Pair work. Make up and act out situations using the phrases and word combinations.
13. Explain what is meant by:
the fact that stood out clearest in the whole affair; an unwarranted stretch of imagination; the delights that he had justly forfeited; a circus of unrivalled merit and uncounted elephants; without any of the elation of high spirits that should have characterized it; (did not) admit the flawlessness of the reasoning; wriggling his way with obvious stealth of purpose; self-imposed sentry duty; having thoroughly confirmed and fortified her suspicions; the aunt by assertion; there were wonderful things for the eyes to feast on; such luxuries were not to be over-indulged in; the children could not have been said to have enjoyed themselves; (of) one who has suffered undignified and unmerited detention.
14. Answer the following questions and do the given assignments:
a) 1. What made the boy commit the offence thus bringing the punishment upon himself? 2. What was the aunt's method
of bringing up the children and what did it result in? How are the ideas of punishment and pleasure treated in the story in general? 3. Had the trip to the sands any appeal to the boy and what did he think of the pleasures promised by the aunt? What is his idea of a "treat"? 4. The author calls the boy "a skilled tactician" and not for nothing. What strategy did Nicholas work out to get into the lumber-room unnoticed and leave it without trace? 5. At the same time the author evaluates the aunt as "a woman of few ideas with immense power of concentration". How does this feature of her character define her actions in the story? What motivates her actions — strong faith or false piety? 6. The lumber-room in spite of its dust and desolation came up to the boy's expectations. What role does the lumber-room play in the evaluation of his character? 7. It was a kitchen-maid who came to the aunt's rescue. What was wrong in the family that made its members so indifferent to each other? 8. For what reasons were the members of the family silent at tea that evening? Why does the author lay special emphasis on the cause of their silence? 9. How did Nicholas manage to fight the aunt with her own weapon and finally disarm her? Speak on the conflict between the boy and the aunt: a) Does the punishment of the aunt at the hands of Nicholas suggest anything to you? b) On what issues are they opposed? 10. Speak on the story in terms of unchangeable conventional reality versus poetry and intellectual freedom. 11. On whose side do the author's sympathies lie? Based on your interpretation of the story say a few words about the author.
b) 1. In what vein is the story written? 2. What are the butts of the author's irony? What does he ridicule through the character of the aunt? 3. How is irony achieved on a verbal plane? How does the ironic intention of the author affect his style (wording and syntax)? 4. Is the vocabulary employed by the author in keeping with the subject-matter or out of place? If it is out of place what is the author's criteria for word-choice? Account for the frequent use of a) military terms; b) religious words; c) judicial phrases; d) scientific arguments. 5. Is the author straightforward and direct in presenting the characters and telling the story or is he evasive and ambiguous? What is the device he resorts to, when saying: "a woman of few ideas", "prisoner in the rain-water tank", etc.? 6. How does the syntax contribute to the ironic effect? Is it formal or
informal, bookish or colloquial? What turns of a phrase strike you as formal and pompous? What are the grammatical constructions favoured by the author? What does the story gain through them? 7. Besides verbal, there is dramatic irony that lies in the story, the plot, the complications of the story, the relationship of the characters. Say something about the story, the turns and twists of the plot, the ending in terms of dramatic irony. 8. The theme of the story is the conflict between prose and poetry, dogmatic, pedantic, philistine mind and poetic imagination. How does the theme affect the tone and the style of the story? 9. When does the story shift to a more poetic plane? What is presented in poetic terms? Dwell upon the description of the lumber-room. What stylistic devices are employed by the author? 10. Explain the title of the story in the light of your observation on the theme, the point and the style of the story.
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