Chapter 12: The Woman in Black Inquiry Question: How important is the structure of the novel?

Predictions…. Why has Hill felt the need to create a final chapter, surely all of the mysteries are solved? Write down what you think will happen next. Be ready to share your answer. I think… My story is almost done. There is only the last thing to tell. And that I can scarcely bring myself to write about.

Reading….

I have come home soaked through to the skin, to Esme’s considerable distress. And that has been another cause of anguish: she has watched me and wandered and had been too sensitive to ask questions, I have seen the worry and distress on her face and sensed her restlessness, as we have sat together in the late evenings. I have been quite unable to tell her anything at all, she has no idea what I have been going through or why: she will have no idea what I have been going through or why: she will have no idea until she reads this manuscript and at that time I shall be dead and beyond her. But, now at last, I have summoned up sufficient courage, I will use the very last of my strength, that has been so depleted by the reliving of those past horrors, to write the end of the story. Why has the narrative gone back to the present? What do the words ‘past horrors’ suggest?

They asked for my story. I have told it. Enough The End Why is this so abrupt? Do you think it is an effective ending? Write down and be ready to share your answer. I think… They asked for my story. I have told it. Enough because...

Plot vs. Structure The plot is the sequence of events, that is what happens (i.e. the timeline). The structure is the shape that these events take or the patterns they form (i.e. Chapter divisions).

Timeline –the chronological order that these events happened: Jennet Humfrye is forced to give her son Nathaniel to her sister Alice Drablow for adoption. Jennet convinces Alice to let her see her son. A pony and trap drown in the marshes, killing Nathaniel, his nanny, and Keckwick senior. Jennet catches a wasting disease and dies. Children in Crythin Gifford die every time the Woman in Black is seen. Mrs Drablow dies and Arthus Kipps is sent to organise her papers. Arthur is haunted in Eel Marsh House. Arthur recovers at Mr Samuel Daily’s house. Arthur sees the Woman in Black in a park and his son and wife are killed. Arthur buys Monk’s Piece and remarries Esme Ainsley. Arthur’s family telling ghost stories upsets him into writing of his ‘past horrors’.

Chapter The event occurs in this chapter, or the reader learns of the event in this chapter 1: Christmas Eve 2: A London Particular 3: The Journey North 4: The Funeral of Mrs Drablow 5: Across the Causeway 6: The Sound of a Pony and Trap 7: Mr Jerome is Afraid 8: Spider 9: In the Nursery 10: Whistle and I’ll Come to You 11: A Packet of Letters 12: The Woman in Black

Chapter The event occurs in this chapter, or the reader learns of the event in this chapter 1: Christmas Eve 10. 11. 2: A London Particular 6. 3: The Journey North 4: The Funeral of Mrs Drablow 5: Across the Causeway 7. 6: The Sound of a Pony and Trap 7: Mr Jerome is Afraid 8: Spider 9: In the Nursery 7. 1. 10: Whistle and I’ll Come to You 11: A Packet of Letters 8. 3. 2. 4. 5. 12: The Woman in Black 9.

Structure Ghost story How does Hill structure the novel? First person narrative How does Hill structure the novel? Hindsight Arthur occasionally interrupts the events to comment on the action. The final lines, of the novel return to the present. Chapter 1 is set 30 years after the main events

Chapter What happens Timing 1: Christmas Eve Arthur Kipps, a man in his fifties, feels compelled to write his own, personal and true ghost story, spurred on by refusing his step-children’s request to contribute to the frivolous Christmas Eve ghost-story-telling session. Christmas Eve sometime in the 1930s 2: A London Particular The 21 year-old Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is sent to Crythin Gifford by his employer, Mr Bentley, to attend the funeral of Alice Drablow and to sort out her estate. Sometime between 1900 and 1914. 3: The Journey North He travels by train from London, King’s Cross via Crewe to Homerby. Monday 4: The Funeral of Mrs Drablow Kipps encounters the woman in black for the first time at Alice Drablow’s funeral. Tuesday 5: Across the Causeway Kipps visits Eel Marsh House Tuesday afternoon 6: The Sound of a Pony and Trap Kipps hears the sound of a pony and trap sinking in the marshes and the cries of a dying child. Keckwick returns to collect Kipps Tuesday evening 2a.m. Wednesday morning

Chapter What happens Timing 7: Mr Jerome is Afraid Kipps visits Mr Jerome Wednesday 8: Spider Kipps goes to Samuel Daily’s for dinner Wednesday evening 9: In the Nursery Kipps returns to Eel Marsh House alone except for the dog. Thursday 10: Whistle and I’ll Come to You Kipps feels the ghostly presence. He nearly drowns in his successful attempt to save Spider. Thursday and the early hours of Friday morning. 11: A Packet of Letters Rescued by Samuel Daily. They return to Crythin Gifford and examine Alice Drablow’s papers. All the details of the story are revealed. Kipps collapses and is ill for approximately 12 days Kipps returns to London He marries his fiance’e, Stella. Friday Flashback to sometime in the 1850’s. Twelve days later Six weeks later 12: The Woman in Black Tragedy strikes. Arthur Kipps is then a widower for a further 13 years until he marries Esme’, a widow with four children. 14 years later, the family gathers at Monk’s Piece for Christmas. The story comes full circle. Kipps his written his story. A year later, sometime between 1900 and 1914. Christmas Eve sometime in the 1930s In the New Year sometime in the 1930s.