Essay about "A humble people"
A2 A Humble People Victoria Schöffel
1. Comprehension
a) List the positive and the negative things Bingham says about the British.
In the text are positive and negative things said about the British. Bingham is of the opinion that the positive things about British are that they are imaginative and original, permissive and that they are at least not French. But he also believes that there are many bad things too. Firstly, he mentions that there are problems in society. Secondly he says that there is a lack in education. Additionally the managers and politicians combine worse attributes like greedy, incompetent and sleazy. And finally other bad things about British is according to Bingham that they hate their weather, the public services extremely bad, the house prices are very high, the roads jammed, the football team not so good and that they drink to much.
b) How does the author view multiculturalism in Britain today? Describe how, according to him, multiculturalism was different in the past.
The author’s view is that multiculturalism in Britain today causes less difficulties than in the past. He mentions that some people say that multiculturalism causes problems because of ‘racial and religious tensions’ (l.27-28) but he is convinced that this won’t be a new challenge if it exists. According to him, multiculturalism in the past was always combined with bad manners like ‘a sword in the belly’ (l.31) in the age of the Vikings or ‘bonfires, stakes and heretics’ (l.32) in the sixteenth century.
2. Analysis
Examine the style of the text - think about *tone and *irony. Describe the effect on the reader.
The author makes use of formal language but also incorporates colloquial elements. He is distinguished by his eloquence. Combining an elevated style with colloquial language gives a comic effect. The text varies in the use of simple and complex sentence construction. The text is written in an ironic style and contains many
1. Comprehension
a) List the positive and the negative things Bingham says about the British.
In the text are positive and negative things said about the British. Bingham is of the opinion that the positive things about British are that they are imaginative and original, permissive and that they are at least not French. But he also believes that there are many bad things too. Firstly, he mentions that there are problems in society. Secondly he says that there is a lack in education. Additionally the managers and politicians combine worse attributes like greedy, incompetent and sleazy. And finally other bad things about British is according to Bingham that they hate their weather, the public services extremely bad, the house prices are very high, the roads jammed, the football team not so good and that they drink to much.
b) How does the author view multiculturalism in Britain today? Describe how, according to him, multiculturalism was different in the past.
The author’s view is that multiculturalism in Britain today causes less difficulties than in the past. He mentions that some people say that multiculturalism causes problems because of ‘racial and religious tensions’ (l.27-28) but he is convinced that this won’t be a new challenge if it exists. According to him, multiculturalism in the past was always combined with bad manners like ‘a sword in the belly’ (l.31) in the age of the Vikings or ‘bonfires, stakes and heretics’ (l.32) in the sixteenth century.
2. Analysis
Examine the style of the text - think about *tone and *irony. Describe the effect on the reader.
The author makes use of formal language but also incorporates colloquial elements. He is distinguished by his eloquence. Combining an elevated style with colloquial language gives a comic effect. The text varies in the use of simple and complex sentence construction. The text is written in an ironic style and contains many