QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Which toy did Andy select to take to college?
2. What was the name of the daycare where the toys ended up?
3. What was the name of the toy leader at the daycare?
4. What was the name of the little girl who took Woody home?
5. Lotso got Buzz to join his side at one point. How did he do that?
6. When Woody, still at the little girl's house, found out that the daycare was a bad place for toys, he decided to go back and rescue his friends. How did he get back?
7. What kind of animal toy watched the televisions in the security room?
8. What accidently happened to Buzz when Andy's toys were trying to get him back to normal?
9. While the toys were escaping inside, Mr. Potato Head had escaped from the box, but without his body. What type of food did the the toys give Mr. Potato Head to put his parts on?
10. After going down the garbage chute, Andy's toys were confronted by Lotso and his gang. Lotso and most of Andy's toys end up in the dumpster. Which of the toys from Andy's house stayed behind at the daycare?
11. While in the dumpster, what fell on Buzz, that helped him regain his memory?
12. At the landfill, the toys ended up on a conveyor belt and, even though Lotso had a chance to save them, he did not. So the toys ended up in an incinerator. What saved them?
13. What happened to Lotso at the end of the movie?
14. To get back to Andy's house, the toy's rode in the garbage truck that stopped at his house.
True
False
15. At the end of the movie, what did Andy do with his toys?
miércoles, 15 de septiembre de 2010
martes, 7 de septiembre de 2010
TOY STORY 3
We have seen TOY STORY 3 and this week we are working on the activities concerning the plot of film.
TOY STORY 3
The toys are mistakenly delivered to a day-care center instead of the attic right before Andy leaves for college, and it's up to Woody to convince the other toys that they weren't abandoned and to return home.
TOY STORY 3
The toys are mistakenly delivered to a day-care center instead of the attic right before Andy leaves for college, and it's up to Woody to convince the other toys that they weren't abandoned and to return home.
COMING SOON...
THE CANTERBURY TALES
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales (mostly in verse, although some are in prose) are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. In a long list of works, including "Troilus and Criseyde", "House of Fame", "Parliament of Fowls", the Canterbury Tales was Chaucer's magnum opus. He uses the tales and the descriptions of the characters to paint an ironic and critical portrait of English society at the time, and particularly of the Church. Structurally, the collection bears the influence of The Decameron, which Chaucer is said to have come across during his first diplomatic mission to Italy in 1372. However, Chaucer peoples his tales with 'sondry folk' rather than Boccaccio's fleeing nobles.
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales (mostly in verse, although some are in prose) are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. In a long list of works, including "Troilus and Criseyde", "House of Fame", "Parliament of Fowls", the Canterbury Tales was Chaucer's magnum opus. He uses the tales and the descriptions of the characters to paint an ironic and critical portrait of English society at the time, and particularly of the Church. Structurally, the collection bears the influence of The Decameron, which Chaucer is said to have come across during his first diplomatic mission to Italy in 1372. However, Chaucer peoples his tales with 'sondry folk' rather than Boccaccio's fleeing nobles.
COMING SOON...
We will be reading "A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM" this month...
Plot Overview
T HESEUS, DUKE OF ATHENS, is preparing for his marriage to Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, with a four-day festival of pomp and entertainment. He commissions his Master of the Revels, Philostrate, to find suitable amusements for the occasion. Egeus, an Athenian nobleman, marches into Theseus’s court with his daughter, Hermia, and two young men, Demetrius and Lysander. Egeus wishes Hermia to marry Demetrius (who loves Hermia), but Hermia is in love with Lysander and refuses to comply. Egeus asks for the full penalty of law to fall on Hermia’s head if she flouts her father’s will. Theseus gives Hermia until his wedding to consider her options, warning her that disobeying her father’s wishes could result in her being sent to a convent or even executed. Nonetheless, Hermia and Lysander plan to escape Athens the following night and marry in the house of Lysander’s aunt, some seven leagues distant from the city. They make their intentions known to Hermia’s friend Helena, who was once engaged to Demetrius and still loves him even though he jilted her after meeting Hermia. Hoping to regain his love, Helena tells Demetrius of the elopement that Hermia and Lysander have planned. At the appointed time, Demetrius stalks into the woods after his intended bride and her lover; Helena follows behind him.
