воскресенье, 6 декабря 2015 г.

Done.

This course taught me to understand the text better, recognize different stylistic devices in the text. It was really hard for me to analyze the texts, but now I enlarge my knowledge and cope with it much better. The blog was interesting project a great experience.

Bye-bye

Text Analysis

Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro
Text Analysis
The story under analysis 'Boys and Girls' is written by Alice Ann Munroe.
Alice Munro is a Canadian English-language writer. She began writing stories as a teenager, but her debut in book form took place only in 1968 with the story collection 'Dance of the Happy Shades'. Munro has been appreciated for her finely tuned storytelling, characterized by clarity and psychological realism. Her stories are often set in small town environments, where people's struggle for a decent life often results in difficult relationships and moral conflicts.
Her first collection of stories was published as Dance of the Happy Shades. In 2009, Munro won the Man Booker International Prize. That same year, she published the short-story collection Too Much Happiness. In 2013, at age 82, Munro was awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature.
The events in the short story “Boys and Girls” take place on a fox breeding farm. There lives main character with family.   Father was a fox farmer. He made a living by selling foxes' pelts: " He raised silver foxes, in pens; and in the fall and early winter, when their fur was prime, he killed them and skinned them and sold their pelts to the Hudson's Bay Company or the Montreal Fur Traders."
Author skilfully presented the setting of the events in a detailed way and very realistic. The setting introduces us to the life of this family. 
There are several themes: relationships between children and parents, family problems, problems of growing up, but to my mind the main is the inequality of rights between man and women.  It is obviously seen in difference how family treat with the main character and how with her brother.  The idea is to show the development of a character and the role of male and female.
From the point of view of presentation the text is the 1st person narrative.
 The types of speech employed by the author of the analyzed story are narration with the elements of description and direct speech.
From the point of view of composition the text consists of exposition, development of the events, climax and denouement.
In exposition we are introduced to the setting and main characters. We found out about family, where their lived and in what way they made a living.
Then comes plot, here starts the development of the events. Through the little girl vision author describe daily routine of the family, relations between its members. The father raises silver foxes and sells their pelts.  The mother does housekeeping, children help their parents.
The climax comes when girl opened the gates and let out the horse Flora.  She knew it would make some troubles to her father, but did it.  "Instead of shutting the gate, I opened it as wide as I could. I did not make any decision to do this; it was just what I did."
The anticlimax is in the sentence "She could of shut the gate and she didn't. She just open’ it up and Flora ran out.";  "Never mind. She's only a girl". Here we see the constitution of things and the place of the women in farmer’s family and in our society.
There are 4 characters: the father, the mother, younger brother Laird and the girl.
The main character is the girl, narrator of the story. She is 11 years old. She is good, hard-working girl who has adventurous temper and boyish spirit. She dreamed of adventures and feat(“I rescued people from a bombed building (it discouraged me that the real war had gone on so far away from Jubilee). I shot two rabid wolves who were menacing the schoolyard (the teachers cowered terrified at my back).  Rode a fine horse spiritedly down the main street of Jubilee, acknowledging the townspeople’s gratitude for some yet-to-be-worked-out piece of heroism (nobody ever rode a horse there, except King Billy in the Orangemen’s Day  parade). There was always riding and shooting in these stories...” ).
She likes men’s work. She helps her father on the farm with enthusiasm when at the same time she tries to avoid helping her mother.(“ It seemed to me that work in the house was endless, dreary, and peculiarly depressing; work done out of doors, and in my father's service, was ritualistically important.”)
The author describes the father by means of indirect personage’s characterization with the help of speech characterization.  He is slogger, he works hard to feed his family.
(“...he raised silver foxes, in pens; and in the fall and early winter, when their fur was prime, he killed them and skinned them and sold their pelts to the Hudson’s Bay Company or the Montreal Fur Traders.”).
The mother is described by means of direct characterization. She is housewife; she also works hard because the work in the house was endless and and she must cope with all tasks (“She did not often come out of the house unless it was to do something – hang out the wash or dig potatoes in the garden. She looked out of place, with her bare lumpy legs, not touched by the sun, her apron still on and damp across the stomach from the supper dishes. Her hair was tied up in a kerchief, wisps of it falling out. She would tie her hair up like this in the morning, saying she did not have time to do it properly, and it would stay tied up all day. It was true, too; she really did not have time.” “My mother was too tired and preoccupied to talk to me, she had no heart to tell about the Normal School Graduation Dance.” )
Laird is the brother of the main character. He is characterized by means of indirect personage’s characterization. He is little boy, week and clumsy person, but still helps his father at the farm ( “Laird came too, with his little cream and green gardening can, filled too full and knocking against his legs and slopping water on his canvas shoes.”, “Who could imagine Laird doing my work – Laird remembering the padlock and cleaning out the watering dishes with a leaf on the end of a stick, or even wheeling the tank without it tumbling over? “).
Alice Munro is indeed the great writer and the master of the contemporary short story. From the first line of “boys and girls”, reader is absorbed in this story.  Realistic events and details which the author skilfully describes in the story make us read it with the great interest. The author reaches this effect by using different stylistic devises.
To emphasize the disparity of the women and show the idea that “the kitchen is the women place” author uses irony (“Could of fooled me.” said the salesman. “I thought it was only a girl.”)
The main character did not like work in the house. And to show girl’s bad attitude to this, Author uses such hyperbole    “It seemed to me that work in the house was endless”
To portray the beauty of nature and add more expressiveness to the text   author uses several epithets :
cold blue sky, black pine forests, treacherous northern rivers, plumed adventures, magnificent savages
the unaccustomed sunlight and fresh air.
Also author uses epithet to give Henry evaluative characteristic:  atisfied, bubbly breaths: derisive eyes; winter-paled face.
There are some metaphors, they are used to add to the description more expressiveness and vividness :
“a weight in my stomach”, the sadness of unexercised guilt”, “yet-to-be-worked-out piece of heroism”.
To compare snowdrifts to whales that swim in the ocean without any wish Munro uses similewhen snowdrifts curled around our house like sleeping whales”
In order to show Henry’s emotions and temper there is oxymoron
“Henry didn't answer me. Instead he started to sing in a high, trembly ,mocking-sorrowful voice.”
As for Syntactical devises there are  :
repetition (He would cough and cough until his narrow face turned scarlet – to show that Henry was ill; She was always plotting. She was plotting now to get me to stay in the house more…- to lay an emphatic stress on the girl’s usual habit, condition)
detachment (It might be a boy from our class at school, or even Mr. Campbell, our teacher, who tickled girls under the arms; We were afraid of inside, the room where we slept;She was plotting now to get me to stay in the house more, although she knew I hated it(because she knew I hated it) – to emphasize the sentence, to make it more exact)
ellipsis (“Listen,” I said in an unusually bright and friendly voice, “you aren't going to tell, are you?
“No,” he said absently. 
Promise.” – it reproduces colloquial speech)
antithesis (We were afraid at night in the winter. We were not afraid of outside though… - to emphasize communicative and expressive value of the narration, to give a piece of fear to the story).


