CSEC ENGLISH

Hello there! We have just two more stories to look at with our English B candidates. Today’s story is Berry by Langston Hughes. Hughes, (who died in 1967) is a celebrated African-American writer, known for his poetry, plays and novels. (Go online and see what else you can learn about Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance, in which he played a part.) We also continue looking at how you can improve your English A skills. Read on now, and enjoy your CSEC English page!

ENGLISH B—SHORT STORIES

Our last two stories both address the problem of racism and the false sense of superiority that sadly makes some people look down on others.

BERRY

This story takes place in “Dr. Renfield’s Summer Home for Crippled Children.” We learn early that staff do not stay long (the Scandinavian kitchen boy had left without giving notice), and that the Administrator (Mrs. Osborn) is racially prejudiced: she is alarmed to discover that the new boy who has just arrived to replace him is coloured, and wonders where she can put him to sleep (evidently assuming that none of the white staff would want to share a room with him!).

The narrator subtly tells us, too, that Mrs. Osborn is in love with Dr. Renfield (She thought maybe the Doctor was walking along the sea in the twilight alone. Ah, Dr. Renfield, Dr.…), and that Mrs. Renfield, sensing this infatuation, is very cold toward the Administrator. Dr. Renfield shares Mrs. Osborn’s prejudice against what he calls darkies, and together they agree to get rid of Berry as soon as possible, but meanwhile to pay him less and work him harder.

Milberry, we learn, is glad for the job because he had been hungry for weeks, and needed work and food. He’s a good-natured lad, and willingly takes on extra jobs, even though it didn’t take him long to realise that he was doing far too much work for the Home’s eight dollars a week, and that everybody was imposing on him in that taken-for-granted way white folks do with negro help. Berry senses that he is being exploited, but he also becomes aware that there is something phony about the whole establishment. He notices how cranky the nurses are with the children, how the staff complain about their wages, and how much gossip goes on about individuals having an affair with Renfield (who looks like a movie star). He observes that the children get good food only when visitors come.

Milberry becomes very attached to the children at the Home, and soon gets roped in to help with them in various ways. They love him, and are delighted by the songs and stories he shares with them.

Then disaster strikes: as Berry is pushing one of the children along in his wheel-chair, the boy leans forward and falls out.

The child is unhurt,and eagerly reaches for Berry to help him up and comfort him, kicking out when Dr. Renfield offers to hold him. Although it is clear that Berry was not to blame, Dr. Renfield, Mrs. Osborn and the nurses all turn against him, blaming him unfairly, and insisting that he will give the Home a bad name. He is accused of criminal carelessness, and is fired on the spot. Dr. Renfield even wants to make the boy pay ten dollars for the broken chair, but is told that Berry earns only eight dollars anyway! So, the lad loses his job AND is paid nothing for his last week of work at the Home. Like the children, he is voiceless and powerless against the institutionalised prejudice and exploitation. ●

● Which of the staff take advantage of Berry, and in what ways?

●

● What is the significance of the injured child’s reaction to Dr. Renfield?

● What do you know about the location of the Home? Does that isolation contribute to Dr. Renfield’s plans?

What evidence can you find to prove that Berry is a good-natured, hard-working young man?

What comparison can be made between Berry’s situation and that of the children?

Is this story optimistic or pessimistic about race relations in the USA? Give your reasons.

● What are your feelings towards the following: Mrs. Osborn, Dr. Renfield, the boy who kicks Dr. Renfield, and Berry himself? (I feel appalled, furious, outraged, compassionate, heart-broken…..)

THE TEACHER IS CAUGHT IN THE SLIPS If you were with us last week, you know that we looked at the common mistake people make of saying GIRL’S GUIDE PAVILLION.

We suggested to you that the apostrophe +s was in the wrong place, and it should be corrected to read: GIRL GUIDES’ PAVILLION. Interestingly, that provoked some discussion, and a reader suggested that an even better name for the building would be GIRL GUIDES PAVILLION (with no apostrophe +s). And, indeed, that reader was completely in order! Well spotted!

In English, we often use a noun (without any apostrophe) as an adjective, modifying another noun: Police Headquarters, Gold Miners Association, the Guyana Defence Force Compound. And that’s what we have with Girl Guides Pavillion.

So, to sum up, GIRL’S GUIDE PAVILLION is wrong; GIRL GUIDES’ PAVILLION is acceptable; GIRL GUIDES PAVILLION is best!

Now, if you were reading very carefully, you perhaps noticed a very careless slip by the writer of last week’s column. Did you spot it? Here it is: From those name’s we’ll get… And, of course, you realised that the apostrophe had wandered in there by mistake. We do apologise!

GIVING TESTIMONY!

When you are a witness, you may have to report what you saw and what you heard. Let’s look at a sentence pattern that sometimes gives problems. Look at this statement, for example:

I saw the old man went into the shop. (Incorrect) What is wrong with that sentence? Well, it should be one of the following:

I saw the old man I saw the old man

go into the shop going into the shop

In both examples, you saw the old man and the old man went into the shop. In the second sentence there’s the idea of a continuous action/or a process (going).

Here are two sentences: I saw the doctor. He was walking towards his car.

Turn to 6B