Date: Friday 20th September 2023
Title: The Woman In Black
LI: To explain why Arthur Kipps ‘could not summon
up…courage’.
ACTIVATE TASK
2 minutes
Define the word ‘gothic’
in your own words
E.g. When we discuss the
gothic we mean…
“Striving to be the best”
Success Criteria Key Vocabulary
Bronze: English Arabic
Tumult (a loud noise)
ALL will be able to understand the
Banshee (a female spirit)
context surrounding the story
Anguish (extreme
Silver: suffering)
Marsh (wet land)
MOST will be able to recognise
key gothic elements in the text Inexplicably (so strange
you cannot understand or
explain it)
Gold:
Conjecture (guess about
something without real
SOME will be able to respond to evidence)
why the main protagonist felt fear Ceased (stopped)
“Striving to be the best”
STARTER ACTIVITY
Starter: Define the word ‘courageous’
Stretch: Give an example of how someone
could show they are courageous
Challenge: How can being courageous link
to gothic literature?
“Striving to be the best”
Context
‘The Woman in Black’ exposes the Victorian hypocrisy towards the unmarried mother.
To give birth out of wedlock was frowned upon. In the Victorian era, unmarried
women were forced to give up their children. No unmarried woman could raised a
child properly without a husband and was not allowed to mingle with ‘polite society’.
Science and understanding was less advanced so people were more likely to
believe that unexplained events were supernatural activity. Healthcare was a luxury
and medicine was not advanced so diseases were rife. A middle class person would
only live until 45. In TWIB the small boy dies from a wasting disease relatively young.
The setting for Eel Marsh House is in the north of England which is remote and isolated
which adds to the cold and ghostly atmosphere.
“Striving to be the best”
Read the extract
What can you predict the story will be about?
What has influenced your predictions?
What gothic elements would you expect to find in
the text?
“Striving to be the best”
Plot Summary
The Woman in Black is a ghost story by Susan Hill, in which Arthur Kipps tells the
reader about his haunting experiences at Eel Marsh House. The tale begins on
Christmas Eve, when Arthur’s step-children invite him to tell a ghost story. Arthur is
too disturbed by his memories to share his story aloud, so he writes it down.
In his story, a young Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is sent to settle the affairs of
Alice Drablow. He sees a woman dressed in black at her funeral, though
apparently no-one else does. At Eel Marsh House, a house beyond a causeway,
Arthur is haunted by noises and sightings of the woman.
In this extract, alone in the eerier Eel Marsh house, Arthur Kipps is awakened by
strange sounds.
“Striving to be the best”
Writing Task: To explain why Arthur Kipps ‘could not
summon up…courage’.
Now that we have looked at the context and understood the
extract you are going to answer our key question focusing on WHY
Arthur Kipps ‘could not summon up…courage’.
You are going to focus on:
● What happened to make him feel terrified/frightened
● What other events or instances scare him
● How he reacts and why he reacts this way
Before you begin writing let’s look at my model to see how you
should respond to the question
“Striving to be the best”
Teacher Model:
This is not surprising because he has experienced strange events in a
terrifying place. For example, he heard ‘a child’s cry’ out on the marsh. This
frightens Kipps because he knows that there is not really a child out there,
and so he wonders if the noise could be a ghostly presence.
Secondly, he wonders whether there is something actually in the house with
him, because he has the ‘impression’ of someone going past him but,
again, he knows there is no one ‘real’ there. This makes Kipps feel doubtful
about what is real and not real; he ‘began to doubt [his] own reality’.
“Striving to be the best”
Independent Task:
Arthur Kipps could not ‘summon up sufficient courage’ to
make his way to the room, in other words he…
This is not surprising because Kipps has experienced
strange events in a terrifying place. For example…
This frightens Kipps because…
● Frightened
● Inexplicable
Secondly / In addition / Furthermore… and Kipps reacts ● Conjecture
by… ● child‘s cry
To conclude, Kipps feels terrified because… ● ghost
“Striving to be the best”
Success Criteria Plenary
Bronze:
ALL will be able to understand the
context surrounding the story
Silver: The Woman In Black is
MOST will be able to recognise
about… the text
key gothic elements in the text exemplifies the gothic
because…
Gold:
SOME will be able to respond to
why the main protagonist felt fear
“Striving to be the best”
