Unit 12

Text I

A Winter to Remember

Objectives:

• 1. Development of narrative writing about an unforgettable winter

• 2. Dry, ironic and self-mocking tone in the passage

• 3. Description of within the narration

• 4. Vocabulary and phrases

Teaching Tasks and Process

• I. Pre-reading questions

Pre-reading Questions

• What does the title A Winter to Remember suggest to you?

• Make your own predictions about the contents of the passage by listing two or three things that are likely to be dealt with in it.

The Main Ideas

• Time: early January to late March• Place: in the depth of the country• Events:• Unpleasant memories• Outside 1. beautiful snow scene turned into ugly frostbound sight• 2. Birds growing tamer and waiting at the doorstep• 3. water frozen almost instantly• Inside 1. central heating inadequate and unco-operative; oil-stov

es unavailable• 2. draught coming in through windows, doors and holes in the

walls

• 3. water-pipes frozen

• 4. sitting inside in overcoats

• One good thing --- eggs not broken when dropped.

• The thaw --- water squirting from pipes bringing about a “flood”

Language Points

• in living memory

• in the years which can be remembered by people still alive

in the depths of the country

• in the very remote part of the country. The depths of the country are the parts of the countryside which are far from cities and towns. The depths (plural) may also mean “the deepest or the worst part of something”,

• in the depths of the ocean, in the depths of winter, in the depths of despair

my whole family

• Family is a collective noun, denoting a group of individuals considered as one complete whole.

More examples of collective nouns of this type:

• a crowd of people

• a team of football players

• the board of directors

• the whole class

• the entire army

Collective nouns may take singular or plural verbs according to the following rules.

• If every member of a group is acting in the same way, the collective noun takes a singular verb.

• If the members of a group are acting separately, the collective noun takes a plural verb.

• The number of the pronouns or possessive adjectives referring to the collective nouns correspond to the number of the collective nouns.

…that a severe frost set in.

• set in --- begin and (probably) continue

• As he had not taken enough care of the cut, a serious infection set in.

• A heavy snowstorm set in before the small fishing-boat reached the shore.

Our central heating system proved both inadequate and unco-operative

• inadequate --- not adequate

• unco-operative --- not co-operative

• Un, in-, and dis- are negative prefixes which mean “the opposite of” or “not”.

stoop down

• stoop down: bend (head and shoulders) forwards and down

• She stooped to pick a piece of paper.

…only to

• …only to do: indicating the result

• I hurried to the office only to be told that the meeting was canceled.

• There are some fools in the world who lift a rock to hit others only to find that it lands on their own foot.

• I arrived at the shop only to find that I had left my money at home.

.there were more on order

• There were more oil-stoves being requested by the village shop to be sent to them.

• Jack placed / made an order for twenty oil-stoves to be sent before the end of November.

• “Shall I take your orders?” the waiter asked.

I have been devoted to plumbers ever since.

• devoted --- fond of; loving• Shaka was devoted to his mother.• Born in a musician’s family, she was devoted t

o Beethoven and Mozart even in her early childhood.

• devote --- give completely (to)• “if I had my life to live over again, I would devote

it to the cause of education,” the old doctor said.• The next period will be devoted to oral practice.

Comments on the Text

• This is a short piece of narrative writing about an unforgettable winter. Millions have gone through winters over and over again but few have experienced a winter as is described in the passage.

• 1. The writer carefully selects a subject which has made a clear impression on him and wants to evoke sympathy from the reader.

• 2. He tries to convey a distinct impression of the extreme cold both outside and inside by setting out specific and concrete details. It is precisely the mention of such particular things as definite colours and sounds, and specific action and attitudes of people that awaken the reader’s interest and win his sympathy.

Color

• Vivid metaphors are used to show how the early beauty of the snowfall has been changed into something harsh and ugly, e.g.,

• a spotless white canopy.

• ugly lumps of grims concrete

Sound

• A number of phrases help to express the sound effects associated with the severe winter which caused discomfort and inconvenience, e.g.,

• a whistling stream of cold air

• tramping to and from the farm

Actions

• A series of everyday occurrences are mentioned to emphasize the severity of the cold, e.g., children having snowball fights, feeding birds with leftovers, people lugging buckets of water, plumbers repairing pipes.

Attitude

• The description of the attitude of some members of the family towards the severe winter holds the reader’s interest, e.g., the youngest son promptly taking the water all the way back to the farm, the writer stooping down furiously to pick up the eggs.

Sight

• Last but not least, some “sights” are described to add to the vividness of the event, e.g., water squirting from pipes in half a dozen places.

description within the narration

• 1) the hungry birds growing tamer day by day in search of food

• 2) the streams of cold air finding their way into the house

• 3) every family trying to buy oil-stoves for more heating

• 4) everyone wearing overcoats in the house• 5) the water frozen in the bucket while being

carried• 6) the frozen eggs dropped but not broken

a dry, ironic and self-mocking tone towards

the difficulties of this harsh winter

• The writer uses personification to portray the heating system as if it were human.

• He uses an ironic understatement to suggest that he can retain his sense of humor in the face of his son’s obvious stupidity.

• He employs ironic overstatement to show that he can smile at his troubles.

TEXT II January Wind

Questions

• 1. What is the most striking feature of this passage?

• 2. How do you like this short descriptive passage?

• 3. Cite the sentences that appeal to you most and give your reasons.

VI. Exercises / discussion

• My Favourite Season

Assignments

• Exercises on the Work Book