Classic authors´ extracts and notes

CLASSIC AUTHORS

·         MARK TWAIN

·         CHARLES DICKENS

·         LEWIS CARROLL

·         ROALD DAHL

·         OSCAR WILDE

·         ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

·         KATHERINE MANSFIELD

__________________________________________

MARK TWAIN'S extract (1876)

CHAPTER 1

'TOM!'

No answer.

'Tom!'

No answer.

'What's gone with that boy, I wonder? You Tom!'

The old lady pulled her spectacles down and looked over them, about the room; then she put them up and looked out under them. She seldom or never looked through them for so small a thing as a boy, for they were her state pair, the pride of her heart, and were built for 'style' not service; she could have seen through a pair of stove lids as well. She looked perplexed a moment and said, not fiercely, but still loud enough for the furniture to hear, 'Well, I lay if I get hold of you, I'll -'

She did not finish, for by this time she was bending down and punching under the bed with the broom -and so she needed breath to punctuate the punches with. She resur­rected nothing but the cat.

'I never did see the beat of that boy I'

She went to the open door and stood in it, and looked out among the tomato vines and 'jimpson' weeds that consti­tuted the garden. No Tom. So she lifted up her voice, at an angle calculated for distance, and shouted:

'Y-o-u-u-Tom/'

There was a slight noise behind her, and she turned just in time to seize a small boy by the slack of his roundabout and arrest his flight. 'There! I might 'a thought of that closet. What you been doing in there?'

'Nothing.'

'Nothing! Look at your hands, and look at your mouth. What is that truck?' 'I don't know, Aunt! 'Well, I know. It's jam, that's what it is. Forty times I've said if you didn't let that jam alone I'd skin you. Hand me that switch.'

The switch hovered in the air. The peril was desperate. 'My! Look behind you, Aunt!'

MARK TWAIN'S notes

``THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER´´

Life and work

Mark Twain was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called "the Great American Novel." He was born in Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835, and died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910, in Redding, Connecticut.

Twain's first important work, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," was first published in the New York Saturday Press on November 18, 1865.
Mark Twain´s stylistic traits are: his excellent and frequent use of dialect and his sense of humor.

Summary of ``The adventures of Tom Sawyer´´

Tom Sawyer lived with his Aunt Polly and his half-brother, Sid. Tom dirties his clothes in a fight and is made to whitewash the fence the next day, as punishment. He cleverly persuades his friends to trade him small treasures for the privilege of doing his work. In Sunday school, Tom does not manage to get a Bible because Mr. Walters knew he was trading tickets.

Tom falls in love with Becky Thatcher, a new girl in town, and persuades her to get "engaged" by kissing him. But their romance collapses when she learns Tom has been "engaged" previously, to a girl named Amy Lawrence. Shortly after being shunned by Becky, Tom accompanies Huckleberry Finn to the graveyard at night, where they witnessed the murder of Dr. Robinson.

Tom, Huck, and Joe Harper run away to an island. While enjoying their newfound freedom, the boys become aware that the community is sounding the river for their bodies. Tom sneaks back home one night to observe the commotion. After a brief moment of remorse at his loved ones' suffering, Tom is struck by the idea of appearing at his funeral.

Back in school, Tom gets himself back in Becky's favor after he nobly accepts the blame for a book she has ripped. Soon, Muff Potter's trial begins, in which Tom testifies against Injun Joe. Potter is acquitted, but Injun Joe flees the courtroom through a window. Tom then begins to fear for his life as Injun Joe is at large and can easily find him.

Summer arrives, and Tom and Huck go hunting for buried treasure in a haunted house. After venturing upstairs they hear a noise below. Peering through holes in the floor, they see Injun Joe disguised as a deaf-mute Spaniard; Injun Joe and his companion plan to bury some stolen treasure of their own. From their hiding spot, Tom and Huck wriggle with delight at the prospect of digging it up. Huck begins to shadow Injun Joe nightly, watching for an opportunity to nab the gold. Meanwhile, Tom goes on a picnic to McDougal's Cave with Becky and their classmates. That same night, Huck sees Injun Joe and his partner making off with a box. He follows and overhears their plans to attack the Widow Douglas. By running to fetch help, Huck stops the violence and becomes an anonymous hero.

