The Horse Whisperer. About the author. About the film. Summary. Nicholas Evans

Transcription

1 Teaher Support Programme B1241 Teaher s notes LEVEL 3 Niholas Evans About the author Niholas Evans was born in Bromsgrove, Birmingham, England in He studied law at Oxford University and then started a areer as a journalist. He worked on a newspaper before moving into television, produing films about Amerian politis. In 1993, he met a man who told him about horse whisperers, people that ured traumatised horses. This inspired him to start work on what was to be his first novel. was published in 1995 and has now sold around 15 million opies aross the world. He now lives in London with his wife and three hildren. About the film Robert Redford starred in and direted the 1998 film adaptation of the book. The film did very well at the box offie as it appeals to many people: horse lovers, romantis, those who love good photography and of ourse Redford fans. However, some fans were annoyed that the ending of the film (Tom wasn t killed) differed from that in the book. Summary Chapters 1 2: Two girls, Grae and Judith, are riding their horses through the snow. As they are going up a hill one of the horses slips and falls on the horse behind, dragging them onto a road. Judith hits her head. Suddenly a truk appears. Grae s horse, Pilgrim, jumps at the window of the truk and Grae is thrown into the road. Grae s mother Annie is told the bad news by her husband Robert at the hospital. Judith is dead and Grae is seriously ill. The dotors have to remove her right leg. Someone from the stables tells them that Pilgrim is severely injured and should be shot. Annie refuses to allow this. The horse is behaving strangely and is put into a building away from the other horses. The MaLean family prepare for an unomfortable Christmas. Grae says that Pilgrim should go bak to his home in Kentuky. She and the family go to see him one last time and are appalled at the ondition he is in. Chapters 3 5: Annie is worried about Pilgrim, her daughter and herself. She deides to ontat Tom Booker, someone who has spent his life uring horses. He realises that the problems often lie with the owners and not with the horses. Annie persuades him to ome to New York to see Pilgrim. He is very onerned about the aggressive behaviour of the horse and angry when he sees the onditions the horse is kept in. He returns to his home in Montana. Annie tries unsuessfully to persuade him to return a seond time. Then she deides to take Grae and Pilgrim on a long ar journey to Montana. Grae and her mother have a very strained relationship. Grae is silent most of the time and enjoys hurting her mother s feelings, and Annie is having problems understanding her own feelings. They arrive at Tom s ranh and Tom agrees to see Pilgrim again. Tom realises that Annie, Grae and Pilgrim are all suffering together, and that if he an help the horse he an help them too. Diane, the wife of Tom s brother Frank, is angry that Tom has agreed to help. Chapters 6 7: Tom and Annie are beginning to have romanti feelings towards eah other. Tom has a training session with Pilgrim, whih onvines him that the horse ould get better, but he wants Grae to tell him everything about the day of the aident, whih she does. Tom realises that he really wants to help the horse and Grae, but that his real motivation for doing so is linked to Annie. We learn that Annie had lost several babies after Grae s birth and that had enouraged her to beome a suessful businesswoman on a magazine. She reeives a message from her husband Robert saying he wouldn t be able to visit her at the weekend. She is pleased about this and worried at the same time. Annie has a dinner party and Grae gets upset when one of the hildren implies that she and Joe, Tom s nephew, are boyfriend and girlfriend. This opens the door for a heart to heart talk between mother and daughter, whih begins to heal the problems in the relationship. Meanwhile, Tom realises he is in love with Annie. Pearson Eduation Limited Teaher s notes of 3

