Did you know that you can learn how to make up a scary story that will scare everyone’s socks off? Horror stories have certain elements in them which make them terrifying. During the coming lessons you will learn about these elements, and about how to write a short story with them. At the end, you will have your own scary tale. In English!
What's the plan?
Dit jaar maken we gebruik van leerdoelen, oftewel succescriteria, die jij gaat behalen.
De leerdoelen in het schema hieronder vertellen jou wat jij aan het eind van de lessen op deze website moet kunnen. Dit wordt getoetst met jouw portfolio opdracht.
Tussen de lessen door vind je meerdere kleine toetsjes (niet voor een punt!) waarmee je jezelf kunt testen. Let op, je moet een 7 halen op elk tussentijds toetsje voordat je door mag naar het volgende onderwerp.
Heb je nog geen 7? Dan oefen je verder (je docent vertelt je met wat) en probeer je het daarna nog een keer.
Vragen over de leerdoelen? Stel ze aan je docent.
Het leerdoelenschema hieronder is bedoeld om jou inzicht te geven in wat je al kan, wat je gaat leren, en wat je voor stappen gaat nemen om dit te doen. Gebruik het om het overzicht te houden over jouw leerproces.
Je docent neemt het schema met je door en vertelt je hoe je dit kan gebruiken om jouw voortgang en beheersing van elk onderwerp bij te houden.
Subject
What can you already do? (Starting point)
Where do you need to go? (Goals, all in English of course)
Which 2 steps are you going to take?
Feedback/ measuring progress
Reading strategy for encountering new words in a text
You are able to decide when you should look up the meaning of a new word you find in a story, and when you can skip this.
Structure of a short story
You are able to build the skeleton of your own short story using the standard structure.
Setting
You are able to create the setting of your scary story and explain how your choices help to make the story scary.
Narrative endings
You are able to recognize which narrative ending is used in a given story.
Narrative perspective/ point of view
You are able to recognize and write/speak part of a story in three different narrative perspectives.
Character roles
You are able to state the role of a character in a scary short story with the correct literary term, and explain why.
Adjectives
You are able to think of and use multiple adjectives (at least 2) in the correct order in front of a noun.
Irony*
You are able to recognize an ironic element in a given story and explain why it's ironic.
Foreshadowing*
You are able to create an element of foreshadowing in your scary story and explain how it foreshadows what is going to happen at the end.
During the coming lessons, you and your group will work on ‘making the skeleton’ for your short story. This means you will pick a narrative perspective, a type of ending, and characters. Then you will pick a scary setting, decide on some terrifying elements, and use all these building blocks to make the structure ('skeleton') of your own short story. Basically, you're writing the summary of your own scary, short story.
Your teacher will give feedback on the skeleton of your scary, short story. You will use this feedback to improve your work. Then, you are going to make a video in which you perform your scary, short story. We will watch all videos in class somewhere in November, so make sure you make a good one.
The assignment
You will work in groups of 3 or 4.
The portfolio assignment consists of two things, with two different deadlines:
The skeleton of your story. This means you don't have to hand in a full written story, because you will be performing it (part 2). Hand in the skeleton as a Word or PDF document through Magister before your performance in class. Each group member has to hand this in individually (for logistical purposes), but it must be the same document as your group members.
The skeleton must contain the following information about your story:
- structure
- narrative perspective
- type of ending
- character roles
- setting
- foreshadowing* (only vwo)
- list of scary elements and their meaning/purpose
- three nouns plus at least 2 adjectives describing these nouns.
The performance. Your video can be 5 minutes max. All group members need to speak at least 2 sentences. Hand in your video thorugh Magister on the 11th of November at the latest. The videos will be watched in class somewhere in November (belated Halloween viewing party). This is your chance to frighten your teacher and classmates with your scary tale. Use costumes, props and special effects to make your performance even better and to bring your scary elements to life.
Deadline for the skeleton (Word or PDF): Monday September 30th, 2024 21:00 hr.
Deadline for the video: (upload the video or a link to the video): Monday November 11th, 2024, 21:00 hr. <- Watch out, this is in Period 2. So, this will be called PF2 on Magister.
Teachers will use the rubric below to give feedback on your PF4.
Students can use the rubric below to see what teachers will look for in their work, and to do a self-check of their work.
Rubric Portfolio Assignment English
Year 3 Period 1 (& 2)
Names of students:
Criteria
O
N
B
Grammar
Basic & advanced tenses
Sentence structure
Student often makes mistakes in basic tenses (Present/Past Simple. Noticeable mistakes in sentence structure.
Many mistakes in tense use, but sometimes correct. Some mistakes in sentence structure.
Student mostly uses correct tenses (Present/Past Simple, Continuous, Perfect). No mistakes in sentence structure.
Uses tenses well, with few mistakes. Advance grammar or sentence structure used.
No mistakes, tenses used correctly throughout all conversation.
Vocabulary
Theme related vocabulary
Adjectives
Limited vocabulary, basic words are repeated. Words are misused. No use of adjectives.
Some topic-related words used, but lacks variety. Some mistake in word use.
Uses interesting words and includes different spooky adjectives. No mistakes in word use.
Uses a good variety of words related to the story topic. Including different spooky adjectives.
Rich use of vocabulary, with many topic-specific words. Clever use of vocabulary.
Use of English
Pronunciation
Spoken work is hard to understand. Not all group members speak. Accent interferes with communication.
Can be understood, but there are many spelling or grammar mistakes. Strong accent.
Mostly clear, with a few pronunciation errors.Noticeable accent, communication is not affected.
Clear and easy to understand, only minor mistakes. Slight accent.
Very clear, almost no mistakes in pronunciation. Great input from all group members. Near native sound.
Creativity
Story structure
Character roles
Narrative ending & perspective
Irony
Foreshadowing
Editing
No originality, few or no story telling elements. Story is predictable. No visible attempt at implementing new ideas. No edit
VWO:
No use of irony and/or foreshadowing
Story structure is present but not fully developed. The plot is somewhat original but poorly executed. Editing interferes with the film.
VWO:
Poor use of irony and/or foreshadowing
Logical story structure. Plot is original. Film shows clear effort. Editing is done with effort.
VWO:
Decent use of irony and/or foreshadowing
Logical story structure & original plot. Good execution of a well thought-out plan. Editing is done decently and adds to the film.
VWO:
Clever use of irony and/or foreshadowing
Great story with never seen before originality. Great useof foreshadowing, irony and editing. A real thriller.
Assignment Completion & Process
Instructions not followed correctly or missing important parts. Group work was inadequate. No use of feedback. Handed in after the deadline.
Instructions followed but executed poorly. Small part missing. Poor group work. Ineffective use of feedback.
Followed instructions and submitted both the skeleton and video.Group work was adequate. Visible use of feedback. Handed in on time.
Followed instructions well; everything is included and on time. Group work was good. Feedback implemented.
Perfect execution, all parts submitted on time and complete. Excellent group work. Great use of feedback.
Required literary elements to discuss in your skeleton:
Structure of the short story
Setting
Narrative ending
Narrative perspective/point of view
Character roles
Irony*
Foreshadowing*
*only vwo
(Tip: describe your scary elements using lots of adjectives)
Good to know:
You don't have to use ALL the tenses that are listed under 'Grammar' in the rubric.
You do have to include ALL the required literary elements.
Please list your elements, and them describe them in full (English) sentences.
The stories that we will read in class are not always easy. This is mostly because they include difficult or old-fashioned words.
But don't panic! You don't have to understand every word to follow the story.
!Tip for when you find a word you don’t know:
Ask yourself, do you HAVE to know what the word means to understand the rest of the sentence, or the next sentence? If the answer is yes: look up the meaning of the word.
Here are some examples from 'The Landlady' by Roald Dahl.
For example:
"How much do you charge?"
"Five and sixpence a night, including breakfast." It was fantastically cheap.
You may not know what ‘sixpence’ means. It's an old-fashioned word.
Do you need to know what it means to understand the rest? No, because the next sentence explains the meaning: “It was fantastically cheap.”
Another example:
The name itself conjured up images of watery cabbage, rapacious landladies, and a powerful smell of kippers in the living-room.
Do you know what ‘rapacious’ means? And ‘kippers’?
Can you guess the meaning of the words from the rest of the sentence? No.
Do you need to know what these words mean to understand the meaning of the whole sentence? Yes.
Therefore, look up the meaning of these words.
Short stories and their structure
LESSON GOALS
At the end of this lesson you can:
- explain the standard structure of a short story
- recognize the structural parts in a given short story
Short stories are built up a certain way, just like newspaper articles or letters. They have a structure made up out of parts. These parts are like the bricks that make a house, or like the bones that make a skeleton.
Activity:
Look at the very short, scary story above.
Can you determine what the building blocks of the story are?
The basic structure of a short story consists of 5 parts, as you can see in the diagram above.
Exposition: This is the introductory part of your story. It should introduce the reader to the most important characters and to the setting. You are 'setting the scene'.
Rising Action: Here the central dramatic question, the question the reader desperately wants to know the answer to, is introduced. This central dramatic question will be 'the engine'of the story. A series of obstacles is placed in the way of the main character to increase suspense and tension, as the story moves toward the climax.
Climax: The climax is the dramatic high point of the story. The reader's interest reaches its peak (they should be glued to their seats) and the emotions rise to their most intense.
Falling Action: Now the conflict is resolving and we are being led out to the story’s end.
