The Mill on the Floss - sample

YOUNG ADULT

READERS

STAGE 4

GEORGE ELIOT

George Eliot

The Mill on the Floss

In this reader you will find: – Background information about this novel – A short biography of the author, George Eliot – Culture and society in 1860s England – Glossary of difficult words – Comprehension and grammar activities – Final test Tags Family

Love

Society

Elementary

600 headwords

A1

STAGE 2

Pre-Intermediate

800 headwords

A2

Key (KET)

STAGE 3

Intermediate

1000 headwords

B1

Preliminary (PET)

STAGE 4

Upper Intermediate 1800 headwords

B2

First (FCE)

STAGE 5

Advanced

2500 headwords

C1

Advanced (CAE)

STAGE 6

Proficiency

Unabridged Texts

C2

Proficiency (CPE)

Classic

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ELT B 2

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YOUNG ADULT ELI READERS

STAGE 1

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THE MILL ON THE FLOSS

Maggie is a curious girl. She asks many questions. And she wants some answers. What do people mean when they say she is too intelligent? When can she go to school like her brother? Why is a girl’s hair so important? As she gets older her questions change but her curiosity remains just as strong. Walk with Maggie and read her story to find out if she gets some answers to these questions.

STAGE 4

Eli Readers is a beautifully illustrated series of timeless classics and specially-written stories for learners of English.

GEORGE ELIOT THE MILL ON THE FLOSS

ELT B2

YOUNG ADULT

READERS

YOUNG ADULT

READERS

The ELI Readers collection is a complete range of books and plays for readers of all ages, ranging from captivating contemporary stories to timeless classics.

There are three series, each catering for a different age group; Young ELI Readers, Teen ELI Readers and Young Adult ELI Readers. The books are carefully edited and beautifully illustrated to capture the essence of the stories and plots.

The readers are supplemented with ‘Focus on’ texts packed with background cultural information about the writers and their lives and times.

B2

George Eliot

The Mill on the Floss Adaptation and Activities by Michael Lacey Freeman Illustrated by Lorenzo Conti

YOUNG ADULT

READERS

George Eliot The Mill on the Floss Adaptation and activities by Michael Lacey Freeman Language Level Consultant: Lisa Suett Illustrated by Lorenzo Conti ELI Readers Founder and Series Editors Paola Accattoli, Grazia Ancillani, Daniele Garbuglia (Art Director) Graphic Design Airone Comunicazione - Sergio Elisei Layout Airone Comunicazione Production Manager Francesco Capitano Photo credits Shutterstock, Marka, ELI Archive © 2017 ELI s.r.l.

P.O. Box 6 62019 Recanati MC Italy T +39 071750701 F +39 071977851 info@elionline.com www.elionline.com Typeset in 11,5 / 15 pt Monotype Dante Printed in Italy by Tecnostampa – Pigini Group Printing Division – Loreto – Trevi (Italia) – ERA421.01 ISBN 978-88-536-2319-5 First edition: February 2017 www.eligradedreaders.com

Contents 6

Main Characters

8

Activities

10 Chapter 1 18

Maggie and Tom

Activities

20 Chapter 2

A House of Cards

28 Activities 30 Chapter 3

An Army of One

38 Activities 40 Chapter 4

The Golden Gates

48 Activities 50 Chapter 5

The Tin Box

58 Activities 60 Chapter 6

Why?

68 Activities 70 Chapter 7

The Only Thing

78 Activities 80 Chapter 8

Shadows of the Past

88 Activities 90 Chapter 9

Reunion

100 Activities 102 Focus on...

George Eliot 1819 - 1880

104 Focus on...

Sugar and Spice

106 Focus on...

Water

108 Focus on...

Education in Britain

110 Test yourself 111 Syllabus 112 Other Titles

These icons indicate the parts of the story that are recorded start stop

MAIN CHARACTERS

6

7

PRE-READING ACTIVITIES

Writing 1

Look at the picture on the front cover of this book. Write a description of it.

____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________

2

Read a description of the story below and put in a suitable word for each gap.

