1. Reconstruct the plot of The Toll Brigde in key words, according to the pattern discribed above.

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "1. Reconstruct the plot of The Toll Brigde in key words, according to the pattern discribed above."

Mark Richard
5 years ago
Views:

Boekverslag door een scholier 2625 woorden 16 november 2001 6.1 64 keer beoordeeld Auteur Aidan Chambers Eerste uitgave 1993 Vak Engels Title: The Toll Bridge Author: Adian Chambers. Points: 8 ½ 1.

Introduction: Jan lives in and works in a Tollbridge to escape from the problems in his mind where he has to think in a place without any of the people who can influence him.

1 Boekverslag door een scholier 2625 woorden 16 november keer beoordeeld Auteur Aidan Chambers Eerste uitgave 1993 Vak Engels Title: The Toll Bridge Author: Adian Chambers. Points: 8 ½ 1. Reconstruct the plot of The Toll Brigde in key words, according to the pattern discribed above. Introduction: Jan lives in and works in a Tollbridge to escape from the problems in his mind where he has to think in a place without any of the people who can influence him. He has a best friend called Tess, and a girlfriend called Gill. Rising action: Adam comes in the toll bridge and Jan is not sure if he wants him to stay. In a way he can come in handy, but he went to the toll bridge to be on his own. Climax: Adam tells his live story to Jan and they become good friends. Jan doesn t want to get rid of him no more. Falling action: The party is not what they expected it to be like. Tess invited Gill, without Jan knowing. When Gill comes in, she fiends Jan and Tess in an intimate game. She runs out of the toll bridge and is very upset. When Adam wants to comfort her, she gets scared because she doesn t know him. She kicks him and hurts him. Adam is very hurt and has a lot of cuts and bruises. He has to go into hospital. Conclusion: Adam was taken out of hospital. Tess and Jan find out from a nurse what happened. She gives them a letter Adam wrote. Adam wasn t Adam afterall, he s a murderer of a young child. It happened a long time ago, but he couldn t bare it anylonger. They took him to a mental hospital. 2. The book is a very personal, psychological story. Throughout the book the main characters go through some changes due to everything they experience and everything they think about. Study the book closely, and see how the plot has been made into a story. In other words: how the story is told. Think of the ways in which Jan/Piers and Tess convey their story to us. Write down your conclusions. Pagina 1 van 6

2 I think the story was told to someone who wrote it down. In another way it could have been an diary. I think it s a mixture of a lot of types of writing. 3. Try to give a summary of the story in three sentences. Janus/Piers lives in a tollbridge and is searching for his inner-self. Adam comes and live with him but there s something strange about him. Tess is their best friend and helps them both through this difficult period of doubts and insecurity. 4. What is the main idea behind this novel? What do you think of that idea? The thoughts of teenagers, their doubts, their insecurity. They have to discover the person who they really are. The most perfect person is not always the happiest and there could be something else. (pretending they re the most happy and pretty people in the world.) B. Conflict. 1. Mention all the conflicts that you think there are in the story. Find at least three. Jan is not sure if he wants Adam to stay in the toll bridge. Jan is not sure whether he has to contact his mum and dad. Jan is not sure if he wants to see Gill. Jan is not sure what he feels for Adam. Gill is upset because she saw Jan and Tess during an intimate game. Gill was also upset because her letters were stuck on the door. Tess her father is not sure to trust Adam. 2. Jan/Piers is constantly facing the conflict whether or not to help Adam. What kind of conflict is this? 1) A person against another person. 2) A person against himself. Nr. 1 because he s not very keen on Adam because he just walked into his life. Nr. 2 because he wants time on his own to think about himself. 3. Suppose you were in Jan/Piers position. Would you have helped Adam, or would you have acted differently? Explain why (not). I think I would because I m a helpful person myself, I wouldn t have minded a talk and a friend during this period. Someone with a clear view who doesn t have any things to say about you because they don t know you at all. If you are quite good friends you stick together no matter what happeneds. Pagina 2 van 6

3 C. Characters 1. Give a short description of the following characters: -Piers/Jan -Gill -Tess -Adam -Piers parents -Tess parents Describe their appereance in key words. Piers/Jan is insecure, friendly, caring. Gill is pretty, wants to know what s happening between her and Jan. Tess is friendly, caring, open, understanding. Adam is closed, friendly, scared. Piers /Jan s parents are caring, loving, concerned. Tess parents are friendly, open, caring, understanding. 2. What is the relationship of all the other characters to Piers and how do they behave towards Piers? The other character are the major, the estate agent and Bob Norris. I don t think they are that friendly to him. They tell him to paint the toll bridge because it might get sold. They put him under a lot of pressure. The other characters are the people on the party, but don t read much about them. They left a right mess. The other person is the nurse who gives then the letter. She can ger fired for doing that. The last person to appear is Doctor Pelham who is very friendly and quite honest. 3. What do you think of Piers behaviour towards other people? Do you think he is honest towards them and/or towards himself? Explain why (not). I think he was very honest, he just didn t know what he wanted and had to find that out first before he could say more about it. he might be a bit egocentric but he s honest. Maybe he hasn t said certain things to people because he found it best not to. 4. On the one hand Piers/Jan is tired of having to act in other people s plays, on the other hand he still doesn t do what he wants when he is confronted with unexpected situations/people (Adam for instance). Find examples in the book of this behaviour. Find at least two. He says presents shoeldn t be there to expect something back, but in a way he does. (page 7) Jan wants to hit Adam but doesn t do it. (page 7) Pagina 3 van 6

