GULP AND GASP by John Townsend

SYNOPSIS
This is a melodrama about a villain; Lord Septic is a greedy man who is very interested in power,
money and fame. He is even capable of committing murder to get what he wants. He owns the
railways and is after the Gatsby gold. Crouch as the manservant of Lord Septic is a bully who
likes to bully other people when Lord Septic is not around. He bullies Rose, a blind flower girl
who arrives at the railway to sell flowers to get money to treat her sick mother. She is rescued by
the hero, Percy who turns out to be Sir Percy in the end of the drama. They fall in love. Later,
Percy learns he is the rightful heir to the Gatsby Gold and is known as Sir Percy. Lord Septic
loses everything. This drama is very interesting as the writer plays the words intelligently.
However, students need to read and understand in order to laugh.

THEMES
 Pride goes before a fall
 Greed is destructive
 Innocence and beauty

MORAL VALUES
 Greed will lead to a downfall.
 We should live a humble and honest life.
 Do not bully other people when you have the power.
 Be considerate.

SETTING
 An empty train station
 A cold foggy night

PLOT
 EXPOSITION – Lord Septic, the villain, and his manservant Crouch, a grovelling bully,
are waiting for the midnight express at the train station. Lord Septic owns all the train
stations and he wants wealth and power. He loves to brag about his wealth and success.
Crouch is the manservant who sometimes fails to understand what the master tells him.

 RISING ACTION/CONFLICT – Rose, a blind flower girl comes to the station. She
wants to sell flowers to help cure her mother. Crouch bullies her, as ordered by Lord
Septic, and Percy, the dashing hero comes in to help her. He tells her about himself.

 CLIMAX – Lord Septic hits Percy and ties Rose to the train track. Percy runs off to try
and stop the train coming down the track.

 FALLING ACTION – Percy is able to stop the train using his long-johns and Rose is
saved. Later, he learns that he is Sir Percy Gatsby and is the rightful heir to the Gatsby
Gold.

 RESOLUTION – Percy is able to tie Lord Septic and Crouch. They are waiting to be
picked up by the police. Percy, the hero, proposes to Rose and she agrees to marry him.

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CHARACTERS
 Lord Septic the villain
 Crouch the bully
 Rose the damsel in distress
 Percy the hero

LANGUAGE AND STYLE

 Simple and clear language
 Dialogue – repetition of words
 Alliteration

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QWERTYUIOP by Vivien Alcock
SYNOPSIS
The story QWERTYUIOP tells of how an underestimated secretary fights with an ex-secretary
who still thinks that she works there and haunts the typewriter. Lucy Beck is as strong-willed as
Miss Broome, the ex-secretary, to hold on to the job for Ross and Bannister’s. Miss Broom
haunts the typewriter and frightens anyone who uses it with the word QWERTYUIOP and
others. Lucy manages to overcome the problem and sends Miss Broome away with a new task
which is to help the late Mr. Bannister up there (in the after-life/in heaven).

THEMES
 Determination
 Letting go
 Strong will

MORAL VALUES
 If we want something, we must work to make it a reality.
 We must know when to let go of something if it is not ours anymore.

CHARACTERS
 Main character: Lucy Beck
 Minor characters:
1. Harry Darke
2. Miss Broome
3. Lucy’s mother
4. Lucy’s uncle, Uncle Bert
5. Miss Price
6. Mr. Ross

PLOT
 EXPOSITION – Lucy starts working in Ross and Bannister’s as a secretary. Harry Darke
gives her hints of the haunting of the typewriter by Miss Broome but she does not realise
it at first.

 CONFLICT – Lucy types her letter but she is confused that her letter has words that are
not typed by her.

 CLIMAX – Lucy retypes her letter but is challenged by Miss Broome who asks her to
leave and even threatens her. Lucy fights with it by using correcting liquid to clean off
words typed by Miss Broome.

 FALLING ACTION – Lucy learns about Miss Broome and her haunting of the
typewriter. She knows how Uncle Bert would have felt.

 RESOLUTION – Lucy types and talks to Miss Broome and convinces her to leave this
world peacefully and go to other world. Lucy manages to keep her job in Ross and
Bannister’s.

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THE FRUITCAKE SPECIAL by Frank Brennan
SYNOPSIS
The Fruitcake Special is the story if the effects of a perfume on men. It was accidentally created
by Anna, a chemist who works at the Amos Cosmetics factory in New Jersey, USA. When Mr.
Amos senses the perfume worn by Anna, he feels he is in love with Anna and so invites her out
for dinner. That evening when they are out on their date, at first he does not behave like a man in
love and Anna is surprised and upset. When she dabs the fruitcake perfume again, Mr. Amos and
a waiter become attracted to her and both make declarations of love to her. The situation
becomes chaotic when a fight ensues between two men. Anna leaves the restaurant and the
factory and ends up with Armstrong, the pizza boy.

THEMES
 Illusion vs. Reality
 Be realistic in life
 Appearances can be misleading

MORAL VALUES
 We should not fall for physical appearance.
 We must not be too proud of our looks.
 We must not look down on other people.

PLOT
 EXPOSITION – Anna accidentally creates a fruitcake perfume and dabs it on. Mr Amos
becomes attracted to her when he gets near her. Anna is very surprised at this sudden
interest.

 CONFLICT – During dinner, Mr. Amos does not show his interest as he has been in the
morning. Anna dabs on the fruitcake perfume in the ladies’ room.

