Lesson Two

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Department of Foreign Languages and Literature

Pu Dong-mei

Text A Waiting for the Police

Contents1. Teaching Objectives

2. In-class Discussion

3. Background information:

1) about the author

2) about the text

a. Mystery fiction

4. Language points

5. Text analysis: 1) theme & style; 2) setting;

3) characters; 4) structure

6. Comprehension questions

7. Writing devices: mystery fiction with sense of humor

Teaching Objectives

1. Introduction to the mystery fiction and its features

2. Comprehension of the whole text

About the author

The story “Waiting for the Police” was written by J. Jefferson Farjeon, a British writer.

He is best known for his mystery stories and is one of the first modern authors to mix romance and humor with crime.

About the author cont’d

FARJEON, JOSEPH JEFFERSON (June 4, 1883—June 6, 1955)

English novelist, playwright, and journalist, was born in

London into literary circumstances.

His father, Benjamin Farjeon, was a well-known

novelist and he was the brother of the children’s writer

Eleanor Farjeon and the playwright Herbert Farjeon.

About the author cont’d

Although known for his keen humor and flashing wit, he

was no stranger to the sinister and terrifying.

The critic for the Saturday Review of Literature praised

Death in the Inkwell, one of his later books, calling it

an “amusing, satirical, and frequently hair-raising yarn

of an author who got dangerously mixed up with his

imaginary characters. Tricky.”

Mystery Fiction (推理小说 )

Mystery fiction is a distinct sub genre of detective fiction that entails the occurrence of an unknown event which requires the protagonist to make known (or solve). It is similar to the whodunit in that the clues may often be given to the reader by subtle means. Though it is often confused with detective fiction, it does not require a crime to have occurred or the involvement of law enforcement.

It often involves a suspense or a surprising ending as the climax in order to draw the reader’s attention.

Mystery Fiction Cont’d The genre has its beginning in the riddles told in

Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome.

Similar stories were told in the Middle Agesbut the genre didn’t really begin to develop until the detective stories of Edgar Allan Poe.

The first true mystery novel is considered to be The Woman in White (1860) by Wilkie Collins.

Setting

This story is set in a boarding house where life,

especially evening life, is notoriously dull for

the odd collection of people who live there.

But one of the guests manages to think of

something (the death of Mr. Wainwright) which

does stir up quite a bit of interest.

Characters

Mrs. Mayton landlady; try to keep everyone talking

Mr. Monty. Smith as polite as pale; keep any ball rolling

Miss. Wicks oldest; knitting all the time

Bella young lovely; not particularly smart

Mr. Calthrop middle-aged walk in sleep; doze all the time

Mr. Penbury eccentric intelligent; have a chilling effect

possess a brain

Theme The story is set in a boardinghouse where life, especially evening life, is

very dull for the odd collection of people who live there. However, one

of the guests manages to think of something which could stir up quite a

bit of interest. All the characters are skillfully described. They leave a

deep impression on us readers: Mrs. Mayton, the landlady, who is

always trying to keep everyone talking; Miss Wicks, the oldest who has

been knitting for seventy years and promises to go on knitting for

another seventy; Miss Bella, the young lovely, who does not seem to be

particularly smart; Mr. Calthrop, the middle-aged man, who is said to

walk in his sleep and is dozing off all the time; Mr. Penbury, the most

intelligent of them, is described as the director of this little melodrama.

     

Style

 Though the plot is simple, the characters are

vivid, the language precise and the style neat.

And it has quite a bit of humor and the

suspense of a detective story.

There are three clues for us to follow the story:

Miss Wicks' knitting and steel, Mr. Wainwright's

cough and the handkerchief in front of Mr.

Penbury's door.

Structure

Part I (Paras. 1-11): an idle discussion about where Mr.

Wainwright has gone and serving to introduce the characters

who live in the boarding-house.

Part II (Paras. 12-33): Mr. Penbury announces that Mr.

Wainwright is dead.

Part III (Paras. 34-88): Mr. Penbury direct a general rehearsal of

their alibis while waiting for the police.

Part IV (Paras. 89-91): a suspense ending

Comprehension Questions

1. How did the story start?

The story started with a question from the landlady Mrs. Mayton.

This as an appropriate and direct beginning. The question immediately arouses the attention of the boarders gathered in the drawing room. This first bit of conversation is actually the beginning of an idle conversation conducted by bored people to kill time. But this part gives us a brief introduction of all the boarders and prepares us for an unexpected turn of events.

Comprehension Questions Cont’d

2. Why did Mrs. Mayton ask this question?

It didn’t matter to her in the least where Mr.

