Tin Lizzie – nickname for Ford Model T
ASSIGNMENT PART
Read chapters from 1 to 3 and answer the following questions:
1. Give a characteristic of American society of the beginning of the XX century, as provided by the author.
2. What characters of the story are already mentioned in the first chapters? Describe them.
3. What characters of the mentioned ones were historical and what fictional?
4. Refer to the personality of Harry Houdini, describe his trade, explain the phrase “Today, nearly fifty years since his death, the audience for escapes is even large”.
5. Give a characteristic of the relationship in the family, in particular between Mother and Father. Refer to the phrase “The marriage seemed to flourish on Father's extended absences”
6. Refer to the episode of Father meeting a transatlantic vessel packed to the railings with immigrants. What does Father feel at that particular moment. Look up the chapters for some more information about immigrants coming to the US and the author’s opinion on the topic, quote the text to prove it.
7. Refer to the metaphoric description of water coming to dead bodies in morgues and tears (The faces of the dead were upturned into the streams of water that poured over them like the irrepressible mechanism in death of their own tears).
8. Describe the procedure of immigrants’ arriving to the US and their living conditions in the new land. Explain the phrase “the immigrant population set great store by the American flag“
9. Explain the meaning of the “crazy quilt of humanity” as seen by Jacob Riis. Speak about the irony of “dismantling of Europe”.
Look up the dictionary for the following words and statements:
Crest (n)
Dormer (n)
Bay window (n)
Awning (n)
Bunting (n)
Accoutrement (n)
Social outing (n)
Swarm (n)
Parlor (n)
Marsh (n)
Shoal (n), (v)
Towline (n)
Odd (adj.)
Shack (n)
To read between the lines
Scion (n)
Terra cotta (n)
Embellish (v)
Haze (n)
Volute (n)
Billow (n), (v)
Bondage (n)
Handcuffed (part.)
Strait jacket (n)
Rolltop desk (n)
Dishevel (v)
Penitentiary (n)
Padlock (v)
Swerve (v)
Demeanor (n)
The thermometer read…
Diffidence (n)
Amateur (adj.), (n)
Disbursement (n)
Voluble (adj.)
Deft tricks
Distort (v)
Coitus (n)
Gird for (v)
Gear (n)
Befit (v)
Varnish (v)
Restrain (v)
Doff (v)
Go around the bend
Prow (n)
Shawl (n)
Riffraff (n)
Insolent (adj.)
Derelict (n)
Babushka (n)
Galvanized iron
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Pinafore (n)
Roam (v)
To become accustomed to
Air shaft (n)
Indigent (adj.)
Pennant (adj.), (n)
Crossbow (n)
Chaise (n)
Refectory table (n)
Harpsichord (n)
Snuffbox (n)
Hustler (n)
Exorbitant price
Cultural notes for chapters 1 -3:
Shingle - The Shingle Style in America was made popular by the rise of the New England school of architecture, which eschewed the highly ornamented patterns of the Eastlake style. In the Shingle Style, English influence was combined with the renewed interest in Colonial American architecture which followed the 1876 celebration of the Centennial. Architects emulated colonial houses' plain, shingled surfaces as well as their massing, whether in the simple gable of McKim Mead and White's Low House or in the complex massing of Kragsyde, which looked almost as if a colonial house had been fancifully expanded over many years. This impression of the passage of time was enhanced by the use of shingles. Some architects, in order to attain a weathered look on a new building, even had the cedar shakes dipped in buttermilk, dried and then installed, to leave a grayish tinge to the façade.
Fish fries - In the Southern portion of the United States, a fish fry is a family or social gathering, held outdoors or in large halls. At a typical fish fry, quantities of freshwater fish (such as bream, catfish, flounder and bass) available locally are battered and deep fried in cooking oil. The batter usually consists of corn meal, milk or buttermilk, and seasonings. In addition to the fish, hushpuppies (deep fried, seasoned corn dumplings), and cole slaw are served. These events are often potluck affairs. The world's largest fish fry is held each spring in Paris, Tennessee. In Georgia and South Carolina, fish are dipped in milk, then into a mix of flour, cornmeal and seasonings before frying. Buttered grits is often a side dish.
Vaudeville - was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s in which each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Types of acts included popular and classical musicians, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, female and male impersonators, acrobats, one-act plays or scenes from plays, athletes, lecturing celebrities, minstrels, and movies. Vaudeville developed from many sources, including the concert saloon, minstrelsy, freak shows, dime museums and literary burlesque. Dubbed by one "the heart of [the era's] American show business," vaudeville was one of the most popular types of entertainment in North America during the several decades of its existence.
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Trolley - A tram, tramcar, trolley, trolleycar, or streetcar is a railborne vehicle, of lighter weight and construction than a train, designed for the transport of passengers (and, very occasionally, freight) within, close to, or between villages, towns and/or cities, on tracks running primarily on streets. Certain types of cable car are also known as trams.
Parasol - An umbrella or parasol (sometimes colloquially; gamp, brolly, umbrellery, or bumbershoot) is a canopy designed to protect against precipitation or sunlight. The term parasol usually refers to an item designed to protect from the sun.
Boater - A boater (also basher, skimmer, katie, or sennit hat) is a kind of hat associated with sailing and boating. It is normally made of sennit straw and has a stiff or soft flat crown and brim, typically with a ribbon around the crown, which is often in colours representing a school, rowing crew or similar institution.
Madison Square Garden - often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, has been the name of four arenas in New York City. It is also the name of the entity which owns the arena and several of the professional sports franchises which play there.
Mamzelle Champagne - Mam'zelle Champagne was a musical revue with book by Edgar Allan Woolf, music by Cassius Freeborn, produced by Henry Pincus, which opened June 25, 1906. On opening night at Madison Square Garden, millionaire playboy Harry K. Thaw shot and killed architect Stanford White: the musical's run continued for some 60 performances largely on the publicity from this incident.
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Stanford White was known to have seduced Thaw's wife, showgirl Evelyn Nesbit. During the opening-night performance of Mam'zelle Champagne, audience members noticed Thaw repeatedly glaring at White. Thaw eventually got up, crossed over to White's seat and shot him point-blank while the show onstage was in the midst of a number titled "I Could Love a Million Girls". It has never been established whether the subject matter of this particular song was a factor in prompting Thaw to take action at that particular moment.
Charles Dana Gibson’s "The Eternal Question"
Peddler - a travelling vendor of goods.
Warn the Duke - In the original version of Ragtime, before editing, Doctorow wrote a chapter in which Houdini tells the Archduke Ferdinand that his life is in danger, and then German officials throw Houdini in jail. Doctorow cut it out, though, because it posed a dead end for Houdini's character. That's also why, when he's suspended from the Times building, he thinks back to the "boy staring at his reflection in the headlights" as he wonders about Franz Ferdinand's death.
Derby - The bowler hat, also known as a coke hat, derby (US) or billycock, is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown originally created in 1849.
Ellis Island - at the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbor, is the location of what was from January 1, 1892, until November 12, 1954 the main entry facility for immigrants entering the United States; the facility replaced the state-run Castle Garden Immigration Depot (1855–1890) in Manhattan. It is owned by the Federal government and is now part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument, under the jurisdiction of the US National Park Service. Ellis Island was also the subject of a border dispute between the states of New York and New Jersey (see below). It is situated predominantly in Jersey City, New Jersey, although a small portion of its territory falls within neighboring New York City.
