Object Description -2-

SEMINAR MATERIAL – 2 Grammar Issues:

-Articles
I. Henry James about Venetian works of art: -Relative Clauses
English in Use:
“The Venice of to-day is a vast museum where the little wicket that admits
-Collocations;
you is perpetually turning and creaking, and you march through the
-Adjectives
institution with a herd of fellow-gazers. There is nothing left to discover or
-Prepositions
describe, and originality of attitude is completely impossible. This is often
-Adverbs
very annoying; you can only turn your back on your impertinent playfellow
- Phrasal Verbs
and curse his want of delicacy. But this is not the fault of Venice; it is the
fault of the rest of the world. The fault of Venice is that, though she is easy  Letter Writing
to admire, she is not so easy to live with as you count living in other places.  Brochure
After you have stayed a week and the bloom of novelty has rubbed off you
wonder if you can accommodate yourself to the peculiar conditions. Your old habits become
impracticable and you find yourself obliged to form new ones of an undesirable and unprofitable
character. […] There are other painters who have but a single home, and the greatest of these is the
Tintoret. Close beside him sit Carpaccio and Bellini, who make with him the dazzling Venetian trio.
The Veronese may be seen and measured in other places; he is most splendid in Venice, but he shines
in Paris and in Dresden. You may walk out of the noon-day dusk of Trafalgar Square in November,
and in one of the chambers of the National Gallery see the family of Darius rustling and pleading and
weeping at the feet of Alexander. Alexander is a beautiful young Venetian in crimson pantaloons, and
the picture sends a glow into the cold London twilight.” (Excerpt from “Venice”, Italian Hours)

Paolo Veronese, 1565-1570. National Gallery in London

OBJECT DESCRIPTION (A PAINTING)

1. After having read the brief text below, students will describe the painting. In their
description they will be guided by a series of questions:
The story:
The painting features the mistake made by the family of Darius, who had been defeated in the Battle
of Issus, by identifying Alexander’s friend, Hephaestion, with him. Darius’ wife, mother, and
daughters were made Alexander’s prisoners, the story goes. The scene shows the mother of Darius

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curtseying to Hephaestion instead of Alexander, because she was misled by the former’s impressive
bearing. However, Alexander forgave her for this mistake.
Paolo Veronese displayed the figures along the surface of the canvas; they were sumptuously dressed
according to the period Italian fashion, except Alexander who wears a red armour of classical origin.

Factual reference:
Artist: Paolo Veronese
Artist dates: 1528 - 1588
Full title: The Family of Darius before Alexander
Medium and support: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 236.2 x 474.9 cm

Background & foreground:

-What kind of building is there in the background? a. a bridge; b. a theatre; c. a terrace
-What other buildings can you see? a. a well; b. a fountain; c. a statue.
-What kind of arches are there in the background building? a. square headed; b. round headed; c. ogee.
-What kind of columns can you see in the painting? a. Doric; b. Ionic; c. Corinthian
-Who do you think is the bearded man in a violet robe? a. Darius; b. Alexander; c. Veronese.
-Who do you think is the woman who kneels right in front and wearing a dark blue cloak? a. the
mother of Darius; b. Darius’s wife; c. Darius’ daughter.
-How did the painter employ the colours?

2. Here is another painting on the same subject. Draw a comparison of the two in terms of
setting, characters’ clothes, attitude.

Francesco Fontebasso, 1750. Dallas Museum of Art.

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ARTICLES

I 1. We do not use the when we talk about people or things in general:

Art is what I have always loved.
My friend adores cottages.
2. We normally use a/an for classifying:
Beth is an archeologist.
I used my little blue vase as an ashtray.