In these same woods are two very different groups of characters. The first is a band of fairies, including Oberon, the fairy king, and Titania, his queen, who has recently returned from India to bless the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. The second is a band of Athenian craftsmen rehearsing a play that they hope to perform for the duke and his bride. Oberon and Titania are at odds over a young Indian prince given to Titania by the prince’s mother; the boy is so beautiful that Oberon wishes to make him a knight, but Titania refuses. Seeking revenge, Oberon sends his merry servant, Puck, to acquire a magical flower, the juice of which can be spread over a sleeping person’s eyelids to make that person fall in love with the first thing he or she sees upon waking. Puck obtains the flower, and Oberon tells him of his plan to spread its juice on the sleeping Titania’s eyelids. Having seen Demetrius act cruelly toward Helena, he orders Puck to spread some of the juice on the eyelids of the young Athenian man. Puck encounters Lysander and Hermia; thinking that Lysander is the Athenian of whom Oberon spoke, Puck afflicts him with the love potion. Lysander happens to see Helena upon awaking and falls deeply in love with her, abandoning Hermia. As the night progresses and Puck attempts to undo his mistake, both Lysander and Demetrius end up in love with Helena, who believes that they are mocking her. Hermia becomes so jealous that she tries to challenge Helena to a fight. Demetrius and Lysander nearly do fight over Helena’s love, but Puck confuses them by mimicking their voices, leading them apart until they are lost separately in the forest.
When Titania wakes, the first creature she sees is Bottom, the most ridiculous of the Athenian craftsmen, whose head Puck has mockingly transformed into that of an ass. Titania passes a ludicrous interlude doting on the ass-headed weaver. Eventually, Oberon obtains the Indian boy, Puck spreads the love potion on Lysander’s eyelids, and by morning all is well. Theseus and Hippolyta discover the sleeping lovers in the forest and take them back to Athens to be married—Demetrius now loves Helena, and Lysander now loves Hermia. After the group wedding, the lovers watch Bottom and his fellow craftsmen perform their play, a fumbling, hilarious version of the story of Pyramus and Thisbe. When the play is completed, the lovers go to bed; the fairies briefly emerge to bless the sleeping couples with a protective charm and then disappear. Only Puck remains, to ask the audience for its forgiveness and approval and to urge it to remember the play as though it had all been a dream.
Character List
Puck - Also known as Robin Goodfellow, Puck is Oberon’s jester, a mischievous fairy who delights in playing pranks on mortals. Though A Midsummer Night’s Dream divides its action between several groups of characters, Puck is the closest thing the play has to a protagonist. His enchanting, mischievous spirit pervades the atmosphere, and his antics are responsible for many of the complications that propel the other main plots: he mistakes the young Athenians, applying the love potion to Lysander instead of Demetrius, thereby causing chaos within the group of young lovers; he also transforms Bottom’s head into that of an ass.
Read an in-depth analysis of Puck.
Oberon - The king of the fairies, Oberon is initially at odds with his wife, Titania, because she refuses to relinquish control of a young Indian prince whom he wants for a knight. Oberon’s desire for revenge on Titania leads him to send Puck to obtain the love-potion flower that creates so much of the play’s confusion and farce.
Titania - The beautiful queen of the fairies, Titania resists the attempts of her husband, Oberon, to make a knight of the young Indian prince that she has been given. Titania’s brief, potion-induced love for Nick Bottom, whose head Puck has transformed into that of an ass, yields the play’s foremost example of the contrast motif.
Lysander - A young man of Athens, in love with Hermia. Lysander’s relationship with Hermia invokes the theme of love’s difficulty: he cannot marry her openly because Egeus, her father, wishes her to wed Demetrius; when Lysander and Hermia run away into the forest, Lysander becomes the victim of misapplied magic and wakes up in love with Helena.
Demetrius - A young man of Athens, initially in love with Hermia and ultimately in love with Helena. Demetrius’s obstinate pursuit of Hermia throws love out of balance among the quartet of Athenian youths and precludes a symmetrical two-couple arrangement.
