Retell the story of Roger's "narrow escape" using your active vocabulary, word combinations, phrases and patterns: a) as Ruth Barlow sees it: she is, certain ly, bewildered and even indignant; use proper intonation means to convey her atti tude to Roger and his conduct; b) as Roger tells it to a friend of his in a confidential way; he is greatly relieved; express his attitude by using proper intonation means;
from the point of view of the lady next door to Ruth Barlow's who pretends to sympathize with Ruth and disapprove of Roger's behaviour, but, in fact, hugely enjoys the situation; use adequate intonation patterns to convey her attitudes.
Discuss the events of the story in dialogues as they would be treated by:
Ruth Barlow and a lady friend of hers: b) Roger and the narrator of the sto ry. Use proper intonation means in the stimuli and responses to convey proper attitudes.
Reread Text Two to answer the following questions on its style and com-position.
a) In what way does the story begin? Is the reader's interest awakened at once? If so, how does the author achieve it?
b) What is gained by telling-the story in the first person? From whose point of view is it told? Point out the passages reflecting the narrator's attitude, Roger's and the author's. Is the author detached in his attitude to Ruth? Prove your point.
c) Is the plot an important feature of the story? Indicate briefly the stages by which the narrative is unfolded.
d) Does the story end as the reader expects? Point out passages aiming at sus pense.
Is the title appropriate? Does it reflect the point of the story?
What words and phrases give atmosphere to the story in descriptions of hu man appearance, characters, human relations? (Make up lists.)
Do you regard "The Escape" as a typical specimen of Somerset Maugham's prose? Read the following to answer the question:
The qualities of Somerset Maugham are not at all elusive. An in-nate dramatic sense enables him to write sound, solidly constructed novels that never fail to interest the reader. His prose is clean and hard and is always marked by a precision that is rare in contempo-rary writing. Passion and lyricism are not evident but in their place the reader will find a superbly controlled irony and a brilliant wit. Transforming the commonplace into art, he produced a long, distin-guished list of plays, short stories and novels that will never cease to give the greatest of pleasure.
PROFESSION-ORIENTED QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
I. Listen to your fellow-student's reading of the words given in Ex. 2. correct the mistakes, should he make them.
II. As your fellow-students read out Ex. 3, write down their mistakes, analyse them and make all the necessary corrections.
III. Listen attentively to your fellow-students' reading of Ex. 5 and write down
their mistakes. What recommendations will you give them if they make mistakes in assimilation, strong and weak forms and intonation-group division?
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IV. Obviously the short story can be regarded as a most suitable literary genre for foreign-language learning. Brevity is a significant point, because it allows the
Class to focus on the story even within a single class period and within the limits of one textbook unit, a) List the requirements to the short story to be used as sub-ject matter for study at your level, b) Say what you consider to have been the best technique of working with a short story during your course of study.
V. a) Adapt any short story you like for the 9th/10th form. (Be sure it introduc es some "culture element"), b) Make it suitable for reading after some particular lesson, c) Make a list of essential vocabulary, d) Write questions covering the sto ry to be asked in class.
VI. Prepare yourself to conduct a micro-lesson on oral and written reproduc tion. Prepare a suitable story and write comprehension questions covering it. The story should be read over to the class twice. Don't forget to write the proper nouns and place names on the board. The following classroom expressions may come in handy:
1. I'm going to read it over again. 2. And now you'll have to do some writing. 3. Try to assemble your thoughts first. 4. These idioms will add a little colour to your work. 5. Don't write in the margin. 6. Be sure your paper has a name on it. 7. Form the letters clearly. 8. In-dent the line which begins a paragraph. 9. High time to hand in your papers! 10. Your time is up. 11. I'm going to mark them this week.
CONVERSATION AND DISCUSSION
BOOKS AND READERS
Topical Vocabulary
acquire v (to - an idea/knowledge/a habit)
anticipate v binding л
book л(a - to open anywhere)
book plate book jacket brevity л
character л(to depict -s, to unmask -s, - portrayal)
clarity of presentation climax л
comprehension (reading -) conclusion л
cover л(book- -)
digest л (book -s; a thesaurus of book -s)
enrichment л explore v fiction л
genre л(literary -) handicap л(a - in study) judgement л(a sense of -)
line л(a space between the -s; to read between the -s) literary a (~ work; - materials; - critic)
mark v (to - (up) a book)
master v (to - information and content) matter л(reading/printed -)
message n (to convey a -; the - is lost upon the reader)
non-fiction л
observation л(to call for ~; power of ~)
plot л proof-reading л
rate л(- of reading)
read v (to - slowly/labouriously/from cover to cover) reader л(intelligent/sophisticated/fast/slow/bad -)
reading л(slow/repeated/critical/exploratory -; revision -; - forenjoyment)
release л
scribble v (to - in a book) selection л
sequence л(the - of events) skim v skip v
suspense л(to hold the reader in -; full of -) title л
I. 1. Have you ever considered how different reading can be?
