Practical Course Sem I

ADINA TUDOSESCU
ENGLISH PRACTICAL COURSE

FOR THIRD YEAR STUDENTS
UNIVERSITATEA SPIRU HARET

FACULTATEA DE LIMBI I LITERATURI STRINE
ADINA TUDOSESCU

FOR THIRD YEAR STUDENTS
EDITURA FUNDAIEI ROMNIA DE MINE

Bucureti, 2007
Editura Fundaiei Romnia de Mine, 2007

Editur acreditat de Ministerul Educaiei i Cercetrii
prin Consiliul Naional al Cercetrii tiinifice
din nvmntul Superior
Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naionale a Romniei
TUDOSESCU, ADINA
English practical course for third year students /
Adina Tudosescu, Bucureti: Editura Fundaiei Romnia
de Mine, 2007
Bibliogr.
ISBN: 978-973-725-954-7
Reproducerea integral sau fragmentar, prin orice form i prin orice

mijloace tehnice, este strict interzis i se pedepsete conform legii.
Rspunderea pentru coninutul i originalitatea textului
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Redactor:
Tehnoredactor: Laurentiu Cozma TUDOSE
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Bun de tipar: 18.10.2007; Coli tipar: ___
Format: 16/61x86
Editura Fundaiei Romnia de Mine
Bulevardul Timioara, nr. 58, sector 6, Bucureti
Telefon, fax: (021)444 20 91; www.SpiruHaret.ro
CONTENTS
PREFACE .
xi
PART ONE (First term)
17
INTRODUCTION
19
General presentation of the course .

Objectives of the course .
Outline of the units and modules ...................................................
19
19
20
UNIT I
EARLY MEMORIES. THE FIRST QUESTIONS ...
21
Preliminaries .
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote (adapted and abridged) ..
Reading comprehension and comments
Vocabulary study and practice ..
Grammar
Existential Sentences .
Uses and levels of Negation ..
Supplementary text and assignments
(from A Message from the Pig-Man by John Barrington Wain) ...
Other assignments .
Essay assignment ...
Translation assignment (Octavian Paler Viaa ca o corid) ...
21
21
25
26
27
27
28
29
30
30
31
31
31
32
UNIT II
EXISTENCE AND THE SELF. THE GREAT QUESTIONS (I)
34
Word-formation processes
Preliminaries ..
from LOST IN THE FUNHOUSE by John Barth
Night-Sea Journey (I) (adapted and abridged)
Grammar
Free (Independent) Relative Clauses .
34
34
38
39
40
40
Finiteness / Non-Finiteness of Clauses.

THAT Clauses and Infinitive Clauses .
(from The Human Drift by Jack London) ..
Other assignments .
Translation assignment (Nicolae Boghian Stare de ecou) ..
41
43
43
45
45
45
46
UNIT III
EXISTENCE AND THE SELF. THE GREAT QUESTIONS (II) ...
47
Preliminaries ..
Night-Sea Journey (II) (adapted and abridged) ..
Grammar
Comparison of adjectives ..
Cleft Constructions
(from Before Adam by Jack London) .
Other assignments .
Translation assignment (Vasile Bran Rania grea a iubirii) .
UNIT IV
THE ETERNAL DUALITY. THE QUESTION WITH NO
ANSWER ..
Preliminaries ..
from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert
Louis Stevenson Chapter 10. Henry Jekylls Full Statement of the
Case (adapted and abridged) .
Grammar
Numerals. Systems of units and measures
(from Compensation by Ralph Waldo Emerson)
vi
47
47
48
49
50
50
52
53
53
55
56
56
56
58
58
58
62
63
64
64
64
64

Other assignments .
Debate assignment .
Translation assignments (Dumitru Popescu Vitralii incolore; Emil
Cioran Eternitate i moral)
68
68
68
BIBLIOGRAPHY .
71
Obligatory ...
Supplementary
Online resources .
71
71
72
PART TWO (Second term)
73
INTRODUCTION
75
General presentation of the course .

Objectives of the course .
Outline of the units and modules ....................................................
75
75
76
UNIT V
THE SUPERNATURAL. ANSWERS FROM BEYOND REALITY ..
77
Preliminaries ..
from The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde (adapted and abridged) .
Grammar
Gender ...
Adverbial Clauses ..
Supplementary texts and assignments ..
(from The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis)
Other assignments .
(A Night at a Cottage by Richard Hughes - adapted and abridged) .
Other assignments .
Debate assignment .
Translation assignment (Luki Galaction Doamna de pe podul
de fier) ...
69
77
77
83
83
84
84
84
85
85
87
87
88
90
90
90
90
vii
UNIT VI
SCIENCE. ANSWERS FROM REALITY ..
93
Preliminaries .. 93
The Five Frontiers of Space by Edward C. Stone . 93
Reading comprehension and comments 95
Vocabulary study and practice .. 96
Supplementary text and assignments 96
(Earliest Fire Sheds Light on Hominids by Nadja Neumann) . 96
Other assignments . 97
Essay assignment ... 97
Translation assignments (Solomon Marcus Invenie i
descoperire; Constantin Noica Scrisori despre logica lui Hermes) . 98
Guidelines in academic writing . 99
Essays I .. 99
Written assignments and exercises ... 102
Essays II 103
Written assignments and exercises ... 104
UNIT VII
LAW, CULTURE, AND CONVENTIONS. ANSWERS FROM
THE OTHERS ... 105
Preliminaries ..
How a Law-less Data Haven Is Using Law to Protect Itself by
Gary Slapper ...
Supplementary texts and assignments ..
(from Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley)
Other assignments .
105
105
107
107
108
108
110
110
(from A TREATISE OF HUMAN NATURE by David Hume

Of the Effects of Custom) . 110
Other assignments . 111
Essay assignment ... 111
Translation assignment (Marin Sorescu Viziunea vizuinii) .. 111
Guidelines in academic writing . 113
Scientific papers, reports, studies .. 113
viii
BIBLIOGRAPHY . 115
Obligatory ... 115
Supplementary 115
Online resources . 116
ix
PREFACE
The present Practical Course handbook equally addresses third

year students specialising in English Language and Literature as a
major, and the students in the same year for whom English represents
the second specialisation.
The course is primarily meant to stand as a teaching and learning
common basis and guide for both the classwork and homework of
students attending day classes.
It is also intended, however, to serve as an effectively utilisable
learning instrument for students not benefiting of an iterative and
regularly scheduled, complex and non-mediated didactic interaction
with a Practical Course seminar leader, viz. the students enrolled
within the partial attendance or distance learning sections.
Due to their specific acquisition requirements and the assuming
of substantial gains in terms of a multi-levelled command of the
languages in question as their ultimate finality, Practical Courses are
curricular disciplines that may pose numerous and special problems to
at least some (if not all) undergraduates, as learners of one or two
foreign languages.
In addition, it is a statistically sustained fact that the encountered
difficulties increase when these disciplines are supposed to be covered
mostly by means of individual study.
Under these circumstances, the stated above desideratum of
versatile applicability has naturally entailed certain peculiarities in
what concerns both the basic design of the course, and the subsequent
endeavour to actualise this initial blueprint under the form of a final
output.
In this respect, the following aspects have to be mentioned, as
features destined to confer the course the intended and necessary
flexibility:
- the increased number, length and variety of texts;
- a greater quota of assignments featuring easily adaptable as either
classwork or homework tasks;
- the incorporation of knowledge refreshing grammatical and lexical
explanations;
- a more detailed supplementary bibliography;
- an appended dedicated section of references, exclusively consisting

of representative online resources.
As far as the classical, classwork-centred method of covering
Practical Course for day classes is concerned, it appears as almost
needless to notify that all these amendments and/or additions are not
expected to alter, blur or jeopardise the well-settled teaching specific
of the weekly seminars.
On the contrary, they are likely to act as a supporting rather than
impeding factor, since this way much of the actual structure and
content of each individual seminar is left to, and heavily relies on the
discriminating, teaching, back-wash and feed-back abilities of the
seminar leader.
Accordingly, the existence of a larger set of available choices
in terms of texts, easily accommodating as homework exercises,
translation assignments and resources could only prove beneficial,
facilitating didactic innovation and/or the seminar leaders personal
contributions, and thus preventing predictability and monotony of
classes.
In other words, the bottom line is that the handbook ought to be
by no means regarded as a maximal projection container or a
paragon of answers to the entirety of the presumable learning needs of
all the (groups of) students enrolled in any form of education. (And
actually, such a summation of imperatives has, anyway, always and in
all respects been far beyond the scope of any plausible design of a
similar course, even if for no other reason than the contingency of an
extremely eclectic result.)
More reasonably and realistically, the present enterprise should
be considered and used as a mere supplier of the main study
coordinates and their starting points, of flexibly exploitable texts and
of specialised information, exercises and resources.
The handbook also has to act as a cohesion and homogeneity
securing factor in teaching and, even to a greater extent, in evaluation.
*
From another point of view, namely the one of a more concrete

presentation of the structural elements forming up the units of the
course, we should only mention here that this kind of outlining
(together with a systematic stating of the didactic coordinates and of
the learning objectives) is to be found as included within the
xii
Introduction sections opening either of the two parts of the course

(see Contents).
Consequently, the content-related observations that still have to
be added in this foreword are confined to a few remarks concerning
those aspects or general traits of the course that are not flagged in the
previously referred to introductory sections.
Firstly, it ought to be noted that the content of the Grammar
modules has been determined not only by the already familiar to the
student principle of correspondence with the simultaneous covering of
the Contemporary English Courses but also by the taking into account
of the fact that the third year Practical Course is the last of its kind in
the faculty curriculum.
The entailment of this circumstance has resided in these modules
dealing with some of the less insisted upon during the previous two
academic years morphological or syntactic topics, too.
A second point worth heeding is that the same consideration as
above has also triggered the exigency of maximising the lexical,
stylistic and typological diversity of texts and tasks, in order to give
the student one last and really challenging opportunity to score a
significant progress in language proficiency before graduation.
At the same time, the aim to attain an overall balanced ratio of
linguistically-biased requirements versus topics of literary propensity
has represented another aspect of no less importance in shaping the
insides of the course and of the units.
And it was the observing of this criterion what has influenced
many of our choices and resorted to strategies, not only in accordance
with the curricular principles that stipulate a somewhat mixed status
of the Practical Course in the sense of its being equidistant to the
linguistic and to the literary disciplines but also, we reckon, to the
content of all the students and seminar leaders altogether, irrespective
of the inclinations of the former or the latters professional training.
Additionally, there are some other connected issues regarding
features and/or peculiarities of content , which we merely feel
compelled to sketchily signal in the paragraphs below, inasmuch as,
hopefully, they are going to clearly reveal themselves to the reader
either from the very beginning or during the gradual covering of the
course.
Thus, the macrostructural level of the course complies with an
integrating thematic layout, as a unifying element meant to vouchsafe
xiii
the necessary coherent perspective on the entirety of the topics dealt

with in all seven units.
Evidently, the learning benefits that a unitary view is prone to
bring along are not at all negligible, the more so as numerous
assignments involve tasks that inter-relate them with other
assignments and/or with other units.)
Nonetheless, this does not imply discarding the undeniable
appeal and potential of diversity.
Therefore, the unavoidable curricular splitting of the course into
two parts one for each term is on the one hand bridged by resorting
to a corresponding two-fold content structure (viz. the question units
versus the answer units), while on the other hand it is exploited, on
purpose of avoiding a one-year-long exact reiteration of one and the
same structural pattern.
Since it was beyond doubt that the precise levelling of all units,
coupled with a perfect symmetry of the two terms, would have been a
strategy inducing boredom and a repelling effect upon students, no
less than upon seminar leaders, either of the two terms evinces its own
specific trend.
Whereas the first four units prominently focus upon grammatical
and lexical issues, and are quite rigorously balanced, the three units
scheduled for the second term feature less or no grammar, and turn out
to have a more relaxed structure.
Practically, the main characteristics of the second part of the
course rest in the abundance of supplementary texts and in the
presence of the Academic Writing modules.
As an aftermath, there is also an underlined orientation towards
text analysis, essay and translation assignments.
The resulting assortment stands as a suitable for the last term in
faculty tendency, because it employs tasks that are commonly
regarded by students as a more agreeable modality of learning.
Furthermore, although each and every unit of the course is
multi-targeted and, to a certain extent, structurally similar and
harmoniously correlated with all the others, there are certain slight
variations among them that occur even within the one-term clusters of
four and, respectively, three units.
More precisely, the allotted quota, the conferred relative focus
and the difficulty level of one or another of the component modules
behave as variables in the internal economy of the units, on the same
as stated above purpose of avoiding monotony.
xiv
Summing up, it can be said that what we sought for, and aspired
to achieve was an actualisation of the principle unity in diversity.
Whether we succeeded or not, it is for our colleagues and
students to judge.
*
Finally, we acknowledge that we culturally and morally owe

much of this book to the marvellous writers out of the inspiring works
of which we have selected the included within the units (adapted
and/or abridged) fragments of text, as well as to their distinguished
publishers.
We also express our gratitude towards all the excellent
professionals who have contributed to the publishing of the present
handbook, and we openly assume that any possible content flaw or
inadequacy is solely ours.
THE AUTHOR
xv
PART ONE

THIRD YEAR, FIRST TERM
INTRODUCTION
General presentation of the course
Equally due to the general bias and specificity (as the main
applied component of the curriculum), and to the inherent
interdisciplinary perspective, the course compulsorily implies the
integration of the following coordinates of design:
- various activities that are targeted upon actualising, refining and/or
supplementing certain areas of knowledge within the fields of
(derivational) morphology, syntax and semantics by means of
restructuring, reshaping, and resizing information in accordance to a
strictly applied orientation, and thus creating a functional interface
with theoretical disciplines;
- a focus upon improving and diversifying the students training in
translation practice, with the entailing beneficial effects upon the
enriching of specialised language vocabulary in various domains;
- exercising the abilities involved in complex analysis of content and
in text commentary;
- activating the deductive, intuitive and communicative skills;
- testing the students coherence and logical processes in ideation and
argumentation, stimulating the creative potential.
In close relationship with the last issue, the structure of the
course will also include several topics (and guidelines) for essays
and/or debates.
Objectives of the course
The characteristic of the course being the pre-eminently applied
dimension, its central goal resides in enhancing linguistic performance
at lexical-semantic, grammatical (phonetic, morphological, syntactic),
and stylistic levels.
In order to improve actualising abilities, both systematic
acquisition of new information, and sustained activation, development
and integration of already acquired knowledge are going to be
envisaged.
By means of the diverse thematic content and the selected texts,
a certain benefit in terms of students general cultural background is
also targeted.
Outline of the units and modules

The macro-structural organisation of the course consists of four
broadly encompassing units (see Contents).
These units are all internally articulated in conformity to an
iterative sequence of didactic modules (the text, vocabulary, grammar,
translation, essay / debate modules), the methodological characteristic
of which resides in their more often than not presupposing an
integrative level in what concerns the basic skills (reading, listening,
speaking, writing).
Therefore, a unit will (in general) contain:
a) a text of 1-2 pages constituting the nucleus of the unit, and
representing the object of a complex analysis (lexical and grammatical
aspects, relevant stylistic features, content commentary , which text
will be preceded by introductory requirements featuring a
thematically orienting role, and followed by a set of assignments
meant to facilitate and guide the analysis;
b) vocabulary study and practice;
c) the grammar section (brief theoretical presentation / revision and
exercises);
d) 1-2 supplementary texts (of variable length), dealing with topics
related to the one of the main text, and which can be used on various
purposes (for translation tasks, as starting point for additional lexicalgrammatical applications or for comments / debates, as further
information and reading);
e) indicated topics for essays / debates (which may be accompanied by
suggested guidelines, landmarks or possibly necessary references);
f) 1-2 texts for translation into English.
20
UNIT I
EARLY MEMORIES. THE FIRST QUESTIONS
1.0. Preliminaries
1. Enumerate and briefly comment upon some of the various possible
approaches to childhood (points of view, domains of analysis and/or
study).
2. What makes childhood exert a real fascination upon us, and what
makes it be of scientific interest?
3. Which of the numerous literary works devoted to childhood is the
first to come to your mind, and why?
1.A.
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote

(adapted and abridged)
Imagine a morning in late November. A coming of winter

morning more than twenty years ago. Imagine the kitchen of a big old
house in a country town. A great black stove is its main feature, but
there is also a big round table and a fireplace with two rocking chairs
in front of it.
A woman with short white hair is standing at the kitchen
window, her breath steaming the windowpane as she exclaims: Oh
my, its fruitcake weather!
The person to whom she is speaking is myself. I am seven; she
is sixty-something. We are distant cousins, and we have lived together
with other relatives here as long as I can remember. We are each
others best friend. She calls me Buddy, in memory of a boy who was
once her best friend, and who died when she was still a child. Now she
turns away from the window joyfully. I knew it before I got out of
bed. Oh Buddy, fetch our buggy and help me find my hat. We have
thirty cakes to bake!
Its always the same: a morning arrives in November, and she
announces: Its fruitcake weather, Buddy! Fetch our buggy. Help me
find my hat.
Together, we take our buggy, an old baby carriage, out in the
garden and into the grove of pecan-nut trees. The buggy is mine; that
is, it was bought for me when I was born. We use it all year round
now for jobs like hauling firewood from the yard to the kitchen, or as
21
a warm bed for Queenie, our tough little orange-and-white terrier.

Queenie is trotting beside it now.
Three hours later we are back in the kitchen shelling a
buggyload of nuts which we have picked. The kitchen is growing dark
as we work by the fireside. At last the buggy is empty, the bowl is full.
We eat our supper and discuss tomorrow. Tomorrow the kind of work
I like best begins: buying.
Buying? What all were going to buy? Cherries and candied
lemon peel, ginger and vanilla and canned pineapple, and raisins and
walnuts and whisky and, oh, so much flour, butter, so many eggs,
spices, flavorings why, well need a pony to pull the buggy home!
But before these purchases can be made, there is the question of
money. Neither of us has any, except for what we earn ourselves from
various activities. Once we won the seventy-ninth prize, five dollars,
in a national football contest. Not that we know anything about
football. Its just that we enter any contest we hear about. So one way
or another, each year we save up a Fruitcake Fund. This we keep
hidden in an old purse under the floor under my friends bed. This
purse is seldom removed from this location except to make a deposit,
or, as happens every Saturday, when I am allowed ten cents to go to
the cinema. My friend has never been to a cinema, nor does she want
to. Id rather you tell the story, Buddy. That way I can imagine it
more. Besides, people my age shouldnt waste their eyesight. When
the Lord comes for me, let me see Him clear.
Now, with supper finished, we retire to her little bedroom in a
faraway part of the house. Silently, we take the purse from its secret
place and spill its contents on the bed: dollar bills and coins. We count
slowly, lose track, start again. According to her calculations we have $
12.73. According to mine, exactly $ 13. Oh, I do hope youre wrong,
Buddy. We cant have anything to do with thirteen. The cakes will
fall. Tell you what! To be on the safe side lets take a penny and toss it
out the window!
Of the ingredients that go into our fruitcakes, whisky is the most
expensive, as well as the hardest to obtain State law forbids its sale.
But everybody knows you can buy a bottle from Mr. Haha Jones. And
the next day, having finished our other shopping, we set out for Mr.
Hahas, a caf down by the river. They call him Haha because hes
so gloomy, a man who never laughs. Footsteps, the door opens, our
hearts turn over: its Mr. Haha Jones himself! And he is a giant and he
doesnt smile. If you please, Mr. Haha, wed like a bottle of your
22
finest whisky. And would you believe it? Haha is smiling! Laughing,
too, and asking which one of us is the drinking man. She: Its for my
fruitcakes, Mr. Haha. Cooking. We pay him his two dollars. Then
suddenly his face softens. And he is pouring the money back into our
purse, with instructions to send him one of the fruitcakes instead. On
the way home my friend remarks, Well, theres a lovely man! Well
put an extra cup of raisins in his cake!
The black stove glows with the heat. Eggbeaters whirl, spoons
spin round in bowls of butter and sugar, vanilla sweetens the air,
ginger spices it, lovely odors fill the kitchen and the house, drift out to
the world in chimney smoke. In four days our work is done. Thirtyone cakes, dampened with whisky, sit on window sills and shelves.
Who are they for?
Friends. Not necessarily neighbor friends indeed the larger
share are for persons weve met maybe once, perhaps not at all.
People like the President and his wife in Washington. Like the Baptist
missionary who lectured here last winter. Or the driver of the six
oclock bus from Mobile, who waves to us every day as he passes.
The scrapbook we keep of thank-you notes on White House paper,
and communications from places like California and Borneo, make us
feel connected to the world beyond the kitchen.
Now it is December. The kitchen is empty, the cakes are gone.
Yesterday we carted the last of them to the post office, and we feel
like celebrating. My friend pours the last drops of Mr. Hahas whisky
into her teacup and lets me have a taste. Even Queenie gets a drop. I
giggle and spit it out, and suddenly were laughing and singing songs.
I try to tap dance even Queenie has the party spirit. Enter two
relatives. Very angry! Listen to what they have to say: A child of
seven tasting whisky! You must be crazy! Shame! Scandal!
Humiliation! Kneel, pray, beg the Lords pardon! Queenie sneaks
under the stove, my friend looks down at her shoes, her chin quivers,
she lifts her skirt and blows her nose and runs to her room. Long after
the town has gone to sleep and the house is silent, she is weeping into
her pillow. Please dont cry please. Dont cry. Youre too old for
that. Its because Im too old. Old and funny. Not funny fun.
More fun than anybody. Listen, if you dont stop crying, youll be so
tired tomorrow we cant go cut a tree. Buddy, thats right!
Tomorrow we go out in the woods and find our Christmas tree, the
best weve ever had! A tree twice as big as a boy. And I know just the
one way out in the back of the forest!
23
And its true: the tree we cut down is indeed twice as tall as a
boy, and so fine that people who pass us on the way home
compliment us on it, and one woman, the richest in town, stops her car
and offers us fifty cents cash for it. To which my friend says:
Wouldnt take a dollar. And when the lady says we could find
another like it, my friend says: I doubt it. Theres never two of
anything.
After making the holly wreaths for the windows, our next
project is family gifts. When it comes to making each others gifts, my
friend and I separate to work secretly. No matter what wed like to
give each other, we always end up making kites. Which is fine with
me, for we are champion kite-fliers. Christmas Eve afternoon we go to
the butchers to buy Queenies traditional bone, which we wrap in
funny paper and place high in the tree near the silver star. Queenie
knows its there and sits at the foot of the tree staring up at it. Her
excitement is equal to my own: I cannot sleep, and neither can my
friend. Late that night my friend tells me, Buddy, I feel so bad. I
wanted to give you a bike, but I couldnt. So I made you another kite.
Know something? I made you a kite, too. Well now, isnt that the
limit? And wont we have fun flying them?
The next morning, after a marvellous breakfast, which were too
impatient to eat, we get our presents. Well, Im disappointed, who
wouldnt be? My best present is my kite, which is very beautiful
blue with gold and green stars and my name painted on it. My friend
loves her kite, too. Buddy, the wind is blowing And nothing will
do till weve gone to a pasture below the house where Queenie has
already run to bury her bone, and where a winter hence, Queenie will
be buried, too. There we fly our kites, like shy fish swimming into the
wind. Were very happy, so happy that my friend announces: I could
leave the world with today in my eyes!
This is our last Christmas together. Im sent to a military school,
and I have a new home, too. But it doesnt count. Home is where my
friend is, and there I never go. And there she stays, working in the
kitchen, alone with Queenie, and then alone. For one day a letter
comes from her Buddy dear, yesterday a horse kicked Queenie bad.
Be thankful she didnt feel much. I wrapped her in a fine linen sheet
and rode her in the buggy down to the pasture where she can be with
all her bones. Enclosed please find ten cents. See a picture show and
write me the story.
24
For a few Novembers she continues to bake her fruitcakes, not

