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Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (for Elementary Levels A2)

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Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

By Lewis Carroll

Retold by Jennifer Bassett

Chapter one: Down the rabbit-hole

Chapter two: the pool of tears, chapter three: conversation with a caterpillar, chapter four: the cheshire cat, chapter five: a mad tea-party, chapter six: the queen’s game of croquet, chapter seven: who stole the tarts.

Alice was beginning to get very bored. She and her sister were sitting under the trees. Her sister was reading, but Alice had nothing to do. Once or twice she looked into her sister’s book, but it had no pictures or conversations in it.

‘And what is the use of a book,’ thought Alice, ‘without pictures or conversations?’

She tried to think of something to do, but it was a hot day and she felt very sleepy and stupid. She was still sitting and thinking when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran past her.

Suddenly a White Rabbit ran past her

There was nothing really strange about seeing a rabbit. And Alice was not very surprised when the Rabbit said, ‘Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!’ (Perhaps it was a little strange, Alice thought later, but at the time she was not surprised.)

But then the Rabbit took a watch out of its pocket, looked at it, and hurried on. At once Alice jumped to her feet.

‘I’ve never before seen a rabbit with either a pocket, or a watch to take out of it,’ she thought. And she ran quickly across the field after the Rabbit. She did not stop to think, and when the Rabbit ran down a large rabbit-hole, Alice followed it immediately.

After a little way the rabbit-hole suddenly went down, deep into the ground. Alice could not stop herself falling, and down she went, too.

It was a very strange hole. Alice was falling very slowly, and she had time to think and to look around her. She could see nothing below her because it was so dark. But when she looked at the sides of the hole, she could see cupboards and books and pictures on the walls. She had time to take things out of a cupboard, look at them, and then put them back in a cupboard lower down.

‘Well!’ thought Alice. ‘After a fall like this, I can fall anywhere! I can fall downstairs at home, and I won’t cry or say a word about it!’

Down, down, down. ‘How far have I fallen now?’ Alice said aloud to herself. ‘Perhaps I’m near the centre of the earth. Let me think … That’s four thousand miles down.’ (Alice was very good at her school lessons and could remember a lot of things like this.)

Down, down, down. Would she ever stop falling? Alice was very nearly asleep when, suddenly, she was sitting on the ground. Quickly, she jumped to her feet and looked around. She could see the White Rabbit, who was hurrying away and still talking to himself. ‘Oh my ears and whiskers!’ he was saying. ‘How late it’s getting!’

Alice ran after him like the wind. She was getting very near him when he suddenly turned a corner. Alice ran round the corner too, and then stopped. She was now in a long, dark room with doors all round the walls, and she could not see the White Rabbit anywhere.

She tried to open the doors, but they were all locked. ‘How will I ever get out again?’ she thought sadly. Then she saw a little glass table with three legs, and on the top of it was a very small gold key. Alice quickly took the key and tried it in all the doors, but oh dear! Either the locks were too big, or the key was too small, but she could not open any of the doors.

Then she saw another door, a door that was only forty centimetres high. The little gold key unlocked this door easily, but of course Alice could not get through it – she was much too big. So she lay on the floor and looked through the open door, into a beautiful garden with green trees and bright flowers.

Poor Alice was very unhappy. ‘What a wonderful garden!’ she said to herself. ‘I’d like to be out there – not in this dark room. Why can’t I get smaller?’ It was already a very strange day, and Alice was beginning to think that anything was possible.

After a while she locked the door again, got up and went back to the glass table. She put the key down and then she saw a little bottle on the table (‘I’m sure it wasn’t here before,’ said Alice). Round the neck of the bottle was a piece of paper with the words DRINK ME in large letters.

But Alice was a careful girl. ‘It can be dangerous to drink out of strange bottles,’ she said. ‘What will it do to me?’ She drank a little bit very slowly. The taste was very nice, like chocolate and oranges and hot sweet coffee, and very soon Alice finished the bottle.

‘What a strange feeling!’ said Alice. ‘I think I’m getting smaller and smaller every second.’

And she was. A few minutes later she was only twenty- five centimetres high. ‘And now,’ she said happily, ‘I can get through the little door into that beautiful garden.’

She ran at once to the door. When she got there, she remembered that the little gold key was back on the glass table. She ran back to the table for it, but of course, she was now much too small! There was the key, high above her, on top of the table. She tried very hard to climb up the table leg, but she could not do it.

At last, tired and unhappy, Alice sat down on the floor and cried. But after a while she spoke to herself angrily.

‘Come now,’ she said. ‘Stop crying at once. What’s the use of crying?’ She was a strange child, and often talked to herself like this.

Soon she saw a little glass box near her on the floor. She opened it, and found a very small cake with the words EAT ME on it.

Nothing could surprise Alice now. ‘Well, I’ll eat it,’ she said. ‘If I get taller, I can take the key off the table. And if I get smaller, I can get under the door. One way or another, I’ll get into the garden. So it doesn’t matter what happens!’

Alice tried very hard to climb up the table leg.

She ate a bit of the cake, and then put her hand on top of her head. ‘Which way? Which way?’ she asked herself, a little afraid. Nothing happened. This was not really surprising. People don’t usually get taller or shorter when they eat cake. But a lot of strange things were happening to Alice today. ‘It will be very boring,’ she said, ‘if nothing happens.’

So she went on eating, and very soon the cake was finished.

Curiouser and curiouser!’ said Alice. (She was very surprised, and for a minute she forgot how to speak good English.)

‘I shall be as tall as a house in a minute,’ she said. She tried to look down at her feet, and could only just see them. ‘Goodbye, feet!’ she called. ‘Who will put on your shoes now? Oh dear! What nonsense I’m talking!’

Just then her head hit the ceiling of the room. She was now about three metres high. Quickly, she took the little gold key from the table and hurried to the garden door.

Poor Alice! She lay on the floor and looked into the garden with one eye. She could not even put her head through the door.

She began to cry again, and went on crying and crying. The tears ran down her face, and soon there was a large pool of water all around her on the floor. Suddenly she heard a voice, and she stopped crying to listen.

‘Oh, the Duchess, the Duchess! She’ll be so angry! I’m late, and she’s waiting for me. Oh dear, oh dear!’

It was the White Rabbit again. He was hurrying down the long room, with some white gloves in one hand and a large fan in the other hand.

Alice was afraid, but she needed help. She spoke in a quiet voice. ‘Oh, please, sir—’

The Rabbit jumped wildly, dropped the gloves and the fan, and hurried away as fast as he could.

Alice picked up the fan and the gloves. The room was very hot, so she began to fan herself while she talked. ‘Oh dear! How strange everything is today! Did I change in the night? Am I a different person today? But if I’m a different person, then the next question is – who am I? Ah, that’s the mystery.’

The Rabbit jumped wildly, and dropped the gloves and the fan.

She began to feel very unhappy again, but then she looked down at her hand. She was wearing one of the Rabbit’s white gloves. ‘How did I get it on my hand?’ she thought. ‘Oh, I’m getting smaller again!’ She looked round the room. ‘I’m already less than a metre high. And getting smaller every second! How can I stop it?’ She saw the fan in her other hand, and quickly dropped it.

She was now very, very small – and the little garden door was locked again, and the little gold key was lying on the glass table.

‘Things are worse than ever,’ thought poor Alice. She turned away from the door, and fell into salt water, right up to her neck. At first she thought it was the sea, but then she saw it was the pool of tears. Her tears. Crying makes a lot of tears when you are three metres tall.

‘Oh, why did I cry so much?’ said Alice. She swam around and looked for a way out, but the pool was very big. Just then she saw an animal in the water near her. It looked like a large animal to Alice, but it was only a mouse.

‘Shall I speak to it?’ thought Alice. ‘Everything’s very strange down here, so perhaps a mouse can talk.’

So she began: ‘Oh Mouse, do you know the way out of this pool? I am very tired of swimming, oh Mouse!’ (Alice did not know if this was the right way to speak to a mouse. But she wanted to be polite.)

The mouse looked at her with its little eyes, but it said nothing.

‘Perhaps it doesn’t understand English,’ thought Alice. ‘Perhaps it’s a French mouse.’ So she began again, and said in French: ‘Where is my cat?’ (This was the first sentence in her French lesson-book.)

It looked like a large animal to Alice, but it was only a mouse.

The mouse jumped half out of the water and looked at her angrily.

‘Oh, I’m so sorry!’ cried Alice quickly. ‘Of course, you don’t like cats, do you?’

‘Like cats?’ cried the mouse in a high, angry voice. ‘Does any mouse like cats?’

‘Well, perhaps not,’ Alice began kindly.

But the mouse was now swimming quickly away, and soon Alice was alone again. At last she found her way out of the pool and sat down on the ground. She felt very lonely and unhappy. But after a while the White Rabbit came past again, looking for his white gloves and his fan.

‘The Duchess! The Duchess! Oh my ears and whiskers! She’ll cut my head off, I know she will! Oh, where did I drop my gloves?’ Then he saw Alice. ‘Why, Mary Ann, what are you doing here? Run home at once, and bring me some gloves and a fan. Quick, now!’

Alice hurried away. ‘But where is his house?’ she thought while she ran. Strangely, she was no longer in the long room with the little door, but outside in a wood. She ran and ran but could not see a house anywhere, so she sat down under a flower to rest.

“Now,’ Alice said to herself. ‘First, I must get a little bigger, and second, I must find my way into that beautiful garden. I think that will be the best plan. But oh dear! How shall I get bigger? Perhaps I must eat or drink something, but the question is, what?’

Alice looked all around her at the flowers and the trees, but she could not see anything to eat. Then she saw a large mushroom near her. It was as tall as she was. She walked across to look at it, and there, on top of the mushroom, was a large caterpillar, smoking a pipe. After a while, the Caterpillar took the pipe out of its mouth and said to Alice in a slow, sleepy voice, ‘Who are you?’

‘I don’t really know, sir,’ said Alice. ‘I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I have changed so often since then. I think I am a different person now.’

‘What do you mean by that?’ said the Caterpillar. ‘Explain yourself!’

‘I can’t explain myself, sir,’ said Alice, ‘because I’m not myself, you know.’

‘I don’t know,’ said the Caterpillar.

‘Explain yourself!’ said the Caterpillar.

‘It’s difficult to describe,’ Alice replied politely. ‘One minute I’m very small, the next minute I’m as tall as a house, then I’m small again. Usually, I stay the same all day, and changing so often feels very strange to me.’

‘You!’ said the Caterpillar, in a very unfriendly voice. ‘Who are you?’

They were now back at the beginning of their conversation, which was not very helpful. Alice felt a little cross and decided to walk away.

‘Come back!’ the Caterpillar called after her. ‘I’ve something important to say.’

This sounded better, so Alice turned back.

‘Never get angry,’ said the Caterpillar.

‘Is that all?’ said Alice, trying not to be angry.

‘No,’ said the Caterpillar. For some minutes it smoked its pipe and did not speak, but at last it took the pipe out of its mouth, and said, ‘So you’ve changed, have you? How tall do you want to be?’

‘I would like to be a little larger, sir, please,’ said Alice. ‘Eight centimetres is really very small.’

For a while the Caterpillar smoked its pipe. Then it shook itself, got down off the mushroom, and moved slowly away into the grass. It did not look back at Alice, but said, ‘One side will make you taller, and the other side will make you shorter.’

‘One side of what?’ thought Alice to herself.

She did not say this aloud, but the Caterpillar said, ‘Of the mushroom.’ Then it moved away into the wood.

Alice looked at the mushroom carefully, but it was round, and did not have sides. At last she broke off a piece in each hand from opposite sides of the mushroom. She ate some of the piece in her left hand, and waited to see what would happen.

A minute later her head was as high as the tallest tree in the wood, and she was looking at a sea of green leaves. Then a bird appeared and began to fly around her head, screaming, ‘Egg thief! Egg thief! Go away!’

‘I’m not an egg thief,’ said Alice.

‘Oh no?’ said the bird angrily. ‘But you eat eggs, don’t you?’

‘Well, yes, I do, but I don’t steal them,’ explained Alice quickly. ‘We have them for breakfast, you know.’

‘Then how do you get them, if you don’t steal them?’ screamed the bird.

This was a difficult question to answer, so Alice brought up her right hand through the leaves and ate a little from the other piece of mushroom. She began to get smaller at once and, very carefully, she ate first from one hand, then from the other, until she was about twenty- five centimetres high.

‘That’s better,’ she said to herself. ‘And now I must find that garden.’ She began to walk through the wood, and after a while she came to a little house.

There was a boy outside the door, with a large letter in his hand. (He was dressed like a boy, but his face was very like a fish, Alice thought.) The Fish-Boy knocked at the door, and a second later a large plate came flying out of an open window.

‘A letter for the Duchess,’ the Fish-Boy shouted. He pushed the letter under the door and went away.

Alice went up to the door and knocked, but there was a lot of noise inside and nobody answered. So she opened the door and walked in.

‘A letter for the Duchess,’ the Fish-Boy shouted

She found herself in a kitchen, which was full of smoke. There was a very angry cook by the fire, and in the middle of the room sat the Duchess, holding a screaming baby. Every few minutes a plate crashed to the floor. There was also a large cat, which was sitting on a chair and grinning from ear to ear.

‘Please,’ Alice said politely to the Duchess, ‘why does your cat grin like that?’

‘It’s a Cheshire Cat,’ said the Duchess. ‘That’s why.’

‘I didn’t know that cats could grin,’ said Alice.

‘Well, you don’t know much,’ said the Duchess. Another plate crashed to the floor and Alice jumped. ‘Here!’ the Duchess went on. ‘You can hold the baby for a bit, if you like. The Queen has invited me to play croquet, and I must go and get ready.’ She pushed the baby into Alice’s arms and hurried out of the room.

There was a large cat, which was grinning from ear to ear.

‘Oh, the poor little thing!’ said Alice, looking at the baby, which had a very strange face. She took it outside into the wood and walked around under the trees. Then the baby began to make strange noises, and Alice looked into its face again. Its eyes were really very small for a baby, and its nose now looked very like the nose of a pig.

‘Don’t make noises like that, my dear,’ said Alice. ‘It’s not polite. You’re beginning to sound like a pig.’

But a few minutes later, there was no mistake. It was a pig. Alice put it carefully on the ground, and it ran quietly away on its four legs into the wood.

‘I’m pleased about that,’ Alice said to herself. ‘It will be a good-looking pig, but it would be terrible to be a child with a face like that.’

