martes, 28 de agosto de 2007
Glossary
Glossary:
Chapters 1-3
backwards (adv) moving in the opposite way to the usual way
drill (n) a machine that is used for making holes in something hard
gearbox (n) the part of a car that has gears in it (gears make the car move)
ghost (n) if a person dies, he/she may come back to earth as a ghost. People are frightened of ghosts
glue (n) this is sticky and joins things together
parrot (n) a coloured bird that can speak
sawdust (n) very, very small pieces of wood
Chapters 4-6
argue (v) to disagree with someone and shout angrily
believe (v) to think that something is true or someone is speaking the truth
multiply (v) 2 x 2 = 4: two multiplied by two is four
newt (n) a small animal that has a long body, four legs and a tail, and lives in water
spell (v) to form a word by putting the right letters in the right order
Chapters 7-9
blackboard (n) a large, black, smooth piece of wood that teachers write on
blow up (v) to break into small pieces
chalk (n) teachers write on a blackboard with this
will (n) an important letter which says who will receive your money after you die
Chapters 1-3
backwards (adv) moving in the opposite way to the usual way
drill (n) a machine that is used for making holes in something hard
gearbox (n) the part of a car that has gears in it (gears make the car move)
ghost (n) if a person dies, he/she may come back to earth as a ghost. People are frightened of ghosts
glue (n) this is sticky and joins things together
parrot (n) a coloured bird that can speak
sawdust (n) very, very small pieces of wood
Chapters 4-6
argue (v) to disagree with someone and shout angrily
believe (v) to think that something is true or someone is speaking the truth
multiply (v) 2 x 2 = 4: two multiplied by two is four
newt (n) a small animal that has a long body, four legs and a tail, and lives in water
spell (v) to form a word by putting the right letters in the right order
Chapters 7-9
blackboard (n) a large, black, smooth piece of wood that teachers write on
blow up (v) to break into small pieces
chalk (n) teachers write on a blackboard with this
will (n) an important letter which says who will receive your money after you die
Communicative activities
COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES (GROUP- PAIR WORK)
Chapters 1 - 3
1 Choose another title for each chapter. Each title must be an actual sentence from the chapter. The group must also give the reasons why they chose the sentences.
2 In pairs, describe Matilda from the point of view of (a) her father (b) Miss Phelps. Then describe Mr Wormwood from the point of view of (a) Matilda (b) his wife.
Chapters 4-6
1 In groups, answer the following questions.
(a) Who do you think is worse, Mr Wormwood or Miss Trunchbull? Explain your reasons.
(b) Do you think there really are teachers like Miss Trunchbull?
(c) Do you think there really are parents like the Wormwoods?
(d) What makes Matilda a funny book?
2 Write a description of ‘The best teacher in the world’.
Chapters 7-9
Agree on four words to describe each of these people:
(a) Matilda (b) Mr Wormwood (c) Miss Trunchbull (d) Miss Honey
Activities after reading the book
1 Write a quiz on the book - 10 questions in all. Then each group gives its quiz to another group. The winner is the group that answers its questions the fastest.
2 Decide on an animal that each of the four main characters (Matilda, Mr Wormwood, Miss Trunchbull, Miss Honey) are similar to. Give reasons for your choice.
3 Look at these names: Wormwood, Trunchbull, Honey. Look up worm, bull and honey in your dictionary. Why do you think Roald Dahl chose these names? Choose new names for these people. Then compare with your friends. Which are your favourite new names?
4 Which parts of the book do you like the best? Explain why.
5 Impossible things happen in Matilda. What are they? Write them down. Do you think they are funny? Do you think they make the story better or not?
6 You have seen the film ‘Matilda’. How is the story in the film different from the story in this book?
7 Write the conversation that Matilda and Miss Honey could have when they go to Miss Honey’s house at the end of the story.
Chapters 1 - 3
1 Choose another title for each chapter. Each title must be an actual sentence from the chapter. The group must also give the reasons why they chose the sentences.
2 In pairs, describe Matilda from the point of view of (a) her father (b) Miss Phelps. Then describe Mr Wormwood from the point of view of (a) Matilda (b) his wife.
Chapters 4-6
1 In groups, answer the following questions.
(a) Who do you think is worse, Mr Wormwood or Miss Trunchbull? Explain your reasons.
(b) Do you think there really are teachers like Miss Trunchbull?