Pope-Toledo Runabout (see picture)
Winslow Homer - (February 24, 1836 – September 29, 1910) was an American landscape painter and printmaker, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th century America and a preeminent figure in American art.
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Peary - Robert Edwin Peary (May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer who claimed to have been the first person, on April 6, 1909, to reach the geographic North Pole. Peary's claim was widely credited for most of the 20th century, though it was criticized even in its own day and is today widely doubted.
Jacob Riis - Jacob August Riis (May 3, 1849 - May 26, 1914), was a Danish-American social reformer, muckraking journalist and photographer. He is known for his dedication to using his photographic and journalistic talents to help the impoverished in New York City, which was the subject of most of his prolific writings and photography. He helped with the implementation of "model tenements" in New York with the help of humanitarian Lawrence Veiller. As one of the most prominent exponents of the newly practicable flash, he is considered a pioneer in photography.
Mameh, Tateh - Hebrew for Mother, Father
See the reference part for personalities of:
Stanford White
Harry K. Thaw
Evelyn Nesbit
Emma Goldman
Harry Houdini
Read chapters from 4 to 7 and answer the following questions:
- Give a characteristic of the events following and preceding Stanford White’s murder as narrated from the side of Evelyn Nesbit.
- Describe the conditions in which Harry K. Thaw was kept in jail? Speak about his manners and attitudes.
- Describe the episode with Houdini’s “strange confrontation” during his prison escape and his reaction. What was the root of his depression?
- Speak about the personality of Freud, what do you know about his works, explain the phrase “ At least a decade would have to pass before Freud would have his revenge and see his ideas begin to destroy sex in America forever”. How did Freud come to the conclusion that “America is a mistake, a gigantic mistake”.
- Speak about labor unions, why were they “an affront to God”, refer to the ironic juxtaposition of God and property. Quote the text. Did the labor unions protect all workers?
- How did Evelyn Nesbit's concern for the thirty-two-year-old geriatric artist and his daughter begin?
- Render the episode with poverty balls.
- Explain the nature of Evelyn’s feeling for the Jewish family.
Look up the dictionary for the following words and statements:
Lapel (n)
Starboard (n)
Jam (v)
Disembark (v)
Fish chowder
Apron (n)
Horseshoe (n)
Constellation (n)
Emboss (v)
Torch (n)
Rehearse (v)
Testimony (n)
A regal dowager
Despise (v)
Connive (v)
Deranged (adj.)
Laudanum
Syringe (n)
Temple (n)
Imperious
Concoct (v)
Affidavit (n)
Chaperone (n)
Shriek (n)
Copulate (v)
Convalescence (n)
Tacit (adj.)
Laceration (n)
Tier (n)
Well (n)
Valet (n)
Impeccable style
Stoop (v)
Catwalk (n)
Tulle (n)
Coiffure (n)
Exaltation (n)
Suffuse (v)
Impend (v)
leg irons (n)
Warden (n)
To trade quips with (v)
Contrive (v)
Demur (v)
Profess (v)
Stunt (n)
Humidor (n)
Decanter (n)
On one’s person
Callus (n)
Makeshift (adj.)
A ventriloquist's dummy
Obscene (adj.)
Fumblingly (adv.)
Agile (adj.)
Fuddy-duddies
Iridescent (adj.)
Grips (n)
Yatter (v)
Composure (n)
Nemesis (n)
Commemorate (v)
Sleight of hand
Remonstration (n)
Clerestory windows
Auspicious (adj.)
Disciple (n)
Litchi nuts
Nickelodeon (n)
Yiddish (adj.)
Public facility (n)
Silhouette portraits
Mentor (n)
Embark (v)
Steeplechase (n)
Overcast (adj.)
Mangle (v)
Hansom (n)
Curb (n)
Nag (n)
Yoke (v)
Ragmen (n)
Livery (n)
Jodhpurs (n)
Muck (n)
Threadbare coat (n)
Slums (n)
Defile (v)
Vagrancy (n)
Dewy (adj.)
Drayman (n)
Plod by (v)
Inconspicuous (adj.)
Infer from (v)
Liaison (n)
Slanderous (adj.)
Infatuated (adj.)
Gaze (n), (v)
Intimidate (v)
Pushcart (n)
Chain latch (n)
Scandalize (v)
Cot (n)
Crockery (n)
Kinship (n)
Frail (adj.)
Tormented pride
Cultural notes for chapters 4 -7:
The Fourth Ward - the Fourth Ward was a working-class district by the East River waterfront of lower Manhattan.
The Tombs - "The Tombs" is the colloquial name for the Manhattan Detention Complex, a jail in lower Manhattan at 125 White Street, as well as the popular name of a series of downtown jails.[1] The nickname has been used for several structures dating from the early-mid 19th Century.
The Carmania - was a British passenger liner, which in World War I was converted to an armed merchant cruiser.
The Floradora girls - Florodora was an Edwardian musical comedy and became one of the first successful Broadway musicals of the 20th century. The book was written by Jimmy Davis under the pseudonym Owen Hall, music was by Leslie Stuart with additional songs by Paul Rubens, and lyrics by Edward Boyd-Jones and Rubens.
Delmonico's - Delmonico's Restaurant was one of the first continuously run restaurants in the United States and is considered to be one of the first American fine dining establishments. The first iteration opened in New York City in 1827. It operated at a number of locations continuously from 1827 to 1923; the name has since been revived periodically over recent decades by other restauranteurs having no continuity with the original establishment.
Diana of the Tower - Diana of the Tower is a reduced version of a huge statue that Augustus Saint-Gaudens created to top the tower of Madison Square Gardens, an athletic arena in New York City designed by the architect Stanford White. The classical goddess of the hunt not only proclaimed that the building was devoted to sports but also rotated so that her bow and arrow acted as a weather vane.
Theodore Dreiser - Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist. He pioneered the naturalist school and is known for portraying characters whose value lies not in their moral code, but in their persistence against all obstacles, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency.
Tiffany - Tiffany & Co. is a U.S. jewelry and silverware company founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and Teddy Young in New York City in 1837 as a "stationery and fancy goods emporium."
Stuyvesant Fish - (June 24, 1851 - April 10, 1923) was president of the Illinois Central Railroad.
The Four Hundred - the social elite of New York City in the late 19th Century; the term was coined by Ward McAllister.
Lavinia Warren - (1841 – 25 November, 1919) was an American proportionate dwarf and the wife of General Tom Thumb.
General Tom Thumb - was the stage name of Charles Sherwood Stratton (January 4, 1838 – July 15, 1883), a dwarf who achieved great fame under circus pioneer P.T. Barnum.
Sigmund Freud – (Sigismund Schlomo Freud, 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939), was an Austrian neurologist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology. Freud is best known for his theories of the unconscious mind and the defense mechanism of repression and for creating the clinical practice of psychoanalysis for curing psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst. Freud is also renowned for his redefinition of sexual desire as the primary motivational energy of human life, as well as his therapeutic techniques, including the use of free association, his theory of transference in the therapeutic relationship, and the interpretation of dreams as sources of insight into unconscious desires. He was also an early neurological researcher into cerebral palsy. While of unique historical interest, many of Freud's ideas have fallen out of favor or have been modified by Neo-Freudians, although at the close of the 20th century, advances in the field of psychology began to show flaws in many of his theories. Freud's methods and ideas remain important in clinical psychodynamic approaches. In academia, his ideas continue to influence the humanities and some social sciences.
Jung, Ferenczi, Drs. Ernest Jones, A. A. Brill – Freud’s “disciples”, see the picture above.
