Week 23 H4D Thursday Murder Club Recap

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

Groups for today

Group 1: Mohammed, Mohamed, Ceyda, Nientje, Taha

Group 2: Yaser, AnAn, Khalisa, Danyal, Sandra 

Group 3: Fatemah, Yasmina, Omar, Edis

Group 4: Justine, Renouska, Binbin, Ivan, Emre 

Goals

1) At the end of this class, you will have refreshed your memory on The Thursday Murder Club 

- 1st hour: plot + characters

2nd hour: setting + theme (+ studying on your own)

Literature SE1

• Emma
• Thursday Murder Club
• 3 short stories:  The Lottery, New Boy, Genesis and Catastrophe 

The Thursday Murder Club 

What do you remember about this book?

Plot

A plot is a causal sequence of events, the "why" for the things that happen in the story. The plot draws the reader into the characters’ lives and helps the reader understand the choices that the characters make.

The story follows Joyce and her friends as they attempt to solve a series of murders happening at Coopers Chase. Together, the group works with the police and proves their worth by racing to solve the murders before the detectives assigned the case do.

POV

The novel alternates between a first-person narrative told through the perspective of the protagonist Joyce and her diary entries, and a third-person narrative focusing on all the characters. 

deaths

• Tony Curran: Hit over the head by Bogdan
• unmarked skeleton (Peter Mercer): killed by Penny
• Ian Ventham: poisoned with fentanyl by John
• Bernard: a resident who commits suicide because he misses his wife
• John & Penny: murder/suicide

Short summary

Just after a new development is announced at the Coopers Chase retirement village, the lead builder (Tony) is killed and soon after the landowner (Ian) is killed as well. Four retirees (Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim and Joyce — the Thursday Murder Club) investigate the murders. Then, when construction begins on the new development, an extra unmarked set of bones dating from the 70s is found at the graveyard on the land. It’s eventually revealed that Tony’s murder was to settle a score associated with an old drug-related killing. Ian’s murder was to derail the new development in order to prevent discovery of the bones. The bones belong to Peter Mercer and was a vigilante killing (by Penny, who is a former police detective and former founding member of the Thursday Murder Club before she got dementia) because Peter had gotten away with murdering his girlfriend.

the-bibliofile.com

Characters 

Round and flat characters: what is the difference? 

Protagonists Vs. antagonists: what is the difference?

Discussion questions: characters

Chapter 4 describes the central characters of the Thursday Murder Club: Ron - Elizabeth - Ibrahim & Joyce. What are they like? Describe their personality and details about their past life. 

Group 1: Ibrahim

Group 2: Joyce

Group 3: Ron

Group 4: Elizabeth 

Bonus: can you point out a flat and a round character?

Group 1

Ibrahim

Ibrahim

Psychiatrist

Very active and healthy 

Clients still come to him for advice

Past expertise helps him

Group 2

Joyce

Joyce

she wants to grow, get out of her shell

Not a leader, but helps others

Group 3

Ron

Ron

central voice for residents about future plans.

 Has a son: Jason Ritchie

Group 4

Elizabeth

Elizabeth

Leader of the group

 Started the group with Penny Gray (former detective). 

Very sharp and active

What have you learned this first hour? Anything unclear at this point?

Match the character with the most fitting description

good at making noise and very disbelieving

very observant, has a good network of people

unnoticable, easily overlooked

good at analysing information and making lists

Elizabeth

Ron

Ibrahim

Joyce

setting 

setting 

Writers describe the world they know. Sights, sounds, colors, and textures are all vividly painted in words as an artist who paints images on a canvas. A writer imagines a story to be happening in a place that is rooted in his or her mind. The location of a story's actions, along with the time in which it occurs, is the setting.

What was Cooper's chase before it was a retirement village?

1. a school
2. a hospital
3. a convent
4. a police station

Where does the Thursday Murder Club meet?

1. in the Jigsaw room
2. in Elizabeth's home
3. in Ibrahim's home
4. in the Willows

Thursday Murder Club 

- What is the contrast between the setting on the one hand and the characters/actions on the other hand? Do you think the writer chose this setting on purpose?

Theme 

Theme 

The theme of a story is its moral (in Dutch we say: de moral van Dit verhaal). The theme of a piece of fiction is its view about life and how people behave. In fiction, the theme is not intended to teach or preach. In fact, it is not presented directly at all. You extract it from the characters, action and setting that make up the story

Theme: what do you think could be a theme in The Thursday Murder Club
(keep the video in mind)?

Gimkit

Go to gimkit.com

What have you learned this second hour? Anything you would like to practice with for PTO 4

vocab practice 

Translate to Dutch:
to exterminate

Translate to Dutch:
spokesman

Translate the word to Dutch:
virtually

Translate the word to Dutch:
footage

What is the difference between:
questionnaire and survey?

Tougher prison sentences may act/serve as a............to other would-be offenders.

1. deter
2. destiny/fate
3. deterrent
4. outrage

Many politicians and members of the public expressed..............at the verdict.

1. outrageous
2. outrage
3. comment
4. just

I can remember watching live TV...............of the first lunar landing, so that dates me .

1. campaign
2. coverage
3. comment
4. commercial

Make a sentence using 8 more words:
junk mail - to inform

Make a sentence using 8 more words:
chief editor - headline

Study for PTO 4

- repeat the vocabulary Follow Up 49-64. For Friday: 49-54

- Read summaries of Emma/ Thursday Murder Club 

- Read summaries/short stories: New Boy, The Lottery and Genesis and Catastrophe. 

How can you prepare for the literature test?