1. The author of the extract under analysis is a famous English novelist, playwright, scriptwriter, social commentator, and broadcaster John Bointon Priestley. He is the author of numerous novels, plays and literary essays well-known all over the world. Of his pre-war novels the most famous are “The Good Companions”, “Angel Pavement”, “They Walk in the City”, and “ Wonder Hero”. John Priestley loves people. His favourite character is a little man, an unimportant shy person, lost in the jungle of the big city, helpless in the face of forces which he cannot combat.
2. The text under analysis running under the title “Rose at the Music-Hall” is an abridged extract taken from a novel “They Walk in the City”, written in 1936. The title of the story reveals its subject matter, but it’s only when we’ve read the whole story we shall understand what underlines this title.
3. The extract is told from the point of view of the author, who remains outside the plot, merely observing. It can be proved by the wide usage of the 3rd person subjects, expressed by nouns, pronouns in Sg.\Pl. For example: “When they arrived at the music-hall, the doors for the second house were just opening, and they walked straight into the stalls…”, “One thing she noticed…”, “Rose bought a programme for twopence…”.
4. The scene of the extract takes place at the music-hall. The extract describes the theatre and the audience which came to enjoy the performance. The author raises the eternal question of art’s role in our life. Furthermore, John Priestley points out the necessity of visiting theatres by the young people, he wants to emphasize the importance of writing new dramas and developing new English theatre which should be interesting for the young generation, not only older people. The text has a simple plot and the setting of events is realistic. So, the story opens with the description of the music-hall: “When they arrived at the music-hall, the doors for the second house were just opening, and they walked straight into the stalls, which were very cheap…It was a nice friendly little place, this music-hall…”, - and here we also get acquainted with two protagonists: “Mrs. Burlow led the way… Rose bought a programme…”. This is the exposition. The development starts simultaneously with the performance. We see the actors’ technique, so-called traditions of this music-hall, and, finally, observe closer one of the actors: “…or when a singer would tell them that the new songs were all very well in their way but that the old songs were best…”, “One turn was an eccentric fellow with grotesque makeup…”. The climax comes when Rose starts to understand the reality, she sees “…his real face, peering anxiously through that mask”, she realizes the absurdity of this theatre: “…Rose wanted him to stop clowning for them, wanted the curtain to come down…” The denouement depicts the narrator’s conclusion about the music-hall itself and Mrs. Burlow as its undivided part: “But she said nothing to Mrs. Burlow, who was enjoying herself… perhaps because she too was no longer young…”
5. The form of speech of the text under analysis is indirect. For example: “Mrs. Burlow led the way to the front and found two very good seats for them”, “Youth had fled from it”.
6. The character drawing is of a mixture type. The direct character drawing prevails and it is brightly shown in the description of the second characters: “Very few of the turns were young; they themselves, their creased and fading scenery, their worn properties, their jokes and many of their songs were getting on in years”, “One turn was an eccentric fellow…” And indirect: “But she said nothing to Mrs. Burlow…”
7. The extract acquaints us with two main personages. They are Rose and Mrs. Burlow. The first character is Rose – young lady, who comes together with the older woman Mrs. Burlow to enjoy the performance at the music-hall. She is compassionate. When Rose sees the real face of the actor “…old, weary, desolate” and that “…elderly woman, holding a dressing gown in one hand…”, the girl wants “…him to stop clowning for them… the curtain to come down, so that he could put on that dressing gown, drink his medicine or whatever it is, and go away with the elderly woman, and rest and not worry any more”. She is also very polite, Rose doesn’t disturb Mrs. Burlow with her thoughts as she doesn’t want to spoil Mrs. Burlow’s impression about the performance: “But she said nothing to Mrs. Burlow…” The girl is also very observant, she notices that , for example, “There were very few young people there”. Rose is embodiment of the young generation. Through her image the author shows the