The ‘Mill on The Floss,’ is a novel by George Eliot. The story is set in the 1820’s (1) ______________ though it was written in 1860.

So, you may ask, what does (2) ______________ title mean?

What is a mill? And what is The Floss?

The story is (3) ______________ a brother and sister (4) ______________ live near the River Floss. Their names are Tom and Maggie, and we follow (5) ______________ story.

At the beginning they are children and we read about (6) ______________ as they grow up. They live with their mother and father in a mill. A mill is a place (7) ______________ produces flour. The mill uses water power to operate a wheel that makes the flour. As we know flour is an important ingredient of bread.

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3

Read the first paragraph of the story. What four characters are introduced in this person’s dream?

How lovely the river is on this sunny afternoon. I listen to the sound of the water as I walk. The green of the trees, the blue sky, the clouds. What a beautiful scene.

And there it is, right in front of me. The reason I went for this walk. To see Dorlcote Mill again. I stand there and look at it. So many memories, so many emotions.

And then I see a little girl. She runs past me and …

Ah, it was a dream. It was just a dream. It all seemed so real, but I was asleep. Well, now that I’m awake I want to tell you about Mr. and Mrs. Tulliver. They are in the parlour on the afternoon I was dreaming of. And they are talking about their son, Tom. 1 _______________________ 2 _______________________

3 _______________________ 4 _______________________

Discussion Point 4a ‘The Mill on the Floss’ is set in the 1820’s. Think about how you communicate with your friends and family. How were things different nearly 200 years ago?

4b Now talk about other ways in which things are very different.

Think about: a b c d e

5

Transport and Travel Entertainment and Leisure Work Education Love and Marriage

Look at the picture of Maggie Tulliver. She is the little girl in the dream. Describe her appearance.

9

Chapter 1

Maggie and Tom

2 How lovely the river is on this sunny afternoon. I listen to the sound of the

water as I walk. The green of the trees, the blue of the sky, the clouds. What a beautiful scene.

And there it is, right in front of me. The reason I went for this walk. To see Dorlcote Mill again. I stand there and look at it. So many memories, so many emotions.

And then I see a little girl. She runs past me and …

Ah, it was a dream. It was just a dream. It all seemed so real, but I was asleep. Well, now that I’m awake I want to tell you about Mr. and Mrs. Tulliver. They are in the kitchen on the afternoon I was dreaming of. And they are talking about their son, Tom. === ‘I want Tom to have a good education,’ said Mr. Tulliver. ‘I don’t want him to become a farmer like me. He must go to a good school, not the one he’s going to at the moment. Something decent. Then he’ll know a lot of difficult words that don’t mean very much. That’s how you get a good job.’

‘Well, you know best,’ replied Mrs. Tulliver. ‘Shall I invite my sisters to dinner? Then you can ask their opinion.’

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a christmas carol

‘Bessy, I don’t need to ask them what to do with my own child. I’m going to ask Mr. Riley. He’ll know best.’

‘I don’t want him to go too far. What will he eat? Where will he sleep?’ asked Mrs. Tulliver.

But Mr. Tulliver didn’t answer. He had a habit of not listening to his wife. His thoughts were elsewhere. ‘I just worry about Tom. Maybe he’s not clever enough. He’s not like Maggie. She’s got the brains in the family. It’s a pity. What does she need brains for? She’s too clever. A clever woman is of no use to anybody.’

‘Where is she?’ asked Mrs. Tulliver. ‘She’s late as always. I worry about her. Her skin is too brown. She spends too much time in the sun. And her hair just won’t go curly.’

‘Cut it short then,’ suggested Mr. Tulliver.

‘How can you say that? She’s nine years old now, and not a little girl. Why can’t her hair be the same as her cousin Lucy?’

Just as Mrs. Tulliver finished her sentence, a young girl with dark eyes ran into the kitchen. She took off her hat, to reveal her long wild black hair. It was Maggie.

‘Brush your hair now!’ demanded Maggie’s mother. ‘Put some clean clothes on, and act more like a lady.’

