Reported Speech

We are going to do some brief revision of Reported Speech, which I'm sure you've studied before. Just to brush it up, have a look at this video:

Read these comments about The Black Cat, taken from GoodReads.com

1) Report them, using a variety of reporting verbs.

a. Sonia: 'In this story, the readers can imagine themselves in the character's place and can almost feel the pain and fear inside.'

b. Ellen: 'Very disappointing to see this kind of torture in something that is considered classic horror literature.'

c. Sarah: 'The narrator's attitude after killing his wife reminds me of he attitude of the narrator in Tell Tale Heart after killing the old man .'

d. Jeff: 'I was not impressed with this book, I wasn't able to follow the plot and it was very uninteresting.'

e. Matt: 'Pretty sure there's not an ounce of real terror anywhere in this story. Funny stuff!!'

f. Elise: 'I was highly disturbed by it, but I guess that's the point.'

g. Jessica: 'I love my two pet cats and what happened in this story made me feel ill.'

2) Do you agree/disagree with any of the comments? Why (not)?

Please send your answers by e-mail (mmasuyama.nes@gmail.com)

Back to Poe

I was told that you read Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat. With that in mind, I found a very interesting comic version of the story. Have a look (I suggest that you fullscreen for a better view):

Edgar Allan Poe's THE BLACK CAT by Bernie Wrightson & Archie Goodwin
What do you think about the version?
Do you think looking at the pictures helps you understand the story?
Is it how you had pictured it?
Do you know of any other artwork inspired by the story?

Write your answers in a comment below.

Fever Pitch

In the previous post, you read an extract from Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch. The book was later turned into a film (or two films really, a British version, which is quite close to the book, and an American version, which is a loose adaptation). We are going to watch the last scenes from the film:

1) Which of the people in the video do you think represents the author?

2) Compare the two men's attitudes towards the match.

3) Research on the Internet the Liverpool vs Arsenal Final (1989). Why was this game so important/memorable?

4) What was the most memorable football match (or any other sports event) you remember? Why? What do you remember about it?

Please write your answers in a comment below.

The Sugar Mouse Ritual

Remember that a couple of weeks ago we talked about superstitions in sport? The following text is an adapted extract from Nick Hornby's novel, Fever Pitch. The novel is autobiographical, and it revolves around the author's (and his friends') relationship with football, and especially with Arsenal, his favourite team. Each 'chapter' focuses on a different football match. Here's the one that I have chosen:

SUGAR MICE AND BUZZCOCKS ALBUMS

CAMBRIDGE UNITED v ORIENT

4.11.78

What happened was, Chris Roberts bought a sugar mouse from Jack Reynolds, bit its head off, dropped it in the Newmarket Road before he could get started on the body, and it got run over by a car. And that afternoon Cambridge United, who had hitherto been finding life difficult in the Second Division (two wins all season, one home, one away), beat Orient 3-1, and a ritual was born. Before each home game we all of us trooped into the sweet shop, purchased our mice, walked outside, bit the head off as though we were removing the pin from a grenade, and tossed the torsos under the wheels of oncoming cars; Jack Reynolds would stand in the doorway watching us, shaking his head sorrowfully. United, thus protected, remained unbeaten at the Abbey for months.
I know that I am particularly stupid about rituals, and have been ever since I started going to football matches, and I know also that I am not alone. I can remember when I was young having to take with me to Highbury a piece of putty, or blu-tack, or some stupid thing, which I pulled on nervously all afternoon (I was a smoker even before I was old enough to smoke); I can also remember having to buy a programme from the same programme seller, and having to enter the stadium through the same turnstile.

There have been hundreds of similar bits of nonsense, all designed to guarantee victories for one or other of my two teams. During Arsenal’s protracted and nerve-racking semi-final campaign against Liverpool in 1980, I turned the radio off half-way through the second half of the last game; Arsenal were winning 1-0, and as Liverpool had equalised in the last seconds of the previous game, I couldn’t bear to hear it through to the end. I played a Buzzcocks album instead (the Singles – Going Steady compilation album), knowing that side one would take me through to the final whistle. We won the match, and I insisted that my flatmate, who worked in a record store, should play the album at twenty past four on Cup Final afternoon, although it did no good. (I have my suspicions that he might have forgotten.)