II A selection of rules
1. The means “we know which one(s)”
I’ve seen the Dean (you know which one)
A dean must know how to run a faculty (=any dean).
Have you submitted the projects? (you know which projects)
Can she draw up projects? (=in general)
2. Particular and general
There are some students in the patio (=particular students)
Students like rock music (=in general)
They are delivering the wood tomorrow (=particular wood)
Wood has nearly doubled in price. [Compare with the similar case in Romanian]

BUT: the + singular countable nouns to generalize:

Who invented the bulb?

III Articles with countable and uncountable nouns

1. Uncountable nouns treated as countable
Have you got a shampoo for greasy hair? (a bottle of shampoo)
When the meaning is particular rather than general, uncountable nouns can be used with a/an:
We need a student with a knowledge of Italian for this scholarship.
They’ve been a great help.
After having a good sleep, I could finish my essay.
BUT uncountable nouns like weather, progress cannot be used in this way:
We’ve had terrible weather for a week.
They’ve made very good progress lately.
She speaks very good French.

IV Details (The)
We use the definite article when we refer to something unique/unique in our environment like the
Government, the police, the moon, the star, the earth, the world, the unions, the railways, the
Japanese.
2. We use the definite article when we refer to the physical environment:
Do you prefer the town or the country?
I like the seaside in autumn and the mountains in spring.
Likewise: the fog, the future, the rain, the weather, the universe, the wind, the sunshine, the sun.
3. No article is used with nature, society, space.

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V Details (A/an)
1. We use a/an to talk about one particular person/thing when the listener does not know which one is
meant.
I’ve read a German book on medieval art.
My friend designed a very comfortable bungalow.
2. We use the indefinite article to refer to any number of a class:
An architect must know how to draw (any architect).
A table has four legs.

VI The difference between some/any and zero article.

1. The difference is not that great:
We need (some) wallpaper.
I didn’t buy (any) chairs.
2. There is a considerable difference:
Compare:
We’ve planted some cherry trees in the ochard (=a limited number).
I just adore cherry trees (= no idea of number).
We talked to some students yesterday (=a limited number).
Our neighbours’ sons are students (=the idea of classification, not number)
Is there any sugar in this house? (=a limited amount).
Is there sugar on Mars? (=idea of existence, not the amount)

VII General and particular

1. Compare:
Move the sideboard to the left (=particular sideboard).
Sideboards are no longer fashionable (=in general).
BUT
Most women enjoy soap operas (=the majority)
Most of the students got bored.
2. Half-general expressions use no articles:
Sixties music; eighteenth century architecture
BUT
The is used when the noun is followed by a limiting, defining phrase, especially one with of :
The music/architecture of the nineteenth century
The natives of New Zeeland.

VIII
1. Common expressions WITHOUT articles:
To/at school; in school (Am E); from school
To/at/from university/college (BE); to/in from college (Am E)
To/at/into/from church; to/in/into out of bed/prison/hospital
To/at sea; to/in/from town; at/from home
By day; at night/at dawn/at noon
By train/bus/tube/radio/mail; on foot
2. Double expressions
On land and sea; day after day; with hat and coat; arm in arm; husband and wife; from top to bottom;
inch by inch
BUT

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Articles are not dropped when single nouns follow prepositions:
They’ve got here without a car.
STOP READING! LET’S PRACTISE

1.Put a, an, the, 0 wherever necessary, according to context:

1. The window alcove measures exactly … metre across.

2. When you go to … London, don’t forget to visit … St. Paul’s, … Trafalgar Square, and …
Tate Gallery.
3. … famous soprano wanted to be married in … Italian palazzo.
4. My new Jaguar can reach 400 kilometers … hour.
5. … community succeeded to raise quite … large sum of money for … new school.
6. Many of us were attracted by … unknown, … mysterious, and … unexplained in the world.
7. During … World War I the Romanian army defeated the German army, although they were
poorly equipped.
8. … government doesn’t care much about … sick.
9. … Indian Ocean lies between … west coast of … Australia and … country from which it was
named: … India. EXCEPTIONS: THE HAGUE; THE UKRAINE
10. Do you know that … gold was discovered in … 1850s?
11. Valery always wanted to have … car as … teenager.
12. … villagers reported to have seen … huge bear … dusk.
13. Richard had to go to … hospital to have … x-ray.
14. She used to go to … church every Sunday, but not anymore now.
15. … chairman was put in … plush five-star hotel for … week.
16. Will is in … hardware shop buying … paint for his new house.
17. … Bermuda Triangle has received … notoriety because … number of vessels disappeared
there.
18. She’s been very neat; she cleans the house from … top to … bottom twice … week.
19. They met face to … face, and the old man punched his friend in …the face.
20. I didn’t believe she was … only person who wasn’t awarded the prize.