as many, but some, always sending me what she likes to call The
Best of the Batch!
Then one November arrives when she cannot find it to exclaim:
Oh my, its fruitcake weather! And when that happens, I know it. A
message saying so only confirms what I know already, cutting me off
from part of myself, letting it loose like a kite on a broken string. That
is why, walking to class on this particular December morning, I keep
searching the sky. As if I expected to see, like hearts, a lost pair of
kites hurrying towards heaven.
1.A.-1. Reading comprehension and comments
1. How would you explain the close friendship between the boy and
the old woman? Comment also upon the general causes for childrens
often getting along better with the elderly than with people of their
parents generation or of their own age.
2. How do you imagine the relatives?
3. Identify the given hints regarding the family and social status of
the two friends, and formulate some possible more precise accounts of
their positions.
4. What seems to determine their condition?
5. In the eyes of the world, what do they have in common?
6. What do they really share?
7. Try and characterise the old woman, highlighting the most
important clues that you have.
8. Why are we not told her name?
9. Why does the dog fit so naturally in the picture?
10. Is there any relationship between fruitcake weather and the
Christmas spirit?
11. How do the habitual and the particular intertwine during the story,
and how does this contribute to conferring an almost ritualistic
significance to the two friends activities?
12. Do the last three paragraphs come as a complete surprise to the
reader, or were there any foretelling elements (in terms of tone,
atmosphere, and events)?
13. Comment upon the old womans words: Theres never two of
anything.
14. Were the two friends really happy? Answer considering their lives
from the following perspectives: seven-year-old Buddy; twenty-seven25
year-old Buddy; the old woman; Queenie; the relatives and the rest of
the country town; yourself.
1.B. Vocabulary study and practice
1.B.-1. Look up the meaning(s) of the following words or phrases
in a dictionary:
Ns: buggy; grove; peel; ginger; spice; tap dance; humiliation; wreath;
pasture; linen; batch
Vs: to haul; to trot; to shell; to toss; to whirl; to drift; to dampen; to
giggle; to spit; to sneak; to quiver
As / Avs: gloomy; shy; loose; hence
1.B.-2. There are some names of fruits in the text. List them, and
then try to complete this lexical field.
(Add all the English names of indigenous and exotic fruits that you
know, also looking up in a Romanian-English dictionary for those the
English names of which you do not know.)
1.B.-3. Consider the verbs: ) fetch, bring, deliver and ) toss,
throw, cast.
a) Out of each group, the first one, and not the others, is used in
the text. Can you tell why?
(Take into account such distinctive features as:
- [ departing from a certain location, and coming back with
something], [ bringing as part of a (catering) agreement];
- [ in a rather careless way, lightly].)
b) Which of the six verbs can collocate with any of the following:
look, shadow, doubt, vote, anchor?
c) Explain the meaning of the idioms:
- to cast pearls before swine;
- the die is cast.
1.B.-4. What is the meaning of the sentence Well now, isnt that
the limit??
Look for some other collocations / idioms containing limit (e.g. the
sky is the limit), explain their meaning, and use them in sentences
of your own.
26
1.C. Grammar
1.C.-1. Word-formation processes
1.C.-1.1. Fulfil the following tasks:
a) Identify all the compounds in the text, and group them in
accordance to their type in a three-column list. (Pay attention! They
are quite numerous.)
b) Identify the word class of their components.
c) Explain and illustrate the general rules of forming the plural of
compounds.
1.C.-1.1. Compounding (knowledge refreshing)
Compounds are combinations of at least two free morphemes,
the global meaning of which is more or less significantly different
from the sum of the meanings of the components.
The following types can be distinguished: welded (solid) e.g.:
housekeeper; hyphenated e.g.: thunder-struck; open (separate words)
e.g.: vacuum cleaner.
The graphical aspect also acts as an indicator of morphological
behaviour.
Welded compounds form the plural by always normally adding
the nominal plural marker -s (-es) in the end, irrespective of the word
class of the components (e.g.: pullovers, pancakes).
For the other two types the plural marker is attracted to the
nominal component (or to the determined noun, if there are two or
three nominals), irrespective of its position (e.g.: passers-by, brothersin-law, book reviews).
Hyphenated compounds containing no nouns add the plural
marker in the end (e.g.: merry-go-rounds).
Unlike welded compounds, hyphenated and open ones may
evince redundancy of the plural marker when containing certain nouns
that have an irregular plural (e.g.: fishermen vs. women candidates
but: mouse-traps).
a) Identify all the cases of conversion (zero derivation) in the text.
b) In each case, indicate the initial and the resulting word class.
27
c) Add a few examples of your own, illustrating both full and

partial conversion.
1.C.-1.2. Conversion (knowledge refreshing)
The process consists in changing the word class of a lexeme,
without any change in form (full conversion) e.g.: bottle to bottle
or with minor such changes (partial, marginal conversion) e.g.: to
hate hatred, abstract to abstract (stress shift).
The most productive types are V N, N V, A V
conversions.
1.C.-1.3. The causative verbs sweeten and dampen are formed from
adjectives by adding a verb-forming suffix.
a) Can you paraphrase them?
b) Consider also the following similar examples: widen, deafen,
blacken. Add three more examples, and use all six of them in
sentences of your own.
1.C.-2. Existential Sentences
a) Identify the existential sentences in the text.
b) Express the same meaning under the form of equivalent
sentences of the standard type.
1.C.-2.2. Supply your own examples of existential sentences, using
various existential verbs.
1.C.-2.3. Illustrate agreement by proximity in existential patterns,
and cases of there undergoing raising.
1.C.-2. Existential sentences (knowledge refreshing)
Such sentences express the notion of existence, and most
frequently feature unstressed there as an empty, asemantic subject,
followed by a form of the verb be, by the extraposed notional
subject, and by some other constituents (most often a Locative
Adverbial) e.g.: There was a car in front of the house.
28
Existential there appears as a slot-filler when the deep subject is

indefinite, and therefore in contradiction with the typical thematic (i.e.
conveying given information) role of subject.
Sentences consisting only in the empty subject + the existential
V + the deep subject are called bare existential sentences (e.g.: There
has been an accident.).
Other verbs may also occur in existential sentences (especially
in formal and literary styles): exist, occur, come, lie, stand, etc (e.g.:
There exist similar archaeological sites in other parts of Europe,
too.).
Existential there occurs widely in subordinate clauses (e.g.: I do
not know whether there is any solution to this problem.), or may
undergo raising (e.g.: There appears to be a solution to this problem.)
1.C.-3. Uses and levels of Negation
1.C.-3.1. Analyse the following fragment in the text from the point
of view of the use and the level of Negation: Its because Im too
old. Old and funny, Not funny fun.
1.C.-3.2. Find in the text an instance of sentential metalinguistic
negation.
1.C.-3. Uses and levels of Negation (knowledge refreshing)
There can be distinguished two main uses of negation
(metalinguistic and logical), and at least two levels of negation (local
and sentential), each level being accessible in both uses.
The metalinguistic use is often based on an echoic reprise of a
preceding affirmation, there being an evaluation or an analysis of the
utterance itself. In this use, negation acts as a metalinguistic factor
(with contrastive function), and it may have scope over a sentence
portion or over an entire sentence (e.g.: This man is not a physician,
he is a physicist! and You were supposed to whisper, not to yell!).
The logical use is characterised by a lack of particular emphasis,
and it can also apply locally or sententially. In propositional logic, it
therefore corresponds either to the internal, contrary negation or to
the external, contradictory negation (e.g.: He was merciless. and
They are not here.).
29
1.D. Supplementary text and assignments

from A Message from the Pig-Man by John Barrington Wain
He was never called Ekky now, because he was getting to be a
real boy, nearly six, with grey flannel trousers that had a separate belt
and werent kept up by elastic, and his name was Eric. But this was
just one of those changes brought about naturally, by time, not a
disturbing alteration; he understood that. His mother hadnt meant that
kind of change when she had promised, Nothing will be changed. It
was all going to go on as before, except that Dad wouldnt be there,
and Donald would be there instead. He knew Donald, of course, and
felt all right about his being in the house, though it seemed, when he
lay in bed and thought about it, mad and pointless that Donalds
coming should mean that Dad had to go. Why should it mean that?
The house was quite big. He hadnt any brothers and sisters, and if he
had had any he wouldnt have minded sharing his bedroom, even with
a baby that wanted a lot of looking after, so long as it left the spare
room free for Dad to sleep in. If he did that they wouldnt have a spare
room, it was true, but, then, the spare room was nearly always empty;
the last time anybody had used the spare room was years ago, when he
had been much smaller last winter, in fact. And, even then, the
visitor, the lady with the funny teeth, who laughed as she breathed in,
instead of as she breathed out like everyone else, had only stayed two
or three nights. Why did grown-ups do everything in such a mad, silly
way? They often told him not to be silly, but they were silly
themselves in a useless way, not laughing or singing or anything, just
being silly and sad.
It was so hard to read the signs; that was another thing. When
they did give you something to go on, it was impossible to know how
to take it. Dad had bought him a train just a few weeks ago, and taught
him how to fit the lines together. That ought to have meant that he
would stay; what sensible person would buy a train, and fit it all
upreadytorun, even as a present for another person and then leave?
Donald had been quite good about the train, Eric had to admit that; he
had bought a bridge for it and a lot of rolling-stock. At first he had got
the wrong kind of rolling-stock, with wheels too close together to fit
on to the rails; but instead of playing the usual grown-ups trick of
pulling a face and then not doing anything about it, he had gone back
to the shop, straight away that same afternoon, and got the right kind.
30
Perhaps that meant he was going to leave. But that didnt seem likely.
Not the way Mum held on to him all the time, even holding him round
the middle as if he needed keeping in one piece.
All the same, he was not Ekky, now, he was Eric, and he was
sensible and grown-up. Probably it was his own fault that everything
seemed strange. He was not living up to his grey flannel trousers and
perhaps that was it; being afraid of too many things, not asking
questions that would probably turn out to have quite simple answers.
1.D.-1. Reading comprehension and comments
a) Characterise Erics universe when compared to Buddys.
b) Consider the two boys concerns, interests, ways of judging
things, attitudes towards the others, and comment upon the differences
between them.
c) Are they also outstandingly different from other children?
d) Apart from being boys of about the same age, what do they have
in common?
e) Which of them appears to be the loneliest of the two?
f) Read also the text in the translation module closing this unit, and
integrate the third boy character within the analysis.
g) How does the autobiographical element (dominant in Palers
text, traceable in Capotes, and presumable in Wains) influence the
verisimilitude of the characters?
Additional useful information:
- T. Capote (1924-1984) American writer A Christmas Memory
was first published in 1966;
- J. B. Wain (1925-1994) English writer and literary critic A
Message from the Pig-Man was first published in 1965;
- O. Paler (1926-2007) Romanian journalist and writer Viaa ca
o corid was first published in 1987.
1.D.-2. Identify and analyse the compounds in the text.
1.D.-3. Translate the first paragraph of the text into Romanian.
1.E. Write an essay on the topic: Childhood a serene or tormented
period? (2-3 pages).
31
Suggested guidelines:
- the traditional idyllic view of the grown-ups: the lost paradise of
simplicity, innocence, and happiness, the mythical realm of a better
and purer mode of existence, a secret we all knew and forgot, a
collection of blurred memories wrapped in melancholy and regrets
- many childrens view: a (too) long period of unjust and unjustified
inferiority, of absurd rules and arbitrary impositions from the part of
most mature persons, a cruel competition with other children, too
many unanswered questions, an endless waiting for finally growing up
- various psychologists views: a difficult process of self-defining and
adaptation, of hesitating formation of the ego, the most influential
period in the development of the future profile, the most vulnerable
stage of a still fragile psyche, which may amplify any event up to
planting the seeds of unknown later consequences
1.F. Translate the following text into English:
Pe la cinci ani, am descoperit eu nsumi c puteam s ignor, la
nevoie, ceea ce nu-mi convenea din realitate. Tata m nvase s
silabisesc slova tiprit i s numr pn la douzeci. Ca s se asigure
c-mi continuam singur instrucia n lipsa lui, mi lsa o fascicul
dintr-un roman de aventuri pe care-l citea el i mi ddea n grij puii
de gin. Scrupulos din natere, mi luam n serios datoria. Nu m
micam din curte toat ziua atunci, nu m lsam ispitit de ceilali copii
care m chemau s cutm cuiburi pe miriti, de team s nu vin
uliul, s dea iama prin puii notri. Stteam pe treptele casei, n
vacarmul de lumin care sclda la amiaz curtea noastr sau la umbra
porii nalte de scnduri, m luptam cu peripeiile din fascicul i, din
cnd n cnd, m ridicam s numr puii. Dup ce m liniteam, citeam
mai departe sau m jucam pe grmada de nisip de sub mrul btrn i
rcoros din apropierea fntnii.
ntr-o zi, ns, am avut o surpriz neplcut. Am numrat pe
degete pn la douzeci, dar mai erau pui! Tata uitase s m avertizeze
c puii notri sporiser peste limita cunotinelor mele aritmetice i c
dup ce ajungeam la douzeci trebuia s-o iau de la nceput ca s-mi in
evidena. Drept care am intrat n panic. Dac nu m nel, am i
plns. Disperat, am ieit n uli s-i cer ajutor sorei mele care, mai
independent dect mine i mai mare cu cinci ani, prefera s stea cu
copiii de seama ei. Dar ulia era pustie. Am smuls cteva smocuri din
32
iarba care cretea bezmetic i tnr pe marginea anului, am dus-o

puilor ca s-i strng la un loc i am numrat din nou, atent. n zadar.
Erau mai muli. M ntrebam ce s fac. Nu mi-a dat prin cap s-i
socotesc separat pe cei care depeau nvtura mea, aa c pn la
urm am apelat la alt soluie pentru a iei din impas. Am numrat
douzeci de pui, iar pe ceilali i-am alungat din curte. n felul acesta,
am pus realitatea de acord cu cunotinele mele i m-am apucat s
silabisesc mai departe fascicula din romanul de aventuri, linitit, ba
chiar mndru c m descurcasem.
Octavian Paler Viaa ca o corid
33
UNIT II
EXISTENCE AND THE SELF. THE GREAT QUESTIONS (I)
2.0. Preliminaries
1. Do you think the human brain is the only self-conscious entity in
the universe? What do you know about animal psychology?
2. Enlarge upon the concept of cyclicity of existence. Does this
infinite sequencing of coming into being and passing into nothingness
have anything to do with evolutionary processes, be the nature of the
latter either physical or biological?
3. Comment upon the hypothesis of multiple and hierarchically
ordered space-time continuums. Argue for or against the possibility of
an endless row of numberless universes within other universes, each
having its own dimensional and temporal rank.
2.A.

Night-Sea Journey (I)
One way or another, no matter which theory of our journey is

correct, its myself I address; to whom I rehearse as to a stranger our
history and condition, and will disclose my secret hope though I sink
for it.
Is the journey my invention? Do the night, the sea, exist at all, I
ask myself, apart from my experience of them? Do I myself exist, or is
this a dream? Sometimes I wonder. And if I am, who am I? The
Heritage I supposedly transport? But how can I be both vessel and
contents? Such are the questions that beset my intervals of rest. My
trouble is, I lack conviction. Many accounts of our situation seem
plausible to me where and what we are, why we swim and whither.
But implausible ones as well, perhaps especially those, I must admit
as possibly correct. Even likely. If at times, in certain humours
stroking in unison, say, with my neighbors and chanting with them
Onward! Upward! I have supposed that we have after all a
common Maker, Whose nature and motives we may not know, but
Who engendered us in some mysterious wise and launched us forth
toward some end known but to Him if (for a moodslength only) I
have been able to entertain such notions, very popular in certain
34
quarters, it is because our night-sea journey partakes of their

absurdity. One might even say: I can believe them because they are
absurd. Has that been said before? []
I have seen the best swimmers of my generation go under.
Numberless the number of the dead! Thousands die as I think this
thought, millions as I rest before returning to the swim. And scores,
hundreds of millions have expired since we surged forth, brave in our
innocence, upon our dreadful way. [] Yet these same reflective
intervals that keep me afloat have led me into wonder, doubt, despair
strange emotions for a swimmer! have led me, even, to suspect
that our night-sea journey is without meaning. Indeed, if I have yet to
join the hosts of the suicides, it is because (fatigue apart) I find it no
meaningfuller to drown myself than to go on swimming. I know that
there are those who seem actually to enjoy the night-sea; who claim to
love swimming for its own sake, or sincerely believe that reaching
the Shore, transmitting the Heritage (Whose Heritage, Id like to
know? And to whom?) is worth the staggering cost. I do not.
Swimming itself I find at best not actively unpleasant, more often
tiresome, not infrequently a torment. Arguments from function and
design dont impress me: granted that we can and do swim, that in a
manner of speaking our long tails and streamlined heads are meant
for swimming; it by no means follows for me, at least that we
should swim, or otherwise endeavor to fulfill our destiny. Which is
to say, Someone Elses destiny, since ours, so far as I can see, is
merely to perish, one way or another, soon or late. The heartless zeal
of our (departed) leaders, like the blind ambition and good cheer of
my own youth, appalls me now; for the death of my comrades I am
inconsolable. If the night-sea journey has justification, it is not for us
swimmers ever to discover it. Oh, to be sure, Love! one heard on
every side: Love it is that drives and sustains us! I translate: we dont
know what drives and sustains us, only that we are most miserably
driven and, imperfectly, sustained. Love is how we call our ignorance
of what whips us. To reach the Shore, then: but what if the Shore
exists in the fancies of us swimmers merely, who dream it to account
for the dreadful fact that we swim, have always and only swum, and
continue swimming without respite (myself excepted) until we die?
Supposing even that there were a Shore that, as a cynical companion
of mine once imagined, we rise from the drowned to discover all those
vulgar superstitions and exalted metaphors to be literal truth: the giant
Maker of us all, the Shores of Light beyond our night-sea journey!
35
whatever would a swimmer do there? The fact is, when we imagine

the Shore, what comes to mind is just the opposite of our condition: no
more night, no more sea, no more journeying. In short, the blissful
estate of the drowned.
Ours not to stop and think; ours but to swim and sink.
Because a moments thought reveals the pointlessness of swimming.
[] The thoughtful swimmers choices, then, they say, are two: give
over thrashing and go under for good, or embrace the absurdity; affirm
in and for itself the night-sea journey; swim on with neither motive
nor destination, for the sake of swimming, and compassionate
moreover with your fellow swimmer, we being all at sea and equally
in the dark. I find neither course acceptable. If not even the
hypothetical Shore can justify a sea-full of drowned comrades, to
speak of the swim-in-itself as somehow doing so strikes me as
obscene. I continue to swim but only because blind habit, blind
instinct, blind fear of drowning are still more strong than the horror of
our journey. And if on occasion I have assisted a fellow-thrasher,
joined in the cheers and songs, even passed along to others strokes of
genius from the drowned great, its that I shrink by temperament from
making myself conspicuous. To paddle off in ones own direction,
assert ones independent right-of-way, overrun ones fellows without
compunction, or dedicate oneself entirely to pleasures and diversions
without regard for conscience I cant finally condemn those who
journey in this wise; in half my moods I envy them and despise the
weak vitality that keeps me from following their example. But in
reasonabler moments I remind myself that its their very freedom and
self-responsibility I reject, as more dramatically absurd, in our
senseless circumstances, than tailing along in the conventional
fashion. Suicides, rebels, affirmers of the paradox nay-sayers and
yea-sayers alike to our fatal journey I finally shake my head at them.
And splash sighing past their corpses, one by one, as past a hundred
sorts of others; friends, enemies, brothers; fools, sages, brutes and
nobodies, million upon million. I envy them all. [] You only swim
once. Why bother, then? Except ye drown, ye shall not reach the
Shore of Life. Poppycock.
One of my late companions the same cynic with the curious
fancy, among the first to drown entertained us with odd conjectures
while we waited to begin our journey. A favorite theory of his was
that the Father does exist, and did indeed make us and the sea we
swim but not a-purpose or even consciously; He made us, as it were,
36
despite Himself, as we make waves with every tail-thrash, and may be

unaware of our existence. Another was that He knows were here but
doesnt care what happens to us, inasmuch as He creates (voluntarily
or not) other seas and swimmers at more or less regular intervals. []
No less outrageous, and offensive to traditional opinion, were the
fellows speculations on the nature of our Maker: that He might well
be no swimmer Himself at all, but some sort of monstrosity, perhaps
even tailless; that He might be stupid, malicious, insensible, perverse,
or asleep and dreaming; that the end for which He created and
launched us forth, and which we flagellate ourselves to fathom, was
perhaps immoral, even obscene. [] In other moods, however (he was
as given to moods as I), his theorizing would become half-serious, so
it seemed to me, especially upon the subjects of Fate and Immortality,
to which our youthful conversations often turned. [] His objection
to popular opinions of the hereafter, he would declare, was their claim
to general validity. Why need believers hold that all the drowned rise
to be judged at journeys end, and non-believers that drowning is final
without exception? In his opinion (so hed vow at least), nearly
everyones fate was permanent death; indeed he took a sour pleasure
in supposing that every Maker made thousands of separate seas in
His creative lifetime, each populated like ours with millions of
swimmers, and that in almost every instance both sea and swimmers
were utterly annihilated, whether accidentally or by malevolent
design. (Nothing if not pluralistical, he imagined that there might be
millions and billions of Fathers, perhaps in some night-sea of their
own!) However and here he turned infidels against him with the
faithful he professed to believe that in possibly a single night-sea per
thousand, say, one of its quarter-billion swimmers (that is, one
swimmer in two hundred fifty billions) achieved a qualified
immortality. [] I could go on (he surely did) with his elaboration of
these mad notions such as that swimmers in other night-seas neednt
be of our kind; that Makers themselves might belong to different
species, so to speak; that our particular Maker mightnt Himself be
immortal, or that we might be not only His emissaries but His
immortality, continuing His life and our own, transmogrified,
beyond our individual deaths. Even this modified immortality
(meaningless to me) he conceived as relative and contingent, subject
to accidental or deliberate termination; his pet hypothesis was that
Makers and swimmers each generate the other against all odds, their
number being so great and that any given immortality-chain could
37
terminate after any number of cycles, so that what was immortal

