New
New
Year 7

Comparing the victims in ‘The Speckled Band’ and ‘The Boscombe Valley Mystery’

I can compare the victims of ‘The Speckled Band’ and ‘The Boscombe Valley Mystery’.

New
New
Year 7

Comparing the victims in ‘The Speckled Band’ and ‘The Boscombe Valley Mystery’

I can compare the victims of ‘The Speckled Band’ and ‘The Boscombe Valley Mystery’.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Julia Stoner and Charles McCarthy are presented as very different victims.
  2. Stoner is presented more sympathetically than McCarthy.
  3. Contrasting connectives are important for comparative responses.
  4. Comparisons should always be justified by quotes and analysis.
  5. You should include a summary at the end of a comparative response.

Common misconception

All victim profiles are similar.

Conan Doyle manipulates his presentation of victims depending on how he wants the reader to view them.

Keywords

  • Compare - To compare is to estimate the similarities or differences between two things

  • Victim - A victim is a person harmed, injured or killed as a result of a crime.

  • Sympathetic - A sympathetic character is one that you feel pity or sorrow for.

  • Comparative connective - A comparative connective (e.g. however, but, similarly) expresses similarity or difference between two ideas.

Ask pupils to think about victims in other stories they know. Is their story always straightforward?
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
Who is the murder victim of 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery'?
James McCarthy
John Turner
Correct answer: Charles McCarthy
Q2.
Who is the perpetrator in 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery'?
James McCarthy
Correct answer: John Turner
Alice Turner
Q3.
Who is wrongfully convicted in 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery'?
Correct answer: James McCarthy
Alice Turner
Patience Moran
Q4.
Who is the murder victim in 'The Speckled Band'?
Dr. Roylott
Percy Armitage
Correct answer: Julia Stoner
Helen Stoner
Q5.
How was Charles McCarthy murdered in 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery'?
with a gun shot
Correct answer: being hit on the head with a rock
being bitten by a poisonous snake
Q6.
How are the lines between victim and villain blurred in 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery'?
Correct answer: Charles McCarthy is the murder victim but has been a threatening presence too.
Charles McCarthy is the murder victim but also killed Turner's daughter.
Charles McCarthy is the murder victim and has suffered all his life.

6 Questions

Q1.
Who are the murder victims of 'The Speckled Band' and 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery', respectively?
Correct answer: Julia Stoner, Charles McCarthy
Dr. Roylott, John Turner
Julia Stoner, James McCarthy
Q2.
What does sympathetic mean?
Correct answer: to feel pity towards someone
to feel excitement towards someone
to feel hatred towards someone
Q3.
Julia Stoner from 'The Speckled Band' and Charles McCarthy from 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery' are both victims. Which victim is presented more sympathetically?
Charles McCarthy
Correct answer: Julia Stoner
Dr. Watson
Q4.
Which of the below is a comparative connective?
and
Correct answer: however
additionally
Q5.
''Writhed, shrieked'' -what do these verbs suggest about Julia Stoner from 'The Speckled Band'?
she was powerful upon death
Correct answer: she was helpless upon death
she was calm upon death
Q6.
Read this quote from 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery': '‘...for my father was a man of a very violent temper.’' ​What does this quote suggest about Charles McCarthy?
Correct answer: McCarthy was not a completely innocent victim.
McCarthy was likeable.
McCarthy was a good father.