Lecture 7 Painting as a Pastime.Highlights.ppt

Unit7PaintingasaPastime Abouttheauthor SirWinstonLeonardSpencerChurchill 1874 1965 BritishpoliticianandprimeministeroftheUnitedKingdom 1940 1945 1951 1955 widelyregardedasthegreatestBritishleaderofthe20thcentury ChurchilliscelebratedforhisleadershipduringWorldWarII 1939 1945 Hiscourage decisiveness politicalexperience andenormousvitalityenabledhimtoleadhiscountrythroughthewar oneofthemostdesperatestrugglesinBritishhistory WinstonChurchill spubliclifeextendedfromthereignofQueenVictoriainthelate19thcenturytotheColdWar Duringthislongpoliticalcareer ChurchillheldeveryimportantcabinetofficeintheBritishgovernment exceptforeignminister ChurchillwasalsoknownforthemanybooksonBritishhistoryandpoliticshewrotethroughouthislifetime HiscommandoftheEnglishlanguagenotonlymadehimagreatoratorbutearnedhimtheNobelPrizeforliteraturein1953 PaintingwasoneofChurchill smanytalents andtheRoyalAcademyofArtsinLondonfeaturedanexhibitofhisworksin1959 SirWinstonChurchill Para 1 Spasm asweknow isasuddentighteningofamusclethatcausespain Mayblumcontinuedhisdescent themusclesinhiscalvescontractinginspasms Ifyouaresuddenlygrippedbyastrongfeelingofanxietyandareunabletogetridofithoweverhardyoutry youarehavingaspasmofworry ieyourmindkeepsthinkingaboutsomethingandrefusestoforgetit Ifyouarepressedforawordthatdescribesanextremeandunhealthyinterestinorworryaboutsomething whichstopsyoufromthinkingaboutanythingelse whatisthat Obsession Thereisnopointtryingtopersuadethemindtochangethewayitbehavesoncethishappens Themoredeterminedyouaretobreakfreefromtheobsession themoreuselessyoureffortwillbe To insinuate heremeanstoslowlymoveapartofyourbodyorsomethingelseintoaparticularplace ofteninaquietandcarefulway And itsconvulsivegrasp referstothemind sobsessionwiththeproblemsthatkeepworryingyou Thiskindofobsessionislikeasuddenviolentpowerthatgoesbeyondyourcontrol Heretheauthorissayingthatallwecandounderthecircumstancesistoletsomethingelsefinditsway quietlyandspontaneously totheobsessedmind ifitisreallyattendedbytheilluminationofanotherfieldofinterest Noticethatthis it refersmoretotheexperienceofhavingthissomethingelseplacedinthemind Soheretheauthormeansthatifthisexperienceisaccompaniedbytherewardofgainingtrueknowledgeofanotherfieldofinterest then gradually andoftenquiteswiftly theobsessedmindletsgoofitandyourlifebeginstoreturntonormal Noticethat illumination and recuperation arestylisticallyquiteformal meaning anincreasedunderstanding and recovery Here recuperation and repair arevirtuallysynonymous usedtogetherforemphasisandfortheeffectofalliteration Para 2Thissentencerepresentsamajorpointtheauthormakesonthebasisofwhathesaidabouttheeffects ananotherfieldofinterest mayhaveontheworriedmind Notethecohesionachievedbytheconjunctiveadverb therefore whichliterallymeans forthat reason Nowwhatisa publicman Itmeansamaninpubliclife ieapersonwhoholdspublicofficeorhasajobinthegovernment orevenapersonwhoworksintheentertainmentworld Whatdothesepeoplehaveincommon Theymaybewell knowntoalotofpeoplebecauseoftheirfrequentappearancesinpublic butatthesametimetheymaycomeunderconstanthighpressurewhichisunknowntomany SohereChurchillissayingthat becauseoftheirhigh pressurejobsandthepositiveeffectsadifferentfieldofinterestmayhaveontheanxiousmind themostimportantthingforapersonwhoworksinthegovernmentistospendtimedevelopingahobbyornewformsofinterest Noticetheveryformalexpression apolicyofthefirstimportance whichmeans themostimportantprincipleorcourseofaction