Page 201 - @ccess 3 Teacher´s Book

coming out of Alice’s head… As if she were imagining José: So, right after the most intense moment, the
them! She’s the main character because of the title climax, we discover the result of the story.
and the fact that she appears in a prominent spot on the Clara: It’s a great ending!
cover, front and center. Emilia: I agree.
José: She looks a bit worried, though. Maybe
Wonderland is not the best place to be… Maybe it’s a Track 53 (Practice 8, Activity 11)
weird place.
Clara: What about the other one? Locutor: “The Speckled Band”, by Arthur Conan Doyle
Emilia: Well, the colors are quite different. Everything is (retold by Clare West). 1 Helen's Story.
darker, as if depicting nighttime. It makes sense, since Emilia: I believe we are going to hear a story about a
it’s commonplace for crimes to occur at night, when woman named Helen, so she is the main character.
no one is watching. In the first one, the illustrator used Locutor: At the time of this story, I was still living at my
pastels, but in this one there is lots of brown, grey and friend Sherlock Holmes's flat on Baker Street in London.
black. Those are colors associated with suspense. José: Sherlock Holmes! I have heard of him before. He is
José: OK, so I think we have the main details we should a well-known detective. So, if he is in the story, he must
consider when choosing our comic strip’s addressee. be one of the main characters, as well.
Clara: Let’s write them down, so we don’t forget. Locutor: Very early one morning, a young woman,
dressed in black, came to see us. She looked tired and
Track 52 (Practice 8, Activity 8) unhappy, and her face was very white. 'I'm afraid! Afraid
of death, Mr. Holmes!' she cried. 'Please help me! I'm
Emilia: The first paragraph of the short story starts with, not thirty yet and look at my grey hair! I'm so afraid!'
“There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant Clara: Helen was a young woman who looked like an
to market.” I know that is how the story begins because old lady, pale and with grey hair, because she was
the narrator introduces the characters. afraid of dying.
José: Yes, you’re right. He also mentions the setting in José: Exactly. So, if both Sherlock Holmes and Helen are
which the story takes place: a market in Bagdad. the main characters, who is telling the story?
Clara: OK, so this part of the structure is called Emilia: I think the narrator is Sherlock Holmes’ partner
“exposition”, as it is where the situation is presented. or assistant, because he says, “Very early one morning,
Emilia: Exactly. What happens in the second paragraph? a young woman, dressed in black, came to see us.”
José: Well, we are told that the servant had a problem There is someone else in Mr. Holmes’ flat.
while he was at the market. Locutor: “Just sit down and tell us your story,” said
Clara: What was the problem? Holmes kindly. “My name is Helen Stoner,” she began,
Emilia: That he encountered Death! “and I live with my stepfather, Dr Grimesby Roylott, near
Clara: Yes, but why is that a problem? a village in the country. His family was once very rich,
José: Because in many cultures, when characters talk to but they had no money when my stepfather was born.
Death it means they are going to die. Don’t you remember So, he studied to be a doctor, and went out to India.”
the calaveritas in Mexico? They always talk about people José: What does “stepfather” mean?
speaking with Death and dying shortly after. Clara: Well, it definitely has something to do with
Clara: Oh, of course! OK, so the main character is faced “father”, so maybe it’s a type of father.
with the problem that he is going to die soon. Emilia: OK, so if it’s a “type of father”, it might mean the
Emilia: Yes, that part is called the “conflict”. After the person who marries someone’s mother. Once he gets
conflict is presented, the character tries to resolve it. married to the mother, he becomes a father figure to
Clara: Exactly, that’s why he decides to run away as fast the children.
as he can. José: Let’s see if you’re right.
Emilia: What happens in the last paragraph? Locutor: “He met and married my mother there, when
José: It’s the resolution of the story. my sister Julia and I were very young. Our father was
Clara: OK, but there are two moments in it; the first dead, you see.”
one is when the merchant asks Death about the Emilia: There you go. We were right!
threatening gesture. Locutor: “Your mother had some money, perhaps?”
Emilia: Yes, that is the turning point of the story because asked Sherlock Holmes. “Oh yes, Mother had a lot of
the reader does not know what is going to happen or money, so my stepfather wasn't poor anymore.”
how Death is going to respond. José: What can the mystery be? Maybe her stepfather
José: Exactly. That’s why it is called the “climax”. It is the killed her mother and Helen wants Holmes to prove it.
moment with a great amount of suspense. Clara: Let’s listen to the story and find out what
Clara: The second moment in the resolution is the result, happens next!
when Death clarifies that she didn’t intend to threaten
the servant, she was surprised to see him there instead Track 54 (Practice 8, Activity 13)
of in Samarra, the place the servant chose as a refuge.
Emilia: Exactly. Even though the narrator ends the story Emilia: The main character in the story is Sherlock
here, we infer what is going to happen next, the servant Holmes, because he is the detective who solves the
will die in Samarra. mystery. The challenge he must overcome is to solve

200 Teacher’s Book