Stories
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS
IGCSE LITERATURE IN ENGLISH: SYLLABUS 0486
NOTES FOR TEACHERS ON STORIES SET FOR STUDY FROM
STORIES OF OURSELVES: THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS ANTHOLOGY OF SHORT STORIES IN ENGLISH
FOR EXAMINATION IN JUNE AND NOVEMBER 2010, 2011 AND 2012
CONTENTS
Introduction: How to use these notes
1. The Signalman Charles Dickens
2. The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman
3. How It Happened Arthur Conan Doyle
4. There Will Come Soft Rains Ray Bradbury
5. Meteor John Wyndham
6. The Lemon Orchard Alex la Guma
7. Secrets Bernard MacLaverty
8. The Taste of Watermelon Borden Deal
9. The Third and Final Continent Jhumpa Lahiri
10. On Her Knees Tim Winton
1
These notes are intended to give some background information on each author and/or story as an aid to further research and to stimulate discussion in the classroom.
They are intended only as a starting point and are no substitute for the teacher’s and student’s own study and exploration of the texts.
2
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
The Signalman
Charles Dickens is perhaps the foremost English 19th century novelist, famous for such works as Oliver Twist, Great Expectations and Nicholas Nickleby. A feature of many of his novels is a combination of great narrative skills with an interest in the social problems of his time. As well as his major novels, though, he also wrote a number of short stories, of which The Signalman is one.
In common with a number of stories about the supernatural, the narrator of this story is a sceptic, puzzled by the signalman’s conviction that he has witnessed inexplicable events. It is the earnestness and seriousness of the signalman, though, which gradually convinces the teller of the story. The signalman himself is a storyteller, and the difficulty he has in relating his story demonstrates his psychological unease. Dickens balances the oddness of his tale and his strange actions
IGCSE LITERATURE IN ENGLISH: SYLLABUS 0486
NOTES FOR TEACHERS ON STORIES SET FOR STUDY FROM
STORIES OF OURSELVES: THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS ANTHOLOGY OF SHORT STORIES IN ENGLISH
FOR EXAMINATION IN JUNE AND NOVEMBER 2010, 2011 AND 2012
CONTENTS
Introduction: How to use these notes
1. The Signalman Charles Dickens
2. The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman
3. How It Happened Arthur Conan Doyle
4. There Will Come Soft Rains Ray Bradbury
5. Meteor John Wyndham
6. The Lemon Orchard Alex la Guma
7. Secrets Bernard MacLaverty
8. The Taste of Watermelon Borden Deal
9. The Third and Final Continent Jhumpa Lahiri
10. On Her Knees Tim Winton
1
These notes are intended to give some background information on each author and/or story as an aid to further research and to stimulate discussion in the classroom.
They are intended only as a starting point and are no substitute for the teacher’s and student’s own study and exploration of the texts.
2
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
The Signalman
Charles Dickens is perhaps the foremost English 19th century novelist, famous for such works as Oliver Twist, Great Expectations and Nicholas Nickleby. A feature of many of his novels is a combination of great narrative skills with an interest in the social problems of his time. As well as his major novels, though, he also wrote a number of short stories, of which The Signalman is one.
In common with a number of stories about the supernatural, the narrator of this story is a sceptic, puzzled by the signalman’s conviction that he has witnessed inexplicable events. It is the earnestness and seriousness of the signalman, though, which gradually convinces the teller of the story. The signalman himself is a storyteller, and the difficulty he has in relating his story demonstrates his psychological unease. Dickens balances the oddness of his tale and his strange actions