To sum it up, I’d like to say that Alice Munroe is worthy of Nobel Prize. I really like “Boys and Girls”, because the problem of gender equality is relevant even in our days.

суббота, 5 декабря 2015 г.

Stylistic Devices

Alice Munro is indeed the great writer and the master of the contemporary short story. From the first line of “boys and girls”, reader is absorbed in this story.  Realistic events and details which the author skilfully describes in the story make us read it with the great interest. The author reaches this effect by using different stylistic devises.To emphasize the disparity of the women and show the idea that “the kitchen is the women place” author uses irony (“Could of fooled me.” said the salesman. “I thought it was only a girl.”)The main character did not like work in the house. And to show girl’s bad attitude to this, Author uses such hyperbole    “It seemed to me that work in the house was endless”
To portray the beauty of nature and add more expressiveness to the text   author uses several epithets :cold blue sky, black pine forests, treacherous northern rivers, plumed adventures, magnificent savagesthe unaccustomed sunlight and fresh air.Also author uses epithet to give Henry evaluative characteristic:  atisfied, bubbly breaths: derisive eyes; winter-paled face.
There are some metaphors, they are used to add to the description more expressiveness and vividness :“a weight in my stomach”, the sadness of unexercised guilt”, “yet-to-be-worked-out piece of heroism”.
To compare snowdrifts to whales that swim in the ocean without any wish Munro uses simile “when snowdrifts curled around our house like sleeping whales”
In order to show Henry’s emotions and temper there is oxymoron“Henry didn't answer me. Instead he started to sing in a high, trembly ,mocking-sorrowful voice.”As for Syntactical devises there are  :repetition (He would cough and cough until his narrow face turned scarlet – to show that Henry was ill; She was always plotting. She was plotting now to get me to stay in the house more…- to lay an emphatic stress on the girl’s usual habit, condition)
detachment (It might be a boy from our class at school, or even Mr. Campbell, our teacher, who tickled girls under the arms; We were afraid of inside, the room where we slept;She was plotting now to get me to stay in the house more, although she knew I hated it(because she knew I hated it) – to emphasize the sentence, to make it more exact)
ellipsis (“Listen,” I said in an unusually bright and friendly voice, “you aren't going to tell, are you?
“No,” he said absently. Promise.” – it reproduces colloquial speech)antithesis
 (We were afraid at night in the winter. We were not afraid of outside though… - to emphasize communicative and expressive value of the narration, to give a piece of fear to the story)




воскресенье, 29 ноября 2015 г.