Al Jolson - (May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a highly acclaimed Russian-born American singer, comedian, and actor, and the "first openly Jewish man to become an entertainment star in America".
Coney Island - Coney Island is a peninsula, formerly an island, in southernmost Brooklyn, New York City, USA, with a beach on the Atlantic Ocean. The area was a major resort and site of amusement parks that reached its peak in the early 20th century.
Shoot-the-chutes - is an amusement ride consisting of a flat-bottomed boat that slides down a ramp or inside a flume into a lagoon. Unlike a log flume, a Shoot the Chutes generally has larger boats and one single drop.
Doge palace - The Doge's Palace is a gothic palace in Venice. In Italian it is called the Palazzo Ducale di Venezia. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice.
Read chapters from 8 to 9 and answer the following questions:
- What was Emma Goldman talking about at her lecture? What was the essence of her words?
- What happened in the meeting hall that Tateh disappeared with the Little Girl? What account for Goldman’s words to Evelyn “you're nothing more than a clever prostitute”?
- Describe the episode with Evelyn’s liberation under Goldman’s emphatic hands.
- What facts characterizing the MYB do we get from the 9-th chapter?
- What other facts of the family do we get?
- Describe the episode with Mother’s unexpected discovery in the garden. How did she react?
Look up the dictionary for the following words and statements:
Shirtwaist (n)
Foment (v)
Confess (v)
Dissection (n)
Hornrimmed glasses (n)
Catcall (n)
Repudiate (v)
Mockery (n)
Plunder
Brothel (n)
Decorum (n)
Womb (n)
Reverence (n)
Toady (v)
Phalanx (n)
Pandemonium (n)
Aisle (n)
Desecrate (v)
Duck trousers (n)
Brownstone (n)
Recess (n)
Lilac (n)
Dart (v)
Ajar (adj.)
Consolation (n)
Servitude (n)
Stem (v)
Abhor (v)
Urchin (n)
Rocking chair (n)
Novice (n)
Beleaguer (v)
Embroidered underwear (n)
Fulminate of mercury
Dungeon (n)
Parchment (n)
Stoop (n)
Leech (n)
Sybarite (n)
Obedient (adj.)
Waist (n)
Licentious (adj.)
Wanton (n)
Astringent (n)
Mon (n)
Pelvis (n)
Paroxysm (n)
Mortification (n)
Filamented (adj.)
Spurt (n)
Jism (n)
Ticker tape (n)
Brood about (v)
Oar (n)
Indolence (n)
Sire (v)
Homestead (n)
Gravid (adj.)
Hayloft (n)
Large-boned (adj.)
Slant (v)
Bid on (v)
Succeed (v)
Solace (n)
Salvia (n)
Marigold (n)
Translucent (adj.)
Cross oneself (v)
Opulent (adj.)
Infant (n)
Cord (n)
Swaddle (v)
Barely (adv.)
Receiver (n)
Guileless (adj.)
To stand charges (v)
Endorse (v)
Contamination (n)
Cultural notes for chapters 8 -9:
Emma Goldman – see the reference part.
Ibsen - Henrik Johan Ibsen (20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as the "father of modern drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre. His plays were considered scandalous to many of his era, when Victorian values of family life and propriety largely held sway in Europe. Ibsen's work examined the realities that lay behind many facades, possessing a revelatory nature that was disquieting to many contemporaries. It utilized a critical eye and free inquiry into the conditions of life and issues of morality.
Pierpont Morgan - John Pierpont Morgan (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thompson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric. After financing the creation of the Federal Steel Company he merged the Carnegie Steel Company and several other steel and iron businesses to form the United States Steel Corporation in 1901. He bequeathed much of his large art collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and to the Wadsworth Atheneum of Hartford, Connecticut. He died in Rome, Italy, in 1913 at the age of 75, leaving his fortune and business to his son, John Pierpont "Jack" Morgan, Jr.
John d. Rockefeller - John Davison Rockefeller (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American industrialist. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy. In 1870, he founded the Standard Oil Company and ran it until he officially retired in 1897.
Alexander Berkman - (November 21, 1870 – June 28, 1936) was an anarchist known for his political activism and writing. He was a leading member of the anarchist movement in the early 20th century.
Mr. Carnegie - Andrew Carnegie (25 November 1835 – 11 August 1919) was a Scottish-born American industrialist, businessman, and a major philanthropist. He was an immigrant as a child with his parents. He built Pittsburgh's Carnegie Steel Company, which was later merged with Elbert H. Gary's Federal Steel Company and several smaller companies to create U.S. Steel. With the fortune he made from business, he turned to philanthropy and interests in education, founding the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.
Pinkertons - The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, usually shortened to the Pinkertons, was a private U.S. security guard and detective agency established by Allan Pinkerton in 1850. Pinkerton had become famous when he foiled a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln, who later hired Pinkerton agents for his personal security during the Civil War. Pinkerton's agents performed services ranging from security guarding to private military contracting work. At its height, the Pinkerton National Detective Agency employed more agents than there were members of the standing army of the United States of America, causing the state of Ohio to outlaw the agency due to fears it could be hired out as a private army or militia.
State militia - The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service.
Attentat - assassination attempt (from German)
John Brown - (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery revolt in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859.
Blue coats – police.
Read chapters from 10 to 13 and answer the following questions:
1 How does the author describe the living conditions in Greenland? Refer to the attitude of the expedition members to the Eskimos, describe their ways. Comment on the phrase “Peary defined the virtues of Esquimos as loyalty and obedience, roughly the same virtues one sought in the dogs”.
2 Refer to the new president of the US, define how his personality affected the American society.
3 Describe further events of Evelyn’s life and her divorce case.
4 Where did Tateh and his little girl appear in the final run after their wanderings? Describe their way.
5 Explain the roots of Harry Houdini’s depression? Why was he dissatisfied with his career? What way out did he finally find?
Look up the dictionary for the following words and statements:
Berth (n)
Walnut (n)
Idleness (n)
Hunting sorties (n)
Musk ox (n)
Harness (n), (v)
Snow blindness (n)
Esquimo (n)
Guerrilla (n)
Prank (n)
Hallucinate (v)
Fastidiousness (n)
Grooming (n)
Aft (adj., adv.)
Misshapen (adj.)
Fulmar (n)
Auk (n)
Chirp (v)
Nudge (v, n)
Diffidence (n)
Formidable (adj.)
Resent (v)
Trailbreaker (n)
Backbreaking labor (n)
Hack away (v)
Pickax (n)
Haul (v)
Precipitous descents
Sled (n)
Wait out (v)
Inexplicable (adj.)
Unassimilable (adj.)
Caribou (n)
Brittle (adj.)
Arduous effort (n)
Pemmican (n)
Lag (n), (v)
Extremities (n)
Thaw out (v)
Fraternity (n)
Halt (n)
Sextant (n)
Floe (n)
Due north, due south
Stubby (adj.)
Paleocrystic (adj.)
Offal (n)
Broiled fish (n)
Purgative (n)
Inducement (n)
Sinuously (adv.)
Illustrateds (n)
Calves (n)
Resolute (adj.)
Impeccable (adj.)
Dabble (v)
Magnification (n)
Guffaw (v)
Lewd (adj.)
Flawlessly (adv.)
Bailiff (n)
Alienist (n)
Plea (n)
Contrition (n)
Vellum (n)
Stationery (n)
Remand (v)
Barbarity (n)
Mutilate (v)
Dole out (v)
Whim (n)
Reminiscent of (adj.)