2. All articles were eliminated from the following text. Insert suitable articles in appropriate
places:
After royalists’ exile in Paris and Low Countries, especially Leiden, it was fashionable for aristocrats
to be interested in instruments, clocks, and experiments. Prince Rupert, who had been acclaimed as
genius at mathematics in his youth, was fascinated by mechanics, and his library was full of works on
anatomy, chemistry and physics. As well as Moray and Brouncker, early courtier members of society
included Pepy’s boss, Lord Sandwich, Sir Alexander Bruce and Sir Paul Neile. In October 1660
Charles himself spent evening at Gresham, ‘where he was entertained with admirable long Tube, with
which he viewed heavens, to his very great satisfaction, insomuch that he commanded Sr P Neile to
cause like to be made’. [The texts from exercise 1 & 2 have been selected from A Gambling Man, by
Jenny Uglow, Faber and Faber, 2009]

3. Some of the articles have been misplaced. Correct the text:

Surviving buildings of Etruria are not numerous, but Etruscan design is important for a part it played
in an evolution of Roman architecture. Buildings were mostly of wood, clay, rubble, and terracotta,
stone being reserved for the temple-bases, fortifications, and tombs. A finest surviving Etruscan

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architecture consists of city walls and rock-cut tombs. The few arched town-gateways still stand.
[Adapted from Oxford Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture].

COLLOCATIONS

1.Fill in the collocational grid:

secretary medication system cure insect

repellent
effective x x x x
efficient x x
efficacious x x x
defective x x

Effective = produce a result even if it takes some unnecessary resources to do so (successful)

Efficient = produce a result in a quick/simple way using as little material, time, resources as possible
(fast and easier)
Efficacious = capable of or successful in producing an intended result

2.Fill in comfortable, convenient:

1…. time - convenient
2…. bed - comfortable
3….position – comfortable position
4….place – convenient place
5….excuse – convenient excuse
6….supermarket – convenient supermarket
7…. life – comfortable
8. …bus stop – convenient bus stop
9…. room – comfortable room

3.Fill in clean, clear:

clean hands
clear sky
clean sheets
clean/clear air
clear weather
clean wound
clear day
clear knife
clear voice
clean lines
 Clean – the clean line of a room, painting, furniture (straight surfaces)

2. Glasgow School of Art

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a. The Glasgow School of Art, which was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, also houses
many of his designs. He was a Scottish art nouveau architect who designed the interiors, furniture
and fabrics for many of his buildings. The Glasgow School of Art, which was built in 1897-1909,
shows his preference for black-and-white colour schemes. He is remembered for his high-backed
chairs – some were made about 5 ft. tall; but in their surroundings Mackintosh designs do not look
incongruous.

b. Philip Wilson Steer (1860-1942) was born in Birkenhead, into an artistic family. His father, after
whom he was named, was a local portraitist, and he encouraged his son in the art of drawing and
painting. After attending Gloucester Art School, in 1882 Steer went to study in Paris, where he would
remain for two years, until the introduction of a French language exam at École des Beaux-Arts.
However, his visits to France, including Brittany, continued until the early 1890s. Back in London,
along with Walter Sickert, Henry Tonks and Fred Brown, Steer represented the ‘Impressionist’ clique
of the New English Art Club, of which he was a founder member in 1886.

