As Napoleon Bonaparte swept from victory to victory in Europe, he began to
think he might add the East to the possessions of the French Republic.byJawaharlal Nehru
By Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain. Source
‘The Weaver’, painted by Vincent van Gogh in 1884.
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‘The Weaver’, painted in 1884 by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). Silas Marner should not be thought of as a miser of the cartoonish type. He was a decent man who had seen his character warped by unhappy experiences. His obsession with work and with money was a pitiable reaction to an earlier injustice that had cost him his home, his reputation, the woman he loved, even his religious faith, and all this at the hands of his best friend. That much he had in common with Charles Dickens’s unforgettable Ebenezer Scrooge. Unlike Scrooge, however, who revenged himself on those who had done him no harm, Marner’s vices had little impact on others, as Eliot is careful to remind us. When little Eppie came into his life, Silas so quickly forgot the grief of losing his savings that we realise greed had never truly possessed him.
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‘The Weaver’, painted by Vincent van Gogh in 1884.
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By Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
‘The Weaver’, painted in 1884 by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). Silas Marner should not be thought of as a miser of the cartoonish type. He was a decent man who had seen his character warped by unhappy experiences. His obsession with work and with money was a pitiable reaction to an earlier injustice that had cost him his home, his reputation, the woman he loved, even his religious faith, and all this at the hands of his best friend. That much he had in common with Charles Dickens’s unforgettable Ebenezer Scrooge. Unlike Scrooge, however, who revenged himself on those who had done him no harm, Marner’s vices had little impact on others, as Eliot is careful to remind us. When little Eppie came into his life, Silas so quickly forgot the grief of losing his savings that we realise greed had never truly possessed him.
HE searched in every corner, he turned his bed over, and shook it, and kneaded it; he looked in his brick oven where he laid his sticks. When there was no other place to be searched, he kneeled down again and felt once more all round the hole. There was no untried refuge left for a moment’s shelter from the terrible truth.
Yes, there was a sort of refuge which always comes with the prostration of thought under an overpowering passion: it was that expectation of impossibilities, that belief in contradictory images, which is still distinct from madness, because it is capable of being dissipated by the external fact. Silas got up from his knees trembling, and looked round at the table: didn’t the gold lie there after all? The table was bare. Then he turned and looked behind him — looked all round his dwelling, seeming to strain his brown eyes after some possible appearance of the bags where he had already sought them in vain. He could see every object in his cottage — and his gold was not there.
Again he put his trembling hands to his head, and gave a wild ringing scream, the cry of desolation.
ByGeorge Eliot1819-1880
From ‘Silas Marner’ (1861), by George Eliot (1819-1880). George Eliot was the pen-name of Mary Ann Evans.
Questions for Critics
1. What is the author
aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that
strike you. How do they help the author communicate her
ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you?
How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939)
by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at
Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn,
Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University,
USA.
Précis
A feverish search of his house follows, from workroom to bedroom, but reveals no coins. For a moment, his mind still refuses to accept what his senses tell him, but it is a last flicker of fading hope, not a settled delusion. Reason at last acknowledges that the coins are quite gone, and Silas lets out an anguished cry.(59 / 60 words)
A feverish search of his house follows, from workroom to bedroom, but reveals no coins. For a moment, his mind still refuses to accept what his senses tell him, but it is a last flicker of fading hope, not a settled delusion. Reason at last acknowledges that the coins are quite gone, and Silas lets out an anguished cry.
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Variations:
1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words.2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words.3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, if, may, must, otherwise, since, unless, until.
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1Candle.Desolation.End.
2Refuge.Turn.Under.
3Dark.Effort.Last.
Variations:1.include direct and indirect speech2.include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who3.use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
For each word below, compose sentences to show that it may be used as an adjective. Adjectives provide extra information about a noun, e.g. a black cat, a round table, the early bird etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Variations:
1.show whether your adjective can also be used as e.g. a noun, verb or adverb.2.show whether your adjective can be used in comparisons (e.g. good/better/best).3.show whether your adjective can be used in attributive position (e.g. a dangerous corner) and also in predicate position (this corner is dangerous).
In each group below, you will find words that are similar to one another, but not exactly the same. Compose your own sentences to bring out the similarities and differences between them, whether in meaning, grammar or use.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
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