Make up a dialogue using the active vocabulary.

DEAD POETS SOCIETY

By N.H. Kleinbaum

Assignment I.

Chapters 1-3.

Study the active vocabulary. Recall the situations in which it is employed.

1. To be in existence

2. To nudge smb. up

3. A byword

4. To fight back tears

5. To offer a handshake

6. To pull the grades up (Am.)

7. Rumor has it (Am.)

8. To flunk (some subject) (Am.)

9. To flatter

10. To stand face to face with smb.

11. To stop midsentence

12. To dispute

13. To feel overwhelmed with some emotion

14. To lose sleep over smth.

15. To speak up

2. Answer the questions:

· How long has the faculty you’re studying at been in existence?

· Have you ever … flunked English?

lost sleep over your studies?

disputed with a teacher?

helped anyone to pull the grades up?

felt overwhelmed with hatred?

stood face to face with your enemy?

· What do you call those who flatter other people?

· Do you lose your thought if you are stopped midsentence?

· What is expected of a person when he is offered a handshake?

· Should one fight back tears or burst out crying if he feels like it in public?

· What sort of people can speak up for themselves?

Make up a dialogue using the active vocabulary.

4. Relying on an English-English dictionary explain what is meant by:

a private school, a preparatory school, Ivy League Schools, the dorm (dormitory), seventh graders, transfer students, alumnae, school annual, an academy blazer, demerit.

5. Paraphrase the following sentences:

· The four pillars are the bywords of this school and they will become the cornerstones of your lives (p. 2)

· “Well, you’ve won the booby prize”, Neil laughed. (p. 5)

· “Welcome to Hellton”, Meeks laughed. (p. 6)

· His resolve always crumbled under the threats of guilt and punishment. (p. 6)

· “Oh, that’s rich”, he sneered. “Like you tell YOUR parents off, Mr. Future Lawyer and Mr. Future Banker!” (p. 6-7)

· “Todd, if you’re gonna make it around here, you’ve got to speak up. The meek might inherit the earth, but they don’t get into Harvard; know what I mean?” (p. 7)

6. Questions and topics for discussion:

1. The US private schools. What do you know about private schools existing in the USA (students’ background, conditions of living and studying, fees, etc). They say the private schools train leaders of society. What helps the authorities achieve it?

2. The welcoming ceremony at Welton Academy. Discuss the atmosphere in it at the beginning of a new academic year. Pay special attention to discipline and unison among the students. Do you think that this unison comes from within or it is imposed on them? Define the means by which it is created. Account for the parents’ pride.

3. Teachers and students. Define the average age of the staff. Suppose what their principles and methods of teaching are like. Do the students treat their studies and extra-curricular activities seriously? On the basis of what are extra-curricular activities assigned? Are the boys’ lives regulated by their own desires or by their parents’ ambitions?

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