She was thinking about pigs and children when she suddenly saw the Cheshire Cat in a tree. The Cat grinned at her, and she went nearer to it.

‘Please,’ she said, ‘can you tell me which way to go from here?’

‘But where do you want to get to?’ said the Cat.

‘It doesn’t really matter—’ began Alice.

‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat.

‘But I would like to get somewhere,’ Alice explained.

‘If you just go on walking,’ said the Cat, ‘in the end you’ll arrive somewhere.’

That was true, thought Alice, but not very helpful, so she tried another question. ‘What kind of people live near here?’

‘To the left,’ the Cat said, ‘lives a Hatter. And to the right, lives a March Hare. You can visit either of them. They’re both mad.’

‘But I don’t want to visit mad people,’ said Alice.

‘We’re all mad here, you know,’ said the Cat. ‘I’m mad. You’re mad.’

‘How do you know that I’m mad?’ said Alice.

‘Of course you’re mad,’ said the Cat. ‘Only mad people come here.’

Alice was thinking about this, but the Cat went on, ‘Are you playing croquet with the Queen today?’

‘I would like to very much,’ said Alice, ‘but nobody has invited me yet.’

‘You’ll see me there,’ said the Cat, and vanished.

Alice was not really surprised at this, because so many strange things were happening today. She was still looking at the tree when, suddenly, the Cat appeared again.

‘I forgot to ask,’ said the Cat. ‘What happened to the baby?’

‘It turned into a pig,’ Alice said.

‘I’m not surprised,’ said the Cat, and vanished again.

Alice began to walk on, and decided to visit the March Hare. ‘It’s the month of May now,’ she said to herself, ‘so perhaps the Hare won’t be as mad as he was in March.’

Suddenly, there was the Cheshire Cat again, sitting in another tree. Alice jumped in surprise.

‘Do you think,’ she said politely, ‘that you could come and go more slowly?’

‘All right,’ said the Cat. And this time it vanished very slowly. First its tail went, then its body, then its head, and last, the grin.

‘Well! I’ve often seen a cat without a grin,’ thought Alice, ‘but never a grin without a cat!’

Soon she saw the house of the March Hare in front of her. It was a large house, so she ate a little piece of mushroom to get bigger, and walked on.

This time the Cat vanished very slowly.

There was a table under a tree outside the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea. A Dormouse was sitting between them, asleep. The three of them were all sitting together at one corner of the table, but the table was large and there were many other seats. Alice sat down in a big chair at one end.

‘Have some coffee,’ the March Hare said in a friendly voice.

Alice looked all round the table, but she could only see a teapot. ‘I don’t see any coffee,’ she said.

‘There isn’t any,’ said the March Hare.

‘Then why did you ask me to have some?’ said Alice crossly. ‘It wasn’t very polite of you.’

‘It wasn’t very polite of you to sit down. We haven’t invited you to tea,’ said the March Hare.

‘But there are lots of seats,’ said Alice.

‘Your hair’s too long,’ said the Hatter, looking at Alice with interest.

‘It’s not polite to say things like that,’ said Alice.

The Hatter looked surprised, but he said, ‘Why is a bird like a desk?’

Alice was pleased. She enjoyed playing wordgames, so she said, ‘That’s an easy question.’

‘Do you mean you know the answer?’ said the March Hare.

‘Yes,’ said Alice.

‘Then you must say what you mean,’ the March Hare said.

‘I do,’ Alice said quickly. ‘Well, I mean what I say. And that’s the same thing, you know.’

‘No, it isn’t!’ said the Hatter. ‘Listen to this. I see what I eat means one thing, but I eat what I see means something very different.’

Alice did not know what to say to this. So she took some tea and some bread-and-butter while she thought about it. The Dormouse woke up for a minute and then went to sleep again. After a while the Hatter took out his watch, shook it, then looked at it sadly.

‘Two days slow! I told you that butter wasn’t good for watches!’ he said angrily to the March Hare.

‘It was the best butter,’ said the March Hare sadly.

Alice was looking at the watch with interest. ‘It’s a strange watch,’ she said. ‘It shows the day of the week, but not the time.’

‘But we know the time,’ said the Hatter. ‘It’s always six o’clock here.’

Alice suddenly understood. ‘Is that why there are all these cups and plates?’ she said. ‘It’s always tea-time here, and you go on moving round the table. Is that right? But what happens when you come to the beginning again?’

‘Don’t ask questions,’ said the March Hare crossly. ‘You must tell us a story now.’

‘But I don’t know any stories,’ said Alice.

Then the March Hare and the Hatter turned to the Dormouse. ‘Wake up, Dormouse!’ they shouted loudly in its ears. ‘Tell us a story.’

‘Yes, please do,’ said Alice.

The Dormouse woke up and quickly began to tell a story, but a few minutes later it was asleep again. The March Hare poured a little hot tea on its nose, and the Hatter began to look for a clean plate. Alice decided to leave and walked away into the wood. She looked back once, and the March Hare and the Hatter were trying to put the Dormouse into the teapot.

The March Hare poured a little hot tea on the Dormouse’s nose.

‘Well, I won’t go there again,’ said Alice. ‘What a stupid tea-party it was!’ Just then she saw a door in one of the trees. ‘How curious!’ she thought. ‘But everything is strange today. I think I’ll go in.’

So she went in. And there she was, back in the long room with the little glass table. At once, she picked up the gold key from the table, unlocked the little door into the garden, and then began to eat a piece of mushroom. When she was down to about thirty centimetres high, she walked through the door, and then, at last, she was in the beautiful garden with its green trees and bright flowers.

Near the door there was a rose-tree and three gardeners, who were looking at the roses in a very worried way.

‘What’s the matter?’ Alice said to them.

‘You see, Miss,’ said the first gardener, ‘these roses are white, but the Queen only likes red roses, and she—’

‘The Queen!’ said the second gardener suddenly, and at once, the three gardeners lay down flat on their faces. Alice turned round and saw a great crowd of people.

It was a pack of cards, walking through the garden. There were clubs (they were soldiers), and diamonds, and ten little children (they were hearts). Next came some Kings and Queens. Then Alice saw the White Rabbit, and behind him, the Knave of Hearts. And last of all, came THE KING AND QUEEN OF HEARTS.

When the crowd came near to Alice, they all stopped and looked at her, and the Queen said, ‘Who are you?’

‘My name is Alice, Your Majesty,’ said Alice very politely. But she thought to herself, ‘They’re only a pack of cards. I don’t need to be afraid of them!’

‘And who are these? said the Queen, looking at the three gardeners. Then she saw the white roses, and her face turned red and angry. ‘Off with their heads!’ she shouted, and soldiers hurried up to take the gardeners away. The Queen turned to Alice. ‘Can you play croquet?’ she shouted.

‘Yes!’ shouted Alice.

‘Come on, then!’ shouted the Queen. The crowd began to move on, and Alice went with them.

‘It’s – it’s a very fine day,’ said a worried voice in her ear. Alice saw that the White Rabbit was by her side.

‘Very fine,’ said Alice. ‘Where’s the Duchess?’

‘Shhh!’ said the Rabbit in a hurried voice. ‘She’s in prison, waiting for execution.’

‘What for?’ said Alice.

But just then the Queen shouted, ‘Get to your places!’ and the game began.

It was the strangest game of croquet in Alice’s life! The balls were hedgehogs, and the mallets were flamingoes. And the hoops were made by soldiers, who turned over and stood on their hands and feet. Alice held her flamingo’s body under her arm, but the flamingo turned its long neck first this way and then that way. At last, Alice was ready to hit the ball with the flamingo’s head. But by then, the hedgehog was tired of waiting and was walking away across the croquet-ground. And when both the flamingo and the hedgehog were ready, there was no hoop! The soldiers too were always getting up and walking away. It really was a very difficult game, Alice thought.

The players all played at the same time, and they were always arguing and fighting for hedgehogs. Nobody could agree about anything. Very soon, the Queen was wildly angry, and went around shouting ‘Off with his head!’ or ‘Off with her head!’ about once a minute.

Alice began to feel worried. ‘The Queen is sure to argue with me soon,’ she thought. ‘And what will happen to me then? They’re cutting people’s heads off all the time here. I’m surprised there is anyone left alive!’

Just then she saw something very strange. She watched carefully, and after a minute or two she saw that the thing was a grin. ‘It’s the Cheshire Cat,’ she said to herself. ‘Now I’ll have somebody to talk to.’

The balls were hedgehogs, and the mallets were flamingoes

‘How are you getting on?’ said the Cat, when its mouth appeared.

Alice waited. ‘I can’t talk to something without ears,’ she thought. Slowly the Cat’s eyes, then its ears, and then the rest of its head appeared. But it stopped at the neck, and its body did not appear.

Alice began to tell the Cat all about the game. ‘It’s very difficult to play,’ she said. ‘Everybody argues all the time, and the hoops and the hedgehogs walk away.’

‘How do you like the Queen?’ said the Cat quietly.

‘I don’t,’ said Alice. ‘She’s very—’ Just then she saw the Queen behind her, so she went on, ‘—clever. She’s the best player here.’

The Queen smiled and walked past.

‘Who are you talking to?’ said the King. He came up behind Alice and looked at the Cat’s head in surprise.

‘It’s a friend of mine – a Cheshire Cat,’ said Alice.

‘I’m not sure that I like it,’ said the King. ‘But it can touch my hand if it likes.’

‘I prefer not to,’ said the Cat.

‘Well!’ said the King angrily. He called out to the Queen, ‘My dear! There’s a cat here, and I don’t like it.’

The Queen did not look round. ‘Off with its head!’ she shouted. ‘Call for the executioner!’

Alice was a little worried for her friend, but when the executioner arrived, everybody began to argue.

‘I can’t cut off a head,’ said the executioner, ‘if there isn’t a body to cut it off from.’

‘You can cut the head off,’ said the King, ‘from anything that’s got a head.’

‘If somebody doesn’t do something quickly,’ said the Queen, ‘I’ll cut everybody’s head off.’

Nobody liked that plan very much, so they all turned to Alice. ‘And what do you say?’ they cried.

‘The Cat belongs to the Duchess,’ said Alice carefully. ‘Perhaps you could ask her about it.’

‘She’s in prison,’ the Queen said to the executioner. ‘Bring her here at once.’

But then the Cat’s head slowly began to vanish, and when the executioner came back with the Duchess, there was nothing there. The King ran wildly up and down, looking for the Cat, and the Duchess put her arm round Alice. ‘I’m so pleased to see you again, my dear!’ she said.

‘Let’s get on with the game,’ the Queen said angrily, and Alice followed her back to the croquet-ground.

The game went on, but all the time the Queen was arguing, and shouting ‘Off with his head!’ or ‘Off with her head!’ Soon there were no hoops left, because the soldiers (who were the hoops) were too busy taking everybody to prison. And at the end there were only three players left – the King, the Queen, and Alice.

The Queen stopped shouting and said to Alice, ‘Have you seen the Mock Turtle yet?’

‘No,’ said Alice. ‘I’m not sure what a Mock Turtle is.’

‘Then come with me,’ said the Queen.

They found the Mock Turtle down by the sea. Next to him was a Gryphon, asleep in the sun. Then the Queen hurried away, saying, ‘I have to get on with some executions.’

The Gryphon woke up, and said sleepily to Alice, ‘It’s just talk, you know. They never execute anybody.’

Alice was pleased to hear this. She felt a little afraid of the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle, because they were so large. But they were very friendly, and sang songs and told her many stories about their lives. The Mock Turtle was in the middle of a very sad song when they all heard a shout a long way away: ‘It’s beginning!’ ‘Come on! We must hurry!’ cried the Gryphon. It took Alice by the hand and began to run.

The Mock Turtle and the Gryphon were very friendly.

The King and Queen of Hearts were sitting on their thrones when Alice and the Gryphon arrived. There was a great crowd of birds and animals, and all the pack of cards.

Soldiers stood all around the Knave of Hearts, and near the King was the White Rabbit, with a trumpet in one hand.

In the middle of the room there was a table, with a large plate of tarts on it. ‘They look good,’ thought Alice, who was feeling a little hungry.

Then the White Rabbit called out loudly, ‘Silence! The trial of the Knave of Hearts will now begin!’ He took out a long piece of paper, and read:

The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts,

All on a summer day.

The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts,

And took them all away.

‘Very good,’ said the King. ‘Call the first witness.’

Alice looked at the jury, who were now writing everything down. It was a very strange jury. Some of the jurymen were animals, and the others were birds.

Then the White Rabbit blew his trumpet three times, and called out, ‘First witness!’

The first witness was the Hatter. He came in with a teacup in one hand and a piece of bread-and-butter in the other hand. ‘I’m very sorry, Your Majesty,’ he said. ‘I was in the middle of tea when the trial began.’

‘Take off your hat,’ the King said.

‘It isn’t mine,’ said the Hatter.

‘Stolen! Write that down,’ the King said to the jury.

‘I keep hats to sell,’ explained the Hatter. ‘I don’t have a hat myself. I’m a Hatter.’

‘Give your evidence,’ said the King, ‘or we’ll cut your head off.’

The Hatter’s face turned white. ‘I’m a poor man, Your Majesty,’ he began, in a shaking voice.

Just then Alice had a strange feeling. After a minute or two she understood what it was.

‘Don’t push like that,’ said the Dormouse, who was sitting next to her. ‘I’m nearly falling off my seat.’

‘I’m very sorry,’ Alice said politely. ‘I’m getting bigger and taller, you see.’

‘Well, you can’t do that here,’ said the Dormouse crossly, and he got up and moved to another seat.

The Hatter was still giving evidence, but nobody could understand a word of it. The King looked at the Queen, and the Queen looked at the executioner.

The unhappy Hatter saw this, and dropped his bread- and-butter. ‘I’m a poor man, Your Majesty,’ he said again.

‘You’re a very poor speaker,’ said the King. He turned to the White Rabbit. ‘Call the next witness,’ he said.

The next witness was the Duchess’s cook, who spoke very angrily and said that she would not give any evidence. The King looked worried and told the White Rabbit to call another witness. Alice watched while the White Rabbit looked at the names on his piece of paper. Then, to her great surprise, he called out loudly, ‘Alice!’ ‘Here!’ cried Alice, jumping to her feet.

‘Here!’ cried Alice, jumping to her feet.

‘What do you know about these tarts?’ said the King.

‘Nothing,’ said Alice.

The Queen was looking hard at Alice. Now she said,

‘All people a mile high must leave the room.’

‘I’m not a mile high,’ said Alice. ‘And I won’t leave the room. I want to hear the evidence.’