Boulogne Sands is one of a series of paintings completed in the late 1880s to early 1890s that were
remarkably vivid and luminous.
c. Discuss and define the underlined sentences.

d. Describe the painting by using as many sentences as those underlined.

RELATIVE CLAUSES (A SYNOPSIS)

DEFINITION - Clauses beginning with question words (who, which, where) often modify nouns
and some pronouns – to identify people, things, or to provide more information about them.

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  Study these further examples:
Have you ever met the students who work in the studio on the second floor?
Those who haven’t signed up for the course should do it by the end of the week.
There is a programme on this afternoon which you might like.
He’s got a job in an architectural office, where they don’t work long hours.
I’ve recommended a book that you might find in the faculty library.

 The relative pronouns can be subjects or objects of the verb.

What’s the name of the tall man who said hello?
It’s a novel which will captivate my students.
Here are the keys that open the gates to the garden.
He is married to somebody who(m) I really never liked.
I gave him a drawing board, which he stored in a closet.
Which referring to a whole clause:
(Note: what, that, how cannot be used in this context)
He failed the exam again, which came as a big surprise.
He walked all the way from London to Edinburgh, which is very difficult for a man of 85.

Identifying and non-identifying Relative Clauses

 Some relative clauses identify or classify nouns. They are also called “defining” or
“restrictive” clauses.

People who drink much water might live ten years longer.
Dublin is a city I’ve visited several times.
 Other relative clauses do not identify or classify but add instead more information
about the subject or object. They are also called “non-identifying” or “non-
restrictive” relative clauses.

This is Mr. Jones, whose daughter is a graphic designer.

In 2007 Opel produced a new car, which sold out quickly.

Pronunciation and punctuation:

IRC – are not separated by a break or pause in pronunciation or comma in writing.
NRC – are normally separated by a pause in intonation and commas in writing.
Compare:
The woman who does my hair has moved to another hairdresser’s.
Mary, who does my hair, has moved ……
THAT is not used in a NRC.

STOP READING! LET’S PRACTISE

Add commas only where needed:

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1. Not all writers who become famous have spent years studying.

2. Lavinia Johnson who was also known as Mama Johnson is considered the most important figure in
our city.

3. Mama Johnson who started writing when she was seventy-six never had a literature lesson.

4. Her realistic and simple sketches depicting Midwestern life have been praised by critics and readers
alike.

5. These colorful stories which are called “primitives” are based on her early life in rural Midwest.

6. She began to write at a time when she could no longer walk.

7. This energetic woman who lived to be 100 continued to create works of wonder and charm until
shortly before her death.

8. Mama Johnson who wrote without any formal training remains one of the most famous primitive
writers in our country.

2. Read the following passage and punctuate and capitalize it correctly. Underline the relative
clauses. Set off the non-restrictive clauses with commas.

Matisse was a French artist who was born in the 1900s he was a lawyer by training and started
painting as a hobby Matisse was the best known of a group of artists whom critics at one of their
exhibits labeled “Fauves” or “wild beasts” Matisse simplified his subjects and chose vivid colors that
were not necessarily true to nature besides being famous for his paintings Matisse was well known for
several other forms of art: sculpture book illustrations and tapestry design.

3. Fill in the blanks with appropriate Relative words and make changes, if necessary.

The Japanese wanted a new and spectacular hotel to replace the antiquated Imperial … the Germans
had designed for them in the last century, a structure … would symbolize Japan’s ascent to the
forefront of modern nations, and he was going to give it to them – a building … would be the glory of
all Japan and stand proudly a hundred years and more even if the city around it was shivered to dust.

4. Emphasize the following sentences:

E.g.

a). The surveyor sacked him. It was the surveyor that sacked him.

b). I need your advice, not your money. It is your advice (that) I need, not your money.

c). It gets really hot only in late July. It's only in late July that gets really hot.

