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From Blackout by Campbell Armstrong
1. Read the extract bellow and say what it is about.
2. What was Boyle's problem was judging by the extract? What lexical and syntactic devices describe his inner state? Specify each case and comment on it.
3. What figure of speech used in the second paragraph and the following dialogue makes Boyle's frustration even more pronounced?
4. What does the sentence: "And conscience was loud-mouthed luxury" imply?
5. Analyse the suspense culminating in Vass's astonishment. What was the reason for it? Why is the word "thirteen" italicised?
6. What do you make of Vass's last words? What stylistic device decodes Vass's idea? What idea is this?
Boyle's scalp was tingling. It's all too much now: huge rushes of unfocused energy, thoughts that don't gell, collisions between what's real and what's shadows of doorways, Revenue guys going through his canceled checks on microfiche at the bank, special warrants signed by judges – you could image the whole works […]
Why had he lied to Vass about it? Some vestigial shame? I don't feel shame. Shame's what happens when you hand a megaphone to your conscience. And conscience was loud-mouthed luxury […]
Vass was quiet moment. "What age is she?"
"She could pass for twenty," Boyle said.
"Yeah, but how old is she?"
Boyle stood up. "You stay here if you want. I'm going out."
"Wait –"
"Don't stop me, Rudy." He was all haste now, looking for a jacket, shoes, rummaging around. It was important to hit the streets. When I find her, she's in serious trouble.
Vass said, "You didn't answer my question."
"OK. Thirteen. One three."
"Thirteen? Unlucky number, man. Real evil vibes."
From Blackout by Campbell Armstrong
1. How does the extract open? What tone is the first paragraph written in?
2. Why didn't the main character throw out his late wife's prsonal belongings?
3. What expressive means are used by the author to drive his reasons home to the reader?
4. What seems to be the man's problem, judging by the two sentences of the second paragraph?
5. What was wrong with the man's wife? What stylistic devices make us understand it?
6. What is the author's purpot of using so many names of pills?
7. Comment on the role of the figure of speech which rounds the fourth paragraph. What other tropes and figures of speech convey the man's fury directed at the pills?
8. What stylistic devices bring the extract to the end? Speak on their function.
He wondered why he'd never gotten round to throwing the entire pharmacy out. For the same reason he'd kept all her clothing, all her jewelry, he supposed. Whatever that reason was called. Something the heart stoked up. The demands of love, the deranged idea that you kept the essence of the person by hanging on to their possessions – as if one bright afternoon she might just materialize under a halo in the doorway and say, Sorry I left you alone this long, my love. He didn't need this and he didn't need to look up at Harriet's photograph either, goddamit – that oval face and those solemn eyes with melancholy secrets hidden in them, things she'd never explained, couldn't have explained, monsters trapped in the dead-end labyrinth of her mind.
You drifted from me, he thought. And I fill the cold emptiness any way I can.
Darcy came back in the room. "Here." She was holding out a pll to him. "I'm not sure it's the smart thing to take it with brandy," she said.
He looked at the sky0blue tab. It was called Limbitrol, he remembered. It was only one of a bunch with names that rolled easily off the tongue. Elavil and Surmontil. They sounded like futuristic candies. Here, kids, chew these down. Try some Prozac while you're at it. They'd done nothing for Harriet except drive her deeper into that impenetrable pocket where she'd lived her life. He placed the pill in his mouth and swallowed it with brandy. Quickly. He didn't want the taste of it.
The telephone was ringing. The sound, shrill and unexpected and yet so goddam commonplace, went through Samsa's head like a vibrating ice pick. Darcy answered, then handed the phone to him.
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