(still speaking relatively) was only the cyclic process of incarnation,
which itself might have a beginning and an end. Alternatively he liked
to imagine cycles within cycles, either finite or infinite: for example,
the night-sea, as it were, in which Makers swam and created nightseas and swimmers like ourselves, might be the creation of a larger
Maker, Himself one of many, Who in turn et cetera. Time itself he
regarded as relative to our experience, like magnitude: who knew but
what, with each thrash of our tails, minuscule seas and swimmers,
whole eternities, came to pass as ours, perhaps, and our Makers
Makers, was elapsing between the strokes of some supertail, in a
slower order of time?
Naturally I hooted with the others at this nonsense. [] When
he died in the initial slaughter, no one cared. And even now I dont
subscribe to all his views but I no longer scoff. The horror of our
history has purged me of opinions, as of vanity, confidence, spirit,
charity, hope, vitality, everything except dull dread and a kind of
melancholy, stunned persistence.
1. What makes the swimmer have doubts regarding the reality of its
own existence?
2. Identify and comment upon the various individual or collective
attitudes towards night-sea journeying that the swimmers adopt.
3. Are these modes of journeying similar in any way to those of
another kind of journey? Which one?
4. Identify and depict some profiles of swimmers.
5. Which are the strange emotions for a swimmer, and which are
the normal ones? Why?
6. How can you explain your expertise in discussing swimmer
psychology? Are you a swimmer?
7. What makes the struggle of journeying so frightful and so
meaningless?
8. What do swimmers blindly hope for? Comment upon the various
possible interpretations of the Shore.
9. Is there any relationship between immortality and death? Are they
really in opposition? Explain how immortality can be regarded as a
kind of death.
38
10. Why does this not seem to imply the reverse, too? Why is it that
you only swim once?
11. What kind of limitation specific of individual existence
determines the non-reversibility of the equation?
12. Is there any ambiguity in the name and description of the Maker?
13. How do you interpret the immortality-chain, and the cynics
theory about other seas?
14. Comment upon the possible alternative readings of the entire fifth
paragraph.
in a dictionary:
Ns: conviction, fatigue, zeal, sage, brute, poppycock, pet hypothesis
Vs: to disclose, to beset, to stroke, to chant, to engender, to partake, to
surge, to appal, to thrash, to fathom, to transmogrify, to hoot, to scoff,
to stun
As / Avs: outrageous, insensible, contingent
2.B.-2. Find words in the text that mean: to strive, interruption,
remorse, wicked.
2.B.-3. Find words in the text that mean the opposite of:
unwillingly, innocent, temporary, absolute.
2.B.-4. The noun wise (= manner, way, modality) is still occasionally
used but it is by far less frequent than its compounds.
a) Supply your own examples to illustrate the meanings and uses
of likewise and otherwise.
b) What does a clockwise movement / rotation mean?
2.B.-5. Consider the following verbs: ask, claim, beseech, demand,
require, out of which the first two appear in the text.
a) Supply their componential definitions in terms of the following
suggested semantic features:
[ imperatively], [ compelling], [ humbly], [ imploring],
[ urgently], [ logical necessity], [ stating something as an
assertion of truth], [ supported by arguments], [ juridical
implications], etc.
39
b) Fill in the blanks, using these verbs:

1. A transitive verb is a verb that obligatorily ... a direct object.
2. His ex-fiance ... him to come back to her.
3. The students ... for further and more detailed explanations.
4. The terrorists that had hijacked the plane ... for their imprisoned
leader to be set free.
5. Chomsky ... that there are some innate principles subject to
parametric variation.
2.C. Grammar
2.C.-1. Free (Independent) Relative Clauses
a) Transform the following strings into structures having the same
meaning, and featuring Free Relative Clauses:
1. You have enough money to buy all the supplies that you need.
2. The person committing these horrible murders must be caught and
punished.
3. You may leave at any time that you choose.
4. The resort is no longer the place that it used to be.
5. The thing that really makes a difference is having these dedicated
machines right here at the construction site.
b) Specify the syntactic function of the resulting Free Relative
Clauses, and the function of the relative pronoun introducing
them.
2.C.-1.2. Comment upon the structural relations that establish
between Dependent Restrictive and Free Relative Clauses, also
using the previous sentences as illustrations.
Which is the most significant difference between the two classes?
2.C.-1.3. Identify the Free Relative Clauses in the text, also
specifying their syntactic function.
(Optionally: Identify the Free Relative Clauses and their syntactic
functions in the previous unit text A Christmas Memory.)
40
2.C.-1. Free Relative Clauses (knowledge refreshing)

The main structural feature that distinguishes them from
Dependent Relative Clauses is the absence of an expressed antecedent,
i.e. of the Main Clause occurrence of the co-referential element that
makes subordination by relativisation possible.
There is sufficient syntactic evidence in support of the claim for
the initial existence of the missing antecedent (e.g. the fact that the
matrix verb evinces agreement with the deleted antecedent: Whatever
were their discoveries are now lost for good.).
Unlike Dependent Relative Clauses, which modify the
antecedent, thus functioning as modifier of it, Free Relative Clauses
replace this antecedent, taking over its syntactic function.
Therefore, they evince an inventory of syntactic functions quite
similar to the distribution of NPs: What killed the dinosaurs is still a
mystery. Subject; This hut is where he used to hide. Predicative;
Take whatever you want. Direct Object; We have to rely on
whomever they send to us. Prepositional Object, etc.
They are typically introduced by complex pronouns (whoever,
what(so)ever, whichever, etc) or adverbs (wherever, whenever, etc).
Nevertheless, simple pronouns may also introduce such clauses.
Introducers perform various syntactic functions within the
clauses: Search for whatever is still intact there. Subject; Whomever
I ask tells me the same thing. Direct Object, etc.
2.C.-2. Finiteness / Non-Finiteness of Clauses.
THAT Clauses and Infinitive Clauses
2.C.-2.1. Supply your own examples to illustrate the following:
a) a Non-Finite Relative Clause;
b) finite and non-finite Complement Clauses.
2.C.-2.2. Identify three THAT Clauses and three Infinitive Clauses
in the text. Specify their syntactic functions.
a) Turn the embedded clauses into THAT Clauses:
1. For the cashier to have run away with the money was unbelievable.
2. My neighbours are so uncivilised as to throw garbage out of the
window.
41
3. That nice old lady turned out to be a spy.

4. The two young engineers seemed diligent.
5. All documents were supposed to be printed, copied and registered.
6. The conductor of the philharmonic considers Carson an excellent
musician.
7. My colleagues want me to ask the professor for a two days
postponing of the exam.
8. I saw him take the keys.
b) Turn the embedded clauses into Infinitive Clauses and into
THAT Clauses:
1. John mocking at her like that was extremely embarrassing for
everybody present.
2. I was delighted at their successfully passing the exam.
3. The special squad had strict orders of searching the entire building
for a possible bomb.
c) Turn the embedded clauses into Gerunds:
1. Her idea of a quiet evening at home was to sit in her favourite
armchair and read.
2. The tourists were worried that the weather was getting worse.
3. It is no use to complain to the manager.
d) Turn the embedded clauses into Indirect Questions:
1. It is amazing that this old engine works so smoothly.
2. Nobody specified that the ideal candidate for this position should be
male or female.
3. The problem of getting a new job or not is his main concern these
days.
2.C.-2. Finiteness / Non-Finiteness of Clauses
(knowledge refreshing)
The distinction between finite and non-finite clauses is mainly
based on morphological criteria: any clause which does or can contain
an inflected verb or auxiliary is a finite clause, the converse not being
necessarily true (i.e., a clause containing an apparently uninflected or
invariable verb is not necessarily non-finite).
The reason for this is that some verb-forms generally treated as
finite (e.g. the Subjunctive) lack the typical morphological
characteristics of finite verbs.
Nevertheless, the Indicative and Subjunctive forms share certain
mopho-syntactic properties which differentiate them from non-finite
42
forms (the tenseless / agreementless Infinitive, Gerund or Perfective

Participle).
These properties are:
- impossibility of subjectlessness for Indicative and Subjunctive
clauses (e.g.: *I demand that leave. vs. I intend to leave / leaving.);
- the different case-marking of an overt subject Nominative for the
two finite forms versus Accusative (for the Infinitive) or, respectively,
Accusative / Genitive (for the Gerund).
from The Human Drift by Jack London
After he is gone? Will he then some day be gone, and this planet
know him no more? Is it thither that the human drift in all its totality is
trending? God Himself is silent on this point, though some of His
prophets have given us vivid representations of that last day when the
earth shall pass into nothingness. Nor does science, despite its radium
speculations and its attempted analyses of the ultimate nature of
matter, give us any other word than that man will pass. So far as
mans knowledge goes, law is universal. Elements react under certain
unchangeable conditions. One of these conditions is temperature.
Whether it be in the test tube of the laboratory or the workshop of
nature, all organic chemical reactions take place only within a
restricted range of heat. Man, the latest of the ephemera, is pitifully a
creature of temperature, strutting his brief day on the thermometer.
Behind him is a past wherein it was too warm for him to exist. Ahead
of him is a future wherein it will be too cold for him to exist. He
cannot adjust himself to that future, because he cannot alter universal
law, because he cannot alter his own construction nor the molecules
that compose him.
It would be well to ponder these lines of Herbert Spencers
which follow, and which embody, possibly, the wildest vision the
scientific mind has ever achieved: Motion as well as Matter being
fixed in quantity, it would seem that the change in the distribution of
Matter which Motion effects, coming to a limit in whichever direction
it is carried, the indestructible Motion thereupon necessitates a reverse
distribution. Apparently, the universally-co-existent forces of
attraction and repulsion, which, as we have seen, necessitate rhythm in
all minor changes throughout the Universe, also necessitate rhythm in
43
the totality of its changes produce now an immeasurable period

during which the attractive forces predominating, cause universal
concentration, and then an immeasurable period during which the
repulsive forces predominating, cause universal diffusion alternate
eras of Evolution and Dissolution. And thus there is suggested the
conception of a past during which there have been successive
evolutions analogous to that which is now going on; a future during
which successive other evolutions may go on ever the same in
principle but never the same in concrete result.
That is it the most we know alternate eras of evolution and
dissolution. In the past there have been other evolutions similar to that
one in which we live, and in the future there may be other similar
evolutions that is all. The principle of all these evolutions remains,
but the concrete results are never twice alike. Man was not; he was;
and again he will not be. In eternity which is beyond our
comprehension, the particular evolution of that solar satellite we call
the Earth occupied but a slight fraction of time. And of that fraction
of time man occupies but a small portion. All the whole human drift,
from the first ape-man to the last savant, is but a phantom, a flash of
light and a flutter of movement across the infinite face of the starry
night. When the thermometer drops, man ceases with all his lusts
and wrestlings and achievements; with all his race-adventures and
race-tragedies; and with all his red killings, billions upon billions of
human lives multiplied by as many billions more. This is the last word
of Science, unless there be some further, unguessed word which
Science will some day find and utter. In the meantime it sees no
farther than the starry void, where the fleeting systems lapse like
foam. Of what ledger-account is the tiny life of man in a vastness
where stars snuff out like candles and great suns blaze for a time-tick
of eternity and are gone?
And for us who live, no worse can happen than has happened to
the earliest drifts of man, marked to-day by ruined cities of forgotten
civilisation ruined cities, which, on excavation, are found to rest on
ruins of earlier cities, city upon city, and fourteen cities, down to a
stratum where, still earlier, wandering herdsmen drove their flocks,
and where, even preceding them, wild hunters chased their prey long
after the cave-man and the man of the squatting-place cracked the
knuckle-bones of wild animals and vanished from the earth. There is
nothing terrible about it. With Richard Hovey, when he faced his
death, we can say: Behold! I have lived! And with another and
44
greater one, we can lay ourselves down with a will. The one drop of
living, the one taste of being, has been good; and perhaps our greatest
achievement will be that we dreamed immortality, even though we
failed to realise it.
a) Besides the thought of ones own death, which idea is equally
(or even more difficult) to accept as an immutable truth?
b) Does self-consciousness play any role in this? If yes, how? How
does individual conscience turn into collective (self-) consciousness?
c) Why do prophets and scientists try to reveal the future of our
race?
d) Analyse Spencers theory of Motion and Matter, and Londons
comments about successive evolutionary cycles from the points of
view of the more recent theories of the Big Bang and of relativity.
e) Does the human race have its own evolutionary cycles? Which
are they? Enlarge upon this issue.
f) Comment upon the last sentence in the text.
g) Which appear to be the commonly shared characteristics of
physical, biological, and social cycles? Consider Barth, London and
Boghians ideas for the last one, see the text in the translation
module closing this unit , as well as your own opinion.
2.D.-2. Translate the last two paragraphs of the text into Romanian.
2.E. Write an essay on the topic: A possible scenario of human race
extinction (2-3 pages).
Suggested guidelines:
- If possible, try to avoid the already banal and eroded idea of a
devastating nuclear war.
- If you still want to stick to the idea of World War III, either employ
other non-nuclear (e.g. biological, informatic, mind-controlling, etc)
weapons, or focus upon the decay and extinction of the survivors.
- If you have watched the Animal Planet series Future Is Wild,
exploit the idea of evolutionary changes in other species, which may
finally lead to the extinction of all mammals.
45
- Various extraterrestrial interventions or cosmic Armageddons are not

excluded.
- Try and focus also upon a(n) (immediate) post-human picture of the
Earth.
Fr nceput i fr sfrit [] Asta e, murmura gndul fluid,
dac ajungi s acoperi genunea dintre aceste dou presupuse capete,
mai poi spera s nelegi cte ceva din aceast aventur a simurilor
care este viaa Dar cine are rgaz pentru a cugeta smerit la
nesfrirea care ne nconjoar? Uneori filosofii o fac pe apucate, de
dragul ideilor repede convertibile n cri, care de fapt spun cu mult
mai puin dect ale celor ce plantau mai nti seminele faptelor i pe
urm descopereau dreapta cretere i nflorire a cugetului Ei nu
ineau s fie infailibili, o luau ncet, pe jos, pe crare, dnd
adevrurilor mireasma celor ce sunt, nu a celor ce poate vor fi
Cugetau despre lume ca i cum lumea nsi se hrnea din cea ce ei
deslueau i scoteau la lumina cuvntului, a nelegerii ncepeau, de
bun seam, tot cu descifrarea acestui fr nceput i fr sfrit, ce
poate fi asemnat cu o curgere, cu o micare perpetu. Poate c,
lsndu-te purtat de fascinaia micrii, n adnca ei necuprindere,
reueti a-i limpezi ct de ct ideea duratei eterne []
Ai spune c filosofia din asta s-a nscut, gndi mai departe Paul
Damian. Din ncercarea de a explica micarea, adic devenirea
Naterea i moartea ca procese ciclice i infinitul care curge naintea
lor i dup ele Devenirea este primul gnd concret i, prin aceasta,
primul concept Devenirea include apariia i trecerea. Sunt
momentele ei. Devenirea este nelinitea fr oprire, care se stinge ntrun rezultat linitit Deci, fr oprire, fr nceput i fr sfrit
Cci dac lipeti nceputul i sfritul, separndu-le ca momente n
sine, obii nimicul
Nicolae Boghian Stare de ecou
46
UNIT III
EXISTENCE AND THE SELF. THE GREAT QUESTIONS (II)
3.0. Preliminaries
1. Comment upon the competition between the self-preservation
instinct and the preservation-of-the-species one.
2. Is what we call Love imprinted in us as a genetically-predetermined
instinct or have we, humans, developed a completely different,
exclusively psychological and socialised instinct? What about selfdestruction for reproduction / out of love in animals, and in humans?
3. What do you know about animal and human collective memory /
memory of the species?
3.A.

Night-Sea Journey (II)
Perhaps, even, I am drowned already. Surely I was never meant

for the rough-and-tumble of the swim; not impossibly I perished at the
outset and have only imagined the night-sea journey from some final
deep. In any case, Im no longer young, and it is we spent old
swimmers, disabused of every illusion, who are most vulnerable to
dreams. Sometimes I think I am my drowned friend. Out with it: Ive
begun to believe, not only that She exists, but that She lies not far
ahead, and stills the sea, and draws me Herward! [] I shake my
head; the thing is too preposterous; it is myself I talk to, to keep my
reason in this awful darkness. There is no She! There is no You! I rave
to myself; its Death alone that hears and summons. To the drowned,
all seas are calm []
Our moment came, we hurtled forth, pretending to glory in the
adventure, thrashing, singing, cursing, strangling, rationalizing,
rescuing, killing, inventing rules and stories and relationships, giving
up, struggling on, but dying all, and still in darkness, until only a
battered remnant was left to croak Onward! Upward! like a bitter
echo. Then they too fell silent victims, I can only presume, of the
last frightful wave and the moment came when I also, utterly
desolate and spent, thrashed my last and gave myself over to the
47
current, to sink or float as might be, but swim no more. Whereupon,

marvelous to tell, in an instant the sea grew still! []
I am not deceived. This new emotion is Her doing; the desire
that possesses me is Her bewitchment. Lucidity passes from me; in a
moment Ill cry Love!, bury myself in Her side, and be
transfigured. Which is to say, I die already; this fellow transported
by passion is not I; I am he who abjures and rejects the night-sea
journey! I I am all love. Come! She whispers, and I have no will.
You who I may be about to become, whatever You are: with the
last twitch of my real self I beg You to listen. It is not love that
sustains me! No; though Her magic makes me burn to sing the
contrary, and though I drown even now for the blasphemy, I will say
truth. What has fetched me across this dreadful sea is a single hope,
gift of my poor dead comrade: that You may be stronger-willed than I,
and that by sheer force of concentration I may transmit to You, along
with Your official Heritage, a private legacy of awful recollection and
negative resolve. Mad as it may be, my dream is that some
unimaginable embodiment of myself (or myself plus Her is thats how
it must be) will come to find itself expressing, in however garbled or
radical a translation, some reflection of these reflections. If against all
odds this comes to pass, may You to whom, through whom I speak, do
what I cannot: terminate this aimless, brutal business! Stop Your
hearing against her song! Hate love!
Still alive, afloat, afire. Farewell, then, my penultimate hope:
that one may be sunk for direst blasphemy on the very shore of the
Shore. Can it be (my old friend would smile) that only utterest naysayers survive the night? But even that were Sense and there is no
sense, only senseless love, senseless death. Whoever echoes these
reflections: be more courageous than their author! An end to night-sea
journeys! Make no more! And forswear me when I shall forswear
myself, deny myself, plunge into Her who summons, singing
Love! Love! Love!
1. What are the metamorphoses that swimmers undergo during
journeying? Do they seem familiar to us?
2. What is the significance of the swimmers repeated and ever more
rapid changes of attitudes and convictions towards the journeys end?
3. Why and how is love related to death?
48
4. What kind of immortality is the thoughtful swimmer seeking for?

5. What are swimmers in fact? Identify the allegory and its overt and
covert elements.
6. Can the concept of immortality be a solution to the burden of selfconsciousness?
7. Which appears to be the greatest danger in an already doomed to
death existence, and why?
in a dictionary:
Ns: rough-and-tumble, bewitchment, twitch
Vs: to rave, to hurtle, to forswear
As / Avs: preposterous, utterly, garbled
3.B.-2. Find words in the text that mean: disappointed, to call, to
deny, volition.
3.B.-3. Find words in the text that mean the opposite of: to shout,
indecision, to start, cowardly.
3.B.-4. Fulfil the following tasks:
a) List all the a- adjectives / adverbs in both parts of the text, and
explain their meaning.
b) State the peculiarity of a- when compared to the majority of
English prefixes.
Mention the other two prefixes sharing the same property, and
add some examples of them.
c) List and illustrate other than those in the text -a derived
lexemes.
3.B.-5. Explain and illustrate in sentences of your own the
difference between heritage and legacy.
3.B.-6. Consider the following verbs: perish, destroy, ruin, smash,
annihilate, disintegrate, out of which two appear in the first or the
second part of the text.
49
[ tearing into small pieces], [ health], [ reputation, career,

chances, etc], [ ceasing to exist], [ molecular decomposition],
[ also used figuratively], etc.
1. Numerous species have during the Ice Age.
2. The corrupted clerk tried to ... any evidence of his illegal activities.
3. The Nazis could by no means succeed in ... the underground
resistance in the occupied countries.
4. Last Sunday the guests were ... by our team.
5. This bomb can ... everything ten miles round.
6. His applying for that position has ... my only chance to get a decent
job.
3.C. Grammar
3.C.-1. Comparison of adjectives
3.C.-1.1. Answer the following questions:
a) Do you notice any oddity in what concerns the formation of
degrees of comparison in both parts of the text?
b) What are the general rules for comparison of adjectives?
Add illustrations.
3.C.-1.2. Answer the following questions:
a) How do -a adjectives form degrees of comparison (if they accept
gradability)?
b) What is the peculiarity of their syntactic behaviour?
Add illustrations.
3.C.-1. Comparison of adjectives (knowledge refreshing)
The English adjectives accepting gradability can form degrees of
comparison synthetically (i.e. by using inflections suffixes ) or
analytically (i.e. periphrastically, by using additional words).
N.B.: There are some adjectives, however, which do not accept
either of the two ways of forming degrees of comparison, solely
evincing their initial form. This is due to the fact that the adjectives
in question render non-gradable properties. The unique form can have
the intrinsic positive, comparative or superlative meaning (e.g.:
dead, superior, maximum)
50
1) Synthetic comparison applies to monosyllabic adjectives and

to some of the disyllabic ones (see 3) further), and it resides in adding
the suffix er for Comparative, and, respectively, the suffix est for
Superlative Relative (e.g.: fat fatter the fattest; clear clearer
the clearest).
The addition of er and est triggers the following spelling
modifications:
a) the final y preceded by a consonant turns to i (e.g.: dry drier
the driest);
b) the final consonant preceded by a short, stressed vowel doubles
(e.g.: big bigger the biggest);
c) the final, silent e is dropped (e.g.: late later the latest).
2) Analytic comparison applies to all polysyllabic adjectives and
to numerous disyllabic adjectives (see 3) further), and it resides in
adding more for Comparative the most for Superlative Relative (e.g.:
interesting more interesting the most interesting).
3) In general, disyllabic adjectives pertaining to the old, Saxon
fund of the language and ending in y, er or le evince synthetic
comparison (e.g.: happy happier the happiest, clever cleverer
the cleverest, gentle gentler the gentlest), while newer in language
and/or ending in other terminations disyllabic adjectives form their
degrees of comparison analytically (e.g.: vivid more vivid the most
vivid, callous more callous the most callous).
There are, however, disyllabic adjectives (for instance, old fund
adjectives ending in ow), which tend to accept both types of
comparison (e.g.: narrow narrower / more narrow the narrowest /
the most narrow). A statistically-based generalisation that seems to
hold would be: the higher the frequency in language of the disyllabic
adjective in question, the more likely it is to develop synthetic
comparison.
Occasionally and contextually, analytic comparison may atypically
occur with di- or even monosyllabic adjectives that normally inflect
(e.g.: more dear, most happy).
4) A restricted group of adjectives evinces irregular comparison:
a) good better the best;
b) bad / ill worse the worst;
c) far farther the farthest (place)
further the furthest (place, time);
d) near nearer the nearest (place)
the next (order);
51
e) late later the latest (time)

