Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro / English VII

Claudine Geraldine Rodríguez Ontiveros

Web
by John Wyndham
Chapters 1-2
Before you read
1. Look at the pictures in this book. What do you think the story is about? Where
do you think it takes place?

I think the story is about a millionaire man who discovered a rich island and decided to take
profit about that, but the native people hated him and tried to take him out far away. It takes
place in an island, maybe in Africa.

2. Check the word project in your dictionary. Which of the following words are
similar in meaning to project?

Activity, chapter, idea, plan.

3. Make sentences using these pairs of words.

I’m the manager of the new runaway project, it makes me feel so enthusiastic.
I spend all day studying about enantiomers because tomorrow I will have to deliver the
project of organic chemistry.

After you read

4. Answer these questions
- Why is the writer so enthusiastic about Lord Foxfield’s Project?

The writer lost his family in an accident and before it, he felt empty. But the project made him
feel as if he was waking from long sleep.

- Why is Lord Foxfield willing to support the Project?

He wanted people to remember him after his death.

- How does the writer meet Walter Tirrie?

His sister invited him to meet Walter at a dinner.

- What is Delgrange’s job as a part of the Project?

Help to make decisions about the best ways of organizing the society and prevent the
development of less satisfactory forms of organization. Document with the laws.

- They have difficulty finding suitable people to go in this original group. What
sort of people are attracted to this idea?
 Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro / English VII
Claudine Geraldine Rodríguez Ontiveros

Those who found it difficult to fit into the society.

5. Match the descriptions to the people.

Camila Cogent – Lonely and thoughtful

Jennifer Deeds – Calm and happy

Deborah Brinkley – Large and confident-looking

Charles Brinkley - Strong and capable

6. Explain the writer feelings when the photo was taken.

Sad. Everyone was filled with high hopes.

Chapters 3-4
Before you read
7. Check these words in your dictionary and make sure you understand them.
Put each word with another from the following list and make a sentence using
each pair. Use each word only once.

Biologist/Study
Jon is a famous biologist; he is interested in the study of aquatic bacteria.

Cliff/Island
I was spending my holidays in a Norwegian island when a risky boy fell from a cliff, fortunately
he didn´t die.

Patch/Mend
The mends of the patched jeans were so perfect that you could not even tell that it had been
damaged.

Raft/Float
I was surprised when I saw my sister bought a float that looked just as a raft. It was weird.

Tractor/Vehicle
An excellent vehicle used in the field is the tractor. Farmers love it.
 Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro / English VII
Claudine Geraldine Rodríguez Ontiveros

Volcano/Overlook
Justin was in Puebla as a tourist and he overlooked the Popocatepetl, a famous volcano in
the area.

Web/Spider
It is necessary a spider’s web in the Halloween party.

8. Which of the characters do you think will find life on the island most difficult?

Horace Tupple and Marilyn Slaight.

9. How do you think the children in the group will manage?

They won’t have an idea about what is happening. So they will act as their parents allowed
them.

After you read

10. Answer these questions
- Why does Horace Tupple leave the Project?

He was quite sure he had made a mistake going to Tanakuatua.

- Why doesn’t Walter listen to the writer’s concerns about building the new
society?

Walter’s view was that the developing society would create tis rules when they became
necessary and not before. He was difficult to talk to and spend a lot of time away from the
rest of the people.

- Why has Camilla joined the group?

She wanted to be useful. As a biologist, she was naturally interested in the idea of an island
that has had no people living on it for the last twenty years.

- What surprises Camilla as they approach the island?

The managed to get any islanders to come with them, so she spent time talking with islander’s
people.

- What are Camilla’s first thoughts about the white stuff on the trees?

It looked very strange.

 Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro / English VII
Claudine Geraldine Rodríguez Ontiveros

- Who notices the spiders?

