Makarova N.P., Yanin S.I. TEXT INTERPRETATION THROUGH SHORT STORIES BY AND ABOUT WOMEN МИНОБРНАУКИ РОССИИ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ ВЫСШЕГО ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ «МОРДОВСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ им. Н.П.ОГАРЁВА» Н.П. МАКАРОВА, С.И. ЯНИН TEXT INTERPRETATION THROUGH SHORT STORIES BY AND ABOUT WOMEN УЧЕБНОЕ ПОСОБИЕ САРАНСК ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВО МОРДОВСКОГО УНИВЕРСИТЕТА 2011 1 УДК 81’42:811.111-26 ББК I143.21 Рецензенты: кафедра английского языка ГОУВПО «МГПИ им. М.Е Евсевьева»; кандидат педагогических наук, доцент кафедры лингводидактики и методики преподавания иностранных языков, декан факультета международных отношений, экономики и управления Нижегородского государственного лингвистического университета им. Н. П. Добролюбова О.А. Миронова. Н.П. Макарова, С.И. Янин TexT InTerpreTaTion Through ShorT STories By and AbouT Women: учеб.пособие / Н.П. Макарова, С.И. Янин; Мордов. гос. ун-т. – Саранск, 2011. – 100с. Учебное пособие содержит 12 коротких рассказов, написанных англоязычными авторами- женщинами о женщинах, и состоит из трех разделов, каждый из которых знакомит студентов с определенным этапом жизни женщины – детством, юностью и зрелостью. После каждого рассказа соответствующего раздела предлагается комплекс конкретных вопросов для обсуждения и интерпретации и даются задания творческого характера для более глубокой проработки изучаемой тематики. В конце каждого раздела представлен обобщающий практический материал по интерпретации текста, который поможет оценить степень усвоения прочитанного, и предложен образец креативного эссе на тему данного раздела. Пособие предназначено для студентов старших курсов, магистрантов институтов и факультетов иностранных языков отделения «Английская филология», а также широкого круга читателей, желающих совершенствовать навыки лингвистического анализа и интерпретации художественного текста. 2 Preface “TexT InTerpreTaTion Through ShorT STories By and AbouT Women” aims To involve fifTh-year sTudenTs direcTly and immediaTely in The process of inTellecTual inquiry. AcTive, engaged reading will develop Their resources and resourcefulness, sTimulaTe and clarify Their responses To TexTs. Reading and inTerpreTing are boTh personal and social acTs – personal because we bring our individual percepTions and experiences To bear on TexTs when reading and inTerpreTing; and social because The meanings we creaTe depend on a shared undersTanding of language and culTure ThaT is shaped in discussion wiTh oThers. Our goal is To Teach sTudenTs To Think and speak criTically abouT a varieTy of TexTs. We aTTempT To show sTudenTs how They can parTicipaTe in The consTrucTion of a TexT’s meaning by reading iT ThoughTfully and speaking abouT iT in relaTion To Their lives and ThoughTs. So The presenT manual provides an approach To The inTerpreTaTion and evaluaTion of TexTs. The manual conTains 12 shorT sTories. They are works from many Time periods and culTures, wiTh represenTaTive liTeraTure from women wriTing abouT alTernaTive life sTyles. Included are sTories abouT subjecTs of universal imporTance ThaT span a wide range of disciplines, differenT viewpoinTs and values on Topics ThaT include relaTionships, educaTion, work, power, naTure, religion and science. Reading abouT This broad range of Topics offers sTudenTs ample opporTuniTy To develop Their powers of TexT analysis, evaluaTion and inTerpreTaTion, as well as To see close connecTions among disciplines. The inTerrelaTionships and diversiTies among The sTories are discussed in The Introduction To each secTion. AddiTional apparaTus includes TexT inTerpreTaTion quesTions aT The end of each sTory, auThors’ biographies, a lisT of resources and an index of auThors and TiTles aT The end of The manual. Each individual sTory is preceded by a brief commenT To sTimulaTe sTudenTs’ inTeresT and is followed by a series of Tasks “For Further Exploration” (referring To aT leasT one oTher work on a similar Theme). The quesTions are inTended To exTend reading possibiliTies, suggesTing furTher connecTions among The sTories and can be used by The insTrucTor for discussion or by The sTudenT for essay Topics. AT The end of each secTion we have also provided concreTe models of composiTion and essay wriTing wiThin The Topics discussed in The corresponding secTion To encourage comparaTive inTerpreTaTion of shorT sTories. These added pedagogical aids, we believe, will enhance The manual’s value for Teacher and sTudenT alike. *** 3 Section I Introduction • IniTiaTion • Exploring The personal universe • Developing expecTaTions • RelaTing To The family • EsTablishing riTuals • Moving from fanTasy To realiTy STories of girls growing up are ofTen regarded wiTh pleasanT surprise by readers who rediscover The naTuralness of childhood depicTed by The auThors in SecTion 1. IT is refreshing To see females as vigorous and forThrighT children devoid of preTense or aT leasT relaTively unhampered by The resTricTive codes ThaT Too ofTen become a source of conflicT laTer in life. While iT is True ThaT socieTy’s