Isabella Bruschi

A cura di I. Bruschi
 
 Six short stories having ghosts and other mysterious presences as their common topic, which are particular and recurring elements of anglophone literature.
 Taken from top-level writers, such as J. S. Le Fanu, C. Dickens, B. Stoker, A. B. Edwards, A. Bierce, W. W. Jacobs, the stories are pervaded by gothic atmospheres and sinister and disquieting figures, typical features of the irrational and supernatural realm.
 Beside the authors’ biographies, extensions on short stories and ghost stories and on historical-cultural aspects connected to the contents of the short stories are found in this book. 
 
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Transcripts - Summing-up Activities
 
 Sei storie che hanno come soggetto comune i fantasmi e altre presenze misteriose, elementi peculiari e piuttosto ricorrenti della letteratura anglofona.
 Tratte da autori di grande livello, come J. S. Le Fanu, C. Dickens, B. Stoker, A. B. Edwards, A. Bierce, W. W. Jacobs, le storie sono tutte pervase da atmosfere gotiche e ricche di figure inquietanti e sinistre, tipiche caratteristiche del regno dell’irrazionale e del soprannaturale.
 Oltre alle biografie degli autori sono presenti schede sulle short stories e ghost stories e su aspetti storico-culturali collegati ai contenuti dei vari racconti.

Introduction

Amelia B. Edwards

The Phantom Coach

Extension: The conception of gender in Victorian England

Charles Dickens

To be taken with a Grain of Salt

Extension: Dickens the reformer

J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Dickon the devil

Extension: Famous ghosts and haunted places (I)

Bram Stoker

The Judge’s House

Extension: Old dark houses

Ambrose Bierce

The Moonlit Road

Extension: Famous ghosts and haunted places (II)

W.W. Jacobs

The Monkey’s Paw

Extension: The British Empire in India

other writers, Bierce formed the Western Authors Publishing Co: it issued only one volume, Black Beetles in Amber, a selection of Bierce s poems. Can Such Things Be?, Bierce s second and most famous collection of fiction, appeared later in 1893. But Bierce s most famous work of misanthropy was published in 1906 under the title The Cynics Word Book. Containing 500  definitions  from various newspaper columns, this was the first edition of The Devil s Dictionary. Shortly afterward, still in 1906, the author s tenth book, a selection of essays, The Shadow on the Dial, was published. The last episode of Bierce s literary life followed his resignation from periodical literature altogether in 1908; he spent the next four years in compiling the vast Collected Works. At 70, after revisiting old places dear to his memory, Bierce crossed into a revolution-torn Mexico. His last letter was sent from Chihuahua on December 26, 1913; Ambrose Bierce was never heard from again. Although innumerable theories, stories, and even a novel and a film, have speculated on Bierce s last days, there is no evidence to support one rather than another. More than likely Bierce joined the revolutionary forces of Pancho Villa and fell in the Battle of Ojinaga on January 11, 1914. But the real truth may never be known. Ambrose Bierce wrote a total of ninety-three short stories, of which fifty-three are what we may term  supernatural : they offer an escape from the well-known and unbroken laws of the mundane, ranging from mysterious telepathic power to survival on earth after death. The remaining eighteen are mainly Civil War stories. The predominant theme of the supernatural stories is that of a haunting by a ghost, either for revenge or for the re-enactment of a crime. Other themes include lycanthropy, hypnosis, telepathic influence and  mysterious disappearances . The short fiction of Ambrose Bierce is characterized by subtlety, abruptness, and meticulous detail. Bierce himself recommended that, in successful writing, each word should do the work of four. 94 

BEFORE READING   The Moonlit Road m 1 Listen to the first lines of the story. What is strange about them? 2 Try to imagine why the narrator defines himself  the most unfortunate of men .Write a short paragraph using one of the following suggestions: 3 3 3 3 3 3 betrayal by his beloved woman loss of a dear person remorse for a crime committed in the past an unsolved mystery an evil spirit haunting him Solve the criss-cross puzzle: the words will give you some clues to the development of the story. 1 Across 2. Light of moon 4. State of being jealous 6. Extreme fear 9. The opposite of happiness Down 1. If you do a bad action, you deserve it 3. Spirit 5. Appearance of a ghost 7. If you repent of a bad action, you feel it 8. Homicide 3 2 4 5 6 8 9 95 7 

"Six short stories" di I. Bruschi offre avvincenti racconti con fantasmi e presenze misteriose, arricchiti da risorse online per insegnanti.

Great Ghost Stories - Collana Rainbows

Level C1 • Post-Intermediate - Collana RAINBOWS

Great Ghost Stories

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