A week later, Tom takes Huck to the cave and they find the box of gold, the proceeds of which are invested for them. The Widow Douglas adopts Huck, and, when Huck attempts to escape civilized life, Tom tricks him into thinking if Huck returns to the widow, he can join Tom's robber band. Reluctantly, Huck agrees and goes back to the Widow Douglas.

Summary of the extract of the book ``The adventures of Tom Sawyer´´

Tom´s taunt was calling him, but he didn´t appear. Then she called him loudly and suddenly Tom appeared, and his taunt scolded him because he had eaten the jam. The characters are Tom and his taunt.

CHARLES DICKENS' extract (1843)

“I don´t know what to do” cried Scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath: and making a perfect Laocoon of himself with his stockings.” I am as light a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy, I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody. A hapy New Year to all the world. Hallo here. Whoop. Hallo”.

He has frisked into the sitting-room, and was now standing there; perfectly winded.  “There´s the saucepan that the gruel was in”, cried Scrooge, starting off again, and going round the fireplace. There´s the door, by which the Ghost of Jacob Marley entered. There´s the window where I saw the wandering Spirits, It´s all right, it´s all true, it all happened. Ha ha ha.

Really, for a man who had been out of practice for so many years, it was a splendid laugh, a most illustrious laugh.The father of a long, long line of brilliant laughs.

“I don´t know what day of the month it is”, said Scrooge.” I don´t know anything. I´m quite a baby. Never. I don´t care. I´d rather be a baby.  Hallo. Whoop. Hallo here”.

He was checked in his transports by the churches ringing out the lustiest peals he had ever heard. Clash, clang, hammer; ding, don, bell. Bell, dong, ding; hammer, clang, clash. Oh, glorious, glorious….I should hope I did, replied the lad. ( PAGES 128-129)

CHARLES DICKENS' notes

Tittle: A Christmas carol.

Author: Charles Dickens (1843).

Orientation:

How many characters? Hay two characters in the extract: Scroob (Happy man) and the boy in the street (goes by…)

Place:

Time Christmas.

Events:

1-      Expectatives: Reird, strongs.

2-      Pouterer´s in the next street.

Key notes:

The author is of first Victorian´s time. Social demanded and a social tool.

Born/ Died: 1812-1870.

Books: “The adventure of Oliver Twist”, “A tale of the cities”, “David Copperfield”.

Style: Many details (describe in mars).

          Industrial revolutions.

          Denounce in these books the use of children.

About book:

-          Scrooge is a principal character.

-          Spirit of last Xmas.

-          Spirit of present Xmas.

-          Spirit of future Xmas.

Extract:

Just make up.

Confused.

 LEWIS CARROLL´s extract

Alice´s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

Chapter 1: Down the Rabbit-Hole.

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, ‘and what is the use of a book,’ thought Alice ‘without pictures or conversation?’

So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, ‘Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!’ (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.

In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.

The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well. Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and book-shelves; here and there she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed; it was labeled ‘ORANGE MARMALADE’, but to her great disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear of killing  somebody, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it.

’Well!’ thought Alice to herself, ‘after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down stairs! How brave they’ll all think me at home! Why, I wouldn’t say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house!’ (Which was very likely true.)

Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end! ‘I wonder how many miles I’ve fallen by this time?’ she said aloud. ‘I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think—’ (for, you see, Alice had learnt several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and though this was not a VERY good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over) ‘—yes, that’s about the right distance—but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I’ve got to?’ (Alice had no idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say.)

Presently she began again. ‘I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it’ll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think—’ (she was rather glad there WAS no one listening, this time, as it didn’t sound at all the right word) ‘—but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma’am, is this New Zealand or Australia?’ (and she tried to curtsey as she spoke—fancy curtseying as you’re falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) ‘And what an ignorant little girl she’ll think me for asking! No, it’ll never do to ask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.’

Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again. ‘Dinah’ll miss me very much to-night, I should think!’ (Dinah was the cat.) ‘I hope they’ll remember her saucer of milk at tea-time. Dinah my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I’m afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that’s very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?’ And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way, ‘Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?’ and sometimes, ‘Do bats eat cats?’ for, you see, as she couldn’t answer either question, it didn’t much matter which way she put it. She felt that she was dozing off, and had just begun to dream that she was walking hand in hand with Dinah, and saying to her very earnestly, ‘Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a bat?’ when suddenly, thump! thump! down she came upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.