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 1. I need a good rest now, not your comforting words.

2. His employee criticized him bitterly for his arrogance.

3. That will only find an escape in drawing landscapes.

4. John Silva dropped by later in the evening.

5. Famous people often have a skeleton in the cupboard.

e. Adjectives & Adverbs (more practice)

Choose the correct word from brackets:

E.g. Many students are (incapable, unable) of writing a letter of application. Many students are
incapable of writing a letter of application.

1. There has been a (regrettable, regretful) misunderstanding.

2. When Jill graduates, she'll get a job in an architect's (practise, practice).

3. Some say that the requirements of the course are (unreasonable, irrational).

4. I usually buy office supplies from the corner (stationary, stationery).

5. Susan found it difficult to (say, tell) the difference between a cone and a pyramid.

6. They bought a painting which proved to be (invaluable, worthless).

7. Every morning I walk (past, passed) an expensive clothes store.

8. The Himalayas are (famous, notorious) for their unreachable peaks.

9. Some architects are quite (sensitive, sensible) to criticism.

10. If you really want to join this team, then you have to prove your substantial (experience,
experiences).

11. Romania (consists, comprises) of three main lands.

12. All teachers speak (aloud, loudly).

f. Adverbs and Prepositions; Phrasal Verbs

1.Fill in one of the prepositions or adverbs below, then give a synonym for each phrasal verb:

beneath; off; up to; in for; in with; down on; out; on; down with; into.
1. Susan gets all the perks because she is … the administration. 1
2. She feels it is … her to socialize with uneducated people. 2

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 3. As a vegetarian, Paul is … people who eat meat. 3
4. He’ll be … it when his parents discover he took the money. 4
5. Half the staff are … the flu this week.5
6. She doesn’t eat crisps or chocolate; she’s … health food. 6
7. Our dog has been … its food for days now.7
8. Do you know what’s … at the cinema tonight?8
9. I don’t know what he’s been …, but he looks very embarrassed. 9
10. The roses have been … for a few days now. 10

(Adapted from CPE. Use of English by Virginia Evans)

2.Read the following list of phrasal verbs and then fill in the correct preposition or adverb in the
exercise below:
act on = do whatever is advised/suggested
act up (inf.) = behave awkwardly or badly/not work properly
answer (sb.) back (inf.) = respond rudely to sb.
answer for = be responsible for sth. /pay for/vouch for
answer to = be under the command of sb./have the characteristics described
back down = cease to oppose or demand
back out (of) = withdraw (from)
back up = support/confirm
bear on = be relevant to/affect
bear with = be patient

1.The Minister’s statement has no bearing … this case.

2. The PM said that he would speak to his advisors and then act … their advice.
3. You can’t change your mind now. It’s too late to back … the deal.
4. The plant manager answers directly … the head of the company.
5. I was prepared to back … her story because I knew it was the truth.
6. The baby has been acting … all day. I think she must be teething.
7. Faced with such formidable opposition to his proposal, he had no choice but to back ….
8. I was always in trouble for answering … when I was at school.
9. If you can bear … me a little longer, I’ll try to explain the reasons behind our actions.
10. The accused will answer … his actions in the highest court in the land.

(Adapted from CPE. Use of English by Virginia Evans)

LETTER WRITING

You are going to read two types of letters: academic cover letter and letter to the editor. Both
samples have been selected from reliable sources, which will be mentioned at the bottom of these
texts. After reading them, you will be asked to:
a. Discuss the underlined words/phrases from both texts;
b. Discuss the differences between the two texts;
c. Discuss the similarities between the two texts;
d. Establish some rules that apply in such letters.

