Get fit Reading a historical story

A historical story

There are different ways to read a story. Here is one way. Before you read, it’s important to get ready. When you start, read for gist first, then for detail.

1 Getting ready to read How can you get “into” a story even before you start to read? You must find out as much as you can about the text first.

2 Reading for gist The first reading – or reading for gist – gives you more information: Now you find out what the story is about and what characters are in the story. But you do not try to understand every word yet.

Pre-reading

First reading

Second reading

A closer look 3 Reading for detail

Now you have got the most important ideas, but many things are not clear yet. So you read for detail. a) Read the story slowly – first one part, then the next. b) If you find words which you don’t understand, think before you look them up: Can I understand enough without them? If the answer is “yes”, don’t look them up.

TIP Write down interesting words for your ‘personal vocabulary’ and put them in your folder.

c) There are really two stories in this text. Draw two action lines and put in the parts of the text and the most important events. How are the two stories connected? Draw connecting lines between the two action lines.

4 Thinking about the story Do a) or b). a) Look at the text again and make a list:

How was life in 1878 different from now?

What other things do you know about the 19th century? Put them in your list, too.

Compare Gwendolyn’s life to Chloe’s, and

Timothy’s to Alex’s. a) Look at the title and the pictures on p. 18–20. Can you guess what the story is about? b) What stories or films do you know that are about the past? Tell the class about them.

a) Read the whole story quickly. Don’t stop if you find words that you don’t know. b) Now you know better what the story is about. Did you guess right in exercise 1a)?

b) Look for adjectives or phrases in the text that describe the characters well. Make a list and use it to write a few sentences about the four most important characters.

Now

1878 A Chloe finds diary, talks to Alex

B Gwendolyn talks to Timothy First sign of something wrong

C

7 The diary

A “So where did you find it?” Alex asked his girlfriend, Chloe, while they were on the phone.

“In an old box. I was looking for some jewellery in my mum’s wardrobe,” she explained. “And then I found this Victorian diary. Someone in our family wrote it.”

“It must be funny to read.”

“Yes, the first few pages are so … different from today! I mean, 1878 wasn’t that long ago, but everything is so old. They’ve all got these funny, old-fashioned names – Gwendolyn, Reginald, Henrietta, Timothy, and then Lord this and Lady that.”

“Hey, I’ve got an old-fashioned name, too, so be careful what you say!” Alex said and laughed.

“Oh please, ‘Alex’ isn’t old.”

“But ‘Clarence’ is. That’s my first name – terrible, isn’t it?” Alex smiled. “I never use my first name, I hate it. Alexander is my middle name.”

“You’re joking! My mum has never liked the name Clarence – don’t ask me why. Anyway, I’ve only read the first few pages, but I guess our family was very poor in the 19th century. Gwendolyn’s parents have sent her to work as a servant girl for some rich people in a big house near Regent’s Park. Listen to this: ‘I can’t let dear Mother know how much I miss her. It might break her heart. But she and Father are right: I must help to feed my dear little brothers and sisters, it is my duty. I love them so. I’m very lonely, but Lady Cumberland is good to me.”

“Hm, that’s a bit sad,” replied Alex. He looked out at the sun which was shining on the cars in the street outside.

“Well, that was the second page; she had only been with this Cumberland family a few days. On the fourth page she’s already got a friend in the house. His name is Timothy.”

B “Oh, what a long day it’s been. It’s nice to be up here in the servants’ rooms again,” Gwendolyn said tiredly. She put a candle on the table.

“Yes, life downstairs with Lord and Lady Cumberland is just too perfect. And boring!” Timothy laughed.

“Well, Timothy, you aren’t boring – it’s so nice to talk to someone of my own age. Everyone else in the house is so much older.”

“Yes, but Gwendolyn, it may not be good for you if the others see that you and I talk a lot.”

C “Chloe, please. I think I’ve heard enough about these Victorian people,” Alex said into the phone the next day. “Let’s talk about something less boring – like our flight to Spain this summer! Hey, I think that language school in Majorca sounds better than the one in Malaga. What do you think?”

D “I don’t understand,” Gwendolyn said. “You’re so kind and gentle. There’s nothing wrong with you.”

“I’m afraid there is. Do you really want to know?” Timothy asked. He wasn’t smiling.

“Yes, yes, what is it?” Gwendolyn asked.

“Well, I – I can see things.”

“And so can I, Timothy.”

“No, Gwendolyn, you don’t understand. I can see things that haven’t happened yet.”

“What things?” Gwendolyn was curious now.

“Oh, usually it’s just silly things, really. Like last week. I was cleaning the fountain in the garden when suddenly, in my head, I saw Mrs Lacy – she had fallen into the fountain. The next day I walked into the garden: There was Mrs Lacy in the water and she was shouting. The two young Cumberland children had just pushed her in!”

“That is funny!” Gwendolyn laughed. “She really isn’t a very nice tutor, you know. But Timothy – why is your face suddenly so sad?”

E “I’ll have to ask Mum,” Chloe said. “Every time I talk about our flight to Spain she looks funny and doesn’t say a word.”

“How strange,” Alex said. Suddenly, he had an odd feeling in his stomach, a feeling he had never had before. But he didn’t say a thing. He looked up as the room became dark; a cloud had moved in front of the sun.

F “Well,” Timothy went on, “I don’t always see funny things like tutors in fountains. The things I see are sometimes terrible.”

“Terrible?”