problem of generation gap, the gap of interests and outlooks. The second protagonist is Mrs. Burlow, who was “no longer young”, she is the elderly woman. Mrs. Burlow is very kind and polite person, she enjoys the performance, the audience, actors’ technique: “…was enjoying herself, and laughing and clapping as hard as anyone there”. This character is very important as it depicts the older generation, their world and their preferences. There are also other characters in the extract: the audience, an eccentric actor and the music-hall itself – which perform an additional function in the extract. They serve to emphasize the fact that “Youth had fled from it [music-hall]. There was no bloom on anything here”, that the theatre is for the older generation and young people don’t attend it.
8. Since the text under analysis presents a story – it belongs to belles-lettres style, emotive prose substyle.
9. The extract under analysis is told in a written type of speech. Phonetically there are no contracted forms or abbreviations: all the words are full. For example: “She was sitting near enough…”, “There was no bloom on anything here”, “…she would “endeavour to render”…” As to the vocabulary neutral words prevail. As to spoken type of speech mostly common words are used: “place”, “people”, “bloom”, “youth”, “funny”, “eyes”, “jokes”. As to spoken type of speech bookish and literary words are also used: “eccentric”, “desolate”, “scenery”. Morphologically the extract under analysis is characterized by the use of sentences of written type of speech. Tense Sentence Usage Past Simple “The audience made a great deal of noise…” Completed action in the past “Mrs. Burlow led the way to the front and found two very good seats for them” A series of completed actions in the past “Rose bought a programme for twopence, gave it to Mrs. Burlow, then looked about her brightly” “He made little jokes, fell over himself, and then climbed on to the back of a chair, made more little jokes and played the accordion…” Past Continuous “When they arrived at the music-hall, the doors for the second house were just opening…” Interrupted action in the past “…their jokes and many of their songs were getting on in years” Specific time in the past “She was sitting near enough to see his real face…” “…who was enjoying herself, and laughing and clapping as hard as anyone there…” Two or more simultaneous past actions Past Perfect “… and named a music-hall star that Rose had never heard of…” Completed action before something in the past “Youth had fled from it” Simple Future in the Past “…always came when a performer said he would imitate “our dear old favourite” so-and-so…or when a singer would tell them… and he or she would “endeavour to render” one of their old favourite ditties” Expresses the idea that in the past you thought something would happen in the future Passive Voice Past Continuous “…she…was being entertained by people…” Specific time in the past There are also non-finite forms of the verbs in the extract. The Infinitive: “And then Rose wanted him to stop clowning for them, wanted the curtain to come down…” – to stop\to come – Indefinite Infinitive Active used as the object of the sentence. “She was sitting near enough to see his real face…” – to see - Indefinite Infinitive Active used as an AM of purpose. The Gerund: “And then Rose wanted him to stop clowning for them…” – clowning – Indefinite Gerund Active used as a part of CVAP. The Participle I & II: “…who soon crept into their pit, wiping their mouths…” – wiping – Indefinite Participle I Active used as an AM of manner and attendant circumstances. “…their creased and fading scenery, their worn properties…” – creased/worn – Participle II used as an attribute; fading – Indefinite Participle I Active used as an attribute. “She was sitting near enough to see his real face, peering anxiously through that mask…” – peering – Indefinite Participle I Active used as an attribute. Sequence of Tenses: “He made little jokes, fell over himself, and then climbed on to the back of a chair, made more little jokes and played the accordion, Rose thought him quite funny at first, but very soon changed her mind about him” – Past Simple is used in every part of the sentence, there is no violation of rules of sequence of tenses. There are sentences with the articles of special interest. “The audience made a great deal of noise…” – a – Indefinite article used as a descriptive attribute (modification by of-phrases). “…the doors for the second house…” – the – Definite article used with an ordinal numeral. “Rose bought a programme…” – zero article is used with proper nouns; a – Indefinite