1959), the first volume of his autobiography, Lee had been known mainly for his poetry and had worked as a scriptwriter for documentaries.Abandoned by his father when he was three, Lee was educated at the local village school and at Stroud, leaving when he was fifteen. In 1934, he went to London to seek his fortune and then continued on to Spain. There he traveled on foot, playing his fiddle to earn his keep, before being caught up later in the Spanish Civil War. These youthful adventures provided the material for his celebrated autobiographical trilogy. Returning to London, he worked for the Ministry of Information during World War Two. Lee's poems are generally about the English countryside and proved only reasonably successful. Cider with Rosie, on the other hand, was an immediate best-seller, reaching a wide public with its images of village life from a bygone era of innocence and simplicity. Its success was such that Lee could buy his childhood home, where he died. He was buried in the local churchyard. His other noted works are As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning (1969) and I Can't Stay Long (1975). 

IV. Rhetorical focus 

	Exposition through definition

	Definition as a device to explain abstract concepts such as “friendship”, “love”, “beauty”;
	Common formula of definition:

 things to be defined + is + genre word + characteristic

Examples:

A school is an institution where children are educated.
Steel is an alloy that is produced from iron and carbon.
An encyclopedia is a book that gives information on subjects in alphabetical order.
An engineer is a person who designs machines, building or public works.

Extended definitions (for abstract, controversial, ambiguous concepts/notions )

To define more specifically in order to be more precise or to give more information about the subject.

e.g. Sociology is a branch of science which studies the development and principles of social organization. It is concerned with group behavior as distinct from the behavior of individuals in the group.

	Ways to extend definition:

Give descriptive details;
Exemplify and narrate, i.e. to give examples of instances in which the definition would be appropriate.
Compare; or contrast;
e.g. What is an egoist? An egoist is like a miser, keeping love and admiration, instead of money, all for himself..Both the egoist and the miser are lonely, insecure and neurotic.

V. Language points

edge: n. (as a personal attribute) keenness, as of desire or enjoyment; zest; excitement, esp. as an element in an otherwise routine situation;
-
-- to have an edge on / over somebody: 
		to have a slight advantage over somebody
 e.g. -I have an edge over him in the election: I’m more likely to win the election.

-- There is an edge to somebody’s voice: He sounds angry or bitter.
-- be on edge: tense, nervous;

to bite into the world: 1) (lit) to put one’s teeth into; 
 e.g. People with false teeth find it difficult to bite into apples.

2) (fig) to damage on the surface; e.g.
-- Acid bites into metals.

3) (in the text) with literal meaning, but usedmetaphorically

multitude: n. a very great number; the masses; the populace;
e.g. like the stars in multitude
the concerns of the multitude.
multitudinous: adj. very numerous; existing in great numbers; crowded;

wanting: adj. , prep.

	1) absent; lacking;
e.g. a letter wanting a stamp

2) not measuring up to standards or expectations;
 e.g. He judged the statistics and found it wanting.

3) (in the text) having desire for something;

c.f. a want of something: a lack of something; e.g.
-- They had to confess their complete want of foresight.

orgy: n. uncontrolled or immoderate indulgence in an activity; wild drunken festivity;
e.g. an orgy of spending.
	orgiastic: adj. of or resembling an orgy;

pitch: n. 1) point, level, degree (of excitement, anger, etc.)
2) The pitch of a sound is its degree of highness or lowness, e.g. 

	-- Her voice dropped to a low pitch.
	-- Her frustration mounted to such a pitch of anger that she could no longer 		keep silent.
	--Excitement about the wedding is now at fever pitch.

imperceptible: adj. incapable of being perceived by the senses and intellect; so subtle, slight, or gradual as to be barely perceptible; e.g 

-- an imperceptible drop in temperature
c.f. perceive, perceivable, perceptible


gross: adj., n. 1) exclusive of deductions; total; e.g. 
	-- gross profits 
		--gross interest / earnings
		
		2) unmitigated in any way; utter; e.g. 
			-- gross incompetence 

		3) glaringly obvious; flagrant; e.g.
	-- gross inequalities in wealth power and privilege
	-- gross negligence

		4) brutishly coarse, as in behavior; crude; offensive; disgusting; e.g. 
	-- gross language 
	
		5) large and ugly; e,g, 
	-- gross architecture 

		6) big or bad; 
	-- gross mistake

be at its most flawlessly perfect: at best;
flawless: adj. being entirely without flaw or imperfection; perfect; having no flaw; e.g. 
-- This policy is flawless.
-- Her complexion is flawless.
-- People expect a beautiful woman to be flawless while a handsome man is allowed to have some flaws in his features.
flawed: adj. e.g.
We are all flawed in some way. ( i.e. No one is infallible.)
This is a flawed argument.

bludgeon: v. (fml)
		1) to bludgeon somebody is to hit somebody several times with a heavy object;
2) to bludgeon somebody into doing something is to make somebody do something by bullying or threatening.
3) (in text) (lit) to hit or knock it so hard that it loses consciousness;
(fig) to destroy it by over indulgence;

for that matter: 
	1) to emphasize that a statement you’ve made about one thing is also true about another.
	2) (in text) because of this reason;

blow-out: n. large meal;
  blow out: v. to fill something / somebody with air or food; e.g.
-- The child blew the paper bag out and then burst it. 
-- I feel blown out after that heavy meal.

anticipate: v. realize in advance that something may happen and be prepared for it; e.g. 
The secretary had anticipated the question.
She had often pleasurably anticipated the moment when she would hand in her resignation.

fasting: n. (lit) going without (certain kind of) food, esp. for religious reasons;
 (extended) temporary denial of pleasure;

homage: n. respect; honor; e.g. 
pay homage to something / somebody
The young soldiers gathered to pay homage to the new heroes.
Every day there are visitors from all over the world who come to the Stratford upon Avon to pay homage to Shakespeare.

regularly: adv. according to a definite arrangement or plan (e.g. once each week or each day); e.g. 
You need to take regularly exercises.
The members meet regularly in one another’s homes.

on top: 
	1) something happens on top of other things means it happens in addition to other things; e.g. 
		-- You don’t want to give the poor man ulcers (troubles) on top of all the problems he’s already got.