2 Teaher Support Programme B1241 Teaher s notes LEVEL 3 Chapters 8 9: Grae and Tom go to see Pilgrim. Tom does some manoeuvres with the horse and finally Grae is able to get very lose to Pilgrim. One night, whilst out on a attle drive, Tom and Annie kiss eah other. The next day Robert alls to say he is oming to visit. Tom feels awkward and spends all his time looking after Pilgrim, who he eventually manages to ride. Robert arrives at the airport and is impressed with the improvement in Grae s spirits. That night, when Robert touhes her, Annie knows her marriage is over. She an only think about Tom. Grae tries to ride a horse, in preparation for riding Pilgrim, but her false leg is broken and she is in pain. They deide to fly to New York for a replaement leg but there are only two plane tikets. Annie deides to remain behind. She will be alone beause Frank and his family are going to Disneyland, and Tom to Wyoming. That night Joe is showing a trik to Robert with a piee of rope that belongs to Tom. Annie suddenly wants him to stop beause she wants to learn the trik herself, thereby revealing her feelings for Tom. Chapters 10 11: Tom says goodbye to Annie and sets off. He drives for a while and then turns around and omes bak. They both know now that they love eah other. Tom and Annie deide to go for a ride to the plae where they first kissed. They spend the last day together before the family return and Tom shows Annie the rope trik. The day arrives when Grae has to ride Pilgrim. At first the horse refuses but then Tom violently pulls the horse to the ground, whih upsets Grae and her mother. Then he tells Grae to stand on the horse. She an t understand his tatis and Tom tells her Pilgrim has the hoie to fight against life or aept it. He hooses to aept it. Then Tom says something that puzzles Annie, though she knows it has something to do with their relationship. Later, Grae rides Pilgrim to the delight of the people wathing. A farewell party is arranged for Grae and Annie. Grae overhears a onversation about her mother and Tom, whih suggests that they are having a relationship. Tom and Annie meet outside the party and he tells her their relationship must end for the sake of Grae. Chapters 12 13: The next morning Grae is missing, Tom and his brother go to find her. She is riding Pilgrim and is very upset about Tom and her mother. She deides to kill herself. When Tom finds Grae she is surrounded by horses, and two horses, Pilgrim and a white stallion, are fighting. Tom separates the two and onfronts the stallion. He seems to want the stallion to kill him. It smashes Tom s head with its feet and runs away. A year later, Annie is bak in New York and she has a three-month-old baby. She learns from a letter from Tom s brother has sent that Tom has been buried next to his father. With this letter is another from Tom. Inside is the piee of rope and the words never forget. Annie tells her husband everything. When the baby is born, Robert tries to believe it is his. We understand that Annie knows that Tom was the father. At first Robert and Annie live separately. Then, slowly, they ome loser together again. Bakground and themes People s relationship with animals: Tom knows that horses have feelings and he is able to ommuniate with them. He also knows that the physial damage to Pilgrim has affeted the horse mentally and has highlighted the problems Annie has with her daughter. If he an ure the horse, he will also solve human problems. Romanti love: Tom and Annie fall hopelessly in love, but whereas Annie is prepared to sarifie all, even the hard earned healing of her relationship with Grae and the feelings of her husband, Tom knows this annot happen. At the end he orhestrates his own death to avoid the pain of separation from Annie and to remove himself from being instrumental in the break up of a family. Parenthood versus areer: Annie throws herself into her work in an attempt to get over the pain of having lost several babies. This is one of the main reasons her relationship with her daughter is so strained. Disussion ativities Chapters 1 2 Before reading 1 Disuss: Tell the students that the book is going to have many referenes to animals in it. Then put them in small groups to disuss the following questions: Do you like animals? Whih animals do you like? Do people in your ountry keep animals as pets? Why do people keep animals as pets? Do people keep dangerous animals? While reading (p. 3, after He ouldn t stop the truk. ) 2 Write: Tell the students to imagine they are a journalist who has just arrived at the sene of the aident. They have to write a report for their newspaper. Eliit words that they may want to use and put them on the board, adding some of your own. Tell them to inlude an interview with the truk driver and to invent his answers. See key for possible questions. Pearson Eduation Limited Teaher s notes 2 of 3

