GULP & GASP: Insight the literary devices

So, as yesterday we just finished discussing a very interesting drama in the literature component for form 4. The title itself is interesting as it use onomatopoeia to describe the whole play. Personally I really like the drama, so here is a little bit of literary components that I want to share about this drama.

Gulp and Gasp by John Townsend

About the Author

John Townsend is a British children’s author and scriptwriter. He has written over 100 books in various genres, both fiction and non-fiction. He also conducts workshops and gives talks to primary and secondary schools to encourage interest in books. His books are designed to be short, exciting reads, and he is particularly accomplished at writing for the ‘reluctant reader’. John is the author of the Incredible Creature series, the Painful Histories series, the Raintreeseries and the True Crime series. He is an author Reading Champion for the National Literacy Trust in UK.

SETTING

Physical Setting

An empty railway station (New Station)

• This is where Lord Septic and Crouch are waiting on a cold, foggy night for a late train

• Rose comes here to sell her flowers

• Percy is abandoned at this train station as a baby

• Percy meets Rose at the station and they fall in love

• Lady Gatsby is murdered at the train station when Lord Septic’s father ties her to the train tracks

• Lord Septic and Crouch tie Rose to the train tracks, intending to murder her

• Percy discovers here that he is actually the son of Lady Gatsby and the heir to the Gatsby Gold, thus changing his life and Rose’s life as well

Social Setting

• This drama is set in a time when the rich upper classes were very powerful and oppressed and exploited their workers and the poor

• Time is probably the nineteenth or very early twentieth century, with the rise of industrialization.

Lord Septic

· a rich man

· evil boss of the railways

Character traits	Examples of Textual Evidence	Page(s)
cruel, evil, ruthless and unscrupulous	admits he will kill to get power, fame and fortune likes to kill – enjoys hunting hits Percy on the head with his stick orders Crouch to tie Rose to the railway track where she will be killed by the train enjoys the idea that Percy and Rose will be killed by the train callously threw Lady Gatsby’s baby into the litter bin	64 64 78 79, 80 80, 81 84
greedy	married his wife because she was rich and had a gun factory wants the Gatsby Gold even though he has no right to it and is already rich buys up the entire train line so that he can look for the Gatsby Gold always gets what he wants aims to hatch up more plots to become even more filthy rich	68 64, 66 66 64 66
a bully	bullies Crouch into doing his dirty work - orders Crouch to get rid of Rose from his platform, even though she is blind and is trying to earn a living slaps Rose when she figures out the truth about Percy	70 84
proud and egoistic	will not tolerate people talking to him in a way he finds unpleasant or telling him what to do insists on always getting what he wants	79, 80 80
intolerant and foul-mouthed	insults Crouch complains and curses when things do not go his way	66, 69 62, 63, 69, 88

Crouch

· servant of Lord Septic, probably a porter

· will do anything to please his master

Character traits	Examples of Textual Evidence	Page(s)
fawning	tries to please Lord Septic by praising him excessively agrees with everything Lord Septic says and does what Lord Septic wants	64, 80 62, 63, 64, 69, 79
cowardly, mean	gives weak excuse that he was just following orders when Percy confronts him for his mistreatment of Rose	78
bully	takes the instant opportunity to bully Rose, because she is someone weaker than himself	70, 71, 72, 73, 77
has a sardonic sense of humour	slyly comments that Lord Septic will be even more greedy after he gets the Gatsby Gold plays with words and language	64 66, 67, 68, 82, 87, 91

Rose

· young, blind, pretty flower seller

· blinded because of her previous job at Lord Septic’s match factory

· falls in love with Percy

Character traits	Examples of Textual Evidence	Page(s)
loving and dutiful daughter	works as a flower seller even though she is blind, so she can buy medicine for her sick mother	72
hardworking and determined	works as a flower seller even though she is blind, so she can buy food, pay the rent, buy medicine for her sick mother and save up to pay for an operation to restore her sight	72, 73
sympathetic	is sympathetic towards Percy’s plight as an orphan	76
courageous	stands up to Lord Septic, is brave enough to accuse him directly of ruining her life and threatens to expose his evil	79
intelligent, observant, has presence of mind	even though Lord Septic and Crouch have tied her up and intend to murder her, she still manages to discover that Percy is the true heir to the Gatsby Gold realizes the significance of Percy’s key as the key that unlocks the gold	84 88
sense of humour, plays with language	evident in her response when Crouch is rude to her when she first tries to sell him flowers on the platform plays with language, will love Percy through ‘thick and thin’ – thermal underwear and all, having foiled the plotters	70 91

Percy

· handsome young man

· orphaned when he was a baby and left at that particular train station

· falls in love with Rose

· discovers he is the missing heir to the Gatsby Gold

Character traits	Examples of Textual Evidence	Page(s)
gallant	helps Rose collect her flowers tells her she has a pretty smile wants to take care of Rose Rose describes Percy as her knight in shining armour	74 74 75, 76, 77 78
brave and courageous	confronts Crouch for mistreating Rose rescues Rose from being killed by the train captures Lord Septic and Crouch by tying them with a chain	77, 78 85 85
intelligent and ingenious	uses his pants to stop the train saves Rose from being crushed by a train	86 85
generous	shares half of the Gatsby Gold with Rose	89
strong moral values	wants justice - he cannot be bought by Lord Septic’s money, instead he wants to turn Lord Septic and Crouch over to the police so they can pay for their crimes	89, 90

Themes

1. Pride goes before fall
2. Greed is destructive
3. Innocence and beauty

Plot

EXPOSITION - Lord Septic, the villain, and his manservant Crouch, a groveling bully, are waiting for the midnight express at the train station. Lord Septic owns all the train stations and he wants wealth and power.

RISING ACTION/CONFLICT - Rose, a blind flower girl comes to the station. Crouch bullies her and Percy, the dashing hero comes in to help her. He tells her about himself.

CLIMAX - Lord Septic hits Percy and ties Rose to the train track. Percy runs off to try and stop the train coming down the track.

FALLING ACTION - Percy stops the train and Rose is saved. Percy learns that he is Sir Percy Gatsby and heir to the Gatsby Gold.

RESOLUTION - Lord Septic and Crouch, the villains, are tied up and waiting to be picked up by the police. Percy, the hero, proposes Rose and she agrees to marry him.

Moral Values

1. One should be humble about one's wealth and fame.
2. We should be sensitive to people's feelings.
3. We should live a humble and honest life.

Language Style

1. Simple and clear language
2. Dialogue - exaggeration, repetition of words.