Unraveling the Elements of Short Story in Roald Dahl's Parson's Pleasure

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

Parson's Pleasure by

Roald Dahl

What do you already know about Roald Dahl?

Parson's Please

This story is a slow one in which the audience learns a valuable lesson about frauds and karmic justice. 

Roald Dahl lets you travel along with the main character, a deceitful man with ulterior motives for visiting old farmhouses. Money is the only thing on his mind and as a smooth talker he usually knows how to get what he wants. Except this time. 

Review the basic elements of a short story such as plot, setting, characters, point of view, theme, and conflict. Encourage students to share their own understanding of the elements.

Setting

The setting is the time and place where the story takes place. 

Ask students to describe the setting of the story and its significance in the development of the plot and characters.

In Parson's Pleasure, the setting is a rural English countryside during the 1950s.

Describe the setting in Parson's Pleasure

Setting

The setting is the time and place where the story takes place. 

Buckinghamshire

An old farm

Countryside

Ask students to describe the setting of the story and its significance in the development of the plot and characters.

In Parson's Pleasure, the setting is a rural English countryside during the 1950s.

Characters

Characters are the people or animals that the story revolves around.

Ask students to analyze the different characters in the story and their motivations. Encourage them to share their insights on how the characters interact with each other to move the plot forward.

In Parson's Pleasure, the main characters are a young man and a wealthy landowner.

Describe the characters from Parson's Pleasure

Characters

Mr. Boggis / The Reverend Cyril Winnington Boggis

Rummins

A stumpy man with a wide frog mouth and small shifty eyes. Owner of the farm.

Bert

A tall youth beside him who appeared to have something wrong with one eye. The son of Rummins. 

Claud

A shortish flat-faced man with a narrow corrugated brow and immensely broad shoulders. A friend of Rummins and Bert.

Ask students to analyze the different characters in the story and their motivations. Encourage them to share their insights on how the characters interact with each other to move the plot forward.

In Parson's Pleasure, the main characters are a young man and a wealthy landowner.

Point of View

The point of view refers to the perspective from which the story is told. 

Ask students to identify the point of view of the story and its significance in the development of the plot and characters. Encourage them to share their insights on how the point of view affects the reader's perception of the story.

In Parson's Pleasure, the story is told from a third-person point of view.

From whose POV is the story told?

Point of View

The point of view refers to the perspective from which the story is told. 

Third Person POV

Ask students to identify the point of view of the story and its significance in the development of the plot and characters. Encourage them to share their insights on how the point of view affects the reader's perception of the story.

In Parson's Pleasure, the story is told from a third-person point of view.

Theme

The theme is the underlying message or meaning of the story.

In Parson's Pleasure, the theme revolves around the consequences of greed and deception.

Describe 2 themes in Parson's Pleasure and explain why

Theme

Manipulation & Deception

Greed

Naivety 

In Parson's Pleasure, the theme revolves around the consequences of greed and deception.

Now, discuss the questions

Discuss the questions with the text as if you are doing your oral exam. 

Decide together in groups of 4 which answer(s) fits best.

Write those answers down and hand them in

with your names included after 20 minutes.