3 Teaher Support Programme B1241 Teaher s notes LEVEL 3 3 Write and guess: Put students in pairs and ask them to hoose a short paragraph from Chapters 1 2. Tell then to write it again, making five hanges to words in the text. Students then read out their paragraphs to the other students, who have to identify the mistakes. Chapters 3 5 Before reading 4 Predit: Tell the students that Tom Booker is a very important harater in the book. Put them in pairs and ask them to look at the piture on page 15. Ask them to predit the answers to the following questions about him: What ountry is he from? How old is he? Is he married? Has he got any hildren? What is his job? Is he a nie person? While reading (pp. 21/22, after We ve ome nearly 2,000 miles and you haven t spoken a word. ) 5 Group work: Put students in small groups and ask them to talk about a long journey that have made. Ask them to onsider the following questions: What was the reason for your journey? How far did you travel? From where to where did you travel? Did you travel alone, with friends or with family? How did you travel? Did you enjoy the journey? 6 Pair work: Write the following words on the board: tiket, message, university, magazine, offier, wood. Ask the students to talk and write in pairs to say how these words were used in Chapters 3 5. Chapters 6 7 While reading (p. 44, after After the meal, the hildren went to play games on Annie s omputer. ) 7 Disuss: Put the students in small groups and ask them to talk about omputer games. Ask them to onsider the following: Do you like games? What type of games do you like? How often do you play games? Do you play on the Internet? Do you think games an make problems for some people? 8 Write: Put the students in small groups and give them five minutes to write down all the things they an see in the pitures in Chapters 6 7. The group with the longest list wins. Tell them to inlude parts of the body and lothes in their lists. See key for words. Chapters 8 9 While reading (p. 58, after Things ould never be the same again. ) 9 Role play: Put the students in pairs and ask them to role play a onversation between Annie and Robert. Annie tells Robert that she is in love with Tom and she wants to leave him. Robert is angry and tries to hange her mind. See disussion key for a possible start to the onversation. 10 Write, ask and answer: Write Where did Annie and Tom kiss? on the board and eliit the answer (By the river.). Now tell students to write similar questions about Chapters 8 9. Students then mingle as a group, asking and answering eah other s questions. Chapters While reading (p. 76, after I m going to leave Robert. ) 11 Disuss: Put the students in groups of four. Tell two of them that they believe Annie should leave Robert and two believe she shouldn t. Give them time to think of their arguments and the advantages and disadvantages. Then they have a disussion. 12 Draw: Put the students in pairs and ask one to look at the illustration on page 68 and one to look at the illustration on page 73. One student then desribes the illustration to their partner who has to draw it. Then they reverse roles. How aurate are the drawings? Chapters While reading (p. 81, after And her body inside it. ) 13 Write: Tell the students to write a letter from Grae to her mother explaining how she feels and why she is doing what she is doing. Eliit words that they may want to use and put them on the board, adding some of your own. 14 Researh: Tell the students that the book was made into a film. Ask them to look for information on the Internet about the film. The students then give an oral presentation of what they have found. 15 Disuss: Put students in small groups ask them to think about the books they have read and the films they have seen that have animals as the entral theme. Then ask them to desribe the film or book and to disuss the following: What animals were in the book or film? Were they good or bad? Did the animals talk to people? Were they friendly or did they attak people? Was the story sad or happy? Did you like the film/book? 16 Game: Put the students into small groups and ask them to write ten questions about any part of the book. When they ve finished eah group reads out their questions and the other groups have to write their answers on a piee of paper. The group with the most orret answers wins. Voabulary ativities For the Word list and voabulary ativities, go to Pearson Eduation Limited Teaher s notes 3 of 3

