Page 34 - Point 5 Literature Program Option 1 Teachers Guide (2) (1)

Analysis and Interpretation

make sure that students pay attention to the explanations of the literary terms before they answer
questions 1–8.
Answers might include:
1. a. The story takes place on a passenger ship sailing from San Francisco in America to Yokohama in Japan.

b. Perhaps he chose this setting because the characters are in constant contact with each other and so there can
be a great deal of interaction between them in a short time.
2. Mr. Kelada was most probably not English by birth, and most likely he was aware that this was a disadvantage
when he was mixing socially with the English. He learned as many English expressions as he could so that English
people would think he was English as well, and accept him as one of them.

3. No, the narrator knew that Mr. Kelada’s name was not English, like Smith or Brown.
4. a. The narrator mentions his dark skin, his fleshy nose, his sleek black hair and large eyes. He also mentions
that Mr. Kelada makes many hand movements (gestures) and that he talks a lot (fluency), things that were not
considered polite behavior in England.
b. No. His behavior at the end of the story shows that despite his annoying ways, he knew how to behave just
as properly as any English ‘gentleman’ and perhaps even better, since he understood what Mrs. Ramsay’s
problem was long before the narrator did.

5. He was the best hated man on the ship. So passengers felt the same way as the narrator.
6. a. Mrs. Ramsay, … in her modest way … slipped the chain inside her dress and said: … you can’t bet on a certainty,
But how can it be proved? Also, Mrs. Ramsay hesitated a moment.
b. Mrs. Ramsay knew that the pearls were real because she had received them as a gift when her husband was
away. Of course she didn’t want her husband to know about this, so she had lied to Mr. Ramsay and told him
the pearls were cheap costume jewelry she had bought at a department store.

7. Mr. Kelada stopped with his mouth open. He flushed deeply. You could almost see the effort he was
making over himself.
8. The theme of the story is that first impressions are often misleading and that appearances can be deceptive. The
theme also has a moral: not to judge a person by looks, color or origin, but rather by his behavior and reactions
when under pressure.

Inferring is the HoTS that is spiraled here (see A Summer’s Reading on Student’s Coursebook
page 24). Students use the skill to answer questions 9 and 10.

Answers might include:
9. Part I – Are you English?
Part II – The Best Hated Man

Part III – The Bet
10. We can infer that during the year her husband was away, Mrs. Ramsay had a relationship with a wealthy man
who gave her a very expensive genuine pearl necklace. We can infer this from the fact that Mrs. Ramsay did
everything she could to stop the bet, and then later she gave Mr. Kelada his money back.
11. Mr. Ramsay is sure the pearls are not real and he wants to make Kelada lose the bet to embarrass him.

12. a. Her reactions make the narrator feel uncomfortable.
b. He doesn’t do anything about it.
13. Accept any logical response.

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