Chapter 9

Сontemporary British Novel in Class

“A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters” by Julian Barns: Language, Style, Images, Message

Kursk 2012

Курский государственный университет

А.В. Умеренкова

Сontemporary British Novel in Class

“A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters” by Julian Barns: Language, Style, Images, Message

Курск 2012

Публикуется по решению учебно-методического

управления университета

Умеренкова А.В.Сontemporary British Novel in Class.“A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters” by Julian Barns: Language, Style, Images, Message. – Курск: Курский государственный университет, 2012. – 52 с.

Предлагаемое учебно-методическое пособие представляет собой разработку по книге современного британского писателя Дж. Барнза, в которой предлагаются различные типы заданий как языковой, так и литературоведческой направленности.

Пособие предназначено для старших курсов бакалавриата и магистратуры факультета иностранных языков.

Рецензент – Н.А. Тарасюк, д-р пед. наук, профессор

© Умеренкова А.В., 2012

© Курский государственный университет, 2012

Предисловие

В связи с необходимостью формирования у студентов представления о современной британской культуре вообще и современном английском языке и литературе в частности, а также в связи с участием преподавателей и студентов факультета иностранных языков в проекте «Современная английская литература в учебном процессе в российских вузах» возникла необходимость создания методических пособий, способствующих более глубокому и осмысленному погружению в мир произведений современных авторов Великобритании.

Цель пособия – ознакомить студентов с культурой современной Великобритании через литературное произведение одного из самых выдающихся писателей современности, удостоившегося нескольких литературных премий, Джулиана Барнза. Осуществляя работу с пособием, студенты имеют возможность проработать лексику современного английского языка, проверить понимание сюжета книги; порассуждать на предложенные темы в рамках проблематики, очерченной автором; провести собственные мини-исследования по темам, которых касается автор; поделиться собственными размышлениями и эмоциями с одногруппниками и преподавателем. Основной задачей данной разработки является создание и предоставление студентам неких ориентиров в мире сложных и неординарных идей Дж. Барнза.

Принцип построения пособия – путь от языка к мысли. Разработка по каждой главе начинается с проработки лексики, наиболее привлекательной с точки зрения возможности употребления в разговорном языке. Затем следуют задания на понимание текста главы, после чего студентам предлагаются вопросы и темы для дискуссии в классе. В завершение предоставляются индивидуальные задания по выбору, связанные с изучением дополнительных материалов по обсуждаемым проблемам. Некоторые из таких материалов можно найти в приложении к данному пособию, что облегчает работу студентов и преподавателей.

Задания пособия апробированы на кафедре теории языка факультета иностранных языков КГУ.

Автор выражает признательность рецензенту Тарасюк Н.А. и заведующей кафедры теории языка Воронцовой С.С. за ценные советы и надеется, что пособие окажется полезным для эффективной организации аудиторной и самостоятельной работы студентов.

"History isn't what happened. History is just what historians tell us. There was a pattern, a plan, a movement, expansion, the march of democracy; it is a tapestry, a flow of events, a complex narrative, connected, explicable. One good story leads to another."

-- A History of the World in 10½ Chapters, 242.

Tasks for the introductory discussion

1. Have you ever heard anything about Julian Barnes, the author of the book? Make a brief research about his autobiography and creative activity.

2. Look at the quote taken from the book under discussion and comment on it. Try to assume what idea J. Barnes wanted to communicate.

3. Take a glance at the contents of the book. Try to predict the plot of the book accounting the titles of the chapters. Explain what makes you think so.

Chapter 1

Before reading the chapter get acquainted with the following expressions to ease the understanding of the text (taken from A Commentary with Annotations):

sentimental myths (p. 4) – “sentimental” is a pejorative word in modern English which means “emotionally false”;

Ham (p. 5) – Shem, Ham and Japhet, Noah’s three sons, repopulated the earth after the flood;

.. whose name began with J..(p. 6) - here Japhet (see above) is meant;

Tree of Knowledge (p. 6) – the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Having tasted its fruit Adam and Eve were expelled from the Paradise;

Simurgh (p. 6) – an immortal bird in Persian mythology that nests in the Tree of Knowledge;

Cloven-footed ruminants (p. 13) – Leviticus (the Jewish law set out in the Bible) says that “ The children of Israel can eat “cloven-footed ruminants”

Such as the cow, the sheep, but not the pig which does not chew grass and is therefore not “ruminant”;

alkie (p. 35) - alcoholic.