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 A. Motivational/ Cover Letter

Sample Motivation/Cover Letter

Task 9 Read this authentic letter and correct the grammar, lexical and register errors.
Grammar mistakes are in yellow; lexical and/or register mistakes in grey. Replace the
words/phrases in grey in the text with these: obtain acquire become prospective with
over valued

Name
Address
Prague, Czech Republic
Postal Code
Email
Telephone

Dear Sir/Madame:

I am writing to apply for the Erasmus student exchange programme at you University. I
would like to spend next semester of my study programme at the University of Porto in
Portugal. Currently, I am _____ student of Charles University in Prague, at the Department of
Environmental Studies.
I would appreciate the opportunity of participate in the Erasmus programme, because it will
be meaningful for me personally and for my perspective career. Firstly, it would be an
efficient and successfully method of improve my English and academic skills. I have been
learning English as my first foreign language since_____ age of seven, and I believe that this
experience at your university would improve my knowledge, because I would get a chance to
communicate in an academic environment. Moreover, I would welcome the opportunity to
enhance my research experience at your facilities, since your university has a great reputation
in this field.
I would like to emphasize that I am eager to benefit from this programme, as I would get to
know Erasmus students from all _____ Europe, exchanging practical experience. I believe
that _____ Erasmus programme is _____ excellent opportunity to meet various people, spend
quality time with them and learn about their customs, attitudes, lifestyle, etc. Furthermore,
living, studying and socializing within international scholars would broaden my horizons and
enable me to build _____ strong social network with people throughout Europe.
Studying at your university, I would have a chance to compare the Portuguese higher
education system and _____ Czech one. If I will be accepted, I will use this comparison to
promote the Portuguese educational system not only in my homeland, but in the whole of

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_____ EU.
The reasons for choosing your university:
- to learn another foreign language, and get familiar with Portuguese culture and customs;
- to get practice in modern facilities and work in a different environment from that of
Charles University;
- to enhance my chances of finding better employment, as I would get a truly multi-cultural
experience, highly valuated nowadays among employers.
I would be very grateful if you consider my application and give me a chance to participate in
the Erasmus programme at your university, enhancing my future professional and personal
development.
Thank you very much for your consideration.
Yours faithfully,
Adapted from: http://motivationalletter.com/motivation-letterfor-erasmus/

B. Letter to the Editor

1.The trivial nature of the complaints against the National Trust obscures more serious concerns. The
NT has adopted the signature message “for ever, for everyone”, but this does not apply to its libraries.
The NT has one of the country’s largest collections of old and rare books and complete libraries, but
the average visitor does not have any access to these. Visitors often cannot get near enough to see the
book titles. The books are just there for decoration, locked away, never to be used or consulted.
Although the libraries are being catalogued and conserved, there does not appear to be any NT policy
for displaying the contents for visitors or making any educational use of these vast and interesting
collections.

Malyn Newitt
Lockerley, Hampshire
(“The Guardian”, August 2017)

2. Rather than worrying about rainbow badges to indicate anti-homophobia or avoidance of the word
“Easter” in their publicity (The National Trust has become an easy target in the culture wars, G2,
9 August), the National Trust would do better to pay more attention to the accessibility of their paths.

Anyone who has pushed a wheelchair through the deep gravel so beloved of NT country house
gardens will know what I mean – it is almost impossible.

A binding resin, or a double run of stone-flagging, the width of the wheels, would blend
sympathetically with the surroundings and solve the problem immediately. As Sir Simon Jenkins
could confirm, I have written to the Trust three times over the past few years, asking for a fundraising
campaign to be considered, to begin a rolling programme of such improvements.

I also offered starter money to begin the fund. I received bland assurances in reply and precisely no
action.

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Anne Ayres
Huthwaite, Nottinghamshire

LET’S PRACTISE!

1.Consider again the academic cover letter and adjust it to your own goal of writing your own cover
letter to accompany a resume you are going to send to a British/American university in order to obtain
a scholarship.

2.Read the following article from “The Guardian” and write a letter to the editor about it.