Hermia - Egeus’s daughter, a young woman of Athens. Hermia is in love with Lysander and is a childhood friend of Helena. As a result of the fairies’ mischief with Oberon’s love potion, both Lysander and Demetrius suddenly fall in love with Helena. Self-conscious about her short stature, Hermia suspects that Helena has wooed the men with her height. By morning, however, Puck has sorted matters out with the love potion, and Lysander’s love for Hermia is restored.
Helena - A young woman of Athens, in love with Demetrius. Demetrius and Helena were once betrothed, but when Demetrius met Helena’s friend Hermia, he fell in love with her and abandoned Helena. Lacking confidence in her looks, Helena thinks that Demetrius and Lysander are mocking her when the fairies’ mischief causes them to fall in love with her.
Read an in-depth analysis of Helena.
Egeus - Hermia’s father, who brings a complaint against his daughter to Theseus: Egeus has given Demetrius permission to marry Hermia, but Hermia, in love with Lysander, refuses to marry Demetrius. Egeus’s severe insistence that Hermia either respect his wishes or be held accountable to Athenian law places him squarely outside the whimsical dream realm of the forest.
Theseus - The heroic duke of Athens, engaged to Hippolyta. Theseus represents power and order throughout the play. He appears only at the beginning and end of the story, removed from the dreamlike events of the forest.
Hippolyta - The legendary queen of the Amazons, engaged to Theseus. Like Theseus, she symbolizes order.
Nick Bottom - The overconfident weaver chosen to play Pyramus in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Bottom is full of advice and self-confidence but frequently makes silly mistakes and misuses language. His simultaneous nonchalance about the beautiful Titania’s sudden love for him and unawareness of the fact that Puck has transformed his head into that of an ass mark the pinnacle of his foolish arrogance.
Read an in-depth analysis of Nick Bottom.
Peter Quince - A carpenter and the nominal leader of the craftsmen’s attempt to put on a play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Quince is often shoved aside by the abundantly confident Bottom. During the craftsmen’s play, Quince plays the Prologue.
Francis Flute - The bellows-mender chosen to play Thisbe in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Forced to play a young girl in love, the bearded craftsman determines to speak his lines in a high, squeaky voice.
Robin Starveling - The tailor chosen to play Thisbe’s mother in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. He ends up playing the part of Moonshine.
Tom Snout - The tinker chosen to play Pyramus’s father in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. He ends up playing the part of Wall, dividing the two lovers.
Snug - The joiner chosen to play the lion in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Snug worries that his roaring will frighten the ladies in the audience.
Philostrate - Theseus’s Master of the Revels, responsible for organizing the entertainment for the duke’s marriage celebration.
Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Mote, and Mustardseed - The fairies ordered by Titania to attend to Bottom after she falls in love with him.
Plot Overview
T HESEUS, DUKE OF ATHENS, is preparing for his marriage to Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, with a four-day festival of pomp and entertainment. He commissions his Master of the Revels, Philostrate, to find suitable amusements for the occasion. Egeus, an Athenian nobleman, marches into Theseus’s court with his daughter, Hermia, and two young men, Demetrius and Lysander. Egeus wishes Hermia to marry Demetrius (who loves Hermia), but Hermia is in love with Lysander and refuses to comply. Egeus asks for the full penalty of law to fall on Hermia’s head if she flouts her father’s will. Theseus gives Hermia until his wedding to consider her options, warning her that disobeying her father’s wishes could result in her being sent to a convent or even executed. Nonetheless, Hermia and Lysander plan to escape Athens the following night and marry in the house of Lysander’s aunt, some seven leagues distant from the city. They make their intentions known to Hermia’s friend Helena, who was once engaged to Demetrius and still loves him even though he jilted her after meeting Hermia. Hoping to regain his love, Helena tells Demetrius of the elopement that Hermia and Lysander have planned. At the appointed time, Demetrius stalks into the woods after his intended bride and her lover; Helena follows behind him.