1. Study the vocabulary from the chapter. Find the sentences containing the given words and combinations and translate them into Russian. Recollect the situations. Make up and put down your own examples with the words.

to muck out

fastidious, squeamish (syn.)

to rat to smb. about smth.

by smb.’s reckoning

to put smth. down to smth.

to be short on smth.

to fraternize with smb.

willy-nilly

to vouch for smb./smth.

2. Make up the summary of the Chapter.

3. Discussion:

Think over the answers to the following questions:

1) Which Biblical Myth makes the background of the plot? Can you remember the summary of the myth? If you fail to recollect the events happened on the Ark turn to Appendix 1. Be ready to share the story with your group mates.

2) How is Noah represented by Julian Barns? Is this image different from that depicted in the Bible Mythology? Support your answers by quotations from the text.

3) What new characters and ideas for the well-known Biblical Myth are suggested by the author?

4) Were there any ideas that seemed striking to you? Comment upon each one.

5) Give your opinion about Barnes’s vision of the Myth.

4. Individual task (2 students). The question whether the Flood really took place is still under discussion. Make a small research on the following topic: “Noah’s Ark: Myth or Fact”. Share the information with other students in a form of a presentation.

5. Additional task. Go to http://www.nytimes.com/books/01/02/25/specials/barnes-history.html and read “But Noah Was Not a Nice Man” by JOYCE CAROL OATES. Comment on the reviewer’s points of view. Do they coincide with those of yours?

Chapter 2

Before reading the chapter get acquainted with the following proper names to ease the understanding of the text (taken from A Commentary with Annotations):

Minoan Civilization (p. 46) – a Bronze Age culture that developed on the island of Crete;

Sir Arthur Evans (p. 47) – an English archeologist (1851-1941) who uncovered the Minoan civilization;

Kidderminster (p. 54) – a town in the middle of England;

Zionists (p.61) – used here for “Israeli”.

1. Study the vocabulary from the chapter. Find the sentences containing the given words and combinations and translate them into Russian. Recollect the situations. Make up and put down your own examples with the words.

to rove freely in the world of …

to have the engaging habit of doing smth.

beguiling zeal for smth.

backstabbing

things go (went) awry

recondite detail

zestful intuition

to yield smb. smth.

insoluble dilemma

to divert smb. from smth.

to raise the stakes

2. Reading comprehension:

Speak about the setting. Where does the action take place?

Who is the main character of the chapter? How is he portrayed by the author?

Recollect the first mentioning of the strangers on board the ship. Describe the atmosphere and the passangers’ feeling at seeing the terrorists for the first time.

Who were the strangers and what did they want?

What do you know about Zionism and Zionists? For a more detailed answer consult Appendix 2.

Why were the captured people divided into groups and according to what principle?

How did the negotiations go?

What dilemma did Franklin Hughes face in his final negotiations with the terrorists?

Why did Tricia Maitland never speak to Hughes again after everything was over?

Find the climax and the denouement of the story.

3. Give the summary of the chapter.

4. Discussion:

Give your own opinion of the problem of terrorism. (What is the source of the problem? Do you think that anyone can potentially turn into a terrorist or some particular people have reasons to become such? What is the best way to behave if you are captured and threatened by strangers? Can we fight terrorism in our modern world?) Support your answers with the examples.

Chapter 3

The chapter is rich in allusions however you do not have to worry about accuracy of their comprehending. J. Barnes expects his readers to know just the basic story and to smile at the ‘misuse’ of them. That is why it is no need trying to make sense of each one.

Before reading the chapter get acquainted with the following expressions in Latin to ease the understanding of the text (taken from A Commentary with Annotations):

Si quadrupes (p.79) – Lat. = ‘ if the four-legged animal …’

Nec enim potest animal injuriam fecisse, quod sensu caret (p.79) – Lat. = ‘The animal cannot offend against the law for it does not have a mind’;

bestioles (p.79) – Lat. = small animals;

in absentia (p.79) – Lat. = in their absence;

cum si liceat quid est plus, debet licere quid est minus ( p. 88) – Lat. = if the bigger thing is allowed, the smaller thing should also be allowed.

