Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

A) Comprehension

Chapter 1 – The Story of the Door

1. Who was coming home at three o’clock on a black winter morning?

-Mr. Enfield was coming home.

2. Who was difficult to describe?

-The strange man who walked over the girl and had the key of the mysterious door.

Chapter 2 – The Search for Mr. Hyde

1. What did Mr. Utterson take out of his safe?

-He took out from his safe Mr. Jekyll’s will.

2. Why did Mr. Utterson begin to watch the door in the little street of shops?

-He started to watch the door because he wanted to see Mr Hyde’s face to understand the mystery of his friend’s will.

3. Who had the key to the laboratory?

-Mr. Hyde had a key.

Chapter 3 – The Carew Murder Case

1. Who saw the murder take place?

-A servant who lived alone and was sitting next to the window.

2. Who recognised the broken piece of stick?

-Mr. Utterson recognised it, because he had given that stick to Jekyll many years before.

3. Who went with Mr. Utterson to Hyde’s house in Soho?

-He went with the Inspector Newcome of Scotland Yard.

Chapter 4 – The Letter

1. Who said, “He is safe and no one will ever hear of him again”?

-Dr. Jekyll cried this.

2. Who said, “He planned to murder you! You were lucky to escape!”?

-Mr. Utterson said it.

3. Who said, “Sir Danvers Carew murdered! Read all about it!”?

-Newspaper boys were shouting this, advertising the daily newspaper.

4. Who said, “It’s a very interesting signature”?

-Guest said it.

Chapter 5 – A Face at the Window

1. Mr. Utterson was shocked to see how ill Dr. Lanyon looked. True or false?

-True. Dr. Lanyon’s face was grey and thin and the mark of death was written on it.

2. After Mr. Utterson visited Dr. Lanyon, he went home and wrote a letter to Mr. Enfield. True or false?

-False. When Mr. Utterson arrived home, he wrote a letter to Dr. Jekyll.

3. When Mr. Utterson called at Dr. Jekyll’s house, Poole told him that the doctor would not see him. True or false?

-True. Mr. Utterson was not sorry when Poole told him this.

4. Doctor Jekyll spoke to Mr. Utterson and Dr. Lanyon from the half-open window. True or false?

-False. Dr. Jekyll spoke from the window to Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield.

Chapter 6 – The Last Night

1. Why did Dr. Jekyll send Poole to all the chemists in London?

-Because he wanted Poole to buy some powders for him.

2. What did Poole use to break down the red door?

-He used an axe to break down the door.

3. What was in the dead man’s hand?

-The dead man had a bottle in his hand.

4. What change had Dr. Jekyll made in his new will?

-The will’s change was that all Dr. Jekyll’s money was to go to Mr. Utterson and not to Mr. Hyde.

Chapter 7 – Dr. Lanyon’s Story

1. What was in the drawer in Henry Jekyll’s workroom?

-The drawer contained some powders, a bottle and a notebook.

2. What did Dr. Lanyon do after he sent his servants to bed?

-He took a gun and he met a man.

3. What happened to Dr. Lanyon’s visitor after he drank from the measuring glass?

-He seemed to get bigger and to change shape. His face was black and his skin seemed to be turning to liquid. And after, he became Henry Jekyll.

Chapter 8 – Henry Jekyll’s Story

1. Henry Jekyll enjoyed wild night life. True or false?

-True. He enjoyed this type of life, but he carefully hid this aspect of his character.

2. He grew much bigger after taking the drug. True or false?

-False. When he first took the drug, he discovered that he was smaller.

3. He employed a man who asked no questions to look after Hyde’s house in Soho. True or false?

-False. He employed a woman to look after Hyde’s house.

4. He locked the street door from the laboratory and broke the key. True or false?

-True. He locked himself in the room and he broke the key.

B) Working with Language

1. Write sentences clearly showing the meaning of each of these words.

-Blackmail (noun or verb); He blackmailed her; if she tell something to their mum, he would tell them all that she failed the exam.

-Faint (verb); He didn’t have good health; he fainted frequently.

-Cheque (noun); the rich man donated a check for a million dollars to charities.

-Evil (adjective); she is a very perverse and evil person.

-Trust (verb); I only trust in my family and in my best friend.

2. These sentences are wrongly ordered. They are all taken from Chapter 1. Put them in the correct order.

e) One of Mr. Utterson’s few good friends was Mr. Enfield, a distant cousin.

b) On one of these walks the two men found themselves in a small street in a busy part of London.

a) “We made him give the child’s family a hundred pounds. He could not argue.”

d) “Blackmail House is what I call that place with the door now.”

c) “I wish I hadn’t said anything now”, Mr. Enfield said, after a minute or two.

C) Activities

1. In Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson is suggesting that there is good and bad in everyone. Write 100-150 words saying why you agree or do not agree with this idea.

I agree with the writer, because I think too that each person has a good side and a bad side in his/her character. Sometimes, the behaviour of the persons depends on the situation and on the persons who are around too, but all people can act in a good way or in a bad one, choosing it. The reaction of a person is influenced by their mood too. Maybe, in a concrete situation, an angry person will act in a bad way, upside a happy person is more possible that will act in a good way. But definitely all people had acted at least once in a good and once in a bad way.

2. Read the beginning of Chapter 3 again. Now imagine that you are a newspaper reporter, and that you have to interview the servant who saw the murder of Sir Danvers Carew. A) First, write a list of the questions you want to ask her. B) Second, write a report about the murder for your newspaper.

1. What were you doing when the crime took place? Did the criminal steal something to the old man? Why did you not help the old man while the crime was taking place? Can you describe the scene and the subjects?

2. Yesterday, an old well-respected man was murdered by a strange young man; Edward Hyde. There is only a witness of this crime, a woman who was sitting next to the window of her house. She watched the two men in the street, passing next to the other, and Mr. Hyde sticking to the old man until he died. After this, Hyde ran away at the same time that the woman, shocked, called the police; even without believe what had just happened. But when the services arrived, it was too late for the old gentle-man.

3. A) Write a short review (50-100 words) of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, saying why you liked or did not like the story. B) Think of a new title for the story.

1. I liked this book so much because this story is very interesting and it seems to be a detective’s story. I think that this book can make you think a lot, because while you are reading the story of Dr. Jekyll’s, you understood that everyone has a good part and an evil one.

2. Human bipolarity.

Noelia Cascudo Arregui, 4ºB