‘There is no more evidence,’ said the King very quickly, ‘and now the jury will—’

‘Your Majesty!’ said the White Rabbit, jumping up in a great hurry. ‘We’ve just found this letter. There’s no name on it, but I think the Knave wrote it.’

‘No, I didn’t!’ said the Knave loudly.

‘Read it to us,’ said the King.

‘Where shall I begin, Your Majesty?’ asked the Rabbit.

‘Begin at the beginning,’ said the King, ‘and go on until you get to the end, then stop.’

Everybody listened very carefully while the White Rabbit read these words.

They tell me you have been to her,

And talked of me to him.

She thought I was a gardener,

But said I could not swim.

He tells them that I have not gone,

(We know that this is true).

If she decide to hurry on,

What will they do to you?

I gave her one, they gave him two,

You gave us three or more.

They all returned from him to you,

But they were mine before.

‘That’s a very important piece of evidence,’ said the King. He looked very pleased. ‘Now the jury must—’

‘If anybody in the jury can explain that letter,’ said Alice (she was not afraid of anything now, because she was much bigger than everybody in the room), ‘I’ll give him sixpence. It’s all nonsense! It doesn’t mean anything.’

The jury busily wrote this down. ‘She thinks it’s all nonsense.’

‘All nonsense, eh?’ said the King. He read some of the words again. ‘But said I could not swim. You can’t swim, can you?’ he said to the Knave.

The Knave’s face was sad. ‘Do I look like a swimmer?’ he said. (And he didn’t – because he was made of paper.)

The King smiled. ‘I understand everything now,’ he said. ‘There are the tarts, and here is the Knave of Hearts. And now the jury must decide who the thief is.’

‘No, no!’ said the Queen. ‘Off with his head! The jury can say what it thinks later.’

‘What nonsense!’ said Alice loudly. ‘The jury must decide first. You can’t—’

‘Be quiet!’ said the Queen, her face turning red.

‘I won’t!’ said Alice.

‘Off with her head!’ screamed the Queen. Nobody moved.

‘It doesn’t matter what you say,’ said Alice. ‘You’re only a pack of cards!’

Then the pack of cards flew up into the sky and began to fall on Alice’s face. She gave a little scream . . . and woke up. She was lying next to her sister under the trees, and some leaves were falling on her face.

‘Wake up, Alice dear,’ said her sister. ‘You’ve been asleep a long time.’

‘Oh, I’ve had a very curious dream!’ said Alice, and she told her sister all about the strange adventures in her wonderful dream.

40 English Conversations

101 English short stories for English learners from beginner to advanced level

A. Beginner Level

A Baby and a Sock
Birds and a Baby
A Cat and a Dog
The Baby Bear
An Apple Pie
The Top Bunk
A Birthday Bike
In the Garden
Today’s Mail
Boys Will Be Boys
A Good Meal
No Friends for Me
Life Is Good
Tell the Truth
God Loves Babies
A Clean Car
Farm Animals
Corn for People and Animals
Rain and Hail
Hungry Birds
At the Bus Stop
Brown and Blue Eyes
Catch Some Fish
Daddy Likes Beer
Bears and a Pig
A Short Plane Ride
A Windy Day
Try to Tell the Truth
A Bad Economy
The Birthday Party
Plants Need Water
Life Will Be Better
A Lucky Day
My Family’s House
Wash your hand
She Writes Letters
A Bus Accident

B. Intermediate Level

The Christmas Story – The Birth Of JESUS
The Man Who Learned From His Cow
The Girl Who Dressed Like a Boy
The Jindo Dog
The Wait-and-See Man
The Seal’s Skin
the Bear’s Son
Strong Wind
Brer Fox’s Shoes
Three Rabbits
The Bridge between the Earth and the Sky
The Wild Pigeon

C. Upper-intermediate Level

The Christmas Star and the Little Wanderer
The White Ribbon (Kassie’s and Betty’s friendship)
The Joyous Christmas Surprise
A Little Princess | Part 1
A Little Princess | Part 2
A Little Princess | Part 3

D. Advanced Level

We will update more English short stories in the future. Don’t forget to subscribe to our blog and youtube channel

Thank you, @Tony Illustrated English for being willing to share your stories on our blog – One of our partner

=============

For example:

Short Stories in English: Farm Animals

The chicken and the duck were friends. They lived on a farm . They walked around together. They swam in the pond together. They talked about many things. They talked about the cat. They thought the cat was tricky. They thought the cat was dangerous. The cat looked at them a lot. They didn’t trust the cat. “We must always keep our eyes open when the cat is around,” they both agreed. They talked about the dog. The dog was very friendly. The dog wanted to play. The dog had lots of energy. It barked a lot. It ran around a lot. They both liked the dog. They talked about the farmer. The farmer brought them food. The farmer took care of them. The farmer took care of all the animals. He fed the cow. He fed the pig. He fed the goat. He fed the sheep. He fed the rabbit. They liked the farmer. He took good care of everyone. He was a nice man. “Farmers are good,” said the chicken. “We need farmers,” said the duck.

#helenadailyenglish.com

Online Testing

Short stories online for EFL / ESL

English grammar
Advanced reading
Intermediate reading
Language games and puzzles

Very short stories in graded English, levels B1 to C1 - for class and for home

Short stories - advanced english - b2 and c1.

NEW Short story: A suitable job - a short story from Britain in advanced level English, with lesson plan and interactive exercises - (C1 level - 950 words)
Short story: The Car - a short story from Britain in advanced level English, with audio , lesson plan and interactive exercises - (C1 level - 950 words)
Short story: Blue Gum Tree - a short story from New Zealand with audio and interactive worksheet (B2 level - 850 - 900 words)
Short Story: Lucky Jim - an original short story from the USA, with audio and interactive worksheet -. (C1 level - 800-850 words)
For Elise - An original short story from the USA - with audio and interactive worksheet (B2 level ~ 1150 words )
A few good reasons - An original short story from the USA with audio and interactive worksheet (B2 level ~ 950 words )
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain (Appendix to Mark Twain and the frogs of Calaveras County ) 2600 words.

Short stories - intermediate English, teenage fiction - B1 and B2

NEW Short story: Dr Trelew's encounter - (B1) a Victorian mystery with worksheet and audio
Short story: Driftwood - (B2) a short story from England with worksheet and audio
Short story: Dance Macabre - (B1) a short story from the USA with worksheets and audio
Short story: The Box - (B2) with interactive worksheet - a short story in two parts with worksheets and audio
Short Story - The Girl in the Denim Jacket , (B2) a story in two parts with interactive worksheets and audio
Short Story - The Trap , ( B1) a story in two parts
Short story: The Wimp . (B1) Teenage fiction, in two parts with worksheet and audio
Mystery : The Titanic and the Temple of Doom (B2) Did this really happen ?
Short Story - One Foggy Night - (B1) with interactive worksheet and audio - teenage fiction
Short Story - The path to High Crag , (B1) a story in two parts
English ghost stories - (B1) with interactive worksheet - low intermediate level

Teachers, writers ? Got a good short story you'd like us to publish? If so, let us know

Short stories must be your own © original work, be set in an English-speaking environment, and be appropriate for teenagers or young adult readers. Linguapress is also interested in publishing good short stories by established writers whose works are in the public domain, and welcomes suggestions. To be in the public domain, works must be by a writer who died over 70 years ago.

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13 Entertaining ESL Homework Ideas to Keep Your Students Engaged

Homework may not be many students’ favorite thing, but research says it’s truly an effective learning tool that teachers should use .

The trick is assigning great homework.

To help you do this with ease, we’ve compiled an awesome list of 13 homework assignments that will have your ESL students begging for more.

1. Read a Short Story

2. share a passion, 3. start a chat group, 4. listen to a podcast, 5. write a letter, 6. write an amazon review, 7. do a wikipedia edit, 8. write a short story or poem, 9. share their culture, 10. catch a movie, 11. meet new people, 12. analyze a song, 13. go on a photo scavenger hunt, what makes homework effective.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Have students read a short story for homework and then ask them to tell the class about the story in the next session.

I would recommend giving students some suggestions on what short stories to read, depending on the level of your students.

Here are some suggestions of short story collections for each level of ESL learner:

“The Very First Americans” by Cara Ashrose: This collection of short stories features Native American culture and history, written in simple language.
“Oxford Bookworms Library: Starter Level” This series offers simplified versions of classic stories, such as fairy tales, adventure stories and more.
“Classic Tales for ESL Students” by L.A. Hill: This collection of classic stories from literature is retold with easier vocabulary and sentence structure.

Intermediate

“The Best American Short Stories” This series features contemporary short stories from a wide range of American writers, so there’s something for everyone here.
“Short Stories in English for Intermediate Learners” by Olly Richards: This collection of engaging stories is designed specifically for intermediate ESL students.
“Roald Dahl: The Collected Short Stories” This delightful collection of quirky and imaginative tales has become a favorite of many of my students.
“Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri: This Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of short stories explores the immigrant experience, something which many ESL students can relate to.
“Dubliners” by James Joyce: This classic collection of interconnected stories captures the essence of Dublin in 1914. But it still feels modern to many students.
“Nine Stories” by J.D. Salinger: This classic collection of short stories is a class favorite when I’ve used it.

What do your students really care about? Give them a chance to talk about it in front of the class.

Have each person choose something they’re passionate about, something they might consider themselves an expert on.

Challenge students to think of a creative way to present five must-know facts about that subject. They might make a movie, create a poster or brochure, write a song or even put on a skit.

Have each person present their creative project to the class, and then give the class five minutes to ask questions of the presenter.

Set certain parameters like students must speak in complete sentences or require that every student ask at least two questions at some point during the presentations.

Students will love sharing about their passions, and they’ll get some great speaking, listening and discourse information in the process, as well as teach the rest of the class some interesting vocabulary.

Ask for class for a volunteer to start a class WhatsApp chat group. They can also decide to use another messaging app like Telegram, Viber, Voxer or any other app that has a group chat function.

Encourage them to send at least one message and to respond to a couple others for their homework.

This text group has the added advantage of students being able to make friends with one another, and a place to ask about missed homework assignments on days when they can’t make it to class.

Note that if a student doesn’t want to be included in the chat group, you should have a back up assignment prepared for them.

Listening is one of the ESL student’s most difficult skills to acquire, so listening to a short podcast episode is ideal homework.

You can ask students to write a little about the podcast to turn in to you, or you can ask them to briefly summarize what they heard for the class in the next session.

Here are some suggestions for well done podcasts:

The English We Speak : Produced by the BBC, this podcast focuses on teaching commonly used phrases and idioms in conversational English.

The Moth : A storytelling podcast where real people share their personal experiences and anecdotes in English.

Stuff You Should Know : Though not specifically designed for ESL students, this podcast covers a vast array of interesting topics, providing exposure to diverse vocabulary and subject matters.

Ask your students to write a letter . The letter can be written to a friend or family member (which they could then actually mail or email), or it could be a fan letter to a favorite musician or actor. They could even write a letter to Santa Claus or a historical figure.

For example, a student might choose to write a letter to Marie Antoinette, asking her what it was like to be the queen of France at such a young age.

You can also choose to have students write letters to one another. Then the next homework can be writing that letter writer back.

Ask you students to review a product on Amazon (or any other shopping website that has reviews). Ask them to select a product they have really used, so they have a genuine opinion on the quality of the product and whether it lived up to their expectations.

Then, in the next session, show the reviews on the overhead projector to the class and ask a student to read the review.

You can then go over any errors in vocabulary, grammar or sentence structure and revise the review together as a class.

Since anyone can edit a Wikipedia article, it’s a great place for ESL students to hone their writing and editing skills, and they’ll have a built-in readership, too!

Ask students to select a person that they know a lot about—a well-known figure from history, pop culture, music or film would all work. Then ask them to read the Wikipedia entry to see if they can add anything else to the article.

Perhaps the article on Ryan Gosling is missing a key detail about his recent Ken performance. If so, the student will revise and edit the article. They should take notes on what they changed, so they can explain it to you or the class the next day.

Ask your students to get creative. Have them write a short story or a poem . This can get them to use descriptive language that they don’t always have a chance to use.

One good activity to do before you assign this homework is an adjective bubble chart. For this, you start with one adjective. For example, write “moist” on the board, circle it and then draw 4-5 lines coming off of the”moist” bubble.

Ask your students to come up with other adjectives that are related to “moist” and so on. They may come up with “wet,” “watery,” “soaked” or “damp.” Then draw lines from each of those. This can lead to words that you never expected to come up.

Have your students select 3-4 adjectives from this introduction activity that they’ll use in their story or poem.

Ask your students to prepare a short presentation on an aspect of their home culture to tell the class about in the next session.

For example, a student from China may explain the Lunar New Year, a student from Vietnam may explain Tet or a student from El Salvador may tell the class about their quinceañera .

They can use photos, art, a PowerPoint presentation or they can just explain in their own words.

Then open the class up for questions.

Can you legitimately send students to the movies for homework? You can when you’re teaching ESL.

Your students don’t have to commit to a full-length movie. Instead, you can use the videos on FluentU to screen mini-lessons using clips from TV shows and movies, movie trailers, news segments, vlogs or music videos.

Use these videos in the classroom or assign homework to watch a few and complete the subsequent quizzes. You can also ask students to complete flashcard quizzes based on vocabulary words you want them to pay special attention to. These quizzes are adaptable so every student will have a unique experience catered to his learning level.

There are plenty of ways to use a movie for language development. And whether students watch a new release or catch an old Elvis flick on TV, they can do any of the following activities as homework:

Summarize the plot.
Describe a main character.
Note new or interesting vocabulary (particularly slang) they hear while watching.
Write an interview with one of the characters in the movie.

I’m sure you also have your favorite movie-related language activities and many work as homework assignments. So get creative with how you have students share about what they watched.

For the most part, people are willing to help someone in need, and that is doubly true for someone who needs to complete an assignment for school.

That’s why sending students out to interview native speakers on campus is such a fun homework assignment.

Start by helping your students write a list of questions they’ll use for their interviews. Students can choose a topic or you can assign one, like leisure activities or celebrity news.

Tell students to list five to ten questions they might ask on that topic that will elicit specific answers.

As a class, discuss how students might introduce themselves to a potential interviewee.

Then send students out to their interviews after class. They can share the answers they got in the next session.

Music is great for English learners since it stresses many aspects of language that can otherwise be hard to isolate, like the emotion of language, intonation and stress.