1. Study the essential vocabulary of the chapter. Read and translate the sentences containing the below-listed words. Recollect the situations. Make up and put down your own examples with the words.

feloniously

malefactor

irruption

to hurl/to be hurled into

to endeavour to do smth.

to forfeit smth.

under mortal threat

to have dominion over smb./smth.

2. Check your comprehension of the story answering the following questions:

1) What is peculiar about the composition of the chapter? Speak of the author’s style.

2) Who are the main characters of the story?

3) What incident made the habitants sue the bestioles?

4) Enumerate the accusation arguments of the habitants .

5) Recollect the defense arguments of the bestioles to each accusation point.

6) What was the judge’s conclusion and what were the woodworm sentenced to?

3. Make the summary of the chapter.

4. Get ready for a discussion in class thinking over the following questions:

1) What’s the message of the story?

2) What and who is Barnes mocking at?

3) Would you like to be a lawyer? What personal characteristics should a lawyer possess?

4) Recollect movies involving legal proceedings in court. What devices do lawyers resort to in order to persuade the judge and win a case? Are the parallel examples and the allusions employed by lawyers in their speeches always relevant to the argument?

Chapter 4

Before reading the chapter get acquainted with the following proper names to ease the understanding of the text (taken from A Commentary with Annotations):

Harry Chang Avenue (p. 107) – takes place in the city of Darwin in Australia;

YMCA (p. 108) – ‘Young Men’s Christian Association’, international organization providing hostels and social activities for men;

Melville Island (p. 109) – an island about 100 km north of Darwin;

Dundas Strait (p. 109) – the strait separating Melville and Bathurst Island from Mainland Australia;

Torres Strait (p. 134) – the sea between the Australia and New Guinea.

1. Study the essential vocabulary of the chapter. Read and translate the sentences containing the below-listed words. Recollect the situations. Make up and put down your own examples with the words.

to chant

contaminated

bloke

tame

to row about smth.

to back down

to sort smth. out

to nag at smb./ to get nagged at by smb.

to reckon

time and again

venture

to be up to smth.

not to have the faintest notion of smth.

to be stuck with smth.

to put all eggs in one basket

blunder

2. Check your comprehension of the story answering the following questions:

1) Who is the main character of the story? Enumerate her personal characteristics mentioned by the author.

2) Speak about the main character’s childhood. What did Kathleen dream about? What were her expectations of adult life?

3) What was her first big life agitation connected with? What universal disaster was she troubled with?

4) Speak about Kath’s boyfriend. Ponder over the relationships between Kath and Greg.

5) How did Kathleen interpret Greg’s cheating on her?

6) What did Kath consider to be the best way out of the situation? What was she escaping of?

7) Reflect on dream and reality after Kath’s escape.

8) What did the doctors say? Do you believe that Greg was the only reason for Kathleen’s disease?

9) In what person is the narration done? What is the achieved effect?

3. Make up the summary of the story in writing.

4. Think of 3 problem questions for discussion in class. Be ready to introduce your own answers to the questions.

Chapter 5

Before reading the chapter get acquainted with the following proper names and other expressions to ease the understanding of the text (taken from A Commentary with Annotations):

Delacroix (p. 151) – Eugene Delacroix (1798 – 1863), a French painter, whose own exemplified 19^th-century romanticism. He would have been 20 at the time;

Jacopo Bassano (p. 153) - an Italian painter (1510-1592);

Prado (p. 153)– well-known national museum of art in Madrid, Spain;

‘Bah, une vignette!’ (p.166) – a triviality.

1. Search the text for interesting words/ phrases. Introduce them in class mentioning the page; provide examples of your own.

2. Check your text comprehension by answering the following questions:

1) Where did the ship go?

2) Why did the crew and the passengers have to abandon the ship?

3) What challenges did the people come across while on the raft?

4) In what episode does the reader notice the bonds with the previous chapters?

5) Where was Gericault’s picture exhibited?

6) What were the hypothetic themes for the painting? What didn’t the artist paint and why?

7) What is the purpose of dividing the chapter into two parts?

3. Summarize the chapter. Single out the message of the text.

4. Individual tasks. Search the information on the following topics and share it in class with your groupmates:

1) Theodore Gericault. Autobiography.

