W.S. Maugham

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 364.

Characters

a) Which of the adjectives and word combinations characterize the main heroes of the story? (Your choice should be illustrated by the facts from the story)

trustworthy; ignorant; sympathetic; romantic; realistic; straightforward; soft-hearted; egoistic; rude; calculating; naive; idle; aimless

b) Give character sketches of the main heroes of the story.

• Talking points

1. Relations in the family:

a) Do you think there should be any secrets between its members?

b) What is a role of the wife in her husband's career?

c) Should people stay together if they understood there's no love left?

· Prepositions

1. She had stepped ... the kerb to rejoin her lover.

2. He had always taken it ... granted.

3. She had given him no chance to pull ... .

4. She was ... no need ... financial assistance.

5. “Gilbert”, he read, opening it... random.

6. That first year he had been standing ... Parliament.

7. He paused here to speculate ... what might have been.

8. She was scarcely distinguishable ... any other woman.

(1877 - 1965 )

W.S. Maugham lived a long and interesting life, travelled all over the world and met a lot of people. We know him as a short-story writer, as a novelist and a playwright who created a so called “well-made play” based on a through intrigue and flexible dialogues. Laconic style and enthralling plot, inner logic, relaxed narrating and calm intonation of the teller leave conclusions up to the reader. Each short story besides its own subject has one main question which S. Maugham couldn't find the answer to - “What do people live for?” Among his works there are: collected stories: “The Cosmopolitans”; “Very Short Stories” 1936; “The Mixture as Before” 1940; “Creatures of Circumstance” 1947; novels: “Of Human Bondage” 1915; “The Moon and Sixpence” 1919; “The Painted Veil” 1925; “Cakes and Ale” 1930; “Theater” 1937; “The Summing Up” 1938.