force is already a palpable presence in The sTories, social codes are noT yeT blaTanTly inTernalized as in many accounTs of laTer life sTages. Indeed, children shouT, quarrel and quesTion in These sTories, demonsTraTing ThaT They are Truly alive and engaged in each new world They encounTer – naTure, family, school and friends. They seek knowledge and idenTiTy for Themselves, raTher Than for or Through oThers as many women begin To do in adolescence and beyond: They are selfish in The besT sense of The Term, neiTher docile nor domineering. The “lessons” These young women begin To learn vary widely in The sTories from meaningful experience To didacTic guidelines as To how To become socially accepTable. In some cases, parenTs Themselves presenT models of behavior ThaT suggesT lifeTimes of sex-sTereoTyped behavior, wiTh liTTle opporTuniTy for The individual expression These young women obviously seek. The final quesTion raised by many of These sTories is wheTher The girls can remain visible and real or will become near-invisible shadows of Their former selves as children. Female children in The sTories of This secTion are described as confronTing a wide world of naTural and maTerial objecTs, people and ideas. Common Themes one mighT expecT To see, such as dealing wiTh parenTs and siblings, learning The ofTen resTricTive mores of socieTy and expanding communicaTion wiTh oThers do indeed appear. In addiTion, several moTifs emerge in childhood which mighT aT firsT seem surprising, such as The noTions of coming To Terms wiTh deaTh, having an adulT woman friend and enjoying a privaTe place in naTure. Typical childhood Topics having To do wiTh living in a family group include learning To give and To share, developing a feeling of securiTy, experiencing The exchange of love and The exTreme dominaTion of parenTs. However, much of The unconscious concern in childhood has To do wiTh a child learning a sex role – The process of socializaTion ThaT Teaches girls To be more docile, less aggressive Than boys. Female children develop a desire To please ThaT sTays wiTh Them much of Their lives, culminaTing in The modern adulT phenomenon of women Trying To learn To express Their anger, while men are Trying To repress Their aggression. Young girls do noT resTrain poTenTial aggression only because “boys are bigger”, buT also because They learn To seek male approval in all areas. WiTh less emphasis on compeTiTive games and Team sporTs for girls, women laTer find Themselves more likely To compeTe wiTh members of The same sex (for male aTTenTion in areas, such as jobs, husbands, recogniTion) Than To see women as members of The same Team. In addiTion, from infancy, codes of proper behavior – such as noT being unruly, boisTerous – are reinforced by The wearing of resTricTive cloThing meanT To be kepT neaT, clean and preTTy. This prisTine image of The “ideal” girl in life is evidenT in mosT of The sTories abouT women’s childhood sTage presenTed in This secTion, and is subTly saTirized by several of The auThors. *** 4 Story 1 Jessamyn West (1907-1984) Minta, the young girl in this sTory, portrays what is perhaps the most important vision of childhood - the belief that оnе is special, destined for greatness, and diffеrеnt frоm the rest of the family. Саn she preserve the joy and inspiration оf her "child's day"? А CНILD'S DAY "I MinTa," The child said, "in The OcTober dау, in The dying OcTober dау." She walked over To The fireplace and sTood so ThaT The slanTing sunlighT fell onTo her bare shoulder wiTh а red wine sTain. The ashes, so lighT and dry, smelled raw, rain-weT. Or perhaps iT's The waTer оn The chrysanThemums, she ThoughT, or perhaps The biTTer, auTumn-flavored chrysanThemums Themselves. She lisTened for her second hearTbeaT, The Three-day Tap of The loosened shingle. BuT iT was dead, iT beaT no more. For Three days The SanTa Ana had buffeTed The house, buT now aT evening iT had died down, had blown iTself ouT. IT was blown ouT, buT iT lefT iTs signs: The piled sand bу The easT door sills, The Tumble weeds caughT in The angle of The corral The sign board bу The elecTric Tracks, face down; The eucalypTus uprighT, buT wiTh Tom limb dangling. "The SabbaTh evening", said The girl, "The auTumn SabbaTh evening." And brighT and warm againsT The day's sober deaTh, The year's sad end, burned her own brighT living. She walked To her own room, across her fallen nighTgown, pasT her unmade bеd, and opened The casemenT window and leaned ouT Toward The wesT. There The sun was near To seTTing, red in The dusT, and The lighTs in The disTanT well riggings already blazed. She waTched The sun drop unTil The black Tracery of а derrick crossed iTs face. "The dау dies," murmured The girl; "iTs burnished wrack burns in yon wesTern sky." Then she was quieT so ThaT no single word should fall To ripple The clear surface of her joy. The pepper Tree rusTled; There was а liTTle sTir in The leaves of The bougainvillaea. From The ocean, TwenTy miles away, The sea air was beginning To mоvе back across The land. "IT is as good againsT The dry face as waTer." She pushed her crackling hair away from her cheeks.