Chapter 103-126

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vmbo t
• Leerjaar 3

Wednesday

October 13, 2021

WELCOME!

This lesson:

• About Chapters 103-126
• Reading

The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime

Chapter 103

Christopher returns home and finds Rhodri, a coworker of Father’s, talking with Father. Father asks him what he has been up to, and he responds with another white lie about petting Mrs. Alexander’s dog outside the shop. Rhodri asks him to multiply 251 and 864, and Christopher replies with the correct answer: 216,864. Father makes Christopher some Gobi Aloo Sag for dinner. Gobi Aloo Sag is yellow so Christopher puts red food coloring in it before he eats it.

Chapter 103

On Siobhan’s advice, Christopher includes descriptions of things in his book. He goes out into the garden and sees the clouds, which he describes as looking like fish scales and sand dunes. He spots a particularly large cloud moving slowly on the horizon that looks like an alien spaceship and thinks that it could easily be one. Aliens, if they exist, would probably be very different from humans. They could be made of air, like clouds, or just about anything else.

Chapter 107

Christopher describes the plot of his favorite book, The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In it, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson must solve the murder of Sir Charles Baskerville, a wealthy lord whose family is plagued by a giant supernatural dog known as the Hound of the Baskervilles. The hound supposedly killed an ancestor of the family, Hugo, and the very sight of it now appears to have scared Sir Charles to death. 

Chapter 107

Holmes determines that Stapleton, a neighbor of the family who wants to inherit their property, murdered Sir Charles by creating an illusion of the hound. He brought a giant dog from London, covered it in a ghostly coat of glowing paint, and unleashed it on Sir Charles. Holmes and Watson shoot and kill the dog, and then chase Stapleton into the swamp, where he drowns.

Chapter 107

Christopher likes The Hound of the Baskervilles because it is a detective story with many clues and red herrings. Red herrings are plot elements that lead the reader to think the story will proceed in one direction when the story actually goes another way. Christopher identifies most with Holmes. Like Holmes, he can focus solely on the task at hand, and to notice obvious things that other people do not observe.

Chapter 109

Christopher writes some more of his book and takes it to school the next morning to show Siobhan. When she reads it, Siobhan sits down with Christopher to discuss the conversation he had with Mrs. Alexander. Christopher assures her that he does not feel upset about the affair because his mother is dead and Mr. Shears doesn’t live nearby anymore. He thinks to feel sad about something that doesn’t exist would be stupid.

Chapter 113

Christopher compares his mind to a DVD player that can skip backward through his memories to a specific moment in the past. As an example, he recalls July 4th 1992, when he was nine years old, and describes a family vacation to Cornwall. His mother sunbathes on a towel. She then goes swimming, even though the water is very cold. Christopher refuses to join her because he doesn’t like to swim or take his clothes off. Instead, he rolls his trousers up and walks out into the water. Mother dives out of view and Christopher fears she has been eaten by a shark. As he begins to scream she reappears. She makes her hand into fan to comfort him.

Chapter 113

Christopher says that when he meets people he runs a search through his memory to determine if he knows them. He also uses his memory to navigate difficult situations. If someone at school has a seizure, he rewinds his memory to other seizures he has witnessed, and then knows what to do. Other people also have pictures in their heads, but unlike Christopher’s, their images contain things that are not real or did not happen. His mother was able to imagine an alternate history in which she married a man other than his father.

Chapter 113

Christopher says that when he meets people he runs a search through his memory to determine if he knows them. He also uses his memory to navigate difficult situations. If someone at school has a seizure, he rewinds his memory to other seizures he has witnessed, and then knows what to do. Other people also have pictures in their heads, but unlike Christopher’s, their images contain things that are not real or did not happen. His mother was able to imagine an alternate history in which she married a man other than his father.

What does Rhodri ask Christopher to do?

1. To read from his book
2. To put food coloring on his sandwich
3. To describe Wellington's murder
4. To solve a math problem

What advice does Siobhan give to Christopher about his book?

1. To add more description
2. To add more dialogue
3. To use more interesting words
4. To talk more about his feelings

Why does Christopher like The Hound of the Baskervilles?

1. Because it contains math problems
2. Because his mother used to read the detective story to him
3. Because it's a detective story with many clues and red herrings
4. Because he identifies with Watson

In what ways are Christopher and Sherlock Holmes similar?

1. They both like math, dogs, and puzzles.
2. They both have sidekicks and solve problems.
3. They both notice obvious things that other people don't.
4. They both solve problems and prefer the color red.

How does Christopher say he feels about his mother's affair with Mr. Shears?

1. Fine, because Mr. Shears no longer lives in the neighborhood
2. Excited, because the news gives his book an exciting twist
3. Sad, because he misses his mother
4. Angry, because it's wrong for married people to have affairs

Read your book