4 Teaher Support Programme B1241 Ativity worksheets LEVEL 3 While reading Chapters Find the right words in Chapters 1 2. a Something that is built over a river. (p. 1) b When something loses its olour it beomes this. (p. 5) A building used for religious purposes. (p. 6) d It is a part of the body that is inside you. (p. 6) e The opposite of thin. (p. 7) f A word that means the same as hurting. (p. 8) g A plae where horses are kept. (p. 8) 2 Finish the sentenes with the right words. refused felt lit took ran send fed dropped hide looked a A river alongside the old road. b The horse to his knees and fell bak. The horse dotor tried to the needle in his hand. d Pilgrim a few steps and fell. e Robert at his wife strangely. f Grae was through a hole in her nek. g Pilgrim to get out of the trailer. h Grae s eyes up when she saw the big glass bowl. i Grae thought that they should Pilgrim bak to Kentuky. j When Grae saw Pilgrim she very frightened. Chapters Put a word on the left with a word on the right. spend a train talk down show fear ath softly say together fall time tie sorry Photoopiable 4 Underline the wrong word and put the right one. a Annie was sad that Grae didn t want to ride again. b Tom s grandfather was a great writer. Tom earned something from his work with horses. d Annie sent Tom a photo and a single tiket to New York. e Tom s son had a part-time job in a shop. f Annie drove a silver van. g Diane was short woman of about forty-five. 5 Put the words in the right plae to make a sentene. a language the Tom of understood horses b his met Tom university wife at photograph a of Annie a Tom sent girl d boss interested Annie s business only was in e town the went Grae out little into f hear door ould Tom kiking Pilgrim the g better a was Tom businessman than Frank Chapters What s first? Number the sentenes, 1 6. a Joe and Sott had an argument. b Annie phoned her husband, Robert. Annie and Grae slept together. d Grae made a brand on an animal. e Frank said that Annie ould stay in the river house. f Tom and Annie went riding together. 7 Are the sentenes right (3) or wrong (7)? a Diane was not usually very friendly towards Annie. b The house in Choteau was in a good state. Annie s boss said that she ould be away for two months. Pearson Eduation Limited Ativity worksheets of 2

5 Teaher Support Programme B1241 Ativity worksheets LEVEL 3 d Grae never remembered her dreams. e In Grae s dream, Pilgrim was a younger horse. f Annie was happy when she was a hild. g Grae and Joe met at the ranh house. 8 Put the underlined letters in the right plae to make a word. a Tom arried an orange lgikafst and a rope. b When Tom worked with a horse he wanted to know its oshtyir. The best part of Robert s day was his enortsnsvaoi with his wife and daughter. d Tom read a report in an old amnizgae. e Annie needed to be sfussleu at something. f Annie saw a message from Robert on her meuoptr. g Annie fell into a deep meareslsd sleep. Chapters Cirle the wrong word in the sentenes. a Pilgrim threw his head up a little few times. b Pilgrim put his nose at to the rope. Tom put the rope around through the horse s nek. d They were taking took the attle up into the hills. e Robert was oming to Montana for to spend the weekend. f Grae turned quik quikly on one foot. g Grae was too so happy to see her parents happy again. 10 Answer the questions. a Where was Pilgrim s favourite plae in the arena? b Why did Annie walk towards the river? Who did Robert kiss first at the airport? d What did Robert ask Tom a lot of questions about? e How did Annie feel about leaving her job? Photoopiable f Why did Robert always want to understand things and solve problems? Chapters Cirle the right words. a Annie put on a pair of new / old / dirty trousers. b Tom gave Annie his address / number / . Tom and Annie had four / five / three days alone together. d Tom wanted to make Pilgrim stand up / run / lie down. e Tom wanted Grae to touh / talk to / play with Pilgrim. f Tom first daned with Annie / Grae / Diane at the party. g Grae heard Frank and Diane talking near the bathroom / bedroom / kithen. 