Musty (adj.)
Pantograph (n)
Sultry (adj.)
Duck (n)
Frock (n)
Terminus (n)
Abustle (adv.)
Yank (v)
Frayed (adj.)
Lope (v)
Tumbrils (n)
Visionary (n)
Sandhog (n)
Flinty (adj.)
Buttress (n)
Babushka (n)
Escapologist (n)
Stolid (adj.)
Oaf (n)
Lithe (adj.)
Gangplank (n)
Varnish (n), (v)
Throttle (v)
Airborne (adj., adv.)
Casern (n)
Aloft (adj., adv.)
Whir (v)
Heir (n)
Cultural notes for chapters 10 -13:
Player piano - is a self-playing piano, containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that plays on the piano action pre-programmed music via perforated paper rolls.
Igloo shelter - An igloo is a dome-shaped Eskimo shelter, usually made from blocks of snow.
Mathew Henson - Matthew Alexander Henson (August 6, 1866 – March 9, 1955) was an African American explorer and associate of Robert Peary during various expeditions, the most famous being a 1909 expedition which claimed to be the first to reach the Geographic North Pole.
William Howard Taft - (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) was the 27th President of the United States and later the 10th Chief Justice of the United States.
Three hundred and thirty-two pounds – about 150.592667 kilograms.
Voisin biplane - The Voisin Biplane was a French design which saw very limited use in the U.S. The great magician Harry Houdini was a Voisin aviator, although it appears he never flew in the U.S. However, he did make what is recognized as the first aeroplane flight in Australia.
Franz Ferdinand (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia.
The Countess Sophie - Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg (Czech: Žofie Marie Josefína Albína hraběnka Chotková z Chotkova a Vojnína, German: Sophie Maria Josephine Albina Gräfin Chotek von Chotkow und Wognin); 1 March 1868 - 28 June 1914) was the morganatic wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. Their assassination sparked World War I.
The Wrights - The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur were two Americans who are generally credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903.
Read chapters from 14 to 17 and answer the following questions:
1. Describe the circumstances of Father’s return? What did he notice to have changed dramatically over the year of his wanderings?
2. What was the root of Mother Younger Brother deepest depression, how did he attempt to handle his grief?
3. What new peculiarities of the Little Boy’s character do we get from the fifteenth chapter? How did his family perceive his oddities? Who was the member of the family having closest relationship with the boy and why? What notions was he constantly concerned with? Quote the text to prove it.
4. Where did winter catch Tateh and his girl? What was Tateh afraid of both in terms of his daughter growing up and protecting her life?
5. Characterize the attempts of the strikers to get their way and the response of the authorities to that. Explain the essence of the so called “the children's crusade” invented by the strikers?
6. How come Tateh began to conceive of his life as separate from the fate of the working class?
Look up the dictionary for the following words and statements:
Withdrawn (adj.)
Derelict (adj.)
Clavicle (n)
Tusk (n)
Alerted (adj.)
Vigorously (adv.)
Devious (adj.)
Loom (n)
Convalescent (adj.)
Beef tea (n)
Crisply (adv.)
Firecracker (n)
Combustion (n)
After-concussion (n)
Whitecap (n)
Discard (v)
Sagging socks (n)
Declamation (n)
Volatile (adj.)
Forfeit (v)
Vanity (n)
Gaunt (adj.)
Lassitude (n)
Recompose (v)
To divert somebody from something (v)
Fall victim (v)
Dismal (adj.)
Tenement (n)
Overjoyed (adj.)
Trudge (v)
Complicity (n)
Wobbly (adj., n)
Stetson (n)
Inflamed (adj.)
Threadbare (adj.)
stoke the fire (v)
Serene (adj.)
Stratagem (n)
Storefront (n)
Elicit from (v)
Commotion (n)
Turmoil (n)
Pagoda (n)
Out of harm's way
For one’s own good
Chord (n)
Guardrail (n)
Pry (v)
Bestir oneself (v)
Editorial (n)
Satchel (n)
Hair clasp (n)
Emporium (n)
Mannequin (n)
Egret feather (n)
Gimcrack (adj.)
Novelty (n)
Practical joke (n)
Paperweight (n)
Amiable (adj.)
Cultural notes for chapters 14 -17:
Victrola - The record player, phonograph or gramophone was the most common device for playing recorded sound from the late 1870s until the late 1980s.
The Motor Boys books - The Motor Boys were the heroes of a popular series of adventure books for boys at the turn of the 20th century issued by the Stratemeyer Syndicate under the pseudonym of Clarence Young. This series was issued with dustjackets and glossy frontispiece. Howard Garis wrote many, if not all, of these stories.
Ovid - Publius Ovidius Naso (20 March 43 BC – AD 17 or 18), known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who wrote about love, seduction, and mythological transformation.
IWW - The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) is an international union currently headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. At its peak in 1923 the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict. IWW membership does not require that one work in a represented workplace, nor does it exclude membership in another labor union.
The IWW contends that all workers should be united as a class and that the wage system should be abolished. They may be best known for the Wobbly Shop model of workplace democracy, in which workers elect recallable delegates, and other norms of grassroots democracy are implemented.
Shtetl - A shtetl (Yiddish: diminutive form of Yiddish shtot "town", pronounced very similarly to the South German diminutive "Städtle", "little town";) was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in pre-Holocaust Central and Eastern Europe
The Internationale - The Internationale (L'Internationale in French) is a famous socialist, communist, social-democratic and anarchist anthem and one of the most widely recognized songs in the world.
The Internationale became the anthem of international socialism. Its original French refrain is C'est la lutte finale / Groupons-nous et demain / L'Internationale / Sera le genre humain. (Freely translated: "This is the final struggle / Let us group together and tomorrow / The Internationale / Will be the human race.") The Internationale has been translated into many of the world's languages. It is sung traditionally with the hand raised in a clenched fist salute. The Internationale is sung not only by socialists but also (in many countries) by communists or social democrats, as well as anarchists.
India ink - (or Indian ink in British English), or less commonly called Chinese ink since it may have been first developed in either India or China, is a simple black ink once widely used for writing and printing, and now more commonly used for drawing, especially when inking comics and comic strips. Indian ink tends to clog fountain pens if not used for long time; it then becomes necessary to use water to unclog it.
REO - The REO Speed Wagon was a motor truck manufactured by REO Motor Car Company. It was an ancestor of the pickup truck. REO are the initials of the company's founder, Ransom E. Olds, also the founder of the Oldsmobile (company later sold to General Motors and the brand retired in 2004).
Read chapters from 18 to 20 and answer the following questions:
1. What characteristic of Henry Ford do we get from the 18-th chapter? What was the essence of Henry Ford’s invention that shook America in the beginning of the 20-th century and why?
2. Speak about the ear of industrialization and technological revolution. What was the final proposition of the theory of industrial manufacture as Ford thought it?
3. Speak about Morgan and his constant search for equals, comment of the phrase “the cold and barren reaches of unlimited success”. But was he so inaccessibly great and was different from any other mortal person? Morgan had one flaw (say what it was), but was it a real curse of his or a blessing – a touch of God?
4. Pierpont Morgan venerated an ancient philosophy still present in the minds of some thinkers of the world, that the universe is changeless and that death is followed by the resumption of life. What is the essence of this philosophical concept? Trace it’s development in Morgan’s speech to Rosicrucian philosophy, and say what role did Morgan provide for himself and for Ford in this concept?
