Analysing a text for meaning

[failexam]

I have been reading 'Cider with Rosie' lately and I got in this passage. It goes

''Winter was no more typical of our valley than summer, it was not even summer's opposite; it was merely that place. And somehow one never remembered the journey towards it; one arrived, and winter was here. The day came suddenly when all details were different and the village had to be rediscovered. One's nose went dead so that it hurt to breathe. and there were jigsaws of frost on the window. The light filled the house with a green polar glow; while outside - in the invisible world - there was a strange hard silence, or a metallic creaking, a faint throbbing of twigs and wires.''

You might think this is an easy passage, but for me this hard as hell. Let's see.

1. ''Winter was no more typical of our valley than summer,'' - no more typical than summer???
2. ''it was not even summer's opposite;'' - why shouldn't it be?
3. ''it was merely that place.'' - what do you mean?
4. ''the village had to be rediscovered'' - what if you didn't want to rediscover the village? Would your life turn upside down?
5. ''one nose's went dead'' - i'm not what's being meant here. :-)
6. ''jigsaws of frost'' - difficult to imagine :-)
7. ''there was strange hard silence'' - why was there a silence? why was it 'strange' and 'hard'?
8. ''or a metallic creaking, a faint throbbing of twigs and wires'' - no idea what this means :-(

As you can see, this passage is killing me. I would really appreciate any form of help, even a comment for consolation.

[PeterL]

You might think this is an easy passage, but for me this hard as hell. Let's see.

1. ''Winter was no more typical of our valley than summer,'' - no more typical than summer???

The seasons vary from year to year.


2. ''it was not even summer's opposite;'' - why shouldn't it be?

Winter and Summer are not opposites; they complement each other.


3. ''it was merely that place.'' - what do you mean?

The place in time.That season of the year.


4. ''the village had to be rediscovered'' - what if you didn't want to rediscover the village? Would your life turn upside down?

Apparently you come form a place where the seasons re not much different. In the Winter there is frost and snow. Things look different. If one did not relearn the rea, then one would miss what it was, and what ws in it.

[QUOTE]5. ''one nose's went dead'' - i'm not what's being meant here. :-)

One's nose can become numb from the cold.


6. ''jigsaws of frost'' - difficult to imagine :-)

Not difficult for me to imagine.


7. ''there was strange hard silence'' - why was there a silence? why was it 'strange' and 'hard'?

The snow muffles sound, b ut there are sounds that are sharper and louder in the Winter than in the Summer.


8. ''or a metallic creaking, a faint throbbing of twigs and wires'' - no idea what this means :-(

Things sound different in the Winter. The snow crunches underfoot, and the pitch of the creaking crunch vries with temperature. Footsteps are higher pitched in cold weather.


As you can see, this passage is killing me. I would really appreciate any form of help, even a comment for consolation.

If you really want to understand it, then spend a Winter in Sweden or Canada, or Russia.

[fb0252]

personally i'd avoid bothering my pretty head any further and find the straightest flight path to the nearest trash can. hopefully that is other than required reading.

[failexam]

Thank you so much for all the support.

I just have a few more questions.

1. ''it was not even summer's opposite''


Winter and Summer are not opposites; they complement each other.

How exactly can they complement each other? Summer's hot, winter's cold. Summer's when the days are longer, winter's when the days are shorter. ... I can't see how the two seasons might complement each other.

2. ''jigsaws of frost''

Not difficult for me to imagine.

I can understand why. You must be an expert in reading, but i am so dumb. :-( I know what a jigsaw means, and I can picture frost, but the combination of the two beats me. How can you have a jigsaw of frost?

3. ''The light fills the house with a green polar glow'' - How can the glow be green and polar?

4. ''there was a strange hard silence''

The snow muffles sound, but there are sounds that are sharper and louder in the Winter than in the Summer.

How can the snow muffle the sound, and obviuosly it does not create a dead-drop silence, does it?

5. ''or a metallic creaking, or a faint throbbing of twigs and wires''


Things sound different in the Winter. The snow crunches underfoot, and the pitch of the creaking crunch vries with temperature. Footsteps are higher pitched in cold weather.

how can the creaking be metallic? (Obviously a metal is creaking!)
a faint throbbing of twigs and wires? i can't see why twigs and wires(?) should throb faintly, to be honest.


I must thank for all the help, and i really hope you would make my day by saving me from my troubles.

[PeterL]

Thank you so much for all the support.

I just have a few more questions.

1. ''it was not even summer's opposite''


How exactly can they complement each other? Summer's hot, winter's cold. Summer's when the days are longer, winter's when the days are shorter. ... I can't see how the two seasons might complement each other.

If the temperature were in the seventies all of the time, then people wouldn't notice it. The heat of Summer is better appreciated by people who have experienced the cold of Winter.


2. ''jigsaws of frost''
I can understand why. You must be an expert in reading, but i am so dumb. :-( I know what a jigsaw means, and I can picture frost, but the combination of the two beats me. How can you have a jigsaw of frost?

Frost makees intricate shapes on windows. The shapes are fractals, nor jigsaws, but the imge is clear.


3. ''The light fills the house with a green polar glow'' - How can the glow be green and polar?

Northern Lights.


4. ''there was a strange hard silence''
How can the snow muffle the sound, and obviuosly it does not create a dead-drop silence, does it?

Snow on the ground acts as an absorber of sound. It is fluffy, with plenty of insulating capacity,\.

[QUOTE]5. ''or a metallic creaking, or a faint throbbing of twigs and wires''

how can the creaking be metallic? (Obviously a metal is creaking!)
a faint throbbing of twigs and wires? i can't see why twigs and wires(?) should throb faintly, to be honest.

When things stiffen with the cold, then make sounds tht are different from what they might make at other times. Tigs can crackle. Wires can hum or crackle.The mechanisms vary with material, but things sound different in the cold.

[Buh4Bee]

You've got some fine reading comprehension strategies- asking clarifying questions of the text. This alone will help you figure it out. Persevere!