Resolution: The central dramatic question has been answered (most of the time), usually in either a happy or tragic manner.
Watch out: there are different kinds of endings (resolutions), which you will learn about in the next lesson. In short: not all endings answer the central question, and some scary short stories even stop at the climax, for dramatic effect. The story 'Clap, Clap' is an example of a story that stops at the climax. (See the document at the bottom of this page).
Below, you can see the structure of the famous (short) story 'The Three Little Piggies'
("So he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew the house down," remember?)
If you don't remember this story, find and read the story online and then look at the structure again.
Note: in the diagram above the label 'Resolution' is missing at the end, but it is there: "Pigs have the best supper ever and live happily ever after". Now isn't that a happy ending (resolution) to this story!
Now you've seen an overview of the structure of a short story, as well as an example.
Activity 1:
- After reading these instructions, go back to the super short story on the previous page.
- Write the story in your notebook or in a document. It's super short, so this shouldn't take you long.
- Now give each part of the structure in the story a different color (with your highlighters/pens).
- Make sure to write which color marks which part of the story structure.
Your teacher will discuss the answer in class.
Activity 2:
Just to repeat what you've learned, do the activity below.
Stories are not only found in books, but in movies and TV series as well.
And, in music!
Before most people could read and write, music was often used to tell each other stories. Because stories that are set to music or with lines that rhyme (like poetry/songs) are easier for the storyteller to remember.
Nowadays, this story-telling-through-songs is still a thing. That's why you'll encounter several songs during this block, while you're learning about scary short stories.
You've just learned about short story structure. Let's see if you can find the structure in the song below.
Activity 3:
- Click on the link below and listen to the song. Read along with the lyric video.
- Find the lyrics to 'no body, no crime' online.
Copy-paste them into a Word document or print them out.
- Now give each part of the structure in the story a different color (with your highlighters/pens).
- Make sure to write which color marks which part of the story structure.
- Compare your answers to those of your classmates.
Did you agree on the structure of the story-song?
Taylor Swift - no body, no crime (Official Lyric Video) ft. HAIM
Narrative endings, foreshadowing and irony: 'The Landlady'
LESSON GOALS
At the end of this lesson you can
- name at least three different types of narrative endings.
- explain in your owns words what ‘implicit ending’ means.
vwo:
- give an example of foreshadowing that is not mentioned in class, and explain how the elementsin the story foreshadow the resolution
'The Landlady' by Roald Dahl
The Landlady
by
Roald Dahl
First published in The New Yorker on 28 November 1959
BILLY WEAVER had travelled down from London on the slow afternoon train, with a change at Swindon on the way, and by the time he got to Bath it was about nine o'clock in the evening and the moon was coming up out of a clear starry sky over the houses opposite the station entrance. But the air was deadly cold and the wind was like a flat blade of ice on his cheeks.
"Excuse me" he said "but is there a fairly cheap hotel not too far away from here?"
"Try The Bell and Dragon" the porter answered pointing down the road. "They might take you in. It's about a quarter of a mile along on the other side."
Billy thanked him and picked up his suitcase and set out to walk the quarter‑mile to The Bell and Dragon. He had never been to Bath before. He didn't know anyone who lived there. But Mr Greenslade at the Head Office in London had told him it was a splendid city.
"Find your own lodgings," he had said "and then go along and report to the Branch Manager as soon as you've got yourself settled".
Billy was seventeen years old. He was wearing a new navy‑blue overcoat, a new brown trilby hat, and a new brown suit, and he was feeling fine. He walked briskly down the street. He was trying to do everything briskly these days. Briskness, he had decided was the one common characteristic of all successful businessmen. The big shots up at Head Office were absolutely fantastically brisk all the time. They were amazing.
There were no shops on this wide street that he was walking along, only a line of tall houses on each side, all of them identical. They had porches and pillars and four or five steps going up to their front doors, and it was obvious that once upon a time they had been very swanky residence. But now, even in the darkness, he could see that the paint was peeling from the woodwork on their doors and windows, and that the handsome white facades were cracked and blotchy from neglect.
Suddenly, in a downstairs window that was brilliantly illuminated by a street‑lamp not six yards away, Billy caught sight of a printed notice propped up against the glass in one of the upper panes. It said BED AND BREAKFAST. There was a vase of pussywillows, tall and beautiful, standing just underneath the notice. He stopped walking. He moved a bit closer. Green curtains (some sort of velvety material) were hanging down on either side of the window. The pussywillows looked wonderful beside them. He went right up and peered through the glass into the room, and the first thing he saw was a bright fire burning in the hearth. On the carpet in front of the fire, a pretty little dachshund was curled up asleep with its nose tucked into its belly. The room itself, so far as he could see in the half‑darkness, was filled with pleasant furniture. There was a baby‑grand piano and a big sofa and several plump armchairs and in one corner he spotted a large parrot in a cage. Animals were usually a good sign in a place like this, Billy told himself; and all in all, it looked to him as though it would be a pretty decent house to stay in. Certainly it would be more comfortable than The Bell and Dragon. On the other hand, a pub would be more congenial than a boarding‑house. There would be beer and darts in the evenings, and lots of people to talk to, and it would probably be a good bit cheaper, too. He had stayed a couple of nights in a pub once before and he had liked it. He had never stayed in any boarding houses, and, to be perfectly honest, he was a tiny bit frightened of them. The name itself conjured up images of watery cabbage, rapacious landladies, and a powerful smell of kippers in the living‑room. After dithering about like this in the cold for two or three minutes, Billy decided that he would walk on and take a look at The Bell and Dragon before making up his mind. He turned to go. And now a queer thing happened to him. He was in the act of stepping back and turning away from the window when all at once his eye was caught and held in the most peculiar manner by the small notice that was there. BED AND BREAKFAST, it said. BED AND BREAKFAST, BED AND BREAKFAST, BED AND BREAKFAST. Each word was like a large black eye staring at him through the glass, holding him compelling him. forcing him to stay where he was and not to walk away from that house, and the next thing he knew, he was actually moving across from the window to the front door of the house, climbing the steps that led up to it, and reaching for the bell. He pressed the bell. Far away in a back room he heard it ringing, and then at once ‑ it must have been at once because he hadn't even had time to take his finger from the bell‑button ‑ the door swung open and a woman was standing there. Normally you ring the bell and you have at least a half minute’s wait before the door opens. But this dame was like a jack‑in‑the‑box. He pressed the bell ‑ and out she popped! It made him jump. She was about forty‑five or fifty years old and the moment she saw him, she gave him a warm welcoming smile. "Please come in," she said pleasantly. She stepped aside, holding the door wide open and Billy found himself automatically starting forward into the house. The compulsion or, more accurately, the desire to follow after her into that house was extraordinarily strong. "I saw the notice in the window," he said holding himself back.
"Yes, I know."
"I was wondering about a room."
"It's all ready for you, my dear," she said. She had a round pink face and very gentle blue eyes.
"I was on my way to The Bell and Dragon" Billy told her. "But the notice in your window just happened to catch my eye."
"My dear boy," she said, "why don't you come in out of the cold?"
"How much do you charge?"
"Five and sixpence a night, including breakfast." It was fantastically cheap. It was less than half of what he had been willing to pay.
"If that is too much" she added "then perhaps I can reduce it just a tiny bit. Do you desire an egg for breakfast? Eggs are expensive at the moment. It would be sixpence less without the egg"
"Five and sixpence is fine," he answered. "I should like very much to stay here."
"I knew you would. Do come in." She seemed terribly nice. She looked exactly like the mother of one's best school‑friend welcoming one into the house to stay for the Christmas holidays. Billy took off his hat, and stepped over the threshold.
"Just hang it there," she said, "and let me help you with your coat."
There were no other hats or coats in the hall. There were no umbrellas, no walking‑sticks ‑ nothing. "We have it all to ourselves," she said, smiling at him over her shoulder as she led the way upstairs. "You see, it isn't very often I have the pleasure of taking a visitor into my little nest."
The old girl is slightly dotty, Billy told himself. But at five and sixpence a night, who gives a damn about that?
"I should've thought you'd be simply swamped with applicants," he said politely.
"Oh, I am, my dear, I am, of course I am. But the trouble is that I'm inclined to be just a teeny weeny bit choosy and particular; if you see what I mean".
"Ah, yes."
"But I'm always ready. Everything is always ready day and night in this house just on the off‑chance that an acceptable young gentleman will come along. And it is such a pleasure, my dear, such a very great pleasure when now and again I open the door and I see someone standing there who is just exactly right." She was half‑way up the stairs, and she paused with one hand on the stair‑rail, turning her head and smiling down at him with pale lips. "Like you," she added, and her blue eyes travelled slowly all the way down the length of Billy's body, to his feet, and then up again. On the first‑floor landing she said to him, "This floor is mine." They climbed up a second flight. "And this one is all yours," she said. "Here's your room. I do hope you'll like it." She took him into a small but charming front bedroom switching on the light as she went in.
"The morning sun comes right in the window, Mr Perkins. It is Mr Perkins, isn't it?"
"No," he said. "It's Weaver."
"Mr Weaver. How nice. I've put a water‑bottle between the sheets to air them out, Mr Weaver. It's such a comfort to have a hot water‑bottle in a strange bed with clean sheets, don't you agree? And you may light the gas fire at any time if you feel chilly."