latter the last (order);
f) old older the oldest (people, things)
elder the eldest (people);
g) many / much more the most;
h) little1 less the least (amount)
little2 / small smaller the smallest (size).
3.C.-2. Cleft Constructions
3.C.-2.1. Identify all the Cleft Constructions in the text, and
explain their general mechanism of formation. (Pay attention! They
are quite numerous.)
a) Enumerate and illustrate the types of cleaving that you know.
b) Comment upon the relationship that exists between Dependent
and/or Free Relative Clauses and the various types of Cleft
Constructions.
3.C.-2.3. Apply cleaving upon the following sentences in order to
bring various elements under focal prominence:
1. Our cousin lacks any sense of decency.
2. His behaviour horrified his neighbours.
3. The senior students need some new computers.
4. This naughty boy has smashed all your CDs.
5. The second driver noticed the slippery portion in the street in time.
3.C.-2. Cleft Constructions (knowledge refreshing)
They are special constructions featuring either Restrictive or
Free Relative Clauses, and they have pragmatic relevance, since they
can be used on purpose of bringing under (thematic) focal prominence
various sentential constituents.
The main types of patterns that can be distinguished are:
1) the Wh-Cleft Construction (the focused element can be right to
copular BE e.g.: What offended us was his extreme rudeness. or left
to it e.g.: His extreme rudeness was what / the thing that offended
us. );
52
2) the IT-Cleft Construction (in case of which the focus is right to

copular BE e.g.: It was his extreme rudeness (the thing) that offended
us. ).
Practically (almost) every element of the sentence can be
brought under focal prominence by means of such constructions.
from Before Adam by Jack London
These are our ancestors, and their history is our history.
Remember that as surely as we one day swung down out of the trees
and walked upright, just as surely, on a far earlier day, did we crawl
up out of the sea and achieve our first adventure on land.
[] It was not till I was a young man, at college, that I got any
clew to the significance of my dreams, and to the cause of them. Up to
that time they had been meaningless and without apparent causation.
But at college I discovered evolution and psychology, and learned the
explanation of various strange mental states and experiences. For
instance, there was the falling-through-space dream the commonest
dream experience, one practically known, by first-hand experience, to
all men.
This, my professor told me, was a racial memory. It dated back
to our remote ancestors who lived in trees. With them, being treedwellers, the liability of falling was an ever-present menace. Many
lost their lives that way; all of them experienced terrible falls, saving
themselves by clutching branches as they fell toward the ground. Now
a terrible fall, averted in such fashion, was productive of shock. Such
shock was productive of molecular changes in the cerebral cells.
These molecular changes were transmitted to the cerebral cells of
progeny, became, in short, racial memories.
Thus, when you and I, asleep or dozing off to sleep, fall through
space and awake to sickening consciousness just before we strike, we
are merely remembering what happened to our arboreal ancestors, and
which has been stamped by cerebral changes into the heredity of the
race.
There is nothing strange in this, any more than there is anything
strange in an instinct. An instinct is merely a habit that is stamped into
the stuff of our heredity, that is all. It will be noted, in passing, that in
53
this falling dream which is so familiar to you and me and all of us, we
never strike bottom. To strike bottom would be destruction. Those of
our arboreal ancestors who struck bottom died forthwith. True, the
shock of their fall was communicated to the cerebral cells, but they
died immediately, before they could have progeny. You and I are
descended from those that did not strike bottom; that is why you and I,
in our dreams, never strike bottom.
And now we come to disassociation of personality. We never
have this sense of falling when we are wide awake. Our wake-a-day
personality has no experience of it. Then and here the argument is
irresistible it must be another and distinct personality that falls when
we are asleep, and that has had experience of such falling that has, in
short, a memory of past-day race experiences, just as our wake-a-day
personality has a memory of our wake-a-day experiences.
It was at this stage in my reasoning that I began to see the light.
And quickly the light burst upon me with dazzling brightness,
illuminating and explaining all that had been weird and uncanny and
unnaturally impossible in my dream experiences. In my sleep it was
not my wake-a-day personality that took charge of me; it was another
and distinct personality, possessing a new and totally different fund of
experiences, and, to the point of my dreaming, possessing memories
of those totally different experiences.
What was this personality? When had it itself lived a wake-aday life on this planet in order to collect this fund of strange
experiences? These were questions that my dreams themselves
answered. He lived in the long ago, when the world was young, in that
period that we call the Mid-Pleistocene. He fell from the trees but did
not strike bottom. He gibbered with fear at the roaring of the lions. He
was pursued by beasts of prey, struck at by deadly snakes. He
chattered with his kind in council, and he received rough usage at the
hands of the Fire People in the day that he fled before them.
But, I hear you objecting, why is it that these racial memories
are not ours as well, seeing that we have a vague other-personality that
falls through space while we sleep? And I may answer with another
question. Why is a two-headed calf? And my own answer to this is
that it is a freak. And so I answer your question. I have this otherpersonality and these complete racial memories because I am a freak.
But let me be more explicit. The commonest race memory we have is
the falling-through-space dream. This other-personality is very vague.
About the only memory it has is that of falling. But many of us have
54
sharper, more distinct other-personalities. Many of us have the flying

dream, the pursuing-monster dream, color dreams, suffocation dreams,
and the reptile and vermin dreams. In short, while this otherpersonality is vestigial in all of us, in some of us it is almost
obliterated, while in others of us it is more pronounced. Some of us
have stronger and completer race memories than others. It is all a
question of varying degree of possession of the other-personality. In
myself, the degree of possession is enormous. My other-personality is
almost equal in power with my own personality. And in this matter I
am, as I said, a freak a freak of heredity.
I do believe that it is the possession of this other-personality
but not so strong a one as mine that has in some few others given
rise to belief in personal reincarnation experiences. It is very plausible
to such people, a most convincing hypothesis. When they have visions
of scenes they have never seen in the flesh, memories of acts and
events dating back in time, the simplest explanation is that they have
lived before. But they make the mistake of ignoring their own duality.
They do not recognize their other-personality. They think it is their
own personality, that they have only one personality; and from such a
premise they can conclude only that they have lived previous lives.
But they are wrong. It is not reincarnation. I have visions of
myself roaming through the forests of the Younger World; and yet it is
not myself that I see but one that is only remotely a part of me, as my
father and my grandfather are parts of me less remote. This other-self
of mine is an ancestor, a progenitor of my progenitors in the early line
of my race, himself the progeny of a line that long before his time
developed fingers and toes and climbed up into the trees. []
For in this past I know of, man, as we to-day know him, did not
exist. It was in the period of his becoming that I must have lived and
had my being.
a) Comment upon the plausibility of the explanation given for the
falling-through-space dream. In the light of more recent theories,
which appear to be the weak, and which the strong points of the
argumentation? (Consider the fact that Before Adam was first
published in 1906.)
b) Comment upon the habit instinct link in accordance with the
racial memory theory.
55
c) Besides of being grounded on rather materialistic than

metaphysical arguments, what else can distinguish between racial
memory and reincarnation?
d) What do the motifs of the other widely spread dreams suggest?
e) Make the necessary connections to integrate these views within
the previous discussions about existence and evolutionary cycles. Is
racial memory a sort of immortality? Is the Self really a unique and
genuine, independent and unrepeatable entity, at the same time with
which the world starts, and ceases to exist?
f) Read also the text in the translation module closing this unit, and
comment upon whether there can still be another kind of immortality.
g) Can a self-conscious entity outstrip natures laws of creation? Is
nature perfect? Why are we so sure that there must be a spring, and
that it must burst out?
3.D.-2. Identify the existential sentences and the THAT Clauses in
the text. For the latter, also specify their syntactic function.
3.D.-3. Translate the first six paragraphs of the text into Romanian.
3.E. Write a short essay (1-2 pages) about what you consider as a
possible proof of natures imperfectness.
Orvas i observase nelinitea i Emil Sandra s-a convins atunci
de-a binelea c frmntrile se aud, uneori fac chiar zgomot ca de
cascad, vuiesc. i plcea acest meter pietrar, mai ales c i povestise
cum lucrase el cu un btrn sculptor care, i la vrsta lui naintat, i
punea tot felul de ntrebri unele chiar cu glas tare, atunci cnd l
vedea intrnd n atelier Ce spui, Orvas? Dar nu ddea jos husa de pe
piatr, dimpotriv, o acoperea i mai bine, s nu se vad nimic, cu
toate c Orvas o vzuse n attea rnduri ceva nc nedefinit la care
el tot lustruia. Sculptorul de care-i vorbea era adeptul lui Brncui,
socotind c printr-o continu finisare se va ajunge nendoielnic la
perfeciune. ntr-o diminea a avut loc drama pe care Orvas n-ar fi
putut s-o uite niciodat: pasrea cu gtul lung mai lung dect
ntregul ei corp fiindc sculptura imagina o pasre cu ciocul n
vzduh, ntins n aa fel de parc ar fi voit nu s-i ia zborul, ci s
ciuguleasc stelele, s-a spart. Adic i s-a frnt gtul. Gtul acela att
56
de alungit i att de subire aproape ca un ac! i ct muncise! Se lsase

pe podea i se uita pierdut la capul czut. Din ciocul psrii prea s se
fi prelins atunci sngele. Niciodat Orvas, meterul pietrar, nu vzuse
ntiprit pe faa vreunui om att de crunt durerea. S-a gndit la o
soluie: e imposibil s nu se fi putut repara. Nu numai c exist attea
materiale cu care se poate lipi piatra frnt sau sfrmat chiar n
nenumrate buci, dar s-ar fi putut folosi pn i un fel de urub de
oel! Sculptorul s-a uitat la el cu privirea aproape stins. Apoi a ipat:
Nu nelegi, omule, c sculptura asta era vie? Atunci chiar c a
neles meterul pietrar c artistul trise cu adevrat tot acel proces de
creaie. S-a dus cu gndul la un om din satul su, nvtorul, a crui
nevast nu fcea copii. A fost cu ea pe la toi doctorii i cnd i luase
adio de la dorina lui cum se ntmpl n basme soia i-a nscut un
bieel. Pentru el, de atunci, toate clipele au fost fericite. Pn cnd,
dup civa ani, exact cnd copilul devenise de-a dreptul fermector,
s-a mbolnvit i a murit. O crim a naturii, bolborosea Orvas.
Ce vrei s faci? l-a ntrebat pe Emil Sandra. La ce te
gndeti? Emil Sandra i-a povestit ce-i trecea lui prin cap: ncepnd
cu izvorul i ncheind tot cu izvorul, fiindc tocmai ameninarea aceea
i-a declanat lui hotrrea de a fixa ntmplarea ntr-o piatr, precum
pe vremuri marile btlii n columne. Meterul pietrar l-a ascultat cu o
atenie mrit din ce n ce, pn la ncordare, pe urm l-a luat pe dup
umr avea minile puternice, muschiuloase i au ieit afar sub
luna de toamn. I-a povestit ntmplarea de la Rotunda. O ntmplare
care se petrecuse la Arge i care se asemna ntocmai cu aceasta de
aici. Oamenii de la puul Rotunda ateptau clip de clip izbucnirea
izvorului. Izvorul nu se arta, dar ei, spnd mai departe cu mainile
lor pmntul de la rdcinile munilor, apropiau tot mai mult n
contiina lor secunda aceea, ca o sgeat neagr despicnd rocile i
prvlindu-le, mpinse de ape peste munca lor. ntr-o diminea
povestea Orvas care lucra atunci chiar n subteran la zidirea canalului
de aduciune cu piatr de pavaj galeria pruse s trosneasc din toate
ncheieturile, ca de un cutremur. Din strfunduri se auzeau sunete
nbuite, asemntoare zgomotului pe care-l fac nite cai n galop.
Fonetul cretea aducnd cu el pe mii de frunze o adiere rece, din ce n
ce mai rece tii cum e n galerie cnd ncepe curentul subteran! i
oamenii i cutau privirile, dar nici unul nu-i mrturisea frica lsat,
deodat, ca un nghe, i-n respiraie.
Vasile Bran Rania grea a iubirii
57
UNIT IV
THE ETERNAL DUALITY. THE QUESTION WITH NO ANSWER
4.0. Preliminaries
1. How would you interpret the title of this unit? Is there a certain
(kind of) duality, which is eternal, or (the concept of) duality in itself
and in general is eternal, and thus universal? Which could be the
question with no answer?
2. Discuss the possibility of perfect internal homogeneity and nonfurther-sub-divisibility. Can there be a true monist entity? In other
words, can something not be constructed out of some other,
incorporated and interacting constitutive parts? (Before thinking of
elementary particles, remember what happened to the concept of
atom.)
3. Can the universal network of multi-branching hierarchies be
ultimately interpreted as (if not reduced to) interacting systems of
oppositions? Are all oppositions binary and polar?
4.A.
from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

by Robert Louis Stevenson
Chapter 10. Henry Jekylls Full Statement of the Case
I was born in the year 18 to a large fortune, endowed besides

with excellent parts, inclined by nature to industry, fond of the respect
of the wise and good among my fellowmen, and thus, as might have
been supposed, with every guarantee of an honourable and
distinguished future. And indeed the worst of my faults was a certain
impatient gaiety of disposition, such as has made the happiness of
many, but such as I found it hard to reconcile with my imperious
desire to carry my head high, and wear a more than commonly grave
countenance before the public. Hence it came about that I concealed
my pleasures; and that when I reached years of reflection, and began
to look round me and take stock of my progress and position in the
world, I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of me. Many
a man would have even blazoned such irregularities as I was guilty of;
but from the high views that I had set before me, I regarded and hid
58
them with an almost morbid sense of shame. It was thus rather the
exacting nature of my aspirations than any particular degradation in
my faults, that made me what I was, and, with even a deeper trench
than in the majority of men, severed in me those provinces of good
and ill which divide and compound mans dual nature. In this case, I
was driven to reflect deeply and inveterately on that hard law of life,
which lies at the root of religion and is one of the most plentiful
springs of distress. Though so profound a double-dealer, I was in no
sense a hypocrite; both sides of me were in dead earnest; I was no
more myself when I laid aside restraint and plunged in shame, than
when I laboured, in the eye of day, at the furtherance of knowledge or
the relief of sorrow and suffering. And it chanced that the direction of
my scientific studies, which led wholly towards the mystic and the
transcendental, reacted and shed a strong light on this consciousness
of the perennial war among my members. With every day, and from
both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I thus
drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have
been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one,
but truly two. I say two, because the state of my own knowledge does
not pass beyond that point. Others will follow, others will outstrip me
on the same lines; and I hazard the guess that man will be ultimately
known for a mere polity of multifarious, incongruous and independent
denizens. I, for my part, from the nature of my life, advanced
infallibly in one direction and in one direction only. It was on the
moral side, and in my own person, that I learned to recognise the
thorough and primitive duality of man; I saw that, of the two natures
that contended in the field of my consciousness, even if I could rightly
be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both; and from
an early date, even before the course of my scientific discoveries had
begun to suggest the most naked possibility of such a miracle, I had
learned to dwell with pleasure, as a beloved daydream, on the thought
of the separation of these elements. If each, I told myself, could be
housed in separate identities, life would be relieved of all that was
unbearable; the unjust might go his way, delivered from the
aspirations and remorse of his more upright twin; and the just could
walk steadfastly and securely on his upward path, doing the good
things in which he found his pleasure, and no longer exposed to
disgrace and penitence by the hands of this extraneous evil. It was the
curse of mankind that these incongruous faggots were thus bound
together that in the agonised womb of consciousness, these polar
59
twins should be continuously struggling. How, then were they

dissociated?
I was so far in my reflections when, as I have said, a side light
began to shine upon the subject from the laboratory table. I began to
perceive more deeply than it has ever yet been stated, the trembling
immateriality, the mist-like transience, of this seemingly so solid body
in which we walk attired. Certain agents I found to have the power to
shake and pluck back that fleshly vestment, even as a wind might toss
the curtains of a pavilion. []
I hesitated long before I put this theory to the test of practice. I
knew well that I risked death; for any drug that so potently controlled
and shook the very fortress of identity, might, by the least scruple of
an overdose or at the least inopportunity in the moment of exhibition,
utterly blot out that immaterial tabernacle which I looked to it to
change. But the temptation of a discovery so singular and profound at
last overcame the suggestions of alarm. I had long since prepared my
tincture; I purchased at once, from a firm of wholesale chemists, a
large quantity of a particular salt which I knew, from my experiments,
to be the last ingredient required; and late one accursed night, I
compounded the elements, watched them boil and smoke together in
the glass, and when the ebullition had subsided, with a strong glow of
courage, drank off the potion.
The most racking pangs succeeded: a grinding in the bones,
deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the
hour of birth or death. Then these agonies began swiftly to subside,
and I came to myself as if out of a great sickness. There was
something strange in my sensations, something indescribably new
and, from its very novelty, incredibly sweet. I felt younger, lighter,
happier in body; within I was conscious of a heady recklessness, a
current of disordered sensual images running like a millrace in my
fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, an unknown but not an
innocent freedom of the soul.
I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more
wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the
thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine. I
stretched out my hands, exulting in the freshness of these sensations;
and in the act, I was suddenly aware that I had lost in stature. []
I must here speak by theory alone, saying not that which I know,
but that which I suppose to be most probable. The evil side of my
nature, to which I had now transferred the stamping efficacy, was less
60
robust and less developed than the good which I had just deposed.
Again, in the course of my life, which had been, after all, nine tenths a
life of effort, virtue and control, it had been much less exercised and
much less exhausted. And hence, as I think, it came about that Edward
Hyde was so much smaller, slighter and younger than Henry Jekyll.
Even as good shone upon the countenance of the one, evil was written
broadly and plainly on the face of the other. Evil besides (which I
must still believe to be the lethal side of man) had left on that body an
imprint of deformity and decay. And yet when I looked upon that ugly
idol in the glass, I was conscious of no repugnance, rather of a leap of
welcome. This, too, was myself. It seemed natural and human. In my
eyes it bore a livelier image of the spirit, it seemed more express and
single, than the imperfect and divided countenance I had been hitherto
accustomed to call mine. And in so far I was doubtless right. I have
observed that when I wore the semblance of Edward Hyde, none could
come near to me at first without a visible misgiving of the flesh. This,
as I take it, was because all human beings, as we meet them, are
commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone in the
ranks of mankind, was pure evil.
I lingered but a moment at the mirror: the second and conclusive
experiment had yet to be attempted; it yet remained to be seen if I had
lost my identity beyond redemption and must flee before daylight
from a house that was no longer mine; and hurrying back to my
cabinet, I once more prepared and drank the cup, once more suffered
the pangs of dissolution, and came to myself once more with the
character, the stature and the face of Henry Jekyll.
That night I had come to the fatal cross-roads. [] At that time
my virtue slumbered; my evil, kept awake by ambition, was alert and
swift to seize the occasion; and the thing that was projected was
Edward Hyde. Hence, although I had now two characters as well as
two appearances, one was wholly evil, and the other was still the old
Henry Jekyll, that incongruous compound of whose reformation and
improvement I had already learned to despair. The movement was
thus wholly toward the worse.
Even at that time, I had not conquered my aversions to the
dryness of a life of study. I would still be merrily disposed at times;
and as my pleasures were (to say the least) undignified, and I was not
only well known and highly considered, but growing towards the
elderly man, this incoherency of my life was daily growing more
unwelcome. It was on this side that my new power tempted me until I
61
fell in slavery. I had but to drink the cup, to doff at once the body of
the noted professor, and to assume, like a thick cloak, that of Edward
Hyde. [] Men have before hired bravos to transact their crimes,
while their own person and reputation sat under shelter. I was the first
that ever did so for his pleasures. I was the first that could plod in the
public eye with a load of genial respectability, and in a moment, like a
schoolboy, strip off these lendings and spring headlong into the sea of
liberty. But for me, in my impenetrable mantle, the safely was
complete. Think of it I did not even exist! Let me but escape into my
laboratory door, give me but a second or two to mix and swallow the
draught that I had always standing ready; and whatever he had done,
Edward Hyde would pass away like the stain of breath upon a mirror;
and there in his stead, quietly at home, trimming the midnight lamp in
his study, a man who could afford to laugh at suspicion, would be
Henry Jekyll.
The pleasures which I made haste to seek in my disguise were,
as I have said, undignified; I would scarce use a harder term. But in
the hands of Edward Hyde, they soon began to turn toward the
monstrous. When I would come back from these excursions, I was
often plunged into a kind of wonder at my vicarious depravity. This
familiar that I called out of my own soul, and sent forth alone to do his
good pleasure, was a being inherently malign and villainous; his every
act and thought centred on self; drinking pleasure with bestial avidity
from any degree of torture to another; relentless like a man of stone.
Henry Jekyll stood at times aghast before the acts of Edward
Hyde; but the situation was apart from ordinary laws, and insidiously
relaxed the grasp of conscience. It was Hyde, after all, and Hyde
alone, that was guilty. Jekyll was no worse; he woke again to his good
qualities seemingly unimpaired; he would even make haste, where it
was possible, to undo the evil done by Hyde. And thus his conscience
slumbered.
1. Was Dr. Jekyll essentially different from ordinary people? Give
arguments in favour of his normality.
2. Do you believe him when saying that both sides in him were dead
earnest?
3. Consider Jekylls inclination towards undignified pleasures, and
his conventionalist aspiration for public esteem and respectability.
62
Which of them do you think had played a greater role in the

emergence of his dangerous ideas and preoccupations?
4. Were these two opposite moral traits, however, the real cause of
his downfall, or was there another, more profound flaw in his chain of
reasoning? If yes, which could this be?
5. If Hyde was pure evil, while Jekyll was still a blending of good
and bad traits, what has in fact the doctor succeeded in? Is dissociation
of polarities possible?
6. Comment upon Dr, Jekylls description of Hyde as being natural
and human, bearing a livelier image of the spirit, and seeming
more express and single.
7. Contrast this position with Baudelaires, who considered that
beauty is single, ugliness has a thousand faces.
8. Comment upon the authors use of the words pleasure and evil.
What could the conclusion be? (Remember also that the story was first
published in 1886, i.e. in the Victorian epoch.)
in a dictionary:
Ns: trench, denizen, faggot, pang, recklessness, millrace
Vs: to pluck, to blot, to subside, to linger, to slumber, to trim
As / Avs: perennial, steadfastly, extraneous, vicarious
4.B.-2. Find words in the text that mean: attitude, to hide, selfrighteous, salvation, unaffected.
4.B.-3. Find words in the text that mean the opposite of: coherent,
blessed, benign, abruptly.
4.B.-4. Consider the following verbs of linking: link, tie, bind,
connect, concatenate, enchain, relate, correlate.
[ strengthening, consolidating], [ putting in chains],
[ arresting attention], [ mental process],
[ referring to hands], [ referring to scoring in games],
[ books], [ referring to deposits], [ sequencing],
[ interdependence, interaction], [ ordering],
63
[ referring to social or professional contacts],

