Carrie’s War
Material
DVD Carrie’s War. BBC 2003.
The novel Carrie’s War
(DVD og boka kan kjøpes fraktfritt fra www.play.com. Se ellers www.amazon.com.)
Teachers’ notes
Summary of the book (Synopsis)
Albert, Carrie and young Nick are war-time evacuees sent from London to a village in Wales. They become so involved with the people they've come to live with that the war and their real families seem to belong to another world. Carrie and Nick are sent to live with old Mr Evans, who is strict and cold. His timid sister, Lou, is housekeeper and works in the family’s shop. Lou suddenly starts having secrets.
Carrie’s friend Albert is luckier. He is sent to live at “Druid's Bottom” with warm-hearted Hepzibah Green and the strange Mister Johnny. He can talk to animals but not to human beings. Carrie and Nick visit Druid’s Bottom whenever they can for Hepzibah makes life exciting with her stories about witches, ghosts and legends and her delicious cooking. Gradually they begin to feel more at ease in their war-time home. Carrie tries to heal the rift between Mr Evans and his estranged sister Dilys, and to save Druid's Bottom but in doing so Carrie does a terrible thing which is to haunt her for years to come.
Carrie revisits Wales as an adult and tells the story to her own children.
About the author
Nina Bawden (b. 1925) has written over forty novels, 23 for adults and 19 for children. She has won numerous awards, has been widely translated (into Japanese and Farsi and Russian, as well as the more conventional Western languages like French and German), and several of her novels have been filmed or made into television serials. Her children’s novel Carrie's War, has been filmed by the BBC and is available on DVD. Nina was born in London, evacuated to the mining valleys of South Wales during the 1939-45 War. She now lives in London.
Important vocabulary
Second World War
Ration books
Gas masks
Evacuees
Druids
A will
A skull
A Town Councillor
Themes
War
Despite its accurate period setting, Nina Bawden's novel says little about World War II. In the film there are several things that remind us that a war is going on: the use of ration books in the shop, the shortage of food, everyone carries gas masks etc.
Emotions
The title describes an emotional war fought by 12-year-old Carrie Willow. She attempts to reconcile different unfriendly parties without taking sides. She battles to make her voice heard in a world run by adults and their rules.
Contrasts
· The busy, war-torn life in London over the life of a small, quiet Welsh village.
· The nostalgic, cosy warmth of Hepzibah's hearth over the cold, austerity of Evans' home.
· The suppression of feelings over the expression of feelings amongst the characters.
· Superstition over religion
· The differences in life styles of Dilys and her brother Mr. Evans etc.
The background and structure of the book/film
The novel is set up as a flashback. Caroline (Carrie) Willow, now grown-up, tells her own children of her experiences during the war. This can make it necessary to draw a time-line to illustrate the order of events in the story. The TV drama however is seen through the eyes of the wartime children.
The TV drama was filmed in the Welsh village of Blaengarw. This was the intended setting of Bawden's novel, the author having been evacuated there for one week in 1940.
The book is very much a character-driven story: interaction, emotion and internalised thoughts are stressed over actions. The story is full of small incidents but with very little plot. It depends on the developing relationships between the wonderful characters. Carrie comes to realise that her guardian, Mr Evans, is not as terrible as he first appears. By the end of the story she has found some sympathy for him, and understands his genuine, if hidden, regret at having shunned his elder sister for much of her life. The timid Auntie Lou is influenced by the spirited way Carrie and Nick handle Evans' harsher outbursts. She becomes inspired to find romance with an American serviceman.
Adapted from Alistair McGown
Introduction
Before you start watching the film:
1. Find London and the Welsh mining villages on the map.
2. Find out when the Second World War started and ended.
3. Find out why children were sent away from their homes in London during the war.
4. Find out the meaning of the words in Important vocabulary above.
Activities
· Watch the video/DVD and read passages from the book. (The video is not sub-titled. The teacher can choose to transliterate passages and then show that passage of the film. Alternatively, the film can be stopped at regular intervals so that the teacher can translate what has been said. The pupils should be consulted.)
