Tryst post-viewing activities

Activity 1. Vocabulary study - use a dictionary to define the following words.
cad: seemingly/apparently charming
wits: ? by his brain
woo: seduces
fleece: steal
desert:
drop names: pretending
fabricate: inventing
pull off:
seamstress:
milliner:
plain-looking:
feigns: pretends to be surprise
taken aback:
reel in:
blandishments:
blanch:
comsummate:
brooch: a jewel

Activity 2. Plot: put the events in the proper sequence.
Plot
Act I
4____ A. Georgia(?) and Adelaide talk in separate monologues - George describes his role as a gigolo and Adelaide talks about her inheritance.
9____ B. The next day they meet in the park and things happen fast - Georgia(?) declares his love, asks for her hand in marriage, and she accepts without much questioning.
7____ C. The next day, George bumps into her by chance and invites her to lunch as he plays the perfect gentleman.
2____ D. He says that his suits are attractive to women.
6____ E. George enters the shop behind her and asks about the green hat in the window - the seduction of Adelaide has begun.
10____ F. They are married in a coastal resort, book into a hotel, play cards the whole night long but do not make love because Adelaide carries a lot of emotional baggage from the past.
8____ G. Adelaide is touched and accepts his invitation.
1____ H. We first meet George who tells us he wears expensive clothes, just like those worn by the upper class of England.
5____ I. The action really starts with George walking down Edgeware Road and coming face to face with Adelaide outside the clothing shop.
3____ J. We meet Adelaide who tells us she works in the back room of a clothing store as a milliner.

Act II.
7____ A. She dreams about opening a clothing store together; it would be the perfect fit for them.
4____ B. George makes excuses and convinces Adelaide to take a bath.
2____ C. Saying he has a headache, George does not go to the post office with Adelaide, but returns to the room, hoping to escape with the money and brooch.
10____ D. Unfortunately for her George does the unthinkable.
8____ E. George hesitates, Adelaide prepares to leave, he tries to get her money back, and he becomes angry.
5____ F. Adelaide realizes her brooch is not there and confronts George about his lies, telling him to stop pretending.
6____ G. She takes on an assertive role: she wants to stay with him rather than her parents and proposes a plan to him.
3____ H. But for some unknown reason, George returns to the room to leave the brooch and as he is leaving a second time comes face-to-face with Adelaide.
9____ I. Adelaide decides to stay when she learns about George's troubled past.
1____J. After Adelaide wakes up, she and George head to the bank to withdraw her inheritance and she writes a letter to her family.

Activity 3. Writing and discussion: in small groups.
The elements of plot, theme, character, setting, point of view and style contribute to the overall effect of the play:
What is the writer's purpose? to entertain? to be thought provoking? to state an opinion? to play on the reader's emotions?
What is the writer's tone? Is the writer being ironic? sarcastic? humorous? serious? tongue in cheek?
How does the story begin? Does the writer establish setting or emphasise the background of the situation? Is the character given more emphasis than the setting? How much detail is supplied?
How does the story develop? Is it told through a series of blocks moving rapidly through time and space, like flash backs and flash forwards? Is it being told chronologically?
How does the story end? With a twist or surprise? With a build up to an inevitable climax or are you left hanging, being forced to supply your own ending based on your reading of the little blocks of action the writer supplied?
Who tells the story? Is the story being told through the eyes of a character involved in the action? Is the author standing outside of the action and observing? Is the author observing but within the action?Check the use of the pronoun... if it is I, me, my, our, we then the author is a character within the story. The story is being told in the first person.If the pronouns are: he, she, it, hers, his, they, them, their the author is outside of the action and observing as if he/she was God. This is known as the Eye of God technique.Another way of telling a story is as a series of thoughts, each thought block building up an impression or action. The thoughts can be told in a logical order or as they seemingly occur to the character... at random. This is known as the stream of consciousness technique.
What is the language and style like? The impression the writer wants in the story will be affected by the language he/she tells the story in or has the characters use. The language is important to develop the character and action. The realism of the dialogue will influence our reading of the story and our attitudes to the characters involved.
What images are used? In order to rapidly develop a story the writer relies on the reader recognising particular symbols and references and understanding what he/she intends them to mean, eg. in Maurice Gee's story Schooldays (Maurice Gee - Collected Stories. Penguin Books) the lead character's red hair becomes a symbol for rebellion, challenge and freedom.
What are the characters like? The characters don't have to be fully developed. They need not have a name. They can be identified simply as "the boy", "the girl". "the mother." In other stories it is essential that the characters have fully developed personalities and motivations.
How important is the setting in conveying the ideas and mood of the story?

Activity 4. Work in groups of three and write a different ending to the play lasting approximatey 3 minutes.