The Witching Hour by Elizabth Laird

Transcription

1 LEARNING RESOURCES THIRD LEVEL FOURTH LEVEL The Witching Hour by Elizabth Laird Resource created by Michael Stephenson

2 Contents 2 Author biography 2 How to use this guide 3 Pre-reading activities 4 Chapters 1-3 Scalpsie Bay 5 Chapters 4-6 Accusations 6 Chapters 7-9 The Tollbooth and the Trial 7 Chapters Escape and Flight 8 Chapters Ladymuir 9 Chapters The Covenanters Attacked 10 Chapters To Edinburgh 11 Chapters Prisoners of Dunnotar 12 Chapter 24 Freedom 13 After reading 14 Additional resource 1 Author biography Elizabeth Laird was born in New Zealand in 1943 but she grew up in Britain. She has lived in many parts of the world, including Ethiopia, Malaysia, Iraq and Lebanon. She now lives in Britain with her husband, David McDowall, who is also a writer. Some of Elizabeth's novels are set in Britain, and deal with the problems and concerns of young people growing up today. Others are set in Kurdistan, Ethiopia, Lebanon and Pakistan. She has also written two historical novels, and many shorter novels and picture books for younger children. Elizabeth has won the Scottish Arts Council Children's Book of the Year Award and has been shortlisted for the Costa Award, the Blue Peter Award and four times for the Carnegie Medal. Her books have been translated into more than fifteen languages. Find out more at How to use this reading guide This guide includes ideas for pre-reading activity, followed by suggested discussion topics for each section of the novel. Of course, teachers and librarians may wish to add other topics as they see fit. For each section, there is also an idea for a task which would be suitable as an extension 2

3 or homework activity. These often involve more extended work and are designed to promote an active engagement with the text and its thematic concerns. Again, though, these are suggestions and teachers and librarians will be able to choose which tasks to use and decide how they might be adapted. The extension activity charting Maggie s journey which is introduced in chapters is intended as an ongoing task which will support parental involvement. Finally, there is a section on post-reading activities, including guidance on writing a review of the novel. All links to CFE Experiences and Outcomes are documented throughout. Of course, you may not cover all the links: for example, depending on whether or not you choose to do activities as a discussion, you may or may not cover the documented Talking Experiences and Outcomes. Pre-reading activities DISCUSSION 1. Based only on the title and front cover image of the novel, what predictions would you make about the book s subject matter, setting and characters? Who do you think might be attracted to pick up the book and find out more? 2. Now read the back cover and the preface to the novel. How does this new information affect your predictions? What kind of readers would be most intrigued now, do you think? The preface to the novel gives us some vital information about the period during which the book is set a period known as The Killing Times. Take notes of what you feel are the most important points from the preface. Be as succinct as you can try to limit your notes to five or six bullet points! Finding and Using Information> LIT 4-15a. LIT 4-16a, ENG 4-17a. Talking>Finding and Using Information> LIT 4-05A 3

4 Chapters 1-3 Scalpsie Bay Scalpsie Bay on the Isle of Bute, with Arran in the distance What are your first impressions of the following characters: l Maggie l Granny l Tam l Mr Macbean l Annie Try to back up your ideas about the characters with evidence from the text.. Talking>Tools for Listening and Talking> LIT 4-02a EXTENSION/ HOMEWORK TASK l In seventeenth century Scotland everyone knows the Devil is real. l Everyone knows that witches exist. l Everyone knows that saying the wrong thing can get you hanged. From the beginning of the novel, it seems that Maggie s Granny, Elspeth, is different from most of the folk in Scalpsie Bay. She seems to be in conflict with just about everybody! Explore this conflict by drawing (or writing the names of) Mr Robertson and Maggie s Granny at either end of a sheet of paper. Around their pictures, write as much as you can about their differences. How do their personalities clash? What are the differences in their faith and beliefs? What is each character s opinion of the other? Next, draw a line between them. If each end of the line represents a very different attitude to life, where along this spectrum would you place Maggie? Why? 4

5 Chapters 4-6 Accusations What do you think the accusations levelled at Elspeth say about: l Elspeth? l The people who accuse her? Who do you have most sympathy with? ENG 4-19a EXTENSION/ HOMEWORK TASK Look at the description of Elspeth as she is taken away to be tried as a witch (p56): She wiped the touch of the man off her, and in spite of her dirty, ragged dress and the roughness of her uncombed hair, she looked as magnificent as a queen conferring a favour. 1. Elizabeth Laird uses simile a comparison between two things using the words like or as - to compare Elspeth to a queen. What does this image suggest about her? 2. Choose three other characters present at the scene and, for each, use simile to evoke something of how you imagine them. You could show how they look, act, speak or feel. Base your ideas on how they are described in the text but try to make your comparison as original as you can.. Writing> Creating Texts> ENG4-27a 5