2) Theodore Gericault. Creative activity.

3) Theodore Gericault. The raft of the Medusa.

5. Questions for free discussion:

1) Do you like fine arts? If you do, tell your group mates about your favourite artist; if you don’t, give reasons.

2) How often do you go to museums and exhibitions?

3) What do think of modern art? Should a person have special abilities and theoretical background to become an artist or anyone is capable of becoming a painter, a sculptor etc.?

Recommended web-sites:

The pictures of the following artists can be seen on-line:

Edvard Hicks(a folk primitive artist who painted Biblical scenes):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Hicks ;

Jacopo Bassano: http://www.viaartis.org.en/Bassano_J/PIC_Bassano_J-PRA22.php

Theodore Gericault “The Race of the Barbary Horses”: http://www.thewalters.org/html/collec_object_detail.asp/ID=38&object_ID=37.189

Chapter 6

1. Work with the vocabulary from the text. Search for Russian equivalents for each word or word combination. Find the words in the text and provide good literary translation of the sentences containing them. Think of your own examples with the same words and word combinations.

credulous imbecile

sibling

to be (to sound, to seem, to look) smug

benevolence/ benevolent

to rebuke smb. for smth.

to intercede for smb./ smth.

to be impertinent to do smth.

to be hot air

to be put into temper

to be irked by smth.

obsequiousness

to be purged with smth.

2. Answer several questions to check your comprehension of the plot.

1) How can you characterize the relationships between Colonel Fergusson and his daughter Amanda? Did their life values and principles match?

2) Recollect the episode when Amanda was taken to the exhibition. What piece of art did her father show to her? Did she really admire the exhibit? Why?

3) What did Amanda feel like doing after her father’s death? What was the plan and what was its purpose?

4) What things disappointed Mrs. Fergusson in the course of her expedition to Arghury? Did it affect her beliefs?

5) Why didn’t Amanda Fergusson execute her initial plan? What happened in the end?

3. Summarize the story in writing.

4. Questions and topics for discussion:

1) What is the message of the text?

2) Did the expedition help Amanda to understand her belated father?

3) Whose way of perceiving things is closer to your own: Amanda’s or that of her father?

5. Make up a problem question of your own and ask your group mates to answer them.

Chapter 7

Before reading the chapter get acquainted with the following proper and geographical names:

Gonville and Caius – one of Cambridge University colleges

Jonah (библ.) = Jonas Иона (библейский пророк, один из т. н. "малых" пророков Ветхого Завета; не захотел выполнять поручение Бога и бежал на корабле, в наказание за это корабль попал в бурю); = jonah человек, приносящий несчастье

Nineveh [‘ninivᶕ] (сущ.; геогр.; ист.; библ.) Ниневия (древний город в Ассирии, на территории современного Ирака)

Joppa[‘dӡopᶕ ] (сущ.; геогр.; библ.; ист.) Иоппия (библейское название г. Яффа в Израиле) см. тж. Jaffa

Old Testament (библ.; ист.) Ветхий Завет

Tasks

1. Work with the vocabulary from the text. Search for Russian equivalents for each word or word combination. Find the words in the text and provide good literary translation of the sentences containing them. Think of your own examples with the same words and word combinations.

meritocrat

Part 1

to live on the premises

insinuate oneself into (to)

to annihilate smb./smth. Part 2

to repent

top dog

to mark smb. down

suspence

pawn

hither and thither

escapade

to revoke (the validity of smth.) Part 3

rebuff

to allot/ to be allotted

2. a) Summarize each part of the chapter and single out the three messages.

b) Think of the general message of the whole chapter.

3. Discussion:

1) Julian Barnes used 3 true stories to create the chapter. What are they?

2) Why are the three stories placed in one chapter? Do they have anything in common?

3) Does this chapter have any connections with the previous ones?

Suggest 2 problem questions for discussion in class.

Chapter 8

1. Work with the vocabulary from the text. Search for Russian equivalents for each word or word combination. Find the words in the text and provide good literary translation of the sentences containing them. Think of your own examples with the same words and word combinations.

Mind that you are dealing with contemporary BE slang!

to cop smth./smb.

to get hairier (things get hairier)

Never overegg the pudding.

smb’s nose (is) clean

to get bogged down in smth.

to be miffed

to be the apple of one’s eye

2. Prepare 3 questions to check your group mates’ comprehension of the plot. Make sure that the answer is mentioned in the text literally (not between the lines).

