The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Mark Haddon)

Summer holidays are just round the corner. In a few days you'll have a lot of time, so I'd like to share with you a chapter of one of my favourite books. If you like it, I strongly recommend reading the whole book, because it's great.

It also gives you some advice about writing mystery novels, which could be useful for writing a newspaper report about a crime, for example.... ;)

Anyway, here it goes. 

This is a murder mystery novel. 

Siobhan said that I should write something I would want to read myself. Mostly I read books about science and maths. I do not like proper novels. In proper novels people say things like, "I am veined with iron, with silver and with streaks of common mud. I cannot contract into the firm fist which those clench who do not depend on stimulus." What does this mean? I do not know. Nor does Father. Nor does Siobhan or Mr. Jeavons. I have asked them. 

Siobhan has long blond hair and wears glasses which are made of green plastic. And Mr. Jeavons smells of soap and wears brown shoes that have approximately 60 tiny circular holes in each of them. 

But I do like murder mystery novels. So I am writing a murder mystery novel. 

In a murder mystery novel someone has to work out who the murderer is and then catch them. It is a puzzle. If it is a good puzzle you can sometimes work out the answer before the end of the book. 

Siobhan said that the book should begin with something to grab people's attention. That is why I started with the dog. I also started with the dog because it happened to me and I find it hard to imagine things which did not happen to me. 

Siobhan read the first page and said that it was different. She put this word into inverted commas by making the wiggly quotation sign with her first and second fingers. She said that it was usually people who were killed in murder mystery novels. I said that two dogs were killed in The Hound of the Baskervilles, the hound itself and James Mortimer's spaniel, but Siobhan said they weren't the victims of the murder, Sir Charles Baskerville was. She said that this was because readers cared more about people than dogs, so if a person was killed in a book, readers would want to carry on reading. 

I said that I wanted to write about something real and I knew people who had died but I did not know any people who had been killed, except Mr. Paulson, Edward's father from school, and that was a gliding accident, not murder, and I didn't really know him. I also said that I cared about dogs because they were faithful and honest, and some dogs were cleverer and more interesting than some people. Steve, for example, who comes to the school on Thursdays, needs help to eat his food and could not even fetch a stick. Siobhan asked me not to say this to Steve's mother. 

Do you like it? If you are interested, below you can find the whole text to read in your e-book. 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

WRITING: FUTURE PLANS

This term we have continued studying more tenses. We have paid particular attention to the future (be going to and simple future with will), first type conditionals and modal verbs, but that doesn't mean that you have to forget about present simple, present continuous, present perfect, past simple and past continuous. Here you have an example of how to combine all of them, even when writing about the future:
 

I have a lot of of plans. When I was a child, I was always dreaming of getting older and travelling around the world. I wanted to be a tourist guide, because in that job I could discover a lot of wonderful places. Now, I'm working as a teacher, but I still have many plans. 

I love my job, especially with such nice (and hardworking) students as you. However, sometimes I feel that I need a break. People say that the best thing of being a teacher is the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays. For me it's not the best, but it's quite good. This Easter I'm travelling to the North of Spain. I haven't decided where yet, but probably to Galicia or Cantabria. After that, in summer I'm going to go to France. I'm going to drive my car and discover a lot of interesting and charming little villages. I'm sure that I will have a fantastic time there.  Everything will be as great as the time I stayed in Ireland, which is my most memorable trip.

Another thing that I love doing in my free time is crafts. My flat is full of things that I have created over the years. I have so many objects that I think I will have to move to another house soon. But I don't want a huge mansion. It should be bigger than the tiny flat where I live now. Besides, it must have a luminous and ample study where I can put many shelves for my books and where I can correct my students' excellent exams. And if it has a lovely garden with trees and flowers, it will be just perfect. 

This is only a part of my plans. I could continue for a long time, but I don't want you to get bored. As you can see, these are not extraordinary plans. They are as simple as me, but I enjoy the little things in life. What about you? Do you have any big plans for your future? If you put your mind to it, I'm sure that you will achieve almost anything that you want.


Now it's your turn. 

If you have noticed, in addition to all the tenses that we have studied, I have also used comparatives and superlatives.


Remember to divide your writing into at least 3 PARAGRAPHS: introduction, body and conclusion. And use connectors. 

Finally, don't forget to REVISE and correct possible grammar and spelling mistakes.

Good luck with your plans! I'm eager to read about all of them! 

