Short Story : Cheat !

by Allan Baillie
Synopsis
About two students and their attitude to peer achievements and relationships. The short story
competition is won by Geoff and he wins the Holmes-Watkins Medal. Lynne’s story is placed
second and she feels disappointed. She learns to accept her failure and decides to let go. Then,
she comes across a short story of write William Bradburie. Geoff’s story of a circus elephant’s
escapade in the park is similar to Bradburie’s story. Immediately, Lynne assumes that Geoff has
cheated and did not write his own story. She is in dilemma as to whether and how she should
expose Geoff. The consequences may be too drastic for Geoff. During the class discussion on
careers, Lynne holds back exposing Geoff but later she inadvertently mentions the name
Bradburie and notices Geoff’s reaction. A few minutes later, she is called into Headmaster
Velos’ office and Geoff is ther too with the Holmes-Watkins Medal. Mr Velos explains that
Geoff feels he might have taken his story from Bradburie’s collection. So, he decides to reverse
the results and Lynne wins the prize. But, Lynne is unhappy with the way the situation has
turned out. She begins to have doubts about her own story.

Setting
Place : Lynne’s school and home.
Time : Modern day and the events happen within a few days.
Place&What happens
The school hall
The results of the short story competition are announced by the headmaster.
Lynne’s bedroom
Lynne reads a book of short stories by William Bradburie.Lynne’s
classroom
Matheson, the form master, starts a discussion on the student’s choice on career.The
Headmaster’s office
Mr Velos presents the Holmes-Watkins medal to Lynne since her story is more original.

Themes
School life–friends, teachers, success, and jealousy are common aspects of school life.
Competitiveness–positive spirit to compete with others.
Honesty–being honest in every aspect of life as honesty is the best policy.
Friendship–Lynne, Geoff, and Marge are good friends despite have different characteristics.

Point of View
Third person point of view.
Expressing the feelings and thoughts of the characters.
Tone, Mood, and Atmosphere
Anxiety
Serious
Suspenseful

Language and Style

Simple and straight forwardlanguage.
Easy to comprehend.
The story focuses on one of the main characters, Lynne, and readers are able to visualize her
thoughts and feelings.

Characters and Characteristics

Main characters : Lynne Webbings and Geoff Bolder
Minor characters : Mr Velos, Marge, and Matheson
Character, General Information &Characteristic

Lynne Webbings
Classmates with Geoff and Marge
Wrote a story about a sheepdog in a flood
Liked to play basketball
Hardworking–put a lot of time and effort in writing a good story for the competition
Gracious–congratulated Geoff for winning the competition although she is disappointed
Good friend–did not want to get Geoff into trouble

Geoff Bolder
Classmates with Lynne AndMarge
Wrote a story about a circus elephant running loose in Albert Park
Wanted to be a barrister
Humorous and friendly–liked to joke and had many friends
Ambitious–wanted to be a barrister so he could earn more money
Valued friendship–remained friends with Lynne

Mr Velos
The headmaster
Apologetic
Fair

Marge
Classmates with Lynne and Geoff
Ambitious
Brave

Matheson
The form teacher
Supportive
Plot

Exposition: Lynne waits impatiently for Headmaster Velos to announce the results of the short
storycompetition. He announces Geoff as the winner of the short story competition with Lynne
inthe second place. Lynne is disappointed but hides her feelings as he congratulated Geoff.

Rising action: Lynne keeps her short story and puts aside her disappoinment and carries on
with her schoolwork.She concentrate on making to the school basketball team. She even enjoys
Geoff's joke about how the headmaster chose the winner.

Climax: Lynnes comes across Bradburie's story about an elephant which escaped in a park. She
assumes that Geoff had cheated by copying this story. She debates on whether to tell Headmaster
Velos and how to do it. She decides not to do or say anything about it.

Falling action: After a class discussion on careers, Lynne mentions the name, Bradburie in a
suddenburst of anger. Lynne notices that Geoff looks disturbed and feels that sooner or later the
truth will be out. Lynne is called to the headmaster's office. Geoff is there too and the medal is
on a Bradburie's book on the table.

Resolution: Headmaster Velos tells Lynne that Geoff feels his story of the elephant is based on
a story he read three years ago. As such his story may not be original and so the results of the
competition is to be reversed. Geoff is not disqualified but Lynne's story is now accepted as the
first-place winner. This is unexpectedand Lynne feels cheated as it is an emptyvictory. Then, the
story ends with a twist as Lynne begins to wonder whether she has read any story about a
sheepdog.

Literary and Figurative Device

Rhetorical questions-'But who would tell Velos?'
Repetition-'Shut up..shut up'
Personification-'the words as they lay on his tongue '
Simile-'swallow the bitter taste from her mouth'–trying to accept something that is very
unpleasant
Diction-'next timeuse heavier paper'; 'he seemed to be drifting away '
Comparison-'everything tasted of cardboard'-comparison of food and cardboardindicating that
the food is tasteless

Moral Values
We must not be afraid to have a healthy competition with others in order to improve ourselves
to become a better person.
We must be honest in everything we do as honesty is the best policy in life.
We need to learn to put aside anger or any dissatisfaction so that we will not cause conflicts.
We must learn to have faith in people especially friends and avoid being judgemental.