3. Summarize the chapter in writing. Single out the message of the text.

4. Questions and topics for discussion:

1) What is peculiar of the form & style of the chapter? What is the effect to be reached?

2) How does the main character develop throughout the story?

3) The chapter, somehow, deals with stories which are passed on by word of mouth within a group. Are such stories the reason for what happens in the chapter? Or is the catastrophe the consequence of different attitudes towards acting?

4) How often do you change your views and opinions? What does it depend on?

5) What do you think of people who change their outlook very often and of those who do not do it at all?

5. Suggest your own problem questions and ideas in class.

Parenthesis (the unnumbered half-chapter)

Before reading the chapter get acquainted with the following proper and geographical names:

W.H. Auden (p. 280) – Major English poet (1907-1973);

E.M. Forster (p. 280) – English novelist whose novels suggest the idea that the main value of personal love is to survive.

Tasks

1. Work with the vocabulary from the text. Search for Russian equivalents for each word or word combination. Find the words in the text and provide good literary translation of the sentences containing them. Think of your own examples with the same words and word combinations.

to democratize

to beware of

to muddle through

inimical

to fret and writhe in smth.

intermittent

to harness

to be (become) wimpishly workaday

2. Summarize the chapter in writing. Single out the message of the text.

3. Answer the questions and fulfill the tasks:

1) The chapter is written in a form of a literary essay. What are the typical features referring to this style employed by the author?

2) Make a list of basic ideas introduced by J. Barnes. Comment on each of them first presenting the arguments of the author, then those of your own.

3) Recollect the story the author mentions to support the idea that love is something unnecessary and inessential in our lives. What do you think of this theory?

4. Individual work.

Dramatize one of the following situations in pairs: a) a married guy (girl) is convincing his single friend who has disappointed in love that it still exists; b) a conversation between siblings: the sister is trying to explain to her materialistic brother that love is the essence of life which sounds nonsense and rubbish to the latter.

Recommended web-sites:

1. El Greco’s picture “Burial of the Count of Orgaz” can be viewed on http://www.wga.hu/frames.html?/html/g/greco_el/09/index.html.

2. The painting of Christ’s Passion by Hans Memling can be seen on http://www.wga.hu/art/m/memling/learly2/04passi.jpg.

Chapter 9

Before reading the chapter get acquainted with the following proper names :

Wright Brothers National Memorial (p. 301) – a memorial dedicated to the first successful flights in a heavier-than-air machine, made by Wilbur and Orville Write on December 17,1903;

NFL (p. 302) – National Football League;

the Redskins (p. 302) – Washington’s American football team;

Project Mercury (p. 308) – The US’s first successful manned spaceflight program which ran from 1959 to 1963;

Project Apollo (p. 314) – project devoted to ensuring that the US would land a man on the Moon. The goal was achieved in 1969. The program continued into the early 1970s with a total of six successful landings.

1. Work with the vocabulary from the text. Search for Russian equivalents for each word or word combination. Find the words in the text and provide good literary translation of the sentences containing them. Think of your own examples with the same words and word combinations.

to be a year or two out of short pants

to opine

to do the trick

precarious

to have a pretty curveball sense of humour

smug

conciliatory

to foul up smth

to be minus some buttons/ to be crazier than a bedbug/ to be a fruitcake

to do a number on smth.

to back smb.

to take short-cuts (a short cut)

to press for smth.

the doubting Thomases

2. Check your text comprehension by answering the following questions:

1) What were the most prominent steps in Spike’s career?

2) Why did Spike decide to throw football on the moon?

3) What kind of woman was Spike’s wife? Speak about the way she treated her husband.

4) What made Betty think of getting divorced? Why did she change her mind in the end?

5) What did Spike and Jimmy find on Ararat?

3. Make up the summary of the chapter in writing.

4. Questions & statements for discussion in class:

1) Comment on the following idea of “… every man’s life being a process of escape and return…” (pp. 318-319)

2) Answer the questions:

How did Spike view things on his way up the mountain (the stream, the shape of great and little Ararat etc.)? Why did he decide to launch second Project Ararat?

5. Find references to the previous chapters.