I have tried “smoking” goals in (Arsenal once scored as three of us were lighting cigarettes), and eating cheese-and-onion crisps at a certain point in the first half; I have tried not setting the video for live games (the team seems to have suffered badly in the past when I have taped the matches in order to study the performance when I get home); I have tried lucky socks, and lucky shirts, and lucky hats, and lucky friends, and have attempted to exclude others who I feel bring with them nothing but trouble for the team.

Nothing (apart from the sugar mice) has ever been any good. But what else can we do when we’re so weak! We invest hours each day, months each year, years each lifetime in something over which we have no control; is it any wonder then, that we are reduced to creating ingenious but bizarre liturgies designed to give us the illusion that we are powerful after all, just as every other primitive community has done when faced with a deep and apparently impenetrable mystery?

 

1) Name at least 5 rituals mentioned in the text. Which has been the most successful?

 

2) How did the 'sugar mouse ritual' originate?

3) How did the 'Buzzcocks' ritual start? Why does the writer think didn't it work in the Finals?

4) What does the writer mean when he talks about 'smoking goals in'? What about 'lucky friends'?

5) Analyse the idea of 'power' in the last paragraph.

6) Find an expression in the text that means...

a. until now or until a particular time (paragraph 1)

b. sadly (paragraph 1)

c. an idea, something said or written, or behaviour that is silly or stupid (paragraph 3)

d. something that is difficult to do and causes a lot of worry for the person involved in it (paragraph 3)

e. a rite, a particular set of words, music and actions used in ceremonies in some religions (paragraph 5)

Please hand in your assignment by e-mail (mmasuyama.nes@gmail.com)

Narrative Tenses

I've been told that you have been or will be working with urban myths and superstitions. Today, we will have a look at a ghost story called "La Mala Hora". Have you ever heard of it?

And also we are going to start revising narrative tenses. Consider the opening paragraph:

My friend Isabela called me one evening before dinner. She was sobbing as she told me that she and her husband Enrique were getting divorced. He had moved out of the house earlier that day and Isabela was distraught.

1. Name the three tenses used in the introduction.

2. Why are they used?

I'm sure that, by now, you are very familiar with Past Simple. If not, feel free to watch this video.

Let's have a look at the two other major narrative tenses, in contrast with Past Simple:

3. Are the explanations clear? Do you find the examples helpful?

4. Now, going back to "La Mala Hora", read the rest of the story and put the verbs in the right tense.

My friend Isabela called me one evening before dinner. She was sobbing as she told me that she and her husband Enrique were getting divorced. He had moved out of the house earlier that day and Isabela was distraught.

I _________ (call) my husband, who was on a business trip in Chicago, and he agreed that I should go stay with Isabela for a few days to help her during this difficult time. I _________ (pack) a small suitcase and got right into the car. It was late, and it would take me at least four hours to drive from my home to Sante Fe. Isabela _________ (expect) me to arrive around midnight.

As I _________ (travel) down the dark, wet highway, I kept feeling chills, as if someone or something _________ (watch) me. I kept looking in the rear view mirror, and glancing into the back seat. No one was there. 'Don't be ridiculous', I told myself, wishing fervently that I was home in my bed instead of driving on a dark, rainy highway. There was almost no traffic, and I heartily wished that I would soon reach Sante Fe.

I turned off the highway just before I reached the city, and started down the side roads that led to Isabela's house. As I approached a small crossroads, I _________ (see) a woman step into the street directly in front of my car. I shrieked in fright and slammed on my brakes, praying I would miss her.

The car shuddered to a halt, and I looked frantically around for the woman. Then I saw her, right beside my window; she _________ (look) in at me. She _________ (have) the face of a demon, twisted, eyes glowing red, and short pointed teeth. I screamed as she leapt at my window, her clawed hands striking the glass. I _________ (put) my foot down on the accelerator and the car leapt forward. For a few terrible moments, she ran along side the car, keeping up easily and striking at me again and again. Then she fell behind and in the rear view mirror I saw her growing taller and taller, until she was as large as a tree. Red light swirled around her like mist, and she pointed after me, her mouth moving though I could not make out the words. I jerked my attention back to the road, afraid what might happen to me if my car ran off the street.

