Teacher's Notes - Penguin Readers Level 5: The Body
Teacher’s notesLEVEL 5PENGUIN READERSTeacher Support ProgrammeThe BodyStephen KingAbout the authorStephen King is the highest-earning author in the world.Since selling his first book in 1973, he has published overthirty novels, of which there are more than 150 millioncopies in print. He earns 2 million a month from booksales and film returns. All this was achieved from poorbeginnings and King’s is a success story that could itselfhave come from the pages of fiction.King was born in 1947 in Portland, Maine, the Americanstate where The Body is set. His father, a merchant seaman,deserted the family in 1950, and Stephen and his brotherDavid were raised alone by their mother. Early on in life,King became addicted to radio horror tales and sciencefiction films. According to one report, he was ‘oversizedand ungainly’ as a boy and ‘predictably chosen last’ inteam games. At high school, he began to write stories, andat the University of Maine took creative writing courses.After college, King worked in a launderette until he founda teaching position. From 1971 to 1973, while he taughtat a secondary school in Hampden, Maine, he continuedto write, often in the school’s boiler room, with a child’sdesk against his knees. By then he was married, had a childand was weighed down with bills. But in 1973 he sold hisfirst novel, Carrie. When his publishers, Doubleday, toldhim that paperback rights to the book had been sold for 400,000 he was freed from teaching and able to devotehimself full-time to writing.SummaryThe Body is quite different from most of Stephen King’sother work, in that it is not a horror story, although itdoes contain one or two nasty moments. It was originallypublished as part of a collection of tales called Differentc Pearson Education Limited 2008Seasons (1982), a book in which King wished to show thedifferent side of his imagination.The semi-autobiographical story concerns four youngboys, growing up in a poorer area of 1960s Maine, in thenortheast corner of the United States. The boys, GordieLachance, Vern Tessio, Chris Chambers and TeddyDuchamp, are all about to turn thirteen. When theyhear about the death of another boy, who was walkingin the forest miles from his home, they cannot resist thetemptation to go and look for his body, though they knowthe journey will be long and dangerous. The adventurebecomes a turning point in all their lives as they face thedangers and wonders of the forest and some of the biggerquestions of their lives to come.Full of the atmosphere of a teenage summer, The Body isboth an adventure story and a portrait of four boys on thefirst step of their journey into adulthood.Chapter 1: The narrator of the story (Gordie Lachance)remembers seeing a dead person when he was twelve yearsold. That memory stays with him today.Chapter 2: Gordie (Gordon) is in a tree house with TeddyDuchamp and Chris Chambers on the last Friday of thesummer holidays. Vern Tessio, the fourth member of theirclub, arrives. He has news about a body that has beenfound in the forest. He suggests they go see it.Chapter 3: Gordie recalls hearing that a boy their age(Ray Brower) has been missing for three days. He hadbeen picking wild fruit in the forest.Chapter 4: We learn how Vern found out about thebody. He overheard his older brother Billy (who is partof a gang) talking about the body to a tough guy namedCharlie. The two had been out in the forest when theyaccidentally came across the body of a boy. They did nottell the police because they had driven out to that locationin a stolen car.Chapter 5: The boys think they will need to walk aboutthirty miles to find the body. When they find the body,they will report it to the police and become famous. Theyplan to leave that day (Friday) and camp overnight in theforest. They will tell their parents they are camping inVern’s back field.Chapter 6: Gordie has no problem getting permission.His older brother died five months ago, and his parents donot pay much attention to him.The Body - Teacher’s notes of 5
Teacher’s notesPENGUIN READERSTeacher Support ProgrammeLEVEL 5The BodyChapter 7: Gordie meets Chris. Chris shows Gordie thathe is taking along his father’s gun. Chris says his father isdrunk and will not miss it.Chapter 20: The boys find the body in the midst of aterrible thunderstorm. It seems the boy was trying to getout of the way when a train hit him.Chapter 8: The boys start on their journey. They realisethey will need water and food. They plan to go to thedump for water. Teddy tries to play a dangerous game bystepping in front of a train but Gordie stops him.Chapter 21: Ace Merrill, the leader of the gang, and fiveothers (including the brothers of Chris and Vern) arrive.They plan to take the body but the boys talk back. Chrispulls