[ referring to regulations], [ referring to coincidence],
[ imposing or involving obligation],
[ words, arguments, ideas], [ dressing of wounds],
[ also used figuratively].
1. He was ... by his poverty to accept any job.
2. The suspect thought that nobody could ... him to the victim.
3. During the experiment, the exothermic phase of the reaction and
the synthesis of the salt ... quickly.
4. The clerk wanted to help, but he was all ... up in regulations
that ... in a spider-web of interdictions.
5. In a communicative string, words are ... together by means
of syntactic rules.
6. Being a rigorous scientist, his arguments were logically ...
and formed up a theory which has ... many minds ever since.
4.C. Grammar
4.C.-1. Numerals
4.C.-1.1. Identify the fractions and the multiplicative numerals in
the text.
4.C.-1.2. Refresh your knowledge regarding the various types of
numerals (and numeratives) by consulting the already covered
first year courses and/or other resources.
4.C.-1.3. Extract from a technical source the main formulae of
correspondence between the International System of Units and
Measures and the still largely in use Anglo-Saxon System (FPS).
from Compensation by Ralph Waldo Emerson
POLARITY, or action and reaction, we meet in every part of
nature; in darkness and light; in heat and cold; in the ebb and flow of
waters; in male and female; in the inspiration and expiration of plants
and animals; in the equation of quantity and quality in the fluids of the
64
animal body; in the systole and diastole of the heart; in the undulations
of fluids, and of sound; in the centrifugal and centripetal gravity; in
electricity, galvanism, and chemical affinity. Superinduce magnetism
at one end of a needle, the opposite magnetism takes place at the other
end. If the south attracts, the north repels. To empty here, you must
condense there. An inevitable dualism bisects nature, so that each
thing is a half, and suggests another thing to make it whole; as, spirit,
matter; man, woman; odd, even; subjective, objective; in, out; upper,
under; motion, rest; yea, nay.
Whilst the world is thus dual, so is every one of its parts. The
entire system of things gets represented in every particle. There is
somewhat that resembles the ebb and flow of the sea, day and night,
man and woman, in a single needle of the pine, in a kernel of corn, in
each individual of every animal tribe. The reaction, so grand in the
elements, is repeated within these small boundaries. For example, in
the animal kingdom the physiologist has observed that no creatures
are favorites, but a certain compensation balances every gift and every
defect. A surplusage given to one part is paid out of a reduction from
another part of the same creature. If the head and neck are enlarged,
the trunk and extremities are cut short.
The theory of the mechanic forces is another example. What we
gain in power is lost in time, and the converse. The periodic or
compensating errors of the planets is another instance. The influences
of climate and soil in political history are another. The cold climate
invigorates. The barren soil does not breed fevers, crocodiles, tigers or
scorpions.
The same dualism underlies the nature and condition of man.
Every excess causes a defect; every defect an excess. Every sweet
hath its sour; every evil its good. Every faculty which is a receiver of
pleasure has an equal penalty put on its abuse. It is to answer for its
moderation with its life. For every grain of wit there is a grain of folly.
For every thing you have missed, you have gained something else; and
for every thing you gain, you lose something. If riches increase, they
are increased that use them. If the gatherer gathers too much, Nature
takes out of the man what she puts into his chest; swells the estate, but
kills the owner. Nature hates monopolies and exceptions. The waves
of the sea do not more speedily seek a level from their loftiest tossing
than the varieties of condition tend to equalize themselves. There is
always some levelling circumstance that puts down the overbearing,
the strong, the rich, the fortunate, substantially on the same ground
65
with all others. Is a man too strong and fierce for society and by
temper and position a bad citizen, a morose ruffian, with a dash of
the pirate in him? Nature sends him a troop of pretty sons and
daughters who are getting along in the dames classes at the village
school, and love and fear for them smooths his grim scowl to courtesy.
Thus she [] takes the boar out and puts the lamb in and keeps her
balance true.
The farmer imagines power and place are fine things. But the
President has paid dear for his White House. It has commonly cost
him all his peace, and the best of his manly attributes. To preserve for
a short time so conspicuous an appearance before the world, he is
content to eat dust before the real masters who stand erect behind the
throne. Or, do men desire the more substantial and permanent
grandeur of genius? Neither has this an immunity. He who by force of
will or of thought is great and overlooks thousands, has the charges of
that eminence. [] This law writes the laws of cities and nations. It is
in vain to build or plot or combine against it. Things refuse to be
mismanaged long. Though no checks to a new evil appear, the checks
exist, and will appear. If the government is cruel, the governors life is
not safe. If you tax too high, the revenue will yield nothing. If you
make the criminal code sanguinary, juries will not convict. If the law
is too mild, private vengeance comes in. [] These appearances
indicate the fact that the universe is represented in every one of its
particles. Every thing in nature contains all the powers of nature.
Every thing is made of one hidden stuff; as the naturalist sees one type
under every metamorphosis, and regards a horse as a running man, a
fish as a swimming man, a bird as a flying man, a tree as a rooted
man. Each new form repeats not only the main character of the type,
but part for part all the details, all the aims, furtherances, hindrances,
energies and whole system of every other. Every occupation, trade,
art, transaction, is a compend of the world and a correlative of every
other. Each one is an entire emblem of human life; of its good and ill,
its trials, its enemies, its course and its end. And each one must
somehow accommodate the whole man and recite all his destiny.
The value of the universe contrives to throw itself into every
point. If the good is there, so is the evil; if the affinity, so the
repulsion; if the force, so the limitation. Thus is the universe alive. All
things are moral. That soul which within us is a sentiment, outside of
us is a law. We feel its inspiration; out there in history we can see its
fatal strength. It is in the world, and the world was made by it.
66
Justice is not postponed. A perfect equity adjusts its balance in all

parts of life. The dice of God are always loaded. The world looks like
a multiplication-table, or a mathematical equation, which, turn it how
you will, balances itself. Take what figure you will, its exact value,
nor more nor less, still returns to you. Every secret is told, every crime
is punished, every virtue rewarded, every wrong redressed, in silence
and certainty. [] Every act rewards itself, or, in other words
integrates itself, in a twofold manner; first in the thing, or in real
nature; and secondly in the circumstance, or in apparent nature. Men
call the circumstance the retribution. [] The specific stripes may
follow late after the offence, but they follow because they accompany
it. Crime and punishment grow out of one stem. Punishment is a fruit
that unsuspected ripens within the flower of the pleasure which
concealed it. Cause and effect, means and ends, seed and fruit, cannot
be severed; for the effect already blooms in the cause, the end preexists in the means, the fruit in the seed. []
The ingenuity of man has always been dedicated to the solution
of one problem, how to detach the sensual sweet, the sensual strong,
the sensual bright, etc, from the moral sweet, the moral deep, the
moral fair; that is, again, to contrive to cut clean off this upper surface
so thin as to leave it bottomless; to get a one end, without an other
end. The soul says, Eat the body would feast. The soul says, The
man and woman shall be one flesh and one soul the body would join
the flesh only. The soul says, Have dominion over all things to the
ends of virtue the body would have the power over things to its own
ends. [] Men seek to be great; they would have offices, wealth,
power, and fame. They think that to be great is to possess one side of
nature, the sweet, without the other side, the bitter. This dividing and
detaching is steadily counteracted. Up to this day it must be owned no
projector has had the smallest success. The parted water reunites
behind our hand. Pleasure is taken out of pleasant things, profit out of
profitable things, power out of strong things, as soon as we seek to
separate them from the whole. We can no more halve things and get
the sensual good, by itself, than we can get an inside that shall have no
outside, or a light without a shadow. Drive out Nature with a fork,
she comes running back. Life invests itself with inevitable
conditions, which the unwise seek to dodge, which one and another
brags that he does not know, that they do not touch him; but the brag
is on his lips, the conditions are in his soul. If he escapes them in one
part they attack him in another more vital part. If he has escaped them
67
in form and in the appearance, it is because he has resisted his life and
fled from himself, and the retribution is so much death. So signal is
the failure of all attempts to make this separation of the good from the
tax, that the experiment would not be tried, since to try it is to be
mad, but for the circumstance, that when the disease began in the
will, of rebellion and separation, the intellect is at once infected, so
that the man ceases to see God whole in each object, but is able to see
the sensual allurement of an object and not see the sensual hurt; he
sees the mermaids head but not the dragons tail, and thinks he can
cut off that which he would have from that which he would not have.
a) How is duality viewed upon in Compensation?
b) According to Emerson, can there be such a thing as pure evil?
Why not?
c) Enlarge upon the writers arguments.
d) Does Emersons writing satisfy the classical requirement for
philosophy to be the mother of all sciences? Can you demonstrate
that it does?
e) Comment upon the apparently shocking statement that All
things are moral.
f) Relate the last paragraph of the text to Stevensons story,
underlining the similarity of ideas. Are there also some differences?
Identify the latter.
g) Read the texts in the translation module closing this unit, and
correlate them with the thematic content of Stevenson and Emersons
pieces of writing.
h) Comment upon the multifarious nature of the female character in
Vitralii incolore and upon Ciorans dilemma.
4.D.-2. Translate the last paragraph of the text into Romanian.
4.E. As a preparation for an open oral debate, put down some ideas
related to the topic: Does opposition trigger diversity? And does
diversity mean war?
68
4.F. Translate the following texts into English:

Toate talentele i virtuile din lume nu-i ajut la nimic, dac n-ai o
doz zdravn din compoziia femeii genetice. i eu am? Tu ai, ai tot, dar
eti rea, ascunzi, striveti, stingi. Ce-o fi asta? manie, boal? alt boal?
Una contrar? Un miez de adevr e, n ce spune. mi reazem capul de
umrul lui. Eti agresiv i uneori agresivitatea capt o not vulgar. Cum
aa? Te doresc, iubirea fr dorin e curat schizofrenie. S iubeti un
om i s nu-l vrei pentru tine, s iubeti un om i s nu te vrei pentru el?
Anomalie psihic. Agresiv? Nu, nfometat. Tu nu tii ce e foamea? Nu
sunt lacom, pot tri cu te miri ce. Lingav, anorexic? Ce gust are pentru
tine, viaa? gustul crilor, al baletului? Mnnci fr plcere, bei, dormi
fr plcere. Nici n amor n-o gseti, nicieri? Ia nu-mi purta tu de grij!
A ghicit. Crete o fibr rigid n mine. Fric de gesturi spectaculoase,
impropriu spus spectaculoase, ptimae. De ce fric? Nu tiu unde m-ar
duce, unde m-ar tr. S-ar vedea discrepana. Unde ai fost duminic? Hai,
spune, i cu cine? cu logodnica? Nu zice nimic. Nu te caut? Dac ar intra
peste noi, ce-ai face? Ai fugi pe fereastr? M scruteaz ager, ptrunztor.
Cte fee ai tu? Capete mi-ai spus, dar fee? Eti de toate. De la madon la
a, de la bacant la fecioar. Aa e, are dreptate, toate sunt, toate la un
loc. Mai adaug: ba pe moarte, ba efigia vitalitii. Cum te-ai vindecat
atunci? tii cum? Cui pe cui se scoate.
Dumitru Popescu Vitralii incolore
Pn astzi nc nimeni n-a putut spune ce e bine i ce e ru. i e
sigur c n viitor va fi tot aa. Faptul impresionant nu consist n aceast
relativitate, ci n imposibilitatea de a te dispensa de ntrebuinarea acestor
expresii. Nu tiu ce e bine i ce e ru, dar calific aciunile n bune i rele.
Dac m-ar ntreba cineva de ce numesc o aciune bun i alta rea, nu i-a
putea rspunde. Este un proces instinctiv care m face s apreciez sub
prisma criteriilor morale; cnd m gndesc ulterior la acea apreciere nu-i
mai gsesc nici o justificare. Morala a devenit att de complex i de
contradictorie, deoarece valorile ei nu se mai constituie n ordinea vieii,
ci s-au cristalizat ntr-o regiune transcendent ei, pstrnd slabe legturi cu
tendinele iraionale i vitale. Cum s ntemeiezi o moral? Mi-e att de
scrb de acest cuvnt bine, este att de fad i de inexpresiv! Morala
spune: lucrai pentru triumful binelui! Dar cum?
Emil Cioran Eternitate i moral
69
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Obligatory
- Duescu-Coliban, T. (2005) Aspects of English Morphology.
Nominal and Verbal Categories, Second Edition, (Edited by Janeta
Lupu), Bucureti: Editura Fundaiei Romnia de Mine.
- Lupu, J., Ionescu-Buzea, O. i Birtalan, A. (2007) English Practical
Course for First Year Students, Bucureti: Editura Fundaiei Romnia
de Mine.
- erban, D. (2006) The Syntax of English Predications, Bucureti:
Editura Fundaiei Romnia de Mine, p. 80-202.
- erban, D. i Drguin, D. (2007) English Practical Course for
Second Year Students, Bucureti: Editura Fundaiei Romnia de
Mine.
- Tudosescu, A. (2007) Elements of English Syntax and Semantics,
Bucureti: Editura Fundaiei Romnia de Mine.
Supplementary
- Graver, B. D. (1986) Advanced English Practice, third edition,
London and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G. and Svartvik, J. (1980) A
Grammar of Contemporary English, ninth impression, London:
Longman.
- Swan, M. (1995) Practical English Usage, second edition, Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
- Vianu, L. (2006) English With A Key. Exerciii de retroversiune i
traducere, Bucureti: Editura Teora.
- Wellman, G. (1992) Wordbuilder, second edition, Oxford:
Heinemann.
- * * * (1994) (Coord. G. Niculescu) Dicionar tehnic englez-romn,
second edition, vols. 1-2, Bucureti: Editura Tehnic.
- * * * (1997) Prosper with English English for Science and
Technology, Bucharest: The British Council and Cavallioti Publishing
House.
- * * * (1998) Collins Cobuild English Grammar, eighth impression,
London: Harper Collins Publishers.
- * * * (2001) Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced
Learners, third edition, Birmingham: Harper Collins Publishers.
Online resources
- Ask.com, http://uk.ask.com/, [2007].
- Britannica Concise, http://concise.britannica.com, [2007].
- Cambridge Dictionaries Online, http://dictionary.cambridge.org/, [2007].
- Chambers Reference Online,
http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/index.shtml, [2007].
- Columbia Encyclopaedia, http://www.bartleby.com/65/, [2007].
- Encarta, http://encarta.msn.com/, [2007].
- The Free Dictionary by Farlex,
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Dictionary.htm, [2007].
- The Idiom Connection: English Idioms and Quizzes,
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/6720/ and
http://www.idiomconnection.com/, [2007].
- Merriam-Webster Online Search, http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/, [2007].
- Merriam-Websters LearnersDictionary.com,
http://www.learnersdictionary.com, [2007].
- OneLook Dictionary Search, http://www.onelook.com, [2007].
- Rogets Thesauri, http://www.bartleby.com/thesauri/, [2007].
- Semantic Rhyming Dictionary, http://www.rhymezone.com/, [2007].
- Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wikipedia:Quick_index, [2007].
- WordNet: A Lexical Database for English,
http://wordnet.princeton.edu/, [2007].
- Wordsmyth, http://www.wordsmyth.net/, [2007].
- * * * (2007) ESL/EFL Grammar Resources,
http://www.d-oliver.net/grammar.htm, [2007].
- * * * (2007) Online English Grammar,
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/index.cfm, [2007].
72
PART TWO

THIRD YEAR, SECOND TERM
INTRODUCTION
General presentation of the course
Standing as the second part of a unitary one-year course, the
cluster of learning units to be covered during the second term naturally
pursue much the same coordinates of design as the ones shaping and
structuring the contents of the first term, and namely:
- various activities that are targeted upon actualising, refining and/or
supplementing certain areas of knowledge within the fields of
(derivational) morphology, syntax and semantics by means of
restructuring, reshaping, and resizing information in accordance to a
strictly applied orientation, and thus creating a functional interface
with theoretical disciplines;
- a focus upon improving and diversifying the students training in
translation practice, with the entailing beneficial effects upon the
enriching of specialised language vocabulary in various domains;
- exercising the abilities involved in complex analysis of content and
in text commentary;
- activating the deductive, intuitive and communicative skills;
- testing the students coherence and logical processes in ideation and
argumentation, stimulating the creative potential.
In close relationship with the last issue, the structure of the
course will also include:
- elements (and exercises) of academic writing;
- topics (and guidelines) for essays and/or debates.
Objectives of the course
The characteristic of the course being the pre-eminently applied
dimension, its central goal resides in enhancing linguistic performance
at lexical-semantic, grammatical (phonetic, morphological, syntactic),
and stylistic levels.
In order to improve actualising abilities, both systematic
acquisition of new information, and sustained activation, development
and integration of already acquired knowledge are going to be
envisaged.
By means of the diverse thematic content and the selected texts,
a certain benefit in terms of students general cultural background is
also targeted.
Outline of the units and modules

The macro-structural organisation of the course consists of three
broadly encompassing units (see Contents).
These units are all internally articulated in conformity to an
iterative sequence of didactic modules (the text, vocabulary, grammar,
translation, essay / debate modules), the methodological characteristic
of which resides in their more often than not presupposing an
integrative level in what concerns the basic skills (reading, listening,
speaking, writing).
Therefore, a unit will (in general) contain:
a) a text of 1-2 pages constituting the nucleus of the unit, and
representing the object of a complex analysis (lexical and grammatical
aspects, relevant stylistic features, content commentary , which text
will be preceded by introductory requirements featuring a
thematically orienting role, and followed by a set of assignments
meant to facilitate and guide the analysis;
b) vocabulary study and practice;
c) the grammar section (brief theoretical presentation / revision and/or
exercises);
d) 1-2 supplementary texts (of variable length), dealing with topics
related to the one of the main text, and which can be used on various
purposes (for translation tasks, as starting point for additional lexicalgrammatical applications or for comments / debates, as further
information and reading);
e) indicated topics for essays / debates (which may be accompanied by
suggested guidelines, landmarks or possibly necessary references);
f) 1-2 texts for translation into English.
g) N.B.: The last two units scheduled within this second term will also
include a special section devoted to the presentation and acquisition
of some basic elements (viz. principles and techniques) in academic
writing, with the suitable diminishing of volume and complexity in the
other components.
76
UNIT V
THE SUPERNATURAL. ANSWERS FROM BEYOND REALITY
5.0. Preliminaries
1. Comment upon the multi-faceted nature of what is generically
referred to as the supernatural, and upon the richness and
significance of its associated cultural dimension (beliefs and
practices).
2. Would you also include religion, and the formidable impact it had
upon the development of human civilisation, within a more
encompassing analysis of the concept, and its implications?
3. Enlarge upon the psychological and social causes of the recourse to
supernatural explanations.
5.A.
from The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

The day had been warm and sunny; and, in the cool of the
evening, the whole family went out to drive. They did not return home
till nine oclock, when they had a light supper. The conversation in no
way turned upon ghosts, so there were not even those primary
conditions of receptive expectation which so often precede the
presentation of psychical phenomena. [] No mention at all was
made of the supernatural, nor was Sir Simon de Canterville alluded to
in any way. At eleven oclock the family retired, and by half-past all
the lights were out. Some time after, Mr. Otis was awakened by a
curious noise in the corridor, outside his room. It sounded like the
clank of metal, and seemed to be coming nearer every moment. []
He put on his slippers, took a small oblong phial out of his dressingcase, and opened the door. Right in front of him he saw, in the wan
moonlight, an old man of terrible aspect. His eyes were as red burning
coals; long grey hair fell over his shoulders in matted coils; his
garments, which were of antique cut, were soiled and ragged, and
from his wrists and ankles hung heavy manacles and rusty gyves.
My dear sir, said Mr. Otis, I really must insist on your oiling
those chains, and have brought you for that purpose a small bottle of
the Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator. [] I shall leave it here for you
by the bedroom candles, and will be happy to supply you with more
77
should you require it. With these words the United States Minister
laid the bottle down on a marble table, and, closing his door, retired to
rest.
For a moment the Canterville ghost stood quite motionless in
natural indignation; then, dashing the bottle violently upon the
polished floor, he fled down the corridor, uttering hollow groans, and
emitting a ghastly green light. Just, however, as he reached the top of
the great oak staircase, a door was flung open, two little white-robed
figures appeared, and a large pillow whizzed past his head! There was
evidently no time to be lost, so, hastily adopting the Fourth Dimension
of Space as a means of escape, he vanished through the wainscoting,
and the house became quite quiet.
On reaching a small secret chamber in the left wing, he leaned
up against a moonbeam to recover his breath, and began to try and
realise his position. Never, in a brilliant and uninterrupted career of
three hundred years, had he been so grossly insulted. [] All his great
achievements came back to him again, from the butler who had shot
himself in the pantry because he had seen a green hand tapping at the
window pane, to the beautiful Lady Stutfield, who was always obliged
to wear a black velvet band round her throat to hide the mark of five
fingers burnt upon her white skin, and who drowned herself at last in
the carp pond at the end of the Kings Walk. [] And after all this,
some wretched modern Americans were to come and offer him the
Rising Sun Lubricator, and throw pillows at his head! It was quite
unbearable. Besides, no ghost in history had ever been treated in this
manner. Accordingly, he determined to have vengeance, and remained
till daylight in an attitude of deep thought.
The next morning, when the Otis family met at breakfast, they
discussed the ghost at some length. The United States Minister was
naturally a little annoyed to find that his present had not been
accepted. I have no wish, he said, to do the ghost any personal
injury, and I must say that, considering the length of time he has been
in the house, I dont think it is at all polite to throw pillows at him a
very just remark, at which, I am sorry to say, the twins burst into
shouts of laughter. Upon the other hand, he continued, if he really
declines to use the Rising Sun Lubricator, we shall have to take his
chains from him. It would be quite impossible to sleep, with such a
noise going on outside the bedrooms.
For the rest of the week, however, they were undisturbed, the
only thing that excited any attention being the continual renewal of the
78
blood-stain on the library floor. This certainly was very strange, as the
door was always locked at night by Mr. Otis, and the windows kept
closely barred. The chameleon-like colour, also, of the stain excited a
good deal of comment.
Some mornings it was a dull (almost Indian) red, then it would
be vermilion, then a rich purple, and once when they came down for
family prayers, according to the simple rites of the Free American
Reformed Episcopalian Church, they found it a bright emerald-green.
These kaleidoscopic changes naturally amused the party very much,
and bets on the subject were freely made every evening. The only
person who did not enter into the joke was little Virginia, who, for
some unexplained reason, was always a good deal distressed at the
sight of the blood-stain, and very nearly cried the morning it was
emerald-green.
The second appearance of the ghost was on Sunday night.
Shortly after they had gone to bed they were suddenly alarmed by a
fearful crash in the hall. Rushing downstairs, they found that a large
suit of old armour had become detached from its stand, and had fallen
on the stone floor, while, seated in a high-backed chair, was the
Canterville ghost, rubbing his knees with an expression of acute agony
on his face. The twins, having brought their pea-shooters with them, at
once discharged two pellets on him, with that accuracy of aim which
can only be attained by long and careful practice on a writing-master,
while the United States Minister covered him with his revolver, and
called upon him, in accordance with Californian etiquette, to hold up
his hands! The ghost started up with a wild shriek of rage, and swept
through them like a mist, extinguishing Washington Otis candle as he
passed, and so leaving them all in total darkness. On reaching the top
of the staircase he recovered himself, and determined to give his
celebrated peal of demoniac laughter. This he had on more than one
occasion found extremely useful. It was said to have turned Lord
Rakers wig grey in a single night, and had certainly made three of
Lady Cantervilles French governesses give warning before their
month was up. He accordingly laughed his most horrible laugh, till the
old vaulted roof rang and rang again, but hardly had the fearful echo
died away when a door opened, and Mrs. Otis came out in a light blue
dressing-gown. I am afraid you are far from well, she said, and have
brought you a bottle of Dr. Dobells tincture. If it is indigestion, you
will find it a most excellent remedy. The ghost glared at her in fury.
[] The sound of approaching footsteps, however, made him hesitate
79
in his fell purpose, so he contented himself with becoming faintly