I _________ (make) it to Isabela's house in record time and flung myself out of the car, pounding on her door frantically and looking behind me to see if the demon-faced woman _________ (follow) me. Isabela came running to the door and let me in.

"Shut the door! Shut it!" I cried frantically, brushing past her into the safety of the house.

"Jane, what is wrong?" she asked, slamming the door shut. She _________ (grab) my hand and led me into the living room. I sank onto the couch and started sobbing in fear and reaction. After several minutes, I managed to gasp out my story. Isabela _________ (gasp) and said: "Are you sure you were at a crossroads when you saw her?"

I nodded, puzzled by her question.

"It must have been La malhora," Isabela said, wringing her hands.

"The bad hour?" I asked.

"This is bad, Jane. Very bad," Isabela cried. "La Malhora only appears at a crossroads when someone is going to die."

Ordinarily, I would have laughed at such a superstition, but the appearance of the demon-woman _________ (shake) me. Isabela got me a cup of hot cocoa, brought my luggage in from the car, and sent me to bed. She was so concerned for me that she _________ (not/mention)  the divorce or Enrique.

I felt much better the next morning, but I _________ (can/not) shake the feeling of dread that grew within me all day. Neither of us mentioned La Malhora, but we _________ (both/think) of her when I told Isabela that I wanted to go home. Isabela insisted on accompanying me. I flatly refused to drive after dark. I was afraid I would see the demon-woman again when I passed the crossroads.

We left the next morning, and we _________ (not/be) home more than twenty minutes when a police car pulled into my driveway. I _________ (know) at once what it meant, and so did Isabella.

The officers spoke very gently to me, but nothing could soften the news. My husband had been mugged on the way back to his hotel after dinner last night. His body _________ (not be) found until this morning. He had been shot in the head and was killed instantly.

Finally, you know that it's important to use a wide range of dramatic verbs to make the story more vivid. For example, 'sob' in paragraph 1 is much more dramatic than, say, 'cry', although both of them share a similar meaning.


5) Look up these dramatic verbs in a dictionary. Write the definition and an example -from the dictionary or one of your own:

glance
step
shriek
slam
shudder 
scream
leap
jerk
pound
gasp 

Please hand in your assignment by e-mail (mmasuyama.nes@gmail.com)

Symbolism

As you may have noticed, the other day Victoria shared a link with us. It's a reading of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven, his most popular poem. Feel free to watch it. Interestingly, today I talked to Andrea, who told me you might be working with this poem in the future. She suggested working on symbolism.

So, I'd like you to search the web for different possible interpretations of birds as symbols, especially in connection to death. You will find that different species represent a variety of things, so there isn't only one right answer. Finally, make sure you find out what ravens symbolise for different cultures in literature and myth.

Write your answers in a comment below.

The Mystery of the 'Poe Toaster'

You may remember from the listening we did last week that 2009 was the 200th anniversary of the Edgar Allan Poe's birth. In close connection to this, I'd like to share an article that I stumbled upon. It deals with one of Poe's hardcore fans, who used to visit the author's grave every year:

Mystery as Edgar Allan Poe's famously dedicated fan misses anniversary

Enigmatic 'Poe toaster' who has marked the author's birth for the last 60 years failed to show up for yesterday's celebration

• Alison Flood
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 20 January 2010 15.05 GMT

Cynthia Pelayo, of Chicago, leaves roses and cognac at Edgar Allen Poe's grave, after the mysterious individual who has been doing so for the last 60 years failed to appear. Photograph: Gail Burton/AP