out the gun and threatens Ace.Chapter 9: The dump is closed and the boys climbthe fence to get water. They worry about meeting MiloPressman, the manager of the dump, and his dog,Chopper. (The dog has as a reputation for being fierce.)They flip a coin to decide who will leave to buy food.Gordie loses the toss.Chapter 22: Vern and Teddy run off and leave Chris andGordie to face the gang. Ace and the gang leave with thethreat that they will get the four boys later.Chapter 10: Gordie returns with food. He enters thedump and gets chased by Chopper and an angry Milo.Teddy teases Chopper. Milo insults Teddy by talkingabout Teddy’s father’s psychiatric problems.Chapter 11: Chris tries to make Teddy feel better aboutMilo’s comments. Vern says they are going to see a deadbody, so maybe they should not have a good time.Chapter 12: The boys cross a railway bridge that was notmade for walking across. Vern and Gordie narrowly avoidgetting hit by a train.Chapter 13: Chris tells Gordie that changes are coming atschool as Gordie starts taking courses that will prepare himfor college while the others take shop courses. Chris talksabout his family’s bad reputation and about being betrayedby a teacher. He says that friends can drag a person down.Chapter 14: The boys set up camp and Gordie tells astory. Gordie thinks about the body alone in the forest.Chapter 15: The boys wake up to the sound of loudscreaming. They are not sure what it is and take turnsguarding the camp. Gordie dreams about Chris beingdragged under the water by Vern and Teddy.Chapter 16: The sun comes up and Gordie has a specialmoment when he sees a deer alongside the railway tracks.A train goes by and wakes up the other boys.Chapter 17: The boys jump into a pool of water to cooloff. It is full of leeches.Chapter 18: The boys realise they still have a long way togo before they will get to the body.Chapter 19: While the boys continue their journey, agang of six (including Billy and Charlie who saw the bodyfirst) are travelling by car to that same location. They alsoplan to be heroes by discovering the body.c Pearson Education Limited 2008Chapter 23: Chris decides they should leave the bodyin the forest. Gordie wonders about Ray Brower and themissing bucket of fruit.Chapter 24: The boys get back to town early Sundaymorning. Chris worries that Teddy and Vern will tellothers but Gordie suggests this will not happen for along time and that Teddy and Vern will almost forgeteverything that happened.Chapter 25: Gordie sees his mother on Sunday morning,She only talks about missing his dead brother.Chapter 26: The police get an anonymous call from Aceabout the location of the body. Neither group gets creditfor finding it. All four boys are beat up at different timesbut the story about their meeting the gang in the forestnever gets out. Teddy and Vern find new friends.Chapter 27: Gordie thinks about the deaths of his threefriends. Vern is killed in a fire at a house party. Teddydrives drunk and dies in a car accident. Chris studies hardalongside Gordie and goes on to graduate school. Chrisdies trying to break up a fight between two strangers.Meanwhile, Gordie becomes a writer and writes this book.About the filmThe Body was filmed in 1986 as Stand By Me with the lateRiver Phoenix as Chris Chambers.Background and themesMany of the ingredients that now characterise what wethink of as a Stephen King novel can be found in King’sfirst novel Carrie: small-town New England, usuallythought of as a quiet, conventional part of America,becomes the arena for a battle of good versus evil. Psychicpowers or some supernatural creature – or both – causea series of horrible events in what was an ordinary, sleepytown.The Body - Teacher’s notes2 of 5
Teacher’s notesPENGUIN READERSTeacher Support ProgrammeLEVEL 5The BodyIn fact, New England – where some of the first Europeansettlements in North America were established in theseventeenth century – is no stranger to the supernatural.When most of America was still the home of so-calledIndian ‘savages’, the fragile colonial settlements livedin fear of the wildness beyond their fences. The forestsbecame a symbol of evil and the unknown – the horrorof untamed nature.23In 1960, the year in which The Body is set, the NewEngland forests were still quite extensive. Since then, thecity suburbs and roads have forced them back, but in1960, according to King ‘it was still possible to walk intothe woods and lose your direction and die there’.The mysteries of these forests play a large part in TheBody, since it is there that the four young heroes of thebook decide to go to undertake their life-changing quest.As they travel further from civilisation, the boys have torely on their own personal resources, and must grow up toface what comes. However, as well as terrors and the harshrealities of life, the wilderness reveals its secret wonders.Their journey to see another boy’s dead body becomes ajourney out of innocence.The Body is set at the beginning of a decade in whichAmerica, too, was shaken out of its innocence. 