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Dill Pickle

Katherine Mansfield

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A Dill PickleKatherine Mansfield

About the Author

About the Text

main idea / word study / sentence paraphrase

In-class Discussion

Key to the Exercises

After-class Questions

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About the Author

Katherine MansfieldAn outstanding short story writer. She was born inWellington, New Zealand in 1888. She studied at

Queens College, London, where she met D.H.Lawrence and John Middleton Murry, a famous critic,whom she later married. After years of ill-health andstruggle as a freelance writer and reviewer, sheachieved success with Bliss and Other Stories (1920)

and The Garden Party (1922). Just as she won worldfame, however, her health grew worse. She died oftuberculosis in 1923.

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About the Author

Katherine Mansfield

Critics praised her for her capturing the

essence of Chekhovs art for storiesemphasizing atmosphere and actual life

rather than exciting plot, and for her

refreshing originality and sensitivity tobeauty.

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New Zealand's most famous writer, who was closely

associated with D.H. Lawrence and something of a rival of

Virginia Wolf. Mansfield's creative years were burdenedwith loneliness, illness, jealousy, alienation - all this

reflected in her work with the bitter depiction of marital

and family relationships of her middle-class characters.

Her short stories are also notable for their use of stream of

consciousness. Like the Russian writer Anton Chekhov,

Mansfield depicted trivial events and subtle changes in

human behavior.

About the Author

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About the Text

Main Idea

This is a story about a young man and a young woman

who had been lovers once and now meet again after six

years of separation, and as they reminisce, we begin to

know what happened six years ago that finally led to theend of their relationship. In the story, the author artfully

points up Vera, the heroines sensitivity and the mans

insensitivity to otherstheir feeling, attitudes and

motivations,and the mans self-involvement.

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About the Text

Word Study

egoist: n.

a person who is always thinking about themselves or whatis best for themselves.

egoism n.

egoistic/egoistical adj.

luxury n.

sth that is expensive and enjoyable, but not essential,

e.g. a luxury hotel/flat; live in luxury; live/lead a life of

luxuryluxurious adj.

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About the Text

Word Study

exasperate:n.

annoy, vex, irritate very much,

e.g.She was exasperated at/by his stupidity.

haunt: vi.to visit (said of ghosts) regularly;

Here: to return repeatedly to the mind,

e.g.a haunting melody

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About the Text

Word Study

maniac n.

(1) mad person;wild and foolish person

(2) (derog or joc) person with extreme liking

(for sth)e.g. Shes a football maniac.

maniacal adj : violently mad; extremely enthusiastic

e.g.maniacal behavior, a maniacal expression on his face

air n.appearance, manner, carriage,bearing

e.g.She set about her task with an air of quiet confidence.

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About the Text

Word Study

grimace n.

an ugly twisted expression on the face to cause laughter or

to show pain,disgust,etc

e.g.Bernie gave a grimace of disgust and left the room.

grimace vi ~ (at sb/sth)

e.g.She grimaced in/with distaste a the thought of it.

pagoda n.

religious building on Asia, usu a tall tower with several

stories each of which has its own overhanging roof

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About the Text

Word Study

infuriate: vt.

make sb extremely angry

e.g. I was infuriated by/with their constant criticism.

It infuriated me to think of the money weve wasted.infuriating adj. very annoying

e.g. It was infuriating to be so close and get unable tocontact them.

melancholy: adj.very sad,causing sadness

e.g.A funeral is a melancholy occasion.

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About the Text

Word Study

impulsive adj.

(of people or their behavior) marked by suddenaction that is undertaken without careful thought

e.g. an impulsive man, comment, decision

In a burst of impulsive generosity, I offered to pay.

impulse n. (on impulse)

impulsive adj.impulsion n.

impulsiveness n.

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About the Text

Word Study

barbarian: n.

a person who is primitive or uncivilized

barbaric/barbarous adj.

barbarism n.

barbarity n.

decorate: vt.

to put things in a room or house to make it more beautiful,

e.g. We decorated the Christmas tree with tinsel lights.

decorator n.decorative adj.

decoration n.