If being a lady meant brushing your hair all the time, and staying indoors, then Maggie didn’t want to be a lady. She loved her books, more than her hair. And she loved to play outside, near the river. But most of all, she loved her brother Tom. It was for this reason that she made sure she was in the sitting room when Mr. Riley came to visit. She wanted to know where Tom would go to school.

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george eliot

Mr. Riley was happy to give some advice about Tom’s future education. He gave Tulliver a name, Mr. Stelling. ‘He’s a good man,’ said Riley. ‘He went to Oxford, and he loves teaching. For, let’s say one hundred pounds, I’m sure he would be prepared to take on your son.’

And so the deal was done. Mr. Tulliver was very satisfied, and was sure that Tom would learn a lot of very useful things, and a lot of difficult words.

Mrs. Tulliver and Maggie however, were not so happy about this news. Maggie worried that she wouldn’t be able to see Tom, and Mrs. Tulliver was concerned that she wouldn't be able to feed him.

But they were both happy for now because Tom was coming home for the holidays. The school year had finished. ‘Just think,’ said Maggie. ‘He won’t be going back to that school. He’s going to a new place, fifteen miles away. Can I go with father now to meet him?’

‘No you can’t,’ said Maggie’s mother. ‘It’s too wet outside for a young girl to go out.’ A girl with wet hair was unthinkable for Mrs. Tulliver.

This was too much for Maggie. ‘First I hear that Tom is going to school far away, and now I’m told that I can’t even go with my father to meet him,’ she thought. ‘Because of my hair, my stupid hair!’

Maggie saw a bucket of water nearby, picked it up and poured it over her head. ‘That will show mother how much I care about wet hair,’ she said to herself.

Mrs. Tulliver was not amused. ‘Maggie. You are so bad! Your aunts are coming next week. If I tell them what you did, they won’t love you anymore. Oh dear! Oh dear!’

12

the mill on the floss

13

george eliot

But Maggie wasn’t listening. She ran up to the attic, her favourite room, her favourite place to cry.

She loved her brother more than anything else in the world. Every minute with him was precious, and she didn’t see why her hair was more important than him.

But then she looked out of the window and saw the sunshine. The weather had improved. She ran downstairs into the garden, happy again.

Maggie liked to walk around the mill. She loved its sounds, its smells, and the enormous spaces around her. Her hair, her precious hair, soon went white with all the flour in the air.

Maggie liked exploring the mill, but she liked reading even more. She sat with Luke, who worked for her father, and talked about her books.

‘I know you don’t like reading Luke, but I have this book about nature. You would love it.’

‘I have no time for learning things, miss’ said Luke. ‘I’m too busy with my job.’

‘You’re just like Tom. He doesn’t like reading either. But he knows how to make things. He’s very clever like that. Just think, he even made a special place for his rabbits to live in.’

‘He won’t be happy when he gets back home then,’ replied Luke.

‘Why?’ asked Maggie.

‘Because his rabbits are dead, miss.’

Maggie was shocked. Tom had asked her to look after his rabbits.

‘Don’t forget about my rabbits,’ he had said.

But she had forgotten about them. ‘Oh no,’ she thought. ‘What can I do?’ There was nothing she could do. Nothing at all. ‘He’ll be so angry with me.’

14

the mill on the floss

This thought made Maggie cry again. Luke tried to stop the tears by inviting her to his house. She enjoyed chatting with Luke’s wife.

And with some bread and jam in front of her, she soon forgot about the sadness of the rabbits. === ‘There he is, my sweet boy!’ shouted Mrs. Tulliver, as she saw Tom again. She stood there, with her arms open, to welcome him. And Maggie jumped up and down with joy.

As they kissed him, Tom’s eyes were already fixed on the river. He had decided to go fishing the next morning.

‘Tomorrow, we’re going fishing,’ said Tom to Maggie. ‘I’ll let you catch your own fish. Won’t it be fun?’ Maggie was overjoyed at this invitation. She was sure it would be.