12 Put a word on the left with a word on the right. start below worse weak happily push pull finish wrong better above sadly later earlier different dark pale right strong same Chapters Write questions for the answers. a What / find / Grae / poket? Some mathes. b What / Frank / look / by / water s edge? Some footprints. How many / they / hear? Ten or more. d What / baby / look? His hair was brown, his eyes blue and his skin was fair. e How often / Robert / guest room? One night eah weekend. Pearson Eduation Limited Ativity worksheets 2 of 2

6 Teaher Support Programme B1241 Progress test LEVEL 3 1 Math the names with the right sentenes. a Tom b Annie Grae d Robert e Frank f Diane g Joe h Crawford Gates i Hal (Tom s son) j Smoky (farm worker) 1) drove a ar from New York to Montana. 2) wanted to kill herself. 3) told her husband that Tom and Annie were in love. 4) was a student at a film shool. 5) went riding with Grae. 6) sent a letter and a piee of rope to someone. 7) was married to a woman alled Rahel. 8) was a lawyer in New York. 9) promised he wouldn t tell a seret. 10) was the boss of a magazine. 2 What s first in the book? Number the sentenes, a Annie and Grae drove to Montana. b Tom and Annie spent four days alone together. Tom went to New York to see Pilgrim. d Annie had a baby boy. e Grae and Judith fell with their horses and a truk hit Pilgrim. f Tom and Annie kissed by the river. g The dotors took Grae s leg off above the knee. h Robert visited Annie in Montana. i Grae rode Pilgrim again. j Tom was killed. 3 Are the sentenes right (3) or wrong (7)? a Robert, Annie and Grae spent a very happy Christmas together. b Grae never wanted to talk to her father. Tom thought that a horse s owner was the biggest problem. d Tom didn t want Grae to be there when he worked with Pilgrim. e Grae told Tom about the day of the aident. f Grae didn t want to ride Pilgrim again. g Tom showed Annie a ard trik on the attle drive. Photoopiable h Grae went to Disneyland with the Booker family. i Annie and Grae met Robert at a train station. j Grae was very angry that her mother was in love with Tom. 4 Finish the sentenes with the right words. triks lini wood truk stallion trailer damage edge ranh attle a The driver of the ouldn t stop in time. b After the aident, Grae did not have brain. Tom worked in a for nervous horses. d Tom s family worked on a in Montana. e Annie took Pilgrim to Montana in a. f Grae was very exited about the branding day. g Joe knew how to do a lot of. h Annie and Tom saw some female horses and a large, white. i Pilgrim looked over the of life and hose to ome bak. j Grae knew that the dry of the hut burnt like paper. 5 Cirle the right words. a When Grae saw Pilgrim at the Dyers stables she was pleased / angry / frightened. b Tom often slept in the stables / near a river / under trees when he was a hild. Frank was Tom s unle / brother / father. d On branding day the person with the biggest / prettiest / best brand had to make a speeh. e Robert was lonely / busy / bored when Annie was in Montana. f After Grae talked to her mother / had a dream / saw Pilgrim she deided to talk about the aident. g Tom often / never / almost never spoke to Annie about Grae. h After the aident Grae first rode Rimrok / Pilgrim / Gonzo. i Grae wanted to kill herself in the river / on a mountain / in a hut. Pearson Eduation Limited Progress test of 1