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About the Text

Word Study

loathe:hate sth very much

Expansion: the synonyms of a word which are

in meaning, e.g.

to dislike (to loathe); to like (to adore); small (tiny);

big (huge, enormous, immense, colossal);

sure (positive); possible (probable);

to surprise (to stun; to shock); angry (furious);

hungry (famished); tired (exhausted);

pleased (overjoyed); interesting (fascinating);many (numerous); fine (excellent; superb);

poor (destitute); old (ancient)

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About the Text

Word Study

mysterious adj.

1. full of mystery; hard to understand or explain,

e.g. a mysterious event/crime

2. Keeping or liking to keep things secrete.g.He was being very mysterious ,and wouldn't tell mewhat he was up to.

mystery n.

mysteriously adv. self-engrossed adj

occupied with ones own thoughts or interest; paying noattention to anything other than ones own business

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About the Text

Expressions

peel an orange:

take off the peel of an orange

to peel potatoes; to husk the rice; to shell the peas;

to wed the garden; to skin a cat; to gut the fish;

to dust the tables

You were saying:

an expression used to encourage someone you justinterrupted to continue to speak

this thick of his:

more emphatic than his trick,

e.g. look at that son of yours, the husband shouted

at his wife, he stinks!

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About the Text

Expressions

for all: in spite of all,

e.g.(1).For all our efforts, we still couldn'tt save his life.

(2). For all his power,he is still the most despisedperson.

out of all proportion to the occasion:(1).completely uncalled for; totally unnecessary under thecircumstances

(2).a reaction, result, emotion, etc that is out of proportion istoo strong or great, compared to the situation in which ithappen.e.g. The fear of violent crime has now out of proportion tothe actual risk.

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About the Text

Expressions

find ones place in life:

to find a successful career

apart from:some distance away from

compare: Apart from (Besides) these reasons, there

is yet another factor.

mournful lover:

sad lovers whose greatest wish is to die together

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1. But now,as he spoke,that memory faded. His was thetruer. (para 15)

But now, as he spoke, that memory about the ridiculousscene gradually disappeared. After all, his memory was thetruer one. They did have a good time on the whole thatafternoon.

2. He had lost all that dreamy vagueness and indecision.Now he had the air of a man who has found his place in

life.At that time, the man was much younger, full ofdreams,very unpractical, very unclear about what heshould do with his life. But now he looked like a man shohas found a successful career.

About the Text

Sentence Paraphrase

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About the Text

Sentence Paraphrase

3. As he spoke,she felt the strange east that hadslumbered so longhungry stare upon those

places.

The strange beast probably refers to her long-cherished wish to travel to all those distant andmysterious places. It had been hidden deep in herheart for quite a long time because it was

impossible for her to realize it given her financialand health conditions. But now this old wishseemed to be suddenly awakened.

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About the Text

Sentence Paraphrase

4. Only I did desire, eventually, to turn into a

magic carpet and carry you away to all those lands

you longed to see.

a) magic carpet: The allusion comes from the

story in the Arabian Nights which describes how a

magic carpet can carry people wherever hey wish

to go.b) Once again we see the other side of the man. He

can sometimes say beautiful things.

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About the Text

Sentence Paraphrase

5. As he spoke she lifted her head as though she

drank something; the strange beast in her bosom

began to purr

She had just heard something which was so

comforting and refreshing that she felt good. Her

long buried love for the man seemed to wake up

again.

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In class Discussion

Questions on Comprehension & Appreciation

1. What was Vera and the mans relationship six years

ago?

2. What happened to Vera and the man respectively duringthe past six years?

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In class Discussion

Read for Details

5. It simply was that we were such egoists,

so self-engrossed, so wrapped up inourselves that we had not a corner in our

hearts for anybody else. Is this a pretty

accurate description of the man himself? Do

you think Vera is just like the man?

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Read for details

1. She smiled because she was very glad to see her oldfriend. He frowned because he could not place her. Hecould not recall where he had met this women before.