She threw her arms around Tom’s neck and said, ‘I love you so much Tom.’ ‘You’re so silly,’ said Tom, freeing himself from Maggie’s hug. He was too grown up for hugging and kissing. ‘Now I’ll go and see my rabbits. I hope you’ve looked after them.’

Maggie had forgotten about the rabbits, with the excitement of Tom’s return. Now what could she do? How could she tell Tom the truth? She decided to tell him what had happened. But she would tell him very, very slowly.

‘Tom,’ she said. ‘How much money did you spend on your rabbits?’

‘They were very expensive,’ replied Tom. ‘I think I have enough money upstairs, in the attic. I’ll give it to you. In fact I’ll give you all of my money.’

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george eliot

‘What for? I don’t want your money, silly. I have more money than you, because I’m a boy. And you get less, because you’re only a girl.’

‘Well, if I give you all my money, you can buy more rabbits.’

‘More rabbits? But I don’t want any more rabbits. I’ve got enough already.’

There was nothing more she could do. She had to tell him everything now.

‘Oh, but Tom. I’m so sorry. They’re all dead,’ she cried.

And that was that. Tom was angry. And so there was no more fishing for Maggie. Tom decided that Maggie had to be punished. She had done something wrong, and this was her punishment. She could not go fishing with her brother.

Maggie ran up to her attic for the second time that day. What misery! How sad she was. Tom was home. It should have been a happy time. But instead he had been cruel to her. What use was anything if Tom didn’t love her? Maggie sat there and waited for someone to come to her, and then cried, and then waited again. Time passed. She didn’t know how long she had been in the attic, all alone.

‘I’ve been here for hours!’ she thought. ‘It must be tea-time by now.’ A little voice inside her head started to speak to her.

‘Stay here, and don’t eat. Then Tom will be sorry, when you die of hunger.’

But soon she began to cry again at the idea that Tom wasn’t thinking of her. The little voice inside her head spoke again, and said something else, ‘But If you go down now, Tom will forgive you. And father will be there. He’ll help you to explain things to Tom.’

16

the mill on the floss

‘But no, I want Tom to forgive me because he loves me, and not because father says so. No, I’ll stay here,’ she said to the imaginary voice.

This conversation continued inside her head, until one idea seemed to be winning. ‘I will go downstairs. Yes I will …’

But just then she heard a noise on the stairs. It was Tom. She began to hope. But he only stood there at the top of the stairs, and shouted.

‘Maggie! Come down! Mother and father are asking about you. You have to come.’

‘Oh Tom! Please forgive me. I can’t bear it. I promise I will always be good from now on. Do love me – please – dear Tom.’ Tom started to feel sorry for Maggie, and went up to the attic.

‘Don’t cry Maggie, come down, and we’ll eat a bit of cake. Don’t worry, we’ll go fishing tomorrow. You have been punished enough.’

And so the next morning, Maggie could be seen proudly walking towards the river with her brother. She was going fishing after all. ‘Tom is so clever,’ thought Maggie. ‘He knows everything about fish, and birds. It’s much more difficult to fish than to remember what’s in books.’

Tom was also very fond of his sister. But he was a boy, and he was older than her. ‘When mother and father die, I’ll take care of her,’ he thought. ‘She can look after the house, and I’ll punish her when she does something wrong.’

Luckily on that day, Maggie did nothing wrong. It was a happy day. Maggie even caught a fish. She didn’t know that she had caught one, until Tom told her. But she was delighted when she found out.

And she decided that she liked fishing very much indeed.

Even if she was only a girl.

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AFTER-READING ACTIVITIES

Reading 1

Are these statements true (T) or false (F)?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

F Maggie is older than Tom ____ Tom has never been to school before. ____ Mr. Tulliver thinks that Maggie is more intelligent than Tom. ____ Mrs. Tulliver doesn’t like the way Maggie looks. ____ Mr. Tulliver asked his wife’s family for advice about Tom. ____ The Attic was Maggie’s favourite room. ____ Maggie’s rabbits had died. ____ Maggie went fishing with her brother. ____ Tom caught a fish. ____

Cambridge First Exercise 2

Change the word on the right to fit into the sentence.

