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T e a c h e r’s n o t e s 1
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by H G Wells
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UPPER
S U M M A R Y INTERMEDIATE
his story was written by H G Wells, sometimes intellectual, and he lived in some style. He married twice
T called the ‘father’ of science fiction, in 1897. The
story takes place in an ordinary village among
and had a reputation as a womanizer. He moved in
socialist circles and used fiction to explore his political
ordinary people in the south of England about a hundred ideas.
years ago. One winter’s day, a strange figure arrives at the Contemporary political and social issues underlie the
inn in the small village of Iping. The landlady is pleased to plots of Wells’s stories. The War of the Worlds (1898) and
have a winter guest and makes sure he has everything he The Time Machine (1895) were attacks on the self-
needs. When the visitor takes off his hat and coat, satisfaction of society rather than genuine attempts to
however, the landlady is shocked. His head is completely predict the future. The Invisible Man (1897) marked a
covered in bandages. He becomes an increasingly move towards more realistic subject matter. Although the
difficult guest and it soon becomes clear that he has no idea of the invisible man is obviously a fantasy, the reader
money to pay his bill. meets him through the eyes of the ordinary villagers rather
When a burglary takes place in the village and the than the aliens of his earlier books. Wells often reaches
stranger is not in his room at the time, the suspicions of pessimistic conclusions in his work, as in this story, but he
the local people fall on him. His behaviour becomes wilder said that he was neither a pessimist nor an optimist, more
and more irrational, and the villagers begin to realize that an observer.
he is not all he seems. Then they make the shocking As he grew older, Wells wrote more and more social
discovery that under his bandages, the man is invisible. comment rather than science fiction. He drew on his own
He leaves the inn, creating terror wherever he goes. He experiences as a young man growing up in poverty. ‘Who
becomes more and more violent as he pursues his mad needs invented stories,’ as he wrote himself in 1933,
dream of power. The fights and chase scenes which ‘when day by day we can watch Mr Hitler in Germany?’
follow are comical. The ending, however, is tragic, with
Wells making the point that scientific discovery must not
be allowed to develop without social and ethical control. BACKGROUND AND THEMES
H G Wells called his science fiction stories ‘science
ABOUT H G WELLS romances’ or ‘grotesque romances’. They are a mixture of
the comic and the serious, the strange and the familiar.
Herbert George Wells was an important English writer in Although he was a scientist himself, he did not pretend
his own day and is remembered today as an innovative that he was predicting great scientific inventions or
writer in the new genre of science fiction. Born in 1866 he discoveries. Instead he was using science fiction as a
came from a poor background, which was unusual for a basis for exploring extremes of human behaviour. By
writer at that time. He won a scholarship to study science putting his characters in imaginary situations, he could
at university. With a first-class degree in biology, he briefly examine how they behaved when pushed to the limits of
became a teacher. His career in the classroom was ended experience. The invisible man finds himself with
by a sharp kick in the kidneys from an unhappy pupil, tremendous power to fight and flee, a power which he
which left him too unwell to continue teaching. He then uses with great delight. As he is invisible, no one can
lived on a small income from journalism and short stories, catch him, so there is no moral restraint on his actions.
until his literary career took off with his first science fiction
Wells himself paid tribute to the remarkable forecasts of
novel, The Time Machine, in 1895.
Jules Verne, another father of science fiction, who
Wells wrote with tremendous energy throughout his life, accurately predicted submarines, hot-air balloons and
producing many science-fiction stories, short stories, space travel. Wells likened his own stories to Mary
sociological and political books, autobiographical novels Shelley’s Frankenstein, another grotesque story where
and histories. He became very successful as a writer, man plays God.
perhaps because his work was both popular and
Science and scientific investigation were very important
At the beginning of The Invisible Man, we are not quite Chapters 18–22
sure whether to feel sympathy and pity for Griffin or hate 1 Put students into groups. Ask them to discuss what
and contempt. Until we learn about Griffin’s past when he they think of Griffin. Do they think he is totally bad or
do they feel some sympathy for him? Did they feel any
meets Dr Kemp, we may feel that Griffin is surrounded by
sympathy for him at the beginning of the story?
fools. The more we learn about him, however, the more he
fits the stereotype of the ‘Mad, Bad Scientist’ who will 2 Ask students to discuss what makes Griffin behave in
the way he does.
stop at nothing in his pursuit of his scientific goals. Dr
Kemp comes into the story as the ‘Good, Sane Scientist’, ACTIVITIES AFTER READING THE BOOK
whose personal morality is strongly against Griffin’s Put students into small groups. Ask them:
science without humanity.
(a) if they can think of good uses for invisibility – things
A classic film of The Invisible Man was made in 1933 in that would help the world and not harm it. Compare
the USA starring Claude Rains in the title role. ideas across the class.
(b) what they think H G Wells is trying to say in The
Invisible Man.
Communicative activities
The following teacher-led activities cover the same Glossary
sections of text as the exercises at the back of the reader,
and supplement those exercises. For supplementary 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
exercises covering shorter sections of the book, see the the back of the book. (Definitions are based on those in the Longman
photocopiable Student’s Activities pages of this Factsheet. Active Study Dictionary.)
