WORKSHEET N°1 – FROM THE BEGINNING TO PAGE 4 (….David was an architect)

1) LANDMARKS.

1- This passage is the very beginning of the Fifth Child. It is the introductory scene. The first pages of a novel are very important because they present/ introduce the main characters and the setting of the action/ the plot. They also set the atmosphere of the plot.

2- The beginning of the fifth child brings us information about the 2 main characters of the story, Harriet and Harry Lovatt: we learn about their jobs, their physical appearances , their states of mind and the circumstances of their first meeting.

3- We gradually get acquainted with them ( little by little )even if the first approach given of them is a rather negative one ( 1st paragraph)

4- The scene takes place at an office party (end - of - year party), in the boardroom of a firm.

5- We could divide the text into 2 or 3 parts: L.1 to 28: the party: this passage sets the atmosphere of the party. L.29 to 38: a portrait of Harriet: we get acquainted with Harriet. L.39 to 54: a portrait of David: we learn about David.

2) MAIN POINTS.

1) THE PARTY.
1- The party is the starting point of Harriet and David's future relationship. They wouldn't have met if they hadn't been to this party! So, the party is very important in the process of the novel : it triggers their meeting, it is the "opening incident", the element enabling the building of the plot.

2- The numbers in the 2nd paragraph ( " 2 hundred people"(l.11), "3 hundred and thirty-four days" (l.12) (over)emphasize the importance of the party : it seems to be an exceptional event in an unusual place with a crowd of people. the reader feels lost/submerged in a series of numbers as if he was himself lost in this crowded/ overfilled boardroom. This accumulation of adjectives and numbers makes us feel the room