phosphorescent, and vanished with a deep churchyard groan, just as
the twins had come up to him.
On reaching his room he entirely broke down, and became a
prey to the most violent agitation. The vulgarity of the twins, and the
gross materialism of Mrs. Otis, were naturally extremely annoying,
but what really distressed him most was, that he had been unable to
wear the suit of mail. He had hoped that even modern Americans
would be thrilled by the sight of a Spectre In Armour, if for no more
sensible reason, at least out of respect for their national poet
Longfellow over whose graceful and attractive poetry he himself had
whiled away many a weary hour when the Cantervilles were up in
town. []
For some days after this he was extremely ill, and hardly stirred
out of his room at all, except to keep the blood-stain in proper repair.
[] The terrible excitement of the last four weeks was beginning to
have its effect. His nerves were completely shattered, and he started at
the slightest noise. For five days he kept his room, and at last made up
his mind to give up the point of the blood-stain on the library floor. If
the Otis family did not want it, they clearly did not deserve it. They
were evidently people on a low, material plane of existence, and quite
incapable of appreciating the symbolic value of sensuous phenomena.
The question of phantasmic apparitions, and the development of astral
bodies, was of course quite a different matter, and really not under his
control. It was his solemn duty to appear in the corridor once a week,
and to gibber from the large oriel window on the first and third
Wednesdays in every month, and he did not see how he could
honourably escape from his obligations. It is quite true that his life had
been very evil, but, upon the other hand, he was most conscientious in
all things connected with the supernatural.
For the next three Saturdays, accordingly, he traversed the
corridor as usual between midnight and three oclock, taking every
possible precaution against being either heard or seen. He removed his
boots, trod as lightly as possible on the old worm-eaten boards, wore a
large black velvet cloak, and was careful to use the Rising Sun
Lubricator for oiling his chains. I am bound to acknowledge that it
was with a good deal of difficulty that he brought himself to adopt this
last mode of protection. However, one night, while the family were at
dinner, he slipped into Mr. Otiss bedroom and carried off the bottle.
He felt a little humiliated at first, but afterwards was sensible enough
80
to see that there was a great deal to be said for the invention, and, to a
certain degree, it served his purpose. Still, in spite of everything, he
was not left unmolested. Strings were continually being stretched
across the corridor, over which he tripped in the dark, and on one
occasion [] he met with a severe fall, through treading on a butterslide, which the twins had constructed from the entrance of the
Tapestry Chamber to the top of the oak staircase. []
A few days after [], as she was running past the Tapestry
Chamber, the door of which happened to be open, Virginia fancied she
saw some one inside, and thinking it was her mothers maid, who
sometimes used to bring her work there, looked in to ask her to mend
her habit. To her immense surprise, however, it was the Canterville
Ghost himself! He was sitting by the window, watching the ruined
gold of the yellowing trees fly through the air, and the red leaves
dancing madly down the long avenue. His head was leaning on his
hand, and his whole attitude was one of extreme depression. Indeed,
so forlorn, and so much out of repair did he look, that little Virginia,
whose first idea had been to run away and lock herself in her room,
was filled with pity, and determined to try and comfort him. []
I am so sorry for you, she said, but my brothers are going
back to Eton to-morrow, and then, if you behave yourself, no one will
annoy you.
It is absurd asking me to behave myself, he answered, looking
round in astonishment at the pretty little girl who had ventured to
address him, quite absurd. I must rattle my chains, and groan through
keyholes, and walk about at night, if that is what you mean. It is my
only reason for existing.
It is no reason at all for existing, and you know you have been
very wicked. Mrs. Umney told us, the first day we arrived here, that
you had killed your wife.
Well, I quite admit it, said the Ghost petulantly, but it was a
purely family matter, and concerned no one else.
It is very wrong to kill any one, said Virginia, who at times had
a sweet Puritan gravity, caught from some old New England ancestor.
Oh, I hate the cheap severity of abstract ethics! My wife was
very plain, never had my ruffs properly starched, and knew nothing
about cookery. [] However, it is no matter now, for it is all over,
and I dont think it was very nice of her brothers to starve me to death,
though I did kill her.
81
Starve you to death? Oh, Mr. Ghost, I mean Sir Simon, are you
hungry? I have a sandwich in my case. Would you like it?
No, thank you, I never eat anything now; but it is very kind of
you, all the same, and you are much nicer than the rest of your horrid,
rude, vulgar, dishonest family.
Stop! cried Virginia stamping her foot, it is you who are rude,
and horrid, and vulgar, and as for dishonesty, you know you stole the
paints out of my box to try and furbish up that ridiculous blood-stain
in the library. First you took all my reds, including the vermilion, and
I couldnt do any more sunsets then you took the emerald-green and
the chrome-yellow, and finally I had nothing left but indigo and
Chinese white, and could only do moonlight scenes, which are always
depressing to look at, and not at all easy to paint. I never told on you,
though I was very much annoyed, and it was most ridiculous, the
whole thing; for who ever heard of emerald-green blood?
Well, really, said the Ghost, rather meekly, what was I to do?
It is a very difficult thing to get real blood nowadays, and, as your
brother began it all with his Paragon Detergent, I certainly saw no
reason why I should not have your paints. As for colour, that is always
a matter of taste: the Cantervilles have blue blood, for instance, the
very bluest in England; but I know you Americans dont care for
things of this kind.
You know nothing about it, and the best thing you can do is to
emigrate and improve your mind. My father will be only too happy to
give you a free passage, and though there is a heavy duty on spirits of
every kind, there will be no difficulty about the Custom House, as the
officers are all Democrats. Once in New York, you are sure to be a
great success. I know lots of people there who would give a hundred
thousand dollars to have a grandfather, and much more than that to
have a family ghost.
I dont think I should like America.
I suppose because we have no ruins and no curiosities, said
Virginia satirically.
No ruins! no curiosities! answered the Ghost; you have your
navy and your manners.
Good evening; I will go and ask papa to get the twins an extra
weeks holiday.
Please dont go, Miss Virginia, he cried; I am so lonely and so
unhappy, and I really dont know what to do. I want to go to sleep and
I cannot.
82
Thats quite absurd! You have merely to go to bed and blow out
the candle. It is very difficult sometimes to keep awake, especially at
church, but there is no difficulty at all about sleeping. Why, even
babies know how to do that, and they are not very clever.
I have not slept for three hundred years, he said sadly, and
Virginias beautiful blue eyes opened in wonder; for three hundred
years I have not slept, and I am so tired.
1. What is the role of the initial mentioning of the fact that those
primary conditions of receptive expectation were not met?
2. What is the authors attitude toward commonplaces and clichs?
Consider both the universe of British aristocracy and the life and ways
of modern Americans.
3. Has the contrast and cultural clash between these two categories
become a clich in itself?
4. Are there any elements in the story that not only support this idea,
but also give a hint about Wildes being aware of this aspect, and
including it among the targets of his irony?
5. Enlarge upon the psychological and social archetypes and clichs
employed in the story.
6. Which of the archetypal characters eventually turns out to be
profoundly atypical?
7. Wilde is perhaps best known for his love of paradoxes. Think of
the normal antagonism a commonplace in itself between
traditionalism and adaptability, consider also your answer to the
previous question, and identify the paradoxical situation, if any.
8. Comment upon the rich cultural tradition related to ghosts or other
forms of spiritual persistence after death. How is this kind of
immortality perceived and considered?
in a dictionary:
Ns: clank, coil, manacle, gyve, wainscot, pea-shooter, pellet, peal,
wig, oriel, free passage, heavy duty
Vs: to allude, to groan, to whiz, to glare, to gibber, to rattle, to furbish
As / Avs: oblong, wan, fell, weary, sensuous, forlorn, petulant, horrid
83
5.B.-2. There are several colours and shades mentioned in the text.
In relation to this, fulfil the following tasks:
a) Supply your own taxonomy of the colours and shades that you
know.
b) Enrich the result after consulting dictionaries and/or other
sources. (Be sure you include the colours and shades in the text.)
c) Support the hyponymy and incompatibility relations within the
hierarchy by supplying the accompanying componential analysis
for each item.
(Remember the fact that the field of colour terms is not only an
extremely suitable for componential and taxonomic analyses conceptual
field, but also one of the most frequently studied and illustrated
logico-semantic domains.)
5.B.-3. After you have fulfilled the tasks in 5.B.-2., try your ability
to construct hierarchies by supplying a tentative taxonomic
classification of supernatural beings.
(Ground the relative position that you confer to each item upon the
confrontation of associated clusters of distinctive features, as the latter
culturally appear to characterise each such imaginary creature.)
5.C. Grammar
5.C.-1. Gender
5.C.-1.1. Refresh your knowledge regarding gender marking and
gender-related problems of collocability in English by consulting
the already covered first year courses or other resources.
5.C.-2. Adverbial Clauses
5.C.-2.1. Refresh your knowledge about Adverbials and Adverbial
Clauses by consulting the already covered courses or any other
resources.
5.C.-2.2. Identify the Adverbial Clauses in the text, and specify
their type.
(Optional: Perform the same task, considering the Adverbial Clauses
in one of the previously covered texts.)
84
5.D. Supplementary texts and assignments

) from The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis
Follow me! She said to the Monk in a low and solemn voice.
All is ready! His limbs trembled, while He obeyed her. She led him
through various narrow passages; and on every side as they past along,
the beams of the Lamp displayed none but the most revolting objects;
Skulls, Bones, Graves, and Images whose eyes seemed to glare on
them with horror and surprize. At length they reached a spacious
Cavern, whose lofty roof the eye sought in vain to discover. A
profound obscurity hovered through the void. Damp vapours struck
cold to the Friars heart; and He listened sadly to the blast while it
howled along the lonely Vaults. Here Matilda stopped. She turned to
Ambrosio. His cheeks and lips were pale with apprehension. By a
glance of mingled scorn and anger She reproved his pusillanimity, but
She spoke not. She placed the Lamp upon the ground, near the Basket.
She motioned that Ambrosio should be silent, and began the
mysterious rites. She drew a circle round him, another round herself,
and then taking a small Phial from the Basket, poured a few drops
upon the ground before her. She bent over the place, muttered some
indistinct sentences, and immediately a pale sulphurous flame arose
from the ground. It increased by degrees, and at length spread its
waves over the whole surface, the circles alone excepted in which
stood Matilda and the Monk. It then ascended the huge Columns of
unhewn stone, glided along the roof, and formed the Cavern into an
immense chamber totally covered with blue trembling fire. It emitted
no heat. On the contrary, the extreme chillness of the place seemed to
augment with every moment. Matilda continued her incantations. At
intervals She took various articles from the Basket, the nature and
name of most of which were unknown to the Friar. But among the few
which He distinguished, He particularly observed three human fingers,
and an Agnus Dei which She broke in pieces. She threw them all into
the flames which burned before her, and they were instantly
consumed.
The Monk beheld her with anxious curiosity. Suddenly She
uttered a loud and piercing shriek. She appeared to be seized with an
access of delirium; She tore her hair, beat her bosom, used the most
frantic gestures, and drawing the poignard from her girdle plunged it
into her left arm. The blood gushed out plentifully, and as She stood
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on the brink of the circle, She took care that it should fall on the
outside. The flames retired from the spot on which the blood was
pouring. A volume of dark clouds rose slowly from the ensanguined
earth, and ascended gradually, till it reached the vault of the Cavern.
At the same time a clap of thunder was heard: The echo pealed
fearfully along the subterraneous passages, and the ground shook
beneath the feet of the Enchantress.
It was now that Ambrosio repented of his rashness. The solemn
singularity of the charm had prepared him for something strange and
horrible. He waited with fear for the Spirits appearance, whose
coming was announced by thunder and earthquakes. He looked wildly
round him, expecting that some dreadful Apparition would meet his
eyes, the sight of which would drive him mad. A cold shivering seized
his body, and He sank upon one knee, unable to support himself. He
comes! exclaimed Matilda in a joyful accent.
Ambrosio started, and expected the Daemon with terror. What
was his surprize, when the Thunder ceasing to roll, a full strain of
melodious Music sounded in the air. At the same time the cloud
dispersed, and He beheld a Figure more beautiful than Fancys pencil
ever drew. It was a Youth seemingly scarce eighteen, the perfection of
whose form and face was unrivalled. He was perfectly naked: A bright
Star sparkled upon his forehead; two crimson wings extended
themselves from his shoulders; and his silken locks were confined by
a band of many-coloured fires, which played round his head, formed
themselves into a variety of figures, and shone with a brilliance far
surpassing that of precious Stones. Circlets of Diamonds were
fastened round his arms and ankles, and in his right hand He bore a
silver branch, imitating Myrtle. His form shone with dazzling glory:
He was surrounded by clouds of rose-coloured light, and at the
moment that He appeared, a refreshing air breathed perfumes through
the Cavern.
Enchanted at a vision so contrary to his expectations, Ambrosio
gazed upon the Spirit with delight and wonder. Yet however beautiful
the Figure, He could not but remark a wildness in the Daemons eyes,
and a mysterious melancholy impressed upon his features, betraying
the Fallen Angel, and inspiring the Spectators with secret awe. The
Music ceased. Matilda addressed herself to the Spirit: She spoke in a
language unintelligible to the Monk, and was answered in the same.
She seemed to insist upon something which the Daemon was
unwilling to grant. He frequently darted upon Ambrosio angry
86
glances, and at such times the Friars heart sank within him. Matilda
appeared to grow incensed. She spoke in a loud and commanding
tone, and her gestures declared that She was threatening him with her
vengeance. Her menaces had the desired effect: The Spirit sank upon
his knee, and with a submissive air presented to her the branch of
Myrtle. No sooner had She received it, than the Music was again
heard. A thick cloud spread itself over the Apparition. The blue flames
disappeared, and total obscurity reigned through the Cave.
The Abbot moved not from his place. His faculties were all
bound up in pleasure, anxiety, and surprize. At length the darkness
dispersing, He perceived Matilda standing near him in her religious
habit, with the Myrtle in her hand. No traces of the incantation, and
the Vaults were only illuminated by the faint rays of the sepulchral
Lamp.
I have succeeded, said Matilda, though with more difficulty
than I expected. Lucifer, whom I summoned to my assistance, was at
first unwilling to obey my commands. To enforce his compliance I
was constrained to have recourse to my strongest charms. They have
produced the desired effect, but I have engaged never more to invoke
his agency in your favour. Beware then, how you employ an
opportunity which never will return. My magic arts will now be of no
use to you. In future you can only hope for supernatural aid by
invoking the Daemons yourself, and accepting the conditions of their
service. This you will never do: You want strength of mind to force
them to obedience, and unless you pay their established price, they
will not be your voluntary Servants.
5.D.-1.. Reading comprehension and comments
a) Identify and comment upon the typical Gothic elements in the
text.
b) Enumerate and enlarge upon the most widely spread descriptions
of daemons in folklore, religious literature and fiction.
c) Discuss the reasons for the Faustian pact motif appearing as a
cultural invariant.
5.D.-2.. Translate the fourth paragraph of the text into Romanian.
87
) A Night at a Cottage by Richard Hughes

On the evening that I am considering I passed by some ten or

twenty cosy barns and sheds without finding one to my liking: for
Worcestershire lanes are devious and muddy, and it was nearly dark
when I found an empty cottage set back from the road in a little
bedraggled garden. There had been heavy rain earlier in the day, and
the straggling fruit trees still wept over it. But the roof looked sound,
there seemed no reason why it should not be fairly dry inside as dry,
at any rate, as I was likely to find anywhere.
I decided: and with a long look up the road, and a long look
down the road, I drew an iron bar from the lining of my coat and
forced the door, which was only held by a padlock and two staples.
Inside, the darkness was damp and heavy; I struck a match, and with
its haloed light I saw the black mouth of a passage somewhere ahead
of me; and then it spluttered out, so I closed the door carefully, though
I had little reason to fear passers-by at such a dismal hour in so remote
a lane; and lighting another match, I crept down this passage to a little
room at the far end, where the air was a bit clearer, for all that the
window was boarded across. Moreover, there was a little rusted stove
in this room; and thinking it too dark for anyone to see the smoke, I
ripped up part of the wainscot with my knife, and soon was boiling my
tea over a bright small fire, and drying some of the days rain out of
my steamy clothes. Presently I piled the stove with wood to its top
bar, and settling my boots where they would best dry, I stretched my
body out to sleep.
I cannot have slept very long, for when I woke the fire was still
burning brightly. It is not easy to sleep for long together on the level
boards of a floor, for the limbs grow numb, and any movement wakes.
I turned over, and was about to go to sleep again, when I was startled
to hear footsteps in the passage. As I have said, the window was
boarded, and there was no other door from the little room no
cupboard even in which to hide. It occurred to me rather grimly that
there was nothing to do but to sit up and face the music, and that
would probably mean being haled back to Worcester jail, which I had
left two bare days before, and where, for various reasons, I had no
anxiety to be seen again.
The stranger did not hurry himself, but presently walked slowly
down the passage, attracted by the light of the fire; and when he came
88
in he did not seem to notice me where I lay huddled in a corner, but

walked straight over to the stove and warmed his hands at it. He was
dripping wet, wetter than I should have thought it possible for a man
to get, even on such a rainy night; and his clothes were old and worn.
The water dripped from him on to the floor; he wore no hat, and the
straight hair over his eyes dripped water that sizzled spitefully on the
embers.
It occurred to me at once that he was no lawful citizen, but
another wanderer like myself: a gentleman of the road; so I gave him a
sort of greeting, and we were presently in conversation. He
complained much of the cold and wet, and huddled himself over the
fire, his teeth chattering and face an ill white. No, I said, it is no
decent weather for the road, this. But I wonder this cottage isnt more
frequented, for its a tidy little bit of cottage. Outside the pale dead
sunflowers and the giant weeds stirred in the rain. Time was, he
answered, there wasnt a tighter little cot in the county, not a prettier
garden. A regular little parlour she was. But now no folkll live in it,
and theres a very few trampsll stop here either.
There were none of the rags and tins and broken food about that
you find in place where many beggars are used to stay. Whys that?
I asked. He gave a very troubled sigh before answering. Ghosts, he
said, ghosts. Him that lived here. It is a mighty sad tale, and Ill not
tell it to you; but the upshot of it was that he drowned himself, down
to the millpond. All slimy he was, and floating, when they pulled him
out of it. There are folks who have seen him floating on the pond, and
folks have seen him set round the corner of the school, waiting for his
childer. Seems as if he had forgotten, like how they were all gone
dead, the why he drowned himself. But there are some who say he
walks up and down this cottage, up and down; like when the smallpox had them, and they couldnt sleep but if they heard his feet going
up and down by their doors. Drowned himself down the pond, he did,
and now he walks.
The stranger sighed again, and I could hear the water squelch in
his boots as he moved himself. But it doesnt do for the likes of us to
get superstitious, I answered. It wouldnt do for us to get seeing
ghosts, or manys the wet night wed be lying in the roadway. No,
he said; no, it wouldnt do at all. I never had belief in Walks myself.
I laughed. Nor I that, I said. I never see ghosts, whoever may.
He looked at me again in his queer melancholy fashion. No,
he said, expect you dont ever. Some folks dont. Its hard enough for
89
poor fellows to have no money to their lodging, apart from ghosts

scaring them. Its the coppers, not spooks, that make me sleep
uneasy, I said. What with coppers, and meddlesome minded folk, it
isnt easy to get a nights rest nowadays.
The water was still oozing from his clothes all about the floor,
and a dank smell went up from him. God! man, I cried, cant you
ever get dry?
Dry? He made a little coughing laughter. Dry? I shant ever
get dry, be it wet or fine, winter or summer. See that! He thrust his
muddy hands up to the wrist into the fire, glowering over it fiercely
and madly. But I caught up my two boots and ran crying out into the
night.
5.D.-1.. Reading comprehension and comments
a) Compare the ghost in this story with the Canterville ghost.
b) Consider the setting and the circumstances. Are the primary
conditions of receptive expectation met in this case?
c) Nevertheless, is there any denial-of-expectation element that
secures the final surprise?
d) Read also the text in the translation module closing this unit,
characterise Leslie and Keats spirits, and make an attempt to sketch a
ghost typology.
5.D.-2.. Translate the first two paragraphs of the text into Romanian.
5.E. As a preparation for an open oral debate, put down some ideas
related to the topic: The paradox between reality and game of the
intellect.
Pe vremuri auzeam c sufletele rposailor dau de tire cui vor
ele c sunt acolo btnd uor n lemnul mobilelor. Am ncercat i eu,
dar nu e aa de uor. Deseori am senzaia perfect c am minile i
trupul ntregi ca odinioar. Dar cu minile acestea n-am reuit s mic,
la noi n odaie, nici mcar o firimitur de pine de pe podea. i czuse
nevesti-mi n timp ce mnca, lacrimile iroindu-i pe obraz. Privea
firimitura cu o curioas insisten i, dac ar fi vzut-o dintr-o dat
90
cum se mic i se plimb pe podea, ar fi neles c eu eram cel care o