In these same woods are two very different groups of characters. The first is a band of fairies, including Oberon, the fairy king, and Titania, his queen, who has recently returned from India to bless the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. The second is a band of Athenian craftsmen rehearsing a play that they hope to perform for the duke and his bride. Oberon and Titania are at odds over a young Indian prince given to Titania by the prince’s mother; the boy is so beautiful that Oberon wishes to make him a knight, but Titania refuses. Seeking revenge, Oberon sends his merry servant, Puck, to acquire a magical flower, the juice of which can be spread over a sleeping person’s eyelids to make that person fall in love with the first thing he or she sees upon waking. Puck obtains the flower, and Oberon tells him of his plan to spread its juice on the sleeping Titania’s eyelids. Having seen Demetrius act cruelly toward Helena, he orders Puck to spread some of the juice on the eyelids of the young Athenian man. Puck encounters Lysander and Hermia; thinking that Lysander is the Athenian of whom Oberon spoke, Puck afflicts him with the love potion. Lysander happens to see Helena upon awaking and falls deeply in love with her, abandoning Hermia. As the night progresses and Puck attempts to undo his mistake, both Lysander and Demetrius end up in love with Helena, who believes that they are mocking her. Hermia becomes so jealous that she tries to challenge Helena to a fight. Demetrius and Lysander nearly do fight over Helena’s love, but Puck confuses them by mimicking their voices, leading them apart until they are lost separately in the forest.
When Titania wakes, the first creature she sees is Bottom, the most ridiculous of the Athenian craftsmen, whose head Puck has mockingly transformed into that of an ass. Titania passes a ludicrous interlude doting on the ass-headed weaver. Eventually, Oberon obtains the Indian boy, Puck spreads the love potion on Lysander’s eyelids, and by morning all is well. Theseus and Hippolyta discover the sleeping lovers in the forest and take them back to Athens to be married—Demetrius now loves Helena, and Lysander now loves Hermia. After the group wedding, the lovers watch Bottom and his fellow craftsmen perform their play, a fumbling, hilarious version of the story of Pyramus and Thisbe. When the play is completed, the lovers go to bed; the fairies briefly emerge to bless the sleeping couples with a protective charm and then disappear. Only Puck remains, to ask the audience for its forgiveness and approval and to urge it to remember the play as though it had all been a dream.
Character List
Puck - Also known as Robin Goodfellow, Puck is Oberon’s jester, a mischievous fairy who delights in playing pranks on mortals. Though A Midsummer Night’s Dream divides its action between several groups of characters, Puck is the closest thing the play has to a protagonist. His enchanting, mischievous spirit pervades the atmosphere, and his antics are responsible for many of the complications that propel the other main plots: he mistakes the young Athenians, applying the love potion to Lysander instead of Demetrius, thereby causing chaos within the group of young lovers; he also transforms Bottom’s head into that of an ass.
Read an in-depth analysis of Puck.
Oberon - The king of the fairies, Oberon is initially at odds with his wife, Titania, because she refuses to relinquish control of a young Indian prince whom he wants for a knight. Oberon’s desire for revenge on Titania leads him to send Puck to obtain the love-potion flower that creates so much of the play’s confusion and farce.
Titania - The beautiful queen of the fairies, Titania resists the attempts of her husband, Oberon, to make a knight of the young Indian prince that she has been given. Titania’s brief, potion-induced love for Nick Bottom, whose head Puck has transformed into that of an ass, yields the play’s foremost example of the contrast motif.
Lysander - A young man of Athens, in love with Hermia. Lysander’s relationship with Hermia invokes the theme of love’s difficulty: he cannot marry her openly because Egeus, her father, wishes her to wed Demetrius; when Lysander and Hermia run away into the forest, Lysander becomes the victim of misapplied magic and wakes up in love with Helena.
Demetrius - A young man of Athens, initially in love with Hermia and ultimately in love with Helena. Demetrius’s obstinate pursuit of Hermia throws love out of balance among the quartet of Athenian youths and precludes a symmetrical two-couple arrangement.
