Lesson23 - I Spy

Nedenfor finder I et uddrag af en kursist-besvarelse.
Meningen er at den skal kunne hjælpe jer med jeres arbejde til mdtl. eksamen, hvis I nu skulle være såheldig at trække en tekst med det pågældende tema.

I Spy

Graham Greene
/The lift

1.   What is Charlie Stowe doing in the first part of this story?
He gets out of bed ,and sneaks downstairs to his fathers tobacco shop, to steal a cigarette.

Why do you think he is doing it?

Because he is 12 years old and starting to mature, he is drawn towards the unknown. The boys from his school had also mocked him, because he hadn’t tried smoking yet.

…and how does it make him feel?

He knows it is dangerous but he is very exited about it.

2.   How is the boy’s relationship with his parents?

He loves his mother but feels no love for his father.

How are they described in the text?

He describes the mother very lovingly.

For his mother he felt a passionate demonstrativelove; her large boisterous presence and her noisy charity filled the world for him..

But he despises his father.

..but he did not love his father; his fatherwas unreal to him, a wraith, pale, thin, and indefinite, who noticed him only spasmodically..

3.   When Charlie is hiding in the shop; who are the men with his father and what is going on between the men and the father?

I think its policemen who has arrested the father for being a spy, or for cooperating with the Germans.

4.   Where and when is this story taking place and why is it significant?
It probably takes place during the first world war. The searchlights are searching for airships, which where used during world war 1 also the boy refers to the enemy as the Hun, which was the Germans nickname during the war.

5.   And finally what happens next?

The policemen leaves with the boys father.

What do you think will happen to the father and why?

he will probably be shot or at least  put in jail.

What will happen to the boy when he grows up?
He will have a hard time when people realize his father was a collaborator with the Germans.

6.   What does “I Spy” mean?

I think it means: I see you. Maybe referring to the boy who sees his dad without him knowing it, or could of course refer to the father who himself is a real spy.