(c) Do you think there really are parents like the Wormwoods?
(d) What makes Matilda a funny book?
2 Write a description of ‘The best teacher in the world’.
Chapters 7-9
Agree on four words to describe each of these people:
(a) Matilda (b) Mr Wormwood (c) Miss Trunchbull (d) Miss Honey
Activities after reading the book
1 Write a quiz on the book - 10 questions in all. Then each group gives its quiz to another group. The winner is the group that answers its questions the fastest.
2 Decide on an animal that each of the four main characters (Matilda, Mr Wormwood, Miss Trunchbull, Miss Honey) are similar to. Give reasons for your choice.
3 Look at these names: Wormwood, Trunchbull, Honey. Look up worm, bull and honey in your dictionary. Why do you think Roald Dahl chose these names? Choose new names for these people. Then compare with your friends. Which are your favourite new names?
4 Which parts of the book do you like the best? Explain why.
5 Impossible things happen in Matilda. What are they? Write them down. Do you think they are funny? Do you think they make the story better or not?
6 You have seen the film ‘Matilda’. How is the story in the film different from the story in this book?
7 Write the conversation that Matilda and Miss Honey could have when they go to Miss Honey’s house at the end of the story.
Plot summary
Can you complete this plot summary, these words may help you: Sweet, Parents, Read, Principal, Cruelty, Powers, Fly, SchoolPlot Summary for Matilda
A grouchy couple give birth to a very ______ girl they name Matilda. Unlike her bratty brother & mean __________, Matilda becomes a very sweet & extremely intelligent girl who is very anxious to go to school & __________ books. After a while, her parents send her to a school with the worst _____________ in the world, a very sweet teacher, & good friends. While trying to put up with her parent's & principal's ____________, she starts to unwittingly unleash telekinetic _____________ that destroy a television & make a reptile _____________ on her teacher. With enough practice, Matilda starts to learn to control her telekinetic powers & soon using them on her principal so she can drive her away from the _____________.
Taglines
Look at these taglines for the book and the movie Matilda:
Matilda. A little magic goes a long way.
Matilda. Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world...
Which tagine would you choose? Why?
Can you think of a new one?
Matilda. ..............................................................
Matilda. A little magic goes a long way.
Matilda. Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world...
Which tagine would you choose? Why?
Can you think of a new one?
Matilda. ..............................................................
These are some memorable quotes from the movie Matilda. Read them and try to remember the episode or situation in the movie. Be ready for oral class discussion.
Narrator: Everyone is born, but not everyone is born the same. Some will grow to be butchers, or bakers, or candlestick makers. Some will only be really good at making Jell-O salad. One way or another, though, every human being is unique, for better or for worse. [Harry takes his first look at Matilda, grunts, and leaves]
Narrator: Most parents believe their children are the most beautiful creatures ever to grace the planet. Others take a less emotional approach:
Harry Wormwood: What a waste of time!
Zinnia Wormwood: And painful!
Harry Wormwood: And expensive... $9.25 for a bar of soap?
Zinnia Wormwood: Well, I had to take a shower, Harry!
Harry Wormwood: $5,000? I'm not paying it! What are they going to do, repossess the kid?
Zinnia Wormwood: Look, Miss Snit, a girl does not get anywhere by acting intelligent! I mean, take a look at you and me. You chose books - I chose looks. I have a nice house, a wonderful husband... and you are slaving away teaching snot-nosed children their ABCs. You want Matilda to go to college? Ha, ha, ha ha...
Harry Wormwood: College? I didn't go to college. I don't know anybody who did. Bunch of hippies and cesspool salesmen, ha ha ha ha...
Jenny: Don't sneer at educated people, Mr. Wormwood. If you became ill, heaven forbid, your doctor would be a college graduate.
Harry Wormwood: Yeah...
Jenny: Or say you were sued for selling a faulty car. The lawyer who defended you would have gone to college too.
Harry Wormwood: What car? Sued by who? Who you been talking to?
Jenny: N-nobody.
Harry Wormwood: A book? What do you want a book for?
Matilda: To read.
Harry Wormwood: To read? Why would you want to read when you got the television set sitting right in front of you? There's nothing you can get from a book that you can't get from a television faster.
Harry Wormwood: I'm smart; you're dumb. I'm big; you're small. I'm right, you're wrong. And there's nothing you can do about it.
