2020-10-11
365
Consult dictionaries. Put down the transcription of the following words. Practise reading them.
weird ________________________ pathetic ___________________________
questionnaire _________________ glare _____________________________
goatee _______________________ hypothermia _______________________
frivolity ______________________ row ______________________________
Think over the answers to the following questions and get ready to discuss them in class.
Marcus and His Mum
1. How old was Marcus?
How old was his mum?
How long had Marcus and his mum lived in London?
Where had they lived before?
What had happened in their life four years before?
Speak on “ two different sorts of life ” Marcus had.
Which life do you think he preferred? Why?
2. What was Marcus’s “basic problem”?
What made him different from other kids at school?
3. How did the kids treat Marcus at school?
Were his relations with kids different when they lived in Cambridge?
Why, in your opinion?
What was the basic reason for his troubles?
4. What did Marcus’s mum think about her son’s problems at school?
Did she take them seriously?
Speak on Marcus’s mum ’s principles.
Find in the novel and take notes of what she thought about
modern films, music, computer games: ____________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
fashion: ____________________________________________________________
Do you think she was right?
Marcus’s Character Sketch
How can you characterize Marcus? What traits of character did he possess? Circle the adjectives which can be used to describe the boy’s character. Give reasons. What other qualities can you name?
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kind shy envious brave sympathetic
outgoing quarrelsome timid shrewd ill-mannered weird obstinate sensible sensitive arrogant frank
______________ __________ ___________
Do you think Marcus was lonely and unhappy?
Do you feel sorry for Marcus?
Will Freeman
1. How old was Will Freeman?
2. What were the criteria according to which Will scored extremely high points for being cool?
3. Why did Will think that he wouldn’t have been able to survive 60 years ago?
4. What was Will’s occupation?
5. What was his daily routine?
6. What was Will’s attitude to children and family life?
Why did people have children in his opinion?
Do you share Will’s point of view?
p. 4 “He found the remote control down the back of the sofa and zapped through the channels. …”
This paragraph is one of the examples of Hornby’s wry humour. In order to distract his mum from her sorrows, Marcus selects a programme about a fish. Has he made the right choice?
What do you think the fish symbolizes?
p. 14 “He was quite happy at home, listening to Joni Mitchell and reading books … kids and teachers and lessons.”
Get ready to read and translate this paragraph. What is the main idea of the paragraph? Why did the kids give Marcus a hard time at school? What is the meaning of the word ‘ funny ’ in this paragraph?
Humour in the novel
Like many distinguished English writers, Nick Hornby uses humour to explore different issues of life. Sometimes the situations themselves are comic, sometimes the humour is achieved by the discrepancy between what Marcus is thinking and what the grown-up reader is thinking.
Point out any situations described in the novel which seemed comic to you and made you laugh.
