V/H PP lesson 1

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 3

Which associations do you have with the word 'private'?

Which associations do you have with the word 'peaceful'?

Consider how the two words link together. What does this tell us about the book?
Write a prediction of the story from the words ‘Private Peaceful’.

What do we learn about the book from the front cover?

What do the butterflies represent?

Raise your hand if you have an answer.

Make a prediction about the novel based on the above extract from the blurb. Try to address the 5 Ws:

  

Where? Who? Where? When? Why?

What do you think is going to happen?

Chapter 1 - Five Past Ten

What is a theme?

What is a theme?

• A theme is an idea that may run throughout the book.
  
  

• Sometimes themes can be literal and clear, i.e. The theme of War, or they can be metaphorical and hidden, i.e. The yellow butterflies on the front cover may link to the theme of FREEDOM.
  
  
  
  
• By looking at themes we can further understand a text and are able to read between the lines of a text.
  

 They’ve gone now, and I’m alone at last. I have the whole night ahead of me, and I won’t waste a single moment of it. I shan’t sleep it away. I won’t dream it away either. I mustn’t, because every moment of it will be far too precious.

   I want to try and remember everything, just as it was, just as it happened. I’ve had nearly eighteen years of yesterdays and tomorrows, and tonight I must remember as many of them as I can. I want tonight to be as long, as long as my life, not filled with fleeting dreams that rush me on towards dawn.

   Tonight, more than any other night of my life, I want to feel alive.

This passage is from the first chapter. 

Let's read it together. 

Who do you think the narrator is? (male, female, teacher, actor, etc)

Is the tone of the opening happy or sad? Why?

After reading the first chapter, did you spot any themes? Name them.

What does Tommo want to remember at the beginning of the story?

What was buried under the "rose bush"?

1. shoe laces
2. father's precious things
3. robin eggs

Name all the things that were buried under the "rose bush"? pg 9

Why does Tommo feel guilty about his father's death?

In the next slide you're going to put the events in chapter 1 in chronological order, according to the novel. 

Make sure you read carefully!

Tommo wants to remember all the past eighteen years of his life

Charlie takes Tommo to school – first day

Tommo sees a dead crow, which makes him think of his father

Tommo and his family bury his father’s things under his rose bush

Tommo meets

Mr Munnings, the headmaster

Tommo is put in Miss McAllister’s class

Molly helps Tommo tie

up his laces

Father is killed by a tree in Ford’s Cleave Wood

Tommo attends Father’s funeral with his family

Father is buried

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Who walks to school with Tommo

1. Molly
2. Big Joe
3. Charlie
4. Bertha

How does Tommo feel about going to school?

1. Delighted
2. Furious
3. Scared

What does Charlie offer to make Tommo feel better about going to school?

1. football game
2. play hide and seek
3. a cat
4. a piggy back ride

Activity

In the next slide you're going to write (at least 5 sentences) about your first day at school. Consider these questions:

• What do you remember most?
  
• How did you feel?
  
• What did you do?
  

How was your first day at school?

What does Tommo see on the fence?

1. a dead crow
2. a dead owl
3. a dead scarecrow
4. a dead squirrel

Tommo sees a dead crow “hanging from the fence” and guesses that it has been shot. He doesn’t pity the crow.

Why doesn't he pity the crow?

Who is the Colonel?

1. A vice principal
2. a president of a company
3. father's employer
4. father's commanding officer

What did Tommo's father used to say about the Colonel?

1. A brilliant Scholar
2. Stupid as a tree stump
3. mad old uffer
4. old fart

Which class is Charlie in?

1. Tiddlers
2. Bigguns

Write down three things that you have learnt about Tommo Peaceful in Chapter 1

Chapter 2 - Twenty To Eleven

How do Charlie and Tommo treat people who are cruel to Big Joe? Why do they do this?

What sort of relationship do the three brothers have?

What do Charlie and Tommo give Big Joe to eat?

1. goat droppings
2. rat droppings
3. rhino droppings
4. rabbit droppings

Who is Grandma Wolf?

1. Mother's aunt
2. grandmother
3. Father's aunt
4. Tommo's aunt

Explain why Charlie and Tommo nicknamed her 'Grandma Wolf'.

Why is Big Joe different from Tommo and Charlie?

In the beginning of chapter 2, Charlie 'saves' Tommo's life twice. How did Charlie save him twice?

What disgusting objects did Tommo and Charlie once feed to Big Joe?

1. windex
2. rabit droppings
3. a dead bat
4. moldy carrot

After Father's death, what job does the Colonel offer to Mother?

1. maid
2. cleaner
3. his personal cook