Textwork

At first sight a. a dome b. a spaceship c. a vessel a. for the guests to feel welcomed b. to protect the wooden floor c. so that the guide’s claws do not get stuck a. a guest who likes to be awake during the night b. a nocturnal, non-binary member c. the guide who is neither human nor animal a. a popular dish b. a greenroom c. a room where you can see the galaxy outside a. They help the crew find useful things. b. They notify the crew when things need to be replaced. c. They are friends of the crew. a. It has a strange disharmony to it. b. It is harmonious. c. It sounds as if several people are speaking simultaneously.

1. What is the setting of the text?

2. What is the reason for covering the steps with carpet?

3. What is a rec room?

4. How do we know that Rosemary hasn’t lived out in the open?

5. Why is ambient lighting important?

6. Who is Ohan?

7. What is the Fishbowl?

8. How does the crew get some privacy in the Fishbowl?

9. What is the purpose of the so-called scavenger buddies?

10. How is the voice of the sapient, Dr. Chef, described?

11. Dr. Chef is a Grum whose biological sex is a “transitional being”. What does that mean?

12. What is Klip?

13. Who is Rosemary?

14. Who is Sissix?

Food for thought

1. Language acquisition a. Why is Klip a difficult language to learn? b. In your own experience of learning a new language, what makes it difficult? Do you have any specific strategies? If so, what are they? What motivates you to learn a new language?

Work in pairs or small groups. Discuss.

2. Character description

Have a look at the description below of Dr. Chef. If you were to draw a picture of this character based on the description, what would it look like? Share and compare your drawing with your classmates.

The sapient’s legs were especially difficult to categorize, because they could have just as easily been arms. He had six of them, whatever they were, all identical. When he came through the door, he’d been walking on one pair, and holding two tubs of food with the others. But once he set the tubs down, he folded his body down onto two pairs and walked to the counter.

“Well, well, well,” the sapient rumbled. There was a weird harmony to his voice, as if five people were talking at once. As she continued to process his appearance, Rosemary noticed that he was wearing Human-style clothing. His upper torso – if you could call it that – was covered by a huge short-sleeved shirt printed with a logo of a green Human thumb zooming through space. The surrounding text was printed not in Klip, but in Ensk: “Littlejohn’s Plant Emporium – Your One-Stop Shop for Transgalactic Hydroponics.” Extra armholes had been cut into the sides to allow for his middle pair of limbs. His lower section was covered by an enormous pair of drawstring trousers. Or not trousers. More like a pouch with room for legs.

The sapient’s whole face curved upward in a surreal approximation of a smile. “I bet you’ve never seen one of me before,” he said.

Close-up

1. Setting a. What are the three useful purposes of the Fishbowl, according to Sissix? b. Compare your answer to the previous question to city living today. How do people try to combine urban living with their longing for, or, perhaps, romanticized view of country living? What are the benefits and disadvantages of each? c. Where do you see yourself living in the future, in the city or the countryside? Why?

2. Gender identity a. What sex are the Grums? b. Today, there is a debate about people’s right to decide their own gender identity. Do you think the author is making a point about this in this text, and if so, in what way?

Word World

1. Phrasal verbs

Phrasal verbs indicate actions. For example: look up, turn down, go through, make up, etc. Phrasal verbs often have meanings which cannot be understood from their individual parts. It is only when they are put together that they make sense. Separating the words would give a completely different meaning. The two words put together are:

VERB + PREPOSITION, ex: look after or VERB + ADVERB, ex: look up, turn down

The phrasal verbs in this exercise are taken from the text The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.

Example: After tucking away her two pieces of luggage […], Rosemary followed her guide back down the stairs.

Other examples are: turn on get up stretch out bang up coop up slow down stand out think back pore over cut off a. What is the Swedish translation of each phrasal verb? b. Use each phrasal verb in a grammatically correct sentence. c. Can you think of more phrasal verbs which are used in everyday English?

2. Gender-neutral language

“Especially Ohan. They’re nocturnal. Rosemary wasn’t sure who Ohan was or what Sissix had meant by the plural pronoun.”

This is a quote from the text and even though Ohan is one person, the pronoun referring to Ohan is they. This is a way of using a more inclusive language.

Gender-neutral language refers to words that do not identify a gender. There are several reasons why this is important, for instance:

• it eliminates certain words which exclude the female gender by only referring to man in the composition of the word, for example: fireman, chairman, policeman, freshman, manpower, mankind, man, etc.

• it eliminates other words which make an unnecessary distinction between the genders, even if the word man is not included in the word itself: steward/ stewardess, actor/actress, waiter/waitress, host/hostess, hero/heroine, landlord/ landlady, etc.

• it acts as a carrier for a message. It doesn’t stand in the way. When writing essays and other texts, it is important to keep a neutral language for the content in focus to come through.

What is the solution?

Instead of using the word “man”, find a gender-neutral word that includes all individuals.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was an English poet, playwright and actor, considered by many to be the most influential writer in the English language.

The sonnet was a popular form of poetry during the Renaissance. The sonnets were not primarily written to be published, but thought of more as personal poetry, usually circulated among friends. William Shakespeare wrote no fewer than 154 sonnets during his lifetime, and the themes often dealt with love, beauty, decay, and time.

Sonnet 15: When I consider everything that grows

When I consider everything that grows

Holds in perfection but a little moment, That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows

Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;

When I perceive that men as plants increase, Cheered and check’d even by the selfsame sky, Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease, And wear their brave state out of memory; Then the conceit of this inconstant stay Sets you most rich in youth before my sight, Where wasteful Time debateth with Decay

To change your day of youth to sullied night; And all in war with Time for love of you, As he takes from you, I engraft you new.

Go to the word list.

A sonnet is a series of fourteen lines (known as a stanza), made of three quatrains (four lines with a specific rhyming scheme) and a couplet (two rhyming lines)

Every line consists of ten syllables Each line consists of five iambs, a so-called iambic pentameter, where an iamb = one unstressed syllable followed by stressed syllable

The rhyming scheme of a sonnet syllable | a unit of sound (There is one syllable in the word ’one’. There are three syllables in the word ’syllable’.) presenteth | archaic, presents debateth | archaic, debates

Practise the words in Wordmatch and Spelling.