Penguin Readers Factsheets level

T e a c h e r’s n o t e s 1

The Dangerous Game

3

5
by William Harris
6

PRE-
INTERMEDIATE
S U M M A R Y
illiam Harris is a successful writer of Louis Alexander lives in London with his wife,
W detective stories. He is a widower, his Julia.
wife Julie having died twelve years before. He
only has one friend, Louis, who he plays chess
with every week. William is, in his own opinion,
BACKGROUND AND THEMES
not a very interesting person, but he has an
incredible secret. Every night he plays games The Dangerous Game starts out as a ghost
with a poltergeist who he has named Poldy. story, but turns into a tale of crime and
At first, the games are fun and Poldy is playful. punishment in the mould of the novel of that
But as time goes one, the games become less name by Dostoevsky. Like Raskolnikov, the
enjoyable and finally they are terrifying. main narrator of that story, William, has
committed a terrible crime and escaped
William is forced to admit that Poldy might be
punishment by society. But the knowledge of
the ghost of Julie, returned to punish him. He
the crime lives and festers inside the criminal
did, after all, murder Julie after twelve years of
and eventually drives him mad. Also like
marriage because he had become insanely
Dostoevsky’s hero, Williams’ world shrinks after
jealous of her friendships. There is a clear
the murder to his house and his one friend, and
parallel between the twelve years of his
then further to his bedroom, which the ghost
marriage, which started out in happiness and
actually locks at one point to prevent him
ended in murder, and the twelve years of his
leaving. Is William really haunted, or is it his
games with Poldy, which started out as fun and
imagination? He describes the way the ghost
have changed so that William fears for his life.
moves things around his room and breaks
His fears are well-founded. By the end of the things as if they really happened, but then in the
story, William is dead, leaving behind a morning, we are told, things are back to normal
manuscript which describes the games and and nothing is broken. Thus we are allowed to
contains his confession of murder. Was William believe that the whole haunting is imagination,
mad, driven to hallucinations by his guilt? Or until, that is, the final scene when the second
was he really haunted by the ghost of his narrator, Louis, finds William dead amongst the
murdered wife? The reader can decide. wreckage of his bedroom, killed, it seems, in the
same manner as his victim.
The moral of the story is clear. We may escape
ABOUT LOUIS ALEXANDER the condemnation and retribution of society for
an evil act, but we cannot escape our own
Louis Alexander was born in London in 1932.
conscience.
He graduated from London University in 1954
and then taught English as a Foreign Language
in a number of countries.
He has written a number of English language
courses including New Concept English, Look,
Listen and Learn, Follow Me, and Direct
English; practice books like For and Against,
and grammars such as the Longman English
Grammar.