The Characters


There are 4 characters: the father, the mother,  younger brother Laird  and the girl.
The main character is the girl, narrator of the story. She is 11 years old.She is good, hard-working girl who has adventurous temper and boyish spirit. She dreamed of adventures and feat(“I rescued people from a bombed building (it discouraged me that the real war had gone on so far away from Jubilee). I shot two rabid wolves who were menacing the schoolyard (the teachers cowered terrified at my back).  Rode a fine horse spiritedly down the main street of Jubilee, acknowledging the townspeople’s gratitude for some yet-to-be-worked-out piece of heroism (nobody ever rode a horse there, except King Billy in the Orangemen’s Day  parade). There was always riding and shooting in these stories...” ).
She likes men’s work. She helps her father on the farm with enthusiasm when at the same time she tries to avoid helping her mother.(“ It seemed to me that work in the house was endless, dreary, and peculiarly depressing; work done out of doors, and in my father's service, was ritualistically important.”)
The author describes the father by means of indirect personage’s characterization with the help of speech characterization.  He is slogger, he works hard to feed his family.
(“he raised silver foxes, in pens; and in the fall and early winter, when their fur was prime, he killed them and skinned them and sold their pelts to the Hudsons Bay Company or the Montreal Fur Traders.”).

The mother is described by means of direct characterization. She is housewife; she also works hard because the work in the house was endless and and she must cope with all tasks (She did not often come out of the house unless it was to do something – hang out the wash or dig potatoes in the garden. She looked out of place, with her bare lumpy legs, not touched by the sun, her apron still on and damp across the stomach from the supper dishes. Her hair was tied up in a kerchief, wisps of it falling out. She would tie her hair up like this in the morning, saying she did not have time to do it properly, and it would stay tied up all day. It was true, too; she really did not have time.” “My mother was too tired and preoccupied to talk to me, she had no heart to tell about the Normal School Graduation Dance. )/
Laird is the brother of the main character. He is characterized by means of indirect personage’s characterization. He is little boy, week and clumsy person, but still helps his father at the farm ( “Laird came too, with his little cream and green gardening can, filled too full and knocking against his legs and slopping water on his canvas shoes.”, “Who could imagine Laird doing my work – Laird remembering the padlock and cleaning out the watering dishes with a leaf on the end of a stick, or even wheeling the tank without it tumbling over? “).

пятница, 20 ноября 2015 г.

Plot.


There are several themes: relationships between children and parents, family problems, problems of growing up, but to my mind the main is the inequality of rights between man and women.  It is obviously seen in difference how family treat with the main character and how with her brother.  
From the point of view of presentation the text is the 1st person narrative.
 The types of speech employed by the author of the analyzed story are narration with the elements of description and direct speech.
From the point of view of composition the text consists of exposition, development of the events, climax and denouement.
In exposition we are introduced to the setting and main characters. We found out about family, where their lived and in what way they made a living.
Then comes plot, here starts the development of the events. Through the little girl vision author describe daily routine of the family, relations between its members. The father raises silver foxes and sells their pelts.  The mother does housekeeping, children help their parents.
The climax comes when girl opened the gates and let out the horse Flora.  She knew it would make some troubles to her father, but did it.  "Instead of shutting the gate, I opened it as wide as I could. I did not make any decision to do this; it was just what I did."

The anticlimax is in the sentence "She could of shut the gate and she didn't. She just open’ it up and Flora ran out.";  "Never mind. She's only a girl". Here we see the constitution of things and the place of the women in farmer’s family and in our society.

воскресенье, 1 ноября 2015 г.

Setting.

The events in the short story “Boys and Girls” take place on a fox breeding farm. There live main chаracter  with family.   Father was a fox farmer. He made a living by selling foxes' pelts : " he raised silver foxes, in pens; and in the fall and early winter, when their fur was prime, he killed them and skinned them and sold their pelts to the Hudson's Bay Company or the Montreal Fur Traders."
Author skilfully presented the setting of the events in a detailed way and very realistic. The setting introduces us to the  life of this family. 


воскресенье, 25 октября 2015 г.

Alice Munro.



Alice Munro is a Canadian English-language writer. She began writing stories as a teenager, but her debut in book form took place only in 1968 with the story collection 'Dance of the Happy Shades'. Munro has been appreciated for her finely tuned storytelling, characterized by clarity and psychological realism. Her stories are often set in small town environments, where people's struggle for a decent life often result in difficult relationships and moral conflicts.
Her first collection of stories was published as Dance of the Happy Shades. In 2009, Munro won the Man Booker International Prize. That same year, she published the short-story collection Too Much Happiness. In 2013, at age 82, Munro was awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature.