P e n g u i n R e a d e r s F a c t s h e e t s l e v e l

UPPERINTERMEDIATE

Outstanding Short Stories

S U M M A R Y

his excellent collection contains stories by seven ofthe very best authors of fiction in English between1850 and 1940.

In ‘The Model Millionaire’ by Oscar Wilde, an act ofg e n e rosity by Hughie, the penniless hero, is hugelyrewarded. ‘Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend’ by P GWodehouse, is a very funny account of a mutuallyadvantageous meeting between an elderly upper-classgentleman and a sharp-witted young girl. ‘The Doll’sHouse’ by Katherine Mansfield tells of what happenswhen three little girls are given a wonderful doll’s house.

Some of the stories are funny, some are sad, but all areoutstanding in some way.

H G Wells (1866–1946) started his working life as aschoolmaster but turned to writing in 1893. He is mainlyknown for his science fiction and fantastical stories but healso wrote novels of character and humour.

Oscar Wi l d e (1854–1900), born in Ireland, was acolourful character with an eccentric lifestyle. He was sentto prison in 1895 accused of homosexual corruption.Before this he had written many comedy plays, poemsand works of fiction.

P G Wodehouse (1881–1975) was a humorous novelist.His many novels showing entertaining characters inabsurd situations became internationally popular. Born inEngland, he became an American citizen in 1955.

Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923) was born in NewZealand, and went to London in 1903. She wrote severalcollections of short stories and is considered one of thegreat masters of this form of fiction.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809–49), an American writer, had ad i fficult life, beset by personal tragedy and alcoholproblems. He was one of the earliest writers to use theshort story form and wrote many chilling horror stories inthe romantic tradition. He is also recognized to be theinventor of the detective story.

Anthony Trollope (1815–1882) was a popular Englishwriter in his time, writing mainly about professional andmiddle-class life. His first, important series of novels wasabout church men in provincial England.

W Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) was a traveller,socialite and one of the most successful writers of shortstories of the 20th century, known for his simple narrative

style. He started to study medicine but gave it up for aliterary career, writing mainly plays to begin with butturning to short stories after a trip to the Far East.

These stories are all very different from each other in bothstyle and content, but each one is a first-rate example ofthe short story format. The writers are able in just a feww o rds to create unforgettable characters, import a n tthemes and powerful narratives. The collection spans thefirst century of short story writing in English.

In ‘The Man Who Could Work Miracles’ (1898), H GWells constructs a fantasy in which miracles re a l l yhappen. It is also a clever example of a ‘never-ending’story in which the end leads back to the beginning and thestory could start all over again.

In ‘The Model Millionaire’ (1907), Oscar Wilde paints agently ironic picture of the way in which money drivessociety. ‘It is better to have a permanent income than tobe interesting’, Wilde says at the start of the story.Through his character, Hughie, however, he shows us thatcharm and generosity can also pay large dividends. At thesame time, the irony is that money does after all buyhappiness.

’Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend’ is very funny but itshumour disguises its deeper themes. The aristocraticLord Emsworth, lives a rich, sheltered life on his countryestate, completely ignorant of how other people live. Hisproblem is that he feels powerless against his sister andhis gardener. Then he meets a person who is his exactopposite in every way – a young working class girl fromLondon – and, after a series of highly entert a i n i n gepisodes, learns to assert his authority. Thus we see how,when people from different worlds interact, they can learnmuch from each other.

Katherine Mansfield in ‘The Doll’s House’ (1922)explores the relationships between adults and children,and between children themselves when adult ideas aboutsocial class are imposed on them. Mansfield’s writing istypically poetic and delicate with strong visual images,while at the same time showing a profound understandingof human relationships and emotions. At the end of ‘TheDoll’s House’, we are left with a sense of disappointmentat the way in which people behave towards each other.

Although Edgar Allan Poe is known for his tales of horrorand mystery, ‘X-ing a Paragraph’ (1850) is a sharp satire

6

5

4

3

2

1

E

A B O U T T H E A U T H O R S

T

T e a c h e r ’s n o t e s

B A C K G R O U N D A N D T H E M E S

by Edgar Allan Poe and others

© Pearson Education 2000

P e n g u i n R e a d e r s F a c t s h e e t sl e v e l

5

on newspapers, their editors and the gullibility of theirreaders. The focus of Poe’s criticism seems to be the self-importance of editors.

‘The Courtship of Susan Bell’ (1860) traces thedevelopment of a relationship between a young womanand a young man. It shows how the narrow social rulesand restrictions of American middle class society in themid-19th century nearly suffocate the relationship. Thestory also shows the vulnerability of women at this period:without the father, the family of women live a sheltered,poor life.

The story of ‘Lord Mountdrago’ (1940) is aboutp s y c h i a t ry, the analysis of dreams and paranorm a lphenomena. The apparent suicide of a powerful politicianand the death of his enemy is told from the point of viewof a psychiatrist. The story poses interesting questions: isthere another world of the spirit beyond the materialworld? And do we have access to this world through ourdreams?

The following teacher-led activities cover the samesections of text as the exercises at the back of the reader,and supplement those exercises. For supplementaryexercises covering shorter sections of the book see thephotocopiable Student’s Activities pages of this Factsheet.These are primarily for use with class readers but, with theexception of discussion and pair/groupwork questions,can also be used by students working alone in a self-access centre.

ACTIVITIES BEFORE READING THE BOOKAsk students to work in pairs and discuss the type ofstories they like best. Ask them to read the Introductionand look at the Contents list in the book. They should tryto decide which story they would like to read first.

ACTIVITIES AFTER READING A SECTION‘The Man Who Could Work Miracles’Ask students individually to think of four miracles theywould like to perform. Then put them in pairs. Each pairmust choose the two miracles they like the best. Writeeach miracle on the board and have a vote on the mostpopular miracle.

‘The Model Millionaire’Ask students to write these words down the side of a grid:generous, wealthy, strange, popular, good-looking,heartless, charming, miserable, clever, useless, and thesenames along the top: Hughie, Alan, Baron Hausberg. Theyput ticks (✔) and crosses (✘) as appropriate. Then have aclass discussion. Students support their opinions byreferring to the story.

‘Lord Emsworth and the Girlfriend’Ask students to find a sentence or two of conversationand memorize it. Then ask students to work in groups offour or five. Each person says the conversation they havelearnt. Then the group puts the sentences in the orderthey come in the story.

‘The Doll’s House’Write these words on the board. Students check anymeanings. Then students work in small groups and

arrange the words in order of most to least important inthe story. Then have a class discussion.childhood, poverty, social class, cruelty, kindness, adults,education, crime, possessions, school, anger

‘X-ing a Paragraph’Put students into small groups. They check any meaningsof these words: fantasy, mystery, satire, humorous,realistic. Then they should discuss the followingquestions: What kind of story is this? What do you thinkled Poe to write this story?

‘The Courtship of Susan Bell’(Do this after students have done Pages 66-78, ex. 1 inthe Student’s Activities.) Put students into groups of four.Each person chooses one of the four characters andwrites a letter to a magazine asking for advice. Studentsthen exchange the letters and write suitable replies.

‘Lord Mountdrago’Students work in groups of three for this role play: DrAudlin has arranged a meeting with Lord Mountdrago andOwen Griffiths. Dr Audlin wants Lord Mountdrago toapologize.

ACTIVITIES AFTER READING THE BOOKStudents work in small groups. Each student chooses ashort part from their favourite story and reads it to the restof the group. The other members of the group must saywhich story it comes from.

It will be useful for your students to know the following new words.They are practised in the ‘Before You Read’sections of exercises atthe back of the book. (Definitions are based on those in the LongmanActive Study Dictionary.)

‘The Man Who Could Work Miracles’astonish (v) to surprise someone very much candle (n) a stick of wax that you burn to produce lightinn (n) a small hotel, especially one in the countrysidemiracle (n) an action or event that seems impossible and is thoughtto be caused by Godroar (v) to make a deep, very loud noise

‘The Model Millionaire’Baron (n) a man from a family with a high position in societycharm (n) the special quality someone has that makes people likethemmillionaire (n) someone who is very rich and has at least one milliondollars or poundsshare (n) one of the equal parts into which the ownership of acompany is dividedshilling (n) a unit of money used in the past in Britain; 20 shillings =one pound

‘Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend’fête (n) an outdoor event with games, competitions and things to buyladyship (n) a way of addressing a Lady, a woman of high socialpositionmisery (n) great unhappinessstraw (n) thin dried stems of wheattop hat (n) a tall hat with a flat top, worn by men in past times

‘The Doll’s House’doll (n) a toy that looks like a small child

‘X-ing a Paragraph’article (n) a piece of writing in a newspaper or magazineedit (v) to prepare an article or book by correcting mistakes

‘The Courtship of Susan Bell’bless (v) to ask God to protect someone or somethingcourtship (n) when a man and woman have a romantic relationship

‘Lord Mountdrago’psychoanalyst (n) someone who treats people who are mentally illby talking to them about their life and feelings

C o m m u n i c a t i v e a c t i v i t i e s

G l o s s a r y

T e a c h e r ’s n o t e s

P u b l i s h e d a n d d i s t r i b u t e d b y P e a r s o n E d u c a t i o nF a c t s h e e t w r i t t e n b y C a r o l y n W a l k e r

F a c t s h e e t s e r i e s d e v e l o p e d b y L o u i s e J a m e s© Pearson Education 2000

P e n g u i n R e a d e r s F a c t s h e e t s

1 Look at the Contents page in the book and find thenames of the authors. Write down what you alreadyknow about them. Then read the Introduction in thebook.

2 In what way are short stories different from novels?Talk to another student. Then find a sentence in theIntroduction which describes the main features of theshort story.

‘The Man Who Could Work Miracles’

Pages 1–6

1 Are these true or false? Write T or F and change thefalse sentences so that they are true.

(a) When Fotheringay performs his first miracle,there are four other people in the inn.

(b) Fotheringay holds the lamp upside down.

(c) Most people in the inn think Fotheringay is veryclever.

(d) After the shock of his first miracle, Fotheringaystarts to feel rather proud of his ability.

(e) He can perform any miracle he wants throughwillpower alone.

(f) Fotheringay chooses some exciting miracles toperform.

(g) Fotheringay does not want people to know abouthis new powers.

(h) He is delighted that he has made Mr Winchdisappear.

2 Mr Maydig is a priest. What will be his opinion aboutMr Fotheringay’s ability to perform miracles?

Pages 7–13

1 Find words and phrases from the story to completethis paragraph.

Mr Maydig thinks that Mr Fotheringay’s power is

(a) ..................................... . After performing some

small (b) ..................................... they start to do some

(c) ..................................... things. They start first with

their (d) ....................................., and then Fotheringay

cures Mrs Minchin of her (e) ........................................

problem. Then they start to (f) .....................................

all the wrongs in the world, thinking how (g) ...............

.................................... and (h) .....................................

everyone will be. When they run out of (i) ...................

..........................., Mr Maydig suggests that they stop

the (j) .................................... .

The result is (k) ..................................... and a terrible

(l) ..................................... .

2 Read the paragraph on page 8 which begins ‘And so,though it is hard to believe,...’ In the paragraph it says‘As a matter of fact the reader was killed.’ What doesthe writer mean? How is this possible? Note that thestory was written in 1898.

‘The Model Millionaire’

1 Match these sentence halves.

(a) Hughie Erskine is not very clever so

(b) Everyone likes Hughie because

(c) Hughie does not have any money so

(d) Hughie feels sorry for the beggar because

(e) Hughie gives the beggar almost all his money so

(f) Hughie is very sorry about what he has donebecause

(g) Baron Hausberg feels sorry for Hughie so

(i) the beggar is really a rich man.

(ii) he gives him ten thousand pounds.

(iii) he cannot make any money.

(iv) he is good-looking and charming.

(v) he cannot marry Laura.

(vi) he looks poor and miserable.

(vii) he has to walk home.

2 Who is more generous, Hughie or Baron Hausberg?Why?

‘Lord Emsworth and the Girlfriend’

Pages 20–27

1 Do these sentences give reasons why, at breakfast onAugust Bank Holiday, Lord Emsworth feels miserable?Write ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

(a) It is a beautiful day .

(b) It is the day of Blandings Parva Village Fête (or‘school treat’).

(c) He has to make a speech.

(d) He has to look like a gentleman.

(e) His park will be full of people.

(f) He has got fish for his breakfast.

(g) His sister tells him what he must do.

(h) His coffee is poisonous.

(i) A child from London was found picking hisflowers.

(j) Angus McAllister wants to make a path throughthe trees.

(k) His sister would also like a path through thetrees.

l e v e l

UPPERINTERMEDIATE

Outstanding Short Stories

6

5

4

3

2

1

E

PhotocopiableThese activities can be done alone or with one or moreother students. Pair/group-only activites are marked.

Activities before reading the book

Activities while reading the book

S t u d e n t ’ s a c t i v i t i e s

© Pearson Education 2000

P e n g u i n R e a d e r s F a c t s h e e t s

2 Make a list of the differences between Lord Emsworthand Gladys.

3 Find parts of their first conversation which show thatthey have difficulty understanding each other.

Pages 27–38

Work with another student. Act out this conversation.

Lady Constance tells Ern that he must behave well at thefête. Ern pretends to be a dog and bites Lady Constancein the leg. Lady Constance is very angry and says hecannot come to the fête at all.

‘The Doll’s House’

1 What things in this story are:

(a) green, (b) white, (c) yellow, (d) red, (e) gold?

2 The writer mentions colours often in her descriptions.Why does she do this? What effect does it have?Discuss your ideas with a partner.

3 What is your opinion of the ending of this story? Is itgood? Why or why not? Discuss your ideas with apartner.

4 Write a different ending for the story. Begin from thesentence on page 45 which ends ‘... she shut thedoll’s house noisily.’

‘X-ing a Paragraph’

1 Do these sentences contain fact or possibility? Writep or f (or both)

(a) Mr Bullet-head made a mistake in going toNopolis.

(b) Mr Bullet-head’s first article about the Daily Newseditor showed a bad style of writing.

(c) The missing Os were taken by a man from theDaily News.

(d) Bob understood that he was to fight the peoplein the Daily News office.

(e) People were angry at first about the strangearticle.

(f) Mr Bullet-head behaved like this because he wasdrunk.

(g) Mr Bullet-head disappeared because he wasashamed of the X-ed article.

2 Look up the meaning of these words in a dictionary:

(i) pun

(ii) exaggeration

(iii) to ridicule

(iv) ironic and sarcastic

Can you find examples of these things in the story?Compare your answers with another student.

‘The Courtship of Susan Bell’Pages 53–65

1 Who says the following, and who or what do thewords in bold refer to?

(a) ‘There, ... show her my card.’

(b) ‘I am surprised that mother agreed to take him.’

(c) ‘I don’t think they would have done me muchgood.’

(d) ‘I cannot let Susan take that from you.’

(e) ‘I beg your pardon for what I did just now.’

(f) ‘Isn’t it beautifully done, Mother?’

Pages 66–78

1 What problems are faced by each of these people inthe story?

(a) Mrs Bell

(b) Hetta

(c) Susan

(d) Aaron

‘Lord Mountdrago’

Pages 79–89

1 Try not to look at the story again. Which of thesewords and phrases describe:

(a) Dr Audlin

(b) Lord Mountdrago

(c) both of them

good-looking; strange powers; rude; heavy; tired paleblue eyes; large soft firm hands; forty-two; apsychiatrist; rich; impatient; successful; well-known; apolitician; thin; courageous; about fifty; soft musicalvoice; very proud; a pale deeply lined face; unpopular;sometimes charming; dark clothes; married; grey hair.

2 Why is Lord Mountdrago so worried about hisdreams?

3 How do you think the story will end? Talk to anotherstudent.

Pages 90–98

1 Answer these questions.

(a) How does Lord Mountdrago think he can solvehis problem?

(b) What is Dr Audlin’s solution?

(c) Why do you think Lord Mountdrago will notapologize to Griffiths?

(d) What reasons are given by the newspaper for thetwo deaths?

2 Talk to another student.

Of all the possible reasons for the two deaths,including Dr Audlin’s, which do you prefer?

Which of these stories did you enjoy the most and why?Which did you like the least? Discuss your opinions witha partner or write a paragraph.

l e v e l

5

P u b l i s h e d a n d d i s t r i b u t e d b y P e a r s o n E d u c a t i o nF a c t s h e e t w r i t t e n b y C a r o l y n W a l k e r

F a c t s h e e t s e r i e s d e v e l o p e d b y L o u i s e J a m e s

Activities after reading the book

S t u d e n t ’ s a c t i v i t i e s

© Pearson Education 2000