Agatha Trunchbull: I need a car, inexpensive but reliable. Can you service me?
Harry Wormwood: In a manner of speaking, yes. Uh, welcome to Wormwood Motors. Harry Wormwood, owner, founder, whatever.
Agatha Trunchbull: Agatha Trunchbull, principal, Crunchem Hall Elementary School.
Harry Wormwood: Huh.
Agatha Trunchbull: I warn you, sir, I want a tight car, because I run a tight ship.
Harry Wormwood: Oh yeah, huh, well, uh...
Agatha Trunchbull: My school is a model of discipline! Use the rod, beat the child, that's my motto.
Harry Wormwood: Terrific motto!
Agatha Trunchbull: You have brats yourself?
arry Wormwood: Yeah, I got a boy, Mikey, and one mistake, Matilda.
Agatha Trunchbull: They're all mistakes, children! Filthy, nasty things. Glad I never was one.
Agatha Trunchbull: I have never been able to understand why small children are so disgusting. They're the bane of my life. They're like insects: they should be got rid of as early as possible. Hah, [makes spraying gesture] psst! My idea of a perfect school is one in which there are no children... at all.
Harry Wormwood: [after listing prices of cars bought and sold] What was my profit for the day? Mikey: Could you repeat the last one?
Matilda: [interrupting] $10,265.
[long pause]
Matilda: Check it if you don't believe me.
Harry Wormwood: You're a little cheat. You saw the paper.
Matilda: From all the way over here?
Harry Wormwood: Are you being smart with me? If you're being smart with me, young lady, you're going to be punished.
Matilda: Punished for being smart?
Harry Wormwood: For being a smart aleck! When a person is bad, that person has to be ought a lesson!
Matilda: Person?
Harry Wormwood: Get up, get up...
Narrator: Harry Wormwood had unintentionally given his daughter the first practical advice she could use. He had meant to say, "When a child is bad." Instead he said, "When a person is bad." And thereby introduced a revolutionary idea: that children could punish their parents. Only when they deserved it, of course.
Written by Trunchbull on the blackboard: If you are having fun, you are not learning.
Matilda: I love it here! I love my school... it isn't fair! Miss Honey, please don't let them...
Harry Wormwood: [interrupting] Get in the car, Melinda!
Matilda: Matilda!
Harry Wormwood: Whatever.
Matilda: I want to stay with Miss Honey.
Zinnia Wormwood: Miss Honey doesn't want you. Why would she want some snotty, disobedient kid?
Jenny: Because she's a spectacularly wonderful child and I love her.
Matilda: Adopt me, Miss Honey! You can adopt me.
Harry Wormwood: Look, I don't have time for all these legalities!
Matilda: One second, Dad. I have the adoption papers.
Zinnia Wormwood: What? Where did you get those?
Matilda: From a book in the library. I've had them since I was big enough to Xerox.
Narrator: Dirty dealings, like buying stolen car parts, never stay secret for long. Especially when the FBI gets involved.
FBI Agent Bob: [into recorder] 9:17, suspect exits domicile.
FBI Agent Bill: I've got 9:18.
FBI Agent Bob: [into recorder] 9:17 is correct.
Agatha Trunchbull: I cannot for the life of me understand why small children take so long to grow up. I think they do it deliberately, just to annoy me.
Matilda: No more Miss Nice Girl!
Matilda: Why don't you run away?
Jenny: I've often thought about it, but... I can't abandon my children. And if I couldn't teach, I'd have nothing at all.
Matilda: You're very brave, Miss Honey.
Jenny: Not as brave as you.
Matilda: I thought grown-ups weren't afraid of anything.
Jenny: Quite the contrary. All grown-ups get scared, just like children.
Matilda: I wonder what Miss Trunchbull is afraid of.
Harry Wormwood: Any packages come today?
Matilda: Mm-mm.
Harry Wormwood: [noticing her books] Where'd all this come from?
Matilda: The library.
Harry Wormwood: The library? You've never set foot in a library. You're only four years old. Matilda: Six-and-a-half.
Harry Wormwood: You're four!
Matilda: Six-and-a-half!
Harry Wormwood: If you were six-and-a-half, you'd be in school already.
Matilda: I want to be in school. I told you I was supposed to start school in September. You wouldn't listen.
Harry Wormwood: Get up, get up, get out of here, give me that book.
