2-BACKGROUND INFORMATION

London streets

City streets in the nineteenth century were very noisy during the day. They were made of stones, and horses and carriages rumbled over them. People walked along selling things, newspaper boys shouted the news and people met while shopping or going to work. There were usually people selling flowers from baskets they carried with them. Cigarettes and matches, bread and pies, milk and cheeses and many other things were also sold. Each seller had a kind of song announcing what they had to sell and they sang loudly, so that the whole street knew they were coming. The newspapers were sold by boys of about eight and older. They used to shout the most important news like this: ‘Ten dead in train crash. Read all about it!’

By 1880 the streets of London had gas lights at night, were cleaned regularly and were patrolled by policemen. In general, they were busy during the day and quiet at night. There were some areas, such as Soho and Leicester Square in London, where people went at night for theatres or bars. Soho was particularly famous as an area where the streets were busy all night and where criminals met and lived.

Darwin’s theories

In the mid-nineteenth century Charles Darwin wrote two books which introduced the idea of the evolution of human beings from animals. At first this shocked the people of the time and he suffered a lot of criticism. As time went on, many people understood the logic of his evidence. People began to think about how this affected them personally and many had fears about the ‘animal’ side of their nature.

Charles Darwin studied geology and natural history at Cambridge University. He went around the world on an English ship called HMS Beagle as an unpaid naturalist. At that time everyone believed that there was no connection between one species of animal and another.

From what he saw in the Galapagos Islands, Darwin began to work on the idea that animals evolved differently in different places and that the strongest lived and the others died.

This seemed to be the opposite of what the Bible teaches and many people were very angry with Darwin. Most people liked to think that God had made them as they were. The idea that they came from animals and that they must try hard not to go back to being animals made them feel insecure and afraid. But this was an idea that had already appeared in many stories. From the time of Darwin’s books it became more and more important and is still being examined.

The good and the bad

In the early nineteenth century, traditional stories were collected by Thomas Percy in Britain and the Grimm brothers in Germany. In these stories the phenomenon of the Doppelganger – the double – appears. This is linked to the idea that there are two sides to each personality, a ‘good’ side and a ‘bad’ side. Many stories were written about the battles people had with the evil in themselves and this idea interested Robert Louis Stevenson all his life. It still interests people today. These stories often included religious ideas, but Stevenson kept away from religious controversy in his stories.

3-THE HISTORY OF HORROR STORIES

-What do you know about Dracula? (Bram Stoker, 1897)

-What do you know about Frankenstein? (Mary Shelley, 1818)

-What do you know about The Picture of Dorian Grey? (Oscar Wilde, 1890)

-What are the common elements of these gothic stories?

4- THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE

(HEBLING READERS. CLASSICS. CEFR B1. ISBN 978-3-7114-0180-9)

CHAPTER 1. THE STORY OF THE DOOR

• 1-Who was coming home at three o’clock on a black winter morning?
• 2-Write the names of the characters you have read about so far, each one followed by a short description. After chapter 1 you should be able to complete Mr Enfield, Mr Utterson and Mr Hyde. As you continue with the story you will be able to complete Dr Lanyon, Poole, Dr Jekyll, Sir Danvers Carew, Inspector Newcome, Mr Hyde’s housekeeper, and Mr Guest.
• 3-Do you enjoy doing different things with different friends? Give examples
• 4-think of a time when you trusted someone
• 5-think of a time when you didn’t trust someone
• 6-what does “let sleeping dogs lie” means. Find equivalent expressions in your first language.

CHAPTER 2. THE SEARCH FOR MR HYDE

• 1-what did Mr. Utterson take out of his safe?
• 2-Why did Mr. Utterson begin to watch the door in the little street of shops?
• 3-Who had the key to the laboratory?

CHAPTER 3. DR JEKYLL WAS QUITE AT EASE

• 1-Who was worried about the will?
• 2-why was he worried about the will? (your opinion)
• 3-What did Mr Utterson promise?

CHAPTER 4. THE CAREW MURDER CASE

• 1- Who saw the murder take place?
• 2- Who recognized the broken piece of stick?
• 3- Who went with Mr. Utterson to Hyde’s house in Soho?
• 4-You are going to recap on the chapter by correcting the 14 underlined mistakes which are in this paragraph:

A year later, in (1)November, there was a (2)very foggy night. During that night a (3)shopkeeper saw an old man walking in the street. He met (4)a tall man with a gun.