6 Chapters 7-9 The Tollbooth and the Trial How do you imagine Maggie and her Granny feel during the trial? Maybe you ve been in a situation where you were falsely accused or blamed unfairly. How did it feel? Talking>Tools for Listening and Talking> LIT4-02a. Health and Wellbeing> Mental, Emotional and Social Wellbeing> HWB 4-01a.. LIT4-11a HOMEWORK/EXTENSION TASK Research the issue of witchcraft and witch-hunts in 16th-17th century Scotland. First, write a list of the questions you would like to have answered, such as: l How many women were killed as witches in Scotland in the 17th century? Now see how many of your questions you can answer. Here are a couple of really useful starting points for your research: The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft: Social Studies>People in Society, Economy and Business> SOC4-16b. Finding and Using Information> LIT4-14a LIT4-15a Information about the North Berwick witch trials of 1590: wickwwitchtrials/index.asp You could look up Isobel Gowdie, who many people believe was the last woman killed as a witch in Scotland. Maybe you could even look further afield and find out about witch trials in other countries, like the infamous events in Salem, Massachusetts which the playwright Arthur Miller wrote of in The Crucible. You can even feel what it s like to be accused at: 6

7 Chapters Escape and Flight S These turbulent chapters see Maggie s life change forever. What emotions do you think she feels as she leaves her Granny, and then her home in Scalpsie Bay? At first I was so scared of being recognised and caught that I darted like a hunted animal from one place of shelter to another... Do you know of any situations in today s world where people might have to flee their homes and look for shelter elsewhere, like Maggie does after the escape from the tollbooth? Explain the reasons these people needed to become refugees. Talking>Tools for Listening and Talking> LIT4-02a.. Social Studies> People, Past Events and Societies> SOC4-04c EXTENSION/HOMEWORK TASK On Additional resource 1 there is a blank map of Scotland. Using the map, chart Maggie s journey from the Isle of Bute to Ladymuir Farm near Kilmacolm. Take your map home and show your family, explaining Maggie s story so far. Remember she is on an emotional as well as a physical journey! You can do this every time Maggie travels to a new part of Scotland. Social Studies> People, Past Events and Societies> SOC4-04a Maybe you could also mark where you live and any other parts of the country that are special to you and your family. It would be really interesting if you have been to any of the places which Maggie sees, and to think about whether they were very different in the 17th century. Share your work back with the class or group. 7

8 Chapters Ladymuir If thy brother repent, thou shalt forgive him. Do you agree with Maggie s Uncle Blair that Annie deserves a second chance? EXTENSION/HOMEWORK TASK Talking>Tools for Listening and Talking> LIT4-02a. Health and Wellbeing> Mental, Emotional and Social Wellbeing> HWB 4-01a. Left: A copy of the National Covenant. Right: Signing the Covenant in Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh Hugh Blair is a Presbyterian Covenanter. He describes himself and others of his faith as the faithful few, the godly remnant...who struggle for the pure and holy way... However, Mr Irving, the minister of Kilmacolm, calls them renegades and traitors for disobeying our gracious King Charles and his chosen bishops. Research the history of the Covenanters and create a mind-map of what you find out. Some of the main branches of your mind-map could be: l What was the Covenant? l What the Covenanters believed l Conventicles l Persecution of the Covenanters l Well-known Covenanters (e.g. James Renwick, who features in the novel) Here are a couple of useful web resources to get you started: covenanters/index.asp Social Studies> People, Past Events and Societies> SOC4-04a. Finding and Using Information> LIT4-14a, LIT4-15a. RME> Christianity> RME 3-03b 8

9 Chapters The Covenanters Attacked These chapters are among the most dramatic in the novel. Which moment stands out for you, particularly? Was there a time, during reading, when you felt excited, shocked or moved? LIT4-11a EXTENSION/HOMEWORK TASK In these chapters, faith seems to be a source of tremendous strength, comfort and guidance to a number of the characters. At the same time, the religious convictions of those in power are at least partly to blame for terrible persecution and violence. Consider these themes in a contemporary light by preparing for a debate around the question: Is religion a positive or negative force in today s world? Try to find reasons and evidence for your opinions through careful thinking and research. Can you give specific examples to support your points? Talking>Tools for Listening and Talking> LIT4-02a. LIT4-11a. RME>Beliefs> RME 4-01a, RME 4-01b, RME 4-04b. RME> Values and Issues> RME 4-02a, RME 4-02c. RME> Practices and Traditions> RME 4-06a. Social Studies>People in Society, Economy and Business> SOC4-16b. Health and Wellbeing> Mental, Emotional and Social Wellbeing> HWB 4-01a 9