7 Teaher Support Programme B1241 Answer keys LEVEL 3 Book key 1.1 Open answers (1 D 2 B 3 C 4 E 5 A 6 F) 1.2 Open answers (1 U 2 T 3 T 4 U 5 U 6 T) e 2 a 3 b 4 5 d a dotor b stable owner horse dotor d truk driver 2 a Judith b Annie Robert d Annie, Grae e Grae, Pilgrim f Grae g Joan Dyer, Pilgrim h Annie, Pilgrim was hit 2 was killed 3 were moved 4 was not shot / wasn t shot 5 was given 6 was not kept / wasn t kept 2.4 Open answers (2) h 3 e 4 f 5 a 6 g 7 d 8 b a 2 b 1 (+ Open answers) 2 Open answers should 2 was able to / ould 3 needed to 4 shouldn t 5 ouldn t / wasn t able to 6 had to 7 should 8 had to / should Open answers whisperer 2 ranh 3 flagstik 4 rope 5 arena 6 lifts 7 slow 8 run 9 stops 10 stable 11 aident 12 rules 13 trust Tom, Grae 2 Diane, Frank 3 Tom, Grae 4 Annie, Robert 5 Grae, Tom 6 Grae, Joe 7 Tom, Annie 8 Grae, Annie silene 2 agreement 3 punishment 4 darkness 5 fight, losers 6 feelings 7 seret 8 sleep 4.4 Open answers U 2 U 3 T 4 T 5 U Open answers 2 Tom: b,, e, h Robert: a, d, f, g 5.3 Possible answers: 1 has moved, has put 2 has pulled/taken, has fallen 3 have driven/gone, has arrived/flown 4 has tried/failed, has told 5 has understood, has asked/told 5.4 Open answers a Robert, Grae b Frank, Diane Tom d Smoky, Tom, Annie e Pilgrim 2 1 B 2 E 3 A 4 D 5 F 6 C 6.2 Open answers Robert and Grae were on a plane, were flying to New York. 2 Tom drove away from the ranh, thinking about Annie. 3 Tom and Annie stood on the hill, wathing the fight between the stallions. 4 Tom pulled the rope around Pilgrim s nek, taking the horse to the ground. 5 Grae stood on Pilgrim, rying as she did it. 6 She rode him around the arena, feeling no fear. 6.4 Open answers Talk about it Open answers Write about it Open answers Projet Open answers (3 1 She is a very suessful singer and songwriter.) Disussion ativities key 1 Open answers 2 Possible words: terrible, blood, danger, hurt, polie, sream, urgent. Questions: What s your name? Where were you travelling to and from? What are you arrying in the truk? What time did the aident happen? Are you hurt? How fast were you driving? Why ouldn t you stop? How do you feel now? 3 Open answers 4 The United States, forty-five years old, Yes but is separated, Yes, a son alled Hal, he looks after horses. 5 Open answers 6 Annie sent Tom a plane tiket to New York. Harry Logan left Annie a message. Tom met his wife Rahel at university. Tom was looking for information in a magazine. A polie offier spoke to Annie. Sott wanted to know if Annie s leg was made of wood. 7 Open answers 8 eyes, nose, mouth, hair, leg, arms, ows, horses, trousers, hat, belt, shirt, flag, stik, wood, hut, river, trees, hills, bed, pillow. 9 Possible beginning to role play: Annie: Robert, I m sorry but I m going to leave you. I am in love with Tom. Robert: You an t. Think about Grae. What will she think? A: I know she will be very unhappy, but I must do it. R: But I don t think Tom loves you. A: Yes he does! He wants to marry me. Pearson Eduation Limited Answer keys of 2

8 Teaher Support Programme B1241 Answer keys LEVEL Open answers 15 Films: Happy Feet, Bee Movie, Chiken Run, Jaws, King Kong, Madagasar, Jurassi Park, Ie Age. 16 Open answers Ativity worksheets key 1 a bridge b pale hurh d heart e thik f ahing g stables 2 a ran b dropped hide d took e looked f fed g refused h lit i send j felt 3 spend time talk softly show fear ath a train say sorry fall down tie together 4 a sad > happy/pleased b writer > daner something > nothing d single > return e shop >restaurant f van > ar g short > tall 5 a Tom understood the language of horses. b Tom met his wife at university. Annie sent Tom a photograph of a girl. d Annie s boss was only interested in business e Grae went out into the little town. f Tom ould hear Pilgrim kiking the door. g Frank was a better businessman than Tom. 6 a 5 b 3 6 d 1 e 2 f 4 7 a 3 b 7 7 d 7 e 3 f 7 g 7 8 a flagstik b history onversations d magazine e suessful f omputer g dreamless 9 a little b at through d took e for f quik g too 10 a In the orner. b Beause she was thirsty. Grae. d The animals and the plants. e She felt fine about it. f Beause he was a lawyer. 11 a old b number four d lie down e to touh f Diane g bathroom 12 start finish worse better happily sadly pull push wrong right above below later earlier different same pale dark strong weak 13 a What did Grae find in her poket? b What did Frank look at by the water s edge? How many horses did they hear? d What did the baby look like? e How often did Robert sleep in the guest room? Progress test key 1 a 7 b 1 2 d 8 e 6 f 3 g 5 h 10 i 4 j 9 2 a 4 b 7 3 d 10 e 1 f 5 g 2 h 6 i 8 j 9 3 a 7 b 7 3 d 7 e 3 f 3 g 7 h 7 i 7 j 3 4 a truk b damage lini d ranh e trailer f attle g triks h stallion i edge j wood 5 a frightened b in the stables brother d best e lonely f had a dream g almost never h Gonzo i in a hut Pearson Eduation Limited Answer keys 2 of 2