1 2 3 4 5 6

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Mr. Tulliver wanted Tom to have a good EDUCATION ________________

(EDUCATE) A girl with wet hair was ________________ (THINK) Maggie liked ________________ with Luke’s wife.

(CHAT) She soon forgot about the ________________ of the rabbits.

(SAD) Maggie was ________________ to go fishing with Tom. (JOY) Tom told Maggie that she couldn’t go fishing.

That was her ________________ (PUNISH) Maggie listened to an ________________ voice in the attic.

(IMAGINE)

Grammar 3

Choose the right preposition from the box below to complete the phrasal verb. after • around • for • off • on • out • up off her hat to reveal a mass of black hair.

Maggie took _____ 1 ‘Put some clean clothes _____ and act more like a lady.’

2 Maggie saw a bucket of water, picked it _____ and poured it over her hair.

3 Maggie looked _____ of the window and saw the sunshine.

4 She sat with Luke who worked _____ her father.

5 Tom had asked Maggie to look _____ her rabbits.

6 Maggie threw her arms _____ Tom’s neck.

Writing 4 make some notes about Maggie and Tom. What have you learnt about them in this chapter?

She loves her brother, Maggie: ________________________________________________

________________________________________________ He is going to a new school, Tom: ________________________________________________

________________________________________________

Discussion Point 5

Why doesn’t Maggie want her hair to be like Lucy’s hair? What do you think is important to Maggie?

PRE-READING ACTIVITY 3

6 Listen to a part of Chapter 2. Why didn't Tom like it when his aunts came to tea?

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FOCUS ON...

George Eliot 1819 – 1880 It is possible to learn a lot about George Eliot by reading Mill on the Floss. We learn some things about the author’s childhood through the eyes of Maggie. The story is set in a time when the author was very young.

Sometimes we have the impression that Maggie is really George Eliot as a child.

There are other things however, that are not revealed so easily from reading the story.

George Eliot was a fascinating person in real life, different, a person who challenged

George Eliot’s house in Chelsea, London.

102

traditional ideas, a person that was surrounded by an air of mystery. The first mystery was that George Eliot was not really George Elliot.

Mary Ann Evans George Eliot was the author’s pen-name. She used it when she wrote. For George Eliot was really a woman. She had to pretend to be a man so that readers took her more seriously.

Her real name was Mary Ann Evans, at least for most of her life. She did adopt other names, however. For a while she was Marian Evans, and in the last part of her life she was Mary Ann Cross. So who was this woman, who had so many names?

A Controversial Figure Like Maggie, George Eliot was the subject of a lot of gossip. She got married very late in life, but before that she had a very important relationship with a man named George Henry Lewes. They never got married however, because he was already married. This is why many people gossiped about her, and why gossip follows Maggie everywhere in the story.

Eliot’s brother didn’t approve of this relationship, and just like Tom did in Mill on the Floss, he cut off relations with her. Her brother believed in duty, honour, and traditional values, like Maggie’s brother.

George Henry Lewes died in 1878, and it was only then that Eliot decided to marry. She married a man named John Cross. Sadly the marriage didn’t last long, because the author, who was a favourite of Queen Victoria, who many have called one of the greatest writers in western literature, died two years later.

Works Adam Bede 1859 The Mill on the Floss 1860 Silas Marner 1861 Romola 1863 Middlemarch 1871 Daniel Deronda 1876 George Henry Lewes.

George Eliot uses four different names in her life. Only one of them wasn’t chosen by her – her original name. Read the text again. Why do you think she chose the other three names?

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FOCUS ON...

Sugar and Spice Girls are: Sugar and Spice and all things nice Boys are: Frogs and Snails, and Puppy Dog’s Tails (popular nursery rhyme from this time)

‘Brush your hair now!’ demanded Maggie’s mother.

‘Put some clean clothes on, and act more like a lady.