	2) If you are on top of what you are doing, you are dealing with it successfully; e,g, 
-- There are the jobs that we never really got on top of.

3) If something gets on top of you, it makes you feel depressed because you cannot cope with it. e.g. 
-- find the house work is getting on top of me.

gorge: v. to stuff with food; glut;
to gorge or gorge oneself: If you eat very greedily until you’re so full that you cannot eat any more.
e.g. They gorge themselves on rich food.
gorgeous: adj. dazzlingly beautiful or magnificent; extremely enjoyable;
e.g. wore a gorgeous Victorian gown.
gorgeous weather

to come into one’s own: 
	1) receive one’s due;, to achieve recognition: e.g. 
-- In the 1980s, those veterans who were persecuted during the Culture Revolution eventually came into their own.

 c.f. on one’s own: alone;
of one’s own: belonging to oneself alone; e.g. 
We want to write a book on our own.
She has troubles of her own.
This type of glass has a color and character all of its own.

serve up: to provide (usu. a meal);e.g. 
It is time to serve up a main course.
Are you ready to serve up? Everyone’s at table.

impotent: adj. lacking physical strength or vigor; weak; powerless; lacking all strength; helpless; e.g. 
	-- The city government seems impotent in dealing with the rising crime rate.
c.f. impotence: n. (antonym of effectiveness), e.g. 
	-- The cut back in funds will leave this project in a state of impotence. 

divinity: n. 1) quality of being divine; 2) the study of the Christian religion;
e.g. a doctor of divinity
 a degree in divinity
divine: adj. holy; belonging to God; e.g. 
He is said to have been operating under divine inspiration.
Nancy made the most divine chocolate cake we had ever tasted. (i.e. more than humanly excellent)

blunt: v. (antonym of sharpen) If something blunts an emotion or feeling, it weakens it, e.g. 
-- His personality was blunted a great deal during the Cultural Revolution.

bliss: n. extreme happiness; ecstasy; the ecstasy of salvation; spiritual joy; e.g.
the road to eternal bliss
What bliss to be going on holiday!

parched: adj. 
	1) (of ground or plant) very dry; e.g. 
			-- the parched plain of India

(of mouth, throat, or lips) unpleasantly dry; e.g. 
She touched her wet fingertips to her parched lips.
Give me a drink. I’m parched.

Word study 
1. squeal, squeak, screech, sanctified

squeal: to make long, high-pitched sounds; e.g. 
The boys scattered, squealing in horror.
There was a squeal of brakes.

squeak: short, high-pitched sounds; e.g.
A door squeaked open.
As the dusk deepened, small black bats began squeaking.
She let out a squeak.

screech: to make an unpleasant, high-pitched cry; e.g. 
“You’ll be sorry if you did that.”, she screeched.
The parrot gave a loud screech.

2. ring off, ring round, ring up, ring back

ring off: (BrE.) to end a telephone conversation by putting the receiver down.
Don’t ring off. I haven’t finished my story.

ring round: to make telephone calls several to different places such as shops, e.g. 
It’s a good thing to ring round to find the best price.

ring up: to make a telephone call;e.g. 
Have you rung up your mother recently?
How many people have rung up while I’ve been out?

ring back: to return a telephone call;e.g. 
I’ll find out the address and ring you back.

2. quell, quench, quash

quell:1)To quell opposition or violent behavior means to put an end to it, using persuasion or force, e.g.
		-- The police had been called in to quell a minor disturbance.

 2) To quell unpleasant feelings (fear / grief) means you stop yourself having these feelings;	e.g. 
-- I was trying to quell a growing unease.

quench: satisfy (thirst) by drink; e.g. 
When you are thirsty, you can quench your thirst by having a drink.
to quench a fire;
to quench a heated thing;

quash: If somebody in authority quashes a decision or judgment, they officially reject it and make it no longer legally valid. e.g. 
Their imprison sentences were quashed on appeal.

time after time: time and time again; e.g. 
She has threatened time after time to leave him.

sanctified: consecrated; purified; free from sin;

VI. Difficult sentences (paraphrase) 

“the whole toffeeness of coffees was imperceptibly diminished by the gross act of having eaten it”: Once the toffee is eaten, the appeal of the long-coveted sweet decreases. The whole attraction of the toffee is gone without your noticing it when you’ve actually eaten it.
 -- toffees: referring to sweets in a concrete sense;
 -- toffeeness: symboling the appeal or attraction that toffees hold for a child

“One of the keenest pleasures of appetite remains in the wanting, not the satisfaction.” 
	-- “in the wanting”: i.e. The state of longing for something that you have not got or achieved is more desirable than the contentment with what you have achieved.

“The object of desire is always at its most flawlessly perfect.”: 
	-- By implication, once you’ve got what you long to have, the object you desire for would no longer seem so perfect. 

“Which is why /I would carry the preservation of appetite to the extent of deliberate fasting .. overdoing it.”: 
That is why I would deliberately deny myself of food so as to maintain the keen interest in the thing I long for, because I believe appetite is so wonderful that we should not lose it too soon, it is so valuable that we should not overindulge in it. Otherwise we would ru