III. Post-reading

3.1 ROLEPLAY.

Some of the episodes of the story are very funny, others are not. Choose several of those to dramatize in class. The options can be as follows:

A. The King and Queen discussing their daughter's future;

B. The King and Queen talking to the Evil Enchanter;

C. The Princess storming the Enchanter's castle single-handedly.

3.2. Spirits high and higher.

Discuss the spirit of the story. How would you best describe it?

3.3. Project work: unusual place names.

Study a piece of interesting information. Think of native place names. Are any of them strange, weird or funny? Follow the in- . structions given at the end of the material and prepare to report in class.

(1) The-list of unusual American place names is endless. In the 1800s, when the United States was still a very young country, many names were needed for the new settlements, but often settlers used the same name for several different towns. Sometimes the towns­people showed a sense of humor in the names they selected. WhenOdd, West Virginia, was chosen, someone had suggested using an odd or unusual name. Wyoming settlers picked Bill as their town's name for the first name of most of its male citizens. In an Indiana township, a settler dressed as Santa Claus happened into the December town meeting. The town has been called Santa Claus, Indiana, ever since.

The railroad named dozens of towns when the West was being settled. Many of the stations had few inhabitants, so the railroad took the liberty of picking names for them. For instance, in Wisconsin in 1870, a railroad crew was supposed to put up a sign. As it was forty-seven degrees below zero, and one of the crew members remarked it was the "chilliest" place he'd ever been. So the men named the place Chili, Wisconsin. In Louisiana, a place was named by a member of the railroad surveying party who said that the area had more frogs than he had ever seen. So, Frogmore appeared.

Interesting stories are often behind unique place names. In Nevada, settlers claimed that visitor Mark Twain, on seeing steam rise from a local geyser, asked, "What is a steamboat doing out in this desert?" The location was dubbed Steamboat, Nevada, at that moment.

(2) Every coun­try has places with unusual names. The study of place names is called toponymy, from two Greek words, topos (place) and onyma (name). To learn about native toponymy, check a map, an atlas, or an encyclopedia to find a list of towns with unusual names. Use available resources to ask about the town's history and how it was named.

PETER BOTTOMSLY'S GHOST

I. Pre-reading

1.1. SHARE your reminiscences about something really weird and macabre you either witnessed or were a part of. Did you man­age to keep your cool?

1.2. DISCUSS, different things, notions or rituals, which are traditionally considered very, very scary.

1.3. SHARE your knowledge about various spooky customs that became part of some holiday celebration.

II. Reading

2.1. Understanding the title.

The title of the story, written by Harvey Watson, suggests clearly it's going to be about some spooky things. What do you think the ghost will do?

2.2. Reading for pleasure and enrichment.

Read and answer the following question: Why wasn't that Hal­loween-like dressing up not a very good idea after all? The following words will be useful for better understanding of the events.

Traipse — to walk slowly and unwillingly

Crate —a wooden or plastic box for carrying things

Contraption — a strange looking piece of equipment

Timber — building wood

Pillar — a tall upright post used as a support

Incline — a slope

Harness — a piece of equipment for controlling horses

Sny — to make a sudden movement away from something frightening

Slicker — a raincoat

Spur — to encourage a horse to go faster

Embers (pi) — wood or coal, not burning, but red and hot

Leastways — at least, anyway'

DO YOU know I've never heard of one ghost in all of Tucker County?" Ralph said. "Why, there ain't even an empty house around, let alone a haunted one." He sat on the chopping block and poked the double-bitted ax into the woodchips while I gathered firewood. I had to admit that Ralph was right. Ralph sighed. "It just ain't fair, that's all Some folks get all the fun."

"What if we dressed up like ghosts?" I asked. "Would you like that, Ralph?"

Ralph didn't say anything.

"We could dress up like ghosts and scare people like it was Hal­loween," I persisted. Ralph looked at me. "I'd need to do some heavy thinking on it," he said slowly.

I knew right then that a ghost had been born inside Ralph's head — a dandy ghost, looking for his soul or something. I knew Ralph wouldn't rest until he had the right name and everything tied down proper.

Sure enough, that night we traipsed to Bethel Cemetery and searched all the gravestones until Ralph found a name he liked.

"Peter Bottomsly," the tombstone read. "May He Rest In Peace."

"Peter Bottomsly ain't much of a name for a ghost," I said.