The shopkeeper knew the man with the gun because (5)he had bought something from her shop. The younger man hit the older man and the shopkeeper (6)ran down into the street to stop him. But the younger man killed the old man and ran away. The police were called and they found(7) a book belonging to Mr Utterson on the dead body. They also found part of (8)the gun on the ground.

Mr Utterson told the police that the body was that of a friend of his and took the police to (9)Dr Lanyon’s house to find the murderer. A woman with (10)black hair showed them into the Soho house. It was (11)rather poorly furnished and they found a burnt (12)note book in the fire. (13)They did not find anything else but the policeman was sure the murderer would appear at (14)his house again soon.

CHAPTER 5. THE INCIDENT OF THE LETTER

• 1-Who said: “I heard them from my dining room”
• 2-Who said: “He meant to murder you. You are lucky to have escaped”
• 3- Who said: “I don’t think the writer is mad”
• 4- Who said: “the handwriting in the letter and the note are very similar”
• 5-Finish with the descriptions in chapter 1 exercises.

CHAPTER 6. THE REMARKABLE INCIDENT OF DR LANYON

• 1-Mr. Utterson was shocked to see how ill Dr. Lanyon looked. True or false?
• 2- After Mr. Utterson visited Dr. Lanyon, he went home and wrote a letter to Mr. Enfield. True or false?
• 3-When Mr. Utterson called at Dr. Jekyll’s house, Poole told him that the doctor would not see him. True or false?
• 4- Doctor Jekyll spoke to Mr. Utterson and Dr. Lanyon from the half-open window. True or false?

CHAPTER 7. THE INCIDENT AT THE WINDOW 

• 1-Write a summary in 5 lines.
• 2-Why did Mr Utterson exclaim “God forgive us!”?

CHAPTER 8. THE LAST NIGHT

• 1-Why did Dr. Jekyll send Poole to all the chemists in London?
• 2-What did Poole use to break down the red door?
• 3-What was in the dead man’s hand?
• 4- What change had Dr. Jekyll made in his new will?

CHAPTER 9. DR LANYON’S NARRATIVE

• 1-What was in the drawer in Henry Jekyll’s office?
• 2-What did Dr. Lanyon do after he sent his servants to bed?
• 3-What happened to Dr. Lanyon’s visitor after he drank from the measuring glass?

CHAPTER 10. HENRY JEKYLL’S FULL STATEMENT OF THE CASE

• 1-Henry Jekyll enjoyed wild night life. True or false?
• 2-He grew much bigger after taking the drug. True or false?
• 3-He employed a man who asked no questions to look after Hyde’s house in Soho. True or false?
• 4- He locked the street door from the laboratory and broke the key. True or false?
• 5-The choice: why would he choose to stay as Hyde?
• 6-Why would he choose to stay as Jekyll?

5-MAKING LONGER SENTENCES

Read through these pairs of sentences. Make each pair into one sentence using one of the words and phrases in the box to join them and making any other changes necessary. Number 1 is done for you as an example.

as  so that  but  since  although  while

1 Dr Jekyll seemed to like Mr Hyde. Hyde was not a good man.

Dr Jekyll seemed to like Mr Hyde although Hyde was not a good man.

2 R. L. Stevenson wrote books. He wanted to make money.

3 Mr Hyde walked over the little girl. He was walking to the laboratory one night.

4 Dr Jekyll was sitting at the window. He felt the change beginning.

5 R. L. Stevenson wrote Jekyll and Hyde. He was living in Bournemouth.

6 There were no clouds during the early part of that night. It became foggy later.

7 Poole had the axe ready. He could break down the door.

8 Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde never appeared together. They were the same person.

9 She had an unpleasant face. She spoke politely.

10 Dr Lanyon gave Mr Hyde a measuring glass. He could take the drug.

6-CHARACTERS COMPARED

Look at the words and phrases in the box. Decide which man they describe best and write each one in the space for that man. Then write a point from the story in note form to explain your choice. One is done for you as an example. You may find that some of the words and phrases are true about both men, but the points from the story will be different.

shy – kind – dull-  friendly – curious – honest- keeps secrets –

worried – brave – gentle-loves freedom – intelligent

Mr Utterson:

honest – did not open Dr Lanyon’s letter

Dr Jekyll:

7-WANTED

You are going to make the Wanted poster that Scotland Yard issued for Edward Hyde after the murder of Sir Danvers Carew. Think about how wanted posters looked like and the information they contained ( the picture, name, description, crimes, amount of the reward, who to give the informations to…)

8-FINAL PROJECT

Display a summary of all you know about Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde as an oral exposition. Use a Prezi to help you.

this is an exmple: https://prezi.com/fol2_s0yfevx/copy-of-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/