A Shady Plot

Given below is a list of words related to ghosts and ghost stories with their jumbled-up meanings against them. Match the words/expressions with their correct meanings:

Apparition: a feeling of anticipation of or anxiety over a future event

Poltergeist: a reanimated corpse that is believed to rise from the grave at night to suck the blood of sleeping people

Clairvoyance: a conjurer who expels evil spirits by conjuration

Crystal Ball: a spelling board device intended to communicate with and through the spirit world, obtaining answers to questions

Eerie: beyond the range of normal experience or scientific explanation

Medium: any of a set of 22 playing cards bearing allegorical representations, used for fortune telling

Transmigration: a supernatural appearance of a person or thing, a ghost, spectre or phantom

Psychic: so mysterious, strange, or unexpected as to send a chill up the spine

Ouija Board: the supposed power to see objects or events that cannot be perceived by the senses

Exorcist: a person through whom the spirits of the dead are alleged to be able to contact the living

Premonition: a globe of quartz crystal in which images, believed to portend the future, are supposedly visible to fortune tellers.

Paranormal: to pass into another body after death: going from one state of existence or place to another

Tarot Card: capable of extraordinary mental processes, such as extrasensory perception and mental telepathy

Vampire: The German word, meaning "noisy ghost"-a troublesome spirit that announces its presence with unexplainable sounds and the creation of disorder

The title of the story is A Shady Plot. The dictionary defines the words as:

Shady:adjective

a. Full of shade; shaded.

b. Casting shade: a shady grove.

c. Quiet, dark, or concealed; hidden.

d. Of dubious character or of questionable honesty.

plot:noun

a. i) a small piece of ground, generally used for a specific purpose: a garden plot.

ii) a measured area of land

b. a ground plan, as for a building; a diagram.

c. storyline- the plan, scheme, or main story of a literary or dramatic work, as a play,

novel, or short story

d. a secret plan to accomplish a hostile or illegal purpose; a scheme.

Based on the definitions above can you predict what the story will be about?

Make a brief note of your prediction in your notebook.

Read the story given below. Your teacher will use a variety of techniques for different parts of the story. For example:

● Silent reading

● One student reading aloud to the whole class

● Students reading in small groups

● Dramatised reading in small groups

Based on your reading of the story above, answer the following questions by ticking the correct options.

The narrator earns his living by ………………………….
A. writing ghost stories

B. working as a reader for a magazine

C. working as a stenographer

D. working as an accountant in a lumber company

Based on your reading of the story above, answer the following questions by ticking the correct options.

The writer was overconfident about his ability to write ghost stories because ……
A. whenever magazines wanted a ghost story, they got in touch with him

B. he was always able to write a ghost story whenever he had to write one

C. the readers appreciated his ghost stories

D. he knew the ghost lady would help him write a good ghost story

Based on your reading of the story above, answer the following questions by ticking the correct options.

The sight of the ghost materializing in his room filled the narrator with ………
A. fear

B. excitement

C. joy

D. anticipation

Based on your reading of the story above, answer the following questions by ticking the correct options.

The ghost wanted John to …………………………………………..
A. stop his wife from using the Ouija board

B. stop using the Ouija board himself

C. stop his guests from using the Ouija board

D. stop people from using the Ouija board

Based on your reading of the story above, answer the following questions by ticking the correct options.

John wants the ghost to disappear before his wife enters the room and waves his arms at the ghost with something of the motion of a beginner when learning to swim. His movement shows his ………………………
A. fear

B. amusement

C. desperation

D. anxiety

Based on your reading of the story above, answer the following questions by ticking the correct options.

When the narrator says his wife is never so pretty as when she's doing something she knows he disapproves of, his tone is …………………….
A. amused

B. ironic

C. angry

D. irritated

Based on your reading of the story above, answer the following questions by ticking the correct options.

The ghost says "It's all your fault. 'It' here refers to ………………………
A. the narrator's wife's anger

B. the ghost's anger

C. the narrator's wife leaving him

D. the ghost materializing in sections.

Based on your reading of the story above, answer the following questions by ticking the correct options.

Gladolia wishes to leave the narrator's house as ………………….
A. she does not like the Ouija boards

B. she is afraid of the ghost

C. she is afraid of magic and hoodoo

D. she likes Ouija boards and hoodoo

Answer the following questions briefly.

What genre of stories does Jenkins want the narrator to write? Why?

Answer the following questions briefly.

Does the narrator like writing ghost stories? Support your answer with evidence from the story.

Answer the following questions briefly.

What makes Helen, the ghost, and her other co-ghosts organize The Writer's Inspiration Bureau?

Answer the following questions briefly.

Why had Helen, the ghost been helping the narrator write ghost stories? Why was she going on strike? What condition did she place for providing continued help?

Answer the following questions briefly.

How does the ghost undermine the narrator's faith in his ability to write ghost stories?

Answer the following questions briefly.

Why does John want the ghost to disappear before his wife appears on the scene? What impression of his wife's character do you form from his words?

Answer the following questions briefly.

Why does the narrator hesitate to be a partner to Laura Hinkle during the Ouija Board Party?

Answer the following questions briefly.

What message does the ghost convey to the group that had assembled in the narrator's house? What is their reaction to the message?

Answer the following questions briefly.

Do you agree with the narrator calling the assembly of women "manipulators?" Give reasons.

Answer the following questions briefly.

Why is John's wife angry? What does she decide to do?

Answer the following questions briefly.

Why does John wish he were dead?

Answer the following questions briefly.

When confronted by Lavinia about his flirtations over the Ouija Board, John insists that 'the affair was quite above-board, I assure you, my love'. Bring out the pun in John's statement.

Answer the following questions briefly.

John's apprehensions about his wife's reaction to her encounter with the ghost are unfounded. Justify.

Answer the following questions in detail:

After her reconciliation with her husband, John Hallock, Lavinia writes a letter to her friend expressing how her relationship with him had almost been on the verge of breaking and what saved it. Write her letter.

Answer the following questions in detail:

John Hallock reflects upon his experience with Helen's ghost and in retrospect, he finds it quite amusing. All the same, he is relieved that he is no longer plagued by it. Ironically, the same ghost inspires his creativity and he writes a diary entry reflecting upon the comical aspect of his experience. Write his diary entry.

The narrator and his wife reveal something about their character in their words and actions. We also learn about them from what other people say. Can you pick out the words that describe them from the box given below? Also, pick out lines and instances from the story to illustrate your choice.

Gladolia, the narrator's cook, is an African. The language she speaks is different from that of the others. This is known as Dialect. A dialect consists of words or phrases that reflect the regional variety of a language. An author often uses a regional dialect to make the dialogue more authentic. Initially a dialogue may seem a little difficult to understand. However, as you continue reading, the language will become more comprehensible.

Working in groups, write what Gladolia's words mean as shown.

Do you think a story has an atmosphere? Complete the following blanks to make up your ghost story by choosing the correct options.