10 Chapters To Edinburgh One of the last things Maggie s granny said to her was: Stop all that I can t, I don t. Feebleness, Maggie. Your great fault. Learn to master it. Do you feel Maggie has learned to master her great fault? In what ways do you think she has developed as a character since the beginning of the novel? Talking>Tools for Listening and Talking> LIT4-02a. EXTENSION/HOMEWORK TASKS First, update your map to show the next stage of Maggie s journey. Remember to share your work and ideas at home! By the time Maggie and Tam get to Edinburgh, it seems they re being outpaced by events. Use a table to record the most significant events we learn have happened. Finding and Using Information> LIT4-15 In one column, note down the events related to the main plot of the novel and involving the characters we know, such as Uncle Blair and Annie. In the second column, write down any background events which we learn about. What has been happening elsewhere in Scotland? What news is there of the Covenanting cause? Plot Events Background Events 10

11 Chapters Prisoners of Dunnotar When Tam is dying, Maggie says, I wanted to tell him everything I felt, but my throat was too tight. I couldn t speak... What do you think she would have told Tam, if she could? What are your own feelings about Tam as a character? LIT4-11a. EXTENSION/HOMEWORK TASKS First, update your map to show the next stage of Maggie s journey. Remember to share your work and ideas at home! Look at the following description of Dunnotar Castle: I had never seen, nor could ever have imagined, a place so wild and cruel and desolate. I know that it was God s hand which had, in the days of creation, thrown up the mountains and poured forth the sea, but surely it must have been the Prince of Evil who had vomited up this vast black rock and cast it away from the land. It reared up out of the creaming waves with only one narrow spit connecting it to the land. And it must have been the sons of Satan who had chosen this place on which to build their castle, piling massive walls of stone above the edges of the rock, and making the only entrance at the bottom so steep and narrow that no enemy would dare to approach it. Even the screams of the gulls and kittiwakes circling round the dank black ledges were more mournful than the calls of any birds I had ever heard before. Highlight the words and phrases which you feel are most effective in building the foreboding atmosphere of the castle. Then create a short storyboard three or four panels in which you combine extracts from this description with illustrations inspired by the writing. Here s the start of an example: The Prince of Evil had vomited up this vast, black rock......it reared up out of the creaming waves... Can you find another descriptive passage from later in this section which evokes the miserable conditions in which Uncle Blair and the rest of the prisoners must live? 11

12 Chapter 24 Freedom As the novel ends, we know the fate of most of the characters we have met. How fitting or satisfying do you find the resolution is for each of them? LIT4-11a EXTENSION/HOMEWORK TASK I ll go where I choose, and I ll be who I am, and I ll rise up to meet whatever comes my way. Although she s experienced some terrible hardships, Maggie has gained a great deal of knowledge, life experience and self-assurance by the end of the novel. Write down five truths Maggie has learned over the course of the novel. These could be insights into human nature, reflections on ideas like prejudice or faith, or observations about life in general. Think back to the people she s known and the experiences she s had. For example, thinking about Tam, you could write: You can t judge people by their status: Tam was a poor beggar and had more kindness in him than Mr Macbean, or Lieutenant Dundas, or many other men who would have looked down on him. 12

13 After reading DISCUSSION l l l l l The Witching Hour is a historical novel. Did you find this aspect of the book interesting and/or enjoyable? Are there special benefits to the reader in trying historical fiction? Have you read other books set in the past? How do you think historical novels compare to books with a more contemporary setting? Can they still be relevant to our lives today? If you could read a novel set in any period of history, what would it be? INTERVIEW If you had the chance to interview Elizabeth Laird, what would you want to ask her? Compose a series of questios for a live event at your school library. You could focus solely on The Witching Hour, or research her life and work at You can read a real interview with the author at Talking>Tools for Listening and Talking> LIT4-02a. LIT4-11a LIT4-11a. REVIEW THE NOVEL Write a short review (up to 200 words) describing your response to the novel. What did you feel were its most successful features? Was there any aspect of the novel you didn t like? Maybe you d like to mention a favourite moment, or comment on a particularly interesting character or relationship. Your work on the novel so far will really help you with this! Scottish Book Trust will often publish reviews from young readers. To find out more, go to LIT4-11a. 13

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