break a leg!

You can say: `Break a leg on your final exams!'

However, this idiom is usually used to wish good luck to artists before some performance.

Additional task

Did you like the story? If you did, read the whole one at home and express your opinion on the following questions:

1. What is a nocturne? Why has the author called his work not short stories but nocturnes? __________________________________________________________________

2. Is it a realistic story or more a farce? __________________________________________________________________

3. What is the general mood of the story? __________________________________________________________________

4. Do you feel music in the story? __________________________________________________________________

Graham Swift and Chemistry (2008)

1. Graham Swift works in the genres of

a) short story and novel

b) novel only

c) short story, novel and poetry

2. He studied at

a) Cambridge and York Universities

b) Oxford University

c) London University

3. Main heroes of his books are usually

a) children

b) ordinary middle-aged people

c) old people

4. One of the main themes of his books is

a) personal histories and how they are connected to the world's events

b) politics

c) war

5. Swift was awarded

a) Nobel prize for literature

b) Booker Prize

c) Pulitzer prize

6. His novels are (several answers are possible)

a) Last Orders

b) Great Expectations

c) Saturday

d) Waterland

e) Shuttlecock

f) Never Let Me Go

Рис. 7 - Грэм Свифт

Writer's words

Read Swift's quotes, choose the one which seems the most interesting for you and comment on it.

The real art is not to come up with extraordinary clever words but to make ordinary simple words do extraordinary things. To use the language that we all use and to make amazing things occur.

As a novelist, I suppose I can say that I'm highly articulate. But I know, as a person, in other ways, I'm not always articulate. I think we are all, from time to time, inarticulate, at some level, about some things.

Literature is the voice of the human heart.

I had a fear of becoming anything, a fear of becoming a specialist. I might have become a doctor, but if you become a doctor, that's your specialty in life and you are defined by it. One of the attractions of being a writer is that you're never a specialist. Your field is entirely open; your field is the entire human condition.

I share my name with an aerobatic bird that can whiz across a whole summer sky in seconds. A swift is so equipped for speed that it can scarcely cope with being stationary.

Why do you think the author draw this parallel?

Рис. 8 - Стриж

Chemistry (2008)

Title. Work in pairs and write down as many meanings of the word `chemistry' as you can think of.

_____________________ _____________________

_____________________ _____________________

Match three quotations to the people who you think said them.

1. I wanted to do math and physics, but my father made me do chemistry because he thought there would be no jobs for mathematicians.

2. We've all seen great actors and actresses who are missing a certain chemistry. And it's not about getting along or not getting along.

3. The explosive story of chemistry is the story of the building blocks that make up our entire world - the elements. … everything is made of elements.

а) Jim-al-Khalili, British physicist, broadcaster and presenter of science programmes on BBC

Рис. 9 - Джим Аль-Халили

b) Stephen Hawking, English physicist, cosmologist

Рис. 10 - Стивен Хокинг

c) Johnny Galecki, American actor

Рис. 11 - Джонни Галэки

Comprehension questions

1. What relationships did the son, mother and grandfather have in different periods of their life?

Before boy's father died: _______________________________________

After boy's father died: ________________________________________

After Ralph moved in: ________________________________________

2. What choice did the boy's mother make between her new boyfriend and her family? Was it an easy choice? Why? __________________________________________________________________

3. “We stood at the ceremony, Mother, Ralph and I, like a mock version of the trio - Grandfather, Mother and I - who had once stood at my father's memorial service”. Why does the author call them a “mock version”? __________________________________________________________________

4. What has changed since the funeral of the boy's father? __________________________________________________________________1. Read the first paragraph of the story.

a) What impression do you have of the relationships between Grandfather, Mother and the boy? What evidence can you find in the text to suggest this?

Complete a table to help organise your ideas.

Таблица 5 - Информация о семье главного героя

Statement	Evidence
They relied on each other.
Grandfather dominated them.	`As if Grandfather were pulling us towards him on some invisible cord'
They enjoyed each other's company.
They did not want other people to disturb them.
They had become a self-contained unit.

