Introduction to Literature: Session 2

• Pedagogische wetenschappen
• WO
• Studiejaar 1

Introduction to Literature

Week 2: Week 2: Roald Dahl; Grace Nichols

In Today's Lesson you will:

• Read  Roald Dahl's short story "The Landlady" and

Grace Nichols’ poem “The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping”

• Analyze the use of characterization, focalization and narrative point of view 

Roald Dahl

• 1916 - 1990
• Was a pilot in the Royal Air Force
• Wrote 9 short story collections

• Wrote 19 children's books
• Including: 

The Landlady

• "The Landlady" is a short horror story by Roald Dahl.
• initially appeared in The New Yorker in 1959.
• Was adapted into a short film in the British show called Tales of the Unexpected 

Read "the Landlady"

What was your first impression of the story?

Can you find a quote where the Landlady is described physically?

Find a quote that describes Billy Weaver physically

Suggested Answers

"She (the Landlady) had a round pink face and very gentle

blue eyes" 

"Billy was seventeen years old.
He was
wearing a new navy-blue
overcoat, a new brown trilby hat,
and a new brown suit"

Describe how Billy's actions contribute to his characterization

What does the comparison of
the landlady to a jack-in-thebox suggest about her (lines 90–91)?

Describe how The Landlady's actions contribute to her characterization

Characterization

• Representation of characters in a story.
• Distinction can be made between flat or two-dimensional characters (which remain static), or round or three-dimensional characters (which are complex and demonstrate development). 

Explain whether the landlady is a flat or round character and why

Explain whether the landlady is a flat or round character and why

The landlady and Billy Weaver are both flat/static characters; Neither one of them have a personality change

Grace Nichols

• Born in Guyana, moved to Britain in 1977
• Poetry concerned with the experience of immigrants from former colonies to UK after World War II
• Uses a lot of Caribbean rhythms,
  language and folklore

Watch the video on the next slide.

Read the poem "A fat black lady goes shopping"

What is your first impression of the poem?

Why would the poem use ‘de’ rather than ‘the’?

What is this poem about?​

Where do you think the speaker is from?

What is the effect of the lack of punctuation? ​

Read the section about the narrator in the document literary terms

• Narration is the telling of a story
• The narrator tells the story
• Focalization  refers to the viewpoint from which a story is told

From what perspective is the poem written? How did you infer this?

The end

• Please join go to the Teams-channel for the live Q&A.
•  Make sure to attend and ask your questions about the texts and the assignments.