"Thank you," Billy said. "Thank you ever so much" He noticed that the bedspread had been taken off the bed, and that the bedclothes had been neatly turned back on one side, all ready for someone to get in.
"I'm so glad you appeared," she said, looking earnestly into his face. "I was beginning to get worried."
"That's all right," Billy answered brightly. "You mustn't worry about me." He put his suitcase on the chair and started to open it.
"And what about supper, my dear? Did you manage to get anything to eat before you came here?" "I'm not a bit hungry, thank you," he said. "I think I'll just go to bed as soon as possible because tomorrow I've got to get up rather early and report to the office."
"Very well, then. I'll leave you now so that you can unpack. But before you go to bed would you be kind enough to pop into the sitting‑room on the ground floor and sign the book? Everyone has to do that because it's the law of the land and we don't want to go breaking any laws at this stage in the proceedings, do we?"
She gave him a little wave of the hand and went quickly out of the room and closed the door. Now, the fact that his landlady appeared to be slightly off her rocker didn't worry Billy in the least. After all, she was not only harmless ‑ there was no question about that ‑ but she was also quite obviously a kind and generous soul. He guessed that she had probably lost a son in the war, or something like that, and had never got over it.
So a few minutes later, after unpacking his suitcase and washing his hands, he trotted downstairs to the ground floor and entered the living‑room. His landlady wasn't there, but the fire was glowing in the hearth and the little dachshund was still sleeping in front of it. The room was wonderfully warm and cosy. I'm a lucky fellow, he thought, rubbing his hands. This is a bit of all right. He found the guest‑book lying open on the piano, so he took out his pen and wrote down his name and address. There were only two other entries above his on the page, and, as one always does with guest‑books, he started to read them. One was a Christopher Mulholland from Cardiff. The other was Gregory W. Temple from Bristol. That's funny, he thought suddenly. Christopher Mulholland. It rings a bell. Now where on earth had he heard that rather unusual name before? Was he a boy at school? No. Was it one of his sister's numerous young men, perhaps, or a friend of his father's No, no, it wasn't any of those. He glanced down again at the book.
Christopher Mulholland
231 Cathedral Road,
Cardiff
Gregory W. Temple
27 Sycamore Drive,
Bristol
As a matter of fact, now he came to think of it, he wasn't at all sure that the second name didn't have almost as much of a familiar ring about it as the first. "Gregory Temple?" he said aloud searching his memory. "Christopher Mulholland? ..."
"Such charming boys," a voice behind him answered, and he turned and saw his landlady sailing into the room with a large silver tea‑tray in her hands. She was holding it well out in front of her, and rather high up, as though the tray were a pair of reins on a frisky horse.
"They sound somehow familiar," he said.
"They do? How interesting."
"I'm almost positive I've heard those names before somewhere. Isn't that queer? Maybe it was in the newspapers. They weren't famous in any way, were they? I mean famous cricketers or footballers or something like that?"
"Famous," she said setting the tea‑tray down on the low table in front of the sofa. "Oh no, I don't think they were famous. But they were extraordinarily handsome, both of them, I can promise you that. They were tall and young and handsome, my dear, just exactly like you." Once more Billy glanced down at the book. "Look here," he said, noticing the date. "This last entry is over two years old."
"It is?"
"Yes, indeed. And Christopher Mulholland's is nearly a year before that ‑ more than three years ago."
"Dear me," she said, shaking her head and heaving a dainty little sigh. "I would never have thought it. How time does fly away from us all, doesn't it Mr Wilkins?" "It's Weaver," Billy said. "W‑e‑a‑v‑e‑r."
"Oh, of course it is !" she cried, sitting down on the sofa. "How silly of me. I do apologize. In one ear and out the other, that's me, Mr Weaver."
"You know something?" Billy said "Something that's really quite extraordinary about all this?"
"No, dear, I don't."
"Well, you see ‑ both of these names, Mulholland and Temple, I not only seem to remember each one of them separately, so to speak, but somehow or other, in some peculiar way, they both appear to be sort of connected together as well. As though they were both famous for the same sort of thing, if you see what I mean ‑ like . . . well . . . like Dempsey and Tunney, for example, or Churchill and Roosevelt." "How amusing," she said. "But come over here now, dear, and sit down beside me on the sofa and I'll give you a nice cup of tea and a ginger biscuit before you go to bed."
"You really shouldn't bother," Billy said. "I didn't mean you to do anything like that." He stood by the piano, watching her as she fussed about with the cups and saucers. He noticed that she had small, white, quickly moving hands, and red finger‑nails. "I'm almost positive it was in the newspapers I saw them," Billy said. "I'll think of it in a second. I'm sure I will." There is nothing more tantalizing than a thing like this which lingers just outside the borders of one's memory. He hated to give up. "Now wait a minute," he said. "Wait just a minute. Mulholland . . Christopher Mulholland . . . wasn't that the name of the Eton schoolboy who was on a walking tour through the West Country, and then all of a sudden . . . "
"Milk?" she said. "And sugar?"
"Yes, please. And then all of a sudden ..."
"Eton! schoolboy?" she said. "Oh no, my dear, that can't possibly be right because my Mr Mulholland was certainly not an Eton schoolboy when he came to me. He was a Cambridge undergraduate. Come over here now and sit next to me and warm yourself in front of this lovely fire. Come on. Your tea's all ready for you." She patted the empty place beside her on the sofa, and she sat there smiling at Billy and waiting for him to come over. He crossed the room slowly, and sat down on the edge of the sofa. She placed his teacup on the table in front of him. "come over here," she said. "How nice and cosy this is, isn't it?" Billy started sipping his tea. She did the same. For half a minute or so. neither of them spoke. But Billy knew that she was looking at him. Her body was half‑turned towards him, and he could feel her eyes resting on his face, watching him over the rim of her teacup. Now and again, he caught a whiff of a peculiar smell that seemed to emanate directly from her person. It was not in the least unpleasant, and it reminded him ‑ well, he wasn't quite sure what it reminded him of. Pickled walnuts? New leather? Or was it the corridors of a hospital?
"Mr Mulholland was a great one for his tea," she said at length. "Never in my life have I seen anyone drink as much tea as dear, sweet Mr Mulholland."
"I suppose he left fairly recently," Billy said. He was still puzzling his head about the two names. He was positive now that he had seen them in the newspapers ‑ in the headlines.
"Left?" she said arching her brows.
"But my dear boy, he never left. He's still here. Mr Temple is also here. They're on the third floor, both of them together."
Billy set down his cup slowly on the table, and stared at his landlady. She stared back at him, and then she put out one of her white hands and patted him comfortingly on the knee. "How old are you, my dear?" she asked. "Seventeen."
"Seventeen!" she cried. "Oh, it's the perfect age! Mr Mulholland was also seventeen. But I think he was a trifle shorter than you are, in fact I'm sure he was, and his teeth weren't quite so white. You have the most beautiful teeth Mr Weaver, did you know that?"
"They're not as good as they look" Billy said. "They've got simply masses of fillings in them at the back."
"Mr Temple, of course, was a little older," she said ignoring his remark. "He was actually twenty‑eight. And yet I never would have guessed it if he hadn't told me, never in my whole life. There wasn't a blemish on his body."
"A what?" Billy said.
"His skin was just like a baby's."
There was a pause. Billy picked up his teacup and took another sip of his tea, then he set it down again gently in its saucer. He waited for her to say something else, but she seemed to have lapsed into another of her silences. He sat there staring straight ahead of him into the far corner of the room, biting his lower lip.
"That parrot," he said at last. "You know something? It had me completely fooled when I first saw it through the window from the street. I could have sworn it was alive."
"Alas, no longer."
"It's most terribly clever the way it's been done," he said "It doesn't look in the least bit dead. Who did it?
"I did."
"You did?" "Of course," she said "And have you met my little Basil as well? She nodded towards the dachshund curled up so comfortably in front of the fire. Billy looked at it. And suddenly, he realized that this animal had all the time been just as silent and motionless as the parrot. He put out a hand and touched it gently on the top of its back. The back was hard and cold, and when he pushed the hair to one side with his fingers, he could see the skin underneath it greyish‑black and dry and perfectly preserved.
"Good gracious me," he said. "How absolutely fascinating. "He turned away from the dog and stared with deep admiration at the little woman beside him on the sofa. "It must be most awfully difficult to do a thing like that."
"Not in the least," she said. "I stuff all my little pets myself when they pass away. Will you have another cup of tea?" "No, thank you," Billy said. The tea tasted faintly of bitter almonds, and he didn't much care for it. "You did sign the book, didn't you?" "Oh, yes." "That's good. Because later on, if I happen to forget what you were called then I can always come down here and look it up. I still do that almost every day with Mr Mulholland and Mr...Mr."
"Temple," Billy said. "Gregory Temple. Excuse my asking, but haven't there been any other guests here accept them in the last two or three years?"
Holding her teacup high in one hand, inclining her head slightly to the left, she looked up at him out of the corners of her eyes and gave him another gentle little smile "No, my dear," she said. "Only you.
Here are some questions to help you read and understand the story:
Who is the main character in the story?
Where is he going to for business?
What does he have to do as to his lodgings?
Who does he ask for advice?
What advise does he get?
What happens on his way to the BELL & DRAGON?
What happens when he tries to walk away from the window?
What happened after he had rung the door bell?
What is his impression of the old lady?
What does his room look like?
What does he have to do before going to bed?
What does he notice in the guest book?
