Analysis.

The author of this text is Jerome K. Jerome. He is a popular English writer. The most famous works are Three Men in a Boat, The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, Novel Notes and Three Men on the Bummel which belong to the end of 19^th century and the beginning of 20^th century. He is famous for his art of story-telling and his humour which is based on misunderstanding. He is good at revealing the weak sides of human nature.

This extract is about three men who decided to cook an Irish stew. They began cooking from peeling the potatoes. They threw another products which they wished to get rid of and mixed all carefully. At the end Montmorency bought fresh caught water-rat. After some discussions these three men decided to try something new and added the rat. Eventually, they were very happy by their cook masterpiece.

By this text the author wanted to tell us that it had better to try something new than to be indifferent and do everything as usual. People ought to develop in this case world progress would go ahead.

Jerome presents his story as 1^st-person narration with descriptive passages. This extract may be divided into the following parts. The first one is a description of Sonning. The second is decision of cooking an Irish stew. The third is Montmorency’s contribution to the dinner. The last one is about great success of Irish stew. This text is written with the cheerful, humorous, emotional and optimistic prevailing mod.

The author used in this text a lot of lexical and stylistic devices which helped to create the needful atmosphere. In the description of Sonning Jerome used metaphor: they (roses) were bursting forth in clouds of dainty splendour; simile: it is more like a stage village than one built of bricks and mortar; epithets: veritable picture, quaint rooms, winding passages, splendid opportunity, a slap-up supper, sweet Sonning. The author underlines his own attitude towards the village, he conveys his positive emotions to the reader.

Moreover, Jerome used polysyndeton with help of connectives: with low quaint rooms and latticed windows and awkward stairs and winding passages; with the vegetables and the remains of the cold beef and general odds and ends; all bumps and warts and hollows and so on. He used these enumerations to increase the comic effect.

The author added also asyndeton. It is the sentence which is equal a paragraph in the text. The author described the climax when Montmorency brought a dead water-rat. The author kept the reader in suspense using the sentence where the connectives are deliberately omitted.

In addition, Jerome used hyperbole: the potato-scrapings in which Harris and I stood, half-smothered, could have come off four potatoes. He used a deliberate overstatement to reveal the humour of situation.

Moreover, he also used irony: It’s men such as you the hamper the world’s progress. One’s palate gets so tired of the old hackneyed things; similes: Montmorency evidently wished to present as his contribution to the dinner; a taste like nothing else on earth; gravy was a poem;

All these language means reveal the author’s manner, his style of writing. He renders his feeling and thoughts with epithets, similes, metaphors and so on.

In conclusion, it is worth adding that the author shows us the weak sides of people in such humorous manner.