Footprints in the Jungle

I. Write out about 20 vocabulary units, that you find interesting. Learn situations with them and record any 5 of the vocabulary units on tape.

II. Do general tasks 2, 3, 4.

III. Find examples of epithets, metonymy, metaphor, simile and other stylistic devices in the story and say how they contribute to the author’s efforts to get insight into his characters.

IV. Comment on the final lines of the story. Do you share the author’s opinion that “it’s not what people do that really matters, it’s what they are” (p. 151).

V. Make up a topical vocabulary list pertaining to appearance and human character.

VI. Write an essay on the short-story. Consult “Appendix” for the general rules of essay-writing. In your essay be sure to cover the following points:

1. the author and his literary credo

2. the plot

3. the main characters (appearance, background, likes and dislikes, temperament and disposition)

4. the main idea(s)

5. stylistic devices used by the author to reveal his idea

6. your opinion of the short-story and the author’s creative skills

Appendix

1. Useful information

1. “Mr. Know-All”

The story “Mr. Know-All” reveals the extreme distaste the author had for snobbery.

The story “Mr. Know-All” is a first person narrative and the reader must be prepared for a biased presentation of the other character. The title character is presented solely through the mind and eyes of an arrogant English gentleman who engages in extensive analysis of himself and the other character. The narrator is a thorough conformist in every aspect of life. He is prepared to dislike Mr. Kelada even before he knew him “because his name betrays his mixed origin”. The narrator uses periphrasis to state that Mr. Kelada was born somewhere in the British colonies (“under a bluer sky then is generally seen in England”) thus showing his ironic attitude to people of that sort. The author exposes the clash of the nobility with the middle class of which he is critical too.

2. “Flotsam and Jetsam”

The title of the story is metaphoric. It symbolizes the frustration of the Granges’ life, the driving force of which is mistrust animosity and hatred. They are on the outskirts of the world both literally and figuratively. They are like wreckage found floating in the sea of life: good for nothing. They have no hopes for future. They are doomed by the “mysterious and dreadful occurrence” to be “unhappy and yet repellent”.

3. “The Unconquered”

“The Unconquered” is Maugham’s only piece of fiction with the Second World War as a setting. It is a powerful story of a French girl who is raped by a Nazi soldier. He afterwards comes to love her and wishes to marry her, but her fierce hatred for the Germans leads her to drown their child the day it is born.

4. “Mackintosh”

“Mackintosh” is a powerful psychological study of an island administrator and his assistant who are completely unlike in temperament, tastes, education, personal habits and ethics … The assistant makes it possible for a native to kill Walker, and then Mackintosh, seized by an agonizing remorse, kills himself. There is a fierce irony in the catastrophe although he is not guilty of murder, his puritan conscience does not relax in this land of easy morals and he destroys himself because of the death of a man he hated savagely. The story is told objectively and we feel pity and horror for both.

5. “Footprints in the Jungle”

In “Footprints in the Jungle” the perpetrators of a heinous crime after a number of years, when it becomes certain that their guilt will never be discovered, cease to suffer remorse and lead a reasonably happy life.

II. Guide to literary analysis

Short story – a relatively brief prose story usually characterized by uniformity of tone and dramatic intensity and having a single action as a plot. The most usual types of short stories are:

1. social which studies the effect of social conditions at a given time and place upon human life and conduct;

2. psychological which makes a study of human characters and of deeply lying motives of human behaviour;

3. historical in which the events and characters are drawn from the past;

4. detective in which a specific problem (usually murder) is solved;

5. science fiction which deals with advances in science and technology and their influence on human beings.

Composition – the interrelation between different components of a literary work. It comprises:

1. exposition which gives some explanation of background (setting) and introduces the characters;

2. climax which is the highest point of an action in a story. This is the decisive point on which the fate of the characters and the final action depend;

3. denouement which is the unwinding of the action, the final resolution of the plot. This part in a work of fiction comes after and sometimes coincides with the climax.

Message – the main idea of a piece of art. A literary work carries the message not in a straightforward way but through the characters, events and the author’s conceptions.

From: Мосткова С.Я. и др. «Английская литературоведческая терминология», Л., 1967. Е.Я.Гроссман «Читайте больше дома», М., 1985.

III. Composition techniques

A composition is a creative literary work, conveying several problems or dealing with one problem in detail.

An essay is a piece of writing, usually short and in prose, on any subject. Unlike a composition, an essay usually assumes an individual interpretation of facts. For this reason it is a more difficult form of exercise, though also more satisfying, as it gives the student more scope for self-expression.

The Beginning of Compositions and Essays. A good beginning is of great importance, for we naturally desire to hold the readers’ attention from the first.

There are many ways of beginning an essay and composition, among them: a) general reflection; b) by giving a definition and thus immediately introducing the subject; c) a quotation or a proverb; d) an anecdote; if appropriate, this is a neat way of beginning.

The Ending of Compositions and Essays. The ending should obviously prove to the reader that the subject has been nicely rounded off; that the whole is finished and complete.

The Body of a Composition or an Essay. Before beginning to write, it is best to think of various points in the body of a composition, make up your mind what you want to say under the heading and gradually expand each into a paragraph.

Stages of your work.

1. Collect your material.

2. Select the information you need.

3. Arrange the material in the order of presentation according to your plan.

4. Write down the main topics of each paragraph.

5. Under each topic indicate the development.

6. Make a rough draft.

7. Correct the rough draft and make your final copy.

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