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Park sang joon Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
The analyses of a text #2
The narrator recalls his adolescence.
He is an apprentice for the lawyer Mr. Spenlow.
His grand aunt and her best friend came to London after her going bankrupt.
He encountered his best friend Agnes, who came to London to meet his grand aunt, came to his apartment with her.
After a while, Agnes' father, a local lawyer, Mr. Wickfield and his partner, Uriah Heap who had been his clerck, came to.
This was only for a moment; for Agnes softly said to him, 'Papa! Here is Miss Trotwood - and Trotwood, whom you have not seen for a long while!' and then he approached, and constrainedly gave my aunt his hand, and shook hands more cordially with me. In the moment's pause I speak of, I saw Uriah's countenance form itself into a most ill-favoured smile. Agnes saw it too, I think, for she shrank from him.
What my aunt saw, or did not see, I defy the science of physiognomy to have made out, without her own consent. I believe there never was anybody with such an imperturbable countenance when she chose. Her face might have been a dead-wall on the occasion in question, for any light it threw upon her thoughts; until she broke silence with her usual abruptness.
'Well, Wickfield!' said my aunt; and he looked up at her for the first time. 'I have been telling your daughter how well I have been disposing of my money for myself, because I couldn't trust it to you, as you were growing rusty in business matters. We have been taking counsel together, and getting on very well, all things considered. Agnes is worth the whole firm, in my opinion.'
[David Copperfield by Charles Dickens]
1. I'd like to know why it is "I defy the science of physiognomy to have made out," not "I defied the science of physiognomy to make out."
2. I'd like to know what "for any light" means.
Thank you in advance for your help.
He is an apprentice for the lawyer Mr. Spenlow.
His grand aunt and her best friend came to London after her going bankrupt.
He encountered his best friend Agnes, who came to London to meet his grand aunt, came to his apartment with her.
After a while, Agnes' father, a local lawyer, Mr. Wickfield and his partner, Uriah Heap who had been his clerck, came to.
This was only for a moment; for Agnes softly said to him, 'Papa! Here is Miss Trotwood - and Trotwood, whom you have not seen for a long while!' and then he approached, and constrainedly gave my aunt his hand, and shook hands more cordially with me. In the moment's pause I speak of, I saw Uriah's countenance form itself into a most ill-favoured smile. Agnes saw it too, I think, for she shrank from him.
What my aunt saw, or did not see, I defy the science of physiognomy to have made out, without her own consent. I believe there never was anybody with such an imperturbable countenance when she chose. Her face might have been a dead-wall on the occasion in question, for any light it threw upon her thoughts; until she broke silence with her usual abruptness.
'Well, Wickfield!' said my aunt; and he looked up at her for the first time. 'I have been telling your daughter how well I have been disposing of my money for myself, because I couldn't trust it to you, as you were growing rusty in business matters. We have been taking counsel together, and getting on very well, all things considered. Agnes is worth the whole firm, in my opinion.'
[David Copperfield by Charles Dickens]
1. I'd like to know why it is "I defy the science of physiognomy to have made out," not "I defied the science of physiognomy to make out."
2. I'd like to know what "for any light" means.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Top answer
1. The present tense can be used in past situations, as it is here. " Using the past tense here would not be right - in that past time he did not exclaim a denial of the science.
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- The present tense can be used in past situations, as it is here.
- " Using the past tense here would not be right - in that past time he did not exclaim a denial of the science.
- 2.
- "
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2 Answers
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1. The present tense can be used in past situations, as it is here. The reason the present is used is to give more emphasis - he's narrating past events but is exclaiming something in what is his present time: "I defy the science..." Using the past tense here would not be right - in that past time he did not exclaim a denial of the science.
2. The sentence more fully laid out is: "H
2. The sentence more fully laid out is: "H
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park sang joon1. I'd like to know why it is "I defy the science of physiognomy to have made out," not "I defied the science of physiognomy to make out."He did not defy it at the time, as a character within the story he's telling. He defies it now, as the author of the story, and therefore outside of the story.
park sang joon
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