· Stop the film at exciting points. The pupils are given excerpts from the book to read so that they can find out what happens. F eks Hepzibah is going to tell a story about the history of Druid’s Bottom. What is the story about? Mr Evans threatens to beat Nick with his belt. How does Nick avoid a beating?
· Discuss the novel’s story line, setting, characters and atmosphere.
· How important is the first line in the TV drama in setting the atmosphere for the rest of the film?
Things to do
Write Carrie’s letter home after arriving at the Evans’ house. Would you be 100% honest? Why/why not? Make sure you know how to layout a letter.
Write Albert’s postcard home. Make sure you know how to layout a postcard.
Make a role-play. Imagine you are an evacuated child. You have just travelled far away from home and now you are waiting to be picked out by a family.
Carrie told some lies in this situation. After the role-play, discuss reasons for Carries’ actions.
Draw the Evan’s family tree.
(Chapter 2) Write a list of the rules in the Evan’s household.
Make a venn diagram and describe the two homes, including the characters living there and the atmosphere.
A venn diagram.
Make a timeline and fill in the different events that happened to the skull at Druid’s Bottom.
Write a character study of Mr Evans. Use examples from the story to back up your opinion of him. Alternatively, use the worksheet below to make a character study of Mr Evans.
Write a story about what you think happens when Carrie and Albert meet at the end of the film.
Do you think there was something magical and mysterious about the skull at Druid’s Bottom? Give reasons for your answer.
Interview some of your family about their experiences during the Second World War and write notes. Or, interview an adult deaf person at the Deaf Club about their experiences during the Second World War and write notes.
Discuss the differences and similarities between the experiences of the British and Norwegian civilians during the Second World War.
Look on the Internet and find a map of Wales, some examples of the Welsh language and the welsh flag.
Look at this web site: www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2children/home.shtml, and find out some facts about children’s lives in Britain during the Second World War.
Write about what have you learned about the lives of children in England during the Second World War.
Nick says goodbye to Mum.
Worksheet 1
A character study of Mr Evans
BBC
Fill in the missing words:
Who is the first person to talk about Mr. Evans? ______
Louisa seems ______of her brother.
Mr Evans works as a ______and he has a ______.
Mr Evans has worked very hard all his ______.
Mr Evans is very ______and has rules for behaviour.
Mr Evans holds sermons in the church showing that he is a ______man.
When Nick is caught stealing from the shop Mr Evans wants to beat him with his ______. Nick stops him by saying that he will tell everyone that they don’t get food. Mr Evans is ______of what other people think of him.
Mr Evans asks Carrie to spy on Druid’s Bottom. He doesn’t trust ______.
When Carrie gives a lady the wrong change Mr Evans makes her run after her. This shows that Mr Evans is ______.
When the children leave, Mr Evans gives Carrie a _____ and Nick a ______.
belt
Louisa (Aunty Lou)
a ring
life
a knife
frightened
councillor
shop
strict
honest
religious
Hepzibah
frightened
Adapted from www.englishresources.co.uk
Worksheet 2
The story line
Make sure you know the meaning of these words:
strict
outside
Wales
America
skull
fault
on fire
no
dies
family
Johnny
Louisa (Aunty Lou)
goose
important
luxury
Gotobed
brother and sister
Second World War
evacuated
father
Druid’s Bottom
shop
boyfriend
married
Hepzibah
terrible
Fill in the missing words:
Carrie tells the story of her childhood during the ______.
London is being bombed. Carrie and Nick are sent to ______by train. They are ______together with many other children.
Carrie and Nick are sent to live with Mr Evans and his sister ______.
BBC
Albert is sent to live with Mrs Dilys Gotobed, Hepzibah and Mr Johnny at ______’______.
Mr Evans has a shop and is a Town Councillor. He is an ______man in the village. Carrie and Nick have to follow Mr Evans’ ______rules.