What is strange about the way the landlady talks about the guests of some years ago?
What does Billy notice about the old lady's pets?
Why doesn't he want any more tea?
What do you think happened to the other guests?
Tales of the Unexpected
Roald Dahl'sTales of the Unexpected was a TV-series in the 1980's. The episodes were performances of short, usually scary stories, often those written by Dahl himself.
Below is a video of the story you've read: 'The Landlady'.
Watch the video, or at least the introduction by Dahl himself (0:18-0:56) and the ending (17:40 - the end).
Afterwards, do the activities below the video.
The Landlady - Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)
Activity 1:
- Briefly explain the ending 'The Landlady' in your own words. Write your answer down as if you were texting your grandmother/grandfather, who hasn't read the story, about it. In other words: keep it short, clear and to the point.
Activity 2:
Discuss your written explanation and the ending of 'The Landlady' with a classmate.
When did they understand the resolution of the story?
Are there questions left unanswered?
Narrative endings
Discussion questions:
1. Do the written story and the video version of The Landlady have different types of endings?
Why (not)?
2. Can the ending of a story be a mix of more than one type of ending?
3. Does 'The Landlady' have a twist ending? And/or an implicit ending?
*Foreshadowing & Irony (VWO)
Have you ever seen a movie with a storyline that seems hard to follow and events that seem random, and only make sense when you get to the big reveal at the end? And then you want to watch the movie again, just to spot all the clues you've missed that foreshadowed (hinted at) the resolution of the story? Shutter Island, The Village and The Sixth Sense are just a few of the mystery/detective/horror movies that use this technique of foreshadowing to create suspense.
Foreshadowing often has an element of irony in it.
For example:
"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense."
These are the first lines of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
The lines foreshadow how decidedly not-normal the Dursleys' life would become with Harry in their house. They are also dripping with irony, because the Dursleys were going to be in the middle of some of the most strange and mysterious events in the wizarding world (which is, of course, strange in itself).
Activity 1:
- Look up what irony means
- Think of 2 examples of irony in a book you've read or a movie/TV-series you've watched.
Having a hard time thinking of examples? Use the internet.
Make sure you understand irony and how it is used in your examples well enough to explain to someone else (in English).
Back to 'The Landlady'
There are quite a lot of clues in 'The Landlady' that foreshadow the resolution of the story. Ironically, Mr. Weaver himself registered and thought about the clues, but didn't realize what they meant until it was too late.
Activity 2:
List all the clues that foreshadow the resolution of the story 'The Landlady'.
Reread (parts of) the story if you have to!
Horror stories have certain elements in them that make them terrifying(angstaanjagend).
In this lesson, we will look at these scary elements in a story called 'The Raven' by Edgar Allan Poe. You will also look at the setting of this story, and its type of narrative ending. Do you remember this literary term from the previous lesson?
LESSON GOALS:
At the end of this lesson, you can
- name at least three ‘scary elements’ that are often present in scary stories.
- explain what type of narrative ending ‘The Raven’ has.
Remember limericks, from the year 1 poetry assignment? A short story can also be shaped like a poem. In other words, a poem can also be a short story. Arguably the most famous example of a scary short story in poetry-shape is 'The Raven' by Edgar Allan Poe.
If you've seen the Netflix series Wednesday, the name Edgar Allan Poe might sound familiar. In it, Wednesday Addams goes to Nevermore, where she attends the Rave'n dance. There's even a statue of Poe himself on the school grounds.
You are going to watch a video of Lisa Simpson narrating the story of 'The Raven'.
Don't worry if you don't understand every word.
While watching:
What kind of ‘scary elements’ do you recognize, that are often present in scary stories?
Keep them in mind or write them down, to use in the next assignment.
'The Raven' - The Simpsons
Activity 1: Make a mindmap
(if you're in class you can do this together, using the board)
1. Write 'scary elements' in the middle of the board or a piece of paper.
2. Draw a small circle around the words.
3. Now, ask yourself the following questions, and write down the answers around the circle on the board/paper:
What kinds of scary things did you see in the clip from the Simpsons, about The Raven?
Now think of other scary stories you've read, or scary movies/TV series you've watched.
What other things, objects and elements do you often find in these scary stories (books/movies/short stories)?
What is the weather often like in these stories?
Where do these stories often take place? (country/city, certain buildings?)
What colors are most often used or described?
What sounds are most often used or described?
Now look at the picture below and see if you can add some more words to the Mindmap.
Activity 2:
Below are pictures of several scary elements.
Drag the elements to the right category.
Not all scary elements can be captured in an image, although they can be described in a story.
Think of sound for example, or smell.
There are few smells that can terrify someone without context. Think of the smell of wet dog. It might disgust you, or maybe even give you happy memories of that walk on the beach you took with your dog, but it is not likely to cause fear. Now imagine that your story is about a werewolf in town who brutally rips people apart, and someone who is out in a park after dark suddenly smells wet dog. In that case, the element of smell can cause fear.
Below are some examples of scary elements. Can you match them?
Setting
When talking about a story, the term setting means:
a: the time, place, and circumstances in which something occurs or develops
b: the time and place of the action of a literary, dramatic, or cinematic work
c: the scenery used in a theatrical or film production
What we know about the overall setting of 'Little Red Riding Hood', for example, is that it is a rural environment (in the country rather than the city). We don't really know anything about the time of the story.
We can be more specific about the setting of several scenes in the story:
- deep in the woods, during the day (when she meets the wolf)
- in her grandmother's cabin
Think of the last book you read. What was the setting?
Discuss with your classmates. Ask each other questions to help get a clear picture of the setting.
Assignment 4:
What is the setting of 'The Raven'?
Remember, setting refers to time ánd place.
Give all the information you can find in the story.
Activity 5:
Think back to what you've learned about elements are often used to create a scary vibe.
Are there particular settings that are often chosen to create this scary vibe?
Tip! Think about horror movies or scary stories. Where and when do they often take place?
Practice
It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark
Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes,
You're paralyzed
You hear the door slam and realize there's nowhere left to run
You feel the cold hand and wonder if you'll ever see the sun
You close your eyes and hope that this is just imagination
But all the while you hear a creature creepin' up behind
You're outta time
Darkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y'all's neighborhood
And whomsoever shall be found
Without the soul for getting down
Must stand and face the hounds of hell
And rot inside a corpse's shell
The foulest stench is in the air
The funk of forty thousand years
And grisly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom
And though you fight to stay alive
Your body starts to shiver
For no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the thriller
Both of these texts are from the same source: the song 'Thriller' by Michael Jackson.
Both of the texts also tell roughly the same story, but using different words and styles:
You're outside at midnight and terrified by what you see and hear because monsters are coming to get you.
We'll watch the iconic videoclip with the song later in the block, when talking about film techniques. But let's have a look at the lyrics of the song already, that provide us with a story to analyse.
Activity 1:
Write down the scary elements in both pieces of text, that have to do with:
- sound
- smell
- sight
- other physical sensations
- setting
- the supernatural
Activity 2:
Discuss the following questions with your neighbour.
We'll discuss the answers in class afterwards,
- What kind of narrative ending do both pieces of text have?
- Is is the same type of narrative ending?
Activity 3: (EXTRA)
- Compare the rhyme scheme of both pieces of text.
- Can you spot all the alliterations (look it up if you don't remember from Dutch class) in the second piece of text? Underline them.
- name at least three ‘scary elements’ that are often present in scary stories?
- explain what type of narrative ending ‘The Raven’ has?
- identify the setting of a given story?
Narrative perspective and character roles: Dracula
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Activity 1:
Have a look at the table of contents (inhoudsopgave) of the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, which you can access by clicking on the link below (rightclick, open in new window/tab).
Then answer the question below
Did you spot that most of the chapter titles indicate that the chapters are segments from someone's diary or journal?
If you write in your diary (pretend if you don't have one), what pronouns do you use when writing in it?
These pronouns will tell you the point of view of the story.
Now read the first chapter of Dracula.
(about 25 minutes)
Then answer the question below.
Tip! Unsure of your answer? Review the theory you've researched on narrative perspective/ point of view
Activity 2:
The previous question was a bit mean, because although the first chapter of Dracula doesn't properly illustrate it, there are in fact multiple narrative perspectives throughout the book.
That is because the book is made up of diary entries/journals as well as letters. These letters are not always embedded or introduced in the journal entries, as was the case in the first chapter. Therefore, these letters are arguably not part of the journal text, but standing on their own.
It's like the characters folded the letters they received and put them under the cover of their journals. Like you would put a hand-out in class in your textbook or notebook, so you can find it again.
For example, look at the following fragment from chapter 14 from Dracula.
Activity 3:
Activity 4:
Write a short (100 words max) alternative ending for either Frankenstein or Dracula.
- write from a different narrative perspective than the original story.
- write a different type of ending (go back to the lesson on endings, to refresh you memory)
Bring it with you to class.
Tip! If you don't know how those books end, either look it up online or (if you don't want spoilers) don't look up the ending but simply make up your own. As long as you state which type of ending you chose.
You can find the complete text of both books, and many more, in the online Gutenberg library. This online database gives you free access to many literary works, of which the U.S. copyright has expired. You can read the texts online or download it as an eBook. Very handy when you want to browse through or read scary, short stories or other literary classics.