Harry Wormwood: [He drags Matilda, throwing the book aside, to where Zinnia is] Dearest pie, how old is Matilda?
Zinnia Wormwood: Four.
Matilda: I'm six-and-a-half, mommy!
Zinnia Wormwood: Five, then!
Matilda: I was six in August.
Harry Wormwood: You're a liar.
Matilda: I want to go to school.
Harry Wormwood: School? It's out of the question. Who would be here to sign for the packages? We can't leave valuable packages sitting out on the doorstep. Now go watch TV like a good kid. [Matilda leaves]
Zinnia Wormwood: You know, sometimes I think there's something wrong with that girl.
Harry Wormwood: Hmph, tell me about it.
Jenny: Matilda, you promised you wouldn't go back into that house.
Matilda: I didn't. I was on the garage roof. [whispering]
Matilda: I did it with my powers.
Matilda: It's not trash, daddy. It's lovely. Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
Harry Wormwood: Moby WHAT?
Matilda: This is the cottage from your story!
Jenny: Yes.
Matilda: The young woman is you!
Jenny: Yes.
Matilda: But then... No.
Jenny: Yes. Aunt Trunchbull.
Zinnia Wormwood: [asked to sign Matilda's adoption papers] You're the only daughter I ever had, Matilda. And I never understood you, not one little bit... Who's got a pen?
Harry Wormwood: Since you're an educator, I'll make you a deal.
Agatha Trunchbull: You'd better.
Harry Wormwood: Let's do business.
Zinnia Wormwood: [Matilda comes home from school, excitedly. Zinnia's on the phone, talking about her kids] Mine are driving me crazy. I'll tell ya, six hours of school a day just isn't enough. Matilda: [excitedly] I'll say!
Agatha Trunchbull: Can you spell?
Amanda Thripp: Miss Honey taught us how to spell a long word yesterday. We can spell "difficulty".
Agatha Trunchbull: You couldn't spell "difficulty" if your life depended on it.
Amanda Thripp: She taught us with a poem.
Agatha Trunchbull: A poem? How sweet. What poem would that be?
Amanda Thripp: Mrs. D, Mrs. I, Mrs. F-F-I. Mrs. C, Mrs. U., Mrs. L-T-Y!
Agatha Trunchbull: Why are all these women married? Mrs. D? Mrs.I? You're supposed to be teaching spelling, not poetry!
Agatha Trunchbull: Useless, flamin' car! Wormwood! Sell me a lemon? You're heading for the choky, young lady!
Matilda: Choky?
Agatha Trunchbull: Teach you a lesson!
Matilda: What lesson?
Agatha Trunchbull: You and your father think you can make a fool out of me!
Matilda: My father?
Agatha Trunchbull: The guy with the stupid haircut!
Matilda: I'm nothing like my father.
Agatha Trunchbull: You're the spitting image. The apple never rots far from the tree!
Jenny: [sees a painting of Ms. Trunchbull] Oh my. My father's portrait used to hang there. Matilda: Whoever painted The Trunchbull must have had a strong stomach. A really strong stomach.
Agatha Trunchbull: What are those?
Amanda Thripp: What's what Ms. Trunchbull?
Agatha Trunchbull: Hanging down by your ears,
Amanda Thripp: You mean my pig tails
Agatha Trunchbull: Are you a pig Amanda?
Amanda Thripp: NO, Ms. Trunchbull.
Agatha Trunchbull: Do I allow Pigs in my school?
Amanda Thripp: My mommy thinks they're sweet.
Agatha Trunchbull: Your Mommy is a TWIT.
Harry Wormwood: What is this trash you're reading?
Matilda: It's not trash, Daddy, It's lovely. Its caled Moby Dick by Herman Melvile.
Harry Wormwood: Moby What?
Matilda: Dad?
Harry Wormwood: What?
Matilda: Yell at me, ok?
Harry Wormwood: SHUT UP AND LEAVE US ALONE!
Matilda: We'll wait until she's gone, then we'll go get your doll.
Jenny: What?
Matilda: Just kidding.
Harry Wormwood: [to Michael, who is choking on a carrot Matilida shot at his mouth with her powers] Chew your food; you're an animal!
Agatha Trunchbull: [speaking to Matilda about her and her father] You're the most corrupt low-lives in the history of civilization!
