“Mr. Know All” by Somerset Maugham.

1) Why is the story told in the 1st. person? What

effect does it have on us, the readers?

2) Where does the story take place. In what year?

3) What does the opening paragraph tell us about the

speaker and his attitude?

-Find in paragraph 1 the lines in which the narrator

shows how much he despises aliens.

4) What do you understand when the narrator said

he wouldn’t be so unhappy about his fellow mate if
his name would have been Smith or Brown ?

5) In the 2nd paragraph the speaker says that he

doesn’t like Mr. Kelada. What doesn’t he like about
him?

6) When Mr. Kelada introduces himself to the

narrator, the narrator says that he “asked if he was
right thinking my name was so and so.” Why doesn’t
the narrator bother to tell us his own name?

7) In the conversation that follows the introduction,

the narrator is surprised to find out that Mr. Kelada is
English. Why is he so surprised? Why does the writer
describe his question as being asked “rather
tactlessly”?

8) What impression is created by Mr. Kelada’s

behaviour at this first meeting?

9) Where does the narrator suspect Mr. Kelada was

born? How do you know?

10) The narrator’s prejudice is based on several

cultural differences between him and Mr. Kelada.
Look for a list of them.

11) Find examples in the story that show that Mr.

Kelada is : familiar, boastful, energetic.

12) Find words or phrases that show that the narrator

was prejudiced against Mr. Kelada. Explain why they
show prejudice.

13) What is special about Mrs. Ramsay?

14) What kind of man is Mr. Ramsay?

15) What do cultured and real pearls symbolized?

16) Why does Mrs. Ramsay “retired with a

headache”?
17) In the last paragraph the narrator says, “At that
moment I didn’t entirely disliked Mr. Kelada”. Has
the narrator changed at all during the story?

18) What are your feelings towards Mrs. Ramsay,

Mr. Kelada and the narrator at the end of the story?

19) Why does Mr. Kelada decide to protect Mrs.

Ramsay? What does this tell us about him?

20) What is Mrs. Ramsay reaction at the end of the

story? Why is the name on the envelope written in
“block letters”? How does this make you react?

21) Does the story have any moral?