Bri. Lit Presentation PDF

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MR. KNOW ALLDEADLINE:- By 5 pm T2 (29/11): nội dung- T2 (6/12): practice- T4 (8/12): presentation Introduction: Hoàn cảnh ra đời; Tác giả. Summary Sang + discussion 1 Elements: Plot Characterization Setting Tone (Mai) + discussion 2 Theme Point of view Irony Symbolism (Thi) + discussion 3 Discussion...

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MR. KNOW ALL DEADLINE: - By 5 pm T2 (29/11): nội dung - T2 (6/12): practice - T4 (8/12): presentation -

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Introduction: Hoàn cảnh ra đời; Tác giả. Summary Sang + discussion 1 Elements: + Plot + Characterization + Setting + Tone (Mai) + discussion 2 + Theme + Point of view + Irony + Symbolism (Thi) + discussion 3 Discussion + discussion 4,5,6 Powerpoint (giới thiệu + kết thúc) (Quyên) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONTENT (FOR PPT) I.

INTRODUCTION

“Mr. Know All” was written by W. Somerset Maugham in 1925. The main character is Mr. Max Kelada. The short story shows a message from the debate between Mr. Keleda with Mr. Ramsay about the authenticity of the necklace of Mrs. Ramsay. II.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR

WILLIAM SOMERSET MAUGHAM -

Place of Birth: Paris Born: 1874 Place of Death: Nice

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Died: 1965 Maugham’s work was in the tradition of critical realism. Sometimes, it contained elements of naturalism.

SUMMARY ● On a boat to Yokohama from San Francisco. The narrator had to share a cabin with a stranger on the ship. His name was Max Kelada. When the narrator met Mr. Kelada, he disliked Mr. Kelada immediately. There was another person on the ship, Mr. Ramsay who was going to Japan with his wife for his work. ● The conversation drifted to the subject of pearls that Mrs. Ramsay was wearing. Mr. Kelada asserted that it was a real one, and he bet a hundred dollars on it. Mr. Ramsay claimed that his wife had bought it for 18 dollars. ● When Mr. Know All was examining the pearls, he was appealed by Mrs. Ramsay's face which was begging Mr. Kelada to not reveal the truth about the pearls. Then, he admitted that he was wrong and that the chain of pearls was an imitation. He lost a hundred dollars. ● While the narrator and Mr. Know All were in their cabin, an envelope that contained a hundred-dollar bill from Mrs. Ramsay was put under the door. Eventually, the narrator was amazed at Mr. Kelada's generosity.

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Plot The unstable situation: Mr. Kelada and Mr. Ramsay got caught up in a heated argument over pearls. The rising action: This took place from when it was revealed that Mr. Kelada was actually in the pearl business, over to their 100-dollar bet on the value of Mrs. Ramsay’s pearl necklace, and up to the moment when Mr. Kelada inspected the piece of jewelry carefully to examine whether he was right or wrong. The climax: The pinnacle of the story rested on the moment when Mr. Kelada had to choose between making a fool out of himself or winning the bet triumphantly and ruining a relationship. The falling action: when Mr. Kelada admitted that he was mistaken. Setting

Setting of the time and social environment “The war had just finished and the passenger traffic in the ocean going liners was heavy.” => In the era after World War

Setting of place “It was bad enough to share a cabin for fourteen days with anyone,..” => In the cabin of the ship The settings for the unstable situation and the climax “One evening at dinner the conversation by chance drifted to the subject of pearls.” => In the evening => In the dining room at the ship's restaurant

Tone The language (tone) of the story is formal with bits and bits of sarcasm Characterization ★ The Narrator: A dynamic flat character ★ Mr. Kelada: A dynamic round character ★ Mr and Mrs. Ramsay: Static flat character

Theme The major theme of the story is prejudice. From the very first paragraph, the narrator expressed his negative feelings about the man with whom he must share a cabin on the ship. He disliked Mr. Kelada’s name, his belongings, his appearance, his manners, and even his pride in being British. There are several symbols that represent the author’s attitude towards prejudice: The cabin & The closed portholes (the closed window): represented the closemindedness of the narrator towards people from other societies (people of different backgrounds). The labels on the suitcases: double meaning: - Mr. Kelada traveled a lot so there were labels from different ports on his suitcases. -> It looked like “the baggage” that demonstrated how many achievements that he had gained. - People put labels on him so they are prejudiced and they have stereotypes about him.

The term “Levantine": As the story developed, the narrator changed from referring to Mr. Kelada by name to using the term “Levantine", which is an insult. -> This suggests that the narrator’s prejudice against Mr. Kelada is an example of racism, which is supported by the fact that he also referred to Kelada’s oriental smile and possible birth in Alexandria or Beirut. A lack of a name for the narrator – The author did not name the narrator for a purpose: the racist narrator can be any one of us. We may all be guilty of judging people by stereotypes and generalizations rather than examining their true character and getting to know them as individuals.

Point of view First-person point of view The story is a narrative told in the first person, throughout the story, the narrator relates something that happened around his/ herself and shows the prejudice about Mr. Kelada’s ethnic origins from the very first paragraph.