Narrator: Everyone is born, but not everyone is born the same. Some will grow to be butchers, or bakers, or candlestick makers. Some will only be really good at making Jell-O salad. One way or another, though, every human being is unique, for better or for worse. [Harry takes his first look at Matilda, grunts, and leaves]
Narrator: Most parents believe their children are the most beautiful creatures ever to grace the planet. Others take a less emotional approach:
Harry Wormwood: What a waste of time!
Zinnia Wormwood: And painful!
Harry Wormwood: And expensive... $9.25 for a bar of soap?
Zinnia Wormwood: Well, I had to take a shower, Harry!
Harry Wormwood: $5,000? I'm not paying it! What are they going to do, repossess the kid?
Zinnia Wormwood: Look, Miss Snit, a girl does not get anywhere by acting intelligent! I mean, take a look at you and me. You chose books - I chose looks. I have a nice house, a wonderful husband... and you are slaving away teaching snot-nosed children their ABCs. You want Matilda to go to college? Ha, ha, ha ha...
Harry Wormwood: College? I didn't go to college. I don't know anybody who did. Bunch of hippies and cesspool salesmen, ha ha ha ha...
Jenny: Don't sneer at educated people, Mr. Wormwood. If you became ill, heaven forbid, your doctor would be a college graduate.
Harry Wormwood: Yeah...
Jenny: Or say you were sued for selling a faulty car. The lawyer who defended you would have gone to college too.
Harry Wormwood: What car? Sued by who? Who you been talking to?
Jenny: N-nobody.
Harry Wormwood: A book? What do you want a book for?
Matilda: To read.
Harry Wormwood: To read? Why would you want to read when you got the television set sitting right in front of you? There's nothing you can get from a book that you can't get from a television faster.
Harry Wormwood: I'm smart; you're dumb. I'm big; you're small. I'm right, you're wrong. And there's nothing you can do about it.
Agatha Trunchbull: I need a car, inexpensive but reliable. Can you service me?
Harry Wormwood: In a manner of speaking, yes. Uh, welcome to Wormwood Motors. Harry Wormwood, owner, founder, whatever.
Agatha Trunchbull: Agatha Trunchbull, principal, Crunchem Hall Elementary School.
Harry Wormwood: Huh.
Agatha Trunchbull: I warn you, sir, I want a tight car, because I run a tight ship.
Harry Wormwood: Oh yeah, huh, well, uh...
Agatha Trunchbull: My school is a model of discipline! Use the rod, beat the child, that's my motto.
Harry Wormwood: Terrific motto!
Agatha Trunchbull: You have brats yourself?
arry Wormwood: Yeah, I got a boy, Mikey, and one mistake, Matilda.
Agatha Trunchbull: They're all mistakes, children! Filthy, nasty things. Glad I never was one.
Agatha Trunchbull: I have never been able to understand why small children are so disgusting. They're the bane of my life. They're like insects: they should be got rid of as early as possible. Hah, [makes spraying gesture] psst! My idea of a perfect school is one in which there are no children... at all.
Harry Wormwood: [after listing prices of cars bought and sold] What was my profit for the day? Mikey: Could you repeat the last one?
Matilda: [interrupting] $10,265.
[long pause]
Matilda: Check it if you don't believe me.
Harry Wormwood: You're a little cheat. You saw the paper.
Matilda: From all the way over here?
Harry Wormwood: Are you being smart with me? If you're being smart with me, young lady, you're going to be punished.
Matilda: Punished for being smart?
Harry Wormwood: For being a smart aleck! When a person is bad, that person has to be ought a lesson!
Matilda: Person?
Harry Wormwood: Get up, get up...
Narrator: Harry Wormwood had unintentionally given his daughter the first practical advice she could use. He had meant to say, "When a child is bad." Instead he said, "When a person is bad." And thereby introduced a revolutionary idea: that children could punish their parents. Only when they deserved it, of course.
Written by Trunchbull on the blackboard: If you are having fun, you are not learning.
Matilda: I love it here! I love my school... it isn't fair! Miss Honey, please don't let them...
Harry Wormwood: [interrupting] Get in the car, Melinda!
Matilda: Matilda!
Harry Wormwood: Whatever.
Matilda: I want to stay with Miss Honey.
Zinnia Wormwood: Miss Honey doesn't want you. Why would she want some snotty, disobedient kid?
