Arakin 4 kurs new 001 176. indd

1. a) As you read the text look for the answers to these questions:
1. Where can readers find short stories? 2. Which part of a short 
story requires unusual concentration? 3. What sort of law governs 
novels and short stories? 4. Why do people fight shy of a collection 
of short stories? 5. How does a short story differ from a novel? 6. Why 
are short stories in book form not so popular? 7. What is the secret 
of enjoying picture galleries and short stories 8. In what way does 
a novel appeal to the reader? 9. Whose stories does Hartley mention 
as being popular? 10. What is said about the mind behind the short 
story? 11. What sort of continuity does a volume of short stories pos-
sess?
b) Find in the text arguments the author gives to illustrate the following:
1. Collections of short stories are not so popular as they deserve 
to be. 2. For alert readers a volume of short stories is as good as a 
novel. 3. The public at large recognizes and enjoys collections of short 
stories.
c) Say whether the metaphors are trite or fresh. Comment on their stylistic 
function
a) Why do readers devour them singly on a newssheet, or between 
paper covers, but only nibble at them when they are collected in a 
book? b) A novel is a portmanteau into which nearly anything can 
be thrust, but a short story must be stripped to its bare essentials. 

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c) Might they not find the same satisfaction in studying a gallery of 
short stories, if they tried? d) …if the public gave them a trial it would 
find in them a reservoir of varied entertainment that hitherto it has 
only tapped.
d) Summarize the text in three paragraphs
2. Use the thematic vocabulary in answering the following questions:
1. What do you remember about the books of your childhood? 
When did you learn to read? 2. What kind of reader are you, compul-
sive or otherwise? Did anyone help you to acquire taste for reading? 
Did you have a good language teacher at school? 3. How do you choose 
a book to read? In what language do you prefer to read books for 
relaxation? 4. What is you idea of a good book, a book well-worth 
reading? Is it the ingenious plot, picturesque setting and striking 
characters you look for? 5. Do you always read a book through once 
you have begun it? Do you manage to edge in a little reading every 
day? Where and when do you do most of your reading? 6. If given a 
choice what would you rather read short stories or a novel? Do you 
agree with L.P. Hartley that a collection of short stories might be just 
as rewarding as a novel? 7. Do you appreciate the variety of mood, 
scene, character and plot in fiction? Are you sensitive or indifferent 
to the niceties of literary English? 8. Do such things as bulky size, 
dense print, loose pages matter? Or do you favor e-books?