© Pearson Education 2001


Penguin Readers Factsheets
T e a c h e r’s n o t e s
Communicative activities
The following teacher-led activities cover the same
sections of text as the exercises at the back of the
Reader and supplement those exercises. For
supplementary exercises covering shorter sections of
the book, see the photocopiable Student’s Activities
pages of this Factsheet. These are primarily for use
with class readers but, with the exception of the
discussion and pair/groupwork activities, can also be
used by students working alone in a self-access
centre.
ACTIVITIES BEFORE READING THE BOOK
Ask students to look through the pictures in the book
and to decide what kind of story this is – it is clearly
a ghost story. Then put students into small groups to
play a game. Each person has to choose one of the
pictures in the book and then describe it to the
others in the group. They must work out which
picture is being described.
ACTIVITIES AFTER READING A SECTION
Chapters 1–3
1 Put students into pairs. Ask students to compare
the two pictures on pages 7 and 9 and to find at
least 5 differences. Example: You can’t see
the photograph of the woman in the picture on
page 9.
2 Ask students to work in groups to think up
another game to play with Poldy. They must write
the rules. Elicit the games from each group and
decide which is the best.
Chapters 4–6
1 Ask students to work in groups to consider the
follow questions.
(a) Why does Poldy start to play bad games?
(b) Who is Poldy?
Elicit reasons and decide which is the best.
2 Ask students to work in pairs and to write the
story of one of the games from the point of view
of Poldy. Ask a few of the pairs to read out their
version.
Chapters 7–10
Ask students to work in groups. In Chapter 9 William
says ‘The game is like my life with Julie.’ Set these
tasks for the groups.
1 Make a list of the ways in which William’s
statement is true.
2 Explain why the game is like his life with Julie.
© Pearson Education 2001
level
3
ACTIVITIES AFTER READING THE BOOK
Choose one of the following tasks:
1 In the story, William admits to murdering his wife.
He says he did it because he was jealous of
Julie’s friends. Louis was one of Julie’s friends.
Put students into groups and ask them to imagine
that Louis murdered William because he (Louis)
found out that William murdered Julie! Put
students into groups to work out a different
ending to the story around this basic plot. How
did Louis set up the murder of William? Did he
get away with it? If not, how was he caught?
2 Dangerous Game is a ghost story. But can
students rewrite the ending to give a logical
explanation for everything that happened? Put
them into groups to try to think of a logical
explanation. Elicit the ideas and see if any of
them stand up to analysis.
Glossary
It will be useful for your students to know the following new words.
They are practised in the ‘Before You Read’sections of exercises at
the back of the book. (Definitions are based on those in the
Longman Active Study Dictionary.)
Chapters 1–3
appear (v) to begin to be seen
board (n) a flat piece of wood, plastic, etc that is used for a
particular purpose
character (n) all of the qualities that make a person, place or thing
different from any other
chess (n) a board game for two players in which you must trap your
opponent’s king in order to win
cord (n) a piece of thick string or thin rope
evil (adj) very cruel or harmful
ghost (n) the spirit of a dead person that some people believe they
can see or feel
haunt (v) if the spirit of a dead person haunts a place, it appears
there often
jealous (adj) feeling angry or unhappy because someone else has
something that you wish you
plug (n) the thing that you push into a wall to connect a piece of
electrical equipment to the electricity supply
poltergeist (n) a spirit that moves objects around and causes
strange noises
socket (n) the place in a wall where you can connect electrical
equipment to the supply of electricity
Chapters 4–6
breath (n) the air that comes out of your lungs when you breathe
breathe (v) to take air into your lungs and let it out again
curtain (n) a piece of hanging cloth that can be pulled across a
window
scratch (v) to rub a surface with something hard or sharp
wardrobe (n) a piece of furniture like a large cupboard which you
hang clothes in
Chapters 7–10
pillow (n) the soft object that you put your head on when you sleep
publish (v) if a book or a magazine, etc is published, it is printed
and made available for people to buy
truth (n) true facts about something
Publis hed and dis trib uted by Pearson Education
Factsheet written by Terry Philips
Fac tshe et se rie s dev elop ed by Lo uis e Jame s
Penguin Readers Factsheets level

Student’s activities 1

The Dangerous Game 2

Photocopiable 4
Students can do these exercises alone or with one or more
other students. Pair/group-only exercises are marked. 5

Activities before reading the book 6

Find these things in one of more picture in the book. (h)William’s was called Julie.
Use your dictionary to check your ideas. (i)Louis is William’s … . PRE-
(j)Listen! Can you hear that …? INTERMEDIATE
bedclothes bedside table bookcase
cat chess pieces curtains desk (k)William thinks part of his house is … .
ghost moon paper photograph pillow The key word is the name for the type of thing in
plug socket switch table lamp this story.
wardrobe window 3 Put these events from Chapter 2 in the correct order.
(a) He began to feel sleepy.
(b) He got a book and read it.
Activities while reading the book (c) He pulled the plug out of the socket.
(d) He pushed the plug back into the socket.
Chapters 1–3 (e) He put his book on the bedside table.
1 What do you find out about the writer of the book in (f) He sat quietly for some time with the light on.
Chapter 1? Complete the form: (g) He switched off the light.
(h) He switched on the light again.
(a) First name William (i) He switched the light on and off a number of
(b) Surname times.
(c) Status (tick one) Single: (j) He waited for some time.
Divorced: (k) He went to bed.
Widowed: (l) He went to sleep.
(m) Poldy was there.
(d) Wife’s name (if any)
(n) Poldy wasn’t there.
(e) Length of marriage (if any) (o) The light came on.
(f) Age 4 Can you remember how William replied to each of
(g) Occupation these questions and statements from Louis. Work in
(h) Hobbies and interests pairs. Think of a reply, then check in Chapter 3.
(i) Friends and relatives (a) It’s your move.
(b) You aren’t watching the game.
2 Complete the crossword using information in (c) There’s something on your mind.
Chapter 1 to find the key word: (d) Who is this … this Poldy?
(e) Poldy is a very unusual name, isn’t it?
(a) (f) What’s the matter, William? Your face is white.
(b) (g) Imagination can be dangerous.
(c) (h) Poldy is only a character in one of your stories.
(d) He isn’t real. He doesn’t exist.
(e) (i) You can’t move anywhere. I’m afraid you’ve lost
(f) the game.
(g) (j) I didn’t win. Poldy won.
(h)
(i) Chapters 4–6
(j) 1 Make phrases from Chapter 4 with one word from
(k) each column.
(a) If you like playing games and doing funny things, (a) secret (i) boy
you are … . (b) usual (ii) cat
(b) The room where the games happen. (c) clear (iii) coat
(c) The name of the thing in William’s room. (d) wooden (iv) darkness
(d) In some games you have to … a ball to another (e) foot (v) discovery
player. (f) soft (vi) door
(e) Football is a … . (g) little (vii)floor
(f) The adjective from clue i . (h) important (viii)game
(g) It might be a dead person who has come back to
(i) full (ix) game
life.

