This is a list of the pages of the story line we will follow in class. These page numbers are based on the Harper Torch edition, copyright 1991, with the blue cover background featuring the Grim Reaper in a snow globe.
1 – 35
36 – 39
39 – 45
45 – 50
52 - 75
Miss Flitworth's Farm
Miss Flitworth's FarmWe first see Miss Flitworth’s farm on pages 70-71We meet Miss Flitworth at bottom of page 71Death becomes Bill DoorWhy Bill?Why Door?105 – 114Sal Lifton (the little girl who recognizes skelingtons)
Sal Lifton (the little girl who recognizes skelingtons)Why not Billy D?Cyril the dyslexic cockerel with a memory problem. . .What's a cockerel?What does Death (Bill Door) experience for the first time? Death understands language literally (at face [so to speak] value."You must walk like a cat."How does Bill Door harvest cornfield? How is his technique different from other harvesters?"Every last one."Irony"Perhaps he did a robbery . . ."IronyWould you name a pig after your mother? Or vice versa for that matter?When does Miss Flitworth begin to trust Bill Door?What's a smithy?Why is Bill Door's choice of script relevant?Which of these images is that of Bill Door? Describe how small the town is. (page 110)The inn is next door to the smithy.Blacksmithy images I Googled up . . . (both images are links) . . .The one to the left is a ceramic or resin casting poking fun at a hillbilly image of a blacksmithy. The image below is, I think, based onthe shape of the language at the website, reconstructions of Iron Age structures inwhat is now Hungary. I think. Extra Credit: Bring in a translation from the website. Prove me right or wrong . . . I don't care which.Connections:
Game of "Pond" - Pratchett writes one inch to the left or the right . . .Irony --- making mistakes with painstaking precision . . .How long did Bill Door/Death work at Miss Flitworths?
page 105
page 114
page 151
page 163 -> 176 tonight at midnight.
123 – 124
Consideration: "Belief is one of the most powerful organic forces in the multiverse."Think about this one, please.Vocaboff the pegoff the shelfbespoke custom-made143 – 166We meet Death of Rats, and the inn catches fire.
We meet Death of Rats, and the inn catches fire.Consideration: What is the difference between feeling something and experiencing it?How is Miss Flitworth's kitchen different from the living room/parlor?How often does Miss Flitworth entertain, have people in to visit?Why is Death unfamiliar with tomb decoration? Where does death happen?Why does Bill Door not want the axe to fall like clockwork?Bill Door helps Miss Flitworth "acquire" a hen for dinner and to poison the rats.Bill does not kill the chicken, but he does help poison the rats. This is the first timehe has killed.Sal engages him in conversation and refuses to overrule her perceptionof a "skelington" without wires. Why is a child able to see thetruth when the adults are unable to do so? Can you reason with a child? Why/why not?Connections:". . . the tombs of those kings who wanted to take it all with them."clock carved like an owl"Miss" as a person's title - has a specific meaningMiss Flitworth's dad was against her choice in suitorsWhy does Bill Door want to stop the clocks' ticking?Why does Binky enjoy the grass so much?Death dreams . . . nightmare . . .Vocab Rosetta Stone- a translation - a key to understandingRufus-- "red-headed" (rufus = Latin, red)Language"culpable idiocy""guilty of being stupid""She . . . gave the fire a more ferocious jab than it deserved."premonition pre + monere before + warnPersonification of Sleep "prowling around . . . with a pocketful of dreams."170 – 183Miss Flitworth and Bill Door become comfortable with each other
Miss Flitworth and Bill Door become comfortable with each other The FireConsiderationsThe Death of Rats has clients.Borrowed timeMiss Flitworth was not frightened by Death after she considered what he was having to face.Gambling with Death -- "Exclusion Possession" -- "Monopoly".Auditors = "revenooers" = tax collectorsVocabproto = (Greek) firstapothecary= (Latin and Greek) One that prepares and sells drugs and other medicines; a pharmacist. LanguageSharpening the scythe Grindstoneoilstonesteelleather (strop)hessian (jute)Calico \Cal"i*co\, n.; pl. Calicoes. [So called because first imported from Calicut, in the East Indies: cf. F. calicot.] 1. Plain white cloth made from cotton, but which receives distinctive names according to quality and use, as, super calicoes, shirting calicoes, unbleached calicoes, etc.Satin s lustrous silk in which the filling is so arranged as to bind the warp as seldom as possible and so spaced that practically nothing shows but the warp. Satin was first woven by the ancient silk weavers of China and was greatly desired by early Greeks and Romans. In the Middle Ages satin, known as zatoni (from the name of a Chinese town) and samite, was rare and costly and was used for churchly and royal garments. As the secrets of silk making were carried westward, splendid satins were woven in Genoa and Florence, then at Lyons and in England in the 15th cent. Modern satins are made in a great variety of fibers, including synthetic ones.Silk Silk (< OE sioloc probably < L. SERICVS / Gr. σηρικóς ("silken") < L. SERES / Gr. Σηρες ("Chinese") or alternatively < Ch. 丝 or 絲(pronounced "sì") meaning "silk", the pictogram representing two strands of silk.) is a natural fiber that can be woven into textiles. It is obtained from the cocoon of the silkworm larva, in the process known as sericulture, which kills the larvae. Silk was first developed in early China, possibly as early as 6000 BC and definitely by 3000 BC. Legend gives credit to a Chinese Empress Xi Ling Shi. Though first reserved for the Emperors of China, its use spread gradually through Chinese culture both geographically and socially. From there, silken garments began to reach regions throughout Asia. Silk rapidly became a popular luxury fabric in the many areas accessible to Chinese merchants, because of its texture and lustre. Because of the high demand for the fabric, silk was one of the staples of international trade prior to industrialization.Cobweb 1. A web of fine sticky threads spun by a spider. 2. A single thread from this.
2. A single thread from this.3. Anything flimsy or easily broken.4. Obscurity or mustiness.Form: cobwebs (usually)Derivative: cobwebby - adjEtymology: 14c as coppeweb: from Anglo-Saxon atorcoppe spider + web.Language continued . . .Can daylight slosh? Can it roar across the land like a cavalry charge?202-212The Combination Harvester and The Race.
The Combination Harvester and The Race.ConsiderationsWhen the Inn caught fire and burned down, was this the Combination Harvester (the New
When the Inn caught fire and burned down, was this the Combination Harvester (the New Death's first attempt at murder?Early images of Combination Harvesters I Googled up. . .
Steam-powered -- note the crew of four men to run it.
Gasoline-powered; one man operates it.Oil- or coal-fired; steam driven (look at the monster-sized
wheels at the front and back). The frame overhead is for
a sunshade.
Mr. John Deere's latest and finest.
Note the oscilating blades and spinning
feeders. Diesel- or gasoline-powered.
231 – 240
248 – 250
251 - 259
277 – 283
292 – 295
301 – 303
312 – 312
317 – 353