1960 wasthe year that John F Kennedy was elected president, on awave of optimism. But only three years later, the youthfulpromise that he symbolised to so many was ended whenhe was shot. The shock of Kennedy’s assassination wastremendous. Many Americans were confused by theseeming irrationality of the event. From 1962 onwards,the American military increased its presence in Vietnam.But at the same time protests against the war grew instrength as America’s youth grew in a new self-confidence.Those who entered their teenage years in the sixties wereentering an era when the culture and values of the youngwould be totally different from those of the parents.Before reading1Discuss: Ask students to look at the picture on thecover of this book. What can you see? What do youexpect to see? What kind of feelings do you get from thispicture? Write the students’ ideas on a chart.I see I expect to see c Pearson Education Limited 2008I am a 12-year-old boy.I am I like I feel I hope Have students share their ideas in class. Do they seelots of differences among boys at this age? How mightthey compare the characteristics, interests and hopesof boys at this age to girls?IntroductionBefore reading4Guess: Stephen King is famous for writing horrorstories. This story has elements of horror and isbased on King’s childhood. Put students into groups.Have them discuss what things may have happenedin King’s childhood that made him into a writerof horror stories. Then have students read theIntroduction.In groups, have them list important facts they havelearned about King. Have them share their ideas withthe rest of the class.Chapters 1–6Before reading5Discuss: The opening sentence of the book is:‘The most important things are the hardest thingsto say.’ Is this the same for children and for adults?What kind of ‘important things’ might be hard for atwelve-year-old boy to talk about?After reading6Discussion activitiesGuess: Have students look at the title of the story(The Body). Ask them to imagine what might happenin the story. Have them share their thoughts in agroup. (Have them look at the extended name on thetitle page, Fall from Innocence: The Body. Does thisgive them further ideas?) Write down possible storyideas on the board.Group work: This story is about four twelve-year-oldboys. In groups, have students think back to whenthey and their friends/classmates were twelve yearsold. What words can you use to describe a twelve-yearold boy? What do twelve-year-old boys like? What dotwelve-year-old boys hope for? Have them write downtheir ideas in a chart.Pair work: In pairs, have students research one of theboys. Have them complete a chart outlining the boy’srelationship with his family. Have them consider howthis might affect the boy’s behaviour during the story.Name of boyFamily members (andcharacteristics)Relationships (How doesthe family get along?)Thoughts about boy(relating to story)The Body - Teacher’s notes of 5
Teacher’s notesPENGUIN READERSTeacher Support ProgrammeLEVEL 5The Body7As a class, complete a chart that outlines the mainpoints of all four boys. Have pairs of students providetheir ideas for each boy.Guess: Think about the boys’ plans to see the body.What problems could they have on this journey?Discuss ideas as a class. Write them down on a chartthat can be referred to later.Chapters 7–9While reading8Role play: Read Chapter 7. Think about Chris’s planto bring along the gun on the journey. Get studentsto plan and dramatise a role play between Chris andGordie.Student A: You are Chris. Give reasons why you wantto bring along the gun.Student B: You are Gordie. Explain to Chris why itmight not be a good idea. What could happen?After reading9Discuss: Talk about the significance of ‘that moment’from Chapter 8 on page 15 when Gordie is lookingdown the railway track with the town behind him.What might Gordie be thinking about? Why will henever forget that moment?10 Write and discuss: As a class, discuss Teddy’s momenton the railroad tracks and Gordie’s response. Do youremember a daring/exciting/scary experience from yourchildhood? (It could be something you experienced orobserved.) What happened? How
PENGUIN READERS Teacher Support Programme About the author Stephen King is the highest-earning author in the world. Since selling his first book in 1973, he has published over thirty novels, of which there are more than 150 million copies in print. He earns 2 million a month from book sales and film returns. All this was achieved from poor
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