Look up the dictionary for the following words and statements:
Hither and yon (phr.)
Quick-witted (adj.)
Vouchsafe (v)
Replicate (v)
Interchangeable (adj.)
Chipmunk (n)
Raccoon (n)
Junco (n)
Wren (n)
Chickadee (n)
Profusely (adv)
Sparse (adj)
Obeisance (n)
Ascot (n)
Tinkering (ger)
A lust for order (phr)
Imperial (adj)
Single-handedly (adv)
Gold bullion (n)
Defer to (in) (v)
Preeminent (adj)
Acquisition (n)
Constipated (adj)
Inanities (n)
Hag (n)
Doughty (adj)
Indisputable truth (n)
Summon (v)
Fondle (v)
Mortar (n)
Endive (n)
Rhubarb pie (n)
Self-effacement (n)
Morning coat (n)
Gilded (adj)
Damask (n)
Halo (n)
Plush (n)
Qualms (n)
Genus (n)
Taxonomist (n)
Ponder (v)
Insolent (adj)
Firmament (n)
Beckon (v)
Vehement (adj)
Parchment (n)
Folio (n)
Promulgate (v)
Index finger (n)
Cuneiform (adj)
Conspiracy (n)
Transcendental (adj)
Effigy (n)
Beyond value
Visage (n)
Composure (n)
Crypt (n)
Decipher (v)
Incarnate (v)
Reincarnation (n)
Latiny (n, adj)
Concede (v)
Lineage (n)
Endow (v)
Cultural notes for chapters 18 -20:
Hurdy-gurdy - (The hurdy gurdy or hurdy-gurdy, also known as a wheel fiddle) is a stringed musical instrument in which the strings are sounded by means of a rosined wheel which the strings of the instrument pass over. This wheel, turned with a crank, functions much like a violin bow, making the instrument essentially a mechanical violin. Melodies are played on a keyboard that presses tangents (small wedges, usually made of wood) against one or more of these strings to change their pitch. Like most other acoustic string instruments, it has a soundboard to make the vibration of the strings audible.
Model T automobile - (colloquially known as the Tin Lizzie and Flivver) is an automobile that was produced by Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company from 1908 through 1927. The Model T set 1908 as the historic year that the automobile came into popular usage. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, the car that "put America on wheels"; some of this was because of Ford's innovations, including assembly line production instead of individual hand crafting, as well as the concept of paying the workers a wage proportionate to the cost of the car, so that they would provide a ready made market. he standard 4-seat open tourer of 1909 cost $850 (equivalent to $20,091 today), when competing cars often cost $2,000-$3,000 (equivalent to $47,274-$70,911 today); in 1913, the price dropped to $550 (equivalent to $11,819 today), and $440 in 1915 (equivalent to $9,237 today). In 1914, an assembly line worker could buy a Model T with four months' pay.
Henry Ford - (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was the American founder of the Ford Motor Company and father of modern assembly lines used in mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry. Henry Ford's intense commitment to lowering costs resulted in many technical and business innovations, including a franchise system that put a dealership in every city in North America, and in major cities on six continents.
"The Birth-Mark" - is a romantic short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne that examines obsession with human perfection. It was first published in the March, 1843 edition of The Pioneer. It later appeared in Mosses from an Old Manse, a collection of short stories by Hawthorne published in 1846..
Aix-les-Bainsn - is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It lies near the Lac du Bourget, 9 km (5.6 mi) by rail north of Chambéry.
Aix derives from Latin Aquae (literally, "waters"; cf Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) or Aix-en-Provence), and Aix was a bath during the Roman Empire, even before it was renamed Aquae Gratianae to commemorate the Emperor Gratian, who was assassinated not far away, in Lyon, in 383. Numerous Roman remains survive.
Canopic jar - canopic jars were used by the Ancient Egyptians during the mummification process to store and preserve the viscera of their own for the afterlife.
Viscera - In anatomy, a viscus (pronounced /ˈvɪskəs/) (plural: viscera /ˈvɪsərə/) is an internal organ of an animal (including humans), in particular an internal organ of the thorax or abdomen. The viscera, when removed from a butchered animal, are known collectively as offal. Internal organs are also known as "innards", or less formally, "guts" (which may also refer to the gastrointestinal tract).
Seti I - Menmaatre Seti I (also called Sethos I after the Greeks) was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt (Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt), the son of Ramesses I and Queen Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II.
The Theban Necropolis - is an area of the west bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes in Egypt. It was used for ritual burials for much of Pharaonic times, especially in the New Kingdom of Egypt.
The Valley of the Kings (Arabic: "Gates of the King") is a valley in Luxor, Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the kings and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom (the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Dynasties of Ancient Egypt). The valley stands on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes (modern Luxor), within the heart of the Theban Necropolis.
Morgan Library - The Morgan Library & Museum (formerly The Pierpont Morgan Library) is a museum and research library in New York City, USA. It was founded to house the private library of J. P. Morgan in 1906, which included, besides the manuscripts and printed books, some of them in rare bindings, his collection of prints and drawings.
Rosicrucian texts - the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception or Mystic Christianity is a Rosicrucian text, written by Max Heindel. According to it in the beginning of a Day of Manifestation a certain collective Great Being, God, limits Himself to a certain portion of space, in which He elects to create a Solar System for the evolution of added self-consciousness.
The Invisible College - The Invisible College was a precursor to the Royal Society of United Kingdom. It consisted of a group of natural philosophers (scientists).
Hermetica - Hermetica is a category of literature dating from Late Antiquity that purports to contain secret wisdom, generally attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, "thrice-great Hermes".
The Great Pyramid - The Great Pyramid of Giza (also called the Pyramid of Khufu and Pyramid of Cheops) is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now Cairo, Egypt, and is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that survives substantially intact.
Read chapters from 21 to 22 and answer the following questions:
The beginning of the century witnessed a fad for Egyptian culture. The family was no exception, describe the way every member viewed it.
Who was the colored man who had suddenly arrived to the Family’s house and changed their lives forever? How did he gain the admittance to the family?
In this chapter we finally see the broader mentioning of Ragtime, the music which gave its title to this book. And though we cannot hear it we can feel every vibration of a listener’s heart. How does the author create the vivid effect of Rag music played? Try to translate the part where the music is described.
Explain the phrase “It occurred to Father one day that Coalhouse Walker Jr. didn't know he was a Negro”. What parts of the text prove that he was not a regular colored?
The tangle of Coalhouse and Sarah’s relations makes every member of the family involved; speak of every member’s attitude to their new aspect of life.
How come Mother’s Younger Brother returned to New York and met Emma Goldman, speak of his days before he heard the call of the suicide rag?
Look up the dictionary for the following words and phrases:
Canvas (n)
Knee (n)
Papyri (n)
Cub reporter (n)
Immune to (adj)
Sloe-eyed (adj)
Vulture (n)
Entomb (v)
Fruition (n)
papier-mache (n)
Ibis (n)
Throttle (n)
Reside (v)
Resolute (adj)
Stocky (adj)
Affectation (n)
Hound’s-tooth (adj)
Goggle (n)
Slam the door (v)
Nuisance (n)
Courtship (n)
Penitence (n)
Intransigence (n)
Propriety (n)
Deferential (adj)
Fervent (adj)
Syncopating (adj)
Chord (n)
Cakewalking (adj)
Coon songs (n)
Relent (v)
Impassable (adj)
Perseverance (n)
Flurry (n)
Subjection to (n)
Afflict (v)
Ordnance (n)
Oddity (n)
Devour (v)
Cadaverous (adj)
Vigil (n)
Peon (n)
Stave (n)
Complicity (n)
Subjugation (n)
Bandoleer (n)
Swarthy (adj)
Rally (n)
Tarred and feathered
Ladle (n)
Well-served (adj)
Sallow (adj)
Unaccountably (adv)
Bourgeois (n)
Unappeased (adj)
Cultural Notes:
Louis Quatorze - Style of French Baroque and Classical architecture of the reign of King Louis XIV (1643–1715), beginning in the 1660s. Its great monuments are the Churches of the Sorbonne and the Val-de-Grâce, the Institut de France, and the east front of the Louvre, all in Paris, and, of course, the Château of Versailles.
