Make up and set out dialogues using the phrases and word combina­tions (pair work)

10. Translate the following sentences into English:

1. Мимо пробежали дети. 2. Она посмела зайти за прилавок мага­зина, так как очень торопилась. 3. Мне трудно судить о его знаниях в физике. 4. Я всегда сожалею о потерянном времени. 5, Я никогда не сомневалась в его честности. 6. К моему великому удивлению, он не страдает от угрызений совести. 7. Сегодня холодно, не правда ли? — Наоборот, сегодня тепло. 8. К моему большому удовлетворению, oна подала заявление в институт. 9. Он блестяще подвел к концу свое исследование.

11. Answer the questions and do the given assignments:

a) 1. Who was the man who arrived one Sunday afternoon to the house? 2. Why was the man looking for the young woman of colour? 3. Why was the girl Sarah accustomed to sit­ting at the window? 4. What made Sarah ask Mother send the visitor away? 5. Why was Mother outraged when she returned downstairs? 6. Why did Mother decide to give him more of a visit next time? 7. Why did the Negro suffer no embarrassment in the parlour? 8. How did the Negro describe his career as a pianist? 9. What was the source of Father's irritation when he finally asked the Negro to play the piano? 10. Why did the Negro agree to play the piano for them? 11. What was it in the music he played that changed the mood of the family. 12. Do you think the Negro accomplished what he had hoped for from the visit?

b) The title "Ragtime" is supposed to be the symbolic re­presentation of the atmosphere which characterizes the scene of the novel. Do you feel that the rhythm and the intonation of E. Doctorow's prose imitate those of ragtime? (whose charac­teristic features are syncopation, swing, high tension, fluctua­tion between the regular rhythm of sharp harmonic accents and a lively irregular ragged melodic line, the incongruity, that is a special charm of the music).

c) 1. Discuss the stylistic means the author uses to create tension:

1) the incongruity of the sensational plot and the dry tone in which it is described, 2) the common situation and the for­mal tone, 3) the contrast of different styles, 4) the contrast of actions and their implications.

2. Describe how the author contrasts the young man's be­haviour and appearance with the music he plays. Pay attention to the epithets, similes, metaphors, repetitions and gradation, abrupt changes from short sentences to long ones, and then back again. Observe the proportion of short sentences, the tele­graphic style, the use of asyndeton, polysyndeton, inversion and parallel constructions; how is the compact, dynamic way in the speech of the characters presented? Pay attention to the fact that the characters have no names. What effect is achieved by this? Should proper names have been used, in your opinion? Justify your answer. In whose voice is the narra­tion of the story? Where do the narrator's sympathies lie?

12. Explain what is meant by:

1. He was dressed in the affection of wealth to which co­loured people lent themselves. 2. She is said to reside in one of these houses. 3. A bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums which in this season had to have cost him a pretty penny. 4. The sur­roundings did not awe him nor was his manner deferential. 5. Oh, yes, Mother said, we are terrible about that. 6. There seemed to be no possibilities for life than those delineated by the music. 7. This was a most robust composition, a vigorous music that roused the senses and never stood still a moment. 8. ... until the entire room was made to glow with its own being. 9. His taste ran to Carrie Jacobs Bond. 10. He thought Negro music had to have smiling and cakewalking.

Give a summary of the text (p. 104).

14. Make up and act out dialogues between:

1. Mother and Father before the tea.

2. Mother and Sarah after the visit of the Negro pianist.

3. Father and Mother's Younger Brother about the pieces the pianist had played.

Sometimes we accept invitations to go to the event, just to be polite, so we don't hurt other people's feelings. Write about an experience you didn't enjoy, but which you felt obliged to participate in.

VOCABULARY EXERCISES