Saturday, September 15, 2007

Copy of "Summer Rituals" and Place for Questions

Here's a copy of the reading by Ray Bradbury, "Summer Rituals."

If you have questions or comments to make, use the comment link under this post. This is not a homework assignment, but will count towards my extra marks for participation (awarded before your final mark is calculated).

Quality of submissions count. Good questions are welcome.

8 comments:

Ken J said...

"Always like to start sitting early in the season," said Granpa, "before the mosquitoes thicken."

Should Granpa be Grandpa

Brad said...

Yes, it's one of many variations on "Grandpa" in English. You also find "Gramps," for instance.

Victoria said...

I've read it twice, not just because of some difficalt words, but to get clear idea, and clear my mind about the story.
I liked it overall!He (author) is very passinate; i liked it.
However, this is not my story!I don't like the routine, i am not into rituals ( I like spend time with my family and friends, but i like to do different things, or if i have something i like the best (it usually not one thing) I alternate with it.
I think in our life we have anough routine (circl of school, work, house chores etc.) that we have to escape from that as often as possible.
Anyhow, if i look at the story as a piece of writing, i like it.Story is very detailed.Nice written (exept only unknown words :)), easy to read.And the theme is very undestandable, nothing deep, just pleasant memories of the summer. I liked the comparison. Very strong, vivid, alife, colorful, and ,maybe not the best word, cute.
It just my personal feelings about the story.
What's yours?

Brad said...

There is a difference between a "routine" and a "ritual" Vika. Routine carries a negative meaning; in other words, we don't always want to do something the same way. But, would you, for example, not sing "Happy Birthday" to someone because you did that last year?

Victoria said...

I woul sing because this song became a "rule". You say this words or sing them because of the tradition of a culture, but more importanly the tradition of a "Language", if you understand what i mean. We say "Hello" when we meet people, and "Good bye" whan we leave them.
The same with a B-day song. The song is the same, but the set is different.

Ken J said...

where did it show the color of the house? I can not find it? I tried to understand the whole meaning of the essay but I only can find out the 70-80% because some words are not in the dictionary or out of my imagination.

Brad said...

Ken,

The colour of the house is not shown. Bit of a funny question, perhaps to show that the detail is unimportant. There is no requirement that you actually answer any of the questions, by the way.

You might try the onelook dictionary online for words that may not occur in an ordinary dictionary. Just Google "onelook" to find it; it checks a number of dictionaries for you.

Claudia said...

I think the author is very explicit and descriptive in this passage. It reminds me my little town where i grew up. It gives the reader an specific image of an old house.He also compares male voices with mosquitoes. Nice metaphores. Lots of new words to learn !!!
In regards to Ken issue, highlight the word and press control to look for synonyms. It works on Word process document.