"But it's real, Warren," said Ralph. "Peter Bottomsly drowned at Sand Creek. Folks have to have real clues to any mystery."

We spent most of the next day out in the barn fixing up our ghost outfit. We took one sheet, a wooden crate, and some chicken wire. Ralph found some red paint and Hack stove polish, which he used

for finishing touches. The head, molded from the chicken wire, was fastened to the box. When Ralph put the contraption on to show me, I had to admit that, in the dull light of the barn, the ghost of Peter Bottomsly was real spooky.

"What's the red paint for, Ralph?" I asked.

He said it was blood.

I said, "What's so realistic about blood? Peter Bottomsly drowned."

Ralph said it was a theatrical touch. Then he made me put on the ghost outfit. I slipped the crate onto my shoulders, and Ralph arranged the sheet over my head.

I could tell he wasn't satisfied.

"Something's missing," he said.

He had me take the costume off. Then he fashioned a candle-holder out of a tomato can lid and nailed it to the top of the crate. He inserted a candle into the ghost's head and tried the outfit on again. I lit the candle. It was darker in the barn now, and the ghost was hideous. I was sure glad I knew it was Ralph wear­ing the sheet. Then I had to model the costume for him. He was delighted.

"That will scare the daylights out of anyone," he said.

Even though the clouds were threatening rain, we gathered up Peter Bottomsly's ghost and walked down the county road to where it crossed Sand Creek at the old covered bridge.

"That's where Peter Bottomsly will appear," Ralph said. "At the scene of his death. A covered bridge ain't a haunted house, but it's the nearest thing to it."

Ralph and I had spent a lot of time playing and fishing around that old bridge. Made from oak timber and set on limestone pil­lars, the bridge creaked and groaned whenever a person walked over it, so you can guess what it sounded like when a wagon went across. Horses didn't seem to mind going onto Ryan's Bridge. I guess it looked as if they were going into a barn. But once they were actually inside, they mistrusted the creaking and groaning of the planks. The oak planks had shrunk, leaving wide spaces between the boards and exposing the giant support beams. Many of the sideboards were loose, and a few were missing. We used to go out through the loose boards, balance on the side of the bridge, and jump into the water twenty feet below.

Right at the bridge the road turned sharply from south to west and went up a steep incline. Ryan's Bridge was a perfect spot to spook a stranger because he would be inside the bridge before he could see a thing.

We sat in the darkness for a long time, waiting for a team and wagon to come our way. It began to thunder and lightning, and the wind lifted and swayed the tree-tops back and forth. Every once in a while, a big gush of wind would rattle the loose sideboards slapping them against the beams with a loud bang. Ralph and I would jump at the sound, but neither of us would admit that we were scared.

Then the faint jingle of harness came through the darkness. A wagon was approaching. Excitedly, Ralph said, "Go hide on the other side of the bridge, Warren. That way you can see it all, like looking down a telescope."

As the wagon came closer, I saw Ralph strike a match and place the lighted candle inside the ghost's head. As he put the outfit on and stood facing me, I could feel my heart pound against my chest. I suddenly wished I were safe at home in bed. The horses and the wagon appeared around the corner and came up the incline onto the dark bridge.

Ralph stood up to face the approaching wagon. "I am the ghost of Peter Bottomsly!" he shouted harshly.

The horses shied at the sight of the ghost, one backing up and the other rearing. A woman's voice cried out as the wagon started in re­verse down the incline. A man's voice shouted at the panicked horses. Ralph took off his ghost head and blew out the candle. I ran down the bridge to him. He jumped up and down, crazy with excitement.

"Ha! Did you see them? Did you hear those screams? Boy, did I scare them silly!"

We left the shelter of the bridge and stood in the rain, listening to the sound of the retreating wagon and horses.

Then the sky flared up with a long lightning bolt that crackled and flashed across the black clouds. It was as bright as day, and that's when I saw the horseman, a lone rider, coming toward us on the west road. He was wearing a large hat and a rain slicker, and his horse was plodding along at a walk. "Horseman coming," I whispered. Ralph hurried to the middle of the bridge and knelt to light his candle. I watched from outside, peering around the support beam.

I could just see the top of the man's hat when Ralph turned and, spreading his arms, shouted in a loud voice, "I am the ghost of Peter Bottomsly!"

