Welcome
to my weekly blog, SATURDAY SESSIONS!
In
this blog, for the perusal of all our students, past, present and future, I
include an extract from our interactive presentation Course, Ireland and its
Culture. We explore and discover Ireland
and its Culture - so that's why I call them 'Logs', as in a ship's (or Star
Ship Enterprise's J ) logbook!
Each
Saturday, I hope to post an extract from each of the Logs.
Below
each extract, we have a corresponding extract
from the Mining The Text
section which focuses on the use of English involved in creating the paragraph.
In
our Course, participants sit back and listen first to a recording of the
reading, then we read it together, look at how it was created and discuss the
content involved!
In
the afternoons and evenings, we go out, explore and discover!
If
you wish to ask me any question about the text, by the way, just send me an
e-mail at greg@bluefeather.ie
The Municipal Art Gallery exhibits (6) works
of art from about a hundred and fifty years ago to the present. It displays magnificent stained glass windows
by Irish artist, Harry Clarke. His sensuous masterpiece, called The Eve of St.
Agnes (patron saint of virgins), is based on a poem by the great English
Romantic poet, John Keats. It is the story of Madeleine who was forbidden
(7) to see her lover, an enemy of the family. However, there is a superstitious
(8) belief that lovers can have their wish fulfilled (9) on the Eve of
St. Agnes.
6. Noun =
exhibition. To exhibit.
7. Passive.
See #5.
8. Noun=
superstition. #13 is unlucky number in
many countries. In New York, there is no Floor
13 and in Formula 1 racing, there is no #13 car. Are you superstitious? What superstitions do you have in your
country?
9. Fulfilment
= completion. To fulfil=to carry out, to do, finish; to fulfil and obligation.
To do that, the girl must fast, go to her bedroom,
undress and wait for her lover on her bed. On this magical evening, Madeleine's
wish comes true: the lover appears to Madeleine - in her bedroom, lying on her
bed! Like a throbbing star, into her dream he
melted... After they make love, they rush (10) off together into the
stormy night! Did they live happily ever
after? Did it all end in tears (11)? We don't know.
10. To rush =
to hurry. Rush-hour = when everybody is rushing to work or rushing home. Haste is another word for rush or hurry. 'More
haste, less speed.' (Festina lente=
hasten slowly) What do you think that
means?
11. It will
end in tears = it will have an unhappy ending. A tear is the water which comes
from your eye when you cry. You can be moved to tears. 'Crocodile tears' are insincere tears, when
you are pretending to be upset. 'Blood, sweat and tears' = when you have to
work or struggle very hard to get
something. 'After a lot of blood, sweat and tears, they finally reached an
agreement.' 'She burst into tears when she saw his text message.' A tear-jerker can be a film or a book designed to make you cry.
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