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The Lady in the Lake LEVEL 2 Teacher’s notes Teacher Support Programme The Lady in the Lake Raymond Chandler Chapters 1–2 EASYSTARTS Marlowe tries to interview Mrs. Kingsley’s lover, a man named Lavery, but he arouses the suspicions of a neighbor named Dr. Almore, and he is warned off by a detective named Degarmo. Then, at Kingsley’s house in LEVEL 2 the mountains, Marlowe and caretaker Bill Chess find the body of a woman in the lake. The woman’s face is unrecognizable, but Marlowe begins to suspect that it is LEVEL 3 the body of Chess’s wife, Muriel. Chapter 3 LEVEL 4 Marlowe pieces together the past of a woman named Mildred Haviland, who was once married to Degarmo. The woman was also Dr. Almore’s nurse after his wife About the author died, and later on, she married Bill Chess and changed her LEVEL 5 Raymond Chandler was born in Chicago in 1888, the son name to Muriel. Marlowe wonders if she is really the lady of an American father and Anglo-Irish mother, but he in the lake. relocated to London, England after his parents’ divorce. LEVEL 6 Chapters 4–8 He worked as a civil servant and wrote book reviews and When he notices a woman leaving Lavery’s house and poetry before immigrating to California in 1912. After finds Lavery dead, Marlowe begins to doubt that Muriel is serving with the Canadian forces in the First World War, the lady in the lake. As he takes money to Kingsley’s wife, he returned to the United States, where he fell in love the same woman appears, and Marlowe guesses what with a married woman named Cissie Pascal. He and happened. However, someone else has also figured out Cissie got married after her divorce in 1924. the mystery—someone who can’t afford to let the truth Chandler became a successful businessman with an oil come out. Before he can get at the truth, Marlowe finds company, but he was sacked in 1932. It was only when he himself in danger. was out of work that he started to write detective stories for Black Mask magazine. From these stories grew his first Background and themes novel, The Big Sleep, which was published in 1939. The “Whodunits”: The first detective stories were published book introduced the world to the soon-to-be-famous in the mid-nineteenth century, but they didn’t become character of Philip Marlowe. popular until the 1890s when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Chandler became a screenwriter in Hollywood, and his created the private detective Sherlock Holmes. In reputation grew, but it wasn’t until Humphrey Bogart and the Sherlock Holmes stories—and in those of Agatha Lauren Bacall starred in a film version of The Big Sleep Christie and other writers who modeled their series that he became world-famous. However, his success was after Doyle’s—the detective is an unusual character tainted by the fact that he was becoming more and more who resolves the crime like a puzzle, and as a result, dependent on alcohol. Before he died in 1959, he had these kinds of detective stories were given the name earned the reputation of being one of the leading writers “whodunits” (derived from the question, “Who did it?”). of detective stories in the United States. Realistic mysteries: However, Chandler found these types of stories unrealistic, so he set out to create a new Summary kind of mystery novel in which the crimes are committed First published in 1943, The Lady in the Lake is Chandler’s by “the kind of people who commit them in real life.” In fourth detective novel featuring private detective Philip Chandler’s detective stories, the murders are committed Marlowe. As usual, the story starts with Marlowe being with guns, not unusual poisons, and they are solved by hired to find a missing person—in this case, the wife professionals, not amateurs. It isn’t especially important of Derace Kingsley—but throughout the course of his who commits the crimes; indeed, they aren’t always the investigation, he uncovers a series of related crimes. work of the same person. For Chandler, the importance lies in how the characters react to each other and how pearsonenglishreaders.com © Pearson Education Limited 2015 The Lady in the Lake - Teacher’s notes 1 of 3 LEVEL 2 Teacher’s notes Teacher Support Programme The Lady in the Lake Marlowe eventually pieces the truth together in spite of 2 Pair work: Photocopy the pictures in the book— threats to his own personal safety. make enough copies so that each pair of students EASYSTARTS has a copy of every picture in the book. Cut off the