1. Please have out your “The Interlopers” questions out to be stamped, then start on your Bell Ringer.

2. Bell Ringer Jovial means warm and friendly.
Guess what these words mean based on how they are used in context. Once you have made your guess, look the word up to see if you are correct!
1. Because Brent was not jovial at his party, many guests left early.
Bell Ringer
2. Because the teacher was so busy, she only gave me a laconic explanation of what was expected for my final project.
Jovial means warm and friendly.
Laconic means to use very few words; to be brief and to the point.
© Presto Plans

3. Review “The Interlopers” Answers
With a red pen make the corrections to your answers.
Your answers, with corrections, will be collected when we are done.

4. 1. At the beginning of the story, what is Ulrich’s wish
1. At the beginning of the story, what is Ulrich’s wish? Does it come true? What’s ironic about this?
In the second column on the first page, Ulrich says that he wishes most that he could find Znaeym in the forest that night with no witnesses around. In the next sentence, his wish comes true.
The irony, of course, is that his wish comes true, but it will cost him his own life.
This reminds us of the old saying, “Be careful what you wish for.” Hate has driven Ulrich into the woods that night. This will be his downfall.

5. 2. When the men first spot each other, why don’t they immediately kill one another? I don’t want you to quote this section of the story directly; instead, I want you to explain in your own words what Saki means here.
Near the same section as the answer to #1, Saki has a line that begins, “But a man who has been brought up...”
Please summarize that line in your own words.
Basically, Saki is saying that civilized people can’t easily make the move to murder outright. It’s only if we are defending ourselves (or our families/homes) that we would be able to act so immediately. Both men pause because they know it’s wrong to kill. In that beat of a moment, Mother Nature strikes, changing the situation completely.

6. 3. Write down one story element that foreshadows the story’s tragic ending. You must write the complete sentence in which the foreshadowing element occurs. Then, explain why you believe this is, in fact, a good example of foreshadowing.
Your answers will vary because there are several elements that could qualify as foreshadowing.
The most common answer will likely be the line from the first page in which the animals, which usually are hunkered down on such a cold night, are actually awake and running around. Ulrich mistakenly thinks this is because his neighbor’s men are out hunting, but we now know that it’s because there’s a wolf pack in the area on the hunt.
The line is: “The roebuck, which usually kept in the sheltered hollows during a storm-wind, were running like driven things tonight, and there was movement and unrest among the creatures that were wont to sleep through the dark hours.”
A more simple answer would be to say that the night’s cold and stormy weather foreshadows the drama to come.

7. 4. On the second page, Saki writes, “Georg, who was blinded with the blood which trickled across his eyes, stopped his struggling for a moment to listen, and then gave a short, snarling laugh.” Symbolically, what’s interesting about this line?
This visual imagery of being blinded by blood can also relate to both of the men and their blind allegiance to their family’s strife/hatred of their neighbors.
The feud is three generations, or blood-lines, old. It’s clear that both sides think they have a rightful claim to the land, in spite of the court’s ruling. Both men are blinded by hate, by allegiance to their families.

8. 5. What might the broken tree branches symbolically represent?
Your answers will vary.
One possibility is that the branches represent the men’s hate, which has shackled the men, or pinned them down, in life.

9. 6. Nature is almost a character herself in this story
6. Nature is almost a character herself in this story. She sends the branches falling to the ground and the wolves to finish the job of killing the two men. What message might Saki be sending to the reader about Mother Nature?
Your answers will vary.
One possible theme is that Nature will serve as the judge and jury for the crimes of man.
Another is that, in the battle for dominance over land, man is puny and Nature will always win (classic Man vs. Nature here).
The men are battling over which one of them owns the land, yet Nature shows that neither of them really do. Foolish humans.

10. z z
Action News!
The town is all abuzz this morning over the discovery of the bodies of two warring neighbors.
You are the town’s newspaper reporter and must complete the following tasks for tomorrow’s edition.
Make sure all five steps are included in your final product.
1. Newspaper Banner
2. Headline
3. Your story (minimum 250 words)
4. A picture- IN COLOR
5. A caption for the picture

11. Homework Due Thursday, September 21st Short Story Unit Test
Newspaper Assignment
Short Story Unit Test
Friday, September 29th