2. For one thing, he was young, energetic, most likely goodlooking. And he could sometimes say things that wereextremely touching to Vera.

3. There seems to be only three possible reasons: One, shelost interest because there was no one to appreciate her

music; Two, she had to go from place to place, chasingafter warm sunshine, andtherefore found itimpossible to carry the piano with her; Three, shewas financially hard up and needed money.

Possible Answers

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Read for Details

4. (a). It indicates that Vera was going to leave.

(b). The ma said It seems such ages ago whereas it was

only 6 years, showing that he had practically forgotten

everything about their past love; The man also said that hehad to take such a leap to that time, showing again that he

had ceased to cherish that memory. What hurt her most

however, was the way he described how he couldn't help

laughing the other day when he read her last latter again,

the letter she must have found it very difficult to write six

years ago. He practically treated the whole thing as a joke.

Possible Answers

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Read for Details

5. It is just a pretty accurate description of theman himself. He is making an important

confession: he really has not a corner in his heart

for anyone else. Therefore Vera was right to leave

him 6 years ago and she is also right to leave him

now.

Possible Answers

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Key to the Exercises

Pre-class work

decoration

decorative

managerial/

management

management

unmanageable

rolling

lingering

Occasionally,

creativity

troublesome

forgetful

admiration

Productivity

impulse, Impulsive

exhilarating

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More work on the text

1 Translate

1) to peel the potatoes

2) to decorate the rooms

3) to lift her veil4) to unbutton the collar

5) to loathe the weather

6) to haunt my memory

7) to draw a deep breath8) to make a grimace

9) to give a hint

10) not to breathe a word

11) to stretch ones neck

12) to unfold the map

13) to float on the river

14) to plead with her

15) to pick up ones ears

16) to ripple in the breeze

17) to hover over the trees

18) to lay down the apple

Vocabulary

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Key to the Exercises

3. Put in appropriate

prepositions or adverbs

1) at 4) up; to 7) with 10) up 13) up

2) of 5) up 8) for 11) out; to/at 14) in

3) out of 6) to 9) for 12) out 15) on

7. Choose the beat word or phrase for each blank form the four supplied

I brackets.

1)shattered 4) just 7) loving 10) well-

suited

13)probably

2) into 5) home 8) must 11) through 14) proposed

3) real 6) how 9)introduced 12) that 15) made

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1) They all stretched their necks to see what washappening

2) The desert stretches for nearly a hundred miles.

3) Take a break. Go and stretch yourself a bit.

4) In front of her was a beautiful stretch of open land.5) He simply loves to hear his own voice. Often he talksfor hours at a stretch.

6) If you go beyond that limit the economy will collapse.

7) One glance at the damaged car, and he knew that it wasbeyond repair.

8)She was then in a terrible fix. She could neither bear himnor leave him

4. Translate

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9) If you still cant fix it this time, you will have to bear theconsequences.

10) He swung his stick at the tiger with all his strength. But the

stick snapped and the tiger was unharmed. In his panic, he hadhit the tree nearby.

11) He only stayed long enough to snap a few pictures.

12) It is none of your business. he snapped.

13) He snapped his briefcase to, stood up and said, Thentheres nothing more to be said.

14) He became very curious and began to take the computerapart.

15) The two switch knives looked very much alike. The jurors

could not tell them apart.16) When the accident happened I was standing only a fewmeters apart from the car.

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6. Translate the following, paying special attention to the

reflexive verbs and pronouns.

1,,

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

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Key to the Exercises

5. Put in verbs in brackets in the right form.

grammar

(1) was sweeping (6) To control (11) stretched

(2) was blowing (7) felt (12) swept

(3) cracked (8) To pull (13) Had been

(4) lay (9) To get (14) managed

(5) had disturbed (10) Was frozen (15) lit

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After-class Questions

1. Why does Veras relationship with the

man end the way it did? Is it a natural

development? Why or why not ?

2. Do you agree with that both he and Vera

are such hopeless egoist that they havent a

corner in their hearts for anybody else?

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