 CLIMAX – Mr. Amos suddenly becomes interested in Anna and makes declarations of
love to her. A waiter also does silly things to attract Anna’s attention. A fight starts
between Mr. Amos, the waiter and Sabrina, Mr. Amos’ girlfriend. Anna realises it is the
effects of the fruitcake perfume.

 FALLING ACTION – Anna wants to find the ‘special something’ in the fruitcake but is
unable to as the woman who sold the fruitcake has already died.

 RESOLUTION – Anna quits her job from Amos Cosmetics and she settles for the pizza
delivery man, Armstrong, who has his own pizza company.

CHARACTERS
 Main characters
1. Anna, the narrator
2. David Amos, owner of Amos Cosmetics

 Minor characters
1. Anna’s mother

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 2. Anna’s Aunt Mimi
3. Waiter at the restaurant
4. Sabina, David Amos’ girlfriend
5. Armstrong, the pizza delivery man

POINT OF VIEW
 First person point of view

TONE, MOOD, ATMOSPHERE

 Light-hearted and humorous
 Comedic and entertaining

LANGUAGE AND STYLE

 Simple and easy to understand the language

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He Had Such Quiet Eyes by Bibsy Soenharjo
He had such quiet eyes
She did not realise
They were two pools of lies
Layered with thinnest ice
To her, those quiet eyes
Were breathing desolate sighs
Imploring her to be nice
And to render him paradise
If only she’d been wise
And had listened to the advice
Never to compromise
With pleasure-seeking guys
She’d be free from ‘the hows and whys’
Now here’s a bit of advice
Be sure that nice really nice
Then you’ll never be losing at dice
Though you lose your heart once or twice

SYNOPSIS
This poem is about a lady who falls in love with the wrong man. She is fascinated with his eyes
that seem to lure him to give him paradise. The man has a pair of quiet eyes that she does not
realise they are not that quiet. As she is ‘charmed’ by the eyes, she does not listen to the advice
given by other people who are concerned with her behaviour. In the end, she realises her
mistakes and is broken hearted.

THEME
 Betrayal of love
 Personal experiences
 Relationships that are meaningful

MORAL VALUES
 Don’t be naive and believe everything we are told especially in matters of the heart.
 Be wise when choosing friends.
 Falling in love is normal but one should be careful.
 We must learn from the experience of other people.
 We should be very careful not to give in our principle in order to please other people.

TONE, MOOD, ATMOSPHERE

 Reflective
 Sad and happy
 Sympathetic

POINT OF VIEW
 Second and third person points of view

LANGUAGE & STYLE

 Simple and easy to understand
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  Simple style with rhyming scheme

MEANING OF WORDS
 sighs – long, deep audible breaths
 eyes – a pair of organs of sight
 advice – guidance
 desolate – unhappy and uninhabited
 pleasure-seeking – looking for a feeling of happy satisfaction
 dice – a small cube with each side having a different number ranging from 1 to 6
 layered – arranged in layers
 lies – intentional false statements
 realise – become aware
 compromise – agree
 paradise – heaven
 render – provide or give help
 imploring – begging desperately
 wise – having knowledge and good judgement

In The Midst of Hardship by Latif Mohidin

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At dawn they returned home They were born amidst hardship
their soaky clothes torn and grew up without a sigh or a complaint
and approached the stove now they are in the kitchen, making
their limbs marked by scratches jokes while rolling their cigarette leaves
their legs full of wounds
but on their brows
there was not a sign of despair

The whole day and night just passed

they had to brave the horrendous flood
in the water all the time
between bloated carcasses
and tiny chips of tree barks
desperately looking for their son’s
albino buffalo that was never found

SYNOPSIS (OVERALL)
This poem is about a family who faces hardship whereby their son’s albino buffalo is nowhere to
be found. A flood occurs and they go out to find the buffalo. They reach home early in the
morning without the buffalo and yet there is no sign of despair in them. Meanwhile, they can still
crack jokes and roll the cigarettes.

SYNOPSIS (ACCORDING TO STANZA)

STANZA 1
They returned home at day break and headed for the stove. Their clothes were soaking wet and
tattered. Their bodies were covered with scratches and wounds. Yet, they did not display any
signs of being worried.

STANZA 2
They were out in the flood the whole day and night. They were surrounded by dead animals and
parts of trees that had been destroyed by the flood. They searched desperately for their son’s
albino buffalo but were unable to find it.

STANZA 3
They were born into poverty and difficulty, but they do not complain about their suffering.
Instead, they sit in the kitchen, cracking jokes while smoking cigarettes.

SETTING
The setting of the poem is in the house.

THEMES
 Being resilient when facing hardship
 Family love
 Acceptance of way of life

MORAL VALUES
1. We should learn to accept problems in life with a positive outlook.
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 2. We must attempt to face and solve problem.
3. Facing hardship is part and parcel of life.
4. If we face a problem, do not feel despair.

TONE, MOOD, ATMOSPHERE

 Understanding and sympathetic
 Acceptance of situation

POINT OF VIEW
 Third person pint of view.

LANGUAGE & STYLE

 Language is simple and easy to understand.
 The style is simple with no rhyming scheme.

POETIC DEVICES
 Imagery – Gives picture of poet’s thoughts e.g ‘soaky clothes torn’ and ‘legs full of
wounds’
 Alliteration – e.g. ‘but on their brows’
 Symbols – e.g. ‘horrendous flood’ and ‘bloating carcasses’
 Diction – e.g. ‘stove’ and ‘brows‘

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