2000 WORD COMPARATIVE ESSAY
SPIES – READING SCHEDULE – for the class I share with Jerome and Kay
Below is a table to help you read Spies by Michael Frayn. This
reading must be done independently of the work we do in class. We will not have
enough time in class to read the text in detail. Instead we will be focussing
on key episodes from the novel and linking these to key comparative themes in
Equus.
I expect that this reading will be done and the classroom
activities will assume you have read the relevant passages at least once but
hopefully twice.
CH
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TITLE
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READING TIMETABLE
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PAGES
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1
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Present day – return to childhood home
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Week beginning 7 October
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3 -33
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2
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The Close
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3
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The sitting room and the hideout
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Week beginning 14 October
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37 - 110
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4
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4 spying journeys
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5
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The Box, Barbara and Mrs Hayward
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6
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Night. The box and the man. Keith interrogates Stephen.
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Week beginning 21 October
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113 - 171
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7
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The thermos
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8
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Barbara in the lookout smoking and the box
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9
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The basket. Confrontation with Mr Hayward. Stephen and
Peter
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Week beginning 28 October
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175 - 234
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10
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Stephen and Peter, confrontations with Keith and parents, night and Peter’s death
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11
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Present day reflections
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TOPICS IN SPIES - TO NOTE
Englishness, Power, Friendship,
Male identity, Conformity/Individuality, Bullying, Storytelling/fantasy, Belonging,
Making sense of the past, Alienation/dislocation,
Deception/Betrayal, Memory, Identity
[national, family etc], Innocence and experience,Sexual awakening, Childhood, Class, Language and meaning, The role and status of women
Concepts in bold link also to Equus