What is the last book you have read? Did it have interesting characters? How about the last series you have watched; did you root for the protagonist? This chapter we are going to talk about different characters in a story
Character roles refer to the part that one plays in the story. As you probably know, the most important role in any story is the protagonist. This means all other roles stem from their relationship to the protagonist. Basically, these types define how characters interact and affect one another.
Examples of different character roles include;
Protagonist
Antagonist
Deuteragonist
Tertiary
Confidante
Love interest
Foil
Character quality has to do with what kind of character someone is. This doesn’t refer to their personality, such as being nice or mean, but rather their nature within the story, such as being dynamic or static.
These types tend to define narrative purpose in a story. For example, a dynamic figure creates a compelling arc for readers to follow, and a symbolic one represents some underlying theme or moral.
Types based on quality include:
Dynamic/changing
Static/unchanging
Stock
Symbolic
Round
Flat
These may also overlap, though less so than the roles. You’ll see how as we discuss them below! Without further ado, let’s dive into the various types of characters listed here.
In this chapter we will focus on the ‘protagonist’, ‘antagonist’, ‘deuteragonist’, and ‘love interest’. The character qualities we will discuss are ‘dynamic’, ‘static’, ‘flat’ and ‘round’. You will be tested on these definitions on your test.
You probably are familiar with the concept of the protagonist, for most of us: this is the main character, the star of the show. Most of the action centers around them, and they’re the one we’re meant to care about the most. Every single story has to have a protagonist, no matter what. Simply put, no protagonist = no story. Remember, all other roles are defined in relation to the protagonist, when you’re planning a story, this should be the very first character you flesh out.
Protagonist examples: Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, Katniss Everdeen, John McClane, Indiana Jones, Walter White
Antagonist
If you’re an antagonist, you antagonize and more specifically, you undermine, battle, or otherwise oppose one character: the protagonist.
Most of the time, the protagonist is good and the antagonist is evil, and this often is the source of their conflict. However, sometimes this isn’t the case, especially if the protagonist is an anti-hero. Antagonists usually play just as important a role in a story as their protagonist counterparts, but they may not be seen as much. They tend not to narrate stories and often operate in secret.
Antagonist examples: Sauron, Voldemort, The White Witch, Count Olaf, Maleficent, Darth Vader
Deuteragonist
Most stories have on main character, the protagonist, and a side character , or deuteragonist (or group of side characters). This is the character who’s not exactly in the spotlight, but pretty close to it.
The deuteragonist’s comic book equivalent would probably be the sidekick. They’re often seen in the company of the protagonist — giving advice, plotting against their rivals, and generally lending a helping hand. Their presence and close relationship to the protagonist gives the story warmth and heart. Some side characters are arch-enemies — but even these less-friendly deuteragonists still provide depth to a story.
Deuteragonist examples: Ron and Hermione, Samwise Gamgee, Jane Bennet, Dr. Watson,
Dynamic character
A dynamic character is one who changes over the course of the story. They often evolve to become better or wiser, but sometimes they can devolve as well — many villains are made through a shift from good to evil, like Anakin Skywalker and Harvey Dent. The protagonist of your story should always be dynamic, and most of the deuteragonists should be as well.
Dynamic examples: Elizabeth Bennet, Don Quixote,Neville Longbottom, Han Solo, Walter White
Static character
The static character — the one who doesn’t change.Many static characters are simpel and flat.These static figures tend to be unlikable, such as Cinderella’s stepsisters and Harry Potter’s aunt and uncle — their ignorance to how they’re mistreating our hero makes them people we “love to hate,” and boosts our sympathy for the protagonist. They may also impart a lesson to the reader: you don’t want to end up like me.
Static examples: Mr Collins, Miss Havisham, Harry and Zinnia Wormwood (Matilda’s parents), Sherlock Holmes (a rare static protagonist), Karen Smith
Round character
A round character is very similar to a dynamic one, in that they both typically change througouth their character arc. The round character has a full backstory (though not always revealed in the narrative), complex emotions, and realistic problems and motivations This doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a good person — indeed, many of the best round characters are deeply flawed. But you should still be interested and excited to follow their arc because you can never be quite sure where they’ll be led or how they’ll change. Needless to say, the vast majority of great protagonists are not only dynamic, but also round.
Flat characters are two-dimensional in that they are relatively uncomplicated and do not change throughout the course of a work. By contrast, round characters are complex and undergo development, sometimes sufficiently to surprise the reader.
Test yourself
Adjectives: 'Three and One Are One'
LESSON GOALS:
At the end of this lesson you can
- determine the correct order of multiple adjectives (at least 3) in front of a noun, with the help of the ‘order of adjectives’ schedule
- think of at least 2 nouns with multiple adjectives (at least 2) in front of them, in the correct order, to use in your own short story
What are adjectives again?
You've learned about adjectives in the past years.
Let's jog your memory and see how much you remember.
Do the two activities below.
Keep trying until you have zero mistakes.
Did that refresh your memory?
Adjectives give us more information about people, animals or things represented by nouns (zelfstandige naamwoorden) and pronouns (voornaamwoord).
Some examples of adjectives, from the story 'Clap Clap'
an old cabin
a young married couple
red paint
a moth-eaten mattress
a strange rustling noise
Need more info on what adjectives are?
Ask your teacher or, you know, do some Google research yourself.
Let's see if you can guess the rules for the correct order on your own.
Activity 1:
- Find a story or piece of text with plenty of nouns/pronouns with multiple adjectives in front of them. The more, the better. (Tip: fantasy stories and scary stories often have a lot, because a lot of stuff has to be described to paint a picture for the reader.)
- Work together with your classmates: can you figure out what kind of adjectives come first, second etcetera?
- Write down your findings.
Your teacher will discuss your findings in class.
The order of adjectives
As you have seen, it is possible to put multiple adjectives in a row in front of a noun or pronoun.
Often we find two adjectives in a row to describe something:
a peculiar musty smell
but it is possible to use more:
a silken, sad, uncertain rustling
The worst thing of all was its teeth. They were long, pointy, sharp and beastly.
Using multiple adjectives in a row is useful in short stories, especially scary ones. They can be used to quickly set the scene, or to describe something terrifying or disturbing in detail.
When using multiple adjectives in a row, there is a specific order to use. Most native English speakers aren't even aware of this, but they instinctively follow this order it nonetheless.
Luckily, non-native English speakers like us can learn how to put adjectives in the correct order, using the chart below.
Tip! The rule of thumb is: opinions first, than the more neutral adjectives and facts.
Want more info on the order of adjectives?
Click on the source link below the picture.
Good to know:
This word order chart is a helpful tool. However, the order of adjectives is not set in stone. In order to emphasize (nadruk leggen op) a certain adjective, you can bring it to the front.
For example:
"Luiz scanned the room for a handsome, tall, dark-haired gentleman." follows the standard order:
opinion - size - 'material'
He probably doesn't have a particular gentleman in mind yet.
Or maybe he does, and the fact that he's handsome is most important.
But if Luiz's goal was to specifically find a gentleman with dark hair, you could say:
"Luiz was given specific orders - his master didn't want someone fair-haired this time. It made hiding the scars on their scalps difficult. So, Luiz scanned the room for a dark-haired, handsome, tall gentleman."
The adjective 'dark-haired' is emphasized by bringing it to the front.
Activities
'Three and One are One' by Ambrose Biers
Some background information before you start reading:
This story plays in the U.S.A., during the Civil War (1861 – 1865). Very crudely summarized, the war was between the Union ("the North"), that wanted to end the practice of slavery, and the Confederacy ("the South") that wanted to maintain this practice.
Look for more info on the Civil War if you want to know the specifics.
The story was first published in Cosmopolitan (New York) in October 1908, and then in Ambrose Bierce's collection of short stories Present at a Hanging, and Other Ghost Stories (1913)
Three and One are One
by Ambrose Biers
In the year 1861 Barr Lassiter, a young man of twenty-two, lived with his parents and an elder sister near Carthage, Tennessee. The family were in somewhat humble circumstances, subsisting by cultivation of a small and not very fertile plantation. Owning no slaves, they were not rated among “the best people” of their neighborhood; but they were honest persons of good education, fairly well mannered and as respectable as any family could be if uncredentialed by personal dominion over the sons and daughters of Ham. The elder Lassiter had that severity of manner that so frequently affirms an uncompromising devotion to duty, and conceals a warm and affectionate disposition. He was of the iron of which martyrs are made, but in the heart of the matrix had lurked a nobler metal, fusible at a milder heat, yet never coloring nor softening the hard exterior. By both heredity and environment something of the man’s inflexible character had touched the other members of the family; the Lassiter home, though not devoid of domestic affection, was a veritable citadel of duty, and duty—ah, duty is as cruel as death!
When the war came on it found in the family, as in so many others in that State, a divided sentiment; the young man was loyal to the Union, the others savagely hostile. This unhappy division begot an insupportable domestic bitterness, and when the offending son and brother left home with the avowed purpose of joining the Federal army not a hand was laid in his, not a word of farewell was spoken, not a good wish followed him out into the world whither he went to meet with such spirit as he might whatever fate awaited him.
Making his way to Nashville, already occupied by the Army of General Buell, he enlisted in the first organization that he found, a Kentucky regiment of cavalry, and in due time passed through all the stages of military evolution from raw recruit to experienced trooper. A right good trooper he was, too, although in his oral narrative from which this tale is made there was no mention of that; the fact was learned from his surviving comrades. For Barr Lassiter has answered “Here” to the sergeant whose name is Death.