Have students choose their favorite English language song to listen to for homework and then ask them to do the following:

Practice the lyrics to learn intonation and rhythm.
Note slang and cultural references in the songs.
Summarize the theme of the song, or just what it’s about.
Have students share their favorite lyrics and what a particular song means to them.

Give individual students or groups of up to three students a list of items to find on their homework scavenger hunt. But instead of being specific in your list (for example, including items such as cat), be descriptive in your list.

You might include items such as something frightening, something beautiful, something quiet, something cool.

Students find items they think fit the description. For example, someone who is claustrophobic might choose an elevator for something frightening. They then take a picture of it.

The next day, have each person get with a partner and show them the pictures they took for each item on the list.

If the connection is not obvious, students should ask their partner to explain why they chose a particular item, such as the elevator.

Assigning homework that works isn’t as hard as you might think, especially if you focus on the following points.

Put your homework in writing. It can be tempting to just announce homework assignments to students at the end of class, but language learners benefit when you reinforce what you say with what they can see. So take a minute to write any homework assignment on the board so students can read it as well as listen to it.
Let students know what goals you have for a particular assignment. Is it practicing a certain grammar point ? Improving their listening skills ? Pronunciation practice ? When students know why they’re doing something, they’ll be able to tell on their own when they’ve successfully completed their homework assignment.
Keep your homework practical . Your students may not find themselves planning out a menu for Thanksgiving when they leave your ESL classroom, but odds are they’ll have to order food at a restaurant at some point. Think about realistic ways students will have to use English in the real world and try to make your homework practical.
Let your students be creative . Give your students choices on how they express themselves or present information. It’s okay for students to make a home movie, put on a one-man play or paint a picture to present to the class. Just because you prefer a particular type of creative expression doesn’t mean your students do, so give them choices and let them express themselves.
Make homework fun! Every class has its own personality, so what’s fun for one might not be fun for another. Tailor your assignments to the personality of your class. Think about what they would think is fun, and go with that.

No matter what you believed in your student days, homework doesn’t have to be boring. With a little creativity when assigning homework, you might find that the activities you assign for outside of class become the highlights of your students’ days.

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EnglishForEveryone.org

Writing practice worksheets terms of use, finish the story writing worksheets.

Beginning Finish the Story - The Snow Day
Beginning Finish the Story - The Fair
Beginning Finish the Story - Summer Camp
Beginning Finish the Story - The Birthday Party
Beginning Finish the Story - The Halloween Costume
Beginning Finish the Story - The 4th of July
Intermediate Finish the Story - The Beach Trip
Intermediate Finish the Story - The Great Find
Intermediate Finish the Story - Which Way?
Intermediate Finish the Story - Finding Muffin
Intermediate Finish the Story - The Zoo
Advanced Finish the Story - The Troublemaker

Question Response Writing Worksheets

Beginning Question Response - Your Favorite Color
Beginning Question Response - Your Favorite Day
Beginning Question Response - Your Favorite Number
Beginning Question Response - In Your Family
Beginning Question Response - Your Favorite Sport
Beginning Question Response - Your Favorite Clothes
Beginning Question Response - Your Favorite Music
Beginning Question Response - How You Relax
Beginning Question Response - Lunch Time
Beginning Question Response - With Your Friends
Beginning Question Response - Collecting Stamps
Beginning Question Response - Your Birthplace
Beginning Question Response - Starting Your Day
Intermediate Question Response - Your Favorite Food
Intermediate Question Response - Your Favorite Movie
Intermediate Question Response - Your Favorite Song
Intermediate Question Response - TV Programs
Intermediate Question Response - Your Favorite Time
Intermediate Question Response - Which Country?
Intermediate Question Response - The Wisest Person
Intermediate Question Response - Someone You Admire
Advanced Question Response - A Great Accomplishment
Advanced Question Response - The Most Exciting Thing
Advanced Question Response - Oldest Memory
Advanced Question Response - The Most Productive Day of the Week
Advanced Question Response - An Interesting Person
Advanced Question Response - What Have You Built?
Advanced Question Response - What You Like to Read

Practical Writing Worksheets

Beginning Practical - Grocery List
Beginning Practical - TO Do List
Beginning Practical - At the Beach
Beginning Practical - The Newspaper
Intermediate Practical - Absent From Work
Intermediate Practical - Your Invitation
Intermediate Practical - Paycheck
Intermediate Practical - The New House
Advanced Practical - Soccer Game Meeting
Advanced Practical - Note About Dinner
Advanced Practical - A Problem
Advanced Practical - A Letter to Your Landlord
Advanced Practical - A Product

Argumentative Writing Worksheets

Intermediate Argumentative - Cat, Star, or Book?
Intermediate Argumentative - Soccer or Basketball?
Intermediate Argumentative - Giving and Receiving
Intermediate Argumentative - Does Practice Make Perfect?
Advanced Argumentative - Five Dollars or a Lottery Ticket?
Advanced Argumentative - The Most Important Word
Advanced Argumentative - An Apple
Advanced Argumentative - Too Many Cooks

Writing Worksheets

Beginning Writing Worksheet
Intermediate Writing Worksheet
Advanced Writing Worksheet

Using Precise Language

Using Precise Language - An Introduction
Using Precise Language Practice Quiz

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Listen and watch

Short stories

Do you like listening to and reading stories? Reading stories is a great way to improve your vocabulary and we have lots of great stories for you to watch. Watch stories, print activities and post comments!

A dog's life

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Ali and the magic carpet

Angel! Look out!

Beatrix Potter

Buzz and Bob's big adventure

Circus escape

Dark, dark wood

Dick Whittington

Dinosaur Dig

Elizabeth I

Emmeline Pankhurst

Eric the engine

Florence Nightingale

George and the dragon

Goldilocks and the three bears

I couldn't believe my eyes

I'm too ill

Isaac Newton

Jack and the beanstalk

Little Red Riding Hood

Monster shopping trip

Much Ado About Nothing

My favourite clothes

My favourite day - Chinese New Year

My favourite day - Christmas

My favourite day - Diwali

My favourite day - Eid al-Fitr

My secret team

Nessie - the Loch Ness Monster

One moment around the world

Our colourful world

Planet Earth

Pyramids in Paris

Ratty robs a bank

Record breakers

Romeo and Juliet

Santa's little helper

Superhero High

Teddy's adventure

The animal shelter

The bird king

The clever monkey

The cold planet

The first marathon

The great race

The greedy hippo

The haunted house

The hungry dragon

The lazy bear

The lion and the mouse

The lucky envelope

The lucky seed

The lump of gold

The magic fish

The magic paintbrush

The magic spell

The princess and the dragon

The Ramadan lantern story

The sneaky rabbit

The snowman

The story of quinine

The treasure map

The ugly duckling

The voyage of the animal orchestra

Twelfth Night

Twins' week

What will I be when I grow up?

What's that noise?

Why Anansi has thin legs!

William Shakespeare

English courses for children aged 6-17

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A short story.

Look at the short story and do the exercises to improve your writing skills.

Instructions

Do the preparation exercise first. Then do the other exercises.

Preparation

Check your understanding: multiple choice - choose a title

Check your understanding: true or false, check your writing: matching - story structure, check your writing: grouping - adjectives and adverbs, worksheets and downloads.

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Tag: short stories

Proficiency book club: the waterfall by h e bates.

This is a series of lesson plans for proficiency level students based around stories from “The Oxford Book of English Short Stories” edited by A. S. Byatt. Set the story as homework the week before, encourage students to bring any vocabulary questions to class.

The Waterfall tells the story of a repressed reverend’s daughter trying to cope with the emotions and sentiments of life and love. These feelings are symbolised by the waterfall in her garden which is being renovated. The breaking of the damn and the water surging down the waterfall could symbolise the release of all her bottled up affections and feelings towards her husband and the jovial Mr. Phillips who has been staying with the family.

Download this lesson plan here:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=79CFF252BEEA0A7D!383&authkey=!AJRdYjvoRf1OhyM

First copy to the board or project the vocabulary table in the attachment above, students must try to match the new vocab to the definition.

Key: 1 – g, 2 – d, 3 – a, 4 – b, 5 – j, 6 – e, 7 – f, 8 – I, 9 – h, 10 – c.

Once they have matched the vocab give them 5 minutes to find the vocabulary in the text, make it a race, the first team to find all 10 wins.

Then discuss the following discussion questions:

Discussion Questions:

What happens in the story?
How would you describe the characters? Straight-laced. Prim and proper, repressed, damaged,
What does the waterfall represent?
How do you feel about Rose? Do you sympathise with her?
How do you think she feels about her new husband?
How do you think she feels about Phillips?
Do you think people are more or less emotionally repressed these days?
Do you think this is a good or bad thing?

Proficiency Book Club: A Widow’s Quilt by Sylvia Townsend Warner

Here is some vocab that your students might have trouble with:

the box – the television
parlour – a room in a kitchen where food is stored and prepared
applique quilts – patchwork quilts
rook – black bird and chess piece
blacking out curtains – heavy curtains used during world war two to block light from the windows of the houses
taffeta – material made from silk
to snatch – to take something from another person aggressively
jolt – a sudden violent movement
drudgery – a boring, difficult job
fidgeting / to fidget – to move comfortably and nervously
to thwart – to prevent the completion of something
a harlot – a whore / prostitute
to grimace – to make an angry / annoyed face

Have your students discuss these questions in small groups or as a class:

Can you describe the characters?
What do you think of Charlotte?
How do you think she feels in her marriage? Trapped?
What do her actions say about the position of women in the time the story was written?
What do you think of Everard?
How do you feel for him at the end?
How do you feel for Charlotte?
How can you explain the ending?
Charlotte takes on the challenge of making the quilt, how important is it to have challenges and things to focus your attention on in life? Different stages of life. Things to look forward to etc.

Proficiency Book Club: The Troll by T. H. White

Here is a matching exercise for some of the more difficult vocabulary in the story. Have the students complete the exercise in pairs.

Here you can download the table to print:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=79CFF252BEEA0A7D!358&authkey=!AOgTwYv1J95mH4E

Here are the answers:

a – 3
b – 11
c – 7
d – 12
e – 10
f – 8
g – 4
h – 1
i – 5
j – 6
k – 9
l – 2

Here are the locations of the words in the text and some sentence examples:

ungainly – bottom of pg 346
blurry – actual reference is blurring at the bottom of pg 347
beside the point – middle of pg 348, other sentences example: “He is a nice man, but that’s beside the point; he’s rubbish at his job.”
bog – bottom of 348
to ford – bottom of 348
bow – bottom of 348 in relation to a “bow wave”
stern – isn’t in the text but is a counterpoint to “bow”
to wring out – top of 349, wring is irregular – wring wrung wrung.
come to grips with something – middle of 351, other sentence examples: “We must all get to grips with this tragedy” “If you are going to be an executive you need to get to grips with your fear of public speaking.”
wizened – middle of 351
to earmark st – bottom of 351, other sentence example: “this money is earmarked for the Christmas party”

Ask students for any other vocab issues they have.

Discussion Questions

Discuss these questions in groups or as a class:

What does the troll represent?
Why does the story have a framing device? (a story within a story) What does it add to the story?
Some analysts say the story is religious, the character’s latent Christianity defeating the Troll, do you agree?
What do you think of the gory imagery of the troll?
How do you explain the ending?
What other mythical creatures can you think of? (vampires, werewolves, zombies etc.)
Why do you think these monsters are so popular? Why do people keep writing stories about them?
Which ones frightened you most as a child? Which ones still scare you now?
What do you think are the origins of these creatures?

Proficiency Book Club: An Englishman’s Home by Evelyn Waugh

This is the latest in a series of lesson plans for proficiency level students based around short stories from “The Oxford Book of English Short Stories edited by A. S. Byatt. This one is based on “An Englishman’s Home” by Evelyn Waugh, you can read the story for free here:

http://novel.tingroom.com/html/29/149.html

As with the other plans in this series, students read the story for homework and then bring any vocabulary queries or new words they discover to class. Start by asking for these queries. Here are some pieces of vocabulary that might come up in class:

I opened the class by teaching the following 2 expressions: “An Englishman’s home is his castle” and “NIMBY” (Not In My Back Yard) two expressions which neatly sum up the various themes in the story.

aphorisms (page 295) = sayings / idioms

to wreak stark havoc (296) = to cause chaos

ha-ha (296) = a type of fence built at the bottom of a ditch so that it’s not visible from the house’s windows

Crown Derby (297) = A type of expensive ceramic, plates etc.

impecunious (297) = poor, no money

to pull your weight (298) = to do your share of communal work

to eschew (298) = to avoid

The Peace Ballot (298) = a national survey carried out in 1934-35

jerry builders (302) = cheap unskilled builders

to put / pull a fast one over on somebody (309) = to trick / cheat somebody

to mope (309) = to complain and be worried about something

to fret (309) = to be worried and nervous

What do you think of the characters?
What does the story say about people?
Does anybody come out of it looking good?
The story talks a lot about manners and maintaining appearances, do you think these things are as important in your country?
We see Mr. Metcalf trying to follow the instructions on how to live as a country gentleman should. Do you think lots of people act like this in real life? Do they try to act as society expects them to act? Can you think of any examples?
The story reflects English village life very accurately, can you see parallels with villages in your country?
What does the expression NIMBY mean? Do you see examples of NIMBY attitudes in your country? Can you think of any examples?
In the book we see the residents of the village cheated out of their money, what other similar confidence scams and tricks can you think of?

Students may be interested to read about the life of the writer Evelyn Waugh, here is his wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Waugh

His most famous book “Brideshead Revisited” has been adapted for the screen twice, the 1981 small screen mini series garnered an excellent response from critics.

Proficiency Book Club: Nuns at Luncheon by Aldous Huxley

This a series of posts for proficiency level students based around short stories taken from “The Oxford Book of Short Stories” edited by A.S Byatt.