George Eliot wrote Mill on the Floss at a time when men and women were seen to have very fixed roles in society. These differences can been seen in the story, through the eyes of Maggie. Maggie sometimes breaks the rules, and behaves in ways that are not considered to be correct. ’Maggie’s mother worried about her daughter because she didn’t behave like a lady.

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According to her mother, ladies had to care more about their appearance, and shouldn’t be interested in going out, and exploring.

Maggie didn’t want to be a lady: If being a lady meant brushing your hair all the time, and staying indoors, then Maggie didn’t want to be a lady. She loved her books, more than her hair. And she loved to play outside, near the river.

‘Girls can’t do Mathematics, can they sir?’

‘They can learn a little,’ said Mr. Stelling.

‘But they are not deep enough to get real knowledge.’

Maggie also loved reading. She was very intelligent, and academically gifted. At the time many people thought that reading serious literature, or academic texts would be too difficult for women. One prominent writer of the time even argued that a woman could go mad if she studied too much. Remember, George Eliot had to pretend to be a man, in order to be taken seriously.

When Stephen Guest notices that Maggie is interested in the book that he is reading, it is interesting to return to his comment: ‘I’ll bring you the book Miss Tulliver,’ said Stephen. ‘There are pictures in it that I’m sure you would like.’

Stephen believed that women needed pictures in books to lighten things up, and make reading easier for them. This remark

of Stephen’s highlights the attitude to women in this period. They were seen to be delicate, fragile, and above all, passive.

Note another comment from Stephen, when Lucy asks him what he thinks of Maggie: ‘Too tall. And she has too many opinions about things.

She is not my type of woman you know.’

Even if what Stephen says doesn’t reflect his real opinion, it gives us a very clear idea of how women were viewed in this period.

How they looked was more important than what they said.

I have more money than you, because I’m a boy. And you get less, because you’re only a girl.’

You’re a man Tom. You have the power, and can do something in the world.’

Men had more power. It was Tom who had to work, who had to find a way to pay back his father’s debts. Maggie’s role was much more passive. Her job was to help her mother in the house, and to make her father feel better. There are many moments in the story when Maggie and Maggiebecause she has no real power to change anything. feels Tom frustrated

Discussion Point How much have things changed over the last two hundred years? Do you think that Maggie would have been the subject of so much gossip today?

105

FOCUS ON...

Water Water plays a very important part in The Mill on the Floss. The Floss of the title is the river that runs through the town of St. Ogg’s, and it is the source of energy that Mr. Tulliver uses to run his mill. And ultimately water is responsible for the death of Maggie, and her brother Tom.

The Mill The water mill is over 2,000 years old.

The Ancient Greeks used it to generate energy. With the Romans we find the first description of a water mill.

By the middle ages, between five and six thousand water mills could be found in England alone. It played an important part in industrial development during the industrial revolution.

Nowadays there are other, cheaper ways of generating energy. The water mill has become almost obsolete.

However, some still exist. One of the most famous can be found in Iran, in the city of Yazd. This mill still produces flour.

An old mill.

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The Floss The river plays a huge part in the story you have just read. Thanks to the river, Mr. Tulliver can earn enough money to feed and clothe his family. But it also a source of danger. We learn about this danger, at the beginning of the story.

‘Did you know?’ said Bob. ‘There was a big flood here many years ago. All the sheep and cows died.’

‘When I’m a man,’ replied Tom, ‘I’ll make a boat, and put a lot of food in it. Then I can save everybody if there is another flood. And I’d let you come on my boat.’

When Stephen and Maggie go on a boat trip, and spend too much time in the river, travelling too far, we get again an idea of the danger of the river, when the weather worsens. But it also helps the story to move forward. It is this boat trip that helps Maggie to decide to give up Stephen, and to go home.

The Flood At the end of the story, it rains for two days, non-stop. The river overflows, and the flood comes. Some critics have said that it was too easy to end the story in this way.

However, now we have read a little about George Eliot’s life, we can understand why

she brought the story to an end in this way.

It could be interpreted as being a kind of purification, washing away the past. And it was also a way for Maggie and her beloved brother, or Mary Ann Evans, and her brother to be reunited.