Two years after he had joined it his regiment passed through the region whence he had come. The country thereabout had suffered severely from the ravages of war, having been occupied alternately (and simultaneously) by the belligerent forces, and a sanguinary struggle had occurred in the immediate vicinity of the Lassiter homestead. But of this the young trooper was not aware.
Finding himself in camp near his home, he felt a natural longing to see his parents and sister, hoping that in them, as in him, the unnatural animosities of the period had been softened by time and separation. Obtaining a leave of absence, he set foot in the late summer afternoon, and soon after the rising of the full moon was walking up the gravel path leading to the dwelling in which he had been born.
Soldiers in war age rapidly, and in youth two years are a long time. Barr Lassiter felt himself an old man, and had almost expected to find the place a ruin and a desolation. Nothing, apparently, was changed. At the sight of each dear and familiar object he was profoundly affected. His heart beat audibly, his emotion nearly suffocated him; an ache was in his throat. Unconsciously he quickened his pace until he almost ran, his long shadow making grotesque efforts to keep its place beside him.
The house was unlighted, the door open. As he approached and paused to recover control of himself his father came out and stood bare-headed in the moonlight.
“Father!” cried the young man, springing forward with outstretched hand—“Father!”
The elder man looked him sternly in the face, stood a moment motionless and without a word withdrew into the house. Bitterly disappointed, humiliated, inexpressibly hurt and altogether unnerved, the soldier dropped upon a rustic seat in deep dejection, supporting his head upon his trembling hand. But he would not have it so: he was too good a soldier to accept repulse as defeat. He rose and entered the house, passing directly to the “sitting-room.”
It was dimly lighted by an uncurtained east window. On a low stool by the hearthside, the only article of furniture in the place, sat his mother, staring into a fireplace strewn with blackened embers and cold ashes. He spoke to her—tenderly, interrogatively, and with hesitation, but she neither answered, nor moved, nor seemed in any way surprised. True, there had been time for her husband to apprise her of their guilty son’s return. He moved nearer and was about to lay his hand upon her arm, when his sister entered from an adjoining room, looked him full in the face, passed him without a sign of recognition and left the room by a door that was partly behind him. He had turned his head to watch her, but when she was gone his eyes again sought his mother. She too had left the place.
Barr Lassiter strode to the door by which he had entered. The moonlight on the lawn was tremulous, as if the sward were a rippling sea. The trees and their black shadows shook as in a breeze. Blended with its borders, the gravel walk seemed unsteady and insecure to step on. This young soldier knew the optical illusions produced by tears. He felt them on his cheek, and saw them sparkle on the breast of his trooper’s jacket. He left the house and made his way back to camp.
The next day, with no very definite intention, with no dominant feeling that he could rightly have named, he again sought the spot. Within a half-mile of it he met Bushrod Albro, a former playfellow and schoolmate, who greeted him warmly.
“I am going to visit my home,” said the soldier.
The other looked at him rather sharply, but said nothing.
“I know,” continued Lassiter, “that my folks have not changed, but—”
“There have been changes,” Albro interrupted—“everything changes. I’ll go with you if you don’t mind. We can talk as we go.”
But Albro did not talk.
Instead of a house they found only fire-blackened foundations of stone, enclosing an area of compact ashes pitted by rains.
Lassiter’s astonishment was extreme.
“I could not find the right way to tell you,” said Albro. “In the fight a year ago your house was burned by a Federal shell.”
“And my family—where are they?”
“In Heaven, I hope. All were killed by the shell.”
Adjectives in scary stories
Activity 1
Remember the scary elements of the previous lesson?
Adjectives can be used to describe these elements in more detail, creating or amplifying (versterken) their 'scaryness'.
For example:
"The wind"
is just the wind. It might be refreshingly cool, or warm and blowing Sahara sand in your eye.
Let's create a more specific situation:
"The wind is blowing around the house while Henry waits in the living room after sundown."
This can be creepy in the right context. Or maybe Henry is just waiting for his wife to get her coat so they can take a walk on the beach, which they often do after dinner.
Now, let's add adjectives (and alternative verbs) to really set the scene:
"An unsettling howling wind shakes the crooked wooden shutters in front of the cracked windows, and forces bursts of icy rain through the alarmingly large gap under the locked and bolted front door. You're anxiously waiting in the freezing, dust-covered living room, praying that it is enough to keep the enormous, deadly beasts that roam around the deserted house on moonlit nights like these outside this time."
There is hardly any room for interpretation this time, the adjectives paint the scary picture.
Activity 2:
Pick a random letter from the alphabet, or divide the letters from the alphabet evenly amongst your classmates.
Find at least three adjectives that begin with your letter.
Share these three adjectives + their Dutch translation + an examplifying sentence in which the adjective is used with your classmates.
Your teacher will tell you if you can share them in a common Excel sheet, Word document or Padlet.
Tip! Want a real challenge? Go for the letters x, y, z or q.
Activity 3:
Think of at least 2 nouns with multiple adjectives in front of them (at least 2), to possibly use in your own short story for your portfolio assignment. Be creative.
Tip! Besides using resources like the dictionary and the internet, you can use the list of adjectives you've made with our classmates for the previous activity.
Test yourself
Let's test how well you've got the adjectives and their order down.
Met deze tussentijdse toets kan jij zelf kan testen of je het onderwerp 'adjectives' voldoende onder de knie hebt om door te gaan naar het volgende onderwerp. Zo krijgen jij en je docent inzicht in je voortgang.
Let op, je moet 70% goed hebben op dit tussentijds toetsje voordat je door mag naar het volgende onderwerp.
Heb je nog geen 70% goed? Dan oefen je verder en probeer je het daarna nog een keer.
Deze tussentijds toets telt niet mee voor een cijfer.
Tip over de adjectives:
The general order of adjectives is: opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, purpose.
While working on setting and scary elements, you've analyzed a part of Michael Jackson's song 'Thriller'. Now, you will watch and analyze the iconic music video, which first aired on MTV in 1983. Jackson invited director John Landis to direct it, because he liked his horror films.
'Thriller' is widely recognized as the most popular and influential music video of all time. It was the first time a music artist made a 14-minute short film to accompany one of their songs. In January 2009, the music video was the first music video named a national treasure in the National Film Registry of the American Library of Congress.
This music video changed the game: suddenly people realised that music video could be seen as a form of art as well, instead of just an accompaniment to a song. Besides this, journalist Phil Hebblethwaite says the video "dissolved racial barriers in MTV's treatment of music (though MTV has always denied they existed);" and it "spawned the "making of" genre of documentary" with the 'making of Thriller'.
While watching the video, make activity 1.
Then, makes activities 2 & 3. Rewatch (parts of) the video if you need to.
Activity 1 on 'Thriller': scary elements & setting
Write down the scary elements you notice in the video, that have to do with:
- sound
- smell
- sight
- other physical sensations
- setting
- the supernatural
Activity 2 on 'Thriller': narrative endings
- What type of narrative ending does 'Thriller' have?
Explain your answer in a couple sentences, you can do this in Dutch or English. Tip: reread the text on the six narrative endings under the heading 'Narrative Endings' on this website.
Activity 3 on 'Thriller': structure
In 2 to 3 sentences per structural element, summarize the structure of the video 'Thriller'.
Describe what happens in the:
exposition
rising action
climax
falling action
resolution
Michael Jackson - Thriller (Official 4K video)
Need help?
Building your story
Traditions in the short story
If you struggle with the story structure, you can find further explanation and examples on the structure of a short story here.
Want to find scary short stories to read as inspiration for your own short story, or just for fun?
Some writers who have written excellent scary short stories:
- Ambrose Bierce (see the link below)
- H.P. Lovecraft
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Shirley Jackson
- Roald Dahl (for example, from the bundle The Collected Short Stories of Roald Dahl (1991))
- Stephen King
- R.L. Stine
- Neil Gaiman
You can find many collections of short stories and other books in the online Gutenberg library. This online database gives you free access to many (older) literary works, of which the U.S. copyright has expired. You can read the texts online or download it as an eBook. Very handy when you want to browse through or read scary, short stories or other literary classics indeed...
Halloween stories
Here is a collection of scary short stories that include supernatural phenomena, named 'Halloween stories' by the author of the list because they are meant to get you into the Halloween spirit. The collection includes stories from several of the writers in the above mentioned list.
Extra explanation
Begrijp je de literaire termen die in deze lessen aan bod zijn gekomen nog niet helemaal?
Kijk dan de filmpjes hieronder, waarin het nog een keer, op een rustige manier, wordt uitgelegd.
De filmpjes gaan over de literaire termen:
- setting
- narratief perspectief (narrative perspective)
- narratieve eindes (narrative endings)
- ironie (irony)
- voorbodes (foreshadowing)
Setting explained
Narrative perspective/point of view explained (go to 3:34 min.).
Practice analysing this short story.
You can do one, two or all activies.
Done? Discuss your answers with a classmate who has also done the exercises, and/or ask your teacher for the answers.
Activity 1 on 'The Toll-House': structure Read these instructions before you start reading the story below.
- Download the Word document of 'The Toll-House' by W.W. Jacobs on your computer.
- Read the story, this should take you about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Use the highlight tool in Word to mark the different parts of the short story structure in the story.
- Make sure to write which color marks which part of the story structure.
Activity 2 on 'The Toll-House': narrative endings Write your answers to the questions below down.
- What type of ending does 'The Toll-House' have?
