Lesson Topic Mr Know All By Somerset Maugham

Lesson Topic: Mr. Know All By Somerset Maugham: Basic Understanding, Analysis and Interpretation Name of Teacher: Susan Strikovsky Target Class: 10 th Grade Lesson Place in the Curriculum: Lesson Eleven

Table of Contents • Pre-Reading • Basic Understanding • Analysis and Interpretation- Setting • Significance of the Setting – 3

Table of Contents • • • Symbolism Examples of Symbolism in Mr. Know All Point of View- Part One Point of View- Part Two Conclusion

Pre-Reading In the story, the narrator starts by saying, “I was prepared to dislike Max Kelada even before I met him. ” What are the reasons why you would dislike someone before you meet him?

Basic Understanding The narrator was on board a ship sailing to Japan. He had to share a cabin with Mr. Kelada and from the start was prejudiced against him. Mr. Kelada was involved in all the social events on the ship and knew everyone. He became known as Mr. Know All.

Basic Understanding One evening at dinner, the conversation turned to the subject of pearls. Mr. Kelada said he was an expert and he had a bet with Mr. Ramsay about whether Mrs. Ramsay’s pearls were real or not.

Basic Understanding Mr. Kelada claimed the pearls were worth a lot of money but noticed Mrs. Ramsay turned white. She had said they were very cheap.

Basic Understanding Mr. Kelada said he was mistaken and paid Mr. Ramsay his bet. The next day a 100 -dollar-bill was returned to Mr. Kelada in an envelope.

Analysis and Interpretation- Setting Definition: The setting is the time and place in which the story happens. The story takes place after World War I on a boat traveling from San Francisco in the United States to Yokohama in Japan.

Significance of the Setting How does the setting of the story contribute to the events that take place? Give one example.

Significance of the Setting - 1 By taking place on the boat, and not in a given country, the writer is saying that prejudice is an international problem, and not a problem of any given place.

Significance of the Setting - 2 The writer is saying that prejudice and racism are human traits and not the traits of any given culture.

Significance of the Setting - 3 The ship becomes the symbol of a world in which people are prejudiced. Although the characters are far from their native societies, they still bring with them their racial and cultural prejudices and stereotypes.

Symbolism Definition - Symbolism is when one idea, feeling, emotion, or other concept is represented by something else

Examples of Symbolism in Mr. Know All The cabin – On a boat people live in confined quarters. The small living area represents the closed (small) mindedness that our narrator has when it comes to people of different backgrounds than his.

Examples of Symbolism in Mr. Know All The labels on the suitcase – While the labels on Mr. Kelada’s suitcases tell us that our main character travels a lot, the labels also represent the labels that prejudiced people place on other people for no good reason.

Point of View-Part One The story is told in the first person – the narrator sees everything and is a part of the plot. In part one, where he meets with Mr. Kelada, the narrator is more active, and involved.

Point of View-Part One He observes, comments and judges Mr. Kelada as he sees him through his own eyes. Since he is influenced by his prejudiced British society, his judgments are subjective.

Point of View - Part Two During the necklace examination, the narrator is less involved. He is like a cameraman who takes photos and writes down what he hears objectively. After the chain examination is over, the narrator becomes subjective again.

Today’s Lesson was about: Mr. Know All By Somerset Maugham: Basic Understanding, Analysis and Interpretation Next lesson will be about: Mr. Know All By Somerset Maugham: Bridging Text, Context and Theme