Hermia - Egeus’s daughter, a young woman of Athens. Hermia is in love with Lysander and is a childhood friend of Helena. As a result of the fairies’ mischief with Oberon’s love potion, both Lysander and Demetrius suddenly fall in love with Helena. Self-conscious about her short stature, Hermia suspects that Helena has wooed the men with her height. By morning, however, Puck has sorted matters out with the love potion, and Lysander’s love for Hermia is restored.
Helena - A young woman of Athens, in love with Demetrius. Demetrius and Helena were once betrothed, but when Demetrius met Helena’s friend Hermia, he fell in love with her and abandoned Helena. Lacking confidence in her looks, Helena thinks that Demetrius and Lysander are mocking her when the fairies’ mischief causes them to fall in love with her.
Read an in-depth analysis of Helena.
Egeus - Hermia’s father, who brings a complaint against his daughter to Theseus: Egeus has given Demetrius permission to marry Hermia, but Hermia, in love with Lysander, refuses to marry Demetrius. Egeus’s severe insistence that Hermia either respect his wishes or be held accountable to Athenian law places him squarely outside the whimsical dream realm of the forest.
Theseus - The heroic duke of Athens, engaged to Hippolyta. Theseus represents power and order throughout the play. He appears only at the beginning and end of the story, removed from the dreamlike events of the forest.
Hippolyta - The legendary queen of the Amazons, engaged to Theseus. Like Theseus, she symbolizes order.
Nick Bottom - The overconfident weaver chosen to play Pyramus in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Bottom is full of advice and self-confidence but frequently makes silly mistakes and misuses language. His simultaneous nonchalance about the beautiful Titania’s sudden love for him and unawareness of the fact that Puck has transformed his head into that of an ass mark the pinnacle of his foolish arrogance.
Read an in-depth analysis of Nick Bottom.
Peter Quince - A carpenter and the nominal leader of the craftsmen’s attempt to put on a play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Quince is often shoved aside by the abundantly confident Bottom. During the craftsmen’s play, Quince plays the Prologue.
Francis Flute - The bellows-mender chosen to play Thisbe in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Forced to play a young girl in love, the bearded craftsman determines to speak his lines in a high, squeaky voice.
Robin Starveling - The tailor chosen to play Thisbe’s mother in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. He ends up playing the part of Moonshine.
Tom Snout - The tinker chosen to play Pyramus’s father in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. He ends up playing the part of Wall, dividing the two lovers.
Snug - The joiner chosen to play the lion in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Snug worries that his roaring will frighten the ladies in the audience.
Philostrate - Theseus’s Master of the Revels, responsible for organizing the entertainment for the duke’s marriage celebration.
Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Mote, and Mustardseed - The fairies ordered by Titania to attend to Bottom after she falls in love with him.
COMING SOON...
We will be reading "THE CANTERVILLE GHOST" this month...
The Canterville Ghost | Themes
Culture Clash
From the beginning of"The Canterville Ghost,'' Wilde compares the behavior of the American Otises with that of the British upper classes. Lord Canterville warns Mr. Horace B. Otis that the presence of a ghost has made Canterville Chase uninhabitable. Mr. Otis, however, remains a skeptic. If there were any ghosts in Europe, he reasons, Americans would have bought them along with all that is old and venerable in Europe. Europe is for sale, and Americans are buying, which is why the Otises can purchase Canterville Chase in the first place.
Even the Otises,...
The Canterville Ghost | Historical Context
Oscar Wilde wrote at the end of the Victorian period, named for Queen Victoria. This period marked the rise of a growing middle class in Great Britain. This middle class had gained wealth through the technological advances of the Industrial Revolution, as well as a result of Britain's expanding empire. The values of this class stood in marked contrast to the values of an older aristocracy. Members of the aristocracy had traditionally depended on land for income and were used to inheriting wealth rather than earning it. The middle class idealized the importance of the family, thrift, and...
The Canterville Ghost’s characters
Main characters: The ghost, Virginia and Mr. Otis
Secondary characters: Washington, Mrs. Otis, the twins, Duke of Chesire and Lord Canterville, Mrs. Umney, gypsies an Rev Augustus Dampier
If we consider this story as a fairy tale, we can define the characters by means of their functions, the typical ones of the traditional stories according to the famous categories devised by Propp and the structural literary analysis.