Jennifer Deeds noticed the half a dozen brown patches. Camilla told them the white stuff was
a spider’s web and when she opened the handkerchief, knew all was about poisonous spiders.

11. Imagine the conversation between the writer and Camilla as their boat
approaches Tanakuatua and they see the island for the first time. With
another student, act out their conversation.

“It is much as you would expect of a place without any people to upset nature’s
development?”

“People don’t upset nature, they are themselves children of nature”

“Well let’s hope the project succeeds”

“I believe there’s a possibility that the Project succeed and become a powerful centre of
knowledge in a way that democracy will never allow”

Chapters 5-6
Before you read
12. What do you think the group will do next?

I think that first the group will find a safe place and then take a tour of the whole island.

13. Look at these words. If you don’t understand them, check in your dictionary.
Write a sentence for each word.

The crab lives in the ocean and the humans fish it for food.

The insecticide is used for kill the insects and protect us.

After you read

14. Are these sentences true or false?
- Camila thinks the spider’s behavior is unusual. TRUE
- The children saw two black men coming out of the trees that morning. TRUE
- Joe gives Camilla a gun. FALSE
- The spiders don’t like the insecticide. TRUE
- Walter tells Joe about the radio but he doesn’t believe him. FALSE

15. With other students, role-play the conversation between some of the group
and Walter, when they tell him they want to leave the island.
 Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro / English VII
Claudine Geraldine Rodríguez Ontiveros

“We saw them coming out of the trees this afternoon”

“What? How many of them?”

“Only two. And they disappeared again quickly, and about the spiders, this is bad. I demand
you to send a message to the ship to come back and pick us up”

“We can´t, the radio is damage”

“You damaged it because you don’t want anyone leaving!”

16. When they are captured, what do Arnold and Camila notice first about the
two men?

There were carrying long knives in their hands, they were no clothes except for small cloths
around their waists, simple shoes and belts.

17. What is strange about the bags?

The bags were moving and it was made of leaves.

18. What can they see from the top of the volcano?

A view of Tanakuatua, the island was covered with the grey web.

Chapters 7
Before you read
19. Check the words paradise and altar in your dictionary.

 Paradise: a place or condition of great happiness where everything is exactly as you

would like it to be
 Altar : a type of table used in ceremonies in a Christian church or in other religious
buildings

- What is your idea of paradise: my idea of paradise is a place where there are no
worries and I can be with the people I love.
- Where can you find an altar? In a church.

20. What do you think will happen now to Arnold and Camila? Do you think
islanders will help them?
 Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro / English VII
Claudine Geraldine Rodríguez Ontiveros

I think they will be prisoners of the islanders and they will have to find a way to escape from
them and go with the others to the settlement. On the other hand I do not believe that the
islanders help them but they can ask for answers about their existence on the island and more
importantly about the spiders that threaten their lives and that of others.

21. Do you think Arnold and Camila´s situation has improved? Why or why not?

No, I think that the islanders still have them as prisoners and surely the leader is telling them
why they are angry with their arrival and hopefully they will talk about the spiders and their
strange behavior.

After you read

22. Who asks these questions? Who are the speaking to?

- Why are they here at all? Arnold speaking to Camila

- Why did you come to Tanakuatua? Naeta speaking to Arnold and Camila
- What was this trick? Camila speaking to Naeta
- So it was you who damage the radio? Camila speaking to Naeta

23. What does Naeta say the spiders are doing?

Taking over the island because of the curse.

24. What Arnold and Camila do to protect themselves against the spiders?

They covered themselves with the juice of the plants that the islanders use to keep spiders
away.

25. What do they find at the settlement?

All the people of the settlement dead.

Chapters 8-9
Before you read
26. Arnold and Camilla must now try to get off the island. How can they do this?

Maybe they should swim as soon as they saw the boat in the sea or think about how to use
the bag they had each to save themselves in the sea and not be with the spiders on the island.

