46 pages • 1 hour read
Roald DahlA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.
Short Answer
1. Consider the differences between the terms “tradition” and “modernity.” What values are associated with each? How are the two ideas antithetical?
Teaching Suggestion: This question orients students with the thematic discussion of the story. As a part of his focus on The Anonymity of Modern Life, Dahl juxtaposes the harsh, cold, and “brisk” exterior of Billy’s modern world with the warm, inviting, safe-seeming interior of the landlady’s traditional home. However, this security is false, as Billy’s modern and detached outlook does not protect him from the landlady’s trap. In this sense, tradition and modernity are linked, and the anonymity that the modern world creates—note the two young men have already vanished and been almost forgotten—allows the landlady to prey on young men and avoid suspicion. Ultimately, the landlady remains anonymous—neither Billy nor the reader ever learns her name.
By Roald Dahl
Beware of the Dog
Beware of the Dog
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Billy and the Minpins
Billy and the Minpins
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Boy: Tales of Childhood
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Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
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Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
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Danny, the Champion of the World
Danny, the Champion of the World
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Esio Trot
Esio Trot
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Fantastic Mr Fox
Fantastic Mr Fox
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George's Marvelous Medicine
George's Marvelous Medicine
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Going Solo
Going Solo
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James And The Giant Peach
James And The Giant Peach
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Lamb To The Slaughter
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Matilda
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Skin
Skin
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The BFG
The BFG
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The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
Roald Dahl, Illustr. Quentin Blake
The Magic Finger
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The Twits
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The Way Up To Heaven
The Way Up To Heaven
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The Witches
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