This lesson plan is based on “Nuns at Luncheon” by Aldous Huxley. Start by addressing any vocabulary issues the students might have.There is a lot of new vocabulary in this story so try to keep this section as brief as possible to leave time for the discussion. Here is a brief run down of some things that might need explaining.

a hare – a kind of large rabbit

a mixed grill – a plate of assorted types of grilled meat

gaudy / gaudily – tasteless, lots of bright colours

to wriggle out of st – to escape from a responsibility – my students try to wriggle out of doing their homework

to talk shop – to talk about your job / studies during free time

gallows – the place where people are hanged (see also gallows humour)

the plot thickens – expression meaning that something becomes more complicated or interesting

to harness – to capture and use the power of something – windmills harness the power of the wind

folly – stupidity

the coast is clear – expression meaning nobody is watching

to rule with an iron rod – to be very strict

chaste – pure / innocent

to shuffle off this mortal coil – expression from Shakespeare’s Hamlet meaning to die.

to wallow – to immerse yourself in something, usually in something bad – pigs and hippos wallow in mud, people sometimes wallow in self-pity.

to savour something – to enjoy something and try and make it last longer

the Norns – Nordic goddesses of destiny

sullen – moody, sad

to gloat – to show a lot of self-satisfaction about something, usually at someone else’s expense.

to trudge / to tramp – to walk with heavy feet as if you are tired

dingy – badly lit, dirty

What’s the story about?
How did it make you feel?
The story uses a framing device (a story within a story), what effect does this have?
What happens in the story of the nun?
Why does the nun run away with the man? For love? Or to save his soul?
What does the story say about our fascination with tragedy?
In English we have the expression “car crash TV /cinema” what do you think it means? (shows or films that deliberately show disturbing material to get a reaction or higher viewing figures.)
Do you think the media exploits other people’s tragedies for higher viewing figures? Can you think of any examples? (Oscar Pistorius trial)
Based on the events in the story and the repeated scandals involving priests do you think that celibacy is realistic in today’s society?

Zombie Apocalypse Training 101, with Steven Seagal

Need help getting teenage students to produce compositions? Why not try this great warm up game from my friend Magistra Monson. The idea is you take clippings from real news stories and use them as a jumping off point for creative or argumentative writing. The class works as a team adding a paragraph each to the story with hilarious consequences. Definitely an idea I’m gonna use in my next teen class, or even with adults. You can download different introductory paragraphs from Magistra’s blog.

This has actually helped inspire a pipe dream I have for a new blog based around crowd sourced short stories. The working title at the moment is “Crowd Shorts” watch this space………………………. and pay attention to big Steve, that guys knows his onions.

freeenglishlessonplans.com

Proficiency book club, lesson 3: The Toys of Peace by Saki

This lesson is a short discussion based around “The Toys of Peace” by Saki, a short satirical story about two parents attempts to influence their young boy’s playing habits. For this series of classes I am using short stories from “The Oxford Book of English Short Stories” edited by A. S. Byatt. If you don’t have a copy of the book most of the short stories are available for free online. This particular short story is available here:

http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/ToysPeac.shtml

As with the other lessons in this series the story is set of homework the previous week. The first 5-10 minutes of the class are spent going over any vocabulary issues. This is then followed by a discussion based on the themes and issues which arise in the story.

The author Hector Hugh Munro is considered to be one of the masters of the short story. Many of his works were published posthumously following his death in World War 1. His wikipedia page may prove useful for the class discussion:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saki

After going through any vocabulary problems (there shouldn’t be many as the story only runs to 5 pages) have the students discuss the following questions, either in small groups or as a whole class:

Discussion: Toys of Peace

What was your initial reaction to it?
Describe the characters.
What do you think of the parents attempt to influence their children?
Do you think they are well-meaning? Or deluded?
What toys did you play with as a child?
Did your parents ban anything they thought would have a bad influence on you? Toys? TV shows? Etc.
Do you agree with the expression “boys will be boys”?
Do you think children should play with toy weapons?
Should girls be given typically girly toys? Dolls, makeup etc.
Are there any toys / games / other things that you think are a bad influence on children or young people
Should these things be banned?
The story is an example of satire. What do you think it is satirising?
What satirical programs / writers / magazines etc. do you have in your country?

Next week: Nuns at Luncheon by Aldous Huxley

Proficiency book club, lesson 2: Solid Objects by Virginia Woolf

This is the second part of a series of posts based around stories from “The Oxford Book of English Short Stories” edited by A.S Byatt. This particular class is based on “Solid Objects” by Virginia Woolf, pages 205-209.

As before set the story as reading homework for the week before.

If you don’t have a copy of the book someone has helpfully uploaded it in pdf here:

Click to access SOLID%20OBJECTS,%20Virginia%20Woolf.pdf

This analytical essay by Sam Mitchell about the works of Virginia Woolf may prove useful. It’s a little heavy as it’s an honours thesis but has some useful insights into the story.

https://dspace.lasrworks.org/bitstream/handle/10349/958/2011ENG-MitchellSam.pdf?sequence=1

Lesson Plan:

Start by asking the students for vocabulary problems. Woolf’s style can be confusing so some sections could require a little explanation. Some vocabulary that might cause problems is listed below:

lunging – to lunge, to move towards in a swift movement

tweed – woven material used to make clothes

to fling – to throw without care

to be to hand – to be within reach

to slash – to cut or mark something

to skim – to touch the surface of something lightly

slate – material used to make rooves

to hitch up a sleeve – to roll up or move higher to protect

moat – water around a castle

mantelpiece – surface above a fireplace where objects are kept

on the brink – on the edge

trifling – unimportant

to be cast down – to be depressed

matted – tangled into a lump

Lots of the vocabulary in the story can be used in various contexts, be sure to explore these fully. For example: fling – to have a fling (short sexual relationship)

Once you have cleared up any vocab issues hand out the following discussion questions:

1. Can you describe the characters?

2. What happens in the story?

3. What was your initial reaction to the story?

4. Did you feel sorry for John? Or bemused?

5. What strikes you about the introduction?

6. How can you explain John’s behaviour?

7. What do the objects represent?

8. Do you have any lucky charms? Did you have any when you were a child?

9. Do you collect anything?

10. Did you collect things when you were a child?

Either put the students into small groups to discuss the questionsand then feedback or have an open class discussion.

Here are some ideas and themes that could help fuel discussion:

Story written in 1918 towards the end of World War one. The idea of objects lasting longer than men, so many people died in the war and all that came back were objects: letters, belongings, clothes etc.

The idea of the permanance of objects and the transcience of people. The desire for permanance, ever lasting life.

The simplicity of the objects as pure pieces of different materials and also the mystery surrounding what they used to be.

Follow up: Homework composition about travelling

This is a homework activity written to follow my previous lesson plan about holidays and traveling here is the link to the original lesson plan:

http://freeenglishlessonplans.com/2013/01/30/holidays-and-travelling-conversation-class/

Here is a link to download the handout for homework:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=79CFF252BEEA0A7D!300&authkey=!AMJLj8z2NbQgFFI

A travel magazine is running a competition for travel articles about different types of holidays / ways to travel for young people.

Choose 1 type of holiday / way to travel from the class handout and write an article about why it’s good for young people. Include:

An interesting introduction to catch the reader’s attention. Include direct questions.
Pros and cons of your chosen subject.
Reasons why you recommend it to other young people.
You can include (invented) anecdotes.

Composition: Short story, Nighthawks by Edward Hopper

This is a homework exercise to practice past narrative tenses for intermediate to advanced students (B1-C1) based on the picture above. Nighthawks by Edward Hopper.

Download the handout here:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=79CFF252BEEA0A7D!294&authkey=!AJdNI7pP–88YxQ

Composition short story

Write a short story (120-150 words) based on this picture.

Who are these people?
Where is the story set? When is it set?
What are they doing?
What has happened before this moment?
What happens next? (think of an exciting ending)

Generally stories are written in the past so use a selection of past tenses:

Past continuous to describe the scene, “The couple were sat at the bar talking and drinking.”
Past simple to describe actions in sequence: “The man paid his bill, put on his jacket and left the bar.”
Past perfect to describe actions that happened before this moment: “The man had been drinking in another bar before”
Mixture of past tenses to describe different actions: “As the man was putting on his jacket, the phone rang…..”

Competition!!!

Open to teachers or students. If you are a teacher send your best student’s story, or if you are a student your story to me at: [email protected] and I’ll post it to my page for all to see!

🎉 Our next novel writing master class starts in – ! Claim your spot →

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30010+ Fiction Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest . If you’re looking for the best fiction short stories to read online, we’ve got you covered. Wide-ranging and ever-curious, these free short stories will meet your reading needs.

🏆 Winning stories

“ hearts are trump ” by sarah coury.

🏆 Winner of Contest #246

Uncle Abe and Uncle Will haven’t played cards together in years. If you want to get real technical about it, Uncle Abe and Uncle Will haven’t even shared the same room in years, but that ain’t news to anyone east of Livernois. By now, the entire city of Detroit knows about Abraham and William Haddad—at least those who regularly stop into the family party store for their weekly supply of meats, spirits, and fresh-baked pita. It’s old news. Two bitter brothers broken up over a girl who left town anyway. It’s been ages and the aunties need fres...

“ Everything is Connected ” by Olivier Breuleux

🏆 Winner of Contest #245

Many people don't believe that everything is connected. It's strange. They believe in magnets, in electromagnetic waves, in quantum action at a distance. They believe that the force of gravity makes the Earth revolve around the Sun, and yet they do not believe that the same forces can influence the smaller details of our fate. They believe that it is all up to them. That they have free will. They say that Jupiter can gently pull the Sun, yet it cannot move our infinitely smaller souls.A paradox.The stars are difficult to read, for sure. The ...

“ KILLER IN THE WILLOWS ” by Kajsa Ohman

🏆 Winner of Contest #235

KILLER IN THE WILLOWSJust do it, so the T-shirts say. Just pick up the gun, pull the trigger—but maybe aim first, aim at the upper sternum and then pull the trigger, congratulating yourself that at last, in your long, passive life, you have shot somebody dead. So she did, and thus she became a murderer. She slipped through the night after that and disappeared into the willows to wash off any blood that spattered onto her clothing. The willows were thickl...

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Submitted to Contest #247

June 22nd, 2100. Time: 0300.They say Jupiter is a star that failed—a sun that could’ve ignited if it were eighty times larger. We’re not sure why it never completed its cycle of transforming into a sun. But could you imagine if it had? Two gravitational forces on both sides of the Earth could have torn us apart. Maybe. Science is more of a practice than a mastery.As we departed from Earth on April 2100, Jupiter was in a state of ambiguity. The perpetual storm once believed to be shrinking, had instead swelled to engulf half the planet. It gr...

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The Best Fiction Short Stories

Short fiction stories are a fantastic way to access the literary world in compact, bite-sized reading sessions. The short story as we know it today began in the 19th century, when the increasing interest in print literary magazines led to many authors like Arthur Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens writing and publishing stories. Later, with the onset of modernism in the beginning of the 20th century, the fiction short story began to adopt more abstract forms, embracing ambiguity and inconclusivity. The later 20th century brought the increasing popularity of the short story as an artistic and literary undertaking.

Short fiction stories span every imaginable genre. From literary fiction (the likes of which you’ll see published in The New Yorker ), to crime, fantasy, and romance stories, the form is remarkable for its versatility and adaptability.

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On this page, you can read fiction short stories for free! These are stories that have been submitted to Reedsy’s weekly writing contest, with shortlisted or winning stories chosen by our judges appearing at the top of the page for your convenience. And if you're looking for more of the contest's best entries, make sure to claim your free copy of Prompted , our new literary magazine.

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Free Short Stories

We believe that the key to writing good short stories is reading good short stories.

Below, we have provided an ever-expanding selection of old and new short stories that are free to download.

Short story writers are listed alphabetically.

In 2020 we’ll be adding a wide range of new stories to read online.

Recently added stories will be fund at the top of the page.

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Aiken, Conrad ‘Silent Snow, Secret Snow’ (online read: c. 6000 words)

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Anderson, Sherwood ‘The Dumb Man’ (c. 500 words)

Ade, George ‘The Collision’ (c. 1500 words)

Ade, George ‘The Divine Spark’ (c. 1000 words)

Ade, George ‘The Juvenile and Mankind’ (c. 500 words)

Antsey, F. ‘Marjory’ (c. 8500 words)

Baldwin, James ‘Bruce and the Spider’ (c. 500 words)

Baldwin, James ‘The Bell of Atri’ (c. 500 words)

Baldwin, James ‘Casablanca’ (c. 500 words)

Baldwin, James ‘Antonio Canova’ (c. 1000 words)

Baldwin, James ‘Arnold Winkelried’ (c. 500 words)

Baldwin, James ‘Doctor Goldsmith’ (c. 500 words)

Baldwin, James ‘The Endless Tale’ (c. 1000 words)

Balzac, Honore de ‘The Conscript’ (c. 6000 words)

Balzac, Honore de ‘Innocence’ (c. 1000 words)

Balzac, Honore de ‘The Devil’s Heir’ (c. 6500 words)

Bierce, Ambrose ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek’ (c. 3000 words)

Bierce, Ambrose ‘Oil of Dog’ (c. 1500 words)

Brown, Alice ‘Bankrupt’ (c. 7500 words)

Brown, Alice ‘Heartease’ (c. 3500 words)

Brown, Alice ‘The Advocate’ (c. 4500 words)

Brown, Alice ‘The End of All Living’ (c. 7000 words)

Chekhov, Anton ‘The Bet’ (c. 3000 words)

Chekhov, Anton ‘The Lottery Ticket’ (c. 2000 words)

Chekhov, Anton ‘About Love’ (c. 4000 words)

Chekhov, Anton ‘An Actor’s End’ (c. 2500 words)

Chekhov, Anton ‘Art’ (c. 2500 words)

Chekhov, Anton ‘An Avenger’ (c. 2000 words)

Chesterton, G. K. ‘The Blue Cross’ (c. 7500 words)

Chesterton, G. K. ‘The Bottomless Well’ (c. 6500 words)

Chesterton, G. K. ‘The Eye of Apollo’ (c. 6000 words)

Chesterton, G. K. ‘The God of Gongs’ (c. 6000 words)

Chesterton, G. K. ‘The Hammer of God’ (c. 6500 words)

Chesterton, G. K. ‘The Purple Wig’ (c. 5500 words)

Collins, Willie ‘A Fair Penitent’ (c. 4500 words)

Conrad, Joseph ‘An Anarchist’ (c. 8500 words)

Crane, Stephen ‘A Desertion’ (c. 1500 words)

Defoe, Daniel ‘The Apparition of Mrs Veal’ (c. 3500 words)

De Mille, James ‘The Artist of Florence’ (c. 7000 words)

De Quincey, Thomas ‘Love-Charm’ (c. 13,000 words)

De Quincey, Thomas ‘The Avenger’ (c. 19,000 words)

Dickens, Charles ‘The Black Veil’ (c. 4500 words))

Dickens, Charles ‘Criminal Courts’ (c. 2000 words)

Dickens, Charles ‘Down with the Taid’ (c. 4000 words)