Butthisisnotsomethingthatyoucanpickupanddowellovernight orsomethingyoucanachievewithoutpreviousplanningoronasuddenimpulse Noticetheplant basedmetaphorshere growth foracquisitionanddevelopment seeds fornewformsofinterest goodground fortherightconditionsortherightperson tended forcaredfor ieoncetheseedsstarttogrow youshouldcareforthemscrupulously and vivifyingfruits fornewhobbiesyouhaveacquired Andnoticealsotherelativeformalstyleofthewords business undertaken and alternative Soheretheauthorissayingthatittakestimetodevelopnewinterests Andifthesenewhobbiesorformsofinterestareexpectedtobeavailablewhenneeded thefollowingrequirementsmustbemet therightthingtobechosenfortherightpersonintherightplace andsufficienttimespenttakingcareofit Para 3ItseemsthatwhatChurchillhadtosayabouttheeffectofhobbiesonone slifeisthis arealhobbycapableofmakingyoufeelhappyandsafeistheresultofsomenaturalorinstinctivechoiceanditsseedsofitshouldhavesproutedwithinyouinyourearlyyears andanydeliberateattemptatchoosinganewhobbyinyoulaterlifeoftenprovestobefutile Whatthisdeliberatepursuitofanewinterestbringsisnothingbutanextraamountofmentaleffort iepouringoilontheflames Heretheauthormakesagoodpoint revealingthesecretofstrainreliefasheseesit youhavegottolikewhatyoudo Otherwise yourhard learnednewformsofinterestmayturnouttobeuseless Noticethatwesay itisnousedoingsomething thereisnopointdoingsomething and itisuselesstodosomething HereChurchillisgeneralizingaboutthefateofmaninasomewhatdarklyhumorousway somearemuchtoobusy somearemuchtoosensitive andsomearemuchtoofreetohaveanythingtoarousetheirinterest Notice however intheaboveexpressions todeath isusedtoemphasizethatafeelingoremotionisverystrong asin Ilovehertodeath Sinceanydeliberateattemptatrelievingstressisvirtuallymeaningless theonlysalvationseemstolieinanefforttolovewhatyoudointhefirstplace Verywell butIhavereadthatthepercentageofpeoplereallylovingtheirjobsisagrim16 ieonly16 ofallpeopleintheworkforcetakerealpleasureinwhattheydo Thismeansthatthemajorityofpeoplecannotescapethefateofbeingeither toiledtodeath or worriedtodeath or boredtodeath asChurchillputsit Para 4Whatdoyouthinkthese unfortunatepeople are apartfrom thosetoiledtodeath worriedtodeathorboredtodeath Judgingbytheirwayoflivingasdescribedhere theymustbelongtotheleisuredclasses theydon thavetowork theycandowhatevertheywant theyactonimpulsewhenevertheyfeellikeit andtheycanownalmostanyluxurytheymaythinkof ButtheyareneverthelessunfortunateasChurchillrightlypointsout becauseforthemanythingtheypickupasanewpastimewillprovetobetemporaryorshort lived ietheysoonwillgetboredwithitastheyhavedonewiththeirprevioushobbies Inthefaceofincreasedboredomresultingfromlossofinterestafterinterest thesepoorcreaturesarealwaysontherun andtheonlyavailablemeanstofightboredomisbyhoppingdesperatelyfromonethingtoanother Forthosewhocanalwaysgettheirownways developinganabilitytocontrolthemselvessomehowisperhapsthebestwaytogetthemoutofboredom Para 5Heretheauthorventuresaclassificationofwhathecalls rational industrious usefulhumanbeings iepeoplewhoarecool headedandsensible hard workingandthereforecontributingpositivelytosociety Tothefirstclassofpeople theirjobishardbuttheireffortsarerewardedwithacomfortablelifeinwhichtheynotonlydon thavetoworryaboutfoodbutalsogettremendoussatisfactionfromeventheleastimpressiveortheleastexpensiveformsofentertainment egaginandtonicoragameofdartsinapub Noticethattheword sustenance isformal meaning foodanddrinkthatpeople animalsandplants