LOTS  (Lower Order Thinking Skills):  Understanding the story (Who, What, When, Where)

1.      Where and when does the story take place? (The setting)

2.      Why does the narrator dislike Mr. Kelada before he even meets him?

3.      What does Mr. Kelada look like?

4.       Why is the narrator surprised to find out that Mr. Kelada is English?

5.      What aspects of Mr. Kelada's behavior annoyed the narrator?

6.      Describe Mr. Kelada's behavior on the ship.

7.      What is Mr. Kelada's business? Why is he traveling on the ship?

8.      Describe Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay. Why are they traveling on the ship?

9.      What impressed the narrator about Mrs. Ramsay?

10.  What did Mr. Ramsay and Mr. Kelada argue about?

11.  What bet did Mr. Ramsay make with Mr. Kelada?

12.  Who won the bet?

 

HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills):  Analysis and Interpretation

 

1.      The story takes place right after WWI. How do wars affect people's attitude to foreigners?

2.      What problems might arise on a ship when people from different countries and backgrounds have to spend time together?

3.      Why do you think the narrator would prefer to share a cabin with someone named Smith or Brown? 

4.      Why does the narrator dislike Mr. Kelada before he even meets him?

5.      What can we understand about the narrator by the way he judges Mr. Kelada at the beginning of the story?

6.      Which thinking skill did you choose to answer question 5?  (We use the skill of inferring to make initial judgments about people based on the way people look or behave – often based on pre-conceived notions, prejudice and stereotyping).

7.      Why do the other passengers on the ship call Mr. Kelada "Mr. Know-All"?

8.      Why do you think that Mr. Kelada behaves this way?

9.      How does the narrator react to Mr. Kelada's attempts to be friendly? (Give at least two examples)

10.  Why do you think the narrator behaves this way?

11.  To answer questions 8 and 10, which thinking skill did you use? (We use the thinking skill of Explaining Patterns to learn about people by observing their behavior. (For example, one person might talk loudly to hide his or her insecurity, while another might become very quiet. When this type of behavior repeats itself, we can say that it follows a pattern).

12.  In which way are Mr. Kalada and Mr. Ramsay alike? Which thinking skill did you choose to answer this question? (Comparing and Contrasting)

13.  Why did Ramsay challenge Mr. Kelada to a bet about his wife's pearls? What did he hope to achieve?

14.  Mr. Kelada was about to announce that the pearls were real. What made him change his mind say "I was mistaken"?

15.  What motivated Mr. Ramsay to leave a hundred-dollar bill under Mr. Kelada's cabin door?

16.  In order to answer the questions 13, 14, 15, which thinking skill did you use?  (Uncovering Motives – discovering the reasons for the characters' behavior).

17.  What can we understand about the narrator by the way he judges Mr. Kelada at the beginning of the story?

18.  Why did Mrs. Ramsay try to prevent Mr. Kelada from inspecting her pearls?

19.  Why did the narrator say at the end:  "At that moment, I did not entirely dislike Mr. Kelada"?

(Much of our understanding of Mr. Know-All depends on our ability to infer. In order to answer the questions 17,18 and 19, you had to use the thinking skill of inferring to help you).

20.  At the beginning of the story, the characters are presented as stereotypes. (the narrator as a typical upper-class Englishman, Max Kelada as a typical Levantine, Mrs. Ramsay as a sweet, modest woman)

How does the information we learn later challenge these stereotypes?

21.  What point do you think the author is trying to make?

 

Looking back over the story.

1.      What was your opinion of Mr. Kelada at the beginning of the story? Did the information you learned about him later in the story change your opinion? Explain.

2.      Explain the double meaning of Mr. Know-All".

3.      In "Mr. Know-All", the cultured pearls are a symbol. Explain.

(In your answer keep in mind the following 3 points:  (a) What are cultured pearls and when are they mentioned in the story? (b) What is the difference between a cultured pearl and a real pearl?  (c) What do the cultured pearls and certain characters in the story have in common? Give examples from the story to support our answer).