2. The character of Ralph is introduced soon after this point in the story.

a) Read the paragraph that begins `It was some months …'. What impression of Ralph do you have from this paragraph? __________________________________________________________

b) What do you learn about his relationships with the other characters? Complete a table to show what evidence you can find in the story to support these statements about Ralph. For example:

Таблица 6 - Информация о Ральфе

Ralph
Statement	Evidence
He wants the boy to like him.	He offers the boy to buy him a new boat
He is short-tempered.
He is used to getting his own way.
He is greedy.
He is determined to be the alpha male in the house.

Additional task. Think of five statements about the character of the mother, and find evidence to support each one.

Таблица 7 - Для заполнения информации о матери

Mother
Statement	Evidence

3. Where does the story happen? The writer's choice of a setting is important in any story. Read this extract from the last paragraph in the story. What impression do you get of the pond in the park?

“I had nowhere to go. I went down to the park and stood by the pond. Dead willow leaves floated on it. Beneath its surface was a bottle of acid and the wreck of my launch”.

Now look at the description of the pond at the start of the story.

Write notes about:

a) the layout __________________________________________________

b) the season ________________________________________________

c) the effect of the wind_________________________________________

d) the privacy it allows _________________________________________

Do you think it is a pleasant place? Give reasons for your answer. __________________________________________________________________

4. Working with a partner, discuss the following questions.

1. When the boat sinks, Grandfather says: You must accept it - you can't get it back - it's the only way.

a) What do you think he is really talking about? __________________________________________________________________

b) When she hears this, the mother's face is described as `very still and very white, as if she had seen something appalling'. Why do you think she reacts like this?

_____________________________________________________________

c) The narrator describes the family as living `within the scope of this sad symmetry'. What do you think he means by this? __________________________________________________________________

2) In the paragraph beginning My father's death was a far less remote event than my grandmother's …, the narrator makes a distinction between adult and childish grief. What do you think are the distinctions? __________________________________________________________________

5. How can you prove the following interpretations of the boy's personality?

a) He is lonely. ___________________________

b) He is imaginative. ___________________________

c) He feels his world is threatened. ___________________________

d) He loves his mother and wishes to protect her. ___________________________

e) He loves his grandfather and feels sorry for him. ___________________________

f) He is cruel. ___________________________

g) He feels he can explain his grandfather's suicide. ___________________________

6. The narrator's standpoint

Is this story a third-person narration or a first-person narration? Why do you think the author has decided to use this type of narration?___________________________________________

By whom is the story told, in your opinion: by an adult who recalls his childhood or from the point of view of a boy? Why do you think so? __________________________________________________________________

7. What the characters say and do

In order to make a character believable for the reader, the writer has to give enough information about what the character says and does.

Look at this extract from the opening paragraph of the story:

For some reason it was always Grandfather, never I, who went to the far side. When he reached his station I would hear his `Ready!' across the water. A puff of vapour would rise from his lips like the smoke from a muffled pistol. And I would release the launch … As it moved it seemed that it followed an actual existing line between Grandfather, myself and Mother, as if Grandfather were pulling us towards him on some invisible cord, and that he had to do this to prove we were not beyond his reach. When the boat drew near him he would crouch on his haunches. His hands - which I knew were knotted, veiny and mottled from an accident in one of his chemical experiments - would reach out, grasp it and set it on its return.

In this paragraph, Swift creates an impression of the characters of both the boy and his grandfather, and of the relationship between the three characters.

. Working in a pair, think about:

a) how the family is presented as a selfcontained unit _________________

b) the physical description of Grandfather's hands (what effect does this have on the reader?) _____________________________________________

c) words or phrases that suggest Grandfather wants to be the most important person in the family. _________________________________________________

2. Complete the following table. How does what Grandfather says reveal aspects of his feelings and attitudes? The first point has been completed for you as an example.

