*Pretend You Are Billy and You Are Staying in the Bed and Breakfast

The Landlady by Roald Dahl

Writing Prompt

Directions: Choose one of the following prompts derived from The Landlady by Roald Dahl. Along with the instructions specified for each prompt, you must incorporate at least four of the vocabulary words from your list from Literacy class (words to help discuss the story intelligently). You must also incorporate the theme of “appearance versus reality” within the context of your paper.

Writing Prompt #1

Length: 5 paragraphs

Pretend you are Billy and you are staying in the bed and breakfast. As you go up to bed after tea, you decide to write a letter to a friend or relative expressing your growing concern that something is not right with your situation. In your letter, include three clues (examples of foreshadowing) that are making you nervous about staying in the bed and breakfast. Express your concerns, but do not change the plot. You cannot, for example, throw the tea in the landlady's face and make a run for it.

*Paragraph #1 (Intro): Introduce the situation to your friend/relative.

*Paragraph #2, #3, and #4 (Body): Introduce a specific clue or set of clues.

Explain your reasoning as to why you believe these clues indicate there is a problem.

*Paragraph #5 (Conclusion): Restate your concern and how you anticipate resolving

the situation.

Writing Prompt #2

Length: 5 paragraphs

Since the branch manager is expecting Billy, chances are good that a police detective will eventually knock on the landlady’s door to investigate Billy’s disappearance. Pretend you are that detective. Your job as a detective is to gather as much compelling evidence as possible to prove or disprove that the landlady was guilty of murder. Unlike most detectives, you are able to look at the text of the story for additional clues. By the end of your paper, you must make a decision as to whether the landlady is guilty or not guilty.

Paragraph #1 (Intro): Introduce the situation and explain what your goal is in presenting the situation.

Paragraph #2, #3, and #4 (Body): Present and explain a set of evidence.
Paragraph #5 (Conclusion): Review all of the evidence and make a decision as to whether the landlady is guilty or not guilty.

Writing Prompt #3

Length: 5 paragraphs

You are the landlady, and it has come to your attention that your actions and motives have been misinterpreted. Although you may be eccentric at times, you want to prove how you’ve been misunderstood with these ambiguous situations. Your task is to prove your innocence by defending or clarifying all of the things that other people feel are suspicious.

Paragraph #1 (Intro): Introduce the situation and express your concerns. Include the issues that establish the different perspectives (your point of view and others).

Paragraph #2, #3, and #4 (Body): Defend or clarify one situation (per paragraph) that people find to be suspicious or ambiguous.

Paragraph #5 (Conclusion): Restate your situation and viewpoint. Include how you hope to avoid situations such as these in the future.

You will be assessed based on the following:

___ Incorporating at least four vocabulary words from your list in Literacy class.

___ Incorporating the theme of “appearance versus reality” in your paper.

___ The Six + 1 Traits of Writing (rubric)

___ The ability to intelligently convey your message with regards to your understanding

of the story.