Robert Louis Stevenson

a cura di P. Della Valle
 Jim Hawkins, the young hero of this famous novel, describes the hunt for Captain Flint’s fabulous treasure after the finding of a map of an island.
 Treasure Island is a classic adventure story, the archetype of nineteenthcentury literature, rich in odd characters and recurrent turns of events.
 The inserts about life at sea, piracy in history and cinema, journey literature and the author make this book suitable for readers of all ages. 
 
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Audioscripts - Key to Summing-up Activities.
 
 In questo romanzo il giovane Jim Hawkins descrive la caccia ad un favoloso tesoro, quello del Capitano Flint, in seguito al ritrovamento della mappa di un’isola.
 Treasure Island è un classica storia avventurosa, archetipo della narrativa ottocentesca, ricca di personaggi strambi e colpi di scena.
 Inserti sulla pirateria nella storia e nel cinema, sulla letteratura di viaggio e sull’autore, rendono questo libro adatto anche ai lettori più grandi.

Chapter 1 – The Old Seaman at the Admiral Benbow

Chapter 2 – The Sea-Chest

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Extension: Genesis of Treasure Island

Chapter 3 – The Voyage

Chapter 4 – The Apple Barrel

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Extension: History of piracy

Chapter 5 – The Man on the Island

Chapter 6 – The Stockade

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Extension: Life at sea in the 18th century

Chapter 7 – The Attack

Chapter 8 – My Sea Adventure

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Extension: The journey in literature

Chapter 9 – In the Enemy’s Camp

Chapter 10 – The Treasure Hunt

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Extension: Pirate movies

The End

Summing-up activities

Glossary

The race among European countries for colonial expansion and control of world trade continued in the 17th and 18th centuries. In a mercantile age, where the wealth of nations depended mainly on sea trade, piracy increased enormously. The period between the late 17th century and the first quarter of the 18th century is considered the Golden Age of piracy. Numerous bands of pirates roamed5 the world in search of booty 6. The most famous ones were Thomas Tew, Henry Every, William Kidd, Edward Teach (Blackbeard), Bartholomew Roberts (Black Sir Francis Drake. Bart). Those legendary figures and others were chronicled by a contemporary novelist, Daniel Defoe, in A General History of the Pyrates. Another category of pirates emerged in this period: buccaneers.The term comes from the French boucan, a grill for the smoking of dried meat, largely used on ships at sea. It applies to English, French and Dutch seafaring adventurers hired by their governments to attack Spanish colonies and ships. Buccaneers were inspired by the example of Francis Drake, but unlike privateers they didn t have an official license. Among the most famous ones were L Olonnais (Jean David Nau), Rock Brasiliano (a Dutchman who had lived in Brazil), and Henry Morgan. Buccaneers had their headquarters7 on the island of Tortuga (off the north-west coast of Hispaniola, now Haiti). After the British conquest of Jamaica in 1655, they set their base there. Later the term  buccaneers  was used to indicate all the pirates operating in the Caribbean. Stevenson s Treasure Island was probably one of the many islands in the Caribbean Sea. For this reason, in his book, he often calls his pirates  buccaneers . Piracy decreased with the advent of the steam engine and the growth of the British and American navies in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was finally considered an international offence by all governments. But piracy is an ancient vocation that still exists in many ways today. The term is still used with reference to individuals or groups of individuals using force to gain possessions or information that belong to others. In this sense hijackers 8 are also called  pirates of the air , car robbers  pirates of the road , people involved in industrial espionage  pirates of industry . 5. roamed: went around. 6. booty: valuable goods taken by force. 7. headquarters: the place where they lived. 8. hijacker: a criminal taking control of an aircraft. 50 

5 The Man on the Island Chapter BEFORE READING 1 The story so far. Complete this summary of what happened in the previous Chapter (one word for each blank). Everything seemed to be all right during the voyage to Treasure Island. But one evening Jim overheard a conversation between Silver and one of the ........................ . He learned that Silver and his men were .............................. and that they wanted Flint s treasure. Silver was trying to convince one of the loyal men to be on his ..................... . Jim told his friends everything. Captain Smollett decided they should go on until the treasure was .................. and they knew how many sailors were with ........................ . He let the men go ........................ for the afternoon with two .................. . Jim slipped into one of the boats, without telling his friends. He wanted to ........................ the island. 2 Making predictions. Look at the title. In your opinion, who is this man? c a native of the island c a pirate c a man abandoned on the island c a cannibal 3 You will find these verbs in Chapter 5. Match each of them with its definition. a. ring out b. be shipwrecked c c c. sight c d. be marooned c e. stab f. leap g. wink h. crawl c c c c 1. To move on your hands and feet. 2. To push a knife into someone or something. 3. To close and open one eye quickly as a signal. 4. To move fast or jump with a lot of energy. 5. To be on a ship when it sinks. 6. To sound in a loud and clear way. 7. To see something from a long distance. 8. To be left in a place from which it is difficult to escape. 51   

Narrativa inglese, livello B1 pre-intermedio. Questo romanzo è un classica storia avventurosa, archetipo della narrativa ottocentesca.

Treasure Island - Collana RAINBOWS

Level B1 • Pre-Intermediate - Collana RAINBOWS

Treasure Island

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