The horse reared, nearly throwing its rider. When its front hoofs hit the ground, it started bucking and squealing and spinning around, kicking out with its hind feet. Its eyes glowed like red embers, and steam snorted from its nostrils. Then lightning flashed, revealing the face of the rider and almost making my heart stop.

His face was like a skull with black, gaping holes for eyes. The grin­ning teeth opened, and a cackling laugh erupted. Pointing a bony finger, the rider spurred his horse toward Ralph, who whirled and dashed across the bridge trying to escape. In a panic, Ralph just banged right through the wall of the bridge. I heard him splash in the water below.

Then I realized that the horse with its wild rider was galloping across the planks, headed right at me. I jumped over the support and dropped to the muddy ground. The horse stomped around above me as the rider walked it slowly across the bridge. Then the rider crossed back to where I was hiding. He stopped, listening. I held my breath, trying not to make a sound.

"So long, Mr. Bottomsly," the horseman shouted, and then he started laughing. 1 trembled in the darkness beneath the bridge.

A long time passed before I ventured out from my hiding place. No one was in sight. I traipsed up and down in the rain looking for Ralph. The current had carried him in a mad rush downstream, and I found him, soaked and cold, at the sand flats. Neither of us talked much as we tramped home in the mud.

The next day, Ralph and I went back to the sand flats to search for what was left of Peter Bottomsly. We found the torn sheet and the crumpled-up chicken wire caught on some hanging branches just above the water. Ralph waded out and collected the remains, and we buried Peter Bottomsly in the sand, smoothing the grave over carefully. As far as I know, the ghost of Peter Bottomsly stayed buried there at those sand flats.

Leastways, I never heard Ralph mention him again.

2.3. True of false?

1. People would often think of impossible ways to have fun if they are bored.

2. Ralph was more ingenious and imaginative than his friend.

3. Ralph was hard to please when it came to realizing his ideas.

4. The narrator was a bit apprehensive about frightening people.

5. Their first attempt was not a success — nobody noticed them.

6. The rider was having fun — he didn't mean to scare the boys.

7. The rider turned out to be more frightening than the devil.

8. Their horrible experience put the boys off frightening folks.

2.4. Points of view.

What did they mean by saying so?

1. "There isn't even a haunted house nearby. Some folks get all the fun."

2. "Folks have to have real clues to any mystery."

3. "That will scare living daylights out of anyone."

4. "Boy, did I scare them silly!"

5. "No more Peter Bottomsly and other ghosts."

2.5. Verbs in focus.

Match the verbs below with appropriate definitions and then do Part Two of the exercise.

1	hear of	A	start burning again
2	dress up	B	fasten accidentally on something
3	fix up	C	put clothes on to see if they fit
4	try on	D	have knowledge of the existence of sth
5	catch on	E	repair or improve
6	flare up	F	wear strange clothes

Fill in the gaps with appropriate verbs.

1. We shall have ... the house ... before we sell it.

2. The fire ... when we thought it was out.

3. We never ... her, though she described herself as a famous singer.

4. My coat... a nail and got badly torn.

5. The children enjoyed ... in Mother's old clothes.

6. Never buy shoes without... them ... first.

2.6. Storing vocabulary.

Fill in the right word from the list below.

1. .... the minced meat into little balls and drop them into boiling water.

2. The beggar was ... coins in an old mug.

3. There was a ... old house with creaking stairs just across the road.

4. We could see a ... and crossbones on the vessel's black flag.

5. Mind that washing in hot water ... woolen clothes.

6. The string wasn't strong enough, so we used ....

7. This is the first time I've ... out of doors since my illness.

8. You definitely look weird. What a ... dress!

9. All right, I'll give you...

Choose from the following: clue, wire, spooky, mold, hideous, shrink, rattle, skull, venture.

2.7. Ghost idioms in focus.

Match the idioms with the appropriate definitions. Fill in the gaps with idioms.

1	a ghost of chance	A	a very faint smile
2	a ghost of a smile	B	a frightening story about haunted places
3	a ghost story	C	God the Spirit according to Christianity
4	a ghost writer	D	a burial ground; a very quiet place
5	Holy Ghost	E	someone who writes for other authors
6	a ghost town	F	not the slightest chance

1. We used to scare each other by telling ... at night.

2. There is ... of finding the missing child now.

3. He had ... on his lips.

4. He was accused of employing ... while writing his novels.

5. After the decline of coal mining, the place became a real....