article used in the numeric meaning. There are some nouns of special interest. Rose – proper noun used as a subject: “Rose bought…” Audience – common noun, collective, animate, nouns of multitude, used as a subject: “The audience made a great deal of noise…” Place – common noun, count, concrete, inanimate, used as an object: “It was a nice friendly place…” Face – common noun, count, concrete, animate, used as an object: “…with a deadwhite face and a very…” There are some adverbs of special interest. Very – adverb of degree: “…a very red nose, and his costume was that…” Brightly – adverb of manner: “…then looked about her brightly” Anxiously – adverb of manner: “…peering anxiously through that mask…” There are some adjectives of special interest. Nice – adj. in a positive degree used as an attribute: “It was a nice friendly little place…” Little – adj. in a positive degree used as an attribute: “It was a nice friendly little place…” Cozy – adj. in a positive degree used as an attribute: “…Though the whole place was so cozy…” There are some pronouns of special interest. Themselves – intensive pronoun: “…they themselves, their creased and fading scenery…” They – personal pronoun used as a subject: “…they walked straight into the stalls…” He – personal pronoun used as a subject: “He made little jokes…” Him – object pronoun: “…Rose thought him quite funny…” Her – possessive pronoun: “…never taking her eyes off…” What concerns syntax the extract under analysis is characterized by the use of different types of sentences. Spoken type of speech: Simple: “The audience made a great deal of noise, especially in the balcony”, “One thing she noticed”, “Youth had fled from it”. Written type of speech: Compound sentences: “One turn was an eccentric fellow with a grotesque makeup, a deadwhite face and a very red nose, and his costume was that of a ragged tramp” Complex sentences: “But she said nothing to Mrs. Burlow, who was enjoying herself. And laughing and clapping as hard as anyone there, perhaps because she too was no longer young and was being entertained by people of her own age”.
10. As far as the text is devoted to the problem of theatres there are many words in the extract that help the author to enclose the theme. For example: Audience – the group of people together in one place to watch or listen to a play, film, someone speaking, etc.: “The audience made a great deal of noise…” Music-hall – a type of theatre entertainment in the 1800s and 1900s that included music, dancing, and jokes, or the building used for this entertainment: “When they arrived at the music-hall…” Stalls – the seats on the main floor of a theatre or cinema, not at a higher level: “…they walked straight into the stalls…” Scenery – the large painted pictures used on a theatre stage to represent the place where the action is: “…their creased and fading scenery…” Mask – a covering for all or part of the face that protects, hides, or decorates the person wearing it: “…peering anxiously through that mask”.
11. I believe that all the words in the extract are equally important but there are some that contribute more to the purport and are worth to be analyzed deeper. I’d like to proceed with the analysis of the word “wear”. to wear (wore, worn) 1.to have on one’s body as clothing, decoration, or protection: You should always wear blue: it matches your eyes. Syn. to have sth on to wear make-up – to have make-up on to wear scent – to put a pleasant-smelling liquid on one’s skin to wear a seat-belt – to have it around one’s body to wear sth to a party/ a dance/ an interview, etc. 2.to become thinner or weaker after continuous use: to wear well - to remain in good condition after a period of time to wear the trousers – to be the person in a family who makes the decisions to wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve – to show one’s true feelings openly

wear n – the clothes worn for a particular occasion or activity, or by particular group of people, as evening / casual / leisure / children’s / bridal, etc. wear

footwear n – things worn on one’s feet, such as shoes or boots underwear n – clothes worn next to one’s body under one’s other clothes attend

1. to be present at
2. to go regularly to (a school, church, etc):
3. (on/ upon) to help a customer in a shop or a restaurant; to serve

attendant n 1.someone whose job is to look after or help customer in a public place, as carpark / theatre attendant 2.an assistant to a VIP

attendance n

1. the action of attending: Attendance at school is compulsory.
2. service to dance attendance on sb - to do everything possible in order to please someone By Olenka Nod’