Jenny: Because she's a spectacularly wonderful child and I love her.
Matilda: Adopt me, Miss Honey! You can adopt me.
Harry Wormwood: Look, I don't have time for all these legalities!
Matilda: One second, Dad. I have the adoption papers.
Zinnia Wormwood: What? Where did you get those?
Matilda: From a book in the library. I've had them since I was big enough to Xerox.
Narrator: Dirty dealings, like buying stolen car parts, never stay secret for long. Especially when the FBI gets involved.
FBI Agent Bob: [into recorder] 9:17, suspect exits domicile.
FBI Agent Bill: I've got 9:18.
FBI Agent Bob: [into recorder] 9:17 is correct.
Agatha Trunchbull: I cannot for the life of me understand why small children take so long to grow up. I think they do it deliberately, just to annoy me.
Matilda: No more Miss Nice Girl!
Matilda: Why don't you run away?
Jenny: I've often thought about it, but... I can't abandon my children. And if I couldn't teach, I'd have nothing at all.
Matilda: You're very brave, Miss Honey.
Jenny: Not as brave as you.
Matilda: I thought grown-ups weren't afraid of anything.
Jenny: Quite the contrary. All grown-ups get scared, just like children.
Matilda: I wonder what Miss Trunchbull is afraid of.
Harry Wormwood: Any packages come today?
Matilda: Mm-mm.
Harry Wormwood: [noticing her books] Where'd all this come from?
Matilda: The library.
Harry Wormwood: The library? You've never set foot in a library. You're only four years old. Matilda: Six-and-a-half.
Harry Wormwood: You're four!
Matilda: Six-and-a-half!
Harry Wormwood: If you were six-and-a-half, you'd be in school already.
Matilda: I want to be in school. I told you I was supposed to start school in September. You wouldn't listen.
Harry Wormwood: Get up, get up, get out of here, give me that book.
Harry Wormwood: [He drags Matilda, throwing the book aside, to where Zinnia is] Dearest pie, how old is Matilda?
Zinnia Wormwood: Four.
Matilda: I'm six-and-a-half, mommy!
Zinnia Wormwood: Five, then!
Matilda: I was six in August.
Harry Wormwood: You're a liar.
Matilda: I want to go to school.
Harry Wormwood: School? It's out of the question. Who would be here to sign for the packages? We can't leave valuable packages sitting out on the doorstep. Now go watch TV like a good kid. [Matilda leaves]
Zinnia Wormwood: You know, sometimes I think there's something wrong with that girl.
Harry Wormwood: Hmph, tell me about it.
Jenny: Matilda, you promised you wouldn't go back into that house.
Matilda: I didn't. I was on the garage roof. [whispering]
Matilda: I did it with my powers.
Matilda: It's not trash, daddy. It's lovely. Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
Harry Wormwood: Moby WHAT?
Matilda: This is the cottage from your story!
Jenny: Yes.
Matilda: The young woman is you!
Jenny: Yes.
Matilda: But then... No.
Jenny: Yes. Aunt Trunchbull.
Zinnia Wormwood: [asked to sign Matilda's adoption papers] You're the only daughter I ever had, Matilda. And I never understood you, not one little bit... Who's got a pen?
Harry Wormwood: Since you're an educator, I'll make you a deal.
Agatha Trunchbull: You'd better.
Harry Wormwood: Let's do business.
Zinnia Wormwood: [Matilda comes home from school, excitedly. Zinnia's on the phone, talking about her kids] Mine are driving me crazy. I'll tell ya, six hours of school a day just isn't enough. Matilda: [excitedly] I'll say!
Agatha Trunchbull: Can you spell?
Amanda Thripp: Miss Honey taught us how to spell a long word yesterday. We can spell "difficulty".
Agatha Trunchbull: You couldn't spell "difficulty" if your life depended on it.
Amanda Thripp: She taught us with a poem.
Agatha Trunchbull: A poem? How sweet. What poem would that be?
Amanda Thripp: Mrs. D, Mrs. I, Mrs. F-F-I. Mrs. C, Mrs. U., Mrs. L-T-Y!
Agatha Trunchbull: Why are all these women married? Mrs. D? Mrs.I? You're supposed to be teaching spelling, not poetry!
Agatha Trunchbull: Useless, flamin' car! Wormwood! Sell me a lemon? You're heading for the choky, young lady!