Wild West Weekly - A weekly magazine containing stories and sketches of Western life. Features the adventures of 'Young Wild West,' a courageous and dashing hero born and raised on the frontier, who rescues his sweetheart, Arietta Murdock, from countless dangers and perils. Stories focus on the violent clashes between cowboys and Indians and on life in the mining camps at the turn of the century.
Booker T. Washington - (April 5, 1856, – November 14, 1915) was an American political leader, educator, orator and author. He was the dominant figure in the African American community in the 
United States from 1890 to 1915. Representing the last generation of black leaders born in slavery, and speaking for those blacks who had remained in the New South in an uneasy modus vivendi with the white southerners, Washington was able throughout the final 25 years of his life to maintain his standing as the black leader because of the sponsorship of powerful whites, substantial support within the black community, his ability to raise educational funds from both groups, and his skillful accommodation to the social realities of the age of segregation.
Nubian princess - The Nubians are an ethnic group originally from northern Sudan, now inhabiting East Africa and some parts of Northeast Africa, such as southern Egypt.
Scott Joplin - (between July 1867 and January 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist, born near Texarkana, Texas, into the first post-slavery generation. He achieved fame for his unique ragtime compositions, and was dubbed the "King of Ragtime." During his brief career, he wrote forty-four original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first pieces, the "Maple Leaf Rag", became ragtime's first and most influential hit, and remained so for a century.
The Aeolian - The Æolian Company was a manufacturer of player organs and pianos.
The Bethesda Fountain in Central Park
The Bowery - is the name of a street and a small neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan.
Mexican Revolution - was a major armed struggle that started in 1910 with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements.
Hell's Kitchen - also known as Clinton and Midtown West by real estate brokers, is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City that covers roughly the area between 34th Street and 57th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River.
Emiliano Zapata Salazar (August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in 1910, and which was initially directed against the president Porfirio Díaz. He formed and commanded an important revolutionary force, the Liberation Army of the South, during the Mexican Revolution.
The term "Bohemian" as related to Bohemianism – i.e. describing the untraditional lifestyles of marginalized and impoverished artists, writers, musicians, and actors in major European cities – emerged in France in the early 19th century when artists and creators began to concentrate in the lower-rent, lower class gypsy neighbourhoods. The term bohémien was a common term for the Romani people of France, who had reached Western Europe via Bohemia.Ben Reitman
William McKinley - (January 29, 1843 – September 14, 1901) was the 25th President of the United States, and the last veteran of the American Civil War to be elected to the office.
Pantasote - an imitation leather product.
Read chapters from 23 to 25 and answer the following questions:
1) Why did the Emerald Isle volunteer firefighter detain Coalhouse Walker Jr. on his way? What was the most insulting act of violence they did to him?
2) The family’s reaction to what had happened to Coalhouse was diverse, describe the way each member felt about the incident. Who of them was the most understanding?
3) Sarah decided to help her fiancé in her own way, she had at least two reasons to do that – what were they? Explain the phrase “It was the second of the frightened and desperate acts provoked from her innocence”.
Look up the dictionary for the following words and phrases:
Fiancée (n)
Fiancé (n)
Clapboard (n)
In the teeth of (phr)
Ostentatiously (adv)
Clutch pedal (n)
Thoroughfare (n)
Courteous (adj)
Pugnacious (adj)
Circumnavigate
Ingratiate oneself (v)
Prank (n)
Desecrate (v)
Righteously (adv)
Discomfiture (n)
Recite (v)
Subpoena (n)
Grenade (n)
Treachery (n)
Nervous collapse (n)
Calisthenics (n)
Chaise (n)
Complacent (adj)
Inconsiderate (adj)
Stevedore (n)
Redress (n)
Plead on (v)
Contemptuousness (n)
Arson (n)
Condone (v)
Mayhem (n)
Negritude (n)
Impoverished (adj)
Mellifluous (adj)
Lithe (adj)
Guile (n)
Dregs (n)
Dignitary (n)
Platoon (n)
Acrid (adj)
Festivities (n)
Sternum (n)
Pneumonia (n)
Sepulchral (adj)
Cultural Notes:
James Sherman - (October 24, 1855 – October 30, 1912) was a United States Representative from New York and the 27th Vice President of the United States. He was a member of the Baldwin, Hoar, and Sherman families.
William J. Gaynor - (1849 – September 10, 1913) was an American politician from New York City, associated with the Tammany Hall political machine. He served as mayor of the City of New York from 1910 to 1913, as well as stints as a New York Supreme Court Justice from 1893 to 1909.
Springfield rifle - The term Springfield Rifle may refer to any one of several types of small arms produced by the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts, for the United States armed forces. In modern usage, the term "Springfield rifle" most commonly refers to the Springfield Model 1903.
Tin Lizzie – nickname for Ford Model T
Read chapters from 26 to 28 and answer the following questions:
1.Speak about the “grand parade”, what was metaphoric about all the description of it?
2. What tones does Doctorow bring out in the idea of spring as it comes to the city? What characters are mentioned in the relation? Quote the text to prove it.
3. Houdini’s obsession with his late mother turns out to be crucial for his career? Why, prove it.
4. What interrupted Houdini’s performance? Describe the situation and the family’s reaction.
5. What great inventions of the twentieth century are mentioned in this part of the novel? What makes their juxtaposition incongruous?
Look up the dictionary for the following words and phrases:
Mourn (v)
Dirge (n)
Suspension cable (n)
Fling (v)
Crocus (n)
Fox grape (n)
Forsythia (n)
Daffodil (n)
Standing ovation (n)
Wreath (n)
Bestow (v)
Nimbly (adv)
Exultant (adj)
Simian lope (n)
Abduct (v)
Divulge (v)
Solicit a comment (v)
Dogwood (n)
Petal (n)
Coffin (n)
Impenetrable (adj)
Close-up (n, v)
Crank (v)
Relive (v)
Redolence (n)
Clairvoyant (adj)
Gullibility (n)
Rube (n)
Spiritual fraud (n)
Rampant (adj)
Far-fetched (adj)
Pragmatist (n)
Swarm (n)
Rebuff (v)
Abreast (adv)
Brooch (n)
Pulley (n)
Pry (v)
Death-defying (adj)
Padlock (v)
Heed (v)
Chunk (n)
Proscenium (n)
Scorch (v)
Char (v)
Debris (n)
Homicide (n)
Buckshot (n)
Forensic (n)
Steam engine (n)
Rig (n)
Incur (v)
Awry (adj)
Ignite (v)
Suggestive of (adj)
Arsonist (n)
Accomplice (n)
Vigilance (n)
Vigil (adj)
Carafe (n)
Indigent (adj)
Thug (n)
Eulogy (n)
Insurrection (n)
Cultural Notes:
Gaudeamus Igitur - "De Brevitate Vitae" ("On the Shortness of Life"), more commonly known as "Gaudeamus Igitur" ("Let Us Rejoice") or just "Gaudeamus", is a popular academic commercium song in many European countries, mainly sung or performed at university graduation ceremonies. Despite its use as a formal graduation hymn, it is a jocular, light-hearted composition that pokes fun at university life. The song dates to 1287 and was already known by the time of founding of the first European university, the University of Bologna. It is in the tradition of carpe diem ("seize the day"), with its exhortations to enjoy life.
