Workshop

1. Summary of the reading. What happens in the story?

2. Describe the unknown vocabulary from the reading.
Solution:
Name of the book: The Black Cat
Author: Edgar Allan Poe
Narrated by: David Wharry
1.
The story of a wonderful and kind man, he loved animals, his wife loved them too, they
had different types of them, a dog, a cat, fish even birds. His favorite was the cat, he was
black, big and intelligent, his name was Pluto. They never believed that black cats are bad
souls in a cat's body.He and Pluto were very close, they spent all day together, he gave
him his food and all his care, they were happy for many years. Like every story, the
happiness between them was not infinite.
Over time he changed his good habits to bad ones. Drinking was his worst vice, he became
a selfish man, angry with himself and with the world, he went from being a cultured man
to using bad words and even hitting his wife, he went from loving animals to doing
horrible things with them. “I hit everyone but never Pluto,” he said.
But like every disease of vice it gets worse, it gets worse.
One night, when the man arrived drugged, he noticed that Pluto, his cat, was not happy to
see him and was walking away. Then he decided to grab it to pet it, the cat got scared and
bit him. Then he took a knife and put out his eye. In the story he excuses himself with his
addiction to alcohol, and maintains that the person who was in his body was no longer
him. When he woke up he realized the horror he had committed, but the alcohol helped
him forget.
The cat improved, but the mark was still left with a hole and he never approached his
owner again.
The man began to hate his cat, so he did something totally inhumane, he hung the cat by
the neck from a tree
One night after what happened, he woke up and found his house on fire, they were able
to get out of there. They saw how everything burned and burned, until it ended in ashes.
The next day there was nothing, all the walls falling, although there was one that didn't,
the plaster was wet so it didn't burn, there was the shape of the hanging cat. The man was
trying to understand how he got there. He felt so much guilt that he looked at the cat in
his dreams.
After a while he decided to look for a black cat, similar to Pluto. He looked for him in poor
places where he frequented to drink. One night in a bar he looked at a black object. As he
approached, he realized that it was a black cat, similar to Pluto. , but this one had a white
spot on his forehead. He became his wife's favorite animal, he loved them and they loved
him.
Over time the man began to hate him, even though the cat loved him more every day, the
man walked away so as not to hurt him, he reminded him of Pluto since he also had only
one eye. The cat tried to make its owner love it, it walked over his feet, it tried to jump on
his legs, and the man wanted to kill it, he didn't do it because he began to feel afraid of it.
, the spot on his forehead is taking straight shapes and he recreated “The Gallows”, he felt
as if he were going crazy. There was not even a small part of him left in his body, he felt
that everything around him were evil and perverse thoughts. , it wasn't him, it was his
body taken by another soul, he hated everything and everyone.
One day he was going down to the basement with his wife, the cat was about to make him
fall, this made him angry, so he decided to cut his cat in two, before doing so his wife
stopped him, he even more furious sent his ax into the top of her head, killing her.
He thought of many malicious things to cover the body, but in the end he hid it inside a
basement wall. After this he looked for the cat to kill it but did not find it. It did not return.
The man began to feel happy, he said that the cat was the reason for his unhappiness.
People asked about his wife but he calmly answered their questions. On the fourth day
the police searched for him and searched the house. He attended to them calmly and was
very sure that they would not find the body. but they found nothing, the man hit the wall
where he put his wife's body, and responded with an incredible scream, the scared and
surprised police officers ran to remove the wall, and observed a horrible scene, the death
of his wife. and above her, “El Gato” with his mouth covered in blood and his eye glowing
yellow.
Finally I want to comment that the story is subliminally about the change that a person
has who begins with alcohol and many other vices, as well as the distortion of himself and
the impact on his families, black cats are not the gallows, nor bad luck. . , that is, who
knows man's worst enemy, drink in this case.
2.
-Grew up: Creció

Descripción: It refers to an object, situation or person that is in the process of growth.

- Spent: Gastada o gastado

Descripcion: It refers to the exhaustion of something or someone.

-Laughed: Seria o serio

Descripcion: It is an adjective that accompanies a noun to give it a quality, in this case it is the
behavior of a person.

- Changing: Cambiando
Descripcion: It has several synonyms such as transform, change, vary, among others. It refers to
the transformation or change of a situation, or a thing.

- Illness: Enfermedad
Descripcion: The alteration of some organ of the body or mind that brings symptoms or pain that
causes a state where health is compromised.

- Hit: Golpear
Descripcion: Produce an impact on a person's body that may cause discomfort or pain.

- Caught: Atrapada o atrapado

Descripcion: Catching a person or object that is moving or running

- Holding: Tenencia

Descripcion: It refers to having a thing, to it being part of my possession.

- Strongly: Fuertemente

Descripcion: That the action be carried out through the imposition of force.

- Suddenly: De repente
Descripcion: Its meaning refers to an action that occurs in the present time, that is, right at that
moment.

- Pocket: Bolsillos
Descripcion: It is used to store something, they can be in some clothing items, pants, jackets, etc.

- Servant: Sirviente
Descripcion: person who is in charge of household chores, domestic service
- Burned: Quemada

Descripcion: When something, be it a place, a thing, a good, is totally or partially destroyed due to
fire.

- Hanging: Colgante
Descripcion: It refers to what we use to tie something, it can be a pendant as an accessory, rope,
wire, etc.

- Machine:

Descripcion: It refers to an object, artifact, that has a function as its objective to be used in some
force work.

- Gallows: Horca

Descripcion: It is an artifact that was used for the execution of people sentenced to death.

- Axe: Hacha
Descripcion: Object called a tool that is used for cutting, its head is sharp and it has a wooden
stick, it is usually used to cut trees.

-wrist: Muñeca

Descripcion: Part of the body located between the forearm and the hand.

- Throwing: Lanzamiento

Descripcion: It is the action of movement, throwing is used to move something in a trajectory from
one place to another.