4 5. What can you conclude from Piers behaviour? What does he still have to learn? He doesn t have to think about himself like he sometimes does. It s a bit egoistic sometimes. He can t be bothered to get in contact with his parents, and Gill. He has to learn to be a bit understanding himself. And that the world is not turning because of him. Other people have difficult periods as well, and he has to understand that from their point of view as well. 6. Try to give a definition of a boy-girl -relationship, i.e. what it should be like according to you. Use key words in your answer. Understanding eachothers feelings which are different, respect eachothers hobbies, have to make sure there won t be a relationship between the two. Have to respect the different idea s of live. 7. In what way(s) does the relationship between Piers and Gill differ? He has to think about things, lead his own life for a period of time. He s still with Gill and he does care about her, but he just doesn t want to see her for a while so he can have his mind cleared. Gill on the other hand wants to be with him as much as she can. But because he doesn t write letters back to her she doesn t know what s upwith him, she doesn t understand it. Then she s very upset when she sees him and Tess in that game and is very upset, which even I find understandable eventhough I see my boyfriend more than her, but I think I would have reacted in the same way. 8. Do you think it is a solid relationship? Should they break up or stay together? Why? Explain your answers with good arguments. I think if they will stay together they have to talk about their wishes, if Gill wants to see him a couple of times a week, and Jan wants time on his own, they will have to sort it out. They can not go on like this because Gill wants to know if it s worth waiting for him. If he keeps acting like he did he will lose her to someone else who will give all the attention she needs. 9. Write down in short the relationship between Piers and his parents. He doesn t understand why his parents don t want him to go and live and work on the toll bridge. Because he s a teenager he can t see the point why not, and does whatever he wants. His parents do care about him a lot, and want the best for him. 10. When you read the letters written by his mother, can you give a discription of her personality? What kind of woman is she? Do you like her? Why (not)? I do like her because I think she reacts like any mum would do. You care about your child and wants the best for it. If the child wants to leave the house on his age they get scared and are worried something bad Pagina 4 van 6

5 will happen. I also can understand the reason why she is depressed. 11. What can you tell about his father? Do you like him? Why (not)? I think he s very concerned about his boy. He told him what the reason was for his mums depressions. I think men would do that. 12. The bond Piers has with his parents is not very good. What is causing the friction in this relationship? Support your answer with quotes from the book. You ll starve joked father., Who ll do your laundry? cried mother I ll be worried sick. (see page 0) They are very concerned, and want him to stay. He wants to go his own way, because he isn t happy the way he is then. 13. Adam is a complicated character, a person whom Piers has trouble dealing and communicating with. What do you think of Adam? Do you like him? Why (not)? Adam as Adam seems to be okay, lives a life of his own a bit. He seems friendly, good looking, but it s oubvious he s hiding something. Adam as Aston as the murderer is strange. In a way I can understand him for reacting like that because when you get bullied one day something will snap inside you and you re really up to hurting someone. But I don t think I would like to be his friend. You never know what he will do next. 14. In the end Adam turns out to be a different person than Piers and Tess had expected. You probably hadn t expected him to turn out the way he did. As Aidan Chambers doesn t really like happy endings he did this on purpose to stir the emotions of the reader. How did you feel when you read the last few pages: angry, sad, happy, relieved, dissapointed, indifferent? Explain why. Dissapointed, because I liked Adam the way he was when he lived in the Toll house. He seemed to enjoy life. I knew he was hiding something but didn t know what. I never expected it to be something like that. I was also dissapointed in the ending of the story. I would have liked to know what happened to Piers and Gill, and if he ever had contact with Tess again, and if Tess ever went to see Adam. D. Style 1. In The Toll Bridge you can find different styles. Choose at least three and give an example of each style. Don t forget to mention the page numbers. Romantic: Tess and Adam are making love in front of the fire place. (page 93) Psychological: Piers mum is depressed about the died baby. Adam turns into an 11 year old. (page ) Pagina 5 van 6

6 Business: Working on the Toll Bridge. (page 8) 2. The book is written from different points of view. In the beginning, for instance, certain parts are printed in italics. By whom are these parts written, and how and when did you find out? I think Tess did, because she studies French and a lot of the words wrote like that are french. It also could be an way of how they say it. 3. Give the names of people who are involved in conveying the story to us and explain in which way they accomplish this (i.e. Piers writes as if he s writing a diary) Mention page numbers. Pagina 6 van 6

7.9. Night, Hill and Wang, New York, Union Square West, 2006, 120 pp. (First publication 1958)

7.9. Night, Hill and Wang, New York, Union Square West, 2006, 120 pp. (First publication 1958) Boekverslag door J. 2881 woorden 30 december 2007 7.9 55 keer beoordeeld Auteur Elie Wiesel Eerste uitgave 1956 Vak Engels 1) Data about the book: Sir Elie Wiesel. Night, Hill and Wang, New York, Union