Таблица 8 - Чувства дедушки и его отношение к другим членам семьи

Quotation	Grandfather's feelings and attitudes
`You must accept it - you can't get it back - it's the only way'	Grandfather is still feeling the loss of his wife and is trying to accept it. He understands that death must be accepted as being a part of life.
`Leave her alone? What do you know about being left alone?'
`You don't make curry any more the way you did for Alec, the way Vera taught you.'
`I though you would come.'
`Anything can change. Even gold can change.'
`They change. But the elements don't change.'

8. How the characters relate to each other

Writers may also use dialogue to give readers an understanding of characters and relationships. The way people speak to each other can reveal a lot about themselves and the way they see others. Swift puts some ideas and attitudes into his characters' mouths that indicate their own attitudes and feelings, for example their attitudes to Grandfather. He does this by allowing the boy to witness these incidents.

With a partner, explain what you think each of the following quotations reveals about the other characters' attitudes towards Grandfather. One quotation has already been completed as an example:

Таблица 9 - Отношение к дедушке других членов семьи

Quotation about Grandfather	What this reveals about the speaker's feelings and attitudes towards him
Ralph: `Why don't you leave her alone?!'
Ralph: `For Christ's sake we're not waiting all night for him to finish! Get the pudding!'
Mother: `You're ruining our neal - do you want to take yours out to your shed?!'
Mother: `Grandpa was old and ill, he wouldn't have lived much longer anyway.'	She is showing that she is glad, or at least relieved, that he is dead and treats his death as being of little consequence.

9. Image of ghost

Swift uses ghosts as a part of the story. The ghosts of the boy's father and grandfather both appear to him.

a) What do you think is important about what his father tells the boy? __________________________________________________________________

b) What does this suggest to the reader about how the boy now views his mother?

_____________________________________________________________

c) Why do you think Swift repeats the image of the pools of water? __________________________________________________________________

d) Why is the placing of this ghostly visit important at this point in the story? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. Analysing language

When you analyse a story, you should look closely at different parts of the story to see how they are connected. These may form a pattern. Often, close study of the language may reveal details of the author's meanings and purposes that on a first reading you may not have noticed. These details are usually called implications.

What someone says can be taken as a fact or as a sign of something more - a feeling, an attitude or a personality trait. Implied meaning can be different from what is apparently being said.

Writers choose their words to convey a range of things - usually ideas, feelings and attitudes. Sometimes even a short and simple sentence can show how a writer has chosen words carefully.

1. Mother says to Grandfather: You're ruining our meal - do you want to take yours out to your shed?! Rank the following statements according to how close you think they are close to what the mother means in this sentence, giving reasons for your decisions:

a) She does not want to wait for her pudding.

b) She wants to get rid of Grandfather so she can enjoy the meal with Ralph.

c) She does not want the crumble to go cold.

d) She wants to tell Grandfather that she now values Ralph more than him.

e) She thinks she should do what Ralph wants her to do.

2. Discuss the following quotations from the story about the weather and the natural world. Make notes to help you answer the following question: How might the weather and the natural world be related to what different characters are feeling?

- When the wind blew, little waves travelled across it and slapped the paved edges.

- All that autumn was exceptionally cold. Rain was dashing against the window as if the house were plunging under water.

- The heavy rain and the tossing branches of a rowan tree obscured my view.

- It was a brilliant, crisp late November day and the leaves on the rowan tree were all gold.

- They tidied the overgrown parts of the garden and clipped back the trees.

- The air was very cold.

Means of expressiveness

1. Swift uses alliteration in this story. For example: “For about a year we lived quietly, calmly, even contentedly within the scope of this sad symmetry”. Try to find other examples of alliteration and explain what effect it causes in every case. _________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________Try to find examples of metaphors like “invisible cord”. __________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

11. Symbolism

Sometimes a writer uses words or actions in a way that gives them a wider meaning. In this story, we can find symbolism in the study and practice of chemistry.