“I once had a vision about Her Ladyship’s son, who was in India at the time. I saw him on a ship. It was sinking. I could see his white face in the water. Three days later, a telegram arrived with the news: He had drowned. That’s when I started to become scared.”

“Oh no!” Gwendolyn gasped. “I’m so sorry you have to see such things. You’ve – you’ve got what they call the sixth sense.”

“Yes, that’s it. But there’s more. Are you sure you want to hear it?” he asked.

“Yes – yes, I am. Go on.”

“Now that you are here at Cumberland Hall,” Timothy continued, “I have the same scary vision every day.”

Now Gwendolyn was scared, too.

G Alex couldn’t get Chloe on his mobile any more. She had not been at school that day. He walked to her house through the rain, but nobody was there – the house was empty. A neighbour called to him, “Looking for the Robinsons? They’re on holiday, I think – away from this rainy weather!” At that moment, Alex got that strange feeling in his stomach again. He was scared now. Where was Chloe?

H “Did you get it again today?” Gwendolyn asked Timothy the next evening. He nodded. “The same people? The same situation?” “It’s always the same,” he answered. “But who are they?” wondered Gwendolyn. “And why did this vision start when I came to work here?” “I don’t know. I’ve never met them. They look like you and me, but they’re different. I don’t know – they must be from a different time and place. Sometimes I can see their names, but then the vision ends and I forget them. But it doesn’t matter: We can’t help them anyway. There’s nothing we can do for them,” Timothy said sadly. He put his face in his hands. Gwendolyn just looked at her friend, and then at the candle. She felt terrible.

I “What’s wrong, Mum?” Alex wanted to know when he got home. His mother looked as white as a ghost.

“Chloe’s mother phoned while you were at school. They’re staying with her aunt in Manchester. Alex … I don’t think Chloe is coming back to London. You aren’t going to believe what I have to tell you.”

J “Our names are where?!” Alex couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“In Chloe’s great-great-grandmother’s diary. Listen: ‘Poor Chloe and Clarence, whoever they are, wherever they are. If they stay together, that accident will happen: The metal flying machine will fall from the air. Clarence will live. Chloe won’t. Can’t Timothy and I do anything to help? But maybe it’s already too late …’ ”

“And Chloe’s mum believes what someone says he could ‘see’ back in 1878?” Alex shouted. He was angry.

“Yes, Alex. She believes it. A lot of the things that Timothy saw actually happened. Chloe’s mum found some information about it in the town library years ago. That’s why she’s scared for her daughter. When she found out that your real name was Clarence, she got a big shock. She really feels that something bad will happen to Chloe if you two stay together. And your trip to Spain this summer – ‘the metal flying machine will fall from the air’ – don’t you see? Chloe’s mum feels terrible. But she says Chloe mustn’t see you any longer.”

K “Are you sure, Chloe? Really?” Alex asked that night. Chloe had phoned him, but hadn’t told her mum.

“Do you see any other way?” Chloe replied. “Maybe we can still be friends. Later. But I don’t know. I’ve read the whole diary now and I really believe that something bad could happen. Maybe I’m just silly, and I’m sure you don’t understand. But please, try.”

“What else can I do?” Alex said. Before he could say more, there was a ‘click’, and the line was dead.

Quietly, slowly, Alex put the phone down. He was shocked. He watched the rain against the window and thought about Chloe. When might he see her next? In a month? A year? Never again? He had no idea.

1 Believe it or not? a) What do you think about the story? Can you believe it? Why or why not? b) What do you know about the “sixth sense”? Do you know any examples? Tell the class.

2 Things they said Think of the text and decide who said these things. Recollect the situation when it was said. I was looking for some jewelry. I’ve got an old-fashioned name too. Clarence is my first name. I hate my first name. I must help to feed my little brothers and sisters. Life downstairs with Lord and Lady is just too perfect. You aren’t boring! Let’s talk about something less boring! Well, I can see things. She really isn’t a very nice tutor. The things I see are sometimes terrible. You’ve got what they call the sixth sense.

3 If Find if- sentences in the story. Change the sentences to have an opposite idea. Example: If they stay together, that accident will happen. If they don’t stay together, that accident won’t happen.

4 Characters Think of four characters. Write down action words to describe what they did. Fill in the table. Use the simple past where possible.

Gwendolyn missed her mother

Timothy Chloe found the diary was looking for

Alex (Clarence)

hated his old-fashioned name

5 Retell Chloe and Alex’s story (➔  G10)

1 2 3 4 5

6 Improve your style When you write a story or a dialogue, it is boring always to repeat ‘said’. Find other verbs in The diary. 1. “I was looking for some jewellery,” Chloe said to Alex. 2. “That is funny,” Gwendolyn said. 3. “It’s always the same,” Timothy said. 4. ”Well,” said Timothy. 5. “It’s always the same, ” he said. 6. “What’s wrong, Mum? …

GRAMMAR More introductory verbs explain order remark advise apologize warn

7 Writing texts: Write an ending to the story 1. First think and then make notes: What happens to the characters? You might need two paragraphs – one for Gwendolyn and Timothy, one for Alex and Chloe. 2. Don’t forget the four ‘W’-questions: Who…? • What…? • When…? • Where…? 3. To improve your style, use adjectives and adverbs, and connecting words like “because”, … Look at exercise 3 on page 22, too. 4. Use the new words from the story, for example “vision”, “sixth sense”, “strange”, etc.