LEWIS CARROLL´S notes

ALICE´S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND.

Author: Charles Lutwid. Dogson: Lewis Carrol.

Born: 1832

Death: 1898

Literary works:

-          Through the looking – Gloss, and what Alice found here (1872).

Style:

-          Victorian Literature. Satirical.

-          Characters: Alice, Rabbit, Alice´s sister and Alice´s cat (Dina)


ROALD DAHL´s extract

PUT THE MAGIC FINGER ON THEM ALL

The boys laughed and made faces at me, and Mr Gregg told me to go home and mind my own P´s and Q´s.

Well, that did it!

I saw red.

And before I was able to stop myself, I did something I never meant to do.

Oh, dear! Oh dear! I even put it on Mrs Gregg, who wasn´t there. I put in on the whole Gregg, who wasn´t there, I put it on the whole Gregg family. For months I had been telling myself that I would never put the Magic Finger upon anyone again-not after what happened to my teacher, old Mrs Winter. Poor old Mrs Winter. One day we were in class, and she was teaching us spelling “Stand up”, she said to me, and spell cat.”

“That´s an easy one” “I said” K-a-t-“, “you are a stupid little little girl” Mrs winter said. “I am not a stupid little girl!” “Go and stand in the corner,” Mrs Winter said. Then I got cross, and I saw red, and I put the Magic Finger on Mrs Winter good and strong, an almost at once…guess what?

          ROALD DAHL´s notes

Author: Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990)

Biography: Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff. His parents were Norwegian and he was the only son of a second marriage. His father, Harald, and his sister Astri, died when Roald was just three. His mother, Sofie, was left to raise six children. Roald said that his mother gave him the most tremendous feeling of security. Roald based the character of the grandmother in The witches on his mother, it was his tribute to her. His mother told Roald and his sisters tales about trolls and other mythical Norwegian creatures. ``She was a great teller of tales´´ Roald said. His father was a tremendous diary-writer.

Roald was thirteen when he started al Repton, a famous public school in Derbyshire. He was deemed by his English master to be ``quite incapable of marshalling his thoughts on paper´´. Dahl`s unhappy time at school was to greatly influence his writing.

His first children's book was The Gremlins, about mischievous little creatures that were part of RAF folklore. Dahl also had a successful parallel career as the writer of macabre adult short stories, usually with a dark sense of humour and a surprise ending.

Children's stories:

·         The Gremlins (1943)

·         James and the Giant Peach (1961) 

·         Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)

·         The Magic Finger (1 June 1966)

·         Fantastic Mr Fox (9 December 1970) 

·         Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (9 January 1972) 

·         Danny, the Champion of the World (30 October 1975) 

·         The Enormous Crocodile (24 August 1978)
·         The Twits (17 December 1980)
·         George's Marvellous Medicine (21 May 1981)
·         The BFG (14 October 1982) 
·         The Witches (27 October 1983) 
·         The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me (26 September 1985)
·         Matilda (21 April 1988) 
·         Esio Trot (19 April 1989)
·         The Vicar of Nibbleswicke (9 May 1990)
·         The Minpins (8 August 1991)

Children's poetry:

  - Revolting Rhymes (10 June 1982)                          

  - Dirty Beasts (25 October 1984

  - Rhyme Stew (21 September 1989)

Stylistic traits:

Dahl doesn’t write so radically and compartmental different for two types of readers, but seems to play with a same stylistic elements which then modulates and accommodates to the needs that he considers to respond and are typical of a child or adult readership. In the books for children, which tie with the fairy tale genre seems to be more appropriate spot for hyperbole, exaggeration and caricature.

We analyze different features which are common in the work of Roald Dahl:

1.       Names and surnames of the characters:

The names and surnames of the characters in all the work of Dahl play a very important role because they are ``caractónimos´´ and provide many clues to the nature of the character. Names play with homonyms and homophones in English.

Ex: In "Matilda" the sweet teacher is called Miss Honey.

