Introduction to English Fiction: The Tone of Time PDF

Introduction to English Fiction Lecture 3 “The Tone of Time” Name: 1  Course Consultation You may seek help your teacher … On issues related to the course, and Its assessments In order to handle your...

Introduction to English Fiction Lecture 3 “The Tone of Time” Name: 1  Course Consultation You may seek help your teacher … On issues related to the course, and Its assessments In order to handle your enquiries effectively, you must state the concern clearly and provide concrete details You may … E-mail her ([email protected]) with your enquiries, or Make an appointment with her for further discussion Content of your e-mail: 1. A catchy title 2. Your name and course taking 3. Details of the matter 2  Course Announcement Oral Presentation Workshop 20 September (T01 on Friday) 24 September (T02 on Tuesday) During this important occasion, we will … Work out the schedule of the oral presentation and your topic Understand the requirements, grading criteria and other details of this assessment For students who cannot attend this tutorial, the teacher will assign a presentation slot for him/her 3  About the Author Henry James 1843-1916 Nationality: _____________→ ____________ “There are two kinds of taste in the appreciation of imaginative literature: the taste for emotions of surprise and the taste for emotions of recognition.” 4  1st paragraph What kind of narrator is this?  1st person narrator  3rd person narrator Why is the narrator “pleased” with what he has done? _____________________________________ 5  1st paragraph Why “manfully”? Manfully Definition: using a lot of effort in a brave and determined way Hint Consider the corresponding socio-cultural background 6  1st paragraph How is Mary Juliana characterized? (Consider both her identity and her physical appearance) (i) Mary has to w _ _ _ → indicates her identity as a modern woman who assures her ability (ii) She is described as an unattractive woman 7  1st paragraph What is the narrator trying to convince us in this para.? Consider: “pleased” with what “I” had done for an old friend (line 1) “sacrificed” a good hour of a day (line 3) He wants to convince us that he is very k _ _ _ to Mary Palette Definition: a thin board with a hole in it for the thumb to go through, used by an artist for mixing colors on when painting 8  1st paragraph “Mary has given up everything but her work” (line 11) What’s her work (job)? ___________________________________ What has been given up (examples)? ___________________________________  The reader has to fill in the discrepancy while reading.  However, the reader should never make an assumption of “what if”. 9 Point of View (Abbreviation: _______ ) Consider: Who is telling us the story? Where does this person stand in relation to what is going on in the story? In narratives, someone always stands between us and the events Definition: Point of view refers to the angle of vision – the point from which the people, events, and other details are viewed. 10  Page 2 Why is be (line 3) written in italics? _____________________________________ What does this phrase “the Tone of Time” mean? In painting, “tone” can be used to mean the “shading of a color” E.g. a color tone In sound, it can be used to represent the level/mood of the voice E.g. an angry tone 11  The client and The Tone of Time The narrator believes that the client would like to have a portrait that captures someone she loves (but can never possess)  The narrator’s POV “… to represent, to symbolize, as it were, her husband, who’s not alive and who perhaps never was” (p.2) 12  Mary and The Tone of Time As a painter, Mary is good at seeing things in “fancy and memory” (p.2) i__________ the p _ _ _ Besides, her “history” (unknown to us at this stage) gives her the tone of time (p.1) The use of color/painting brush to capture what she loved in “fancy and memory” = what the client wants? 13  Page 5 “supremely beautiful – and supremely base” Mary agrees to take this job and she will make the absent sitter very handsome (she loves this task) What is the meaning of “base”? ___________________________________________ What can you tell from how Mary describes this absent sitter? ___________________________________________ 14  As the plot complicates … (page 6) Mary accepts the job The narrator reports Mary’s acceptance to Mrs. Bridgenorth p.6 -- Mrs. Bridgenorth’s reaction and expectation p.7 – Mary’s progress 15  Who is the man in the portrait? A very important man in Mary’s memory Mary uses the term “the i _ _ _ _ _” (p.7) to refer to him. Mary’s past forms part (if not all) of her present 16  The man in the Portrait (page 8) How does the narrator describe the man in the portrait? What is implied from each description? A man of around 35 years old “In a fashion now almost antique” Narrow face like an eagle (-ve) So charming that he “stirs” the narrator’s imagination Can’t comprehend his mind from his face 17  The cruelty of the lovely job This lovely job that the narrator asks Mary to do makes her suffer again from the torture in the past The narrator believes that the d _ _ _ _ of “him” is the sole humiliation that Mary has The narrator fails to understand Mary’s past (he can’t see “the infamy”) the limitation of the narrator 18  The Narrator’s POV (Page 13) The narrator thinks that Mary for sure won’t get the painting back, as she doesn’t like “him” at all This is the narrator’s POV What’s Mrs. Bridgenorth’s POV? (Page 13) 19  Conversations & Point of View Through the words made by a particular character, readers can observe and study a character’s mentality. There is a s _ _ _ _ t behind Mrs. Bridgenorth, about her relationship with Mary and the man in the portrait. → Textual evidence: she doubles the sum 20  “His” Disappearance (Pages 16-17) The twist of the story occurs here: The portrait disappears  The narrator thinks Mrs. Bridgenorth has taken it away (his POV)  The servant describes a lady with a four-wheeler, not having any servant, comes and gets the portrait 21  Metaphorical Expression “Death, however, saved him.” (p.18) Reveals Mary’s hatred towards ____________ 22  Ontological Metaphor Personification a thing or abstraction is represented as a person Examples in the text: The portrait as “he” “Death saved him” 23  Intuition (Sixth Sense) Mary’s intuition has saved her from giving “her lover” to Mrs. Bridgenorth She has the feeling that a lady who doesn’t know the man in the portrait won’t pay a high price for him 24  Discussion Task Think about the following questions carefully: (1) Mary disagrees with the man in the portrait. Why does she keep the portrait then? (2) Is the narrator very kind to Mary? Explain. 25  The Tone of Time Time heals Mary’s wound finally She calls the portrait “__________” (p.20) Through painting him and taking him away from Mrs. Bridgenorth, Mary is relieved Time has not yet healed the narrator’s: “darkness still lurks” (p.21) 26  Foreshadowing It is a technique used by authors to provide clues to readers to predict what might happen in the l _ _ _ _ part of the story Example: Mary’s speech (P.5) “It’s just to do that that I accept. I shall make him supremely beautiful – and supremely base.” 27  After Class & Next Class: After Class: Read the remaining parts of the “The Tone of Time”: Next Class: Come with D.H. Lawrence’s “Odour of Chrysanthemums” Obtain Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse Get ready for our class in late October Oxford World Classics edition preferred ISBN: 978-0-19-953661-0 28