 

I have a lot of dreams. When I was a kid my dream is to be a pilot, and as the time goes by, I have other dreams, sometimes, I want to be a president, an army, doctor and other interesting dreams. But now I have grown up, now I know what I want to be. Now, i almost finish my studies in university. I will obtain Bachelor of Science Information. After I graduate, I want to work in one of the biggest oil company such as Chevron, Petronas, Exxon, etc. I want to be the staff manager or manager at least. I prefer working offshore because it gives me challenge to work over there plus they will pay me higher than work in the office. All of this is just the beginning of my dreams. After I work for 4 or 5 years, i will have a lot of money by that time, i will quit my job and start a business. I will buy 3 or 4 shops and run my shops and have another business such as futsal court or restaurant and anything that have a good prospect. By that way I will make more money comparing than I work in the company. After I run my business, I am going to marry a beautiful woman. I will start to make a family and planned to have 2 children which are a boy and a girl. I will live in a big house which having a garden outside or maybe a pool so my children can play inside my yard because, if my children play outside, it will be a little risky. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to my family. And maybe if I have spare money, I want to take my family to Makkah for ’umrah’ or ‘hajji’. I think that is all I can say about my dreams. It is just a simple dream for a simple man like me.

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I have a lot of dreams. When I was a kid my dream is to be a pilot, and as the time goes by, I have other dreams, sometimes, I want to be a president, an army, doctor and other interesting dreams. But now I have grown up, now I know what I want to be. Now, i almost finish my studies in university. I will obtain Bachelor of Science Information. After I graduate, I want to work in one of the biggest oil company such as Chevron, Petronas, Exxon, etc. I want to be the staff manager or manager at least. I prefer working offshore because it gives me challenge to work over there plus they will pay me higher than work in the office. All of this is just the beginning of my dreams. After I work for 4 or 5 years, i will have a lot of money by that time, i will quit my job and start a business. I will buy 3 or 4 shops and run my shops and have another business such as futsal court or restaurant and anything that have a good prospect. By that way I will make more money comparing than I work in the company. After I run my business, I am going to marry a beautiful woman. I will start to make a family and planned to have 2 children which are a boy and a girl. I will live in a big house which having a garden outside or maybe a pool so my children can play inside my yard because, if my children play outside, it will be a little risky. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to my family. And maybe if I have spare money, I want to take my family to Makkah for ’umrah’ or ‘hajji’. I think that is all I can say about my dreams. It is just a simple dream for a simple man like me.

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I have a lot of dreams. When I was a kid my dream is to be a pilot, and as the time goes by, I have other dreams, sometimes, I want to be a president, an army, doctor and other interesting dreams. But now I have grown up, now I know what I want to be. Now, i almost finish my studies in university. I will obtain Bachelor of Science Information. After I graduate, I want to work in one of the biggest oil company such as Chevron, Petronas, Exxon, etc. I want to be the staff manager or manager at least. I prefer working offshore because it gives me challenge to work over there plus they will pay me higher than work in the office. All of this is just the beginning of my dreams. After I work for 4 or 5 years, i will have a lot of money by that time, i will quit my job and start a business. I will buy 3 or 4 shops and run my shops and have another business such as futsal court or restaurant and anything that have a good prospect. By that way I will make more money comparing than I work in the company. After I run my business, I am going to marry a beautiful woman. I will start to make a family and planned to have 2 children which are a boy and a girl. I will live in a big house which having a garden outside or maybe a pool so my children can play inside my yard because, if my children play outside, it will be a little risky. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to my family. And maybe if I have spare money, I want to take my family to Makkah for ’umrah’ or ‘hajji’. I think that is all I can say about my dreams. It is just a simple dream for a simple man like me.

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My name is Rivozanov. I have a lot of dreams. When I was a kid my dream is to be a pilot, and as the time goes by, I have other dreams, sometimes, I want to be a president, an army, doctor and other interesting dreams. But now I have grown up, now I know what I want to be. Now, i almost finish my studies in university. I will obtain Bachelor of Science Information. After I graduate, I want to work in one of the biggest oil company such as Chevron, Petronas, Exxon, etc. I want to be the staff manager or manager at least. I prefer working offshore because it gives me challenge to work over there plus they will pay me higher than work in the office. All of this is just the beginning of my dreams. After I work for 4 or 5 years, i will have a lot of money by that time, i will quit my job and start a business. I will buy 3 or 4 shops and run my shops and have another business such as futsal court or restaurant and anything that have a good prospect. By that way I will make more money comparing than I work in the company. After I run my business, I am going to marry a beautiful woman. I will start to make a family and planned to have 2 children which are a boy and a girl. I will live in a big house which having a garden outside or maybe a pool so my children can play inside my yard because, if my children play outside, it will be a little risky. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to my family. And maybe if I have spare money, I want to take my family to Makkah for ’umrah’ or ‘hajji’. I think that is all I can say about my dreams. It is just a simple dream for a simple man like me.

