1. Improve the following summary:

The story I am going to analyze is very interesting. Louise Mallard, a young woman with a heart trouble, receives the news of her husband’s death in a road accident. Greatly shocked at first she retreated to her room to grieve but suddenly felt relieved. Louise realizes now that her husband is dead she is free to live as she chooses and do what she likes: “Free! Body and soul free!” The young woman anticipates the beginning of a new life, while her sister Josephine is entreating her to calm down: “Open the door, Louise, you will make yourself ill!” When Louise is down with her relatives again, the entrance door opens and her husband, Brently Mallard, appears “composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella”. It turns out that the husband’s death has been a mistake. Louise’s weak heart could not endure one more shock and she died instantly. Everyone was sure that she had been glad to see her husband safely back home and died “of joy that kills”. I think the main problems touched upon in the short story are those of freedom and self-assertion of a woman.

2. Define the forms of presentation in the short story and try to relate it from one of the following points of view:

1. first-person narrator: a minor character in the story (Josephine, Brently Mallard or a doctor);

2. first-person narrator: the main character (Louise Mallard);

3. third-person narrator: limited (a minor character);

4. third-person narrator: objective.

3. Fill in the chart taking into consideration the information about the setting of a story:

Element	Example	Function
1. Domestic interior (physical objects)
2.	There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled above the other in the west facing her window.
3. Landscape

KEYS TO TEST 1

1. a) fairy tale;

   2. autobiography;

   3. romance;

   4. detective story;

   5. humour story;

   6. science story;

   7. story with social significance.

2. a, d autobiography (Charlie Chaplin, My Autobiography);

b, g romance/love story (Sue Peters, Marriage in Haste);

c, e fairy story ( Cinderella, traditional fairy story);

f, h detective story (Agatha Christie, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd).

3. a) I’m hungry.

   2. George smokes.

   3. Mary is an energetic and efficient worker.

   4. To be or not to be.

   5. English phonetic patterns are often difficult for non-native learners.

   6. There are sentences that are wordy and complicated but not really informative.

4. A) a) style;

b) surprise;

c) setting;

d) plot;

e) theme;

g) climax;

f) suspense;

h) character(s).

B) a) characters;

b) plot ;

c) suspense, surprise;

d) style;

e) setting;

f) theme;

g) climax.

KEYS TO TEST 2

1. The story “The Story of an Hour” is written by Kate Chopin. The main character, Louise Mallard, a young woman with a heart trouble, receives the news of her husband’s death in a road accident. Greatly shocked at first she retreats to her room to grieve but suddenly feels relieved. Louise realizes now that her husband is dead she is free to live as she chooses and do what she likes. When Louise is down with her relatives again, the entrance door opens and her husband, Brently Mallard, appears. It turns out that the husband’s death has been a mistake. Louise’s weak heart can not endure one more shock and she dies instantly. Everyone is sure that she dies because she is glad to see her husband safely back home.

2. a) My younger sister Louise had a serious heart trouble so when the news about her husband’s death in a road accident arrived, I tried to tell her about it as carefully as possible. She wept at once and then retired to her room to grieve. I begged her to open the door and finally she joined us downstairs. Then suddenly the entrance door opened and Brently appeared safe and sound! Louise screamed and fell down. We did our best to revive her but I think the joy of having Brently restored to life and his family was too much for her weak heart. Louise died so young and I don’t know how her husband and I will get over it.

b) When I heard Brently was dead I felt a pang in the heart and a strike of real grief, of a loss. I rushed to my room as I couldn’t bear any consolation at that moment. I fell into the armchair to cry my heart out but all of a sudden I felt a relief. Brently is gone, what am I going to do? But I am young and attractive and rich! I am absolutely free to live as I choose and do what I like! I will live long, I will be happy! But my sister is calling for me behind the door. I’d better go and pretend I’m absolutely killed. But what is it? The door opens… Brently?! Could it be Brently?! Oh, no! No, Lord! No…

c)… he came back home at the usual hour and opened the door with his own key. He saw the white faces of his relatives turning to him, their swollen eyes opening wide. Then Louise gave a faint cry and fell on the floor. He had always known she had a serious heart trouble, but he wasn’t prepared — no, not her, she was so young and beautiful! They all rushed to her, tried to revive her but in vain. He remembered doctors came and explained things about weak hearts but he didn’t listen, he also felt sick at heart. Josephine had told him Louise just couldn’t stand two shocks in an hour and died of joy that kills. What a cruel irony of fate…

d) On that sweet spring morning Louise Mallard, a young woman with a heart trouble, received a terrible blow — her husband was said to have been killed in a road accident. Her sister Josephine was really careful and tender trying to console her, but Louise rushed to her room. She fell into the armchair and cried bitterly, but then, looking into the window on a glorious spring landscape, she gradually calmed down and joined her relatives downstairs. At that moment the entrance door opened and her

husband came in. The news of his death turned out to be a mistake. At seeing her husband Louise fell dead. Doctors said her weak heart had failed her — she died of joy that kills.

3.

Element	Example	Function
1. Domestic interior (physical objects)	There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank…	The description of one’s domestic interior helps to make out the character’s social background, mode of life, habits, financial state, personal tastes, preferences and dislikes.
2. Nature	There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled above the other in the west facing her window.	The natural phenomena, described in a setting, serve as a means of expressing the emotional state of the character, as a background for the character’s state of mind, mood, feelings. The patches of blue sky showing through the clouds symbolize the gradual change in Louise’s mood: the troubles and misfortunes of her married life give way to the happiness of freedom and self-assertion, to new plans and hopes.
3. Surrounding landscape	She could see in the open square before her tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.	Seasons in fiction are often associated with stages of a human life. “Spring” symbolizes the beginning of a new life, a better one, for Louise. Spring is generally associated with the revival of Nature from a long winter sleep (Louise’s married life). Louise feels renewed, all her feelings and senses awaken –she now perceives and enjoys life with all her senses: smell (the delicious breath of rain), hearing (the distant song, the twitter of birds), eyesight (the tops…aquiver with new life), touch (the comfortable armchair). She enjoys her revival and anticipates her future free life, full of hopes and happiness. (The same idea is stressed with the image of an open window).

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Учебное издание

А в т о р ы - с о с т а в и т е л и: Елена Юрьевна Кирейчук

Татьяна Геннадьевна Васильева