Quarantine Work Wednesday 15th of April 2020 Story and Questions
“Mrs Pratchett” by Roald Dahl
The sweet-shop in Llandaff in the year 1923 was the very centre of our lives. To us, it was what a bar is to a drunk, or a church is to a Bishop. Without it, there would have been little to live for. But it had one terrible drawback, this sweet-shop. The woman who owned it was a horror. We hated her and we had good reason for doing so.
Her name was Mrs Pratchett. She was a small skinny old hag with a moustache on her upper lip and a mouth as sour as a gooseberry. She never smiled. She never welcomed us when we went in, and the only times she spoke were when she said things like, “I’m watchin’ you so keep your thieving’ fingers of them chocolates!” Or “I don’t want you in ‘ere just to look around! Either you forks out or you gets out!”
But by far the most loathsome thing about Mrs Pratchett was the filth that clung around her. Her apron was grey and greasy. Her blouse had bits of breakfast all over it, toast-crumbs and tea stains and splotches of dried egg-yolk. It was her hands, however, that disturbed us most. They were disgusting. They were black with dirt and grime. They looked as though they had been putting lumps of coal on the fire all day long.
As we read through, have a think about how Roald Dahl paints a picture for the reader. consider what we learn about her, what techniques he uses and what effect these techniques have, what is the effect of the use of dialogue?
The pictures Roald Dahl paints are unleast and nasty. They are quite clear to understand what to see as the words he uses to describe Mrs Prachett are strong and vivid. The techniques used by Roald Dahl include the following. Mainly adjectives as he describes what Mrs Pratchett looks like.
An example of an adjective is “Her blouse had bits of breakfast all over it, toast-crumbs and tea stains and splotches of dried egg-yolk.” In the text it is describing something in which this case what she looks like. The effect of this technique is painting a picture of what she looks like in the reader’s mind. The effect of the use of dialogue is expressing to the reader what she says to her customers and how she behaves towards them. For an example “I’m watchin’ you so keep your thieving’ fingers of them chocolates!” Or “I don’t want you in ‘ere just to look around! Either you forks out or you gets out!” When she is speaking here she is being nasty and rude to the children in her shop. It sounds like to me she doesn’t want the kids to be in her shop mucking around and just wants them to know what they want and buy it and then get straight out. I personally think this is a hard thing to wish for if you want a successful business because a child walking into a candy store is living the dream and is trying to make so many decisions that it becomes over walking very quickly. Overall I think that Roald Dahl is a very successful writer as he can draw readers attention very well.
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