Short story: The Canterville Ghost

Objective & content

The funny ghost story by Oscar Wilde (1887), retold at A2+. The language is simplified, the story is not: every trick and the ending are Wilde's. An American family buys Canterville Chase, an old English house with a ghost, and nobody is afraid of him. Washington cleans the bloodstain with his stain remover, Mr Otis politely offers oil for the noisy chains, and the twins play trick after trick on the poor ghost. Only Virginia, fifteen, feels sorry for him, and she helps him find peace at last. By the end, pupils can follow a story of about 1,600 words, explain why things happened in it, and use three verb forms from the story.

Pedagogical guide

The story runs over four pages, set like a novel, with one drawing on each page. Page 5 holds the tasks. Six choice and true or false questions check the story. "Find the clues" sends pupils back into the text: why the bloodstain came back every morning (and once in green), why the ghost screamed at the Otis Ghost, why Virginia went into the Tapestry Room, and how the family knew that the ghost was forgiven. A box gives three verb forms from the story (the past simple, will for an offer or a promise, have + past participle), then pupils complete four sentences from the story with them. In the last task, pupils work in pairs: they are Washington, and they write a short letter to a friend in America about the house and its ghost. Page 6 is the answer key with the teacher notes.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Ask "Are you afraid of ghosts? What do ghosts do in stories?"
2. (20 min) Read the story aloud, or pupils read in pairs. Stop after "I'm going to teach them a lesson," and ask "What do you think he is going to do?" Stop again after "the Tapestry Room was empty." and ask "Where did Virginia go?"
3. (10 min) Pupils answer the choice questions, then the "Find the clues" questions; check together.
4. (10 min) Pupils read the box and complete the four sentences.
5. (10 min) In pairs, pupils write Washington's letter home, then read some aloud.

Adaptations

[S] Read the story over two lessons, two pages at a time, and go through the words they may need first (ghost, bloodstain, chains, corridor, sheet, tapestry). Pupils can answer the choice questions and two of the clues only.

[A] Pupils retell one night of the story from the ghost's point of view: the oil, the pillow or the Otis Ghost.

Materials & prerequisites

One copy per pupil, in colour or black and white: pages 1 to 5 are for pupils, page 6 is the answer key. Pupils should know the past simple of common irregular verbs.