Matilda: Choky?
Agatha Trunchbull: Teach you a lesson!
Matilda: What lesson?
Agatha Trunchbull: You and your father think you can make a fool out of me!
Matilda: My father?
Agatha Trunchbull: The guy with the stupid haircut!
Matilda: I'm nothing like my father.
Agatha Trunchbull: You're the spitting image. The apple never rots far from the tree!
Jenny: [sees a painting of Ms. Trunchbull] Oh my. My father's portrait used to hang there. Matilda: Whoever painted The Trunchbull must have had a strong stomach. A really strong stomach.
Agatha Trunchbull: What are those?
Amanda Thripp: What's what Ms. Trunchbull?
Agatha Trunchbull: Hanging down by your ears,
Amanda Thripp: You mean my pig tails
Agatha Trunchbull: Are you a pig Amanda?
Amanda Thripp: NO, Ms. Trunchbull.
Agatha Trunchbull: Do I allow Pigs in my school?
Amanda Thripp: My mommy thinks they're sweet.
Agatha Trunchbull: Your Mommy is a TWIT.
Harry Wormwood: What is this trash you're reading?
Matilda: It's not trash, Daddy, It's lovely. Its caled Moby Dick by Herman Melvile.
Harry Wormwood: Moby What?
Matilda: Dad?
Harry Wormwood: What?
Matilda: Yell at me, ok?
Harry Wormwood: SHUT UP AND LEAVE US ALONE!
Matilda: We'll wait until she's gone, then we'll go get your doll.
Jenny: What?
Matilda: Just kidding.
Harry Wormwood: [to Michael, who is choking on a carrot Matilida shot at his mouth with her powers] Chew your food; you're an animal!
Agatha Trunchbull: [speaking to Matilda about her and her father] You're the most corrupt low-lives in the history of civilization!
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was born in 1916 in South Wales, Britain, the son of Norwegian immigrants. He trained as a fighter pilot and during the Second World War he flew bomber planes in Libya, Greece and Spain. In 1940, Dahl’s plane crashlanded in the Libyan desert and Dahl suffered serious injuries. In 1942, Dahl began working at the British Embassy in Washington D.C., USA. There he met the writer C.S. Forester who suggested that Dahl should write about being shot down in the desert. Dahl immediately wrote his first short story; ten days later it was accepted for publication. This was the beginning of Dahl’s literary career. He soon became a highly successful short story writer - his most famous short story collection is entitled Kiss Kiss, published in 1959.
In 1953, Dahl married the actress Patricia Neal and the couple moved to England the next year. They had four children, the oldest of whom died at the age of seven, sending her father into deep grief. The couple divorced in 1983 and the author remarried. In 1960, Dahl started writing stories to amuse his children. Many of his books became international bestsellers and children from all over the world wrote to him. In addition, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches, and James and the Giant Peach, Danny the Champion of the World, and The BFG all became successful films. Roald Dahl died in 1990, at the age of 74.
Roald Dahl often said that the key to his success as a children’s writer was to conspire with children against adults. ‘It’s the path to their affections,’ he said, in an interview with a British newspaper in 1990. ‘It may be simplistic, but it is the way. Parents and schoolteachers are the enemy. The adult is the enemy of the child because of the awful process of civilizing this thing that when it is born is an animal with no manners, no moral sense at all.’
Matilda is a very good example of Dahl’s philosophy. Matilda’s parents and her headmistress are monsters who are in positions of power. They are adults seen from the child’s point of view; they want to threaten and hurt the children in their care. Dahl’s children’s books often put good against evil, - bad, bad adults against innocent, clever children who always win in the end. Dahl’s stories are very funny and children love them for this reason. The bad adults are outrageously, comically bad, satirizing real life in a way that children recognize and find highly amusing. The author turns normal behaviour upside down. Parents normally complain that their children watch too much television. Matilda’s father, however, insists that she watch it. ‘“And what’s wrong with watching the TV?” her father said. His voice was suddenly soft and dangerous.’ Things in Dahl’s stories are exaggerated. Matilda’s teacher, Miss Honey, is so poor that her tiny sitting room has no real furniture, only three boxes. Miss Trunchbull, her aunt, has stolen Miss Honey’s house and forced her to work for £1 a week. Children recognize both the humour and absurdity of the situation and the injustice of it. Children, who are in the power of others, are deeply responsive to any kind of injustice, and it is this injustice that Dahl constantly plays on in his stories.