1. Discuss and make notes about the following questions.

a) Grandfather says: You don't make things in chemistry - you change them. Anything can change. Do you think he is speaking about chemistry or relationships? _______________________ ____________________________________________________________________________

b) Why does Grandfather say, Then we'd take something that wasn't gold at all and cover it with this changed gold so it looked as if it was all gold - but it wasn't.? ______________________ __________________________________________________________________

c) Why doesn't Grandfather put the watch chain into the beaker? __________________________________________________________________

d) What does the boy mean when he thinks `how suicide can be murder and how things don't end'? __________________________________________________________________

e) In the final paragraph, the boy thinks But though things change they aren't destroyed. What do you think is the significance of this? __________________________________________________________________

12. Exploring a key moment in the story

The moment when the ambulance arrives to take away the dead grandfather is an important point in the story. The boy watches from a bedroom window as Ralph appears outside the house and seems to be supervising the paramedics.

1. Re-read the paragraph beginning And then it was almost light … and then make notes on:

a) how the weather contributes to the drama of what is happening __________________________________________________________________

b) how the boy's view is obscured so he does not understand what is happening ___________ __________________________________________________________________

c) how Ralph appears to be an almost comic figure __________________________________________________________________

d) how Ralph also appears to have some authority __________________________________________________________________

e) the boy's reaction when he realises what is happening __________________________________________________________________

f) the importance of the smell of whisky __________________________________________________________________

g) the mother's promise of an explanation __________________________________________________________________

13. Analysing structure

1. The story begins and ends at the pond. Why do you think Swift does this?

Working in a small group, rank the following statements according to how well you think they answer this question. Explain your decisions.

The story begins and ends at the pond to:

a) suggest that the boy is lonely

b) remind the reader of the bottle of acid and the boy's dislike of Ralph

c) show that Graham Swift likes to include water in his stories

d) remind the reader of the lost boat and the changes that have happened in the family

e) show that the boy wishes to return to somewhere where he felt loved

f) show that things don't change, even after death.

2. Re-read the last paragraph of the story. Then answer these questions.

a) What details can you find that create a sad atmosphere?

b) In what ways does the description of the grandfather link to the opening of the story?

14. Which of the following best describes how you feel about the ending of the story?

- sad

- uplifting

- hopeful

- curious

- celebratory

- sentimental

Why is the story called `Chemistry'? __________________________________________________________________

Focus on language

Read the description of Grandfather's shed and do the tasks below:

I don't think Grandfather practised chemistry for any particular reason. He studied it from curiosity and for solace, as some people study the structure of cells under a microscope or watch the changing formation of clouds. In those weeks after Mother drove him out I learnt from Grandfather the fundamentals of chemistry.

I felt safe in his shed. The house where Ralph now lorded it, tucking into bigger and bigger meals, was a menacing place. The shed was another, a sealed-off world. It had a salty, mineral, unhuman smell. Grandfather's flasks, tubes and retort stands would be spread over his work-bench. His chemicals were acquired through connections in the metal-plating trade. The stove would be lit in the corner. Beside it would be his meal tray - for, to shame Mother, Grandfather had taken to eating his meals regularly in the shed. A single electric light bulb hung from a beam in the roof. A gas cylinder fed his Bunsen. On one wall was a glass fronted cupboard in which he grew alum and copper sulphate crystals.

I would watch Grandfather's experiments. I would ask him to explain what he was doing and to name the contents of his various bottles.

And Granfather wasn't the same person in his shed as he was in the house - sour and cantankerous. He was a weary, ailing man who winced now and then because of his rheumatism and spoke with quiet self-absorption.

Task 1. In this extract you come across the word `would'. What is it used here for? What's the difference between `would' and `used to'? _____________________________________________

Task 2. Many things that Grandfather had in the shed are enumerated in the extract. Match their names with the pictures.

glass fronted cupboard

shed

retort stand

work-bench

light bulb

flask

1

Рис. 12 - Верстак

2

Рис. 13 - Сарайчик

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