It Kills Me - an excerpt from The Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger

It Kills Me

Tasks to the Text

1.      The first paragraph of the text gives us the narrator’s vision of what is going on in Old Ernie’s.

Try to make a description of what is going on from another point of view. You may choose from the following list: old Ernie, a person from the audience, someone from the club’s stuff.

Choose one of the above standpoints and think what might be different in their vision of the situation. Do not add your opinion.

2.      The second part of the text describes usual conversations between dates. The narrator’s opinion to this point may be summarised by the phrase ‘phony conversations’.

      Make a list of the narrator’s justifications, i.e. how he proves his opinion, to this point (in the note form). You may retell the narrator’s ideas in your own words.

3.      The narrator chooses one feature of relationships – what people talk about (conversations). In his opinion, the value of this feature in most cases is the same – ‘phony’.

What are other features of relationships between dates? What are their possible values? (make a list)

4.      What features of relationships between dates are more important for you? What should be their values? Will you have the same answer for all situations?

Choose three different types relationships (e.g., casual acquaintance, permanent friend, lover, etc.) and mention the features and values you find more important in these situations.

5.      The narrator makes a number of statements when describing things in Old Ernie’s.

For instance, people in the club are jerks, etc.

Try to make a list of the statements the narrator makes in the texts. (in the note form)

Do you think the narrator is objective in all his statements. Can you mention several objective and subjective factors that could influence his statements in the text.

E.g.,

6.      ‘People always clap for the wrong things’ – this is one of the narrator’s statements in the text.

What examples does the narrator give to support his point? (make a list)

What other examples can be given to support this point?

What examples can be given to contradict this point?

7.      Old Ernie’s is an example of a night club.

What are the features of night clubs? (i.e. how can it be characterised? - make a list)

Which of these features are more important for you? (mention and give a brief explanation why it is so)

Which features can be more important for other people? (mention the person, the feature and give a brief explanation of why you think so)