27. If you were in their situation what would you do first?

 Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro / English VII
Claudine Geraldine Rodríguez Ontiveros

First, I would look for a place to be safe and food. Later I would build a boat to leave the
island. If it is not possible to build the boat, it would cause a fire near my safe place so that
an airplane can see the smoke and send help.

28. Look up the word erupt in your dictionary and write a sentence to show that
you understand the meaning.

Meaning: to burst from limits or restraint. // to force out or release suddenly and often
violently something (such as lava or steam) that is pent up.

A big diplomatic row erupted as a result.

After you read

29. Answer these questions
- Why don´t they hear the aeroplane?

Because the noise of the tractor must have drowned the sound of their engines and
prevented from hearing them.

- What do the army officers thinks about Camilla and Arnold?

The officers think that they had some reasons for not wanting them to look the bodies closely
in the water. Both was without confidently.

- How does Lord Foxfield react to Camilla and Arnold´s story of what
happened on the island?

Lord Foxfield was very annoyed and when they were telling the story he interrupted
sometimes with cries as "terrible!" or "tch-tch". At the end, he said that they surely have the
form to prevent this tragedy. Also, he thinks that the island had been poisoned.

- What happens to Lord Foxfiled in the end?

The matter was settled out of court and Lord Foxfield was given his money back for the island
itself and for the cost of our transport and equipment.

- What eventual happens to Tanakuatua?

The news about the explosion of the volcano was denied at the same time as the news of the
bombs in Tokyo, Moscow and San Francisco, but it is known that there is no life in Tanakuatua.
 Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro / English VII
Claudine Geraldine Rodríguez Ontiveros

- Where is the last Little Sister found?

Somewhere on Peru. Camilla send in a bottle of spirit.

Writing
30. Lord Foxfield and Walter Tirrie wanted to start a new and better society on
Tanakuatua. Without the spiders, do you think their project had any chance
of succeeding? Explain why you would or would not to join such a project
and group of people.

No, I think the idea of Foxfield and Walter tries to erase our history. I definitely would not get
involved in the project. Personally, I would try to improve the place where I am right now.

31. Write about Web. Say why you think people should (or perhaps should not)
read this book. Do you think the book has a useful message in it?

People should read the Web book because it is easy to understand, it is a quick read and its
content is interesting. For me, the message it leaves is to believe in oneself, have
communication and not lose faith.

32. John Wyndham is more interested in ideas tan people. His characters do not
seem real, and so we do not care what happens to them. Do you agree?
Give reasons for your answer.

What an author does are two things: create real or unreal characters. It is valid that in the
stories of Wyndham the characters do not seem real. And about what happens next with
them, maybe an epilogue in the stories can help the reader get an idea of what happens after
the book. I am neutral in the situation.

33. This book was written in the late 1960s. How do you think the story would be
different if it were written today?

I think that if the project was carried out in the 21st century, it would have gone viral through
social networks and more people would come just for fun. Maybe it could even become a
reality show. Definitely the story would be different.

34. Do you feel sympathetic with the people of Tanakuatua? Why o why not?
What would you do if a foreign government had bought your country and
wanted you to leave it?

I do not feel empathy because I did not identify myself or loved any character. However, the
situation is very unfortunate. If another country compares Mexico, I would feel like in a new
colonization, with fear, anger and doubt.
 Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro / English VII
Claudine Geraldine Rodríguez Ontiveros

35. John Wyndham chose to write this story in the first person. What would be the
advantages or disadvantages of writing it in the third person?

The advantages of writing in the third person are: he is not limited to delving into the other
characters, so any character can express their emotions and thoughts, giving more depth and
less subjectivity. He can be everywhere and therefore, narrate everything that happens and
knows everything. He has a greater objectivity because describes the story from the outside.

It requires greater argumental complexity, that is, to uniformly tell all the plots in the story. In
addition, the author can write all the details he wants but the narration can lose strength if
we lose in the details, so his writing must be careful.