Chapter 12
Discuss the chapter answering the following questions
Speak about the final changes in the life of the tribe. Do you think they are completed? Why?
What present did Clare decide to give to Aunt Susan?
Describe Aunt Susan’s birthday.
What do you think about the relationship between Maureen and John?
How does the spring correlate with Clare new state of mind?
Why did she donate the tamburan to the museum?
Comment on Aunt Susan words: “You can’t carry a museum round with you. Never will you need to.” Is she right?
Find in the text the sentences containing the following words and word combinations; translate them into Russian; use them in the sentences of your own.
Clump, martyrdom, plunge, strand, tartly, wheeze.
Questions and Tasks for Final Discussion
1. Study the following information about Penelope Lively. What other books of her can you name?
Penelope Lively (born in 1933) has written over 18 books for children, and over 15 titles for adults, distinguishing herself on both levels. Among the awards she has received are the coveted Booker Prize for the adult novel "Moon Tiger" (1987) and the Carnegie Medal for the highly acclaimed juvenile work, "The Ghost of Thomas Kempe" (1973). In Lively's writing, for both adults and children, the recurrent theme is interpreting the past through exploring the function of memory. "My particular preoccupation as a writer is with memory. Both with memory in the historical sense and memory in the personal sense." Beginning her writing career in the early 1970's, Lively wrote exclusively for children for over a decade. Because children have limited memories, devices were used to explore their perceptions of the past, such as ghosts in "Uninvited Ghosts and Other Stories" (1985), and a sampler in "A Stitch in Time' (1976). Lively's first adult novel, "The Road to Lichfield" (1977) was the result of turning to an older audience when she felt inspiration running out. Her adult novels include "Passing On" (1995), the story of a mother's legacy to her children and 'Oleander, Jacarandi: A Childhood Perceived' (1994) which is a memoir of Lively's childhood. Penelope (Low) Lively, born March 17, 1933 in Cairo, Egypt, had a most unusual childhood. She grew up in Cairo with no formal education until age 12, when her family put her in boarding school in England. After earning a B.A. in history at Oxford in 1955, she married Jack Lively, a university professor, whom she calls her most useful critic. They have a son and a daughter, Adam and Josephine.
2. What are the main themes of “The House in Norham Gardens”?
3. What are the main problems raised in the book?
4. Speak on the main character – Clare. What does her name symbolize? Does it coincide with her nature?
5. Prepare a short paper on one of the secondary characters (Aunt Susan and Aunt Anne; Maureen; Liz; John Sempebwa; teachers at Clare’s school; Mrs. Hedges).
6. Speak on Clare’s great-grandfather. Why can we consider him a character of the book too?
7. There are practically two parallel stories in the book: the story of Clare and the story of tribal people on the island far away from Britain. What is the role of their story in the whole book? Is it necessary for its understanding? Why?
8.There are several different worlds in the book. What do you think they are?
9. Characterize the image of the House in the novel.
10. What is you opinion on the book? Prepare a critical review of the novel.