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Plan Of Interpretation
1.Introduction
- the title
- the author
- the source
+ summary of the text or annotation (if required)
2. Subject matter
- the theme of the essay
- main idea (point, contention)
3. Type of writing: scholarly or publicistic
4. The chain of reasoning
- is the main point appropriately placed (it should be placed in the 1st paragraph)
- is the main point developed further
- are there sufficient arguments, details or examples to support main idea.
5. Has the author used references effectively (other opinions)?
6. Do you think the author's reasoning is sound, convincing and logically presented?
7. Has the author used cohesive (connection) devises between the text, paragraphs
(e.g.: so, nevertheless, well etc.)
Comment on the use of statistic daters (tables, charts, figures, dates, diagrams).
8.The authors intention.
What do you think was the author's main purpose, what impression he/she wanted
to do?
Has the author achieved his purpose successfully?
9. Style, tone, attitude, language.
What type of essay (if it is an essay) it is?
- narrative
- informative
- descriptive
- expository (plays on emotions)
Is the style of presentation approached and appealing?
Style: formal, informal Tone: neutral
10. Comment on the choice of idioms and words (vulgarisms, colloquials) and
what is the effect they produce?
Do the expressive means underline the important idea (stylistic devices)?
Do the expressive means reflect the author's attitude and tone. What other means
has the author used ( contrast, humor, framing, irony, etc.)?
11. The title
- comment on the title and the subheading
- does the heading feet the overall topics
- does it arouse the readers interest
- is it eye-catching
12. Conclusion
Explain your own evaluation and impression of the text. Remember that your opinion
and impression must always be supported by evidence from the text.
Write as many examples as you can.
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Angel Pavement by J.B. Priestley (Essay)
Angel Pavement is an excellent of that how one book can kill in a person the
interest in English literature. In order to create such killing effect the author
should use certain techniques and stylistic devises. Today I'm going to speak
about the language and the style of the novel.
The novel has a specific form with the prologue and epilogue, every chapter
is devoted to the description of characters which appear in the novel one after
another. Priestley is a master of description, he could describe somebody or
something within hours or even weeks. The descriptions are usually used in order
to present deep psychological analysis of the characters, to create gloomy reality
showing the life conditions of the personages.
A slow chain of events is complicated by numerous enumerations, which sometimes
occupy several pages and devoted to the description of London, London's streets,
shops, parks, offices, squares, men in caps, men in bowler hats, men in blue
helmets and everything that Priestley managed to describe in London.
But among a huge number of boring descriptions and enumerations, a sophisticated
reader can find different manifestations of humor. The ironical position of
the author is underlined by the frequent use of the similes with conjunction
"as if", which adds a light shadow of modality to the context and creates humorous
effect by showing the difference between the real state of things and described
events.
The humorous effect is also achieved by the combination of the words and word
combinations with different meanings: "this faceЕ began by being almost bold
at the top", "his stomach forgot about it", "desperate bicycles" etc.
Another example of Priestley's attempt to inject humor into the novel is based
on the usage of grotesque in the description of restaurant "Bundle's" where
Mr. Golspie and Miss Matfield ate "the red dripping half of a roasted ox" and
"legs and shoulders" that "came trundling up from all directions".
And the last thing that should be mentioned while speaking about the style and
the language of the novel is speech characteristics of the characters. Priestley
uses different types of English language adopting it to the social and physical
peculiarities of his characters. The individualization of the speech and pronunciation
can be viewed on the example of Goath's speech: "Sala'y to end of mun' an' commision
to yesserday "(salary to the end of the month and commission to yesterday),
"wha' I say tha' ma'ers" (what I say that matters), "tha's the feller"(that's
the fellow). Another example is Mr. Pelumpton , who speaks cockney and lisps:
"yersh"(yes), "a norfish"(an office), "a ninteresh"(an interest). Showing different
social backgrounds of his characters, Priestley violates the grammatical and
stylistic norms of English language.
---- contents ----
Overview of Christianity in Britain
Of the religions practised in modern Britain, Christianity is the most long-established
and widely observed. It was first brought to Britain during the days of the
Roman empire. There are, in fact, forty churches still in regular use, parts
of which date from that period. With the departure of the legions and the Anglo-Saxon
invasions of the fifth century Christianity was reduced to pockets of support
in Wales, Scotland and Ireland. This situation changed with the arrival of missionaries
sent by the Pope led by Augustine in 597. The next few centuries saw Christianity
established throughout Britain. Augustine, meanwhile, became the first Archbishop
of Canterbury, the holder of which position remains the most important figure
in the Church of England.
Bishops were also established in a number of other centers, and by the end of
the eleventh century a system of dioceses and parishes had been established
across much of England. This system, with the creation of additional parishes
and dioceses in the nineteenth century to cope with population growth and urban
development, remains the basis of the structure of the Church of England. The
Reformation of the sixteenth century did not disturb this structure. It did,
however, fracture the Christian community in the British Isles. Links with Rome
were broken and an established church owing its allegiance to the English crown
replaced the medieval Church in England, Wales and Ireland. In Scotland it was
replaced by the established Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Roman Catholicism
survived in strength only in Ireland.
The Reformation was followed by further divisions. Conflicts over theology,
church order and freedom of conscience led to a series of secessions from the
Church of England in the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
These Free Churches, as they are now called, were joined in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries by the Methodist products of the Evangelical Revival. This
and the resurgence of Roman Catholicism throughout Britain in the course of
the nineteenth century, largely as a result of immigration, particularly from
Ireland, produced an increasingly diverse religious scene. Further immigration
in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries has added to this diversity. There
are now over 200 different Christian denominations in Britain.
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