2. Ralph lifted the conch again and his good humour came back...
3. Again came the sounds of cheerfulness and better heart.
9. Find sentences in chapters 2 and 3 which may confirm the following statements:
1. The parents could not know the children's whereabouts.
2. The children had a bookish idea of the fun they could have on the island.
3. At first hard work done together united the children and made them enthusiastic.
4. The children hated long and systematic work.
5. The children saw only immediate ends.
6. Jack did not like the power of the conch from the start.
7. Jack's first act of violence was directed against Piggy.
8. Jack's eyes became mad whenever hunting was frustrated or mentioned.
9. Hunting became more important to Jack than rescue.
10. There was no understanding between Jack and Ralph.
11. Ralph grew disappointed in the children.
12. Simon was thought of as somewhat insane.
10. Say whose utterances these are, what preceded them, what state of mind they convey:
1. "He wants to know what you're going to do about the snake-thing."
2. "But if there's a snake we'd hunt it and kill it." 3. "But there isn't a beast!"
4. "I can hardly see! You'll break the conch!"
5. "Where the conch is, there's a meeting. The same up here as down there."
6. "We're English; and the English are best at everything."
7. "You got your small fire all right."
8. "Meetings. Don't we love meetings?"
9. "You are chief. You tell 'em off." 10. "You and your fires!"
III. QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What difference was there between the first and the second meeting on the platform? Discuss the information Ralph gave to the audience. Why did Ralph accentuate the glamour of living on an uninhabited island? What made Jack constantly break in?
2. Comment on the first measures taken by Ralph to ensure discipline and order.
3. The episode with the little boy who was afraid of "the beastie". Why did Ralph insist that there was no beast? What was the danger of Jack's reaction to it?
4. The boys regard the possibility of being rescued. Why did Ralph follow the others when they rushed to the mountain to make a fire?
5. The boys gather the fuel. Whom did the work unite! Which of the boys was set apart?
6. Whose idea was it to use Piggy's glasses to light the fire? What was dangerous about the way the idea was put into practice? Why did Piggy protest so violently? What made Jack choose Piggy an object of his scorn?
7. The first death on the island. Was it an accident? How did the boys take it?
8. Jack's hunting activities. Was it only meat he was after? Quote the text to confirm your view.
9. Ralph is disappointed in the boys. Why did Ralph and Jack treat hunting differently? Discuss the growing antagonism between them.
10. Sum up all the references to the conch and its growing importance. What does the conch symbolize? Point out the episode when danger to the conch meant violation of order among the boys. Why was Piggy the protector and Jack - the enemy of the conch?
11. Comment upon the titles of chapters 2 and 3. Specify their implications.
ASSIGNMENT 3
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to adjust oneself to smth bloodthirsty
dubious outsider
to huddle together disinclination for smth
to exercise control over smb. chant smth
taboo to assert one's chieftainship to impose smth upon smb
ii. EXERCISES
1. Explain the meaning of these words and word combinations: to adjust oneself; dubious; to huddle together; taboo; disinclination; to chant; to impose; to assert
2. Arrange these words into pairs of synonyms: to impose; to adjust oneself; to hinder; barbarian; dubious;
to prevent; to adapt oneself; sinister; disinclination; ill-omened; to force; savage; doubtful; unwillingness
3. Study these word combinations, add some more:
a dubious result (compliment, influence), dubious help (progress, advice, value); bloodthirsty eyes (cries, savages, wolves); disinclination for manual labour (continuous effort, planning one's actions), inclination for research (self-analysis, exaggeration, aggressive actions); to impose advice upon people, to impose one's friendship upon the younger, to impose one's opinion upon the indifferent, to impose one's authority upon the audience; to assert one's rights (claims, statements, power), to assert oneself, self-assertion; to exercise control over the activities of some people (a committee, an institution, a department)
4. Translate the sentences into Russian:
1. The woman was the self-assertive type: peremptory, admitting of no criticism but provoking a lot. 2. His aunt's arrival was a dubious surprise. 3. It will be difficult for you to adjust yourself to the new routine within a fortnight. 4. Your
inclination for laughing at the wrong moments and your disinclination for serious effort go hand in hand, don't they? 5 When it started raining, the sheep huddled together under an enormous oak-tree. 6.1 don't want to impose my will upon you nor exercise control over your actions, but I strongly advise you to think twice before taking your final decision. 7. The football fans chanted encouragements to their favourites producing a lot of unwelcome noise throughout the match. 8. The boy playing the role of the wolf made such bloodthirsty cries that the spectators looked at him in terror. 9. The errant son's name became a taboo in the Hyde family.
5. Make up sentences of your own with these words and expressions: dubious, outsider, to huddle together, to impose smth on (upon) smb, disinclination for smth
6. Discuss episodes from your own life when:
1. somebody tried to assert his (her) authority in the wrong way; 2. you turned out to be an outsider;
3. somebody gave you dubious advice; 4. you failed to adjust yourself to a new rule, regulation or way of life; 5. somebody's name was tabooed.
7. Recall the situations from the book where the following sentences occur:
1. Nevertheless, the northern European tradition of work, play and food right through the day, made it impossible for them to adjust themselves wholly to this new rhythm.
2. ...though there was a dubious region inhabited by Sim and Robert and Maurice, nevertheless no one had any difficulty in recognising biguns at one end and littluns at the other.
3. They suffered untold terrors at night and huddled together for comfort.
4. He became absorbed beyond mere happiness as he himself exercising control over living things.
5. Here, invisible but strong, was the taboo of the old life
6. He began to dance and his laughter became bloodthirsty snarling.
7. There had grown tacitly among the biguns the opinion that Piggy was an outsider... by fat, and ass-mar, and specs, a certain disinclination for manual labour.
8. They were chanting, something to do with the bundle that the errant twins carried so carefully.
9. His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge... that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it...
10. So Ralph asserted his chieftainship and could not have chosen a better way if he had thought for days.
8. Apply the words and word combinations below to situations different from those in the novel: dubious; to exercise control over smth; bloodthirsty; outsider; disinclination for smth; to impose smth upon smb
9. Paraphrase or explain:
1. The littlun Percival had early crawled into a shelter and stayed there for two days, talking, singing, and crying, till they thought him batty and were faintly amused. (p. 108)
2. In his other life Maurice had received chastisement for filling a younger eye with sand. (p. 110)
3. Roger's arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins. (p. 113)
4. He (Jack) capered towards Bill, and the mask was a thing of its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness. (p. 115)
5. Not even Ralph knew how a link between him and Jack had been snapped and fastened elsewhere. (p. 127)
6. Numberless and inexpressible frustrations combined to make his rage elemental and awe-inspiring. (p. 129)
10. Find sentences confirming that:
1. the children were afraid of the dark; 2. the younger imitated the older; 3. Roger enjoyed throwing stones at Henry; 4. Jack's mask had more than one function; 5. Jack made some children disobey Ralph's orders; 6. Jack took delight in the act of killing; 7. Jack's violence shifted Ralph and Piggy's relations.
11. Say why this happened:
1. Roger led the way straight through the castles, kicking them over, burying the flowers, scattering the chosen stones. (p. 110)
2. The mask compelled them. (p. 115)
3. Ralph picked out Jack easily, ... tall, red-haired, and inevitably leading the procession. (p. 121)
4. He (Jack) took a step, and able at last to hit someone I stuck his fist into Piggy's stomach. (p. 125)