CHARLES by Shirley Jackson
Summary and Analysis
Fill in the missing words:
adjusting - denouement - Eventually - exaggeration - expen - harass – laps - mischief - reverts - sublimation - twist - yells -
Little Laurie, who has just started kindergarten, keeps his parents in suspen with more or less shocking stories about his fellow-pupil Charles, who ________________ his teacher and classmates with his aggressive behaviour. Charles, for instance, hits the teacher, keeps pounding his feet on the floor during storytime, or _____________________ in class during story hour. Punishment obviously has little effect on him. Fearing that "all this toughness" may have a "bad influence" (3112-13) on Laurie, his mother "passionately" wishes to contact Charles' mother at the first Parent-Teachers meeting (3134-36), but her plan comes to nothing becau her baby's cold keeps her from going. __________________, Laurie's daily reports about Charles begin to dominate both parents' consciousness. By the third week of kindergarten "Charles" has become a synonym for any kind of _________________ or damage done within the family (32 16-20). After what ems a time of reforma
tion in Charles when his teacher calls him her "helper" (32 34), Charles ____________________ to his usual misbehaviour. Among other things, he makes a little girl say an evil word (33 3) and later says it himlf "three or four times" (33 14). Anxiously, Laurie's mother attends the cond Parent-Teachers meeting where no one, however, mentions Charles. When she approaches the teacher after the meeting and introduces herlf as Laurie's mother, she is informed primly that her little son had "a little trouble _________________________, the first week or so" (33 35), but now has become "a fine little helper. With occasional laps, of cour". Innocently Laurie's mother tries to attribute her son's______________________ to "Charles' influence", but the teacher informs her that they "don't have any Charles in the kindergarten". It is only at this point that she realizes that Laurie — give or take an _______________________ or two — has been describing his own behaviour at school. One can only imagine her shock on realizing that she herlf is "Charles' mother".
The action of the story covers a time span of a little more than four weeks. The story is told by the mother, as first-person narrator. She is both obrver of the action and cloly involved in it. Her feelings, thoughts and reactions during the four weeks are related directly with no trace of hindsight. Conquently, at no point is the truthfulness of Laurie's reports about
Charles called into question. For both parents Charles is a 'real' figure; up to the ___________ his existence is felt as a constant menace to their little son.汉堡包的单词
Psychologically speaking, Laurie's daily performances might be en as an intelligent form of _________________________: for quite a while Laurie successfully transforms his difficulties in adjusting to the social demands of kindergarten life into material for his fight for recognition at home. The reasons for his failure to "adjust" can only be speculated on. The first paragraph suggests that Laurie had acquired certain notions of 'grown-upness' and independence (presumably nurtured by his loving parents) which inevitably clashed with the mild forms of school discipline usual even at the kindergarten stage.
Seen from the reader's perspective, the story makes pleasant reading, becau Laurie's tactics will soon be en through. While the narrator in the story is blind to what is really going on, the reader step by step becomes aware of the improbability of Laurie's reports. The point at which one realis that Laurie is tricking his parents will, of cour, vary; but from then on one knows — or suspects — more than the narrator (dramatic irony) and is amud at her
_____________________________.
政治理论学习
The suspen lies in the question: "How long can Laurie go on tricking his parents?" Conquently, the _________________________ at the end of the story comes as some sort of confirmation rather than as a surpri. The blow is dealt to Laurie's mother, not to the reader. For the juvenile reader, the charm of this story probably lies in a humorous reversal of traditional roles: Parents, by convention thought to be intellectually superior to their children are outwitted by the imagination and artistry of a clever little nipper.
Unit I
The Contents
1. Central character and narrator
Who do you think is the main character in the story? Give reasons why.一生所爱谭维维
Laurie:
Laurie's mother
Group B: Work through the text and note down all relevant information on Laurie's behaviour in outline form (entering the details into a similar chart).
First Week:
— Laurie starts wearing blue jeans.
泰国特色
秋声赋原文— He goes off to kindergarten without waving goodbye.
— On returning, he shouts and slams the door, [etc.]
Group C: Summarize the corresponding reactions of Laurie's parents (entering the details into a similar chart).
—Laurie's mother notices that an era of her life has come to an end.
— She tries to react casually.
—Laurie's father asks what he learned at school, [etc.] Unit II
Humour and Irony
1. Charles’ identity
Who is Charles? — How do you know?
2. The narrator's perspective
When did Laurie's mother realize?
3. The reader's perspective
When did you realize Laurie was not telling the whole truth?
4. Dramatic irony
How did your knowledge affect your enjoyment of the story?
5. Surface humour
What el is funny about the story?
投资结构
Unit III
井冈山根据地
The Characters
结婚闹洞房1. Reader's sympathies
Which character do you sympathize with (laugh at) most? Why? Try to explain why Laurie/Charles behaved as he did.
3. Parental attitudes
What do you think of the way the parents deal with Laurie?