These are primarily for use with class readers but, with the
Chapters 1–4
exception of discussion and pair groupwork questions,
carriage (n) a vehicle with wheels that was pulled by a horse in past
can also be used by students working alone in a self- times
access centre. coach (n) a closed vehicle with wheels that was pulled by horses in
past times
ACTIVITIES BEFORE READING THE BOOK growl (v) if a dog growls, it makes a deep, angry sound
Put students into small groups. Tell them that The Invisible inn (n) a small hotel, usually in the countryside
Man is about a scientist who has made himself invisible. invisible (adj) impossible to see
Ask them to discuss: Should science be limited by moral napkin (n) a small piece of cloth used for protecting your clothes
when you are eating
arguments? Should science continue to make parlour (n) a comfortable room in a house used especially for
developments in areas such as cloning (making a baby meeting guests in past times
from a single cell)? scythe (n) a tool with a long, curved blade, used for cutting grass and
other crops
ACTIVITIES AFTER READING A SECTION shilling (n) a piece of money used in the past in Britain
vicar (n) a priest in the Church of England
Chapters 1–4
Chapters 5–8
Put students into pairs. We already know that the main arrest (v) if the police arrest somebody, they take them away because
character in this story is invisible because of the title of they think they have committed a crime
the story. Ask students if they think the opening chapters bare (adj) without any clothes
would be more exciting if they didn’t already know the poker (n) a metal stick used for moving wood or coal in a fire
stranger was invisible? At what point in the story do sneeze (v) if you sneeze, air suddenly comes out of your nose in a
noisy way
students think they would guess and why?
tramp (n) somebody who has no job and no home and moves from
Chapters 5–8 place to place
visible (adj) able to be seen
Put students into groups. Tell them that they are putting
Chapters 14–17
this story on the stage. Ask them these questions: What
cabman (n) somebody who drives other people for a fee
would be the main problems when staging the burglary
colonel (n) a high-level position in the army or navy
scene and the furniture that goes mad? Can you suggest
cricketer (n) somebody who plays the game cricket
some solutions?
experiment (n) a scientific test done to find out or prove something
Chapters 9–13 revolver (n) a type of small gun
Put students into small groups. Ask them to think of a Chapters 18–22
axe (n) a tool used for cutting wood, with a long handle and metal
plan for catching the Invisible Man. Compare the groups’ head
plans as a whole-class activity. The class votes for the bloodhound (n) a large dog with a very good sense of smell
best plan.
Student’s activities 1
Photocopiable
The Invisible Man 3
These activities can be done alone or with one or more
other students. Pair/group-only activities are marked. 4
5
Activities before reading the book
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1 Read the introduction to the book on pages iv-vi. CHAPTERS 5–8
Answer these questions.
Chapters 5 & 6 UPPER
(a) What particular ability did H G Wells reveal in his
science-fiction works? 1 Answer these questions. INTERMEDIATE
(b) Why did he stop writing science fiction and start (a) What sounds do Mr and Mrs Bunting hear while
writing books based on his personal experience? the burglar is in the house? Make a list. Compare
(c) How does Wells try to make the idea of your list with another student’s list.
invisibility believable in this story? (b) Can you think of a way to trap an invisible
burglar? Make a plan.
2 Talk to another student. What would you see if an
invisible man 2 When Mr and Mrs Hall are in the stranger’s room, the
stranger makes the bedclothes fly, laughs loudly and
(a) went out in the snow?
chases Mrs Hall with a chair. How do you explain his
(b) swam in a river? behaviour?
Chapter 7
Activities while reading the book 1 Talk to another student.
In this chapter people run about and fall over each
CHAPTERS 1–4
other. How does this affect the mood (atmosphere) of
Chapter 1 the story?
Answer these questions. 2 The words in italics are in the wrong sentences. Put
(a) What details do we learn about the appearance of the them in the right places.
stranger in this chapter? Make notes. Compare your (a) In the dark parlour there is a sharp smell of
notes with a partner’s notes. bandages in the air.
(b) What do you think Mrs Hall finds most frightening (b) Mrs Hall doesn’t bring the stranger’s nose
about the stranger’s appearance? because she wants him to swear his bill first.
Chapter 2 (c) Mrs Hall asks the stranger not to pay.
Answer these questions. (d) The stranger takes the breakfast off his head and
gives Mrs Hall his false gas.
(a) What explanations do (i) Mrs Hall and (ii) Mr Henfrey
have for the stranger’s bandages? Chapter 8
(b) What two reasons does the stranger give for not Answer these questions.
being interrupted? (a) Why do you think the Invisible Man chooses a tramp
(c) Why does the stranger get angry with Mr Henfrey? to ask for help?
(b) The stranger says to Thomas Marvel, ‘An Invisible
Chapter 3 Man is a man of great power.’ What power does he
Talk with another student. have?
(a) What do you think the stranger is trying to do with all
his bottles? CHAPTERS 9–13
(b) You are a villager. You were watching when the Chapters 9 & 10
carrier’s dog bites the stranger. Tell a friend about it. Answer these questions.
Chapter 4 (a) On page 33 Mr Hall and Teddy hear the noise of
1 Make a list of adjectives and phrases from Chapter 4 something falling about followed by a sharp cry. What
that describe the stranger’s character. Compare your is it?
list with a partner’s. (b) Why does Mr Bunting say that everything is ‘quite
2 Work with a partner. One of you is Dr Cuss. The other right, quite!’?
is the stranger. Use Cuss’s description of his visit to (c) They hear Mr Bunting say, ‘I tell you, sir, I will not.’
the stranger on pages 15 and 16 to act out their What will he not do?
conversation.
(d) Why do they hear the parlour window being opened
and closed?