1. Anthology B – the short stories THE NECKLACE
Tuesday, 30 July 2019

2. What is this all about?
Read the story and write a summary of it in no more than 150 words.
(You developed this skill in year 10 – remember to highlight the key events and to write in your own words.)
Ideas range from class to the effects of fate...
What do you think? Discuss this with a partner.

3. Mme Loisel –character: Why is she unhappy?
Use the first 52 lines to address this question...
Reason
Supporting quotation
Effect
An ordinary family and background
One of those who “get themselves born the daughters of very minor civil servants”
No chance of a wealthy marriage
Charm and beauty, but poor
Feels degraded and undervalued
Feels herself to be trapped by society

4. Mme Loisel – cause or victim of circumstance
Mme Loisel – cause or victim of circumstance? List and reach a conclusion:
Victim
cause
Her birth is an “error of fate” and she deserves more
She is vain and frivolous – “she had no fine dresses... And that was all she cared about”
Her husband is “too careful with his money”
She is ungrateful to a husband who does his best
She suffers as a result of the story and loses her beauty – is this fair?
Victim of pride – refusal to lose face results in her suffering.
Works hard at the end to compensate – “quickly and heroically, she resigned herself to what she could not alter”
OK, but this does not mean she didn’t deserve to suffer...

5. Mr Loisel
He could be seen as worthy of pity or as pitiful. Which side of this argument do you subscribe to?
Discuss the idea with a partner and prepare to justify your decision.

6. Mme Forestier How does she treat Mme Loisel?
How does she respond to the late return of the necklace?
At the end, is she sympathetic or ironic?
What is the irony at the centre of the fake necklace?

7. LANGUAGE
This is a translation, but you do not need to worry about accuracy and any effects found in the original text.
Look for contrasts. Is there a difference between the language used when Mme Loisel is at the party or dreaming and when the reality of her life is described?
Look a the way character is displayed in direct speech.

8. Questions:
These may well focus on the presentation of character, probably of one of the LOISELs.
The question may be very general in tone – how does the writer make X interesting to the reader puts the decision about content onto your shoulders.