Los Angeles: It was much easier to find a realistic captions at the bottom of the pages and then give the background for a murder mystery in Los Angeles in the pictures and the captions to the pairs. Get them to LEVEL 2 1930s and 1940s than in England. For example, in Los match the pictures with the captions. Angeles, guns were easily obtainable, and as a result of the After reading laws that had been passed against alcohol in the 1920s, 3 Role play: Put students into pairs. Student A is LEVEL 3 gangsters had begun to sell alcohol illegally. When the laws Marlowe and Student B is each of the following were finally lifted, the gangsters moved into the business characters (he or she should be one character at a time): Mr. Kingsley, the redhead with blue eyes, of drugs. However, it wasn’t just gangsters who were Lavery, Degarmo, Bill Chess and Jim Patton. Marlowe LEVEL 4 involved in criminal activities. The city also bred crooked should ask each of the characters questions about the doctors and corrupt policemen. In The Lady in the Lake, case. The characters should answer Marlowe’s Dr. Almore and Degarmo are examples of Chandler’s questions as fully as possible. When they have realistic criminals. finished, some of the pairs should role play their LEVEL 5 conversations in front of the class. First person perspective: Like all the Marlowe novels, 4 Discuss: Get students to look at the picture on The Lady in the Lake is told in the first person, which helps page 10. How do you think Bill Chess is feeling? Why do readers to identify with the hero. As Marlowe gradually you think this? What do you think he is thinking about? LEVEL 6 Why do you think this? How do you think Jim Patton is uncovers layers of corruption, and as new crimes take feeling? Why do you think this? What do you think he is place, readers follow the course of events alongside the thinking about? Why do you think this? How do you think narrator. Like Marlowe, they are forced to change their the other people in the picture are feeling? Why do you minds until they reach the same conclusions and ultimately think this? solve the mystery. When the Hollywood actor Robert 5 Artwork: Get students to draw a picture of one of the characters in Chapters 1 or 2. When they Montgomery made a film version of The Lady in the Lake have finished, they should stand at the front of the in 1947 (starring himself as Marlowe), he carried this idea classroom and show their picture to the rest of the so far that he made the camera follow Marlowe’s eyes class. They should explain why they have drawn the so that the character was only seen by the audience in a character the way that they have drawn him or her. mirror. Chandler didn’t like the technique, describing the Chapters 3–4, pages 11–19 film as a “cheap Hollywood trick.” It is likely that Chandler Before reading was annoyed because he felt that he had written better 6 Guess: Ask students to predict what will happen to screenplays himself, and because Marlowe represented Marlowe in Chapters 3 and 4. his own values and attitudes towards life. 7 Discuss: Ask students to think about why Chapter 3 is called Al to Mildred. Who do you think Al is? Who do The likeable private eye: Marlowe is still one of the you think Mildred is? What do you think Al gives to world’s most famous private eyes (private detectives), Mildred? Why do you think this? Why do you think Al and fans argue that he is more interesting than the many gives the thing to Mildred? Why do you think this? What do you think will happen after Al gives the thing to imitations. He is honest, loyal, brave and single-minded Mildred? Why do you think this? in his pursuit of the truth. More importantly, readers can identify with him because he isn’t a saint. He likes After reading an occasional drink, and pretty girls. In addition, he has a 8 Check: Review students’ predictions about what would happen to Marlowe in Chapters 3 and 4. sense of humor, which is often directed at himself. Check if their predictions were right or wrong. 9 Write: Put students into pairs and get them to write Discussion activities a sentence to describe what happens in Chapters 3 and another sentence to describe what happens in Chapters 1–2, pages 1–11 Chapter 4. When they have finished, some of the Before reading pairs should read their sentences to the rest of the 1 Discuss: Ask students to look at the picture on the class. Finally, take a vote to find out which pair wrote cover of the book.
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