Copy the BEST Traders and Make Money : http://bit.ly/fxzulu

My name is Rivozanov. I have a lot of dreams. When I was a kid my dream is to be a pilot, and as the time goes by, I have other dreams, sometimes, I want to be a president, an army, doctor and other interesting dreams. But now I have grown up, now I know what I want to be. Now, i almost finish my studies in university. I will obtain Bachelor of Science Information. After I graduate, I want to work in one of the biggest oil company such as Chevron, Petronas, Exxon, etc. I want to be the staff manager or manager at least. I prefer working offshore because it gives me challenge to work over there plus they will pay me higher than work in the office. All of this is just the beginning of my dreams. After I work for 4 or 5 years, i will have a lot of money by that time, i will quit my job and start a business. I will buy 3 or 4 shops and run my shops and have another business such as futsal court or restaurant and anything that have a good prospect. By that way I will make more money comparing than I work in the company. After I run my business, I am going to marry a beautiful woman. I will start to make a family and planned to have 2 children which are a boy and a girl. I will live in a big house which having a garden outside or maybe a pool so my children can play inside my yard because, if my children play outside, it will be a little risky. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to my family. And maybe if I have spare money, I want to take my family to Makkah for ’umrah’ or ‘hajji’. I think that is all I can say about my dreams. It is just a simple dream for a simple man like me.

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PANCAKE RECIPE

Here you have a video with one of my favourite recipes: pancakes:

Ingredients (for 8-10 pancakes)

- 180g flour
- 2 eggs
- 50 g melted butter
- 275 ml milk
- 50 g sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 3 tablespoons of baking powder
- honey
- oil

Steps

First, mix the eggs and  the sugar in a bowl. Add the melted butter and continue beating. Then, pour the vanilla and the milk and stir thoroughly. 
In another bowl, sieve the flour and baking powder and add a pinch of salt. Then, add this mixture to the other eggs-milk mixture and stir well until it is smooth (with no lumps).

Heat a frying pan, add some oil and spread it a paper towel. Pour the batter and cook both sides until they are golden brown. Take the pancake to a plate and continue repeating this process until you finish all the batter.

Finally, put some butter and honey on top of the pancakes and serve it. 

New words:

- thoroughly: completamente

- sieve: colar, tamizar

- lumps: grumos

- spread: extender

- batter: masa

How to make American pancakes

WRITING: A STORY

This term we have studied present and past tenses and vocabulary about places, feelings and achievements. Now it's time to put everything together into writing. 

Our topic is 

First of all, you need an IDEA, so, before starting writing anything that comes to your mind,ask yourself these questions:

When did it happen?
Where did it happen?
Who was there?
What were they doing?
What happened?
How did the people feel?
What happened at the end?

Now, answer the questions:

When did it happen? 2 years ago, one summer night.
Where did it happen? In my grandparents' house.
Who was there? My sister and my cousin.
What were they doing? They were playing board games.
What happened? The lights went off. We heard a strange noise.
How did the people feel? They got frightened.
What happened at the end? My grandmother arrived home. 

Once we have our idea, let's turn those sentences in a text with AT LEAST 3 paragraphs:

INTRODUCTION

BODY

CONCLUSION


You will also need to use CONNECTORS to link the sentences and make a coherent text.

WAYS TO BEGIN:

- Last ....
- ............ years ago
- On .......
- Once upon a time (the way to start tales in English)


WAYS TO INDICATE TIME:
- First, 
- Then,
- After that,
- Next
- Finally,
- At the end,


And now, everything together. START WRITING!

One summer night, two years ago, I was staying at my grandparents' house. My sister, my cousin and I were playing cards with my grandparents and we were losing. We are terrible at cards, and my granpa always wins!

Suddenly, the lights went off and my little cousin started crying. My sister, who is the oldest, hugged him and told him everything was right. Then, my grandfather went out of the house to check the neighbours' houses. He was away for 10 minutes, so my grandmother started getting worried. She decided to go out too and see if there was any problem. Ten minutes later we were still alone, and even my sister was worried. She said everything was fine, but I knew she was as frightened as me.

We stopped playing cards, and we were going  to go out to look for our grandparents when we heard a strange noise upstairs. It sounded like somebody walking very slowly. I was going to cry when the light came, and some seconds later I heard my grandfather's voice. My cousin ran towards my grandmother and my sister told my father that there was somebody upstairs. My father took an umbrella, held it like a baseball bat and went upstairs. When he got to the second floor, he stopped and we heard the noise again. There was somebody in the room! He opened the door and... an enormous black cat came out running! It was so frightening that even my grandfather was shouting. 

Finally, we realized that one of the windows was open, so the neighbour's cat had jumped in from the tree. It seems quite silly now that I think about it, but at that moment it was really scary.

That's it! Have we finished? 

NO!

Now, revise all the writing and make sure there are no mistakes. Remember to check:

- Spelling

- Grammar.

• Do all your sentences have a subject?
• Did you write your text using appropriate tenses?
• Do your subjects agree with the verbs (singular / plural) 
• Be careful with irregular plurals (remember, one person, but two people!)

- Can you make it even better including more vocabulary?

• Don't repeat always the same words, use synonyms and pronouns.

If you still have time before you have to give it back to the teacher. Leave it there. Maybe tomorrow you see some mistakes that you can't see today. 


After all this, you can say that you have finished and that your story is great!