Ugly or not, our buildings shouldn't face trial by TV

By Deyan Sudjic

Gateshead's brutalist concrete high rise car park, now a urine-stained hulk, but once the
unacknowledged star of Get Carter, the sharpest British gangster film ever made, has become
something of a litmus test for architectural taste. It serves to provide a precise definition of the shifting
borderline that divides eyesore from heritage. For my money, the film's best moment comes
immediately after Michael Caine has hurled a local Geordie crime boss off the top floor. Two
architects, whose presentation of a design for a new restaurant to the crime boss has been terminated
by Caine's eruption, turn to each other. 'You know, something tells me we are going to have trouble
getting our fees on this job', says one meditatively.

It's brilliant cinema, and succeeds in capturing the brittle glamour of a very particular moment in the
modernisation of an English provincial city in the Sixties. But it doesn't make me want to join the
campaign to save the structure. Nor does it make me want to vote for its celebratory dynamiting, so
tastelessly promised by the makers of Channel 4's four-part series, Demolition, an architectural lynch
mob, heading our way this autumn.

'Is there a building you really hate, one that makes your life a misery?' asks Demolition's website,
inviting the punters to nominate contenders. 'Now Channel 4 has a solution - the winner will be
demolished at the end of the series.' Ask a ridiculous question, and don't be surprised when you get a
ridiculous answer. Like some ritualised annual reenactment of a civil war battle, one faction of
Gateshead worthies have denounced the car park as a blot on the landscape, while an equally
vociferous band of concrete obsessives say exactly the opposite.

It's a futile exercise. But those who live by the soundbite die by the soundbite. Or, in the case of
George Ferguson - outgoing president of the Royal Institute of British Architects who inspired the
making of the series with a suggestion last year for the introduction of 'X Listing' to encourage
developers to pull down bad buildings - find themselves hung out to dry. According to Ferguson, 'The

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series aims to kick start a national debate, about the built environment, about architecture, and how
bad buildings come to be built.'

How can you seriously argue that, when heading the list of 'vile' buildings scheduled for consideration
by the demolition jury, is the new Scottish parliament? The same parliament, designed by the late
Enric Miralles, that is currently hot favourite to win this year's Stirling Prize as the best building in
Britain. Whose life is going to be made better if the Scottish parliament is demolished? And how do
Channel 4 think that they are going to demolish it anyway, should it win?

Of the buildings named so far as contenders for demolition, the parliament is just about the only one
that qualifies as architecture at all. Most are wretched, cowering down-at-heel misfits free of any
aesthetic ambitions. To put Northampton's bus station or the rotting Sixties office block behind
London's old county hall out of its misery is like shooting fish in a barrel, and says just as little about
the nature of architecture.

'Vile buildings are an affront to our senses, Demolition is about planning for a better future. This is
very much a positive proposal about repairing damaged places,' says Ferguson. John Prescott, who has
also been labouring under the delusion that demolition is a quick-fix solution, would say very much
the same thing about the Pathfinder Project, his throwback to the scorched earth planning policies of
the Sixties. He is threatening to demolish hundreds of thousands of basic but habitable homes across
the north of England in the name of urban renewal.

The word is that the Department of Culture Media and Sport was so thrilled by the TV series
Restoration, in which the punters were invited to vote for their favourite pile of crumbling stone and
win the cash to fix it, that ministers have been busy trying to convert the heritage lottery fund to work
in the same way. The idea is that the nation gets to vote on TV say, between Stonehenge's new visitor
centre and the rebuilding of the Hayward Gallery. Let’s hope that the glaring flaws of Demolition will
persuade them to change their minds and decide that the bread and circuses approach may work as
entertainment, but not as an instrument of policy making. (“The Observer”, August 2005)

15
BROCHURE WRITING

Consider the following example of a leaflet and define this kind of publication.