Characters in chapters 1 to 4
Functions:
• Protagonist: Mr. Otis
• Antagonist: the ghost
• Object: to turn out the ghost
• Protagonist’s helper: Washington and the twins
• Antagonist’s helper: his supernatural powers
Characters in chapters 5 to 7
Functions:
• Protagonists: the ghost
• Antagonist: Mr Otis
• Object: the ghost soul’s liberation
• Protagonist’s helper: Virginia
• Antagonist’s helper: his family, excluding Virginia, and the Duke of Chesire
Descriptions of the characters
The ghost: The ghost of the castle for centuries. He was Sir Simon de Canterville and died in 1584, his spirit still haunts the Chase. His aspect is very terrible: “He is an old man, his eyes were as red burning coals, long grey hair fell over his shoulders in matted coils, his garments, which were of antique cut, were soiled and ragged, and from his wrists and ankles hung heavy manacles and rusty gyves.”
Mr. Otis: The father of the Otis family. He is a middle-aged American minister; he is determinated, inflexible, rational, practical and pragmatic, in conclusion a true American. In fact at the beginning he believes that the ghost doesn’t exist, then, when he personally meets him, he is indifferent: he has more important things to do, making money, for example.
Virginia: “She is a little girl of fifteen, lithe and lovely as a fawn, and with a fine freedom, in her large blue eyes. She is a wonderful amazon. In respect to her family she is kind and with weling heart.” The daughter is the only one in the family who is scared by the ghost. She never speaks except to the ghost, at the end of the story.
Washington: the Otises' oldest son; “he is a fire-haired rather cood-loooking young man; gardenias and peerage are his only weaknesses.”
The twins: “they are usually called The stars and stripes, they are delightful boys and the only true republicans of the family.” These children always play tricks on the ghost and make him depressed and desperate. All along the story, they imagine jokes and even dress up as ghosts.
Mrs Otis: The mother isn't scared of the ghost and even asks him if he wants a remedy for his stomach. “She is a very handsome middle-aged woman with fine eyes and a superb profile. She has a magnificent constitution and a wonderful amount of animal spirits.”
Duke of Chesire: “He is a handsome young scapegrace” desperately in love with the fifteen-year old Virginia Otis. However, his guardians pack him off to Eton, and he must wait to marry. When Virginia vanishes, he insists on being part of the search party. As soon as she reappears, he smothers her with kisses. His devotion is rewarded, and Virginia consents to become the Duchess of Cheshire.
Lord Canterville: A respectable descendent of the Canterville family, that was the owner of the Canterville Chase. “He is an English men of the most pounctilious honour.”
Mrs.Umney: the old house-keeper of Canterville Chase is very terrified by the ghost and tries to warn the family.
The Canterville Ghost | Themes
Culture Clash
From the beginning of"The Canterville Ghost,'' Wilde compares the behavior of the American Otises with that of the British upper classes. Lord Canterville warns Mr. Horace B. Otis that the presence of a ghost has made Canterville Chase uninhabitable. Mr. Otis, however, remains a skeptic. If there were any ghosts in Europe, he reasons, Americans would have bought them along with all that is old and venerable in Europe. Europe is for sale, and Americans are buying, which is why the Otises can purchase Canterville Chase in the first place.
Even the Otises,...
The Canterville Ghost | Historical Context
Oscar Wilde wrote at the end of the Victorian period, named for Queen Victoria. This period marked the rise of a growing middle class in Great Britain. This middle class had gained wealth through the technological advances of the Industrial Revolution, as well as a result of Britain's expanding empire. The values of this class stood in marked contrast to the values of an older aristocracy. Members of the aristocracy had traditionally depended on land for income and were used to inheriting wealth rather than earning it. The middle class idealized the importance of the family, thrift, and...
The Canterville Ghost’s characters
Main characters: The ghost, Virginia and Mr. Otis
Secondary characters: Washington, Mrs. Otis, the twins, Duke of Chesire and Lord Canterville, Mrs. Umney, gypsies an Rev Augustus Dampier
If we consider this story as a fairy tale, we can define the characters by means of their functions, the typical ones of the traditional stories according to the famous categories devised by Propp and the structural literary analysis.
