5.-Activivites: After Reading.
A policie inspector questioned Jotham Powell about what happened at the Frome
farm in the days before the accident. Complete the inspector´s side of the
conversation.
Inspector: So, Mr Powell, do you remenber what happened last Wednesday?
Jotham: Wednesday? Yes, I remember. Mr. Frome and I were down at the saw-mill
early, loading wood for Mr. Hale.
Inspector: And what time did you finish loading?
Jotham: About midday, I guess. Then Mr. Frome and I went up to house fora bite
toe at.
Inspector: Were Mrs Frome and Miss Silver both in the house?
Jotham: Yes, sir they were both there. Miss Mattie was making coffe, and Mrs Frome
was dressed in her travelling clothes, teady to leave for the station.
Inspector: Did you drive Mrs Frome to the station?
Jotham: Yes, I did. She caught the two o´clock train.
Inspector: And did you see Mr Frome again that day?
Jotham: No, I didn´t you see again. I called in for a drop of coffe later, abut Miss
Mattie was alone then.
Inspector: When did Mrs Frome come home?
Jotham: She came home on Thursday. Mr Frome sent me to the station to fetch her
after dinner.
Inspector: Now, tell me about Friday.
Jotham: well, on Friday morning Mrs Frome said I had to take Mattie to the
station,and bring back the new girl.
Inspector: And why didn´t you do that?
Jotham: Beecause at dinner Mr Frome said he´d drive Miss Mattie to the station
himself.
6.- Here is a report of the accident in the newspaper. Correct the mistakes in
the report, and think of a suitable title for it.
Two Young people were killed on a coasting slope last Friday evening. The accident
happened at about ten o´clock on a hillside in Corbury. Mr Ethan Frome, a Starkfield
builder, and his cousin, Miss Mattie Silver, were on their way back from a dance. Mr
Frome, who had never coasted before, went down a steep slope, with Miss Silver
sitting in front of him on the sled. Half way down, the sled crashed into a big rock.
Several people saw the accident.
Correcto.
Two young people were very badly hurt on a coasting slope last Friday evening.
The accident happeneed at about five o´clock on a hillside in Starkfield. Mr. Ethan
Frome, a Starkfield farmer,and his wife´s cousin, Miss Mattie Silver, were on their
way to the station. Mr. Frome, who had often coasted before, went down a steep
slope, with Miss Silver sitting behind him on the sled. Half way down, the sled
crashed into a big tree. Nobody saw the accident.
7.- Look at these ideas about the story.
1.-It was Zeena´s faulf. She wasd cold, bitter, and jealous, and only cared about
herself.
2.- It was Mattie´s fault. She was Young and pretty, and she tried to take Ethan away
from his wife, which was a very bad thing to do.
3.-It was Ethan´s fault. He was older than Mattie, and Knew more about life than she
did. He knew it was a stupid thing do.
4.- It was nobody´s fault, It all happened because of their poverty. Poverty brought
them all togerther to begin with, and poverty was their prison to the end.
Decide which of the ideas above is closest to…
a) Open answers, but number 2 is the most likely for Ruth Hale, who seems to
blame Mattie a Little (“ All those years with Mattie have destroyed Ethan”,)
b) Open answers, but number 4 seems the most likely. The narrator´s reaction
to the tragedy was “ I thought how hard life was the por”
c) Open answers. Encourage discussion.
