Worksheet on 'The Road', by James Hanley
Put back the various places in
the right chronological order
A- at the 'Rose and Crown' (a pub)
B- at the Gurneys'
C- at the house with a green door
D- in a small general shop
E- in Sisters Road
F- in the rubbles, the desert
G- in the town-centre ( the 'maelstrom')
H- in the wilderness
I- on a tram
J- on bus 12B
K- on the ship
1.......... 2.......... 3.......... 4.......... 5.......... 6..........
7.......... 8.......... 9.......... 10.......... 11..........
Match people and places. e.g. ........ lives/works/owns/is at
..........
a barman
a boy
a bus conductor
a conductor
a driver
a woman
a woman cleaning her step
a woman dressed in black (the house keeper)
Father Tumilty ( a priest)
Mr Gurney and Fred Gurney
Mr Herron ( a shop-keeper and ex-warden)
nobody
O'Rourke
the boson
the pilot
the policeman with a directory
Time: match periods/dates and
events
how is the night of the bombing referred to by Mrs Gurney
how long Elsen was away
how long he feels he has been away
how long his ship was away
how long the shelling lasted
what time the horns went off
when it all happened
when the Gurneys moved here
a hundred years or just minutes
half past five
October 18th, 1941
ten days and nights
ten years
that night
twelve months ago
two years
Match physical descriptions
and people
70, short and on the stout side
84, very frail, a tiny man and quite deaf
a weather-beaten face with a scar
fat
fat red face, jolly laughing eyes
grey eyes under bushy brows
long and stringy
short, stout, cheery
tall, broad-shouldered with thick brown hair
Elsen
Elsen's father
Elsen's mum
Father Tumilty
John
Mr Herron
the barman
the lady on the tram
the sailor
Associate all the adjectives
below with the following ideas:
ANGER
QUIETNESS
SADNESS
SURPRISE
FEAR
OTHER
afraid
angry
astonished
bewildered
broken-hearted
crazy
dejected
depressed
desolate
disappointed
down
downcast
downhearted
excited
expectant
glum
homesick
hopeful
inconsolable
irritated
longing
lost
lost-looking
low
miserable
morose
nostalgic
perplexed
puzzled
quiet
sad
scared
scarred
shocked
startled
still
surprised
taken aback
thoughtful
unable to speak
uncertain
unhappy
upset
wistful
What do the following
behaviours reveal about the various characters concerned?
page 81 'The noise deafened
him'
page 82 'The conductor
caught his arm, "Steady chum, this isn't the Atlantic Ocean,"
page 83 'He took the
sailor's arm, piloted him across the road.'
page 85 'she put a hand on
the sailor's arm.' (Mrs Gurney)
page 86 'he put his arm
through his, he led him from the room like a child' (Fred Gurney)
page 89 'Fred patted the
sailor on the back as he got up'
page 92 'he put out his
hand, which she took and shook.' ( Father Tumilty's house keeper)
page 94 'he saw a fist
clench suddenly' (Elsen's)
page 97 'Elsen picked up
his bag and went back to the ship'
Vocabulary on 'The
Road' by James Hanley
76 steady
the binnacle
the land
waves
gusts of wind
streaks of lightning
77 a rough passage
the ladder
the deck
vanishing
78 a bunk
he knelt
canvas bags
to pack
lead (N)
a whole fortnight ashore
the boson
the rail
79 the mist
a tug
the quay
the poop
whistling a tune
the gangway
a knot
80 a shed
bare
bewildered
81 to deafen
he hailed the driver
the conductor
a tuppenny
he glared
bells clanging
he longed for a face he knew
82 she beamed on him
it'll turn up
the conductor bowled up to him
get off a bus
the maelstrom
feet weighted with lead
people streamed past
83 to screech
deaf
a directory
he muttered
that's odd
84 altered
fiddled with a ring
stringy
his pace brisk
85 where I belong
he felt something swimming
inside him
he had fallen across his
canvas bag
to upset
I peeped round the door
86 a lousy homecoming
his hands clasped
a bare hill
two lines of squat houses
huddled together
chum
he whispered
87 he blurted out
the door banged behind her
broad-shouldered
a scar
bushy brows
it's awful
cheer up
88 a priest
for company's sake
downhearted
89 lost-looking
patted the sailor on the back
the lobby
awkwardly
90 the rubble
voluble
the night shift
91 a small study
rows and rows of books
a tiny man
92 speak up
stammered out
in a shelter administering to
the dying
I am grateful to you
93 a parlour shop
dummy boxes
a shelf
on the stout side
shaggy hair
a white muffler round his
throat
a belt
begging
pushed in the cash drawer
94 I docked this morning
looked bluntly
struggling to say something
a fist clenched
95 a well-scrubbed chair
spread his bare arms
he kept records
a cupboard
a drawer
the All Clear
laid it flat
all cellars
the horns go off
dead on time
96 land mines
it slipped my mind
did no harm
he burst out
the bell tinkled on