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1. Asyou read the text:

a) Look for the answers to these questions:

1. What profession stereotypes are there? What is a stereo­typical "student"? "lecturer"? "poet"? 2. Is the "classic image of a writer" completely false? Be specific. 3. Would you agree that artistic people are often superstitious? 4. Who is given the title of "Dame" in Britain? 5. What suggests that Dame Muriel Spark is rather neurotic about the tools of her trade? 6. What part did the school play in shaping her career? 7. How did Gra­ham Green help the young writer? 8.What are the scanty bio­graphical details given in the profile?

b) Find in the text the facts to illustrate the following:

1. For Muriel Spark writing is the most important thing in her life. 2. Dame Muriel Spark is a stereotypical writer. 3. "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" is a great novel.

C) Summarise the text in three paragraphs.

In spite of the Russian proverb one can argue about taste: everybody does, and one result is that tastes change. If given a choice what would you rather read a novel or short stories in book form? Why? Try to substantiate your point of view. Use some of the ideas listed below.

"A novel appeals[24] in the same way that a portrait does — through the richness of its human content."

"It is not only an author's characters that endear[25] him to the public: it is also his ethical outlook that appears with greater or less distinctness in everything he writes."

"A volume of short stories contains more ideas, since each story is based on an idea; it has much greater variety of mood, scene, character and plot."