Characters in chapters 1 to 4
Functions:
• Protagonist: Mr. Otis
• Antagonist: the ghost
• Object: to turn out the ghost
• Protagonist’s helper: Washington and the twins
• Antagonist’s helper: his supernatural powers
Characters in chapters 5 to 7
Functions:
• Protagonists: the ghost
• Antagonist: Mr Otis
• Object: the ghost soul’s liberation
• Protagonist’s helper: Virginia
• Antagonist’s helper: his family, excluding Virginia, and the Duke of Chesire
Descriptions of the characters
The ghost: The ghost of the castle for centuries. He was Sir Simon de Canterville and died in 1584, his spirit still haunts the Chase. His aspect is very terrible: “He is an old man, his eyes were as red burning coals, long grey hair fell over his shoulders in matted coils, his garments, which were of antique cut, were soiled and ragged, and from his wrists and ankles hung heavy manacles and rusty gyves.”
Mr. Otis: The father of the Otis family. He is a middle-aged American minister; he is determinated, inflexible, rational, practical and pragmatic, in conclusion a true American. In fact at the beginning he believes that the ghost doesn’t exist, then, when he personally meets him, he is indifferent: he has more important things to do, making money, for example.
Virginia: “She is a little girl of fifteen, lithe and lovely as a fawn, and with a fine freedom, in her large blue eyes. She is a wonderful amazon. In respect to her family she is kind and with weling heart.” The daughter is the only one in the family who is scared by the ghost. She never speaks except to the ghost, at the end of the story.
Washington: the Otises' oldest son; “he is a fire-haired rather cood-loooking young man; gardenias and peerage are his only weaknesses.”
The twins: “they are usually called The stars and stripes, they are delightful boys and the only true republicans of the family.” These children always play tricks on the ghost and make him depressed and desperate. All along the story, they imagine jokes and even dress up as ghosts.
Mrs Otis: The mother isn't scared of the ghost and even asks him if he wants a remedy for his stomach. “She is a very handsome middle-aged woman with fine eyes and a superb profile. She has a magnificent constitution and a wonderful amount of animal spirits.”
Duke of Chesire: “He is a handsome young scapegrace” desperately in love with the fifteen-year old Virginia Otis. However, his guardians pack him off to Eton, and he must wait to marry. When Virginia vanishes, he insists on being part of the search party. As soon as she reappears, he smothers her with kisses. His devotion is rewarded, and Virginia consents to become the Duchess of Cheshire.
Lord Canterville: A respectable descendent of the Canterville family, that was the owner of the Canterville Chase. “He is an English men of the most pounctilious honour.”
Mrs.Umney: the old house-keeper of Canterville Chase is very terrified by the ghost and tries to warn the family.
COMING SOON...
We will be reading KING ARTHUR this month...
The Legend of King Arthur
The legend of King Arthur is an age-old story about a king and his court. The tale of Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table is one that nearly everyone knows.
Arthurian Legend
As the story goes, Arthur was the son of Igraine and Uther Pendragon. Igraine was originally married to Gorloris the Duke of Cornwall. After Gorloris was killed by Uther in a battle, Uther married Igraine. They had a son, Arthur, who was born at Tintagel Castle. Stories say that Arthur was brought up by either Ector or Merlin, not by his parents.
The Sword in the Stone
When Uther died, Britain was left without a king. There was great debate over who would rule. This was to be solved by a challenge. Whoever could pull the sword from the stone was meant to be king. Many local kings tried to pull the sword out, but no one succeeded. One day, Arthur went with his foster brother Kay to a tournament. Kay had forgotten his sword and Arthur went to seek a replacement. He found the sword in the stone and easily pulled it out and gave it to Kay. Kay recognized the sword and told everyone that Arthur had pulled the sword from the stone. When the people did not believe it was Arthur, he successfully repeated the task.
