Introduction
In February 1898 the Aga Khan, then twenty, left Bombay for Europe. After some days enjoying life on the French Riviera he travelled on to Paris and London, and there in the glorious and bewitching Imperial capital he was presented at Windsor Castle to Queen Victoria herself. It was an intimate affair: only himself, his friend the Duke of Connaught and the Empress, now approaching her eightieth birthday.
SHE received me with the utmost courtesy and affability. The Queen, enfolded in voluminous black wraps and shawls, was seated on a big sofa. Was she tall or short, was she stout or not? I could not tell; her posture and her wraps made assessments of that kind quite impossible. I kissed the hand which she held out to me.
She had an odd accent, a mixture of Scotch and German — the German factor in which was perfectly explicable by the fact that she was brought up in the company of her mother, a German princess, and a German governess, Baroness Lehzen. She also had the German conversational trick of interjecting “so” — pronounced “tzo” — frequently into her remarks.
I was knighted by the Queen at this meeting but she observed that, since I was a prince myself and the descendant of many kings, she would not ask me to kneel, or to receive the accolade and the touch of the sword upon my shoulder, but she would simply hand the order to me. I was greatly touched by her consideration and courtesy.
By
Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, Aga Khan III
1877-1957
From
‘The Memoirs Of Aga Khan’ (1954), by Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, Aga Khan III (1877-1957), with an introduction by W. Somerset Maugham.
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 his
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
In 1898 the young Aga Khan visited London, to be knighted by Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle. The Queen surprised him a little with her bundle of shawls and German habits of speech, but more when she neither dubbed him with a sword nor asked him to kneel, out of respect for his royal lineage. That gesture deeply moved him.
(60 / 60 words)
In 1898 the young Aga Khan visited London, to be knighted by Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle. The Queen surprised him a little with her bundle of shawls and German habits of speech, but more when she neither dubbed him with a sword nor asked him to kneel, out of respect for his royal lineage. That gesture deeply moved him.
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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, although, just, must, otherwise, since, until, whereas.
Archive
Word Games
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.
1
Assessment.
But.
Governess.
2
Ask.
Princess.
Since.
3
Consideration.
Order.
Quite.
Variations:
1.
include direct and indirect speech
2.
include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who
3.
use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Each of the words below has more than one possible meaning. Compose your own sentences to show what those different meanings are.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1.
Mine.
2.
Hold.
3.
Kind.
4.
Order.
Show Suggestions
For each word above, choose one or more suitable
meanings from this list.
1.
Sympathetic and generous.
2.
Bishop, priest or deacon.
3.
Sequence.
4.
List of items for purchase.
5.
E.g. Benedictines.
6.
Command.
7.
Have in the hands; one’s grip.
8.
Chief cargo space of a ship.
9.
Pit.
10.
Belonging to me.
11.
Opposite of chaos.
12.
Not chaos.
13.
Sort, type.
Many words can serve as noun or verb depending on context: see if you can prove this with the examples below. Nouns go well with words such as the/a, or his/her; verbs go well after I/you/he etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1
Order.
2
Make.
3
Hand.
4
Hold.
5
Touch.
6
Seat.
7
Meet.
8
Wrap.
9
Shoulder.
Variations:
1.if possible, use your noun in the plural, e.g. cat → cats.
2.use your verb in a past form, e.g. go → went.
3.use your noun in a sentence with one of these words: any, enough, fewer, less, no, some.
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
stds
(5+1)
See Words
steadies.
studies.
studios.
studious.
studs.
steeds.
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or ask for help with any of the
exercises on Clay Lane. Write to me at this address:
nicholas@claylane.uk
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