1. Thinks… by David Lodge Thinks…

2.  Chapter 20 Chapter 20  Chapter 21 Chapter 21  Chapter 22 Chapter 22  Chapter 23 Chapter 23  Chapter 24 Chapter 24  Chapter 25 Chapter 25  Chapter 26 Chapter 26  Chapter 27 Chapter 27  Chapter 28 Chapter 28  Chapter 29 Chapter 29  Chapter 30 Chapter 30

3. DENOTATIVE ANALYSIS  Ralph invites Helen to eat something together  Helen does not meet Ralph  Ralph suggests Helen to exchange their journals  Helen does not exchange her journal he wants to understand the structure of women’s thought

4. CHARACTERS  Ralph Messanger  Helen Reed

5. SETTING  Maybe in their house unknown aspect of technology

6. NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE  Journal  E-mails uses by Helen uses by Ralph

7. DENOTATIVE ANALYSIS  Helen is going to spend the Easter weeknd with her parents, away from Ralph  Helen received Sandra’s envelope and read it (Tina and Alastair story)  Reflection about sexuality  Helens suspects Sandra may have had an affair with her husband (she goes to the English School to find out something more)  Helen and Sandra have a discussion about Martin  Carrie and Helen go to the Brine Baths

8. CHARACTERS  Helen Reed  Sandra Pickering  Helen’s parents  Carrie

9. SETTING  seminar room  Helen’s maisonette  the Humanities tower and the school of English  Helen’s parents house  Brine Baths

10. NARRATIVE TECNIQUE  journal

11. MESSAGE  In the 21th chapter Helens speaks about sex, about what it is for her, or better what it was like having sex with Martin

12. SPACE AND TIME  Thursday 27th March  Good Friday 28th March  Monday 31th March  Tuesday 1st April  Wednesday 2th April

13. DENOTATIVE ANALYSIS  Carrie and Helen are chatting in the bar  They are talking about cheating  They tell how they met their husbands

14. CHARACTERS  Carrie (Martin’s wife, she is a novelist)  Helen Reed (Ralph’s wife)

15. SETTING  Baths

16. NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE  Third person narrator  Direct speech

17. MESSAGE  The perfect family doesn’t exist  Time passes inexorably

18. SPACE AND TIME  Unspecified

19. NEW LANGUAGE AND INFO WE GATHERED  to giggle = ridacchiare  to envisage = prevedere  recreational = ricreativo  wire = filo elettrico / di ferro

20.  Helen discusses with Carrie about the relationship between Helen and Martin:  Reflection about the rape of a woman  Reflection about Robyn Penrose’s conference  Dialogue with Ralph  Journey and visit to Ledbury  Helen discovers Carry has got a relationship with another man DENOTATIVE ANALYSIS

21. CHARACTERS  Helen Reed  Ralph Messenger  Martin

22. NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE  Stream of counsciousness

23. SETTING  From April 6th to April 11th

24. NEW LANGUAGE AND INFO GATHERED  Towpath  Ghastly  Phallocentric  Sobbing  Shiverig  Effortlessly  Sneeringly  Jargon  opten

25. DENOTATIVE ANALYSIS  Messenger is waiting for his flight  reflections about life in Praga, especially about poverty  poverty versus richness  Ralph remembers his night passed with Ludmilla

26. CHARACTERS  Ralph Messenger (a scientist and a writer)  Ludmilla (a girl that had sex with Ralph)

27. SETTING  Amsterdam, British Airways’ waiting room

28. NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE  Third person narrator  Direct speech

29. MESSAGE  with poverty you appreciate things that are usually predictable

30. SPACE AND TIME  Sunday, 6th April

31. NEW LANGUAGE AND INFO WE GATHERED  arrangement = accordo, composizione  to avoid = evitare  briefcase = cartella  entrepreneurs = imprenditore  to shove = spingere  dumpling = gnocco  grant = borsa di studio

32. DENOTATIVE ANALYSIS  Helen and the Messengers go to the “duck race”  Helen and Ralph discuss about the race in scientific terms and they compare it to life.  Carrie gives Helen an explanation about what happened in Ledbury  Carrie finds out her father is sick  The Messengers discuss about death and heaven (Carrie VS Ralph)  Carrie decides to fly to California with her daughter.