© Pearson Education 2001

 level
Penguin Readers Factsheets 3
Student’s activities

(j) dark (x) jokes (d) What happened when Poldy found him?
(k) fat, black (xi) knock (e) What did William hear some time later?
(l) wardrobe (xii)message (f) Where was the noise coming from?
(m) silly (xiii)moon Chapters 7–10
(n) old (xiv)shadows 1 Find 10 English words in the Wordsearch which are
(o) complete (xv)sign connected with Julie.
(p) bad (xvi)steps
You can read
2 Work in pairs. Make sentences about the events in
Chapter 4 with phrases from Exercise 1. j p i l l o w k
3 There are a lot of questions in Chapter 5. Complete f e s r o t c o d i
the questions. r a d e v o l
(a) In what way is a ‘good’game different from
i e v l e w t l
a …?
(b) Why did Poldy begin to play …? e m e m o r i e s e
(c) Why did Poldy want to …? n p i c t u r e s d
(d) Who is …?
d h e a r t s
(e) Is Poldy the ghost of …?
(f) Is Poldy just part of …? s f o r e v e r
(g) How could I … bad games? 2 Tell your partner your words and explain the
(h) Why don’t you sell your house and …? connection with Julie.
(i) … the socket? 3 Answer these questions in pairs.
(j) What … I do?
(a) What did William see in Chapter 8?
(k) What’s the … with you, William?
(b) What did he do?
(l) Have I tried to … Louis about Poldy?
(c) What happened as a result of William’s actions?
4 Complete these sentences about the game in (d) Why didn’t William put the plug back in and end
Chapter 6 with the correct preposition or adverb from the game?
the box in each case. (e) Why didn’t he leave the room?
across after at away before behind in (f) What did he see outside the window, and what
inside of off on onto round towards under did he do then?
up (g) What did he find when he finally got the plug into
the socket?
(a) Poldy surprised him … the beginning of the (h) What was ‘the shadow of death’?
game.
4 Is Louise certain about these things from Chapter 10,
(b) I heard a knock at the other side … the room.
or not? Tick each sentence that he is certain about
(c) Then he began to walk … my bed.
or put ? if he is not certain.
(d) He shook my bed … I put the plug in.
(a) William died on January 25 th 2000 .
(e) Suddenly I felt evil … the air.
(b) William died about an hour after going to bed.
(f) I covered my head with the bed clothes but a
(c) There was a knocking sound one day when they
hand pulled them … my bed.
were playing chess.
(g) The bed clothes flew … the room.
(d) William was crazy.
(h) I ran … them.
(e) William had a wonderful imagination.
(i) But when I tried to reach them, they moved …
(f) William murdered Julie.
from me.
(g) William loved Julie.
(j) I said ‘Please give me my bed clothes’ and they
(h) William was jealous of Julie.
flew … my bed.
(i) Julie died on January 25 th 1988.
(k) ‘Now’ I said ‘I’ll count … to ten and you can
(j) The phone was dead on the night of William’s
hide.’
death.
(l) While I was counting, I heard footsteps … me.
(k) William’s story is true.
(m) I turned … but there was nothing.
(l) William’s imagination killed him.
(n) Poldy was hiding – perhaps … my bed –
(m) William was frightened when he died.
(o) – or even … one of my pockets.
(n) There was the shape of a hand on the pillow.
(p) I tried to find him but in the end I sat … the chair
and went to sleep.
5 Work in pairs. Answer these questions about Activities after reading the book
information at the end of Chapter 6.
Work in groups. Write a summary of the story in 5
(a) Where did William hide first?
sentences. Read out your summary to the other groups
(b) Why did he leave that hiding place?
and then decide which one is the best.
(c) Where did he hide next?

Publishe d and d istribu ted by P ear son Ed ucat ion

Factsheet written by Terry Philips
© Pearson Education 2001
Fac tshee t s eri e s devel ope d by L ou ise J ames