The Moonspinners - English Center

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STAGE. 4. 83. STAGE. 4. The Moonspinners. Mary Stewart. Introduction. The story. In Crete for a holiday, Nicola Ferris is walking down a path to the village of  ...
STAGE

4

The Moonspinners Mary Stewart

Introduction

This ungraded summary is for the teacher’s use only and should not be given to students.

The story In Crete for a holiday, Nicola Ferris is walking down a path to the village of Agios Georgios where she is going to stay when she stumbles on Lambis, and Mark, a young Englishman with a bullet wound. They are worried that Nicola’s presence will betray their location – they are in hiding because Mark and

Background to the story

his brother Colin have witnessed a murder and Colin

The author, Mary Stewart, was born in 1916 and was

has disappeared.

a Lecturer in English at the University of Durham from

When the murderer comes back to look for Mark,

1948 to 1956. The Moonspinners is one of a number

he does not find him and Nicola then goes down to

of books involving a young Englishwoman having

Agios Georgios to meet Frances.

stirring experiences while on holiday. She has also

At the hotel in the village, Nicola is greeted by Tony,

published stories for children, and poetry.

the Englishman who helps the owner, Stratos. Nicola meets him and his sister, Sofia. She notices

Before reading

how she seems very anxious about something

Here are some ways to help your students approach

paticularly when Nicola visits her house, convinced

the story:

that Mark is nearby.

1

Later when Frances arrives and she and Nicola are

Give students the title of the book and show them the picture on the cover. Ask them to try and guess

walking near a windmill, they are suspicious when

what kind of story it is.

they see Sofia leaving. Inside they find evidence that 2

Colin has been there. Soon after, Nicola finds Colin.

Give students a copy of the text on the back

He now explains exactly what happened: he had

cover of the book, and of the story introduction

been held prisoner because he saw Josef, Sofia’s

on the first page. When they have read the texts,

husband, murder a man called Alexandros, but that

ask them a few questions about the story, or use

Sofia helped him escape. Afterwards, Nicola and Colin

the Before Reading Activities in the back of each Bookworm.

find a body which they think is Mark’s and see Lambis 3

with Josef, believing that Lambis is his partner.

4

But then Mark appears and it is clear that they had

Use the pre-reading activity in this worksheet. If there is a recording of this title, play the first few pages and stop at an interesting point.

mistaken Josef for him. It was Josef’s body, dead after a fight with Lambis. Mark, Colin and Lambis believe Stratos and Tony have smuggled something from London and that Alexandros has been killed after a disagreement. When Nicola returns to the village, Stratos and Tony are suspicious. As the women try to escape by night in Lambis’s boat, Nicola is discovered in the water by Stratos who tries to kill her. Mark saves her and they find the pots where Stratos has hidden the jewellery. Finally, Mark now knows he loves Nicola. Stratos is caught, Tony escapes and Frances is rescued.

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© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

STAGE

4

The Moonspinners Pre-reading activity Match the words with the pictures

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

f So here I was, with an extra day, in the middle of this wild and lonely country. g The great metal spear shone as Stratos drove it down, straight at me. h He was coming towards the shelf where we lay.

a The sheep’s coat was being worn by a boy. b The rope caught Stratos straight across the legs. c In his hands there was a knife. d ‘I want to keep you away from trouble,’ Frances said. e ‘Nicola . . . don’t hurry away, please,’ said Mark. To the teacher Aim: To familiarize students with the setting

the ones who appear most);

Time: 10–20 minutes

2 who they are or what the relationships between

Organization: Give one copy of the worksheet to

them are.

each student or to each pair of students. Ask the

Then ask them:

students to match the picture with the correct caption.

1 2

captions, ask them:

Key: 1f, 2e, 3d, 4b, 5h, 6a, 7c, 8g.

the pictures (get them to pay particular attention to © OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

to predict, in general terms, the story from the pictures.

1 how many different people appear altogether in

PHOTOCOPIABLE

to look again at the pictures and put them in order as they think they occur in the story;

When they have matched the pictures and the

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STAGE

4

The Moonspinners While reading activity Acting the story

Make dialogues for these scenes. 1

2

3

4

5

6

To the teacher Where: At the end of Chapter 9

the class has collectively provided a dramatisation of

Aim: To create dramatic re-enactments of the text

the story so far.

and dialogues based on the text (Acting the story)

Ask the students first to read the relevant passage

Time: 15–30 minutes (Acting the story)/10–20

in the book and then rehearse their own extended

minutes (Story prediction)

version of the scene, providing more dialogue than

Organization: Give out the worksheets to pairs or

appears in the text.

groups of students. For the first activity, allocate the

Each pair or group acts out their own picture in turn.

roles of the different characters in the pictures to

After the first activity, ask students in groups to

pairs or groups of students. Tell them the illustrations

predict the outcome of the story by using the

represent key moments in the story. Students

remaining chapter headings: Colin; Colin’s story;

re-enact the different scenes in the right

Together again; Plans; Discovered; The chase;

chronological order so that by the end of the activity

All’s well.

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© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS PHOTOCOPIABLE

STAGE

4

The Moonspinners After reading activity Order puzzle

EVENT

ORDER

a

Nicola met Frances at the hotel.

b

On the way to his home, Josef killed Alexandros.

c

Nicola met Mark.

d

Stratos moved back to Crete.

e

Nicola met Stratos.

f

Stratos and Alexandros had an argument the day before he left London.

g

Stratos and Josef banged Colin on the head.

h

Josef shot Mark.

i

Nicola mistook Mark for Josef.

j

Alexandros followed him.

k

Nicola met Lambis.

l

Nicola and Mark got Frances from the rocks.

m

Stratos, Alexandros, Tony, Sofia and Josef had dinner together.

n

Nicola found a packet of jewels.

o

Stratos and Alexandros received things which had been stolen.

p

They took him to the windmill.

q

Nicola caught Stratos.

r

Nicola met Tony.

s

Nicola arrived in Crete.

t

Nicola met Colin.

u

Stratos ran a successful restaurant in London.

v

Nicola got a lift to Agios Georgios from an American couple.

w

Stratos tried to kill Nicola.

13

1

To the teacher Aim: To order, revise, remember what has been read,

order. Once they have done this, you can also ask

summarize

students in groups to tell the story in the order in

Time: 10–20 minutes

which the events actually took place, as an alternative

Organization: You can present this activity as a kind

to the While Reading exercise 1 above.

of detective exercise as well since students will have

Key: 1u, 2o, 3f, 4d, 5j, 6m, 7b, 8h, 9g, 10p, 11s, 12v,

to hunt through the book to find references to the

13k, 14c, 15r, 16e, 17a, 18t, 19i, 20w, 21n, 22q, 23l.

various incidents in the list and then to work out the PHOTOCOPIABLE

© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

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