ROPE ANY NATURAL ASSOCIATION? Katherine Anne Porter

K ATHERINE A NNE P ORTER US writer. Most admired for her short Stories about intricate human relations. A woman’s sexuality and social position is a strong theme found in many of Katherine Anne Porter’s stories. For years Katherine Anne Porter has successfully paralleled the lives of everyday women who have their worries, pains and problems. ( )

discord: n. (fml)1) (U) disagreement between people ; eg. Marital discord 夫妻不和 ; 2) (C,U) (a) lack of agreement heard when musical notes are played which do not sound pleasant together escalate: v. 1) (of war) to make or become more serious by stages ; eg. The government escalated the war by starting to bomb enemy cities. 2) to make or become higher or greater etc. eg. The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅 速上涨 escalator : 自动扶梯

redeem: v. (fml) 1) to carry out; fulfil : eg. Has the government redeemed all its election promises? 政府已履行了它的全部选举诺言吗 ? 2) to make free of blame; 使 … 免受责难 eg. She redeemed herself/her reputation with a powerful speech to the party convention. 3) to make (sth. bad) slightly less bad; 补偿, 补救 4) fml. To buy or gain (someone’s ) freedom 救赎 ; eg. Christ came to Earth to redeem us from sin. Redeemer: 救世主

For never was a story of more woe, Than this of Juliet and her Romeo. 人间的故事不能比这个更悲惨， 像幽丽叶和她的柔密欧所受的灾难。 （曹禺译） For never was a story of more woe, Than this of Juliet and her Romeo. 古往今来多少离合悲欢， 谁曾见这样的哀怨辛酸！ （朱生豪译）

FREE INDIRECT SPEECH Direct speech: “But what are you going to do?” she asked him. “Oh, the lawyers and solicitors, they are going to do it.” he said. Indirect speech:She asked him what he was going to do and he said that the lawyers and solicitors were going to do it. Free indirect speech: What was he going to do? Oh, the lawyers and solicitors, they were going to do it.

WHAT ARE THE MERITS OF USING FREE INDIRECT SPEECH IN THIS NOVEL?

WARMING-UP P14 pair work Ask at least three persons Someone share their findings?

QUESTIONS Where did they live before? How was their life like now?

blot: n. (on) 1) a spot or mark,esp. of ink, that spoils or makes dirty; eg. A blot of ink on the paper; (fig) That hideous building is a real blot on the landscape. (= it spoils the surroundings) 那幢难看 的大楼实在是煞风景. 2) a fault or shameful action, esp. by someone usually of good character; eg. A blot on one’s character

Well, thunder, he had bought it because he wanted to, and that was all there was to it.

“Well, thunder,” he exclaimed, “I bought it because I wanted to, and that is all there is to it.” “All there is to it,” she retorted, “that’s reason enough, I can’t understand why you didn’t just say so, at first. Undoubtedly it will be useful, twenty-four yards of rope, there are hundreds of things, I can’t think of any at the moment, but it will come in. Of course. As you said, things always do in the country...”

clutter: n. (a collection of) things scattered about in a disorderly fashion; v. to make untidy or confused, esp. by filling with useless or unwanted things The wall is cluttered with all sorts of flyers.

heckle: v. to interrupt (a speaker or speech) with disapproving or unfriendly remarks, esp. at a political meeting The radical speaker was heckled by a group of journalists.

Straighten out 1. ( 使 ) 成直线，变直： Get all the wires straightened out. 把这些电线都拉直了。 2. solve, make clear There are several problems that need to be straightened out before we can move on. I hope the misunderstanding will soon be straightened out.

THE MITTEN ROCK IN MONUMENT VALLEY, UTAH

WHAT ARE THE MERITS OF USING FREE INDIRECT SPEECH IN THIS NOVEL? 1. Without “that” or “sb. says”, free indirect speech used in this story quickens the pace of the quarrel and makes it more heated, revealing more vividly the characteristics of both sides. 2.The use of past tense and third person pronouns like “she” and “he” allows the readers to watch the quarrel from a distance and not to get too involved. 3. Besides, maintaining the sentence order of direct speech gives readers a sense of living reality. Using free indirect speech may convey the character’s words more directly than in normal indirect, as he can use devices such as interjections and exclamation marks, that cannot be normally used within a subordinate clause.

