Assignment 17 (chapters 76–80)

I. Pre-reading task – translate the words from the active vocabulary, write their transcription.

Active Vocabulary

p. 253

beastly

lustful

to disown smb

one’s gorge rises

to heave a sigh of relief

p. 264

to be taken for granted

p. 265

satisfaction

p. 268

to stand on one’s own feet

p. 269

to have smth in store for smb

to dispel

II. Exercises

1. Paraphrase the following sentences using the active vocabulary

1. unpleasant, disagreeable, nasty; of or like an animal

2. driven by a strong desire (esp for sexual gratification)

3. the act of fulfilling the desires or needs of smb or being fulfilled

4. to be independent or self-reliant

5. to deny any connection with; refuse to acknowledge

2. Fill in with suitable words from the active vocabulary.

1. His presence ____ all her fears.

2. I was so ____ dirty when I got to this house.

3. The very sight of so much food raises ____.

4. When they got there safely they heaved ____.

5. They felt ____ that a fair compromise had been reached.

3. Translate the following sentences into Russian.

1. I don’t admit the beastly opinion of the mortality of the soul.

2. The second major item was of equally beastly complexity.

3. The work was done to my satisfaction.

4. My gorge rises from a luscious taste of your tea.

5. The antiglobalist protest march was dispelled by the riot police force.

4. Explain the meaning of the following lexical units in your own words.

Languid, on a pretext, well-bred, fertile, enigmatic, despicable, to degrade, woe, handicap, compunction, beastly, satisfaction, to dispel

5. Make a list of proverbs Charles Townsend used in his speech. Why it is only he who uses them mostly in the novel? (Search in the chapters XX and XXI as well as in the last chapters.)

III. Questions for discussion.

1. Charlie and Kitty have the last talk. Why could not Charlie do without the talk? Describe his behaviour and speech. Why was it necessary for him to degrade Kitty? Was his victory final? How did Kitty regard her fall? What had it teach her? Describe the state of her mind at that time. Compare what she had told Walter about her child’s father with what she told Townsend.

2. Summarise Kitty’s opinion of Charles Townsend. In what way was it developing?

3. Speak about Kitty’s reaction to the changes in the Garstin family. What had changed with Mrs Garstin’s death?

4. What had changed in Kitty’s attitude to her father? In her talks with Charles and, later, with her father, she shocked them. What did each of them find shocking?

5. Describe Kitty’s ‘new catechism’. Is the ending optimistic? How do you picture Kitty’s future?

IV. Extra task.

Watch the cinema adaptation of the novel. Compare the book and the film.