Follow-Up Work. 1. Analyse the process of narrowing down the meaning of nouns in bold type:

1. Analyse the process of narrowing down the meaning of nouns in bold type:

a) To Sandy the unfamiliar pineapple had the authentic taste and appearance of happiness and she focused her small eyes closely on the pale gold cubes before she scooped them up in her spoon, and she thought the sharp taste on her tongue was that of a special happiness, which was nothing to do with eating, and was different from the happiness of play that one enjoyed unawares. (M. Spark)

b) ‘Do they know?’ he asked at last, pointing to the persons on the verandah, now sitting in unusual, unaccountablesilence.

The sky had still the pallor of dawn, there was a ghostly silence on the lagoon.

The silence was intense. It was with a sigh of relief that at last he came upon the little unpainted house, extraordinarily bedraggled now, and unkempt; but here too was the same intolerable silence. (S. Maugham)

c) Lady Lucas was a very good kind of woman, not too clever to be a valuable neighbour to Mrs Bennett. They had several children. The eldest of them, a sensible, intelligent young woman, about twenty-seven, was Elizabeth’s intimate friend. (J. Austen)

d) “Funny you should mention that,” he said. He leaned over toward Pete, looking around to make sure that none of the other passengers was listening. “Matter of fact,” he said, “I have been noticing a queer sensation in the mornings. Just as you say, it happens just when we’re coming out of the tunnel. Thought it was my heart, tell you the truth. You think it’s something everyone feels?”

…”When do you get the sensation?”

“About halfway across the bridge. Every morning for the past two weeks I’ve been getting it. It’s like a mild, unlocalized electric shock.”

…With only a few exceptions, everyone admitted to some kind of unusualsensation on entering the city. The sensation seemed to be the same for all, though it was apparently more intense in some than in others. No one could remember a similarsensation on leaving the city. (M. Gunther)

e) Sorrow came - a gentlesorrow - but not at all in the shape of any disagreeable consciousness. Miss Taylor married. It was Miss Taylor's loss which first brought grief. It was on the wedding-day of this beloved friend that Emma first sat in mournful thought of any continuance. The wedding over, and the bride-people gone, her father and herself were left to dine together, with no prospect of a third to cheer a long evening. Her father composed himself to sleep after dinner, as usual, and she had then only to sit and think of what she had lost. (J. Austen)

2. Compare the dictionary data for nouns in bold type and their contextual use:

I have never begun a novel with more misgiving. If I call it a novel it is only because I don’t know what else to call it. I have little story to tell and I end neither with a death nor a marriage. Death ends all things and so is the comprehensive conclusion of a story, but marriage finishes it very properly too and the sophisticated are ill-advised to sneer at what is by convention termed a happy ending. (S. Maugham)

3. Comment on the article deixis of the proper names in the contexts below:

a) When we left I walked away with Miss Waterford, and the fine day and her new hat persuaded us to saunter through the Park.

‘That was a very nice party’, I said.

‘Did you think the food was good? I told her (Mrs. Strickland) that if she wanted writers she must feed them well.’

‘Admirable advice,’ I answered. ‘But why does she want them?’

Miss Waterford shrugged her shoulders…

‘Is there a Mr. Strickland? I asked. (S. Maugham)

b) ‘What were the main influences of your school days, Sister Helena? Were they literary or political or personal? Was it Calvinism?’

Sandy said: There was a Miss Jean Brodie in her prime.’ (M. Spark)

c) The question of whether Miss Brodie was actually capable of being kissed and of kissing occupied the Brodie set till Christmas. For the war-time romance of her life had presented to their minds a Miss Brodie of hardly flesh and blood, since that younger Miss Brodie belonged to the prehistory of before their birth. Sitting under the elm last autumn, Miss Brodie’s story of ‘when I was a girl’ had seemed much less real, and yet more believable than this report by Monica Douglas. (M. Spark)

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