CXC ENGLISH

Hello there! During these long holidays we’ve been looking at the short stories on the English B syllabus. We’ve almost finished now, and you are getting ready to go back to school. There’s still time for you to do some reading, so why not get those short stories out and just enjoy them? Try your hand at the English A-type challenges we’ve put for you on your CXC page today. Read on, and enjoy!

ENGLISH B--SHORT STORIES

Time to look at one of my favourites: Mom Luby and the Social Worker. The title gives you a big hint that the story will compare these two women: Mom Luby, who takes needy children into her home and mothers them to the best of her ability, and the social worker, who is employed by the Government to take care of children in need, but who is so tangled up in red tape (bureaucratic procedures) that she actually does nothing at all to help, although she is quick to criticize Mom Luby’s contribution to their welfare.

The narrator, Elijah, starts off by letting us know that he and his sister ‘Puddin’ (Arlethia) are both very happy to be at Mom Luby’s now that their mother has died. The child narrator innocently tells us all about Mom Luby, including the fact that she lies about her relationship with the children when she applies for welfare money, and that she has quite a business selling illegal alcoholic corn wine—and even counts the local police among her customers!

It is through Elijah’s eyes that we see how cold and unfriendly the people are the Welfare Office are, and it is through his eyes that we see how friendly Mom Luby’s customers are, and how hard Mom Luby works in the community, for Mom Luby is nurse and midwife, lawyer and pastor.

Mom Luby only approaches the state-run Welfare Division in order to assist with getting school clothes for the children, but when Ms Rushmore visits the little speakeasy that Mom Luby runs, poking her nose into the pot on the stove, quizzing the elderly woman about her finances, getting agitated when she hears a man’s voice from behind the curtain, we realize that getting assistance from the State will not be easy. When Ms Rushmore outlines the steps to be taken to put in an application for assistance, Mom Luby quips that the children will have outgrown the clothes even before they get them.

After Ms Rushmore has criticized everything about Mom Luby’s home and has come to the conclusion that Mom Luby is not fit to be caring for the children, Mom Luby invites the social worker to accompany her as she pays the visits she has planned for the afternoon. The two women return, with Ms Rushmore totally exhausted, and admitting that Mom Luby has done more in the two hours than she could have done in two years.

Despite this, Ms Rushmore still points out that Mom Luby ought not to be doing such work because she is not qualified and does not have a licence.

The point of the story is right there: that the State educates and trains and qualifies staff to take care of social problems, but the genuine love and concern of an elderly ‘Mom’ in the community achieves far more. Genuine love and concern trump all their training and qualifications, and Mom Luby can be more efficient because she operates without all the forms to be filled out and all the red tape to slow down the process.

The story ends with all the customers in the shop guffawing with laughter over the irony in Ms Rushmore declaring Mom Luby unqualified when, in fact, she has shown herself to be far more qualified than the specialist herself!

For you to do as you read: ● List the things that Ms Rushmore finds to criticize about Mom Luby. ● Find evidence that Mom Luby is polite and friendly even to Ms Rushmore. ● List the charitable things Mom Luby does. ● Find examples of Mom Luby’s humour. ● Find evidence that Ms Rushmore lacks a sense of humour. ● Find examples of IRONY in the story. For instance, Mom Luby does more social work than the social worker. Mom Luby’s cooking is criticized by the social worker, but it actually is better than the canned and processed food she would recommend. The Department set up by the State to help the poor actually puts burdens on them. Ms Rushmore declares that the children are inadequately fed, but Puddin always has her hands in some food.

● Give reasons why you would rather be taken care of by Mom Luby than by Ms Rushmore.

● How does the description of each of the two women prepare us for their personalities?

SATIRE

Satire is irony on the attack. In Mom Luby, the writer uses irony to attack and criticize the inadequacies of the social services. She makes us laugh at all the red tape— the forms to be filled up just to apply for a pair of shoes—and that way she exposes the faults in the system. She shows officialdom to be lacking in love and concern for the needy in society, but she does so through humour.

SIMPLE AND FANCY SENTENCES

Look at this simple sentence: ● The man walked along the road. Now think of the questions HOW? WHEN? WHY? WHICH? WHERE?

We can rewrite that original sentence providing an answer to one or more of those questions. Look! ● ● man walked quickly along

Have we answered any of those questions in these two examples? tree-lined

Let’s focus on the question WHY? We will use the simple sentence: Myrna turned the corner. ● In order to get to the post office Myrna turned the corner. ● Myrna turned the corner because she didn’t want to bump into Felicia. ● Myrna turned the corner so that she could take the short cut.

Your Turn Now Here are two simple sentences. For each simple sentence, make THREE fancy sentences by answering the question WHY? Follow our examples and use In order to…, because… or so that…

Jack held on to the rope. Cindy carried the bag.

Now let’s focus on the question WHICH? Here is our simple sentence: ●

Which boy do you mean? The tall boy? The boy with the yellow shirt? The boy sitting on the bench? The boy who came late?

To give more information about the boy (to answer the question WHICH?), we can use

● ● ● ● The boy ate an ice cream.

an adjective (tall) a descriptive phrase (with the yellow shirt) a participial phrase (sitting on the bench) a descriptive clause (who came late)

Your Turn Now Here are two simple sentences. Turn each of them into FOUR fancy sentences by answering the question WHICH? in the four ways given above:

The man watered the garden. (Which man?) A student answered the phone. (Which student?)

BUILD YOUR VOCABULARY

For each of the words in List A, find a synonym from list B, and then fit your synonym pairs into the sentences.

List A peevish, advertise, ravenous, intolerable, prodigious, profitable, timid, astute, wise, reliable.

List B shrewd, irritable, publicize, nervous, advisable, trustworthy, unbearable, amazing, valuable, starving.

1. It’s not -----------for you to go out in the rain so soon after having your tonsils removed.

2. If you don’t --------------the old students’ reunion, then you can’t expect everyone to turn up.

3. Most young people are -------- when going for their first job interview, but more often than not they find the experience pleasanter than they anticipated.

4. Most of the time I find even loud music most pleasurable, but when I have one of my migraine headaches, the slightest sound is --------------.

5. Because he was usually such a cheerful child, we knew he was sick when he became so ---------.

6. Swimming across the Demerara River is a -------------achievement for a fiveyear-old child.

7. His father’s business was not worth much when he inherited it, but as the years passed, it became very -----------indeed.

8. From the way the little boy grabbed the bake and stuffed it into his mouth, we could see that he was -----------.

9. Having been raised by nuns, Rosa is not very wise in the ways of the world, but life teaches her some bitter lessons, and before long she is no longer naïve and trusting, but--------- in her assessment of people.

10. If the boss finds you to be ---------, he will give you more responsibility, but if he can’t depend on you, he will probably fire you.

ANSWERS

In order to beat the rain, the elderly the road towards the bus shelter. Limping slightly, the young man walked along the road which led to his childhood home. Build Your Vocabulary 1 wise/advisable, 2 advertise/publicise, 3 timid/nervous, 4 intolerable/unbearable, 5 peevish/irritable, 6 prodigious/amazing, 7 profitable/valuable, 8 ravenous/starving, 9 astute/shrewd, 10 reliable/trustworthy