This schools' edition of Mark Haddon's multi-award-winning novel adapted for the stage of the National Theatre by Simon Stephens is perfect for Key Stages 3 and 4. Featuring the play script from the Modern Plays edition but with the language adjusted for school use*, this edition includes a wealth of classroom activities for the English and drama classrooms.
Christopher, fifteen years old, stands beside Mrs Shears's dead dog. It has been speared with a garden fork, it is seven minutes after midnight, and Christopher is under suspicion. He records each fact in the book he is writing to solve the mystery of who murdered Wellington. He has an extraordinary brain and is exceptional at maths, but he is ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and he distrusts strangers. But Christopher's detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that turns his world upside-down.
This educational edition in Methuen Drama's Critical Scripts series has been prepared by national Drama in Secondary English experts Ruth Moore and Paul Bunyan. Building on a decade of highly effective work and publications endorsed by national organisations and supported by teachers and consultants across Britain, each book in the series:
> meets the requirements at KS3 and GCSE
> features detailed, structured schemes of work utilising drama approaches to improve literary and language analysis
> places pupils' understanding of the learning process at the heart of the activities
> will help pupils to boost English GCSE success and develop high-level skills at KS3
> will save teachers considerable time devising their own resources.
Simon Stephens's adaptation of Mark Haddon's bestselling, award-winning novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time offers a richly theatrical exploration of this touching and bleakly humorous tale.
* The instances of stronger language have been tempered in this edition specifically for school use. Teachers may still wish to satisfy themselves that it is suited to the age of their pupils.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time tells the story of Christopher Boone, a 15 year autistic boy. Christopher has set out to work out who killed the neighbour’s dog Wellington. While I don’t claim to understand anything about autism, I was a little jealous at how logically and well Christopher thought. While Christopher is out playing detective trying to solve the murder of Wellington, he is writing this book to recount his adventures. His adventures lead him to discover a much bigger mystery that he needs to solve as well.
Like most decent mysteries, Mark Haddon wastes no time to get into the thick of the action; the very first page sees the dog impaled by the gardening fork. Unlike normal young detective novels (Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys), this is more of a nod to the Sherlock Holmes novels with the gruesome crime and the way Christopher thinks.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is written the way that Christopher would write it. Even the chapter numbers show is love of maths; the book starts at chapter 2 and only uses the prime numbers all the way up to chapter 233. This book is a very interesting read, not only is it a very enjoyable mystery, but it also gives you a little insight into the mind of an autistic boy. I feel like I understand autism a little better while I read this great book.
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29 June, 2011:
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29 June, 2011:
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