mpingea. Dar nu am reuit s-o fac.
Cnd sunt stpnit de asemenea gnduri, simt n jurul meu o
mulime de fiine care ar vrea s m ajute.
Degeaba ncerci cu minile, mi-a optit clar una dintre acestea.
Concentreaz-i gndul asupra aciunii fizice pe care vrei s-o provoci,
mi-a spus.
Hai, las firimitura aia, a intervenit atunci altcineva, asta-i o
treab prea grea. Fiecare lucru, la timpul lui. Deocamdat,
mulumete-te cu ceva pocnituri n ua dulapului!
Mcar de-a reui, zisei, mi-ar plcea grozav.
Foarte bine! Atunci fii atent la ce-i spun eu. S vedem Uitte la lemnul acestui dulap. E fcut din
E de brad, l ntrerupsei eu, nu aveam bani s cumpr unul mai
bun!
Asta nu ne privete. E fcut din materie, nelegi? Din acea
materie pe care noi, dintr-un anumit punct de vedere, n-o mai avem.
Din multe puncte de vedere, dup prerea mea, i spusei.
Nu tocmai! rspunse el, cu trie. Mai trziu vei nelege c
ntre fiina ta cea de-acum i cea dinainte e doar o uoar deosebire.
Oricum, mai nti de toate gndete-te c nchipuirea ta e mai uoar,
mai fluid dect substana din care e alctuit aceast mobil i c
gndul tu poate trece prin acest miez al lemnului ca vntul care trece
printre spicele de gru i le ncovoaie, fr ca ochiul s-l poat vedea.
Hm! Nu e chiar aa uor! fcui eu.
Ba nicidecum! Plimb-i gndul printre milioanele de
molecule din care e fcut aceast scndur de lemn, f-o cu trie, cu
energie, n sus i n jos, n toate direciile. Ineria i se va tulbura i,
pentru o clip, echilibrul su va simi intervenia acestei noi energii.
n acea clip, simii c n grupul nostru mai intra cineva.
Lsai biatul n pace! zise acesta. De ce l mpingei s nvee
astfel de jocuri? Sunt attea alte lucruri mai folositoare pe care va
trebui s le deprind ncet-ncet.
Ei, i totui v rog, ineam att de mult s-i dau Patriciei un
mic semn de via din parte-mi, protestai eu. []
Dar fusese destul acel gest de protest al meu, ca odaia cu dulapul
i cu nevast-mea s dispar din ochii mei i ca eu s m trezesc
singur, doar cu acela care intrase n vorb ultimul.
Nu e cazul s-i sperii nevasta cu ciocniturile tale prosteti,
mi zise.
91
Ei poftim! Btile mele prosteti! N-ai vzut cum se jeluie? Ce

n-ar da ea s primeasc un semn de via de la mine
i-ar face cruce i ar scuipa ca de frica dracului! rse el.
Nu cred! Tocmai acum, cnd m strig toat ziua: Leslie!
Leslie!
Las-o s se rcoreasc. N-are nici un rost s te nvri zi i
noapte pe lng ea. Te va uita. Tu vei avea cu totul altceva de fcut
acum.
Nu vreau s m uite! Cnd eram cu ea, nu se uita de loc la
mine, mi i fcea n ciud: purta plrie i mnui!
Acum tii c a inut la tine. Ar trebui s-i fie destul.
Dar cine eti tu, de te interesezi att de mine?
Eu sunt Keats, adic cel ar crui nume a fost scris n ap
A, da, cel din col, de pe aleea mea, cel cu dafinul nflorit? iam vzut numele scris pe piatr. i e mult vreme de cnd ?
Doar atta tii despre mine, de dafinul meu?
Da, am sosit aici de puin timp, nu te-am ntlnit pn acum.
Rvneam la copacul tu, plin de flori; mi-am dorit ntotdeauna o
grdini cu verdea. De cnd eram mic, m cram pe gardurile
grdinilor sau mi bgam nasul n crpturile din zid, s pot privi toate
acele frumusei pe care nu le puteam avea i care m umpleau i de
bucurie, i de tristee. Am scris i versuri pe tema asta, zisei.
Da, tiu. Te cunosc de mult, mi spuse Keats.
Tu pe mine? Cum asta? Nu-mi aduc aminte s ne fi cunoscut.
Tu n-ai cum s-o tii, fiindc eu m-am apucat s-i bat prin
dulapuri, n timp ce scriai.
A, adic tu erai pe atunci
Sigur, din cnd n cnd m aplec s citesc prin caietele
poeilor; mi place. Poezia ta cu tristeea nu e rea.
Luki Galaction Doamna de pe podul de fier
92
UNIT VI
SCIENCE. ANSWERS FROM REALITY
6.0. Preliminaries
1. Comment upon the covert dichotomy (or, at least, distinction)
between science ( exact sciences) and humanist disciplines. Focus
upon the causes of this psychological patterning.
2. Comment upon the significance of the dissociation that resulted in
the modern ascend of the syntagm science and technology.
6.A.
The Five Frontiers of Space by Edward C. Stone
NASA was formed at the dawn of the Space Age as part of the
U.S. investment to create a space-faring capability. Today the United
States is indeed a space-faring nation, and it is hard to imagine a
future in which it does not remain so. Even if there was no longer a
NASA, we would continue to develop and deploy more advanced
global positioning, communications, weather, reconnaissance, and
systems in space.
Given that the United States is and will be a space-faring nation,
what is the role of NASA in space today? Although the Space Age
began 46 years ago, it is still the newest realm of human activity.
There remains much to learn. A primary role for NASA is to expand
the frontiers of this new realm in order to foster increasing activity and
broader involvement. Expanding the frontiers of space also serves the
national interest by providing opportunities for international
partnerships.
There are five frontiers to this new realm of human activity:
1. The physical frontier going where robotic systems or humans
have not been.
2. The knowledge frontier discovering and understanding natural
phenomena.
3. The engineering / technology frontier developing the innovative
engineering and technology required to expand the other frontiers.
4. The human frontier addressing the physiological, psychological,
and other aspects of effective human activity in space.
5. The applications frontier developing and demonstrating new uses
of space.
93
These frontiers are immense, so choices must be made. Among

the criteria for such choices is the extent to which a program or project
significantly expands one or more of these frontiers, thereby
contributing to the achievement of a long-term goal.
The actual rate of learning or pushing the frontiers is another
important measure of the value of individual programs. This is an
important criterion for choosing a program. It is also important in
deciding to discontinue an activity when the important questions have
been answered and the rate of learning has become only incremental
or is no longer commensurate with the cost and risk.
In general, space science has long-range goals and roadmaps
that are periodically revisited in the light of new knowledge, new
capabilities, expected rate of learning, and estimated cost and risk. It
also has processes for identifying the best ideas for addressing those
goals. Therefore the following focuses on human space-flight.
The human exploration of Mars would clearly expand the
physical frontier for human space-flight and could serve as a longrange goal in determining the value of specific investments in the
human space-flight program. With proper planning and preparation,
the human exploration of Mars would also expand the science frontier.
This should be an international goal with a general time frame but not
a commitment to a specific date.
Sending humans to Mars would require significantly expanding
the engineering / technology and the human frontiers while continuing
the scientific exploration of Mars with precursor robotic missions. In
the near term this suggests that the human frontier should be a high
priority for the International Space Station. The capabilities and use of
the International Space Station should be optimized to achieve timely
and significant progress in understanding the most important factors
affecting human effectiveness and safety during long exposures in
space. There will also be opportunities for the International Space
Station to contribute to the science and applications frontiers.
One of the challenges for human space-flight is choosing
programs that will significantly increase the rate of learning associated
with expanding the frontiers critical to human space-flight so that it is
commensurate with the investment and the risk. An effective way to
increase the rate of learning is to proceed with a series of smaller steps
rather than with the occasional, much larger step represented by a
single system designed to address many different and often competing
objectives. Each step should focus on an aspect of the engineering and
94
technology or human frontier that is crucial to making a human

mission to Mars feasible, affordable, and safe. The exact steps will
evolve as we learn, but the overall direction will be guided by the
long-term goal of the human exploration of Mars.
Expanding the frontiers means learning by going new places and
trying new things. Doing what has not been done before will entail
risk, but that will be acceptable if we are learning what is critical to
expanding the frontiers, rather than only incrementally improving
what we already know and do. That does not mean, however, that
institutionally driven risks are acceptable.
Addressing challenging engineering / technology issues on
reasonable time scales (e.g. 5 years) will motivate students and attract
the talented workforce needed to tackle hard problems. This is
important because there are now many more challenging opportunities
in engineering and science than there were at the beginning of the
Space Age. As a result, there is much more competition for the
brightest and best, and the human space-flight program must offer a
higher rate of learning to attract a new generation of technical staff.
Experience with the space science program also suggests that if
the human space-flight program was structured to produce more
learning, additional funding would follow because the value to the
long-range goal of human presence on Mars would be apparent and
the progress visible. The challenge for the human space-flight
program in the next two decades is to take the steps on the frontiers of
space that will make human exploration of Mars not just a dream but
inevitable.
(in: Issues and Opportunities Regarding the U.S. Space
Program A Summary Report of The Workshop on
National Space Policy March, 2004)
1. Can you integrate the contextual valence and meanings of the term
frontier, as employed in this text, within an ampler cultural
circumscribing of the concept? Do you consider it a matter of
linguistic coincidence that it occurs here?
2. What do you know about the spirit of the Frontier, and its role in
shaping the becoming of America?
3. What do you know about the race for the Moon in the sixties?
95
4. What do you know about the present-day exploration of Mars?

6.B.-1. Look up the meaning of any unknown word or phrase in a
dictionary.
6.B.-2. Afterwards, try and find their synonyms and/or opposites
among the words and phrases that you had already known.
6.C. Supplementary text and assignments
Earliest Fire Sheds Light on Hominids by Nadja Neumann
Ancient Hearths Unveiled As Nearly 800 Millennia Old
You could travel back 790,000 years and still find someone to
light your fire: archaeologists have collected evidence that early
humans mastered fire much earlier than previously thought.
There is already good evidence for hearths that are 250,000
years old, and it was widely believed that the first controlled handling
of fire occurred 400,000 to 500,000 years ago.
But an analysis of burned remains carried out by Naama GorenInbar of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and her team now proves
that fire was tamed at least 300,000 years earlier than that.
The researchers have spent the past 15 years unearthing and
sorting sediments at a site called Gesher Benot Yaaqov in Israel. The
site is of particular interest to archaeologists because it was an old
crossroads between Asia and Eurasia. It is also waterlogged, which
means that any ancient remains are extremely well conserved.
The team sorted flint and wood from the 790,000-year-old site
into burned and unburned material. They found that burned material
made up less than 2% of the total and was concentrated at specific
locations in the site, suggesting the fires that created it were started
and controlled by early humans.
Goren-Inbar sees the study as a breakthrough in terms of
understanding the evolution of hominids: the fact that they were using
fire so early tells scientists a great deal about their abilities and
behaviour at the time.
96
Hearth Desire
As well as providing protection against wild animals, fire would
have enabled hominids to cook their food, stay warm during the
winter and possibly improve their weapons.
Chris Stringer from the Natural History Museum in London,
UK, suggests that the use of fire would have enriched the hominids
social lives too. People may have gathered around camp-fires, staying
awake longer and interacting more than before.
He also points out that this first use of fire correlates with the
time that hominids are thought to have entered colder areas such as
Europe and Northern China, suggesting that fire helped hominids to
explore environments that were previously too hostile.
Goren-Inbars analysis suggests that, as well as using fire,
inhabitants of the site in Israel were collecting plant food, hunting and
processing meat.
The team plans further analysis of the sites material to
determine which species of hominid was responsible for the fires.
Homo erectus, Homo ergaster and Homo sapiens were all around at
the time, and all were able to walk upright, had large brains and were
already using tools made of stone.
(in: Nature News Service / April, 30, 2004 /
Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2004)
6.C.-1. Reading comprehension and comments
a) What do you think of the continuous back-shift re-dating that
contemporary anthropological discoveries bring about?
b) Comment upon the cultural symbolism of fire.
6.C.-2. Translate the text into Romanian.
6.D. Proofread and revise one of your first term essays from the
ulterior perspective offered by the guidelines in academic writing
included in this unit.
97
6.E. Translate the following texts into English:

tiina este ca o tafet n care fiecare alergtor preia tora de la
cei care l-au precedat imediat, pentru a o duce mai departe. Toate
achiziiile tiinei sunt mereu reconsiderate i inserate n noul context
i n noul limbaj pe care tiina le elaboreaz. Aceast situaie a
determinat pe unii s afirme c tiina nu aparine culturii, deoarece n
tiin totul se perimeaz. Ce valoare cultural ar putea avea un
concept, un rezultat, o teorie, un model al cror destin este de a fi
nlocuite ce altele, pentru ca acestea din urm s aib aceeai soart?
Numai c nlocuirea unor concepte, modele sau teorii tiinifice nu se
manifest n sensul renunrii la ele ca la nite obiecte inutile, pe care
le aruncm n lada de gunoi, ci n sensul inserrii lor ntr-un cadru mai
cuprinztor, ntr-un context nou, n care le citim mereu i mereu altfel.
S-a perimat teorema lui Pitagora sau conceptul de numr prim? S-a
perimat teoria gravitaional a lui Newton? Numai lectura lor se
mbogete i se precizeaz mereu. Transformarea necontenit a
limbajului tiinei poate da uneori impresia c anumite fapte mai vechi
au fost uitate; ele pot deveni, ntr-adevr, de nerecunoscut la prima
vedere, dar o privire mai atent ne va dezvlui o legtur organic cu
etapele anterioare. Adevrul este c destul de multe fapte rezist i
acum n forma lor din urm cu dou mii de ani; o bun parte din
matematica colar intr n aceast categorie.
Solomon Marcus Invenie i descoperire
ntr-adevr, cultura contemporan, precumpnitor tiinific,
pare s fi ajuns astzi n impasul la care sfrise cultura teologic a
Evului Mediu: trebuie s explice cu mijloace perfecte o lume
imperfect. Teologia se bloca n problema Theodiceii, anume cum
poate face un Creator, desvrit i bun, o lume totui plin de rele, iar
tentativele de-a rspunde la o asemenea problem duseser la
gnosticism i erezii, n antichitate, spre a zgudui apoi din temelii
lumea cretin. Ceea ce s-a ntmplat cu logos-ul divin ncepe s se
ntmple cu logos-ul matematic n lumea contemporan. S fie
matematicienii teologii lumii noastre?
Nu sunt chiar ei, cci pstreaz, dincolo de blocri, sau stimulai
tocmai de ele, o suveran inventivitate. Dar s-ar putea ca teologii
zilelor noastre s fie creatorii formalismelor de tot felul, inspirai de
matematicieni. Iar aa cum teologii de alt dat, nemulumii de
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imperfeciunile realului, se refugiau adesea n lumea ierarhiilor

ngereti, teologii contemporani fac i ei un fel de angelologie,
trgndu-se tot mai mult nspre fpturile desvrite ale tehnicii, puse
pe lume de tiina nou. Dac realitatea, societatea, limbile sunt
imperfecte, cu att mai ru pentru ele par teologii cei noi a spune.
Constantin Noica Scrisori despre logica lui Hermes
6.F. Guidelines in academic writing
6.F.-1. Essays I
When writing a short or medium-sized essay, the following
fundamental principles are to be observed:
1) lexical and grammatical accuracy;
2) articulated internal organisation (in terms of structure, function and
cohesion);
3) stylistic appropriateness.
1) In order to be lexically and grammatically accurate:
- check up in a dictionary the spelling and the meaning(s) of any word
(collocation) which is not quite familiar to you;
- avoid repetitions and/or stylistically inappropriate choice of words,
idioms, etc see also 3) by carefully making use of synonyms or
equivalent expressions, an ability which also presupposes a steady
process of enriching your vocabulary (reading, lexical exercises, etc);
- verify your grammar, proofreading the written text, and, whenever
necessary, consulting the literature on the morphological or syntactic
aspect in question;
- it is also advisable to avoid very long complex sentences, and to pay
a special attention to such issues as the use and sequence of tenses,
irregular forms, agreement, asemantic (expletive) subjects, anaphors,
etc, these being the areas of the highest risk of errors;
- check punctuation.
2) The general organisation of a piece of academic writing (an
essay, a report, various other types of assignments) is grounded on the
three basic elements of structure (the introduction, the development,
the conclusion), which are mapped onto the units of content (sentences
and paragraphs), in order to convey various descriptive, narrative,
analytic, argumentative, etc functions see further , the overall
cohesion being secured by logical and formal connectives.
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- The introduction contains the initial (brief) formulation of the topic.

This statement of the problem (and, possibly, the comments on the
way it is to be treated) represent what is sometimes called the thesis.
- The development is the main body of the presentation, analysis or
discussion, in other words the detailed approach to the thesis. It
consists of a logically ordered set of main ideas, each of which is
variably detailed, but obligatorily accompanied by the minimally
necessary illustrations and/or arguments, comments.
N. B.: Do not deal with more than one main idea within one and the
same unit of content (paragraph).
- The conclusion is a summary of the main points tackled in the
development, in support of a final reiteration of the thesis.
Each part of the writing employs particular language structures
and uses, in accordance with the specific purpose of communication
(or function): describing, defining, exemplifying, classifying,
analysing, comparing, arguing, etc.
Each function is rendered as sentences and paragraphs, these
material units of content being linked or joined together by
connectives (or transitions), viz. words or phrases that indicate a
logical relationship, and thus support the cohesion of the writing.
Connectives generally group within three basic types:
a) the AND type;
b) the OR type;
c) the BUT type.
a) The discussion, argument, or comment in the development of
the topic may be a straightforward one, in which case ideas
sequentially accumulate, and the logical relationship requires AND
type connectives.
These ones may indicate:
- listing (1. enumeration: first(ly), second(ly), first and foremost, last
but not least, next, lastly, finally, to begin with, and to conclude, etc;
2. addition: reinforcement also, further, moreover, in addition, etc
or equation equally, likewise, similarly, etc );
- transition (regarding, as for, as far as is / are concerned, etc);
- summation (therefore, thus, to conclude, etc);
- apposition (i.e., in particular, in other words, etc);
- result (accordingly, hence, consequently, etc);
- inference (in that case, otherwise, etc).
b) Sometimes alternative solutions, views are also employed,
there being a need for connectives of the OR type. (After the
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alternative has been considered, the main line of argument is to be

resumed.)
These connectives may signal:
- reformulation (better, rather, etc);
- replacement (alternatively, on the other hand, etc).
c) As usually required by the desideratum of an objective
survey, the opposite position, arguments, etc are to be considered or
referred to. This triggers the involvement of the BUT type
connectives. (Similarly, there has to be an ulterior return to the main
thesis, for the sake of consistency.)
This type indicates:
- contrast (conversely, on the contrary, instead, etc);
- concession (however, nevertheless, still, despite that, even if, etc).
Summing up, the general organisation of the piece of writing
will be as follows:
introduction [a] supporting information
[a] main development (also [b] alternatives,
[c] opposite arguments) [a] conclusion.
3) Stylistic appropriateness resides in the correct choice
(considering the type and topic of assignment, the targeted audience,
etc) of the cluster of multi-levelled linguistic characteristics that
corresponds to a certain stylistic register (or degree of formality).
Some authors list five such degrees (styles):
- frozen (used in print or declamation);
- formal (detaching the emittent from the receiver);
- consultative (background information is supplied, the vocabulary is
carefully chosen);
- casual (shared information is presupposed, relaxed speech);
- intimate (indicates a close relationship).
Newmark (1988) distinguishes eight levels of formality. For
illustrating them, we supply his example:
- Officialese level: The consumption of any nutrients whatsoever is
categorically prohibited in this establishment.
- Official level: The consumption of nutrients is prohibited in this
establishment.
- Formal level: You are requested not to consume food in this
establishment.
- Neutral level: Eating is not allowed here.
- Informal level: Please dont eat here.
- Colloquial level: You cant feed your face here.
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- Slang level: Lay off the nosh!

- Taboo level: Lay off the f---- nosh.
A second scale refers to degrees of language simplicity versus
complexity, and it has six levels:
- simple;
- popular;
- neutral;
- educated;
- technical;
- opaque technical.
The third scale captures emotional tone, and it has four levels:
- intense;
- warm;
- cool or factual;
- cold understatement.
Despite this variety of style classification and criteria, the central
recommendation remains to avoid lower stylistic registers in writing,
and in academic essays in particular.
In terms of characterising features at various linguistic levels of
analysis, this roughly means:
- a carefully chosen vocabulary (a choice for more Latin etymons,
specific terminology, fewer idiomatic expressions, etc);
- frequent unrestrictive use of Simple Present;
- explicit connectors;
- no contracted forms or elliptical constructions;
- frequent passive, existential, and impersonal constructions;
- non-agentive inanimate / abstract subjects;
- more numerous and complex relationships of subordination, etc.
N. B.: An elevated vocabulary does not presuppose the excessive use
of (unnecessary) rare or highly specialised words.
6.F.-2. Written assignments and exercises
6.F.-2.1. Write a short essay (1-1 p.) on the topic Religious
education in schools, identifying and specifying the elements of
internal organisation. Verify and outline the observing of the
three principles.
6.F.-2.2. Render one and the same idea in different stylistic
registers (e.g. formal, neutral, and informal).
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6.F.-3. Essays II
According to a widely accepted general classification, the
following main types of essays are to be distinguished:
1) narrative;
2) descriptive;
3) discursive (analytic and argumentative),
each type posing certain specific problems.
Thus, narrative essays require a special attention in terms of
point of view, temporal sequencing of events, and amount of
comments (if any).
As far as descriptive essays are concerned, the key aspects
regard spatial displaying, and identification of perceptually (and/or
emotionally) relevant / salient features / properties.
In both cases, various mental associations and logical processes
(parallelisms, analogies, comparisons, contrasts) can be also
employed.
Analytic and argumentative essays equally make extensive use
of the basic discursive tools, viz. definition, exemplification, and
classification.
Definitions can be more or less accurate and/or expanded,
depending upon (situational) context, amount of available information,
purpose, degree of complexity / technicality of the concept to be
defined, etc. In everyday usage, functional enough (though imperfect)
definitions seem to be usually centred upon what is most salient in
perceptual terms.
For instance, a tree may be more often defined in terms of its
branches and leaves, although these can be optional at different
periods in the life of the tree, than in terms of trunk or root, in spite of
the fact that a tree must have them in order to be a tree.
It appears therefore that more or less rigorously versus suitably
chosen distinctive features play in all cases and situations an important
role in the logical processes associated with defining.
The principles according to which these features are organised
and exploited in providing scientific or simply tidy definitions can
be summed up under the form of two main requirements that any
definition has to meet: the identification of the 1) genus proximus and
the specification of 2) differentia specifica.
These two components practically constitute the minimally
necessary parts of a definition.
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In semantic terms, their interdependence can be interpreteded as

the intersection between the vertical, hierarchical relation of
hyponymy, and the horizontal, contrastive relation of incompatibility.
This is to say that one has to determine the immediately superior
(inclusive) category to which the concept to be defined belongs, and
the opposing feature(s) securing its distinction from other items
subordinated to the same dominating category.
e.g.: A laptop is a portable [2] computer [1].
It appears evident that defining is a process in close relationship
with classifying.
e.g.: Being a portable computer, the laptop is an electronic
device, which also incorporates some mechanical parts.
Definitions are also to be supported by exemplifications, i.e. by
the providing of actualisations of the concept, of its particular
instantiations.
e.g.: Examples of cutlery, i.e. of tools for preparing and eating
food, are: the spoon, the knife, etc.
Frequent mistakes in defining consist in:
- supplying an example instead of a definition;
- omitting either general class or distinctive characteristic;
- providing circular definitions.
e.g.: *Means of transport are for instance cars, trains, etc.
*A biologist studies plants and animals.
*A biologist is a university graduate.
*Syntax is (the science) about syntax.
Mistakes in exemplification may consist in choosing an atypical
representative, while errors in classification usually reside in resorting
to a higher than the immediately dominant category.
e.g.: *games, as for instance skeet
*The spider is an animal.
6.F.-4. Written assignments and exercises
6.F.-4.1. Define and illustrate: illness, sky-scraper, pollution.
6.F.-4.2. Comment upon your most frequent mistakes in defining,
classifying, and illustrating.
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UNIT VII
LAW, CULTURE, AND CONVENTIONS.
ANSWERS FROM THE OTHERS
7.0. Preliminaries
1. Comment upon the relationship between law and convention. Is law
a convention that has become compulsory? How can this
transformation come to be? Which is the place / role of culture in this?
2. How would you interpret the title of this last unit? Think of the
other titles, too.
7.A.
How a Law-less Data Haven Is Using Law

to Protect Itself by Gary Slapper
When is a state not a state? When it is a playground on stilts in