33. CHARACTERS  Helen  Ralph  Carrie  Marianne  Oliver (Marianne’s autistic son)  Mr. Richmond (Marianne’s husband)

34. SETTING  TIME: Sunday 13 th April  SPACE: Bourton-on-the-water

35.  Third person narrator  Dialogues  Present tense  Short descriptions NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE

36. This part of the story creates the necessary conditions to Helen and Ralph’s affair:  Carrie and Ralph argue  Carrie flights to California Helen begins to think like Ralph (scientific and rational point of view) Ralph is very upset Thanks to a discussion about death with Carrie: “Are rational man afraid of real concrete life?” STORYLINE MESSAGE

37.  The comparison of the duck race and life Only a catastrophe can stop it […] like the great duck race of life  The discussion about death, truth and life between Carrie and Ralph Your trouble is, Messenger, you are very hot on facing facts in the abstract, but not when they are physical, in your face. PECULIAR FEATURES

38.  kinda= (slag, kind of) abbastanza)  Sneer = ghigno  bugger = bastardo  flavour = gusto  On top of all your skills NEW LANGUAGE AND INFO WE GATHERED

39.  Ralph Messenger writes about his routine on his notebook.  He meets Helen and they go to the pub and have lunch.  They talk about Helen’s novel and afterwards they go to the cottage and they make love. DENOTATIVE ANALYSIS

40.  Ralph  Ludmilla  Carrie  Helen CHARACTERS

41.  At home  In a pub in Horseshoes  In the cottage  In a swimming pool SETTING SPACE AND TIME

42.  1 st part free indirect style and thanks to the stream of consciousness expresses Ralph’s emotions and feelings towards Helen. He remembers when he met Ludmilla for the first time in Prague.  Ralph has continually betrayed his wife but Helen was different from all other women. Just she once dismissed Ralph doesn’t cut and does everything to have her; he really does not read his book carefully and will do everything to make her says yes. NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE

43.  The use of stream of consciousness allows us to understand the protagonist Ralph Messenger.  In this chapter the writer wants to tell us human beings are attracted by things they cannot have.  As a matter of fact, Ralph contacts Helen just to have sex because she is different from all other women with whom he has betrayed his wife. STORY LINE

44.  Scythe = falce  Prat = stupido  Dashboard = cruscotto NEW LANGUAGE AND INFO WE GATHERED

45. DENOTATIVE ANALYSIS  Carrie’s father is ill  Ralph and Helen enjoy themselves together  Both take a position with regard to politics She’s in America with him

46. CHARACTERS The most relevant characters are: Helen Ralph Children (Emily,Hope,…)

47. SETTING Helen is writing her journal She is probably be in her maisonette

48. NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE  Journal  Which person am I? The narration switches from first person to third Helen’s sense of guilt

49. MESSAGE  Religion VERSUS erotic life  Horatio Carpe diem  Erotic life VERSUS Politics

50. DENOTATIVE ANALYSIS Ralph discovers to have an unknown liver mass  With the return of Carrie the relationship between Helen and Ralph becomes problematic  Ralph has a few problems with the students’ newspaper  Ralph asks Helen to be helped if the cancer is incurable  Ralph is forced to invite Ludmilla, under the threat that she proves their relationship at Prague to a congress in Gloucester  Ralph has a few problems with the police, because someone in his department has downloaded pedo-pornographic images

51. CHARACTERS Ralph Helen Carrie Children Ludmilla (a Ralph’s friend) Mr Henderson(the doctor)

52. SETTING  Ralph’s house  Helen’s house  Office  Hospital

53. NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE  Third person narrator  E-mails (with Ludmilla) NARRATION DIALOGUE

54. MESSAGE  Rationality and Irrationality are complementary

55. DENOTATIVE ANALYSIS  Ralph is admitted to hospital because he has a lump on his liver. He is very worried  He speaks about his love story with Helen  He is worried: he thinks that someone can find out his love story with Helen  He speaks about Donaldson’s honorary degree

56. CHARACTERS  Ralph Messenger: the male character  Helen Reed: the female character  Carrie: Ralph’s wife  Pomeroy: a nurse  Agnew: policy sergeant  Ludmilla Lisk: a Ralph’s lovers  Jasper Richmond: chairman of arts subjects  Sir Stan and Lady Viv: vice-rector and his wife

57. SETTING  Abbey Hospital in Bath

58. NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE  Stream of consciousness  Free direct style  Free indirect style

59. NEW LANGUAGE AND INFO WE GATHERED  To admit: ricoverare  Lump: massa  To thrive: prosperare  To bluff: bluffare  Aloud:leggere, pensare ad alta voce

60. DENOTATIVE ANALYSIS  Helen’s speech is presented at the end of the conference  Ralph finds out he has not a cancer and communicates it to Carrie and Helen  When Agnew wants to see Douglass’ PC, he suicides

61. CHARACTERS  Ralph Messenger: the male character  Helen Reed: the female character  Agnew: policy sergeant  Douglass: Ralph’s colleague

62. SETTING  University of Gloucester

63. NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE  Monologue (Helen’s speech)  Direct style  Description

64. NEW LANGUAGE AND INFO WE GATHERED  Arguably: avverbio usato quando ci sono buone ragioni per sostenere qualcosa  Pattern: modello  To enhance: mettere in risalto, far aumentare  Shade: ombra  Bliss: gioia