Columbia the Gem of the Ocean - is a United States patriotic song which was popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was used on occasion as an unofficial national anthem in competition with "Hail, Columbia" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" until the latter's formal adoption as the national anthem of the United States in 1931. For many years the song's melody was used as the Voice of America's interval signal.
Music box - is a 19th century automatic musical instrument that produces sounds by the use of a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc so as to pluck the tuned teeth of a steel comb. They were developed from musical snuff boxes of the 18th century and called carillons à musique. Some of the more complex boxes also have a tiny drum and small bells, in addition to the metal comb. Note that the tone of a musical box is unlike that of any musical instrument.
Margaretta and Kate Fox - The Fox sisters were three women from New York who played an important role in the creation of Spiritualism, the religious movement. The three sisters were Kate Fox (1837–1892), Leah Fox (1814–1890) and Margaret Fox (also called Maggie) (1833–1893).
Luther Burbank - was an American botanist, horticulturist and a pioneer in agricultural science.
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor, scientist and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park" (now Edison, New Jersey) by a newspaper reporter, he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large teamwork to the process of invention, and therefore is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory.
Steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The idea of using boiling water to produce mechanical motion has a long history, going back about 2,000 years. Early devices were not practical power producers, but more advanced designs producing usable power have become a major source of mechanical power over the last 300 years, enabling the Industrial Revolution, beginning with applications for mine water removal using vacuum engines. Subsequent developments using pressurized steam and converting to rotational motion enabled the powering of a wide range of manufacturing machinery anywhere water and coal or wood fuel could be obtained, previously restricted only to locations where water wheels or windmills could be used. Significantly, this power source would later be applied to prime movers, mobile devices such as steam tractors and railway locomotives. Modern steam turbines generate about 80 percent of the electric power in the world using a variety of heat sources.
Read chapters from 29 to 30 and answer the following questions:
1. What impact on the family’s living conditions did the aftermath of the Coalhouse’s act make? Why was it the Father who suffered more severely?
2. Speak about Willie Conklin and some transformations of the public opinion towards him.
3. Describe the baseball match and how it changed the Father’s mood. Speak about the atmosphere in which the most loves sport of America was being played? What didn’t the Father approve of?
4.
Look up the dictionary for the following words and phrases:
Adversity (n)
Flamboyance (n)
Industrious (adj)
Instantaneous (adj)
Mottle (v)
Persevere (v)
Deployment (n)
Deliberation (n)
Cuspidor (n)
Veal (n)
Bombastic (adj)
Craven (adj)
Shenanigan (n)
Felon (n)
Vile (adj)
Billet (v)
Demean (v)
Sway (v)
Perpetrator (n)
Ostensibly (adv)
Bait (v)
Cobblestone (n)
Abreast (adv)
Presence of mind (phr)
Inferno (n)
Engulf (v)
Pall (n)
Swear in (v)
Fluster (v)
Drove (n)
Brute (n)
Excrescence (n)
Tail (n)
Snare (n)
Forthright (adj)
Physiognomy (n)
Stifling (adj)
Waif (n)
Wedlock (n)
Stable (n)
Admonish (v)
Plod (v)
Emulation (n)
Smug (adj)
Hawk (v)
Raucous (adj)
Inning (n)
Barreled trunk
Pugnacious (adj)
Taunt (n)
Strident (adj)
Caw (n)
Dugout (n)
Roundhouse (n)
Blotch (v)
Expectorant (n)
Antic (n)
Mascot (n)
Avidly (adv)
Scaffold (n)
The diamond (n)
Hurler (n)
Pennant (n)
Remand (v)
Cultural Notes:
Saratoga Springs - a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American place name, authorities disagree on what the exact word was, and hence what it meant. The city is near the center of Saratoga County in upstate New York.
Roman candle - Roman candle is a traditional type of firework, that ejects one or more stars or exploding shells.
The Philippine campaigns - was the Allied campaign to defeat Japanese forces occupying the Philippines, during World War II. The invasion commenced on October 20, 1944 and hostilities continued until the war's end.
Boogie man - is a legendary ghost-like monster. The bogeyman has no specific appearance and conceptions of the monster can vary drastically even from household to household within the same community; in many cases, he simply has no set appearance in the mind of a child, but is just an amorphous embodiment of terror. Bogeyman can be used metaphorically to denote a person or thing of which someone has an irrational fear. Parents often say that if their child is naughty, the bogeyman will get them, in an effort to make them behave. The bogeyman legend may originate from Scotland, where such creatures are sometimes called bogles, boggarts, or boggers.
Mick - an ethnic slur for a person of Irish heritage (possibly deriving from the patronymic Mac or Mc in many Irish surnames); a Roman Catholic of Irish descent.
The Giants - are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area.
Coogan’s bluff - is the name of a promontory located in upper Manhattan in New York City. Rising abruptly from the Harlem River, it is colloquially regarded as the boundary between the neighborhoods of Harlem and Washington Heights.
The bluff overlooks the former site of the Polo Grounds, where Major League Baseball's New York Giants played their home games prior to their move to San Francisco after the end of the 1957 season; as a result, the name "Coogan's Bluff" was often used, particularly by journalists, to denote the Polo Grounds itself, much the same way "Chavez Ravine" is frequently used today to refer to Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles (just as the Angels did during their time there), the latter being located therein. However, the ballpark sat in Coogan's Hollow, the bottomland beneath the bluff. The John T. Brush Stairway down Coogan's Bluff is one of the few remaining parts of the Polo Grounds, which now occupied by the Polo Grounds Towers housing complex.
The El – a rapid transit system that serves in the United States. This name for the rail system applies to the whole system, as well as its elevated, subway, at-grade and open-cut segments. The use of the nickname dates from the earliest days of the elevated railroads. Newspapers of the late 1880s referred to proposed elevated railroads in Chicago as '"L" roads. The first route to be constructed, the Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad gained the nickname "Alley Elevated", or "Alley L".
Read chapters from 31 to 32 and answer the following questions:
1. How did the family finally resolved to calm their situation?
2. What as the tangible proof of Coalhouse’s grievance that was presented to public?
3. How come Mother’s Younger Brother appeared n Coalhouse’s gang? Describe the gang, their common idea and some peculiarities of their interrelationship.
Look up the dictionary for the following words and phrases:
Borne (adv)
Totter (v)
Spite (n)
Dissemble (v)
Crutch (v)
Concoct (v)
Cohort (n)
Trip (v)
Drip (v)
Tangible (adj)
Waterlogged (adj)
Aldermen (n)
Implacable (adj)
Renegade (n)
Alienist (n)
Irate (adj)
Martyr (n, v)
Torpor (n)
Concession (n)
Defame (v)
Commodious (adj)
Corrugate (v)
Concourse (n)
Intermittent (adj)
Mortician (n)
Appraisal (n)
Commence (v)
Pilferage (n)
Clandestine (adj)
Mercenary (adj)
Munificent (adj)
Cot (n)
Barracks (n)
Cultural Notes:
Pennsylvania Station—commonly known as Penn Station—is the major intercity rail station and a major commuter rail hub in New York City. The station is located in the underground levels of Pennsylvania Plaza, an urban complex located between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue and between 31st Street & 33rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, and is owned by Amtrak. It is the busiest passenger transportation facility in the United States and by far the busiest train station in North America.