Explain your answer in a couple sentences, you can do this in Dutch or English. Tip: reread the text on the six narrative endings under the heading 'Narrative Endings' on this website.
Activity 3 on 'The Toll-House': adjectives
- in the Word document of the story, highlight at least six adjectives.
- Use the internet or a dictionary, find out what these adjectives mean.
- now replace these adjectives with other adjectives that you've thought of. These new ones can change the meaning of the sentence, or not. Your choice.
The Toll-House
by W.W. Jacobs
It's all nonsense," said Jack Barnes. "Of course people have died in the house; people die in every house. As for the noises--wind in the chimney and rats in the wainscot are very convincing to a nervous man. Give me another cup of tea, Meagle."
"Lester and White are first," said Meagle, who was presiding at the tea-table of the Three Feathers Inn. "You've had two."
Lester and White finished their cups with irritating slowness, pausing between sips to sniff the aroma, and to discover the sex and dates of arrival of the "strangers" which floated in some numbers in the beverage. Mr. Meagle served them to the brim, and then, turning to the grimly expectant Mr. Barnes, blandly requested him to ring for hot water.
"We'll try and keep your nerves in their present healthy condition," he remarked. "For my part I have a sort of half-and-half belief in the supernatural."
"All sensible people have," said Lester. "An aunt of mine saw a ghost once."
White nodded.
"I had an uncle that saw one," he said.
"It always is somebody else that sees them," said Barnes.
"Well, there is the house," said Meagle, "a large house at an absurdly low rent, and nobody will take it. It has taken toll of at least one life of every family that has lived there--however short the time--and since it has stood empty caretaker after caretaker has died there. The last caretaker died fifteen years ago."
"Exactly," said Barnes. "Long enough ago for legends to accumulate."
"I'll bet you a sovereign you won't spend the night there alone, for all your talk," said White suddenly.
"And I," said Lester.
"No," said Barnes slowly. "I don't believe in ghosts nor in any supernatural things whatever; all the same, I admit that I should not care to pass a night there alone."
"But why not?" inquired White.
"Wind in the chimney," said Meagle, with a grin.
"Rats in the wainscot," chimed in Lester.
"As you like," said Barnes, colouring.
"Suppose we all go?" said Meagle. "Start after supper, and get there about eleven? We have been walking for ten days now without an adventure--except Barnes's discovery that ditch-water smells longest. It will be a novelty, at any rate, and, if we break the spell by all surviving, the grateful owner ought to come down handsome."
"Let's see what the landlord has to say about it first," said Lester. "There is no fun in passing a night in an ordinary empty house. Let us make sure that it is haunted."
He rang the bell, and, sending for the landlord, appealed to him in the name of our common humanity not to let them waste a night watching in a house in which spectres and hobgoblins had no part. The reply was more than reassuring, and the landlord, after describing with considerable art the exact appearance of a head which had been seen hanging out of a window in the moonlight, wound up with a polite but urgent request that they would settle his bill before they went.
"It's all very well for you young gentlemen to have your fun," he said indulgently; "but, supposing as how you are all found dead in the morning, what about me? It ain't called the Toll-House for nothing, you know."
"Who died there last?" inquired Barnes, with an air of polite derision.
"A tramp," was the reply. "He went there for the sake of half-a-crown, and they found him next morning hanging from the balusters, dead."
"Suicide," said Barnes. "Unsound mind."
The landlord nodded. "That's what the jury brought it in," he said slowly; "but his mind was sound enough when he went in there. I'd known him, off and on, for years. I'm a poor man, but I wouldn't spend the night in that house for a hundred pounds."
He repeated this remark as they started on their expedition a few hours later. They left as the inn was closing for the night; bolts shot noisily behind them, and, as the regular customers trudged slowly homewards, they set off at a brisk pace in the direction of the house. Most of the cottages were already in darkness, and lights in others went out as they passed.
"It seems rather hard that we have got to lose a night's rest in order to convince Barnes of the existence of ghosts," said White.
"It's in a good cause," said Meagle. "A most worthy object; and something seems to tell me that we shall succeed. You didn't forget the candles, Lester?"
"I have brought two," was the reply; "all the old man could spare."
There was but little moon, and the night was cloudy. The road between high hedges was dark, and in one place, where it ran through a wood, so black that they twice stumbled in the uneven ground at the side of it.
"Fancy leaving our comfortable beds for this!" said White again. "Let me see; this desirable residential sepulchre lies to the right, doesn't it?"
"Farther on," said Meagle.
They walked on for some time in silence, broken only by White's tribute to the softness, the cleanliness, and the comfort of the bed which was receding farther and farther into the distance. Under Meagle's guidance they turned off at last to the right, and, after a walk of a quarter of a mile, saw the gates of the house before them.
The lodge was almost hidden by over-grown shrubs and the drive was choked with rank growths. Meagle leading, they pushed through it until the dark pile of the house loomed above them.
"There is a window at the back where we can get in, so the landlord says," said Lester, as they stood before the hall door.
"Window?" said Meagle. "Nonsense. Let's do the thing properly. Where's the knocker?"
He felt for it in the darkness and gave a thundering rat-tat-tat at the door.
"Don't play the fool," said Barnes crossly.
"Ghostly servants are all asleep," said Meagle gravely, "but I'll wake them up before I've done with them. It's scandalous keeping us out here in the dark."
He plied the knocker again, and the noise volleyed in the emptiness beyond. Then with a sudden exclamation he put out his hands and stumbled forward.
"Why, it was open all the time," he said, with an odd catch in his voice. "Come on."
"I don't believe it was open," said Lester, hanging back. "Somebody is playing us a trick."
"Nonsense," said Meagle sharply. "Give me a candle. Thanks. Who's got a match?"
Barnes produced a box and struck one, and Meagle, shielding the candle with his hand, led the way forward to the foot of the stairs. "Shut the door, somebody," he said; "there's too much draught."
"It is shut," said White, glancing behind him.
Meagle fingered his chin. "Who shut it?" he inquired, looking from one to the other. "Who came in last?"
"I did," said Lester, "but I don't remember shutting it--perhaps I did, though."
Meagle, about to speak, thought better of it, and, still carefully guarding the flame, began to explore the house, with the others close behind. Shadows danced on the walls and lurked in the corners as they proceeded. At the end of the passage they found a second staircase, and ascending it slowly gained the first floor.
"Careful!" said Meagle, as they gained the landing.
He held the candle forward and showed where the balusters had broken away. Then he peered curiously into the void beneath.
"This is where the tramp hanged himself, I suppose," he said thoughtfully.
"You've got an unwholesome mind," said White, as they walked on. "This place is quite creepy enough without you remembering that. Now let's find a comfortable room and have a little nip of whisky apiece and a pipe. How will this do?"
He opened a door at the end of the passage and revealed a small square room. Meagle led the way with the candle, and, first melting a drop or two of tallow, stuck it on the mantelpiece. The others seated themselves on the floor and watched pleasantly as White drew from his pocket a small bottle of whisky and a tin cup.
"H'm! I've forgotten the water," he exclaimed.
"I'll soon get some," said Meagle.
He tugged violently at the bell-handle, and the rusty jangling of a bell sounded from a distant kitchen. He rang again.
"Don't play the fool," said Barnes roughly.
Meagle laughed. "I only wanted to convince you," he said kindly. "There ought to be, at any rate, one ghost in the servants' hall."
Barnes held up his hand for silence.
"Yes?" said Meagle, with a grin at the other two. "Is anybody coming?"
"Suppose we drop this game and go back," said Barnes suddenly. "I don't believe in spirits, but nerves are outside anybody's command. You may laugh as you like, but it really seemed to me that I heard a door open below and steps on the stairs."
His voice was drowned in a roar of laughter.
"He is coming round," said Meagle, with a smirk. "By the time I have done with him he will be a confirmed believer. Well, who will go and get some water? Will, you, Barnes?"
"No," was the reply.
"If there is any it might not be safe to drink after all these years," said Lester. "We must do without it."
Meagle nodded, and taking a seat on the floor held out his hand for the cup. Pipes were lit, and the clean, wholesome smell of tobacco filled the room. White produced a pack of cards; talk and laughter rang through the room and died away reluctantly in distant corridors.
"Empty rooms always delude me into the belief that I possess a deep voice," said Meagle. "To-morrow I----"
He started up with a smothered exclamation as the light went out suddenly and something struck him on the head. The others sprang to their feet. Then Meagle laughed.
"It's the candle," he exclaimed. "I didn't stick it enough."
Barnes struck a match, and re-lighting the candle, stuck it on the mantelpiece, and sitting down took up his cards again.
"What was I going to say?" said Meagle. "Oh, I know; to-morrow I----"
"Listen!" said White, laying his hand on the other's sleeve. "Upon my word I really thought I heard a laugh."
"Look here!" said Barnes. "What do you say to going back? I've had enough of this. I keep fancying that I hear things too; sounds of something moving about in the passage outside. I know it's only fancy, but it's uncomfortable."
"You go if you want to," said Meagle, "and we will play dummy. Or you might ask the tramp to take your hand for you, as you go downstairs."
Barnes shivered and exclaimed angrily. He got up, and, walking to the half-closed door, listened.
"Go outside," said Meagle, winking at the other two. "I'll dare you to go down to the hall door and back by yourself."
Barnes came back, and, bending forward, lit his pipe at the candle.