Wainwright had gone.

What she is really interested in is the money paid by

the boarders. And sometimes, as a landlady, she felt

obliged to whip up a little interest to start an idle

conversation.

Comprehension Questions Cont’d

3. What did Mr. Penbury say that got everybody’s

attention? What was his purpose by doing this?

He announced that Mr. Wainwright is dead, which

shocked everyone except Miss Wicks.

He might feel too bored at such an evening hour and

tried to stir up some interest to kill time, so he can be

described as the director of this little melodrama (情节剧 ).

Comprehension Questions Cont’d

4. What was Mr. Penbury’s suggestion? What effect did he

want to cultivate?

He told them he had phoned the police and propose

that they consider their alibis while waiting for the

police to come.

By directing a general rehearsal of their alibis, he tried

to arouse everybody’s attention and created an

atmosphere of tension and horror, which might be

better than boredom.

Comprehension Questions Cont’d

5. What did everyone respond to Mr. Penbury? How did

they try to offer their alibis?

Most of them tried hard to clear up a little ground by

considering their alibis, though they are nervous,

excited, anxious, impatient, angry.…

Being the only person to know the inside story, Miss

Wicks responded to Mr. Penbury’s conspiracy

amusedly by making up a vivid plot of killing “Mr.

Annoyance”.

Comprehension Questions Cont’d

6. What was the end of the story? Did it surprise you?

The story ended when they heard footsteps entering and

heard Mr. Wainwright’s cough.

It really has all the basic qualities of a little mystery

story and keeps us readers guessing who has killed Mr.

Wainwright until we come to this surprise ending.

We suddenly realize that almost everyone including we

readers have been fooled.

Writing Device: HumorThe author skillfully mixed humorous elements in his

story, which help to make the characterization and the plot more vivid and interesting.

Read the following examples from the text and try to analyze the humorous effects.

He was as polite as he was pale. (be polite because of being pale)

She had knitting for seventy years, and looked good for another seventy. (Hyperbole is used to achieve humor)

Bella was the boarding-house lovely, but no one had taken advantage of the fact. (No one is interested in her)

Translation on Page 50

1) It is a miracle how our company has developed into a

multinational in such a short span of time.

2) The average life span of that country has increased

from 42 years to 50 years in a matter of two decades.

3) The conflict between the two countries has spanned

more than half a century.

4) There are four bridges spanning the river.

5) I’m much obliged to you. Without your help, I would

never have finished the book.

Translation on Page 50

6) No, you are not obliged to go to the party. You don’t

have to go if you don’t want to.

7) She’s always ready to oblige when people come to her

for help.

8) In the valley is a small lake right between a meadow

and a hill. It is a perfect spot for picnic.

9) Sitting in that shady spot he soon dozed off.

10) He criticized me on the spot when he saw me throw a

plastic bag by the roadside.

Translation on Page 50

11) It was a white shirt with blue spots. It looked quite pretty.

12) The detective spotted the suspect and he walked over and arrested him.

13) One of the balloons popped and it gave me quite a start.

14) It is very impolite to keep popping in and out of the classroom when the class is still going on.

15) When he was the young man ready to pay for the BMW in cash, his eyes almost popped out of his head.

Translation on Page 5016) In those countries, water is worth a lot more than oil. Friends will

often bring 10 dollars’ worth of water as a gift.

17) When this project is completed, it will benefit about a hundred

thousand people. It will be well worth the effort and investment.

18) This movie is not worth seeing twice. In fact, it’s not worth seeing

at all.

19) I think it is worthwhile to visit that place. I hear they have kept all

their traditional houses intact—houses that were built in Ming-

Qing styles.

20) Jia Baoyu was sick and tired of being his father’s worthy son. He

yearned for freedom.

Translation on Page 58

1) It seems the patient has no other relatives in this city.

2) It is easy to make friends but difficult to keep them.

3) He can always understand what his friends are

thinking and worrying about.

4) Perhaps it wasn’t Xiao Jiang at all who had left the tap

running all night.

5) The boy had no idea how he had become an old man

in half a day.

Translation on Page 58

6) I wonder how Wang Ning has been doing in London. I haven’t

heard of him for almost a year.

7) It doesn’t matter what family you were born into. The real test is

how far you can go from where you started.

8) She simply couldn’t believe what she saw. It was only yesterday

that the twin towers were still standing there.

9) Juror No. 8 pointed out that it might have been someone else who

had stabbed the boy’s father to death.

10) In a market economy, it is primarily by individual and firms rather

than by government agencies that decisions about what to

produce, how much to produce are made.