Notes on style

1. In Leacock's story "How We Kept Mother's Day" you will find numerous words and phrases of informal functional style (See Note A on p. 52), е.g. all that kind of thing (cf. the Russian «и все такое»), awfully (in "awfully becoming", cf. the Russian «ужас как идет; потрясающе к лицу»), a little bit («чуть-чуть»), have a big day («здорово провести время»), get messed up («перемазаться, вывозиться в грязи»), the dinner... was great fun («весело было за обедом»), etc.

Note also the interjection well introducing some of the passages (which normally occurs in oral speech), the omission of the conjunction that and the syntax imitating that of oral communication by its free and careless structures.

2. The story presents an interesting example of the indirect method of characterization. The author does not say directly that the members of the family were selfish, callous and hard-hearted people (that would be the direct method of characterization) but makes them act and lets the reader draw his own conclusion.

3. "How We Kept Mother's Day" is a humorous story. Humour in fiction may be of two principal types. It may be humour of situation when the author makes us laugh at certain funny or absurd facts, е.g. the members of the family buying presents for themselves on Mother's Day, but buying nothing for their mother. There is also humour of words when the reader does not laugh at what is happening in the story but at how it is put by the author. E. g. But of course we all felt that it would never do to let Father stay at home, especially as we knew he would make trouble if he did.

ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY (I)

Words

afford υ funny adj repay υ effort n

get υ sacrifice υ, n enjoy υ guess υ

treat υ, n especially adv hire υ treatment n

fetch υ keep υ trim υ fun n

occur υ turn υ purpose n unfortunately adv

Word Combinations

for smb.'s sake to get over smth.

to stay (at) home from college (classes, school) to take smb. for a drive

to dress in one's best (worst) in case

just as well to stand (be) in smb.'s way

for such an occasion to make trouble

to turn out to be no use

in the end to get on smb.'s nerves

to care for smb. (or smth.) to turn inside out

to keep back to turn over

for a little (short, long) to turn up

while to turn upside down

to get up and down for (in) fun

to get to some place to make fun of smb.