Edgar Allan Poe would have turned 201 yesterday, but the mysterious stranger who has marked the birth of the author for the last 60 years failed to show up at his grave.
Every year since 1949, the stranger – known locally as the Poe Toaster – has left three roses and a half-bottle of cognac on Poe's grave in Baltimore on his birthday. The roses are believed to represent the three bodies buried beneath the monument – Poe, his mother-in-law and his wife Virginia; the significance of the cognac is not known.
But this year, as around 30 fans – one of whom had flown in from Chicago – waited all night in the cemetery for the visitor to show, he failed to appear. He usually leaves his gifts between midnight and 5.30 am. "I was very annoyed. I've been doing this since 1977, and there was no indication he wasn't going to show up," Jeff Jerome, curator of the Poe House and Museum, told local paper the Baltimore Sun. "Everyone was very sad, but there was still a feeling of goodwill. We were there, and we paid our respects to Edgar." The fans occupied themselves instead by reading aloud from Poe's writings throughout the night.
One theory as to why he failed to show up this year is that 2009 marked the bicentennial of Poe's birth. "If it was going to end, that would be the perfect time to end it," said Jerome. "Everybody has their theories about what happened. Somebody said, 'Maybe he just has the flu.'"
Baltimore Sun writer Mary McCauley was even inspired to write a poem, based on Poe's "The Raven", by the stranger's absence. "Once upon a midnight dreary Long we waited, weak and weary, / To see the quaint and curious Poe toaster who has come before. / 'Come dark visitor,' we chattered, 'Leave us not with hopes a-tattered. / Lay cognac on the gravesite floor.' Though the wind took up our sighing, / No answer came back to our crying: Is a grand tradition dying? / Will you haunt us nevermore?" she wrote, calling the poem "The Raving".
The Poe Toaster might not have paid tribute to Poe, but the author's birth was also marked yesterday by the Mystery Writers of America's release of the shortlists for the 2010 Edgar Allan Poe awards, honouring the best in mystery writing. Tim Gautreaux's The Missing, set in the Southern badlands, Kathleen George's The Odds – her fourth novel featuring Pittsburgh homicide chief Richard Christie – and Norwegian author Jo Nesbo's Nemesis, about the latest investigation of Detective Harry Hole, are all up for the best novel award. The winner will be announced on 29 April in New York.

© 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

Discuss the following questions:

1) Who was the 'Poe Toaster'? What did he do every year?
2) How did the fans feel when he didn't turn up? What did they spend the night doing?
3) What do people believe happened to the Poe Toaster?
4) What is 'The Raving'? What was it inspired by?


Search the web:

5) What happened to the Poe Toaster? Was he seen the following years? If not, what do you think happened to him?

Please send your answers by e-mail (mmasuyama.nes@gmail.com)

The Tell-Tale Heart

Watch these adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart.

 

 

   

1) Which version, in your opinion, is the closest to the original story?
2) Which version did you like best?
3) Choose one version, and discuss
- What part of the story is best illustrated by the film?
- What part of the story would you change, or portray differently?
- Is any scene irrelevant?
- Is any scene missing?

Write your answers in a comment below.

Edgar Allan Poe

I've been told that you have been and will be working with some of Edgar Allan Poe's stories, so I thought it would be useful to find out about his life and works.

The following is a listening comprehension activity. Listen to a radio programme about the writer, and complete the following tasks. Please send your answers by e-mail (mmasuyama.nes@gmail.com)

 Edgar Allan Poe by mmasuyama


1) Answer the questions:

a. What was his full name?

b. When and where was he born?

c. What happened to his parents?

d. What was he addicted to?

e. Who did he marry?

2) Complete the paragraph:

Edgar Allan Poe did something unusual for writers of his time: he used a _____________ in a story to describe what was happening. A good example is the short story "The Tell-Tale Heart."
The narrator claims that he is not _____________ , yet reveals that he is a murderer. He has killed an old man for no apparent reason. He cuts up the body and hides the parts under the floorboards of the _____________ 's house.
Police officers arrive after getting reports of noises from the house. The murderer shows them around the house and is proud of the way he has hidden all the _____________ . But he begins to hear a _____________ . The others in the room cannot hear it.

3) Poe was also known for his detective stories. Which famous writer said this about him?

Each may find some little development of his own, but his main art must trace back to those admirable stories of Monsieur Dupin, so wonderful in their masterful force, their reticence, their quick dramatic point.

4) According to Jeff Jerome, Poe's work has had great influence. Name some examples.

5) How did Poe die? Mention three hypotheses.