V5- Short Stories - The First Autumn

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

V5 - Short Stories

The First Autumn

Today's Lesson

Sit according to the Seating Plan, please.

Short Stories: The First Autumn

Short Stories

The First Autumn - Erskine Caldwell

Cat in the Rain - Ernest Hemingway

The Open Window - Saki

The Verger - William Somerset Maugham

Test is in the Testweek

(+ Idiom test in the Testweek)

Short Stories

Short Stories have the same elements as novels, but usually in a more compact form:

- Setting is usually confined to one place

- Limited number of characters

The First Autumn

We're going to read the short story together. 

I'll read it out loud for you. 

Afterwards you will get some questions to help analyse the text.

Can you explain the title of the story?

It's the first time the children understand that it's autumn. They realise the seasons change. 

What is the setting of the story?

The back garden of a home. 

Start of autumn.

Friday beginning of the weekend for the father. 

How old are the children?
Why do you think this?

The children are quite young.

First time they actively observe the changing of the seasons. 

- What effect is created in the scene where the mother playfully tries to startle her husband?
- How do the ant and the grasshopper add to this?

The husband doesn't react at all, very odd.

Usually people react when bugs walk on them, nothing makes him move. 

At what moment does the father die?
When did you first realise?

What actions suggest how the mother feels after she realises her husband is dead?

What kind of person is the mother based on her actions?
What is her character like?

How do the trees at the start foreshadow death?

Leafs come down. 

They are dead. 

Evaluation

Today you achieved the following:

you practised your reading skills

you analysed a short story

you started studying for the testweek

Well done!