Wreck n. 1. something that has suffered ruin 2. A person whose health or spirits have been destroyed 健康 ( 或精神 ) 遭受极度损伤的人 ( 或动物 )

may as well 倒不如； ( 满 ) 可以；不妨 … ；还是 … 的好 不妨，不如 ( 爽性 …) If you don't have that desire you may as well give up now. If you find it unworkable, we may as well call the deal off.

uproarious: adj. very amusing, causing loud laughter: eg. An uproarious joke 引人捧腹大笑的笑话 --- -ly, adv. wrench: v. to pull hard and often violently with a twisting or turning movement; n. 扳手

You might as well talk to a sieve as that woman when she got going. When the woman started acting out of her sense, talking to her was no better than talking to a sieve.

IN WHAT WAYS IS COFFEE PAIRED WITH ROPE AS SYMBOLS IN THE STORY? Coffee in this story is a symbol of “the wife’s needs and desire”. The husband’s failure to buy the coffee shows his failure in understanding his wife’s needs, as a result, neglecting her needs. Rope is a symbol of “the husband’s desire”, which the husband regards as something important while the wife disagrees. “Coffee paired with rope” indicates what may happen in a marriage when mutual needs and desires cannot be appreciated and respected.

Broil cooking by direct exposure to radiant heat (as over a fire or a grill) Syn. Grill Bake/ toast/roast Barbecue /meat that has been grilled in a highly seasoned sauce, esp. for a cookout

TEXAS BARBECUE

jostle: v. (0f a person ) to knock or push against (someone) rather roughly 撞, 推, 挤 ( 某人 ): eg. The players were jostled by an angry crowd as they left the field. 运动员们离开赛场时, 被愤怒的人 群推搡着

 Does the ending appear happy to you? Why/why not?  The ending of the story does not appear happy. Though the wife calms down and they seem to retrieve a kind of harmony, the fact that the wife’s emotions dominate the development of their relationship and the husband’s failure in understanding his wife undermines their future. The same quarrel may easily start again if their relationship remains the same and their living conditions stay unsatisfactory.

WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS EXISTING BETWEEN THE COUPLE? Economic problem Husband working faraway Four-year marriage no kid Suspected affair The wife loves a orderly house, while the husband likes to scatter things everywhere Disagreement on how to divide housework ……

 Build up a profile of the couple from the inferences you have had.  The wife is a hardworking housewife who is easily irritated and dissatisfied with her life. She seeks comfort, order and control, yet holds a strong and compelling resentment about life which are used as fuel once disagreements with her husband occur. She is also ungracious towards her husband’s efforts to make a better living of their family.

The husband, on the other hand, is depicted as the household breadwinner who have admirable intentions. But his inability to actually understand his wife leads to his neglectful care for her and his failure to share her worries or to value her difficulty. He views his role as a traditional breadwinner, being unable to sympathize with his wife when she feels “overwhelmed” by housework.

DO THIS COUPLE STILL LOVE EACH OTHER? Despite the wife’s frustrations and the husband’s inability to understand and comprehend them, the two are still sincerely in love with each other. Though their marriage have various problems, they still hang on the hope of better days. Why is there such hurt among loving couples?

Why is there such hurt among the loving couples? The point of the story: The story is to tell the readers why there is such hurt among the loving couples. It effectively demonstrates what can happen in a relationship without mutual respect or a conscious effort to understand the other’s point of view. In all relationships it is important to understand what is expected from the other and there must be an understanding of reciprocated respect and an effort to appreciate the other’s view point.

FROM WHOSE VIEW IS THE STORY TOLD, THE MAN OR THE WOMAN? Throughout the short story it is apparent that the husband’s feelings are spoken of more frequently than that of the wife’s, thus we may conclude that the story is told through the eyes of the husband. That’s why the readers might get the impression that the wife is a nuisance and the readers may even show sympathy to the poor husband who couldn’t understand his wife. This is also why the story is entitled Rope instead of Coffee. If the story came under the title of “Coffee”, there should be a shift of view from the part of the husband to that of the wife, thus leaving the reader the impression of a neglectful and messy husband who doesn’t help out around the house.

GROUP WORK: DRAMA ADAPTION Adapting the novel for a two-act drama and present the show Act One: Paras (Mar.20) Act Two: Paras (Mar.20) Two groups are needed, with each group 5-6 people.

TIPS FOR THE ADAPTION Distinguish the actual dialogue from the inner dialogue Distinguish dialogues from authorial comments You are encouraged to do it creatively by adding plots and characters.