Analysis Questions (Deeper thinking)
How does Mary Shelley create a sense of fear and horror in this extract?
What does Victor’s reaction suggest about his feelings towards the creature?
Why do you think Shelley describes the moonlight as “dim and yellow”? What
mood does this create?
How does this moment reflect the theme of “science vs nature”?
What Gothic or horror conventions can you identify in this passage?
How does Shelley use language to show Victor’s physical and emotional
terror?
What role does setting (time of night, lighting, atmosphere) play in building
tension here?
‘THE LANDLADY’
Roald Dahl
Aim: To explore how Roald Dahl creates a chilling
atmosphere in the short story ‘The Landlady’
List 3 ways in which you could create a chilling
atmosphere if you were writing a story...
1.
2.
3.
Look at the following image of a normal
street...
Now write a paragraph about this
street to make it seem sinister.
What could you say about the street to
suggest that things are not quite how
they seem?
Do the same for this picture of an
innocent lady.
Write a descriptive paragraph about the lady which
suggests that she is not quite how she seems...
You should now have two paragraphs
describing the pictures.
Swap your jotter with a partner and highlight anything
which you feel they have done well to make the street/
lady seem sinister.
Be prepared to share your findings with the rest of the
class.
•Vocabulary notes
- A porter is someone whose job it is to carry people's luggage in stations. Porters were
common in the UK in 1959 but would not be seen today.
- A pub is a place where people go to drink and socialise. In the past, pubs often offered
simple accommodation too.
- one mile = 1.6km
- Chrysanthemums are a type of flower often chosen for funerals.
- A dachshund is a type of dog, also known as a sausage dog.
- A boarding house is a private house where you can pay to stay and have meals.
- Kippers are a type of smoked fish.
- L96 'a queer thing happened to him'. Here the word 'queer' is used in an old-fashioned
way, to mean 'strange or unusual’.
- a 'dame' is an old-fashioned word in American English to say 'a woman’
- a jack-in-the-box was a popular toy in 1950s Britain: children turned a handle on a small
box until a figure popped out suddenly, giving them a shock
- five [shillings] and sixpence relates to old money in Great Britain. Taking inflation into
account, the amount is less than £10 in today's money, which would be extremely cheap for
a room in a B&B.
The Landlady
Read lines 1-60 of ‘The Landlady’.
1. What are your first impressions of Billy
Weaver?
2. Describe why he has travelled to Bath.
3. What word is repeated to suggest that he
is young?
4. Why do you think that Roald Dahl places
such great emphasis on Billy’s youth?
- Cardiff and Bristol are other British cities, not that far from Bath.
- Dempsey and Tunny were famous boxers who fought each other in the 1920s; Churchill and Roosevelt were
British Prime Minister and US President during WWII [Billy's thinking of these famous pairings seems humorous
on the surface, but both pairs are associated with fighting and war, which hints at violence.]
- Eton is a historic, elite private school for boys in the south of England.
'a red flag' > a sign that something bad is happening or could happen.
Writers use foreshadowing to create
suspense and keep readers curious.
Find examples
Now read lines 60 - 118
Should Billy enter the B&B? Make a list of pros and cons
based on what may be going through Billy’s mind at this
stage in the story.
PROS CONS
Stop reading at line 384
Prediction:
Without reading on, predict how you think the story
will end.
Roald Dahl’s techniques
We will now take a look at Dahl’s writing techniques
and find examples throughout the short story.
- a Cambridge undergraduate is a student at Cambridge, one of the most prestigious
universities in the UK
- stuffed animals can be created using taxidermy, which is the art of preserving real
animals; in the UK, taxidermy was fairly common in the past, but today it is likely to
be thought of as old-fashioned or a bit strange
- bitter almonds is the taste of or smell given off by cyanide, a poisonous chemical
that can be deadly if swallowed.
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is the presentation in a story of hints and
clues that tip the reader off as to what is to come later in
the story.
The writer is giving you clues as to what will happen later
on in the story.
Find examples of foreshadowing
Highlight as many examples of foreshadowing as
possible in the ‘The Landlady’ and record them in a
table:
Example of foreshadowing What does this suggest may
(quote) happen?
HOTSEATING
Think of three questions you would like
to ask the Landlady and write them
down
Think of three questions you would like
to ask Billy Weaver and write them
down
Now- prepare for your hotseating
activity!
For example…
How long have you lived in this street?
Why are you so particular about who stays in your
B&B?
This will require role-play so if you are Billy or The
Landlady you will need to use your imagination!
Characterisation
Characterisation is the way in which a
writer creates a character.
APPEARANC PERSONALIT
E Y
RELATIONSHIPS
WITH OTHER
CHARACTERS
Dramatic Irony
Dramatic irony is when the reader knows something
that the main character does not.
It is when the writer gives us information that the
character could not possibly know.
Dramatic Irony and Billy Weaver
What does the
reader know that
Billy Weaver
does not?
•Learners write their story ending in ONE
paragraph.
•Display the finished paragraphs around the room.
•Allow learners to circulate and read the different
paragraphs.
•Have a class vote on which ending is:
- the funniest
- the cleverest
- the most disturbing.
