Module I.Introduction to Major Western Countries Unit One The United Kingdom In-depth Reading Pre-reading Questions: 1.What do you know about the United Kingdom? 2.How did the British Empire come into being? On Seeing England for the First Time Jamaica Kincaid! 1 When I saw England for the first time,I was a child in school sitting at a desk.The England I was looking at was laid out on a map gently,beautifully,delicately,a very special jewel;it lay on a bed of sky blue-the background of the map-its yellow form mysterious, because though it looked like a leg of mutton,it could not really look like anything so familiar as a leg of mutton because it was England-with shadings of pink and green,unlike any shadings of pink and green I had seen before,squiggly veins of red running in every direction.England was a special jewel all right,and only special people got to wear it.The people who got to wear England were English people.They wore it well and they wore it everywhere:in jungles,in deserts,on plains,on top of the highest mountains,on all the oceans,on all the seas,in places where they were not welcome,in places they should not have been.When my teacher had pinned this map up on the blackboard,she said,"This is England"-and she said it with authority,seriousness;and adoration,and we all sat up.It was as if she had said,"This is Jerusalem,the place you will go to when you die but only if you have been good."We understood then-we were meant to understand then-that England was to be our source of myth and the source from which we got our sense of reality,our sense of what was meaningful,our sense of what was meaningless-and much about our own lives and much about the very idea of us headed that last list. 2 At the time I was a child sitting at my desk seeing England for the first time,I was already very familiar with the greatness of it.Each morning before I left for school,I ate a breakfast of half a grapefruit,an egg,bread and butter and a slice of cheese,and a cup of cocoa;or half a grapefruit,a bowl of oat porridge,bread and butter and a slice of cheese,and a cup of cocoa.The can of cocoa was often left on the table in front of me.It had written on it the name of the company,the year the company was established,and the words "Made in England."Those words,"Made in England,"were written on the box the oats came in tooModule I. Introduction to Major Western Countries Unit One The United Kingdom In-depth Reading Pre-reading Questions: 1. What do you know about the United Kingdom? 2. How did the British Empire come into being? On Seeing England for the First Time Jamaica Kincaid 1 1 When I saw England for the first time, I was a child in school sitting at a desk. The England I was looking at was laid out on a map gently, beautifully, delicately, a very special jewel; it lay on a bed of sky blue—the background of the map—its yellow form mysterious, because though it looked like a leg of mutton, it could not really look like anything so familiar as a leg of mutton because it was England—with shadings of pink and green, unlike any shadings of pink and green I had seen before, squiggly veins of red running in every direction. England was a special jewel all right, and only special people got to wear it. The people who got to wear England were English people. They wore it well and they wore it everywhere: in jungles, in deserts, on plains, on top of the highest mountains, on all the oceans, on all the seas, in places where they were not welcome, in places they should not have been. When my teacher had pinned this map up on the blackboard, she said, “This is England”—and she said it with authority, seriousness; and adoration, and we all sat up. It was as if she had said, “This is Jerusalem, the place you will go to when you die but only if you have been good.” We understood then—we were meant to understand then—that England was to be our source of myth and the source from which we got our sense of reality, our sense of what was meaningful, our sense of what was meaningless—and much about our own lives and much about the very idea of us headed that last list. 2 At the time I was a child sitting at my desk seeing England for the first time, I was already very familiar with the greatness of it. Each morning before I left for school, I ate a breakfast of half a grapefruit, an egg, bread and butter and a slice of cheese, and a cup of cocoa; or half a grapefruit, a bowl of oat porridge, bread and butter and a slice of cheese, and a cup of cocoa. The can of cocoa was often left on the table in front of me. It had written on it the name of the company, the year the company was established, and the words “Made in England.” Those words, “Made in England,” were written on the box the oats came in too