The Baths of Caracalla - (Italian: Terme di Caracalla) in Rome, Italy were Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between AD 212 and 216, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla. The baths remained in use until the 6th century when the complex was sacked by the Ostrogoths during the Gothic War, destroying the hydraulic installations. The extensive ruins of the baths have become a popular tourist attraction.
Read chapters from 33 to 34 and answer the following questions:
1. Describe the summer the family spent in the seaside. Speak of their activities and the other guests of the hotel.
2. Who of the family would recalled the good old days in New Rochelle and how?
3. How did the two families meet? Describe Tateh’s new life and hoe he achieved it.
4. Speak about the little girl and the boy’s relationship. What made them cling together?
Look up the dictionary for the following words and phrases:
Breaker (n)
Strut (v)
Starched (adj)
Shir (v)
Fluted (adj)
On nodding acquaintance (phr)
Escalloped (adj)
Spout (v)
Fringe (n)
Twinge (n)
Ablution (n)
Heedless (adj)
Prod (v)
Limber (adj)
Sheepish (adj)
Ebullient (adj)
Incessantly (adv)
Malapropism (n)
Reel (n)
Mischievous (adj)
Fleck (v)
Defiance (n)
Audacity 9n)
Shuttle (n)
Footage (n)
Ebb tide (n)
Lappet (n)
Crust (n)
Squat (v)
Casing (n)
Freak show
Penny arcade
Tableaux vivants
Behemoth (n)
Irrepressible (adj)
Oscillation (n)
Unflagging (adj)
Comely (adj)
Rodent (n)
unencumbered (adj)
cow (v)
ample (adj)
Winslow Homer - rescue
Somersault (n)
Cartwheel (n)
Consternation (n)
Cultural Notes:
Buffalo nickel - Indian Head (or Buffalo) (1913-1938) - These pieces are known as Buffalo, Bison or Indian Head nickels. In the first year of issue, 1913, there were two distinct varieties, the first, showing the bison on the mound, and the second with the base redesigned to a thinner, straight line. James E. Fraser designed this nickel employing three different Indians as models. His initial "F" is beneath the date. The bison was modeled after "Black Diamond" in the New York Central Park Zoo. Matte Proof coins were made for collectors from 1913 to 1916.
One-reeler - It is traditional to discuss the length of theatrical motion pictures in terms of "reels." The standard length of a 35 mm motion picture reel is 1,000 feet (300 m). This length runs approximately 11 minutes at sound speed (24 frames per second) and slightly longer at silent movie speed (which may vary from approximately 16 to 18 frames per second). Most films have visible cues which mark the end of the reel. This allows projectionists running reel-to-reel to change-over to the next reel on the other projector.
A so-called "two-reeler" would have run about 20–24 minutes since the actual short film shipped to a movie theater for exhibition may have had slightly less (but rarely more) than 1000ft (about 305m) on it. Most projectionists today use the term "reel" when referring to a 2,000-foot (610 m) "two-reeler," as modern films are rarely shipped by single 1,000-foot (300 m) reels. A standard Hollywood movie averages about five 2,000-foot (610 m) reels in length.
Read chapters from 35 to 39 and answer the following questions:
1. Why did Coalhouse and his accomplices decide to take over the Morgan’s library? How did it happen?
2. Speak on the personality of Charles S. Whitman and his dedication to work, why was he the one to be in charge for the Coalhouse’s case?
3. What personalities of his time did Whitman choose to help him resolve the situation, why exactly them?
4. Describe Booker T. Washington’s speech as he entered the library, what words of Coalhouse made him affronted and disappointed?
5. Speak on how the situation unfolded as Father became a part of it. What was problematic about the demands from the side of Coalhouse and Morgan (whose interests Whitman was meant to protect)?
6. How did Father become a negotiator between the two sides? How did he help?
7. Why did Coalhouse’s final intentions revolt his men? What were his arguments? Describe the final plan itself.
Look up the dictionary for the following words and phrases:
Bigot (n)
Reverberate (v)
Fiefdom (n)
Reconnoiter (v)
Edifice (n)
Impunity (n)
Thug (n)
Pince-nez (n)
Vellum (n)
Incunabula (n)
Fretful (adj)
Wedge (n)
Flinch (v)
Stein (n)
District Attorney (n)
Untenable (adj)
Statute (n)
Grecian (adj)
Fund-raising (n)
Deplore (v)
Exponent (n)
Vocational training (n)
Homburg (n)
Gilded (adj)
Facsia (n)
Pilaster (n)
Alcove (n)
Straddle (v)
Admonitory (adj)
Frame of mind (n)
Fornicating (adj)
Impecunious (adj)
Shackle (n)
Probity (n)
Icebox (n)
Spittoon (n)
Investiture (n)
Absolve (v)
Dray horse (n)
Grate (v)
Misgiving (n)
Glee (n)
Feller (n)
By the scruff of the neck (phr)
Somber (adj)
Apprehensive (adj)
Recompose (v)
Wilted (adj)
Underling (n)
Lair (n)
Defy (v)
Magneto (n)
Windshield (n)
Den (n)
Fervor (n)
Slack (n)
Sibilant (adj)
Cultural Notes:
Tammany machine - Tammany Hall, or simply Tammany, was the name given to a powerful political machine that essentially ran New York City throughout much of the 19th century. It began modestly as a patriotic and social club established in New York in the years following the American Revolution, when such organizations were commonplace in American cities.
The Society of St. Tammany, which was also called the Columbian Order, was founded in May 1789 (some sources say 1786). The organization took its name from Tamamend, a legendary Indian chief in the American northeast who was said to have had friendly dealings with William Penn in the 1680s.
The original purpose of the Tammany Society was for discussion of politics in the new nation. The club was organized with titles and rituals based, quite loosely, on Native American lore. For instance, the leader of Tammany was known as the “Grand Sachem,” and the club’s headquarters was known as “the wigwam.”
Before long the Society of St. Tammany turned into a distinct political organization affiliated with Aaron Burr, a powerful force in New York politics at the time.
Portico - (from Italian) is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea first appeared in Ancient Greece and has influenced many cultures, including most Western cultures.
Adoration of the Magi - is the name traditionally given to the Christian subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, lay before him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and worship him.
Ionic column - The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian.
The Hell’s Kitchen - is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City that covers roughly the area between 34th Street and 57th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River. Several different explanations exist for the original name. An early use of the phrase appears in a comment Davy Crockett made about another notorious Irish slum in Manhattan, Five Points. According to the Irish Cultural Society of the Garden City Area: When, in 1835, Davy Crockett said, '"In my part of the country, when you meet an Irishman, you find a first-rate gentleman; but these are worse than savages; they are too mean to swab hell's kitchen," he was referring to the Five Points.
The Tenderloin - was a once-seedy neighborhood in the heart of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Police Captain Alexander S. Williams allegedly coined the term in the late 1870s. This district was in Midtown Manhattan from 23rd Street to 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue to Seventh Avenue, much of which is known now as Chelsea and the Garment district. The northwest corner of the Tenderloin was Longacre Square, now called Times Square.
Tuskegee Normal - Tuskegee University is a private, historically black university located in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States.
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