2.       The description of the shape of the mouth and eyes:

The shape of eyes and mouth, determines the character, making him appear in a positive or negative.

Ex: In "The Witches" when Grandma explains to his grandson how to recognize one of these evil witches, she recommends to set in their eyes. The small black dot in the eyes of the witches constantly changes color, she warns, "and you'll see fire or ice dancing right in the middle of that point."

The mouth is also highlighted by Roald Dahl in the descriptions, sometimes comparing it to an animal.

3.       The absence or possession of animal features and beard or hair:

Roald Dahl did not like the facial and body hair. So he use it in a negative way in his descriptions.

Ex: Miss Trunchbull, the evil headmistress in "Matilda" that he says she had a mustache.

4.       The penalty for the excesses

In the literature of Dahl, exaggeration leads to excesses that ultimately are punished. It's as if his stories always have a moral. The bad behavior is punished sometimes with radical changes in shape and body size.

Ex: In "The Witches" whose plan to get rid of all the children of England goes through turning them into mice, ultimately they are who suffer this body transformation.

The evil is always punished by R. Dahl.

·         Book that belongs: ``The magic finger´´

·         Book data: illustrated by Quentin Blake. Published in London. Editorial Puffin Books. Year 2001.It has 57 pages. Take up 20cm. You can find it in  the librery from Dos Hermanas (Sevilla, Spain).

·         Book summary:

A girl has a magic finger with making powers. When she gets angry, she aims his magic finger and she transforms people into animals. Although Greggs are friends, the girl does not like that they are hunters. So one day, she points to the Gregg and transforms them into ducks. So they will learn and they promise that they will never hunt or hurt animals.

·         Reading and understanding of the extract:

-To make face at someone: hacer frente a alguien

-To mean: tener intención

-Upon: sobre algo

-Bushy: tupido

·         Summary extract and relation to the context of the book:

The girl is angry with Greggs and she points them with her magic finger. Then she thinks about when she pointed her teacher because she told her to spell a word. Her teacher started to become a cat, with whiskers and tail, and the whole class laughed.

This has relation to the book because it explains how the girl angrily point people with his finger to turn them into animals.

·         Important characters or actions: Gregg family, the teacher and the girl. The most important action is when she point people with the magic finger.

·         Stylistic traits excerpt:

-Name and surnames: Mr Gregg and Mrs Winter

-Shapes of the mouth and eyes:

-Animal features: Mrs Winter becomes a cat: whiskers, cat ears, a bushy tail…

-Excesses: when people laught at her, she changes their body or some shapes. Here in a cat, or ducks in the book.

Interesting websites:

  http://www.roalddahl.com/

  http://www.roalddahlmuseum.org/

  http://www.roalddahlday.info/

  http://www.roalddahlfans.com/

         OSCAR WILDE´s extract

       “HAPPY PRINCE”

“How wonderful the stars are,” he said to her, “and how wonderful is the power of love!” “I hope my dress will be ready in time for the State-ball,” she answered; “I have ordered passion- flowers to be embroidered on it; but the seamstresses are so lazy.” He passed over the river, and saw the lanterns hanging to the masts of the ships. He passed over the Ghetto, and saw the old Jews bargaining with each other, and weighing out money in copper scales. At last he came to the poor house and looked in. The boy was tossing feverishly on his bed, and the mother had fallen asleep, she was so tired. In he hopped, and laid the great ruby on the table beside the woman’s thimble. Then he flew gently round the bed, fanning the boy’s forehead with his wings. “How cool I feel,” said the boy, “I must be getting better”; and he sank into a delicious slumber. Then the Swallow flew back to the Happy Prince, and told him what he had done. “It is curious,” he remarked, “but I feel quite warm now, although it is so cold.” “That is because you have done a good action,” said the Prince. And the little Swallow began to think, and then he fell asleep. Thinking always made him sleepy. When day broke he flew down to the river and had a bath. “What a remarkable phenomenon,” said the Professor of Ornithology as he was passing over the bridge. “A swallow in winter!” And he wrote a long letter about it to the local newspaper. Every one quoted it, it was full of so many words that they could not understand. “To-night I go to Egypt,” said the Swallow, and he was in high spirits at the prospect. He visited all the public monuments, and sat a long time on top of the church steeple. Wherever he went the Sparrows chirruped, and said to each other, “What a distinguished stranger!” so he enjoyed himself very much. When the moon rose he flew back to the Happy Prince. “Have you any commissions for Egypt?” he cried. “I am just starting.” “Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow,” said the Prince, “will you not stay with me one night longer?” “I am waited for in Egypt,” answered the Swallow. “To-morrow my friends will fly up to the Second Cataract. The river-horse couches there among the bulrushes, and on a great granite throne sits the God Memnon. All night long he watches the stars, and when the morning star shines he utters one cry of joy, and then he is silent. At noon the yellow lions come down to the water’s edge to drink. They have eyes like green beryls, and their roar is louder than the roar of the cataract.” “Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow,” said the Prince, “far away across the city I see a young man in a garret. He is leaning over a desk covered with papers, and in a tumbler by his side there is a bunch of withered violets.

