UNIVERSIDAD PEDAGOGICA NACIONAL FRANCISCO MORAZAN

SAN PEDRO SULA REGIONAL CAMPUS

LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT
Introduction to Literature
Professor: Valladares Navas Yuri, M.A.
Facilitator: Kelvin Alexander Reyes
ASSIGNMENT 2. (Week 3)

Task 1.  Read the short story "The open Window" by Saki, and answer the following understanding
questions:
1. Why is Mr. Frankton Nuttel visiting Ms. Sappleton?
Mr. Frankton Nuttel for the advice of his doctor travels to a restful country to cure his nervous
condition. His sister was staying there four years ago, she gave him an Introduction letter to meet
nice people there.

2. What kind of girl is Vera?

Vera is a young girl that has a quite imagination and enjoys to tell joke stories.

3. What do names like Vera or Nuttel suggest?

I consider the author chose those names because are link for the story, is proper and it has
realism for the characters.

4. What reason did Vera give for keeping the window open?
Because Mr. Nuttel was new in the village, he didn´t know anyone there. While Mr. Nuttel waits
for Mrs. Sappleton, Vera elaborates a story surrounding a window in the room that has been left
open, considering that she knows that her aunt´s husband and her two brothers ventured out to
hunted and were drowned in a swanp.

5. What kind of person is Frampton Nuttel?

It is a sick man who want to heal his nerves condition. “The doctors agree in ordering me
complete rest, an absence of mental excitement and avoidance of anything in the nature of
violent physical exercise” announced Framton.

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 6. Why Mr. Nuttel failed in his attempt to find a solution to his heath problem?
Of course he did, he got astonished when he saw the three men reappear, he thought they were
ghosts. Mr. Nuttel ran away.

7. What explanation does Vera give about Nuttel´s quick departure?

She said that Mr. Nuttel told her that he had a horror of dogs. He was once hunted into a
cemetery somewhere on the banks of the Ganges by a pack of pariah dog, and had to spend the
night in a newly dug grave with the creatures.

8. Why the narrator says that Vera´s specialty is romance?

It means that Vera was adept in making up “extravagant” stories full of mysterious events. She
likes to tell stories using her own imagination.

Task 2. Analyzing the story, The Open Window

a. Main character or characters: Mr. Framton Nuttel and Vera.

b.  Secondary characters: Mr, Nuttel´s sister, Mr. And Mrs. Sappleton, two young brothers, Ronnie, little
brown spaniel, the open window, Doctors, cyclist.

c. Type of characters (flat or round, static or dynamic)

Mr. Nuttel is round character the author describes his condition: “"The doctors agree in ordering me
complete rest, an absence of mental excitement, and avoidance of anything in the nature of violent
physical exercise,". Then at the end we can see that his condition was worse when he arrives.

Vera also is round character, the author let us know how clever she is using, describing her behavior
through her actions and great imagination to make extravagant stories to surprise the ones who listened.

d. Type of characterization used by the author, (direct or indirect)? Explain.

Direct characterization the author describes very well what the character is. Mr. Nuttel and Vera that are
the main characters.

e. Setting (Time and place): A restful country, October afternoon.

"You may wonder why we keep that window wide open on an October afternoon," said the niece, indicating a
large French window that opened on to a lawn.

f. Point of view: The author describes so well the characters are by telling their thoughts, actions and
want to let us know that not all that we hear is truth.

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Task 3. Read the story The Tale Tell Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, and answer the following:
a. The narrator claims he is not mad. What evidence do we have that he is?
He killed an old man, he was disturbed by his eye that one of his eye resembled that of a vulture
– a pale blue eye, with a film over it.

b. What does the narrator do with the dead man´s body?

First, he dismembered the corpse. He cut off the head and the arms and the legs. Next, he took up
three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all between the scantlings. Then he
replaced the boards so cleverly that no human eye - not even his – could have detected anything
wrong.

c. Why does the narrator think the policemen knew everything about him?
He fancied a ringing in his ears and the noise arose over all. It grew louder - louder - louder! He
believed that they can heard all that noise and were mockery of his horror.

d. What does the title of the story mean?

It refers to the constantly heart beat that the narrator hears after he has murdered the old man.
The heart beat it is our conscience feeling guilty for the actions he made.

e. What is the setting?

Is the house where the old man lived, and in the bedroom which is where the murder takes place.

f. What is the point of view? Give some evidence.

The story is told by the protagonist the main character of the story.
“It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me
day and night. Object, there was none. I loved the old man. For his gold I had no desire. I think it
was his eye! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture – a pale blue eye, with a film over it.
Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so, I made up my mind to take the life of the
old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever”.