"I am nervous, but rational," he said, blowing out a thin cloud of smoke. "My nerves tell me that there is something prowling up and down the long passage outside; my reason tells me that that is all nonsense. Where are my cards?"
He sat down again, and, taking up his hand, looked through it carefully and led.
"Your play, White," he said, after a pause.
White made no sign.
"Why, he is asleep," said Meagle. "Wake up, old man. Wake up and play."
Lester, who was sitting next to him, took the sleeping man by the arm and shook him, gently at first and then with some roughness but White, with his back against the wall and his head bowed, made no sign. Meagle bawled in his ear, and then turned a puzzled face to the others.
"He sleeps like the dead," he said, grimacing. "Well, there are still three of us to keep each other company."
"Yes," said Lester, nodding. "Unless-- Good Lord! suppose----"
He broke off, and eyed them, trembling.
"Suppose what?" inquired Meagle.
"Nothing," stammered Lester. "Let's wake him. Try him again. White! WHITE!"
"It's no good," said Meagle seriously; "there's something wrong about that sleep."
"That's what I meant," said Lester; "and if he goes to sleep like that, why shouldn't----"
Meagle sprang to his feet. "Nonsense," he said roughly. "He's tired out; that's all. Still, let's take him up and clear out. You take his legs and Barnes will lead the way with the candle. Yes? Who's that?"
He looked up quickly towards the door. "Thought I heard somebody tap," he said, with a shamefaced laugh. "Now, Lester, up with him. One, two-- Lester! Lester!"
He sprang forward too late; Lester, with his face buried in his arms, had rolled over on the floor fast asleep, and his utmost efforts failed to awake him.
"He--is--asleep," he stammered. "Asleep!"
Barnes, who had taken the candle from the mantelpiece, stood peering at the sleepers in silence and dropping tallow over the floor.
"We must get out of this," said Meagle. "Quick!"
Barnes hesitated. "We can't leave them here--" he began.
"We must," said Meagle, in strident tones. "If you go to sleep I shall go-- Quick! Come!"
He seized the other by the arm and strove to drag him to the door. Barnes shook him off, and, putting the candle back on the mantelpiece, tried again to arouse the sleepers.
"It's no good," he said at last, and, turning from them, watched Meagle. "Don't you go to sleep," he said anxiously.
Meagle shook his head, and they stood for some time in uneasy silence. "May as well shut the door," said Barnes at last.
He crossed over and closed it gently. Then at a scuffling noise behind him he turned and saw Meagle in a heap on the hearthstone.
With a sharp catch in his breath he stood motionless. Inside the room the candle, fluttering in the draught, showed dimly the grotesque attitudes of the sleepers. Beyond the door there seemed to his overwrought imagination a strange and stealthy unrest. He tried to whistle, but his lips were parched, and in a mechanical fashion he stooped, and began to pick up the cards which littered the floor.
He stopped once or twice and stood with bent head listening. The unrest outside seemed to increase; a loud creaking sounded from the stairs.
"Who is there?" he cried loudly.
The creaking ceased. He crossed to the door, and, flinging it open, strode out into the corridor. As he walked his fears left him suddenly.
"Come on!" he cried, with a low laugh. "All of you! All of you! Show your faces--your infernal ugly faces! Don't skulk!"
He laughed again and walked on; and the heap in the fireplace put out its head tortoise fashion and listened in horror to the retreating footsteps. Not until they had become inaudible in the distance did the listener's features relax.
"Good Lord, Lester, we've driven him mad," he said, in a frightened whisper. "We must go after him."
There was no reply. Meagle sprang to his feet.
"Do you hear?" he cried. "Stop your fooling now; this is serious. White! Lester! Do you hear?"
He bent and surveyed them in angry bewilderment. "All right," he said, in a trembling voice. "You won't frighten me, you know."
He turned away and walked with exaggerated carelessness in the direction of the door. He even went outside and peeped through the crack, but the sleepers did not stir. He glanced into the blackness behind, and then came hastily into the room again.
He stood for a few seconds regarding them. The stillness in the house was horrible; he could not even hear them breathe. With a sudden resolution he snatched the candle from the mantelpiece and held the flame to White's finger. Then as he reeled back stupefied, the footsteps again became audible.
He stood with the candle in his shaking hand, listening. He heard them ascending the farther staircase, but they stopped suddenly as he went to the door. He walked a little way along the passage, and they went scurrying down the stairs and then at a jog-trot along the corridor below. He went back to the main staircase, and they ceased again.
For a time he hung over the balusters, listening and trying to pierce the blackness below; then slowly, step by step, he made his way downstairs, and, holding the candle above his head, peered about him.
"Barnes!" he called. "Where are you?"
Shaking with fright, he made his way along the passage, and summoning up all his courage, pushed open doors and gazed fearfully into empty rooms. Then, quite suddenly, he heard the footsteps in front of him.
He followed slowly for fear of extinguishing the candle, until they led him at last into a vast bare kitchen, with damp walls and a broken floor. In front of him a door leading into an inside room had just closed. He ran towards it and flung it open, and a cold air blew out the candle. He stood aghast.
"Barnes!" he cried again. "Don't be afraid! It is I--Meagle!"
There was no answer. He stood gazing into the darkness, and all the time the idea of something close at hand watching was upon him. Then suddenly the steps broke out overhead again.
He drew back hastily, and passing through the kitchen groped his way along the narrow passages. He could now see better in the darkness, and finding himself at last at the foot of the staircase, began to ascend it noiselessly. He reached the landing just in time to see a figure disappear round the angle of a wall. Still careful to make no noise, he followed the sound of the steps until they led him to the top floor, and he cornered the chase at the end of a short passage.
"Barnes!" he whispered. "Barnes!"
Something stirred in the darkness. A small circular window at the end of the passage just softened the blackness and revealed the dim outlines of a motionless figure. Meagle, in place of advancing, stood almost as still as a sudden horrible doubt took possession of him. With his eyes fixed on the shape in front he fell back slowly, and, as it advanced upon him, burst into a terrible cry.
"Barnes! For God's sake! Is it you?"
The echoes of his voice left the air quivering, but the figure before him paid no heed. For a moment he tried to brace his courage up to endure its approach, then with a smothered cry he turned and fled.
The passages wound like a maze, and he threaded them blindly in a vain search for the stairs. If he could get down and open the hall door----
He caught his breath in a sob; the steps had begun again. At a lumbering trot they clattered up and down the bare passages, in and out, up and down, as though in search of him. He stood appalled, and then as they drew near entered a small room and stood behind the door as they rushed by. He came out and ran swiftly and noiselessly in the other direction, and in a moment the steps were after him. He found the long corridor and raced along it at top speed. The stairs he knew were at the end, and with the steps close behind he descended them in blind haste. The steps gained on him, and he shrank to the side to let them pass, still continuing his headlong flight. Then suddenly he seemed to slip off the earth into space.
Lester awoke in the morning to find the sunshine streaming into the room, and White sitting up and regarding with some perplexity a badly-blistered finger.
"Where are the others?" inquired Lester.
"Gone, I suppose," said White. "We must have been asleep."
Lester arose, and, stretching his stiffened limbs, dusted his clothes with his hands and went out into the corridor. White followed. At the noise of their approach a figure which had been lying asleep at the other end sat up and revealed the face of Barnes. "Why, I've been asleep," he said, in surprise. "I don't remember coming here. How did I get here?"
"Nice place to come for a nap," said Lester severely, as he pointed to the gap in the balusters. "Look there! Another yard and where would you have been?"
He walked carelessly to the edge and looked over. In response to his startled cry the others drew near, and all three stood staring at the dead man below.
Dit lesmateriaal is gepubliceerd onder de Creative Commons Naamsvermelding 4.0 Internationale licentie. Dit houdt in dat je onder de voorwaarde van naamsvermelding vrij bent om:
het werk te delen - te kopiëren, te verspreiden en door te geven via elk medium of bestandsformaat
het werk te bewerken - te remixen, te veranderen en afgeleide werken te maken
voor alle doeleinden, inclusief commerciële doeleinden.
Leeromgevingen die gebruik maken van LTI kunnen Wikiwijs arrangementen en toetsen afspelen en resultaten
terugkoppelen. Hiervoor moet de leeromgeving wel bij Wikiwijs aangemeld zijn. Wil je gebruik maken van de LTI
koppeling? Meld je aan via info@wikiwijs.nl met het verzoek om een LTI
koppeling aan te gaan.
Maak je al gebruik van LTI? Gebruik dan de onderstaande Launch URL’s.
Arrangement
Oefeningen en toetsen
Test your grip on short story structure
Test your grip on narrative endings
Test your grip on settings
Test your grip on adjectives
Test your grip on narrative perspective
IMSCC package
Wil je de Launch URL’s niet los kopiëren, maar in één keer downloaden? Download dan de IMSCC package.
Oefeningen en toetsen van dit arrangement kun je ook downloaden als QTI. Dit bestaat uit een ZIP bestand dat
alle
informatie bevat over de specifieke oefening of toets; volgorde van de vragen, afbeeldingen, te behalen
punten,
etc. Omgevingen met een QTI player kunnen QTI afspelen.
Wikiwijs lesmateriaal kan worden gebruikt in een externe leeromgeving. Er kunnen koppelingen worden gemaakt en
het lesmateriaal kan op verschillende manieren worden geëxporteerd. Meer informatie hierover kun je vinden op
onze Developers Wiki.
Leerdoelenschema PF1Y3 for students