OSCAR WILDE´S notes

Birth name: Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde
Birth date: October 16, 1854
Birth place: Dublin, Ireland
Nationality: Irish
Educated:

·         Trinity College (Dublin)
·         Magdalen College (Oxford)

Father: Sir William Wilde (eye doctor)
Mother: Jane Francesca Elgee (poet and journalist)
Siblings: brother William, sister Isola
Spouse: Constance Lloyd
Children: two sons - Cyril and Vyvyan
Occupation: Playwright, novelist, poet, editor, critic
Period: Victorian era (1837–1901)
Literary movement: Aestheticism
Famous Works:

·         The Picture of Dorian Gray (novel)

·         The Importance of Being Earnest (play)

·         The Ballad of Reading Gaol (poem)

Died: November 30, 1900 (aged 46) in Paris, France

Resting place: Le Pére Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France

DATOS BIOGRÁFICOS:

Libro que pertenece: “HAPPY PRINCE”

Nº páginas: 9

Year of publication: 1888

Resumen del libro:En una ciudad había una estatuade un príncipe feliz. Un día la estatua le contó llorandoa una Golondrina que antes él vivía en el Palacio de la Despreocupación, en el que no se permite la entrada al dolor. Pero ahora podía ver toda la tristeza de su pueblo y quería que la golondrina entregara todas sus joyas que lo cubría a los pobres.
La golondrina lo hizo y murió a sus pies.
El alcalde mandó tirar la estatua.
Tráeme las dos cosas más preciosas de la ciudad -dijo Dios a uno de sus ángeles,
Y el ángel se llevó el corazón del príncipe y el pájaro muerto.
-Has elegido bien -dijo Dios-. En mi jardín del Paraíso este pajarillo cantará eternamente, y en mi ciudad de oro el Príncipe Feliz repetirá mis alabanzas.

Relación con el resto del libro:En este libro se encuentran varios libros, entre ellos, el príncipe feliz, que comparte el mismo estilo literario.

Personajes: Los principales son dos:
-La estatua del príncipe feliz: ubicada en lo alto de una ciudad sobre enormes columnas, completamente esculpida con delgadas láminas de oro, con dos brillantes zafiros a manera de ojos y un gigantesco rubí rojo en el estuche de su espada. Era la estatua de un príncipe que había vivido en el palacio real toda su vida y era muy feliz. Al ser ubicada de modo de ver toda la ciudad, entristeció por todas las cosas horribles que llegaba a ver desde allí pero sin poder hacer nada.

-La golondrina: un ave enamorada de la belleza. Se había quedado atrás cuando sus compañeras de vuelo iniciaron la emigración hacia Egipto por haberse enamorado de un Junco. Junto con la estatua del Príncipe Feliz era muy compasiva, solidaria y perseverante.

    ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON´s extract

“TREASURE ISLAND “

 “Treasure Island”

I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the inn door, his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow—a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the shoulder of his soiled blue coat, his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails, and the sabre cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid white. I remember him looking round the cover and whistling to himself as he did so, and then breaking out in that old sea-song that he sang so often afterwards:

          "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest—

             Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"

In the high, old tottering voice that seemed to have been tuned and broken at the capstan bars. Then he rapped on the door with a bit of stick like a handspike that he carried, and when my father appeared, called roughly for a glass of rum. This, when it was brought to him, he drank slowly, like a connoisseur, lingering on the taste and still looking about him at the cliffs and up at our signboard.