CHESTER BEATTY
Library, Dublin
The Chester Beatty
Library opens a
window on the artistic
treasures of the great
cultures and religions
of the world. Its rich
collection of
manuscripts, prints,
icons, miniature
paintings, early printed
books and objets d’art
from countries across
Asia, the Middle East,
North Africa and
Europe offers visitors a
visual feast – all the
result of the collecting
activities of one man.

Admission Free
Dublin Castle, Dublin
2
Tele: 353(0) 1 407050

 WRITING CHECKLIST [To be discussed with your colleagues]

 Who am I writing to?

 What is the best style to write in?

16
 How will the targeted reader react after reading it?

I Suppose you are writing a leaflet/brochure for the James Joyce Museum, Dublin. Proofread
the text before printing it:

The Museum
The Exhibition Hall contain most of the museum’s exhibits, including a plaster bust of Joyce by
Milton Hebald. Around the walls are pictures inspired by Joyce and his works and photographs of
Joyce, his family and friends.
First editions of most of Joyce’s work are displayed, including the
original Ulysses published by Shakespeare and Company in 1922,
and a deluxe Ulysses illustrated by Matisse. A page of the original
manuscript of Finnegans Wake is also on show.

The tall case in the gunpowder magazine should contain some of

Joyce’s personal possessions including a hunting waistcoat
embroidered by his grandmother, his guitar and a tie he gave to
Samuel Beckett. Also in the gunpowder magazine is one of two
plaster death masks of Joyce, made by the sculptor Paul Speck in
the day of Joyce’s death on 1941. A bronze cast of this death mask
is on display also.

II. As you might have noticed, the main writing device is enumeration. Certain
leaflets/brochures appeal to chronology. Having said that, set the following
paragraphs and the words within paragraphs in a logical order:

B
A
Less well known is the special
During the years that he spent at
relationship that Samuel Beckett
Trinity College, the Gallery became
had with the Gallery. During the
one of Beckett’s favourite haunts.
first decades of the twentieth
Born in Foxrock Co. Dublin in 1906,
century the authors James
Beckett is celebrated as one of the
Stephens and Brinsley McNamara
foremost writers and dramatists of
were on the Gallery staff and the
the twentieth century. As this
poet W. B. Yeats served on the
exhibition reveals, the Gallery and its
Board of Governors and
collection had a profound effect on
Guardians. Since its foundation in
his formation as an art lover, thinker
1854, the National Gallery of
and writer.
Ireland has had an exceptional
relationship with writers and
dramatists. In 1944, George
C Bernard Shaw, who was to
Following his move to Paris in 1937, become one of the Gallery’s main
Beckett increasingly associated with benefactors, explained that he
painters and others involved in the owed to the National Gallery, ‘the
visual arts and these encounters not only real education I ever got as a
only enriched his personal life, but boy in Eire’.
also informed his work as a writer
and dramatist. Beckett’s artistic
universe is frequently redolent of
influences from the visual arts.
Whiling away many hours among the
Old Masters, he nurtured an
appreciation of the visual arts, which
later encouraged him to explore
collections in London, Germany and 17
Paris.
III Suppose you are working on a project meant to enhance the Architecture Museum from ‘Ion
Mincu’ University. The opening is going to take place soon. Write a brochure for this event.

1 With a partner go through the Writing Checklist and discuss the questions.
2 Compare your ideas with another pair and make a draft of the brochure.
3 Proofread the text.

HERE IS A POSSIBLE PLAN FOR A BROCHURE (no more than 2 pages of text +
illustrations)

 Where is the museum located (a map would be appropriate)?

 When was it set up?
 What does it contain?
 Whose architects do the artefacts belong to?
 Exemplify some artefacts and comment on them providing the provenance and, if the case,
their state.
 Invite visitors by providing the opening hours and ticket price.

Tips
 Insert photos (plus caption)
 Create an attractive cover
 Use colours to highlight various information
 Use also the information provided by the university site

18
NOTES

19
1
In with
2
beneath
3
down on
4
in for
5
down with
6
into
7
off
8
on
9
up to
10
out