30 ft of water, some might say, looking out at Sealand, the worlds
newest self-proclaimed state, off the Suffolk coast.
The Government has apparently allowed itself to be painted into
a corner over an intriguing issue of international law. A story that
began in an apparently risible way in September 1967, and was
nothing much more than a minor item of local news about a small
eccentric family, has metamorphosed into an international incident.
For at the very time when Parliament has just passed the
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which allows private
computer information to be monitored where serious crime or
breaches of national security are involved, a putative state without any
such laws or concerns is threatening the interests of the Government
off the port of Felixtowe.
During the Second World War Britain established an artificial
island on the high seas. It was equipped with radar and heavy
armaments and was occupied by 200 servicemen. Their task was to
guard the approaches to the Thames Estuary where convoys of
shipping were assembled.
After the war the island was abandoned. Then in the winter of
1966, a former major, Roy Bates, took possession of the outpost
known as Roughs Tower. On September 2, 1967, Bates and his family
hoisted their own flag and later declared the existence of the
Principality of Sealand.
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The island was outside the then existing three-mile territorial

waters of Britain. The juridical status of the Principality of Sealand is
now the subject of heated legal and political controversy.
A group of American business entrepreneurs, led by Sean
Hastings, 31, is setting up the worlds first offshore data haven on
the island. The computer experts come from the Anguilla-based firm
HavenCo Ltd and are keen to launch the only place in the world that
can offer almost complete anonymity and privacy to anyone who
wants to conduct e-business beyond the gaze of the authorities.
Clearly, this matter is of grave concern to the police, the Inland
Revenue and the intelligence services. The son of Roy Bates, Prince
Michael, 47, has been reported as saying: It is about freedom and
liberty and making it easier for people to do business in private and to
express themselves freely.
The commonly accepted criteria among jurists for determining
whether an entity is a state are taken from the jus gentium the law of
nations. This law is derived from the Institutes of Justinian, the major
treatise written by the command of the Roman Emperor Justinian and
published in AD 533. One thorny problem for the Government is that
according to the three major criteria of statehood, Sealand does appear
to have a good claim.
The requirements are: a national territory; a people coming
together as a nation; and a sovereign state authority. It does not matter
that it is only 932 sq yd in size because there is no minimum area
legally articulated for something to be a state. Vatican City is
classified as a state even though it is minuscule. Neither is there a
requirement that the population rises above a certain minimum. Nor is
it an argument that the structure was created by the Government as it
was legally terra nullis abandoned land when it was taken over.
Article 1 of the Montevideo Convention on Rights and Duties of
States, signed in 1933, itemises the same criteria as the jus gentium,
plus the capacity to enter into relations with other states. Sealand
appears also to have satisfied this criterion. If Sealand is an
independent state, it could legitimately claim its own coastal waters
and regulate its own airspace. The Government is also in difficulties
over this because on two occasions it has appeared to endorse the idea
that Sealand is both beyond its jurisdiction and has the status of a
state.
In 1968 the Royal Navy expressed concern over Bates presence
on Sealand and sent in some boats. Bates fired warning shots at them
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and was then prosecuted in a Crown Court. He argued that the newly
named Sealand was beyond British jurisdiction and this was accepted
by the trial judge.
Then in 1978, three years after Sealand declared itself a
sovereign principality, Dutch and German businessmen came over
with a business proposition. However, while they were there, they
took the fortress and Prince Michael prisoner. He was freed in a
counter-attack from the air by King Roy and the businessmen were
taken as PoWs. When Germany asked Britain to intervene, it was told
that the fortress was beyond British jurisdiction.
Students of the relationship between law and realpolitik will be
watching developments here closely. The spectacle of a new state with
no laws appealing to international law to protect it against an ancient
state overflowing with laws cannot help but be intriguing.
(The Times August, 8, 2000)
1. If you were a statesman, would you support or at least approve
such an initiative as the one in the story? As an ordinary citizen, what
do you think?
2. Comment upon whether there should be a limit that actions
performed in the name of principles like free initiative and
entrepreneurship cannot exceed or not.
3. Democracy is usually defined as the freedom to think or do
whatever one wishes to, provided that one does not by this interfere or
restrict the same freedom in others. Can a radical interpretation of this
principle come instead to affect the indirect exponents of the others,
like the state and its institutions?
7.B.-1. Look up the meaning of any unknown word or phrase in a
dictionary.
7.B.-2. Afterwards, try and find their synonyms and/or opposites
among the words and phrases that you had already known.
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7.B.-3. The verb assemble is used in the text in one of its possible
(but all closely related) meanings. Consider also other verbs in the
semantic field of actions of joining an combining, like: mingle, mix,
shuffle, blend, amalgamate, merge, fuse.
[ dissolving], [ chemical combination],
[ tobacco, drinks, colours], [ melting],
[ obtaining an alloy], [ sinking], [ cement],
[ images], [ companies, banks],
[ cards], [ also used figuratively], etc.
1. The view is splendid; only Nature can such colours.
2. Brass is obtained in this furnace, by copper with zinc.
3. He doesnt like anybody to when he and his friends are having
their poker game, and he always the cards almost solemnly.
4. Our board is not against the idea of with a larger company, but
we cannot accept taking over.
5. To hydrargyrum does not mean simply this chemical element
with another, but obtaining a new substance, a compound evincing
completely different properties.
7.C. Supplementary texts and assignments
) from Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley
For some time past Marys grave blue eyes had been fixed upon
him. What have you been writing lately? she asked. It would be nice
to have a little literary conversation. Oh, verse and prose, said Denis
just verse and prose.
Prose? Mr. Scogan pounced alarmingly on the word. Youve
been writing prose? Yes. Not a novel? Yes. My poor Denis!
exclaimed Mr. Scogan. What about? Denis felt rather
uncomfortable. Oh, about the usual things, you know. Of course,
Mr. Scogan groaned. Ill describe the plot for you. Little Percy, the
hero, was never good at games, but he was always clever. He passes
through the usual public school and the usual university and comes to
London, where he lives among the artists. He is bowed down with
melancholy thought; he carries the whole weight of the universe upon
his shoulders. He writes a novel of dazzling brilliance; he dabbles
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delicately in Amour and disappears, at the end of the book, into the
luminous Future.
Denis blushed scarlet. Mr. Scogan had described the plan of his
novel with an accuracy that was appalling. He made an effort to laugh.
Youre entirely wrong, he said. My novel is not in the least like
that. It was a heroic lie. Luckily, he reflected, only two chapters were
written. He would tear them up that very evening when he unpacked.
Mr. Scogan paid no attention to his denial, but went on: Why
will you young men continue to write about things that are so entirely
uninteresting as the mentality of adolescents and artists? Professional
anthropologists might find it interesting to turn sometimes from the
beliefs of the Blackfellow to the philosophical preoccupations of the
undergraduate. But you cant expect an ordinary adult man, like
myself, to be much moved by the story of his spiritual troubles. And
after all, even in England, even in Germany and Russia, there are more
adults than adolescents. As for the artist, he is preoccupied with
problems that are so utterly unlike those of the ordinary adult man
problems of pure aesthetics which dont so much as present
themselves to people like myself that a description of his mental
processes is as boring to the ordinary reader as a piece of pure
mathematics. A serious book about artists regarded as artists is
unreadable; and a book about artists regarded as lovers, husbands,
dipsomaniacs, heroes, and the like is really not worth writing again.
Jean-Christophe is the stock artist of literature, just as Professor
Radium of Comic Cuts is its stock man of science.
Im sorry to hear Im as uninteresting as all that, said
Gombauld. Not at all, my dear Gombauld, Mr. Scogan hastened to
explain. As a lover or a dipsomaniac, Ive no doubt of your being a
most fascinating specimen. But as a combiner of forms, you must
honestly admit it, youre a bore.
I entirely disagree with you, exclaimed Mary. She was
somehow always out of breath when she talked. And her speech was
punctuated by little gasps. Ive known a great many artists, and Ive
always found their mentality very interesting. Especially in Paris.
Tschuplitski, for example I saw a great deal of Tschuplitski in Paris
this spring...
Ah, but then youre an exception, Mary, youre an exception,
said Mr. Scogan. You are a femme superieure. A flush of pleasure
turned Marys face into a harvest moon.
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7.C.-1.. Reading comprehension and comments

Comment upon how conventional iterativity can come to transform
the questions of existence, and existence itself, into banality and
boredom.
7.C.-2.. Translate the first three paragraphs of the text into Romanian.
) from A TREATISE OF HUMAN NATURE by David Hume
Of the Effects of Custom
Nothing has a greater effect both to encrease and diminish our
passions, to convert pleasure into pain, and pain into pleasure, than
custom and repetition. Custom has two original effects upon the mind,
in bestowing a facility in the performance of any action or the
conception of any object; and afterwards a tendency or inclination
towards it; and from these we may account for all its other effects,
however extraordinary.
When the soul applies itself to the performance of any action, or
the conception of any object, to which it is not accustomed, there is a
certain unpliableness in the faculties, and a difficulty of the spirits
moving in their new direction. As this difficulty excites the spirits, it is
the source of wonder, surprize, and of all the emotions, which arise
from novelty; and is in itself very agreeable, like every thing, which
inlivens the mind to a moderate degree. But though surprize be
agreeable in itself, yet as it puts the spirits in agitation, it not only
augments our agreeable affections, but also our painful, according to
the foregoing principle, that every emotion, which precedes or attends
a passion, is easily converted into it. Hence every thing, that is new, is
most affecting, and gives us either more pleasure or pain, than what,
strictly speaking, naturally belongs to it. When it often returns upon
us, the novelty wears off; the passions subside; the hurry of the spirits
is over; and we survey the objects with greater tranquillity.
By degrees the repetition produces a facility of the human mind,
and an infallible source of pleasure, where the facility goes not beyond
a certain degree. And here it is remarkable that the pleasure, which
arises from a moderate facility, has not the same tendency with that
which arises from novelty, to augment the painful, as well as the
agreeable affections. The pleasure of facility does not so much consist
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in any ferment of the spirits, as in their orderly motion; which will

sometimes be so powerful as even to convert pain into pleasure, and
give us a relish in time what at first was most harsh and disagreeable.
But again, as facility converts pain into pleasure, so it often converts
pleasure into pain, when it is too great, and renders the actions of the
mind so faint and languid, that they are no longer able to interest and
support it. And indeed, scarce any other objects become disagreeable
through custom; but such as are naturally attended with some emotion
or affection, which is destroyed by the too frequent repetition. One can
consider the clouds, and heavens, and trees, and stones, however
frequently repeated, without ever feeling any aversion. But when the
fair sex, or music, or good cheer, or any thing, that naturally ought to
be agreeable, becomes indifferent, it easily produces the opposite
affection. Custom not only gives a facility to perform any action, but
likewise an inclination and tendency towards it, where it is not entirely
disagreeable, and can never be the object of inclination. And this is the
reason why custom encreases all active habits, but diminishes passive,
according to the observation of a late eminent philosopher. The
facility takes off from the force of the passive habits by rendering the
motion of the spirits faint and languid. But as in the active, the spirits
are sufficiently supported of themselves, the tendency of the mind
gives them new force, and bends them more strongly to the action.
7.C.-1.. Reading comprehension and comments
Comment upon the antagonism between the effects of habitude upon
sustained activities on the one hand, and upon emotions on the other
hand.
7.C.-2.. Translate the first paragraph of the text into Romanian.
7.D. Proofread and revise another one of your first term essays from
the ulterior perspective offered by the guidelines in academic writing
included in these two last units.
7.E. Translate the following text into English:
n pdure are faima unui ins de vaz, cum i-o fi creat aceast
faim iar nu pot pricepe, i toate animalele se dau bine pe lng mine,
ca mai apropiat lui, ca s afle ce mai face Maestrul. Ce-a mai zis
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Maestrul, ce-a mai mncat, ce-a mai rumegat? Maestrul a binevoit s

fac aprecieri asupra vremii? Cum mai e vremea, dup opinia
Maestrului? i tot felul de nerozii de astea. (E i pdurea asta o
ntflea!) nchipuii-v cte lucruri interesante trebuie s scornesc,
pentru a ine sus steagul (al Maestrului, na), s fiu gata n orice clip
s dau cte un rspuns de s rmn lupii, vulpile, coofenele, melen coad.
Nu se mai gsete zmeur cu fric. (Aceasta e chiar o opinie a
Ursului.) Dar pornind de la aceast constatare a sa, pe care o spun la
nceput, ca aperitiv, ncep s torn la minciuni, care mai de care mai
gogonate. Nu numai c nu se mai gsete, dar nici n-o s se mai
gseasc vreodat. V-ai lins pe bot, adio zmeur cu fric, pentru c,
anul viitor, pdurea o s fie tiat, transformat n butuci i mutat la
ora. i asta n-ar fi nimic, am mai vzut noi pduri tiate, dac mai
nti nu s-ar face recensmntul tuturor dobitoacelor, cu nsemnarea
exact a locului unde se afl fiecare, n aa fel nct, atunci cnd se
purcede la transferul pdurii, pleci cu copacul tu cel mai apropiat. De
ce, de ce? ntrebau alarmate vulpile mai ales. Simplu ca bun-ziua.
Pentru a se crea, acolo la ora, un microclimat. Ca pdurea s nu
rmn singur, i ca totul s fie ca mai-nainte. Cum ca mai-nainte?
ntreab veveriele. Ca acum. Pi cum ca acum, dac spui ca mainainte, nu vezi c n-ai logic?
Vrei s spunei c Maestrul ar fi lipsit de logica cea mai
elementar, asta vrei s insinuai?
Susine Maestrul toate bazaconiile astea?
Nu numai c le susine, dar e n stare s se i supere dac aude
c nu-i crezut pe cuvnt. tii cum a fost anul trecut, cnd zicea s v
facei provizii de ap, c n-o s plou trei luni i toate dobitoacele s-au
pus pe spat fntni i dup aceea a plouat trei luni ncontinuu.
Nu-i bun exemplul, pentru c nu s-a nimerit.
Putea s se nimereasc i mai ru. (Astea le-am dat iar ca
vorbe ale Maestrului.)
Cea mai frumoas teorie a Ursului (de fapt a mea, dar nu puteam
s-o dau ca original, cci eu nu am nc un nume i deocamdat, vreo
civa ani, sunt obligat s lucrez n colectiv) a fost aceea c pmntul
nu se nvrtete, cum susin unii, ci merge drept. Pmntul acesta e un
fel de potec prin univers i cine a mai pomenit poteci nvrtindu-se?
n schimb luna, care e mai mic, merge drept, dar din cnd n cnd
face un cot, n aa fel nct se poate spune c merge n form de L,
asta pentru c e ndrgostit de el, de Pmnt, adic, dar el o ine
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drept, pe poteca lui i de-asta nu se ntlnesc niciodat, i de-asta ne

merge nou ru, pentru c trim sub o nefericire cosmic.
La chestia asta, toi pesimitii din pdure m-au pupat, arpele n-a
pierdut ocazia de-a strecura puin venin: Eu niciodat n-am dat doi
bani pe lun-lumina.
Iat ce fac eu toat ziua, cum trebuie s-mi storc creierii ca s-i
in sus steagul (iar scap cratia, de-ast dat pot s jur c intenionat).
i de-asta el, cnd iese din vizuin, e celebru gata i toi se reped s-l
salute, considernd un noroc al lor de-a intra cu fundul n mrcini
cnd trece el.
Dar are i pri bune. Habar n-are pe ce lume triete. Crede c
tot ce zboar pe sus, cu talang sau fr, se mnnc i, n adncul
sufletului su, zace o dragoste de via i de semeni ct n apte. N-ar
fi n stare s calce o furnic, toate fiarele care i se plng gsesc o
vorb bun, chit c este invariabil aceeai: mor, mor, mor!
Marin Sorescu Viziunea vizuinii
7.F. Guidelines in academic writing
7.F.-1. Scientific papers, reports, studies
The basic framework of a scientific paper follows the same main
principles of internal structuring that were presented when discussing
essays, the major difference consisting in the necessity to order the
elements of information strictly pyramidally, i.e. from the most
encompassing issue to the most particular aspect.
This is due to the fact that the considerable increase in the
amount of information triggers a more evident graduality of the latter
in terms of generality vs. specificity.
A research paper usually consists in:
1. Preliminaries (title, acknowledgements, contents, list of figures /
tables);
2. Introduction (abstract, statement of the problem);
3. Main body (review of the literature, design and methods of the
investigation, presentation of the investigation, results);
4. Conclusion (summary of the investigation and results);
5. Extras (bibliography, appendices).
113
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Obligatory
- Duescu-Coliban, T. (2005) Aspects of English Morphology.
Nominal and Verbal Categories, Second Edition, (Edited by Janeta
Lupu), Bucureti: Editura Fundaiei Romnia de Mine.
- Lupu, J., Ionescu-Buzea, O. i Birtalan, A. (2007) English Practical
Course for First Year Students, Bucureti: Editura Fundaiei Romnia
de Mine.
- erban, D. (2006) The Syntax of English Predications, Bucureti:
Editura Fundaiei Romnia de Mine, p. 80-202.
- erban, D. i Drguin, D. (2007) English Practical Course for
Second Year Students, Bucureti: Editura Fundaiei Romnia de
Mine.
- Tudosescu, A. (2007) Elements of English Syntax and Semantics,
Bucureti: Editura Fundaiei Romnia de Mine.
Supplementary
- Jordan, R. R. (1990) Academic Writing Course, second edition,
London: Thomson Publishing Company.
- Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G. and Svartvik, J. (1980) A
Grammar of Contemporary English, ninth impression, London:
Longman.
- Swan, M. (1995) Practical English Usage, second edition, Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
- Vianu, L. (2006) English With A Key. Exerciii de retroversiune i
traducere, Bucureti: Editura Teora.
- Wellman, G. (1992) Wordbuilder, second edition, Oxford:
Heinemann.
- * * * (1994) (Coord. G. Niculescu) Dicionar tehnic englez-romn,
second edition, vols. 1-2, Bucureti: Editura Tehnic.
- * * * (1997) Prosper with English English for Science and
Technology, Bucharest: The British Council and Cavallioti Publishing
House.
- * * * (1998) Collins Cobuild English Grammar, eighth impression,
London: Harper Collins Publishers.
- * * * (2001) Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced
Learners, third edition, Birmingham: Harper Collins Publishers.
Online resources
- Ask.com, http://uk.ask.com/, [2007].
- Britannica Concise, http://concise.britannica.com, [2007].
- Cambridge Dictionaries Online, http://dictionary.cambridge.org/, [2007].
- Chambers Reference Online,
http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/index.shtml, [2007].
- Columbia Encyclopaedia, http://www.bartleby.com/65/, [2007].
- Encarta, http://encarta.msn.com/, [2007].
- The Free Dictionary by Farlex,
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Dictionary.htm, [2007].
- The Idiom Connection: English Idioms and Quizzes,
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/6720/ and
http://www.idiomconnection.com/, [2007].
- Merriam-Webster Online Search, http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/, [2007].
- Merriam-Websters LearnersDictionary.com,
http://www.learnersdictionary.com, [2007].
- OneLook Dictionary Search, http://www.onelook.com, [2007].
- Rogets Thesauri, http://www.bartleby.com/thesauri/, [2007].
- Semantic Rhyming Dictionary, http://www.rhymezone.com/, [2007].
- Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wikipedia:Quick_index, [2007].
- WordNet: A Lexical Database for English,
http://wordnet.princeton.edu/, [2007].
- Wordsmyth, http://www.wordsmyth.net/, [2007].
- * * * (2007) ESL/EFL Grammar Resources,
http://www.d-oliver.net/grammar.htm, [2007].
- * * * (2007) Online English Grammar,
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/index.cfm, [2007]
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ADINA TUDOSESCU

ENGLISH PRACTICAL COURSE

UNIVERSITATEA SPIRU HARET

ENGLISH PRACTICAL COURSE

EDITURA FUNDAIEI ROMNIA DE MINE

Editura Fundaiei Romnia de Mine, 2007

Reproducerea integral sau fragmentar, prin orice form i prin orice

PART ONE (First term)

General presentation of the course .

Finiteness / Non-Finiteness of Clauses.

Reading comprehension and comments

PART TWO (Second term)

General presentation of the course .

(from A TREATISE OF HUMAN NATURE by David Hume

The present Practical Course handbook equally addresses third

- an appended dedicated section of references, exclusively consisting

From another point of view, namely the one of a more concrete

Introduction sections opening either of the two parts of the course

the necessary coherent perspective on the entirety of the topics dealt

Finally, we acknowledge that we culturally and morally owe

ENGLISH PRACTICAL COURSE

Outline of the units and modules

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote

Imagine a morning in late November. A coming of winter

a warm bed for Queenie, our tough little orange-and-white terrier.

For a few Novembers she continues to bake her fruitcakes, not

c) Add a few examples of your own, illustrating both full and

Existential there appears as a slot-filler when the deep subject is

1.D. Supplementary text and assignments

iarba care cretea bezmetic i tnr pe marginea anului, am dus-o

from LOST IN THE FUNHOUSE by John Barth

One way or another, no matter which theory of our journey is

quarters, it is because our night-sea journey partakes of their

whatever would a swimmer do there? The fact is, when we imagine

despite Himself, as we make waves with every tail-thrash, and may be

terminate after any number of cycles, so that what was immortal

b) Fill in the blanks, using these verbs:

2.C.-1. Free Relative Clauses (knowledge refreshing)

3. That nice old lady turned out to be a spy.

forms (the tenseless / agreementless Infinitive, Gerund or Perfective

the totality of its changes produce now an immeasurable period

- Various extraterrestrial interventions or cosmic Armageddons are not

from LOST IN THE FUNHOUSE by John Barth

Perhaps, even, I am drowned already. Surely I was never meant

current, to sink or float as might be, but swim no more. Whereupon,

4. What kind of immortality is the thoughtful swimmer seeking for?

[ tearing into small pieces], [ health], [ reputation, career,

1) Synthetic comparison applies to monosyllabic adjectives and

e) late later the latest (time)

2) the IT-Cleft Construction (in case of which the focus is right to

sharper, more distinct other-personalities. Many of us have the flying

c) Besides of being grounded on rather materialistic than

de alungit i att de subire aproape ca un ac! i ct muncise! Se lsase

from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

I was born in the year 18 to a large fortune, endowed besides

twins should be continuously struggling. How, then were they

Which of them do you think had played a greater role in the

[ referring to social or professional contacts],

Justice is not postponed. A perfect equity adjusts its balance in all

4.F. Translate the following texts into English:

ENGLISH PRACTICAL COURSE

Outline of the units and modules

from The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

in his fell purpose, so he contented himself with becoming faintly