"This is a handy cove," says he at length; "and a pleasant sittyated grog-shop. Much company, mate?" My father told him no, very little company, the more was the pity.

"Well, then," said he, "this is the berth for me. Here you, matey," he cried to the man who trundled the barrow; "bring up alongside and help up my chest. I'll stay here a bit," he continued. "I'm a plain man; rum and bacon and eggs is what I want, and that head up there for to watch ships off. What you mought call me? You mought call me captain. Oh, I see what you're at—there"; and he threw down three or four gold pieces on the threshold. "You can tell me when I've worked through that," says he, looking as fierce as a commander. And indeed bad as his clothes were and coarsely as he spoke, he had none of the appearance of a man who sailed before the mast, but seemed like a mate or skipper accustomed to be obeyed or to strike. The man who came with the barrow told us the mail had set him down the morning before at the Royal George, that he had inquired what inns there were along the coast, and hearing ours well spoken of, I suppose, and described as lonely, had chosen it from the others for his place of residence. And that was all we could learn of our guest. (...)

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON´S notes

·-Stevenson,  Robert Louis. (1883).

·Treasure Island. Chapter I: The Old Sea-dog at the Admiral Benbow.    

·He Was born: 13^th  November 1850

·Death: 3^rd  December 1894

·Works:

Novels: Treasure Island, Strange case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, kidnapped, the Black Arrow, Prince Otto, the Master of Ballantrae, the wrong box, the Wrecker, Catriona, the Ebb-tide, Weir of Hermistone, St. Ives: Being the Adventures of a French prisioners in England, The hair trunk or the ideal Commonwealth.

Shorts stories: “A Lodging for the Night", "The Sire De Malétroits Door" , "An Old Song" , “Edifying Letters of the Rutherford Family", “Later-day  Arabian Nights”, "Providence and the Guitar" , “The Pavilion on the links”, "The Story of a Lie" , “The Merry Men”,  “The Body Snatcher”, “Markheim”,  "Will O' the Mill" , "Thrawn Janet" ,  “Olalla”, “The Treasure of Franchard”, "The Misadventures of John Nicholson: A Christmas Story", "The Bottle Imp", “The Beach of Falesá", "The Isle of Voices".    

· Characteristic style: adeventures, Children's victorian literature. Victorian novels tend to be idealized portraits of difficult lives in which hard work, perseverance, love and luck win out in the end; virtue would be rewarded and wrongdoers are suitably punished. They tended to be of an improving nature with a central moral lesson at heart

· Characters:

Jim Hawkins: he is the narrator. He seems a young boy, who belongs to a humble family.

Billy Bones: he is plodding,  a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the shoulder of his soiled blue coat, his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails, and the sabre cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid white. He seems confident.

Jim's father: he is nostalgic, sentimental and humble.

Book summary.

The story is told in the first person by Jim Hawkins, whose mother kept the Admiral Benbow Inn, and who shared in the adventures from start to finish. An old sea dog comes to this peaceful inn one day, apparently intending to finish his life there. He hires Jim to keep a watch out for other sailors, but despite all precautions, he is hunted out and served with the black spot that means death. Jim and his mother barely escape death when Blind Pew, Black Dog, and other pirates descend on the inn in search of the sea dog’s papers. Jim snatches up a packet of papers to square the sailor’s debt, when they were forced to retreat from the inn. The packet contains a map showing the location of the pirate Flint’s buried treasure, which Jim, Doctor Livesey, and Squire Trelawney determine to find. Fitting out a ship, they hire hands and set out on their adventure. Unfortunately, their crew includes one-legged Long John Silver, a pirate also in search of the treasure, and a number of his confederates. Jim, hidden in an apple barrel, overhears the plans of the crew to mutiny, and he warns his comrades. The battle between the pirates and Jim’s party is an exciting and bloody one, taking place both on the island and aboard ship. Jim escapes from the ship, discovers the marooned sailor, Ben Gunn, who has already found and cached the treasure, and finally the victors get safely aboard the ship with the treasure.