Dickens, Charles ‘The Ghost of Art’ (c. 2500 words)

Dickens, Charles ‘The Baron of Grogswig’ (c. 4000 words)

Dickens, Charles ‘The Child’s Story’ (c. 2000 words)

Dahl, Roald ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ (c. 3000 words)

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor ‘The Dreams of a Ridiculous Man’ (c. 8500 words)

Eliot, T. S. ‘Eeldrop and Appleplex’ (c. 3000 words)

Eggleston, Edward ‘A Basement Story’ (c. 6500 words)

Eggleston, Edward ‘Adventures in Alaska’ (c. 1500 words)

Eliot, George ‘Brother Jacob’ (c. 17,000 words)

Field, Eugene ‘Daniel and the Devil’ (c. 3000 words)

Field, Eugene ‘Death and the Soldier’ (c. 1500 words)

Flaubert, Gustave ‘The Dance of Death’ (c. 3000 words)

Freeman, Mary ‘A New England Nun’ (c. 5000 words)

Galsworthy, John ‘The Knight’ (c. 13,000 words)

Galsworthy, John ‘The Stoic’ (c. 30,000 words)

Goldsworthy, John ‘The Silence’ (c. 8000 words)

Goethe, Johann ‘New Paris’ (c. 5500 words)

Gogol, Nikolai ‘The Clash’ (c. 4500 words)

Gaskell, Elizabeth ‘An Accursed Race’ (c. 6500 words)

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ (c. 6000 words)

Greene, Graham ‘The End of the Party’ ( c. 3500 words)

Gissing, George ‘A Capitalist’ (c. 5500 words)

Gissing, George ‘The House Of Cobwebs’ (c. 8000 words)

Gissing, George ‘The Salt of the Earth’ (c. 4000 words)

Hardy, Thomas ‘The Grave by the Handpost’ (c. 4000 words)

Hardy, Thomas ‘The Three Strangers’ c. 8500 words)

Harte, Bret ‘An Heiress of a Red Dog’ (c. 5500 words)

Harte, Bret ‘Under Karl’ (c. 6500 words)

Harte, Bret ‘Who Was My Quiet Friend?’ (c. 3000 words)

Hawthorne, Nathaniel ‘The Wedding-Knell’ (c. 3000 words)

Hawthorne, Nathaniel ‘The Ambitious Guest’ (c. 3500 words)

Henry, O ‘The Gift of the Magi’ (c. 2000 words)

Irving, Washington ‘Conspiracy of the Cocked Hats’ (c. 2000 words)

Irving, Washington ‘Little Britain’ (c. 5000 words)

Irving, Washington ‘The Bermudas’ (c. 2500 words)

Irving, Washington ‘The Birds of Spring’ (c. 2000 words)

Irving, Washington ‘The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow’ (c. 12,000 words)

Ing, Charles ‘Tight Squeeze’ (c. 6000 words)

Ingelow, Jean ‘A Last Want’ (c. 8000 words)

Ingelow, Jean ‘The Prince’s Dream’ (c. 3500 words)

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Jacobs, W. W. ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ (c. 4000 words)

James, M. R. ‘Lost Hearts’ (c. 4000 words)

Jerome, Jerome K. ‘The Man Who Did Not Believe In Luck’ (c. 3000 words)

Joyce, James ‘Araby’ (c. 2500 words)

Joyce, James ‘A Little Cloud’ (c. 5000 words)

Joyce, James ‘After the Race’ (c. 2000 words)

Joyce, James ‘An Encounter’ (c. 3500 words)

Joyce, James ‘Counterparts’ (c. 4000 words)

Joyce, James ‘Eveline’ (c. 2000 words)

Joyce, James ‘The Boarding House’ (c. 3000 words)

Kipling, Rudyard ‘How the Leopard got his Spots’ (c. 2000 words)

Kipling, Rudyard ‘Wireless’ (c. 6500 words)

Kipling, Rudyard ‘A Bank Fraud (c. 2500 words)

Kipling, Rudyard ‘Beyond the Pale’ (c. 2000 words)

King, Charles ‘Starlight Man’ (c. 9500 words)

King, Charles ‘Van’ (c. 8000 words)

Lawrence, D. H. ‘Odour of Chrysanthemums’ (c. 7500 words)

London, Jack ‘Aloha Oe’ (c. 2500 words)

London, Jack ‘The Story of Keesh’ (c. 3000 words)

London, Jack ‘How to Build a Fire’ (c. 7000 words)

Lovecraft, H. P. ‘The Cats of Ulthar’ (c. 1500 words)

Lovecraft, H. P. ‘The terrible Old Man’ (c. 1000 words)

Mansfield, Katherine ‘The Stranger’ (c. 5000 words)

Mansfield, Katherine ‘The Garden Party’ (c. 5500 words)

Mansfield, Katherine ‘The Voyage’ (c. 3000 words)

Mansfield, Katherine ‘The Ideal Family’ (c. 2500 words)

Mansfield, Katherine ‘Miss Brill’ (c. 2000 words)

Mansfield, Katherine ‘The Singing Lesson’ (c. 2000 words)

Marquez, Gabriel Garcia ‘Eyes of a Blue Dog’ (c. 3000 words)

Maupassant, Guy de ‘The Kiss’ (c. 1500 words)

Munro, H. H. (SAKI) ‘The Mouse’ (c. 1500 words)

Nesbit, Edith ‘Acting for the Best’ (c. 4500 words)

Nesbit, Edith ‘Archibald the Unpleasant’ (c. 5000 words)

Nesbit, Edith ‘Billy the King’ (c. 5500 words)

Norris, Frank ‘A Deal in Wheat’ (c. 5000 words)

Norris, Frank ‘The Wife of Chino’ (c. 5500 words)

Norris, Frank ‘Two Hearts That Beat as One’ (c. 4000 words)

Orwell, George ‘The Shooting of an Elephant’ (c. 2000 words)

Osbourne, Lloyd ‘Ben’ (c. 6000 words)

Osbourne, Lloyd ‘The Golden Castaways’ (c. 3500 words)

Parker, Dorothy ‘A Telephone Call’ (c. 2500 words)

Poe, Edgar Allan ‘The Imp of the Perverse’ (c. 2500 words)

Poe, Edgar Allan ‘The Angel of Odd’ (c. 4000 words)

Poe, Edgar Allan ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ (c. 2500 words)

Poe, Edgar Allan ‘The Black Cat’ (c. 4000 words)

Poe, Edgar Allan ‘Four Beasts in One’ (c. 3000 words)

Potter, Beatrix ‘Ginger and Pickles’ (c. 1000 words)

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Quiller-Couch, Arthur ‘Elisha’ (c. 1500 words)

Quiller-Couch, Arthur ‘The Burglary Club’ (c. 3000 words)

Quiller-Couch, Arthur ‘The Dark Mirror’ (c. 1000 words)

Roby, John ‘The Goblin Builders’ (c. 3500 words)

Ruskin, John ‘The King of the Golden River’ (c. 9000 words)

Skinner, Charles ‘The Barge of Defeat’ (c. 500 words)

Somyonov, S. T. ‘The Servant’ (c. 2000 words)

Twain, Mark ‘Luck’ (c. 2000 words)

Trollope, Anthony ‘George Walker at Suez’ (c. 8000 words)

Trollope, Anthony ‘Returning Home’ (c. 9000 words)

Van Dyke, Henry ‘Ashes of Vengeance’ (c. 500 words)

Van Dyke, Henry ‘The Art of Leaving Off’ (c. 2500 words)

Verne, Jules ‘A Drama in the Air’ (c. 7000 words)

Wells, H. G. ‘The Crystal Egg’ (c. 7000 words)

White, E. B. ‘The Door’ (c. 2000 words)

Wilde, Oscar ‘The Birth of the Infanta’ (c. 7500 words)

Williams, William Carlos ‘The Use of Force’ (c. 1500 words)

Woolf, Virginia ‘A Haunted House’ (c. 1000 words)

Yeats, William Butler ‘Out of the Rose’ (c. 2500 words)

Yeats, William Butler ‘The Old Men of the Twilight’ (c. 2000 words)

Yeats, William Butler ‘The Twisting of the Rope’ (c. 3000 words)

Younger, Charlotte M. ‘The Last Fight in the Coliseum’ (c. 3000 words)

Zola, Emile ‘Captain Burle’ (c. 11, 500 words)

Zola, Emile ‘The Flood’ (c. 8000 words)

Who Did Patrick’s Homework? Summary

Who Did Patrick’s Homework? Summary will tell you about the story of a boy who does not like his homework at all. Patrick is a boy who hates doing homework. He enjoys games even though his teachers warn him to complete it, he rarely listens. One day, he finds his cat playing with a doll and takes it away. Surprisingly, he realizes that it is not a doll but a little man. He pleads Patrick to save him and in return, promises to grant a wish. He asks the little man to do his homework in return. So, he agrees and begins to do the work. But, he constantly asks for Patrick’s help throughout in every subject. For instance, asking about the meaning of a word or explaining the events in history subject. Finally, the result comes out and Patrick gets an A grade. Finally, he becomes independent and happy.

Who Did Patrick’s Homework? Summary in English

This story presents magical realism in a very striking manner. It is about a boy, Patrick, who does not like doing his homework. Who Did Patrick’s Homework? Summary will tell us about how Patrick gets inspired and feels driven to work hard by an imaginary being.

Patrick does not complete his homework so he does not get good grades. Homework does not interest him at all as his interest lies in playing games. He keeps playing hockey, basketball and Nintendo.

In fact, his teachers also warn him to complete his homework, so that he does not remain an ignorant person. Even Patrick feels the same way sometimes but does not do anything about it.

One day, he finds his cat playing with a little doll. He takes the doll away but surprisingly, he finds out that it is not a doll but a little man. The man is wearing old-fashioned britches and a hat as tall as a witch’s.

The little man cries for help and asks him to save him. In return, the little man agrees to grant a wish of Patrick. Patrick saves the little man and is quite pleases to get that one wish. He asks him to complete all his homework till the semester end.

Although the little man does not like it, he agrees to do so. He begins working in right earnest but faces one difficulty. Quite often, the elf keeps asking Patrick for help during his homework.

For instance, he asks Patrick for a dictionary. After that, he asks him to look up a word and speak the spellings out loudly. Similarly, it is the same as Math or even worse. Thus, Patrick sits beside him to guide him at all times.

He goes to the library and gets books and reads them out to the little man. Thus, the elf writes down those points in his homework. Come to think of it, Patrick does the hard work himself.

When the time arrives of the final day, the elf is free to go. The results come out and Patrick scores the A grade. This leaves the classmates amazed as well as the teachers. Even his parents wonder how he turned into such a model kid.

Therefore, Patrick does actually develop a whole new attitude. While Patrick thinks that the elf completed his homework, it was actually Patrick himself completing it all along.

Conclusion of Who Did Patrick’s Homework? Summary

Who Did Patrick’s Homework? Summary teaches us that the key to success is pure hard work. We must always do our work on our own and that self-help can actually produce wonders.

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3 responses to “My Greatest Olympic Prize Summary”

The wonderful summary thank you for this.

They did not belong to the family of gorden cook and you also didn’t write the spelling correct it’s James cook 😶😑

What’s funny is that Miss Fairchild said the line- “Money isn’t everything. But people always misunderstand things and remain stupid-” when she herself misunderstood the situation.

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Grade 4 Children's Stories & Reading Worksheets

Stories and comprehension worksheets.

These 4th grade reading passages are followed by questions which the student is encouraged to answer by writing full sentences in the space provided. The questions are a mix of 'open-ended" and "close-ended" questions.

The Animal Assignment 775 words

Be Careful What You Wish For 700 words

An Honestly Fun Camp 430 words

Emma's Favorite Restaurant 520 words

First Day 490 words

Left Out 500 words

Liza's First Spelling Bee 800 words

Open for Business 540 words

A Magical Search for Water 714 words

Oranges Everywhere 440 words

Pool fit for a Hedgehog 380 words

Mouse Madness 510 words

Treasure Hunt 593 words

Luke, Jay and Zach's Winning Game 725 words

The Singing Plants 480 words

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Ballet 470 words

Clara Barton 507 words

We Also Serve 635 Words

Curious about Careers: Firefighters 630 words

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How to Find the Theme of a Text 360 words

How to Skateboard 590 words

Rocks 404 words

Survival in the Wild 365 words

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ESL Activities

ESL Story Starters & Prompts – Finish The Story Worksheets

Posted by by Zaraki Kenpachi
4 years ago

Writing can be at times intimidating for ESL students and it is a good idea to find easy ways to introduce writing into their lessons which becomes fun and exciting as well. Story starters and prompts are some simple elements that can get your students writing in the first place.

Today, we look at different ESL writing prompts and story starters and how you can use them to give your students a push in the right direction towards writing. We also consider the worksheets and activities that help students start writing stories.

Lesson Plan: Story Starters

Objective: To develop creative writing skills and improve English language proficiency by using story starters to create engaging narratives.

Level: Intermediate

Time: 60 minutes

Whiteboard or blackboard
Story Starters worksheet (printed copies or digital access)
Paper and pens/pencils for each student
What makes a story interesting?
What are some elements of a good story?
Do you enjoy writing or reading stories? Why?
Introduction (5 minutes): Introduce the concept of story starters to the students. Explain that story starters are sentence or prompt beginnings that help jumpstart creative writing. Display or distribute the Story Starters worksheet and explain that students will use these prompts to write their own stories.
Vocabulary Review (10 minutes): Review any vocabulary words or phrases from the story starters that students might find challenging. Write the words on the board and elicit their meanings. Provide examples and encourage students to use the words in their own sentences.
Guided Practice (15 minutes): Instruct students to choose one story starter from the worksheet. Ask them to take a few minutes to brainstorm ideas for their story, considering the characters, setting, and plot. Encourage them to think creatively and share their ideas with a partner.
Writing Activity (20 minutes): Give students time to write their stories based on the chosen story starter. Remind them to include details, descriptions, and a clear beginning, middle, and end in their narratives. Walk around the classroom, offering assistance and guidance as needed.
Sharing and Feedback (5 minutes): After the writing time is over, allow students to share their stories with a partner or in small groups. Encourage active listening and provide constructive feedback on their classmates’ work. Emphasize positive aspects and offer suggestions for improvement.
Wrap-up (5 minutes): Conclude the lesson by having a brief class discussion about the writing experience. Ask students to share what they enjoyed about creating their stories, any challenges they faced, and what they learned from the activity. Encourage them to continue practicing their writing skills outside the classroom.