TRIVIA: The picture of Miss Honey's father, Magnus, is actually a portrait of Roald Dahl, the author of the book "Matilda," upon which the film is based.
In 1953, Dahl married the actress Patricia Neal and the couple moved to England the next year. They had four children, the oldest of whom died at the age of seven, sending her father into deep grief. The couple divorced in 1983 and the author remarried. In 1960, Dahl started writing stories to amuse his children. Many of his books became international bestsellers and children from all over the world wrote to him. In addition, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches, and James and the Giant Peach, Danny the Champion of the World, and The BFG all became successful films. Roald Dahl died in 1990, at the age of 74.
Roald Dahl often said that the key to his success as a children’s writer was to conspire with children against adults. ‘It’s the path to their affections,’ he said, in an interview with a British newspaper in 1990. ‘It may be simplistic, but it is the way. Parents and schoolteachers are the enemy. The adult is the enemy of the child because of the awful process of civilizing this thing that when it is born is an animal with no manners, no moral sense at all.’
Matilda is a very good example of Dahl’s philosophy. Matilda’s parents and her headmistress are monsters who are in positions of power. They are adults seen from the child’s point of view; they want to threaten and hurt the children in their care. Dahl’s children’s books often put good against evil, - bad, bad adults against innocent, clever children who always win in the end. Dahl’s stories are very funny and children love them for this reason. The bad adults are outrageously, comically bad, satirizing real life in a way that children recognize and find highly amusing. The author turns normal behaviour upside down. Parents normally complain that their children watch too much television. Matilda’s father, however, insists that she watch it. ‘“And what’s wrong with watching the TV?” her father said. His voice was suddenly soft and dangerous.’ Things in Dahl’s stories are exaggerated. Matilda’s teacher, Miss Honey, is so poor that her tiny sitting room has no real furniture, only three boxes. Miss Trunchbull, her aunt, has stolen Miss Honey’s house and forced her to work for £1 a week. Children recognize both the humour and absurdity of the situation and the injustice of it. Children, who are in the power of others, are deeply responsive to any kind of injustice, and it is this injustice that Dahl constantly plays on in his stories.
TRIVIA: The picture of Miss Honey's father, Magnus, is actually a portrait of Roald Dahl, the author of the book "Matilda," upon which the film is based.
Background information
Matilda is a gloriously funny children’s book, written by Roald Dahl, the most successful children’s writer in the English language. The book was made into a highly successful film in 1996. Matilda is about a very clever little girl called Matilda. She can speak perfectly at the age of one and a half, and read adult books when she is aged four. But Matilda has a problem. Her parents are horrible. Her father is a dishonest car dealer and neither he nor his wife are at all interested in their daughter. All they want to do is watch TV, and that’s all they want Matilda to do, too. But Matilda has other ideas. She wants to teach her nasty parents a lesson. She glues her father’s hat to his head and tricks her parents into believing that there is a ghost in the sitting room.When Matilda is five years old, her parents send her to the local village school. There she finds a friend in her kind but poor class teacher, Miss Honey. Miss Honey realizes that Matilda is a genius and tries to help her. It is difficult for her, however, because the headmistress, Mrs Trunchbull, is a terrible bully and does not like Matilda.
Everyone is terrified of Mrs Trunchbull - except Matilda. One day, Matilda realizes that she has ‘special powers’. She uses these powers to defeat Mrs Trunchbull and help Miss Honey . . .
Dahl’s stories echo children’s deepest fantasies. Impossible things happen in the most ordinary situations. Miss Trunchbull picks a child up by the hair in the school playground, whirls her round above her head and throws her into a neighbouring field. Then the five-year-old Matilda suddenly acquires magical powers which enable her to defeat her terrifying headmistress and rescue Miss Honey from her poverty. The child has become the heroine. The world of a child is a magical one, not yet limited by reality. Did we not dream that we could fly when we were children? In Dahl’s stories, children do fly - they overcome the limits of their world, defeat the wicked, and rescue innocent victims. Dahl originally wrote his stories for his own children. His daughter Ophelia writes, ‘The most important quality about my father was his ability to make everything seem like an adventure...’ Dahl’s stories convert easily to films. All of the films based on Dahl’s stories, including Matilda, have been very popular with children all over the world.
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