The Lady of the Lake | Excalibur
After Arthur had removed the sword from the stone, the local kings decided that they did not want to be ruled by a youth, so they began a rebellion against their rightful king. To protect him, Merlin took Arthur to see the Lady of the Lake. The Lady of the Lake gave him the magical sword Excalibur. Arthur then returned to defend his place as king. After a battle, the local kings gave in and Arthur became king.
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
After Arthur was crowned, he married the princess Guinevere. As part of her dowry, Arthur was giving the famous Round Table by her father. Through the course of his reign as King of Britain, many events occurred. Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table fought many battles with the Saxons. Eventually, they won the war at Mount Badon. Arthur and his knights also went in search of the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail is thought to be a vessel used by Jesus at the last supper. Before having a Christian influence, the grail was magical cauldron.
The End of Camelot & Death of Arthur
During his rule, Guinevere and Lancelot, one of Arthur’s knights, become lovers. When he discovers the affair, Arthur condemns Guinevere to be burned at the stake, but Lancelot rescues her. This starts a war between Arthur and Lancelot. While Arthur is away, his nephew Modred seeks the throne for himself. After hearing this, Arthur returns to Camelot to take back control. Arthur kills Modred but during the fight at Camlann, he is mortally wounded. Sir Bedivere returns Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake at Arthur’s request. Arthur is then taken to the isle of Avalon, where he soon died.
Conclusion
The story of the legendary King Arthur is one that is retold repeatedly. It is also a story with many variations. The Legend of King Arthur has been changed and added to throughout time, often to fit the desires of the existing culture.
The Legend of King Arthur
The legend of King Arthur is an age-old story about a king and his court. The tale of Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table is one that nearly everyone knows.
Arthurian Legend
As the story goes, Arthur was the son of Igraine and Uther Pendragon. Igraine was originally married to Gorloris the Duke of Cornwall. After Gorloris was killed by Uther in a battle, Uther married Igraine. They had a son, Arthur, who was born at Tintagel Castle. Stories say that Arthur was brought up by either Ector or Merlin, not by his parents.
The Sword in the Stone
When Uther died, Britain was left without a king. There was great debate over who would rule. This was to be solved by a challenge. Whoever could pull the sword from the stone was meant to be king. Many local kings tried to pull the sword out, but no one succeeded. One day, Arthur went with his foster brother Kay to a tournament. Kay had forgotten his sword and Arthur went to seek a replacement. He found the sword in the stone and easily pulled it out and gave it to Kay. Kay recognized the sword and told everyone that Arthur had pulled the sword from the stone. When the people did not believe it was Arthur, he successfully repeated the task.
The Lady of the Lake | Excalibur
After Arthur had removed the sword from the stone, the local kings decided that they did not want to be ruled by a youth, so they began a rebellion against their rightful king. To protect him, Merlin took Arthur to see the Lady of the Lake. The Lady of the Lake gave him the magical sword Excalibur. Arthur then returned to defend his place as king. After a battle, the local kings gave in and Arthur became king.
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
After Arthur was crowned, he married the princess Guinevere. As part of her dowry, Arthur was giving the famous Round Table by her father. Through the course of his reign as King of Britain, many events occurred. Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table fought many battles with the Saxons. Eventually, they won the war at Mount Badon. Arthur and his knights also went in search of the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail is thought to be a vessel used by Jesus at the last supper. Before having a Christian influence, the grail was magical cauldron.
The End of Camelot & Death of Arthur
During his rule, Guinevere and Lancelot, one of Arthur’s knights, become lovers. When he discovers the affair, Arthur condemns Guinevere to be burned at the stake, but Lancelot rescues her. This starts a war between Arthur and Lancelot. While Arthur is away, his nephew Modred seeks the throne for himself. After hearing this, Arthur returns to Camelot to take back control. Arthur kills Modred but during the fight at Camlann, he is mortally wounded. Sir Bedivere returns Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake at Arthur’s request. Arthur is then taken to the isle of Avalon, where he soon died.
Conclusion
The story of the legendary King Arthur is one that is retold repeatedly. It is also a story with many variations. The Legend of King Arthur has been changed and added to throughout time, often to fit the desires of the existing culture.
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