Symbolism In this story, the author uses two typical symbols which are the ship and the pearls. -

The ship is in international water, which is a neutral place. The ship becomes the symbol of the world with people who are prejudiced and even racists.

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The peals - the most important symbol in the story, represent the idea that appearances can be deceptive. Natural pearls are pure on the inside, while cultured pearls are not, and of course, are less valuable than natural ones. However, on the outside, all pearls look the same, only a closer inspection can reveal what is real and what is imitation. -> People from the same nationality seem the same but only when we get to know them, we see that each person is different.

Irony

Using Attitutional Irony type What they thought

The reality

The pearls appeared to be fake and had They were actually real and precious. no value. In Christian culture, pearls were She was unfaithful and cheated on her husband, and turns up to be fake. associated with purity. -> Mrs. Ramsey, the owner of the pearls, was described as having godly attributes such as modesty and beauty. Mr. Kelada was portrayed as not being He was a real expert who knows to correct about the pearls; and thus, is a distinguish between real and fake, the fake Mr. KnowAll. peals is the one thing he could truly be said to “know all” about. Mr. Kelada was originally presented as a He was sensitive, considerate, and noble. pushy person, concerned mainly with appearances. -> This story displays the fact that first impressions can be misleading, sometimes, looks can be deceiving and the truth can be hidden. We mustn't judge people according to stereotypes and preconceived prejudices. Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover. -> The author wants the readers to have open minds and to be willing to change their minds about preconceived notions.

DISCUSSION 1. How does Maugham prepare us to be cautious about totally accepting the narrator’s attitude toward Mr. Kelada? At the beginning of the story, the author has described that the narrator dislikes Mr. Kelada before he even meets him. Besides, the author also describes small things Mr. Kelada does that make the narrator dislike him. 2. Does the description of Mr. Kelada's possessions and appearance help to substantiate the narrator's prejudice toward him? Yes, it does. This is expressed through details such as...."I did not like the look of it;

there were too many labels on the suit-cases, and the wardrobe trunk was too big." "Mr Kelada was short and of a sturdy build, clean-shaven and dark-skinned, with a fleshy hooked nose and very large, lustrous and liquid eyes. His long black hair was sleek and curly. He spoke with a fluency in which there was nothing English and his gestures were exuberant. I felt pretty sure that a closer inspection of that British passport would have betrayed the fact that Mr Kelada was born under a bluer sky than is generally seen in England." --> The author did show prejudice toward Mr Kelada at first upon hearing Mr Kelada's name, and knowing that he had to share a room with a native of one of the British colonies. tThereafter, the author expressed his dislike towards every details about Mr Kelada 3. Although Mr. Kelada says that he is “British to the backbone,” wouldn’t the phrase ordinarily apply more appropriately to the narrator? Why? Or is the conclusion of the story an ironic verification of Mr. Kelada’s selfcharacterization? From the very first paragraph, the narrator expressed the negative feelings about all things of Mr. Kelada, he even denied Mr. Kelada’s pride to be British based on Mr.Kelada’s appearance, gesture and even the English voice, therefore, the narrator would not be the one who said Mr. Kelada was “British to the backbone”, it is only appropriate when the speaker was Mr.Kelada himself, he even showed his passport to prove his nationality. Moreover, the conclusion of this story was not an ironic verification of Mr. Kelada’s self-characterization, it demonstrated the enlightenment of the narrator since he changed his judgment of Mr. Kelada because of what Mr. Kelada have done for Mrs. Ramsay, after all, he was a true English gentleman who wanted to protect a lady's honor. From this point, the narrator realized that we must be cautious when judging someone and didn’t let looks fool you. 4. Until the argument over the pearls, Mr. Kelada “had never told anyone what his business was.” Is this a surprising fact? We think this is definitely a surprising fact as in everyone’s eyes, Mr. Kelada knows everything running on this ship. For example, he managed the sweeps, conducted the auctions, collected money for prizes at the sports, got golf matches, organized the concert, and arranged the fancy-dress ball. He was everywhere and always. But nobody knows his occupation/ business. That makes the readers feel more curious about Mr. Kelada’s background. 5. What is the function of the last sentence? The last sentence lets us know (or maybe restates) the final feeling of the narrator towards Mr. Kelada. He didn’t entirely dislike Mr. Kelada. He turned out to be amazed by Mr. Kelada’s generosity. 6. Maugham has said (in The Summing Up): “The value of art, like the value of

the Mystic Way, lies in its effects. If it can only give pleasure, however spiritual that pleasure may be, it is of no great consequence or at least of no more consequence than a dozen oysters and a pint of Montrachet. If it is a solace, that is well enough; the world is full of inevitable evils and it is good that man should have some heritage to which from time to time he may withdraw himself; but not to escape them, rather to gather fresh strength to face them. For art, if it is to be reckoned as one of the great values of life, must teach men humility, tolerance, wisdom and magnanimity. The value of art is not beauty, but right action.” Does this theory seem true? By this standard, is “Mr. Know-All” a work of art? It seems true, especially the last sentence: “The value of art is not beauty, but right action.” It states that Mr. Kelada may not be a people person, people might not have a good impression on him at first, but his generosity might change your mind, change your thoughts towards him. And “Mr. Know-All” is a work of art, from my perspective....