Extension Activities:

Ask students to revise and edit their stories based on the feedback received, and then have them present their stories to the whole class.
Have students choose a story starter and write a collaborative story as a group. Each student can contribute a paragraph or a section to the story.
Organize a story-sharing session where students can read their stories aloud to the class. This promotes listening skills and provides an opportunity for peer appreciation.

Worksheet 1: Story Starters

One day, a mysterious package arrived at the doorstep. When I opened it, I couldn’t believe my eyes…
It was a sunny morning when I woke up to find that all the animals in the world could speak. I decided to go on an adventure with…
Sarah was walking through the forest when she stumbled upon a hidden pathway. As she walked along the path, she noticed…
In a small town, there was a legendary treasure hidden somewhere. Three friends named Jack, Lily, and Tom set out on a quest to find it. Little did they know…
It was the first day of school, and everything seemed normal until a new student arrived. This student had a peculiar secret…

Worksheet 2: Prompts

Imagine you woke up one morning with the ability to fly. Write a story about how you would spend your day.
Write a story about a time when you went on a camping trip with your friends. Include details about the activities you did and the adventures you had.
Imagine you found a magical portal in your backyard that transported you to a different time period. Write a story about where you traveled and what you experienced.
Write a story about a character who discovered a hidden talent they never knew they had. How did this talent change their life?
Imagine you are stranded on a deserted island. Write a story about how you survive and eventually find a way to return home.

ESL Story Starters & Prompts – A Complete Guide

When you teach your ESL students to start using English, story starters and writing prompts can be quite useful. You can keep things simple by asking them to write short stories or responses or focus on in-depth, detailed writing, depending on the student level. Writing prompts makes a great time-filler, warm-up activity or homework task and students can use their creativity to practice writing using these tools. The way a story begins is quite important. It is the first few lines of the story that decide whether the reader reads on or quits. The beginning should be such that the reader wants to find more and keep reading. Story starters are a group of words that help learners get started with writing a story. Giving prompts and story starters can give a nice starting point for developing a great piece of writing.

Story starters and prompts can be converted into exciting games to make it fun and interesting. You can play plot twists with the students to keep the story writing task engaging. You can create general as well as unique plot twists in the stories. You can ask the students to combine two writing prompts in a single story. You can also ask students to write a newspaper article, journal entry or something else instead of a short story.

Another way to use writing prompts is to involve other students and make the activity community-oriented. An exciting way is to use a timer and let the students write the story. When the timer goes off, the story is passed to the next student and they start writing. This continues till the original writer gets back his story.

ESL Writing Prompts For Beginners

Beginners of all ages can use writing prompts to write about things like the people they love, their families, their childhood memories, their future hopes and their beliefs. These writing prompts can be handed out in the form of book excerpts, newspaper clipping or a short essay in which the author has talked about that thing.

ESL writing prompts can be downloaded and printed to be given to the students before their writing exercises. These worksheets cover a variety of topics like writing about early memories from childhood, writing letters to somebody you love, writing about one’s own life, a letter to somebody you haven’t seen for long or describing the home you lived as a child. The printables include some clues about what you should write, how you should get started and what the content should cover.

You can start with process writing for beginner learners as they write simple steps in simple present tense. Writing prompts for such content would consist of questions that describe the topic. For advanced learners, these prompts can be used to write paragraphs with smooth transitions. Another thing students should practice is writing opinions using prompts. Graphic organizers would prove to be a great help for helping students understand what they should write about the given topic. These organizers can be printed and given to the students to help them bring thoughts together before they start writing.

Stories are loved by all but it is difficult to start writing one confidently. Students can come up with exciting stories if they are given story starters. With some fun and creative story starters, you can inspire them to create interesting stories that go beyond fairy tales. Story writing prompts can be in the form of scenes. You can also give the specific phrase the story should start with.

Another way to inspire story writing is by choosing a character from a story and putting it in a different setting from another book and then ask the students to write what happens. You can also ask each student in the class to note down one setting, a character and an object in three pieces of paper. You can redistribute these and ask the students to write a story incorporating the character, setting and object they receive.

ESL Finish The Story Worksheets

Writing practice worksheets are great ways to help students practice writing and assess their skills. These worksheets are colourful with spaces where students can write their responses. ESL Finish the Story worksheets help students improve their writing skills by completing the stories, writing the responses in practical situations, answering questions and defending a position.

The worksheets contain story starters and writing prompts that students can use to create a content creatively. Finish the Story worksheets are designed to enable students to use their imagination to come up with something unique. These worksheets can be easily downloaded and printed to be given to students for their writing practice exercises and lessons. Teachers can easily read the responses and assess how well the student has done.

ESL worksheets can be found on the basis of the level of the student and the writing topics in focus. They range from beginner to intermediate and expert level to suit different types of learners. These worksheets also facilitate various fun games and activities which can be used in the class to practice writing.

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International

April 24, 2024 - US university protests

By Adrienne Vogt, Christina Zdanowicz, Elise Hammond, Samantha Delouya, Chandelis Duster, Tori B. Powell, Emma Tucker, Elizabeth Wolfe and Kathleen Magramo, CNN

Our live coverage of the protests has moved here

Nearly 100 people arrested at USC, police say

From CNN's Elizabeth Wolfe and Josh Campbell

The Los Angeles Police Department said 93 people were arrested on suspicion of trespassing during Wednesday's demonstrations at the University of Southern California.

"The university is a private campus and the group had been violating some of their orders. It was a trespass at that point and we assisted with the arrests," Los Angeles Police Captain Kelly Muniz said during a briefing .

One person was also arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, Muniz said. She did not provide further details.

No protesters or officers have been reported injured, police said.

Some context: USC's Department of Public Safety ordered protesters gathering at the campus' Alumni Park Wednesday afternoon to disperse or face arrest for trespassing.

At one point during the demonstrations, tensions escalated as protesters refused to relocate and remove their tents and other prohibited items, a university official said.

The university closed its campus Wednesday evening as LAPD began arresting demonstrators.

Negotiations at Columbia University unstable, organizers say

From CNN's Kathleen Magramo

Student demonstrators occupy the pro-Palestinian "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" on the West Lawn of Columbia University on April 24, in New York City.

Negotiations between protesters and Columbia University officials about clearing the encampment on its lawn that had been extended for 48 hours have been “unstable," said Esha Karam, managing director of Columbia Daily Spectator, citing student organizers.

"We're about halfway through that extended deadline of 48 hours and we heard from organizers on the student front earlier today in a press conference who told us that the negotiations are ongoing so unstable at the moment," Karam told CNN.

There's still around another 24 hours to go until the extended deadline "but really after that, we don't really know where things are going,” Karam added.

House Speaker Mike Johnson called Wednesday for the resignation of the university’s president if she can't "bring order to this chaos."

Student reactions to calls for the college president's resignation have been mixed, Karam said.

She said there are “some who are willing to see her continue to lead and continue to work with her.”

Cal Poly Humboldt campus to remain closed through weekend as protesters occupy buildings

From CNN’s Cindy Von Quednow

The California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt campus will remain closed through the weekend as protesters, including "unidentified non-students," continue to occupy two buildings, school officials said in an update .

Work and classes will remain remote, and officials are considering keeping the campus closed for longer.

“There are unidentified non-students with unknown intentions, in Siemens Hall,” the officials said. “This creates an unpredictable environment. In addition, all entrances to the building are barricaded, creating a fire hazard. Adding to health and safety concerns, many toilets are no longer working.”

Other buildings on the campus in Arcata are at risk of being occupied, and protesters “have shown a willingness” to lock themselves in facilities and steal equipment, the officials said.

“Campus officials are communicating with protestors and continuing to encourage them to leave as soon as possible.”

Graffiti described as “hateful” has been painted on campus, the officials said.

“The University condemns in the strongest terms all forms of hatred, bigotry, and violence. Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, hatred, and bigotry in all forms have no place at Cal Poly Humboldt.”

The university "supports free speech through open dialogue that is respectful and constructive," the officials said.

"That does not include behavior that involves destroying and damaging property, and disrupting students, faculty, and staff from learning, teaching, and working. Everyone deserves to be in an environment where everyone can feel safe, included, and respected.”

Fox 7 photographer among those arrested at University of Texas at Austin

From CNN’s Joe Sutton

A photographer was among those arrested during clashes between protesters and law enforcement on the University of Texas at Austin campus on Wednesday.

Fox 7 reported that their photographer was detained and arrested. The station did not identify the employee.

In an evening update , the Texas Department of Public Safety said that 34 arrests had been made by law enforcement on the campus as of 9 p.m.

CNN has contacted Texas DPS, UT Austin Police, and UT Austin for information on this arrest.

Columbia University Board of Trustees voices support for embattled president

From CNN's Rob Frehse

Minouche Shafik, president of Columbia University, testifies during the House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing on April 17, in Washington, DC.

The Columbia University Board of Trustees released a statement Wednesday saying they strongly support President Minouche Shafik, who has faced calls for her resignation amid intense pressure to rein in days-long protests.

“The Columbia University Board of Trustees strongly supports President Shafik as she steers the university through this extraordinarily challenging time,” the board said in a statement Wednesday . “During the search process for this role, President Shafik told us that she would always take a thoughtful approach to resolving conflict, balancing the disparate voices that make up a vibrant campus like Columbia’s, while taking a firm stance against hatred, harassment and discrimination.” “That's exactly what she's doing now,” the trustees added.

The board said it is "urgently working" with Shafik to resolve the unrest on campus and "rebuild the bonds of our community."

UT Austin Police give "all clear" for dispersal order as authorities arrest more than 30 protesters

Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate at the University of Texas on April 24, in Austin, Texas.

The University of Texas at Austin Police Department said in a statement on X Wednesday evening that "the dispersal order at the South Mall has ended. All University rules are still in effect."

As of 9 p.m. CT, 34 arrests have been made by law enforcement on the UT Austin campus, according to an X post from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Muslim Public Affairs Council condemns calls for National Guard to be deployed against protesters

Amid arrests of pro-Palestine protesters across universities, the Muslim Public Affairs Council condemned calls for the deployment of the National Guard , saying the “crackdown on students with an overwhelming militaristic force has set a dangerous precedent for university administrations nationwide.”

“The Muslim Public Affairs Council calls on the people of conscience, including faculty and leaders, to oppose threats to deploy the National Guard on the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia University, whose aim is to push back against the university’s continued financial investment in corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and occupation in Palestine,” the council said in a statement Wednesday.

MPAC urged for a reevaluation of strategies used to handle protests on campuses across the country and says it advocates for “approaches that emphasize de-escalation and address students’ concerns through constructive means rather than force and intimidation.”

In a previous statement on Tuesday , MPAC accused the White House of having double standards for issuing a response condemning violence and physical intimidation against Jewish students at Columbia University, but says the administration “consistently fails to extend the same sentiments to students who face repeated violence, intimidation, doxing, and harassment for their pro-Palestinian advocacy.”

LAPD arrest about 50 protesters at USC

From CNN's Stephanie Becker and Nick Watt

The Los Angeles Police Department arrested approximately 50 protestors at the University of Southern California after campus police gave a dispersal order to demonstrators, according to a CNN crew at the scene.

Campus police announced earlier that anyone who stayed in the area would be subject to criminal trespass laws.

Video from the scene showed protestors not resisting arrest as LAPD handcuffed them with zip ties and escorted them away from the ongoing protest.

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Providence basketball coach Kim English has message for teams trying to lure his players away

Kim English said the quiet part out loud.

His fiery social media post late Tuesday night felt like a fitting end to this latest round of transfer portal intrigue. That window was due to slam shut Wednesday , with no more basketball players eligible to enter before the 2024-25 season.

Providence College’s men’s coach made some not-so-veiled references to alleged tampering with members of his expected roster for next year. The Friars did their work early in this current cycle, securing four commitments — they were thought to be done with additions and subtractions well ahead of time. It appears there might have been some late attempts to lure at least one of their players into further gauging his value on the open market.

“Just call me and [let me know] if you want to recruit our players,” English said. “Leave them and their families alone. Call me. I’ll see if they want to play for your programs.”

More: What will next season's Providence basketball team look like? An early look at the Friars.

English didn’t mention a specific name of any rival coach who might have made contact. He also didn’t reveal which Providence returners or newcomers might have been targeted. Whether or not he eventually goes public with that information isn’t the point here.

This process is begging for meaningful reform. The NCAA obstructed and deflected and denied for years until getting bounced out of state and federal court in a series of embarrassing defeats. What’s become obvious over time — whatever version of amateurism they hoped to enforce while profiting exponentially has been shattered.

What remains? Anarchy, in part. Administrators and coaches are standing on the rulebook equivalent of quicksand and it can shift at any moment. Think about all that’s changed in the recruiting landscape over the past five years — the next five could lead us to an equally unrecognizable place.

Let’s start with what we’ve always known to be fact and work from there. That involves bringing the truth into the open and adjusting to it.

∎Stop pretending this was ever fair.

Legacy brands have always attracted the most talent one way or another. Surreptitious spending to bring in recruits has been rumored longer than cable television has existed — we're verging on a second generation of internet streaming. Now it’s just closer to the surface through the establishment of name, image and likeness collectives.

Smaller schools hire a game-changing coach? They’ve just about always been whisked away to bigger jobs with more resources on hand. Those personalities and their new homes were the only ones allowed to openly profit — that's very clearly changed.

More: 7-foot center Christ Essandoko commits to Providence basketball for a second time.

More: Rhode Island men's basketball fills opening on coaching staff: Who's coming to Kingston?

The system has never favored low majors. It’s rarely worked in the long run for mid-majors. It occasionally doesn’t satisfy some high majors. Accept it or adapt to it creatively to change your circumstances — there aren’t many other choices.

∎Players have always been paid in some way, shape or form — just not with cash that was publicly acknowledged.

Palatial on-campus facilities, private travel, ready access to apparel, sports-specific academic considerations and exposure across wider media platforms — those are all forms of currency. Actual funds in bank accounts have now either augmented or replaced those perks. Don’t complain about whether another school offered more to recruits on your list or enticed them with a different financial opportunity — the current rules allow you to meet or exceed the price.

Can’t do it? That’s really nothing different. It's just taken on a different form.

∎Want your administration and its boosters to take back some leverage? Offer something in return — a good-faith employment model.

Grant athletes the benefits that come with unionized labor. Access to quality health care, limits on their working hours, guarantees when it comes to standard or minimum compensation — those should be the baselines. Replace an elective course with something mandatory that teaches financial literacy.

