Reading Practice
Katherine Mansfield
Katherine
Mansfield was a modernist writer of short fiction who was born and brought up
in New Zealand
Katherine Mansfield Beauchamp Murry
was born in 1888, into a prominent family in Wellington, New Zealand. She
became one of New Zealand's best-known writers, using the pen name of Katherine
Mansfield. The daughter of a banker, and born into a middleclass family, she
was also a first cousin of Countess Elizabeth von Arnim, a distinguished
novelist in her time. Mansfield had two older sisters and a younger brother.
Her father,
Harold Beauchamp, went on to
become the chairman of the Bank of New Zealand. In 1893, the Mansfield family
moved to Karori, a suburb of Wellington, where Mansfield would spend the
happiest years of her childhood; she later used her memories of this time as an
inspiration for her Prelude story.
Her first published stories
appeared in the High School Reporter
and the Wellington Girls7 High School magazine in 1898 and 1899. In 1902, she
developed strong feelings for a musician who played the cello, Arnold Trowell,
although her feelings were not, for the most past, returned. Mansfield herself
was an accomplished cellist, having received lesion from Trowell's father.
Mansfied wrote in her journals of feeling isolated to some extent in New
Zealand, and, in general terms of her interest in the Maori people ( New
Zealand's native people), who were often portrayed in a sympathetic light in
her later stories, such as How Pearl Button was Kidnapped
She moved to London in 1903,
where she attended Queen's college, along with her two sisters. Manfield
recommenced playing the cello, an occupation that she believed, during her time
at Queen's, she would take up professionally. She also began contributing to
the college newspaper, with such a dedication to it that she eventually became
its editor. She was particularly interested in the works of the French writers
of this period and on the 19thcentury British writer, Oscar Wilde, and she was
appreciated amongst fellow students at Queen's for her lively and charismatic
approach to life and work. She met follow writer Ida Baker, a South African, at
the college, and the pair became lifelong friends. Mansfield did not actively
support the suffragette movement in the Uk. Women in New Zeland had gained the
right to vote in 1893.
Mansfield first began journeying
into the other parts of Europe in the period 1903-1906, mainly to Belgium and
Germany. After finishing her schooling in England, she returned to her New
Zealand home in 1906, only then beginning to write short stories in a serious
way. She had several works published in Australia in a magazine called Native Comparison, which was her first
paid writing work, and by this time she had her mind set on becoming a
professional writer. It was also the first occasion on which she used the
pseudonym "k.Mansfied".
Mansfield rapidly grew
discontented with the provincial New Zealand lifestyle, and with her family.
Two years later she headed again in London. Her father sent her an annual
subsidy of €100 for the rest of her life. In later years, she would express
both admiration and disdain for New Zealand in her journals.
In 1911, Mansfield met John
Middleton Murry, the Oxford scholar and editor of the literary magazine Rhythm. They were later to marry in
1918. Mansfield became a co-editor of Rhythm,
which was subsequently called The Blue
Review, in which more of her works were published. She and Murry lived in
various houses in England and briefly in Paris. The Blue Review failed to gain enough readers and was no longer
published. Their attempt to set up as writers in Paris was cut short by Murry's
bankruptcy, which resulted from the failure of this and other journals. Life
back in England meant frequently changed addresses and very limited funds.
Between 1915 and 1918, Mansfield
moved between England and Bandoi, France. She and
Murry developed close contact
with other well-known writers of the time such as DH Lawrence, Bertrand Russell
and Aldous Huxley. By October 1918 Mansfield had become seriously ill; she had
been diagnosed with tuberculosis and was advised to enter a sanatorium. She
could no longer spend time with writers in London. In the autumn of 1918 she
was so ill that she decided to go to Ospedale in Italy. It was the publication
of Bliss and Other Stories in 1920 that was to solidify Mansfield's reputation
as a writer.
Mansfied also spent time in
Menton, France, as the tenant of her father's cousin at " The Villa Isola
Bella". There she wrote she pronounced to be "...the only story that
satisfies me to any extent".
Mansfield produced a great deal
of work in the final years of her life, and much of her prose and poetry
remained unpublished at her death in 1923. After her death, her husband, Murry,
took on the task of editing and publishing her works. His efforts resulted in
two additional volumes of short stories. The
Doves' Nest and Something Childish, published in 1923 and 1924
respectively, the publication of her Poems as well as a collection of critical
writings (Novels and Novelist) and a number of editions of Mansfield's
previously unpublished letters and journals.
Questions 1-6
Do the following statements agree
with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In
boxes 1 - 6 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with
the information
FALSE if the statement
contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no
information on this
1..................... The name Katherine
Mansfield, that appears on the writer's book, was exactly the same as her
origin name
2..................... Mansfield won a prize for a
story she wrote for the High School
Reporter.
3..................... How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped portrayed Maori people in a
favorable way.
4..................... when Mansfield was at
Queen's college, she planned to be a professional writer.
5..................... Mansfield was unpopular with
the other students at Queen's college
6..................... In London, Mansfield showed
little interest in politics.
Questions 7-13
Complete
the notes below
Choose ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER
from the passage for each answer Write
your answers in boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet Katherine Mansfield's adult years
-
7.....................
-
moved from England back to New Zealand
-
first paid writing work was in a publication
based in 8.....................
-
her 9..................... and the New Zealand way of life made
her feel dissatisfied
-
1908: returned to London- 1911-1919:
-
Met John Middleton Murry in 1911
-
10.....................
perverted.... Mansfield and Murry from staying together in Paris - spent time
with distinguished 11.....................
-
from 1916, tuberculosis restricted the time she
spent in London
-
1920her 12.....................
was consolidated when Bliss and Other
Stories was published wrote several stories at "Villa Isola Bella
-
1923-1924
Mansfield's 13..................... published more of her works after her death
Solution:
1. FALSE |
8. Australia |
2. NOT GIVEN |
9. family |
3. TRUE |
10. bankruptancy |
4. FALSE |
11. writers |
5. FALSE |
12. reputation |
6. TRUE |
13. husband |
7.
1906
PASSWORDS: IELTSONESTOP22