H5 week 50_Short Story Shredni Vashtar

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vmbo lwoo, havo
• Leerjaar 5

Today's objectives

Sredni Vashtar - reading & analysing the short story 

     (setting; characters; story's climax; theme etc.)

Presentations/quizzes next week Wed. Dec. 16th

Divide up into groups of 4 people ( 8 groups in total) & prepare a quiz of 5 to 8 questions

• 3 groups present Sredni Vashtar questions & answers & use PADLET

(group A = questions 1-5; group B = questions 6-10;  group C = questions11-16)

• 2 groups prepare a quiz of Lamb to the Slaughter/Genesis and Catastrophe/general info short stories  & use 

(one short story + general info per group) (Quizizz.com or Kahoot)

•  2 groups prepare a quiz (Quizizz.com) on vocab units 11/12 OR 13/14 (pick 2 units per group) 

• 1 group will do a quiz (Socrative) on grammar plural forms/definite/indefinite articles/some/any

Sredni Vashtar -short story (1912)

Saki's macabre short story. 

Following the death of his parents, Conradin is sent to live with his strict, religious Aunt. 

Rebelling against his guardian, Conradin invents a religion centered on his own vengeful god Sredni Vashtar, a pole-cat ferret he keeps hidden in the garden shed.

Edwardian society - 1901-1914

For ‘the first time it was widely recognized that children…have different needs, sensibilities, and habits of thinking; that they cannot be educated, worked, or punished like adults; that they have rights of their own independent of their parents’ (Rose).

 Paternalistic ‘seen and not heard,’ ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’ notions of childhood were being swept away and children became protected, longed for, and recognized as having their own needs and desires. 

Children's Act of 1908 -> to protect the right of the poorest and most vulnerable children

Setting Sredni Vashtar
(when/where) (details house)

How does the reader literally see that Mrs. De Ropp is short-sighted?

How can you tell that Mrs. De Ropp is also short-sighted in a figurative sense?

How does the writer build up suspense in paragraphs 10 and 11?

1. The ferret speaks and condemns Mrs. De Ropp. He prays that she will die.
2. The boy is chanting his prayers to the ferret. The ferret is looking forward to the kill.
3. Mrs. De Ropp can't see anything. As a reader you are wondering if she sees the ferret.
4. Descriptions of what is happening outside are given and the boy imagines the outcome - stresses the long time he's waiting

In the shed that evening there was an innovation in the worship of the hutch-god. Conradin had been wont to chant his praises, tonight he asked a boon.
'Do one thing for me, Sredni Vashtar.'
The thing was not specified. As Sredni Vashtar was a god he must be supposed to know. And "choking back a sob" as looked at that other empty corner, Conradin went back to the world he so hated. And every night, in the welcome darkness of his bedroom no and every evening in the dusk of the tool-shed. Conradin's bitter litany went up: 'Do one thing for me, Sredni Vashtar.' WHAT IS THE BOON IN PART 8?

How do you know that Conradin wants the ferret to do this?

What does Condradin chant at the end of part 10?
in section 11?

Irony in Sredni Vashtar

Irony = meaning the opposite of what is said;  

Dramatic irony = the opposite of what is expected happens (the story's characters don't expect it to happen;  however, the audience does expect it)-> for a humorous or emphatic effect

Toast & Sadness

• Conradin declines the buttered toast offered by Mrs. De Ropp in part 6 (you would expect him to be happy about this and eat it, but he doesn't). Then at the end, Conradin makes himself a toast sandwich without asking permission. 
• Also, the maid ("shrill voice") says "whoever will break it to the boy?", expecting the boy to be sad, but he isn't sad at all.

Overall irony in story: 

Conradin is expected to die soon because of his poor health. However, he "disobeys"/"outsmarts" his guardian and cousin Mrs. De Ropp and she dies before he does. The ferret Sredni Vashtar seemed a fling of the boy's imagination, but the ferret did in fact kill Mrs. De Ropp.

Theme Sredni Vashtar

survival / revenge

A child's imagination is suppressed,

 and the child takes revenge to survive.

When does the climax take place?

What exactly happened in the shed after Mrs. Conradin went in?

How do you know for sure that Mrs. Conradin got killed by the ferret in the shed?

1. The maid says "whoever will break it to the boy" & they need to carry in "a heavy burden"
2. Conradin is making himself a toast
3. The doctor has been called.
4. The ferret is happy.

Who are the main characters in Sredni Vashtar?

1. The maid and the ferret
2. Conradin and the ferret
3. Mrs. De Ropp and Conradin
4. Mrs. De Ropp and the ferret.

Who is the protagonist?
Who is the antagonist?

1. Protagonist: Sredni Vashtar Antagonist: Mrs. De Ropp
2. Protagonist: Mrs. De Ropp Antagonist: the ferret
3. Protagonist: Mrs. De Ropp Antagonist: the ferret
4. Protagonist: Conradin Antagonist: Mrs. De Ropp

What was the one thing Mrs. De Ropp had no control of with regard to Conradin?

1. His toolshed
2. His detest for Mrs. De Rop
3. His imagination
4. His religion

Why was the one thing she didn't have control over so important to Conradin?

tool shed

House

Place of worship

Place of oppression

Safe haven

Feeling sick 

Feeling lonely