Revenue sharing is about to be approved by the NCAA. That will require some widespread disclosure, and it should be adopted on an individual basis as well through contracts. Multiyear deals, mutual options to extend, buyouts — publicize what athletes take home in NIL to create a fair, representative market in which to do business.

How many of those entries into the portal are chasing a payday that was never there? How many coaches and collectives have bid against a suitor and a number that never existed? Add some transparency to those conversations. Taking away the secrecy could help blunt the edge both sides feel entering what is, at its core, a negotiation.

More: Providence basketball lands another transfer recruit; who is he?

∎Don’t start any discussion about this by referencing “regular students.”

Athletes were always going to be increasingly separated from their peers as college sports became bigger business. Their version of professional development is something different entirely.

A strictly academic pursuit seeks progress toward an end point — a graduation. An average student likely wouldn’t prefer, or be able to personally afford, a certain number of transfers or interruptions in a college career. Their goal is to earn a degree that will help them secure their own financial futures after receiving it.

Players now have a legal chance to start earning those dollars ahead of time. Some of them have triggered COVID fifth years via blanket waiver to stay in college and profit — it's antithetical to a standard academic mission. They’re not changing schools or plotting a course of study based on what we’ve come to think of as the norm.

∎None of this activity should be taking place while any teams are still playing.

Recruiting your next roster while coaching in an NCAA Tournament is nonsense. Zoom calls in conjunction with film sessions at the Final Four? Stop it. Those are the most important games of the season. A staff and their players should be able to devote complete attention to them.

Divide the recruiting calendar more clearly to reduce overlap. Create a hard-and-fast window for contact to take place — a month between any national championship game and the close of the portal should be enough to decide whether or not to enter. Programs that have fallen short of that ultimate stage can use the time to organize their own roster or NIL situations, and those who survive into April can devote full attention to the present.

[email protected]

On X: @BillKoch25

Docs: Man leaves jail, walks to nearby Indy gas station, kills man while stealing his car

INDIANAPOLIS — Less than two hours after his discharge from Marion County’s Jail, a Greenfield man stands accused of a deadly carjacking at a nearby gas station.

Chad Martin, 33, was arrested on a preliminary murder charge in the fatal ordeal that unfolded about 2:30 p.m. at a gas station on the southeast side of Indianapolis, less than a mile from the jail, according to court records.

According to new details, Martin was captured on surveillance video entering a parked Toyota Camry at a gas station and attempting to drive away. The owner of the car, identified as Shane Christian Coffman, 51, told police he left the car running with the keys inside while he went inside the store. He ran outside and tried to stop the robbery, grabbing the driver-side window.

Coffman was dragged 30 yards through the gas station parking lot before striking a pump and falling to the ground, according to court records filed Tuesday.

An officer patrolling nearby heard Coffman calling for help from the gas station parking lot. Emergency medical personnel took Coffman to a hospital, where he died from trauma-related injuries.

Police said surveillance video from the gas station showed the driver who stole the car fleeing south on Rural Street. Speedway officers located the car near Holt Road, roughly 9 miles away, and conducted a traffic stop. The driver was identified as Martin, the records state. He was wearing the same clothing as the suspected robber in the gas station footage.

Martin was taken into custody and during interviews with police, he told detectives about his release from the county jail at the Community Justice Campus earlier that day on an unrelated intoxicated driving case and said he went straight to the gas station after his discharge. He denied harming anyone and stated the Camry belonged to him. He then claimed to have been the target of identity fraud and someone had been buying cars under his name.

He then asked for an attorney and police ended the interview, court records read.

The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office will determine final charges.

Contact reporter Sarah Nelson at [email protected]

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Performing Arts

Pop Culture

You know it when you see it: here are some movies that got sex scenes right.

Linda Holmes

It is a happy coincidence that our "What makes a good sex scene?" episode came out in the same week as Challengers, a film about a romance triangle in the tennis world starring Josh O'Connor, Zendaya and (not pictured) Mike Faist. Niko Tavernise/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures hide caption

What makes a good sex scene? It can be easier spot bad sex, but Aisha Harris, Christina Tucker, Ronald Young, Jr. and I tried to focus on the good this week on Pop Culture Happy Hour. You can listen to our full conversation here. (We didn't originally plan for this episode to run the same week as our episode about Challengers , which is out in theaters now, but it's a happy coincidence, since that film has gotten a lot of attention — probably too much, relative to its other merits — for the sex scenes involving its three leads. It's really very good .)

Movie Reviews

Watch a tense romantic triangle play out on the tennis court in 'challengers'.

It's often very obvious when a sex scene is bad, just like when a sex scene in a book is bad. It can get so uncomfortable to watch that you have to leave the room (and not in a way that feels true to the story). One of my personal tells for a bad sex scene is when all I can think about is how hard the actors are trying to persuade me that the characters are having a good time. For example, there has been much good discussion in recent years about Showgirls being a more interesting and competent project than it originally got credit for, but in that one pool scene (if you know it, you know it), all I can see is the effort.

Lauren Bacall And The 'Sex? What Sex?' Kind Of Movie Sex

It's not always as clear which scenes are good . That's partly because they serve so many different functions, all of which look different, and all of which can be effective. Furthermore, you don't want to confuse whether a sex scene is used well in a film with whether it's hot to you personally, despite the fact that there is overlap between those considerations.

In the 'Last Dance,' Magic Mike leaves his thong-and-dance routine behind

Here's what I mean: When Aisha talks about the sequence near the beginning of Magic Mike's Last Dance , it's not irrelevant that the scene is, to her (and to me), hot. But it also makes sense in the context of the film and the franchise, partly because of the way it sets up the power dynamic between Mike (Channing Tatum) and Max (Salma Hayek Pinault). Mike is older now, he knows more, and the way he approaches a lap dance is actually different than in earlier movies.

And not all good sex scenes are hot in the same ways. The one I mentioned in the episode, from the romantic drama Love & Basketball , is sexy, yes. But it's also a scene between young adults (the talented basketball players Monica and Quincy, played by Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps), and as such, it incorporates a tentativeness that's not present in Magic Mike's Last Dance , to say the least. As Ronald pointed out during our discussion, that sex scene is quite different from one that takes place later in Monica and Quincy's relationship, when they're older and know each other better. That certainly feels true to real life, but it's not always reflected in Hollywood films, where I would tentatively estimate that 90% of on-screen sex is more idealized and thus less intimate than real-life sex, in part because it isn't allowed to change over the course of a relationship.

Movie Interviews

'like it or not, we live in oppenheimer's world,' says director christopher nolan.

Even further from the hotness of the lap dance scene is Ronald's pick: the imagination of Kitty Oppenheimer (Emily Blunt) running wild in Oppenheimer. While her husband (Cillian Murphy) is being interrogated, she pictures him having sex with his mistress, Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh). It goes by quickly enough that it might seem like a Christopher Nolan flourish for flourish's sake, but it serves the purpose of letting you feel her pain over her husband's affair. Her relationship with Robert doesn't look especially romantic in the film, let alone sexually charged; she finds herself consumed by the idea that he was having hot sex with this other woman, and she locks eyes with her vision of a naked Tatlock and finds herself tormented. It's not really the intent of the scene to titillate the audience, just to give specificity to the shape of Kitty's preoccupation with the affair.

What makes a good sex scene?

Christina raised another really important point, which is that sex scenes also collide with viewers at very specific moments. Her example from Bound , and the scenes between Violet (Jennifer Tilly) and Corky (Gina Gershon), touches on (among other things) her own history. It's an underappreciated aspect of the sex-in-movies discourse: representation matters in these scenes as much as anywhere else. I always wish I saw more sex scenes in movies that featured a broader variety of body types; it's still really rare to see ones that feature anybody who is even average sized. This is one of the reasons I'm curious about the upcoming season of Bridgerton , which places its focus on the gorgeous and curvaceous Penelope (Nicola Coughlan).

Looking for 'nomance': Study finds teens want less sex in their TV and movies

Good sex scenes are like any other kind of good filmmaking, honestly: it comes down to execution with purpose and care, done relative to whatever the function of the scene might be.

Whether that's spiciness or conflict or relationship growth or (as in the case of Bound ) setting up a steamy neo-noir story that wouldn't be the same if it weren't hot as heck, form follows function, ideally.

This piece also appeared in NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour newsletter. Sign up for the newsletter so you don't miss the next one, plus get weekly recommendations about what's making us happy.

Listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour on Apple Podcasts and Spotify .

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100 Best English stories to Improve English
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. By Lewis Carroll. Retold by Jennifer Bassett. Chapter one: Down the rabbit-hole. Chapter two: The pool of tears. Chapter three: Conversation with a caterpillar. Chapter four: The Cheshire Cat. Chapter five: A mad tea-party. Chapter six: The Queen's game of croquet.
34 English Short Stories with Big Ideas for Thoughtful ...
31. "The Zero Meter Diving Team" by Jim Shepherd. 32. "The Velveteen Rabbit" by Margery Williams. 33. "The Friday Everything Changed" by Anne Hart. 34. "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway. How to Use Short Stories to Improve Your English.
101 Short Stories for learning English
101 English short stories for English learners from beginner to advanced level. A. Beginner Level. A Baby and a Sock. Birds and a Baby. A Cat and a Dog. The Baby Bear. An Apple Pie. The Top Bunk. Ask Santa.
17 Short Stories in English, Perfect for ESL Students of All Levels
This short story is also loaded with dialogue and descriptive wording that will surely spark imagination in your students. 11. "Robin Hood And The Golden Arrow". "Robin Hood And The Golden Arrow" is an educational tale of Robin Hood. Some of your ESL students may have some form of knowledge about Robin Hood already and this is a perfect ...
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A choice of short short stories to read online or print out, for school, college and home study. Texts in graded English, mostly under 1000 words, all with lesson plans / worksheets and classroom ideas for teachers, for use with intermediate and advanced EFL / ESL. MP3 audio recordings accompany most stories.
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12. Analyze a Song. Music is great for English learners since it stresses many aspects of language that can otherwise be hard to isolate, like the emotion of language, intonation and stress. Have students choose their favorite English language song to listen to for homework and then ask them to do the following:
ESL Yes 1,600 Free ESL Short Stories, Exercises, Audio
If you like the 600 ESL Short Stories from New York City stories, Stories #1‐#1040 are now available at amazon.com as an e‐book and an Android app. Only 99¢ each, Volumes 1 and 2 are both available at Amazon-Kindle. The e‐book titles are English Learner 500 Short Stories for Beginner-Intermediate, ISBN: 978-0-9915994-0-0 and English ...
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In these writing practice worksheets, students practice both reading and writing in these exercises. First, they read the uncompleted story. Then, they try to finish it using their own words. Beginning Finish the Story - The Snow Day. Beginning Finish the Story - The Fair. Beginning Finish the Story - Summer Camp.
Short stories
Reading stories is a great way to improve your vocabulary and we have lots of great stories for you to watch. Watch stories, print activities and post comments! ... Find an English course for adults; Find an English course for your child; English courses for children aged 6-17. Learn more.
A short story
Worksheets and downloads. A short story - exercises 479.92 KB. A short story - answers 195.38 KB. A short story - story 395.91 KB. A short story - writing practice 200.69 KB.
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Posted on May 13, 2013. This is a series of lesson plans for proficiency level students based around stories from "The Oxford Book of English Short Stories" edited by A. S. Byatt. Set the story as homework the week before, encourage students to bring any vocabulary questions to class. The Waterfall tells the story of a repressed reverend ...
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The Best Fiction Short Stories. Short fiction stories are a fantastic way to access the literary world in compact, bite-sized reading sessions. The short story as we know it today began in the 19th century, when the increasing interest in print literary magazines led to many authors like Arthur Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens writing and publishing stories.
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We believe that the key to writing good short stories is reading good short stories. Below, we have provided an ever-expanding selection of old and new short stories that are free to download. Short story writers are listed alphabetically. In 2020 we'll be adding a wide range of new stories to read online. Recently added stories will be fund at the top of the page. Recently added Aiken ...
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Summary will tell you about the story of a boy who does not like his homework at all. Patrick is a boy who hates doing homework. He enjoys games even though his teachers warn him to complete it, he rarely listens. One day, he finds his cat playing with a doll and takes it away. Surprisingly, he realizes that it is not a doll but a little man.
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The Little Red Cape 525 Words. Amusement Park Problem 407 words. Anna and Her Basketball Adventure 350 words. Hats in Harvard 450 words. Helping Hally 260 words. The Book, the Girl and the Closet 510 words. My New Scooter 422 words. The Solver 376 words. Tag Rules! 370 words.
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Objective: To develop creative writing skills and improve English language proficiency by using story starters to create engaging narratives. Level: Intermediate. Time: 60 minutes. Materials: ... Writing prompts makes a great time-filler, warm-up activity or homework task and students can use their creativity to practice writing using these tools.
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Choose a topic to research and present in English. Read a book, watch a T.V. show or film, or listen to a song in English. Write a letter to a friend or relative in English. 'Teach' the class an English grammar or spelling rule. Prepare a role play scenario in English. Follow a recipe that's written in English. Write a story in groups.
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Others work in pieces they arrange later, while others work from sentence to sentence. Whether you're writing a novel, novella, short story, or flash fiction, don't be afraid to try out different voices, and styles. Experiment with different story writing techniques, story ideas, and story structures. Keep what works for you and discard the ...
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April 24, 2024
Pro-Palestinian protests are taking place at major American universities, prompting some officials to take extraordinary steps to confront the growing crisis. Follow for live news updates.
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Kim English said the quiet part out loud. His fiery social media post late Tuesday night felt like a fitting end to this latest round of transfer portal intrigue. That window was due to slam shut ...
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The ABO blood group antigens found on the surface of red blood cells are also found on the mucosal layer that lines the surface of the gut. Researchers have harnessed a specialized human gut bacterium and its ability to use these antigens as nutrients to discover and develop two enzyme mixtures that convert group A and B red blood cells into universal donor blood.
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INDIANAPOLIS — Less than two hours after his discharge from Marion County's Jail, a Greenfield man stands accused of a deadly carjacking at a nearby gas station. Chad Martin, 33, was arrested ...
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The case became one of the most high profile in a relentless anticorruption campaign in Vietnam dubbed the "Blazing Furnace."
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The best movie sex scenes? Here are some films that we think got it
Whether that's spiciness or conflict or relationship growth or (as in the case of Bound) setting up a steamy neo-noir story that wouldn't be the same if it weren't hot as heck, ...