What other references to water do you remember from the story?

107

FOCUS ON...

Education in Britain The story of Mill on the Floss opens with a conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Tulliver. They are talking about their son’s education. Mr. Tulliver believes that getting a good education for Tom will be a way of helping him to improve his chances of finding a position in society. But what was education like in this period? Did everybody have a chance to get a good education?

A Good Job The comment of Mr. Tulliver below tells us a lot about what people thought of education at the time. Many people thought that if you went to school, you would learn a lot of things that didn’t mean much, but would help you to find a good job.

‘I want Tom to have a good education,’ said Mr. Tulliver. ‘Then he’ll know a lot of difficult words that don’t mean very much.

That’s how you get a good job.’

Going to school was a privilege. It was not for everybody. However, it is clear in the story that George Eliot is critical of educational methods in this period.

She believed that there was too much emphasis on memorizing things, and on repetition. In many ways her views were ahead of her time.

The Church Most schools of the time were run by churches. Even Mr. Stelling, Tom’s teacher in the story, belongs to the church. The church took the responsibility of teaching the poor. In 1831 for example, many children in Britain had the opportunity to go to school at least one day a week, when Sunday Schools were established. These schools educated over a million children.

Religious studies were obviously very important in these schools.

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The State Over the years the state began to take more and more responsibility for education. In 1820 the first infant school was created.

Then in 1870 the government passed the Education Act. This permitted voluntary and church schools to continue their work, but also allowed the building of schools in areas where there were few places to go to school.

In 1880 more progress was made when school became compulsory for all children between the ages of five and ten. Many parents ignored this law however, because they needed their children to work. But these first laws were important because they established the idea that the state should take responsibility for the education of its people.

What subjects does Tom have to study at school? Which of these subjects do we still study now?

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TEST YOURSELF Answer the question, choosing one of the characters from the box below.

Aunt Glegg • Aunt Moss • Bob • Lucy • Luke • Maggie • Mr. Poulter • Mr Stelling • Mr. Tulliver • Mr. Wakem • Mrs. Tulliver • Philip • Stephen • Uncle Deane Luke Who told Maggie that the rabbits were dead? _______________ Who did Maggie push in the mud? _______________ Who stopped Maggie from falling into the river? _______________ Who gave Tom advice about getting a job? _______________ Who lent the Tulliver family 500 pounds? _______________ Who did Maggie go and visit after Stephen kissed her? _______________ 6 Who gave Maggie some books to read? _______________ 7 Who drew a picture of Maggie? _______________ 8 Who didn’t want to sell her teapot? _______________ 9 Who was Tom’s teacher at school? _______________ 10 Who lent Tom his sword? _______________ 11 Who owned the mill after Mr. Tulliver? _______________ 12 Who read a book by Thomas A Kempis? _______________ 13 Who thought that to be intelligent you needed to know a lot of big words that nobody understands? _______________

1 2 3 4 5

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SYLLABUS Present Perfect/Present Perfect Continuous Past Perfect/Past Perfect Continuous Conditionals Future Continuous Future Perfect Modal Perfects (Must have, Could have etc.)

Non-defining and defining relative clauses Would and Used to for past

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YOUNG ADULT

READERS

STAGE 1

Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

STAGE 2

Charles Dickens, Great Expectations William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet Bram Stoker, Dracula William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat John Buchan, Thirty-Nine Steps

STAGE 3

Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray William Shakespeare, Macbeth Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

STAGE 4

James Joyce, Dubliners Mary Shelley, Frankenstein Henry James, The Turn of the Screw Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights Edgar Allan Poe, Stories of Mystery and Suspense Charles and Mary Lamb, Tales from Shakespeare Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities Anthony Hope, The Prisoner of Zenda Hermann Melville, Moby Dick George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss

STAGE 5

Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway Francis Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair

STAGE 6

Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness J. Borsbey & R. Swan, Editors, A Collection of First World War Poetry Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

YOUNG ADULT

READERS LIGHT

Edgar Allan Poe, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket Natsume Soseki, Botchan