Mr Evans and Mrs Dilys Gotobed are ______, but they are not friends. Dilys married the rich owner of the mine where their ______was killed. She has lived a life of ______.
Carrie and Nick are sent to Druid’s Bottom to fetch the Christmas ______.
There they meet Mrs ______and Mr ______and eat Hepzibah’s good food. Hepzibah tells the story of the ______. It must be kept inside the house or ______things will happen. The children often visit Druid’s Bottom. Mr Evans asks Carrie to spy on Hepzibah and Dilys. Carrie says ___.
Nick is caught stealing from the ______and Mr Evans wants to beat him.
Aunty Lou has a boyfriend from ______, but it is a secret.
Dilys ______and no one can find her will so Mr Evans inherits Druid’s Bottom. He tells Hepzibah and Johnny to leave the house. Carrie throws the skull into the well ______. Carrie gives Mr Evans a message from his dead sister and says that she does not believe that he has stolen Dilys’ will.
Carrie and Nick have to leave Wales to join their ______who have moved to Scotland. Mr Evans gives Carrie a ____ and Nick a ______. Aunty Lou runs off with her ______.
As they leave on the train, Carrie and Nick see that Druid’s Bottom is ______. Carrie thinks that the fire is her ______because she threw away the skull.
Many years later Carrie comes back to Druid’s Bottom with her children. The house is re-built after the fire. She finds out that Mr Evans changed his mind and let ______and Johnny stay. Mr Evans is dead. Aunty Lou is ______and lives in America and Albert still visits Druid’s Bottom. Just then, Albert arrives…
Druids were the priests of the Celtic people leading public religious ceremony and worshiping nature and the sun.
A quiz
Are these statements true or false? Or maybe you cannot answer the question because there was no information in the text.
Statements / Write true, false or no informationCarrie likes to play basketball.
Carrie and Nick are brother and sister.
Mr Evans was not a strict and religious man.
Dilys Gotobed liked to dance and wear pretty dresses.
Dilys Gotobed, Louisa Evans and Mr Evans were brother and sister.
Hepzibah was kind, a good cook and a clever storyteller.
Mr Evans beat Nick with his belt for stealing from the shop.
Mr Evans thought that Hepzibah wanted Dilys’ house and money.
Dilys knew when she was going to die.
Mr Evans stole Dilys’ will.
Mr Evans liked Aunty Lou’s boyfriend.
The skull caused the fire at Druid’s Bottom.
Albert paid for Johnny to have lessons so that he learnt to talk.
Auntie Lou married a German soldier.
Albert married Carrie.
Make food from the Second World War
During the Second World War food was rationed to make sure that everyone got a fair share. Rationing started in 1940 and ended in 1954.
A ration book
Each person was given a ration book and allowed certain amounts of basic food stuffs. There was also a point system for food that was not rationed. Each person was given a number of points and could choose how to spend these points. Many people grew their own vegetables and kept hens and pigs to provide extra food.
Many people were better fed during wartime than before and after the war. Children were given extra rations of orange juice, milk and cod liver oil. Infant mortality rates declined, and the average age at which people died of natural causes increased.
During the war a Ministry of Food was set up. It gave advice about how to make the best out of the food that was available. Here is a pie named after Lord Woolton, the Minister of Food. The vegetables could be changed according to what was available.
Have a go at making it!
Woolton Pie
500g potatoes
500g cauliflower
500g swede
500g carrots
1 tsp marmite (buljong pulver e.l.)
25g oatmeal (havregryn)
4 spring onions
750 g potatoes
25g cheese
· Peel and dice 500g of potatoes, cauliflower, swede and carrots. Cook in salted water.
· Strain the vegetables and save 200ml of cooking water.
· Put the vegetables in a large dish.
· Add the marmite and oatmeal to the vegetable water and boil until thickened.
· Add the chopped spring onions.
· Boil and mash the 750 g of potatoes.
· Top the pie with mashed potatoes and a little grated cheese.
· Heat the pie in a moderately hot over until golden brown (approximately 1 hour).
· Serve with brown gravy.