Extract summary.

The extract tells about how Jim Hawkins meets Billy Bones,who is a pirate . Jim see him for first time when Billy go in the Jim's inn (“Admiral Benbow”).  Billy seems to bring with himself a lot of money.

      KATHERINE MANSFIELD´s extract

The Tiredness of Rosabel

At the corner of Oxford Circus Rosabel bought a bunch of violets, and that was practically the reason why she had so little tea—for a scone and a boiled egg and a cup of cocoa at Lyons are not ample sufficiency after a hard day's work in a millinery establishment. As she swung on to the step of the Atlas 'bus, grabbed her skirt with one hand and clung to the railing with the other, Rosabel thought she would have sacrificed her soul for a good dinner—roast duck and green peas, chestnut stuffing, pudding with brandy sauce—something hot and strong and filling. She sat down next to a girl very much her own age who was reading Anna Lombard in a cheap, paper-covered edition, and the rain had tear-spattered the pages. Rosabel looked out of the windows; the street was blurred and misty, but light striking on the panes turned their dullness to opal and silver, and the jewellers' shops seen through this, were fairy palaces. Her feet were horribly wet, and she knew the bottom of her skirt and  There was a sickening smell of warm humanity—it seemed to be oozing out of everybody in the 'bus—and everybody had the same expression, sitting so still, staring in front of them. How many times had she read these advertisements—“Sapolio Saves Time, Saves Labour”—“Heinz's Tomato Sauce”—and the inane, annoying dialogue between doctor and judge concerning the superlative merits of “Lamplough's Pyretic Saline.” She glanced at the book which the girl read so earnestly, mouthing the words in a way that Rosabel detested, licking her first finger and thumb each time that she turned the page. She could not see very clearly; it was something about a hot, voluptuous night, a band playing, and a girl with lovely, white shoulders. Oh, Heavens! Rosabel stirred suddenly and unfastened the two top buttons of her coat … she felt almost stifled. Through her half-closed eyes the whole row of people on the opposite seat seemed to resolve into one fatuous, staring face. …

And this was her corner. She stumbled a little on her way out and lurched against the girl next her. “I beg your pardon,” said Rosabel, but the girl did not even look up. Rosabel saw that she was smiling as she read.

Westbourne Grove looked as she had always imagined Venice to look at night, mysterious, dark, even the hansoms were like gondolas dodging up and down, and the lights trailing luridly—tongues of flame licking the wet street—magic fish swimming in the Grand Canal. She was more than glad to reach Richmond Road, but from the corner of the street until she came to No. 26 she thought of those four flights of stairs.

KATHERINE MANSFIELD´s notes

25 capitulos

(Wellington, Nueva Zelanda, 14 de octubre de 1888 - Fontainebleau,Francia, 9 de enero de 1923), una destacada escritora modernista de origen neozelandés.

Literaty movement: Modernism

Main carácter: Rosabel

She was awarded:Booker Prize

Works:

·         Novels and Novelists (1930), ISBN 0-403-02290-8

·         The Short Stories of Katherine Mansfield (1937)

·         The Scrapbook of Katherine Mansfield (1939)

·         The Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield (1945, 1974), ISBN 0-14-118368-3

·         Letters to John Middleton Murry, 1913–1922 (1951), ISBN 0-86068-945-X

·         TheUrewera Notebook (1978), ISBN 0-19-558034-6

·         The Critical Writings of Katherine Mansfield (1987), ISBN 0-312-17514-0

·         The Collected Letters of Katherine Mansfield (4 vols., 1984–96)

Book summary

Rosabel takes a bus home after a tiring day working in a millinery shop. She thinks of a good dinner, feeling she would sacrifice her soul. On the bus, Rosabel sits next to a girl reading a sentimental novel. At home in her room, Rosabel recalls two well-dressed customers who came to the shop to buy a hat for the young lady. They had been hard to please until Rosabel found a hat that entranced them all. Rosabel models the hat at the request of the young woman, who then buys it. The couple leave, but not before the young man has spoken to Rosabel with a touch of insolence.

In her room, Rosabel imagines that she is the young woman with the new hat, inspired by the sentimental novel she noticed on the bus