Strange tales; Martin Sinclair

− READER'S QUESTIONNAIRE −
• Student:
• Class: 3º E.S.O. E
• Title: Strange Tales
• Author: Martin Sinclair
• Publisher: Burlington Books
• Level: 3º E.S.O.
• I started reading this book on:
• I finished it on:
PLEASE, ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
• Is the book fact or fiction? Point out genre.
I think it is a fiction book because it tells stories about ghosts and I don't believe in it.
The genre is narrative.
• How did you find the book?:
VERY INTERESTING, INTERESTING, SO−SO, BORING, VERY BORING.
• Write six of the new words in the book (Don't forget their translations!):
Word Translation
smile sonreir
hill colina
reply responder
nun monja
waterfall cascada
lazy perezoso
Chapter 1
• Title:
The Ghosts in the Tower of London.
• Who are the main characters in the story?
Albert Brown, Len Jackson, James Tyrell and Henry VII. The ghosts Anne Boleyn and Edward V and his
brother.
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• What are they like?
• Albert Brown is the head of security of the Tower of London. He knows everything about it.
• Len Jackson: He is the new partner of Albert and that is his first day of work. He is 21.
• Henry: He was king from 1509 to 1547. Henry loved hunting, music, good food and especially
women. He had six wives.
• Anne Boleyn: She is a ghost. She was Henry the Eight's second wife. Henry killed her and now, she
walks in the gardens with her head under her arm.
• Edward V was thirteen and his brother was eleven. Edward was the king of England but his uncle
Richard ordered to kill them. Now, they are ghosts.
• James Tyrell: He was a wicked man. He killed the boys for some money.
• Where does the story take place?
At the Tower of London.
• When is it?
Nowadays (in a cold November evening), in 1483 and in 1509.
• What is the book about?
(Begin: This book tells the story of..., This book explains..., This book is about...)
This story is about Albert, the head of security of the Tower of London, who talks to his new partner, Len, the
stories about the ghosts of the Tower. First, Albert tells Len about Edward the Fifth and his brother who
appear in the staircase. They died because their uncle ordered a guard, James, to kill them. Richard wanted to
be the King of England. Next, he talks him about his favourite ghost, Anne Boleyn. Her husband, Henry,
killed her because he wanted to marry a different woman.
Later, Len dreams with the ghosts.
Chapter 2
• Title:
The Ghosts of Glamis Castle.
• Who are the main characters in the story?
A few men from the Ogilvey clan, the Earl of Glamis, a workman, George Lyon and his son, Lady Janet
Glamis and James V.
• What are they like?
• The men of the Ogilvey clan are ghosts. They died in a secret room of Glamis Castle.
• The Earl of Glamis. He put the Ogilveys men in a secret room.
• The workman: He saw the baby when he was repairing the roof.
• George Lyon: He was the Earl of Glamis in 1841. He had a deformed son.
• George Lyon's son is a deformed person and he looks like a monster.
• Janet. She lived during the time of King James the Fifth of Scotland. Now she is a famous ghost that
is floating around the clock tower.
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• James V. He was king of Scotland. He was a cruel man who had great power in Scotland. He hated
Janet because she was from an enemy clan.
• Where does the story take place?
In the Glamis Castle, in Scotland.
• When is it?
The first story is many years ago, the second one is in 1841 and the third one is in the time of James V of
Scotland.
• What is the book about?
This chapter tells three stories of Glamis Castle. The first story is about a few men of the Ogilvey clan. They
escaped of a terrible battle with the Lindsay clan. Later, they went to Glamis Castle and the Earl of the castle
put them in a secret room of the castle. They died enclosed in it. Many years later, Lord Strathmore, another
Earl, found the skeletons.
The second story is about George Lyon's son. Apparently he died at birth, but it is not true. The parents put
the baby in a secret room and he lived over there. One day a workman saw the monster, and George Lyon sent
him and his family to Australia. Today, people at the castle can hear a child crying at night.
The last story is about the ghost of Lady Janet. The King James V of Scotland hated her because she was from
an enemy clan and he burned her at the stake. Janet's ghost returned to Glamis Castle and she is floating
around the clock tower with a red glow around her head.
Chapter 3
• Title:
Borley − A Haunted Village.
• Who are the main characters in the story?
Reverend Harry Bull, Reverend Guy Smith, Reverend Lionel Foyster and their families. The ghosts of the
rectory and Mr Price.
• What are they like?
• The Bulls, the Smiths and the Foysters were three families. They lived in the rectory (an after another)
and they went frightened to another living place.
• The ghosts: They was in the rectory and they made strange noises and change the things of place.
There is another ghost, a nun that she was murdered because she fell in love with a young farmer. She
is looking for her lover.
• Mr Price is a scientist of Ghost Society. He investigated about the ghosts of the rectory.
• Where does the story take place?
At the rectory of Borley, a small village about 100 kilometres from London.
• When is it?
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In July 28th, 1900; in 1928 and in February 27th, 1939.
• What is the book about?
This story is about a haunted rectory. It is in Borley and it is full of ghosts and. The different families that they
lived there went frightened to another place to live. On February 27th, 1939, the rectory began to burn. The
people of the village saw the faces of the ghosts in the windows. This all happened a long time ago, but the
people of village still call Borley the most haunted village in England.
Chapter 4
• Title:
The Soldier Ghost.
• Who are the main characters in the story?
Mr Howard, Mr Jones and the soldier ghost.
• What are they like?
• Mr Howar is one of the old farmers of the village.
• Mr Jones is a businessman that he wants plough the field and build houses on the hill.
• The soldier ghost is a skeleton who wears a suit of armour.
• Where does the story take place?
In a village in Wales called Barley Hill.
• When is it?
I don't know.
• What is the book about?
In Barley there was a soldier ghost who died in a battle there. He lived in the hill and the people of the village
are frightened of him. Any old farmers, as Mr Howard, often saw him. One day Mr Jones came to live in the
village. When his workmen started to plough the hill, he saw the ghost. Then, the farmers called a ghost
investigator to come to the village and he told that the story is true. Soon after that, Mr Jones left Barley Hill
and took his workmen with him. The farmers took the skeleton of the soldier and buried it in the village
graveyard.
Chapter 5
• Title:
The Story of Mary Gibson.
• Who are the main characters in the story?
Mary Gibson, Annie Snow, Farmer Jones and Dora Lee.
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• What are they like?
• Mary Gibson is an old woman who lived alone with her cat. She was accused of being a witch.
• Annie Snow was a woman of the village and she had nine children and a lazy husband. She said to the
people of village that Mary Gibson was a witch.
• Farmer Jones is a man with a shop of milk.
• Dora Lee is Mary's friend She said that Mary Gibson was not a witch. She was looked after by Mary
when her parents died.
• Where does the story take place?
In a village of England or Europe.
• When is it?
In 1653.
• What is the book about?
This story is about a woman of a village, Mary Gibson. Other woman, Annie Snow said that Mary was a
witch. At first, no one listened Annie Snow and her stories but a day Mary Gibson went to buy milk and that
was sour because it was a hot day. Then, Farmer Jones said that the milk was good before Mary arrived at the
shop.
The people began to tell stories about Mary Gibson and a night a mob of angry villages took her to the square
and they burned it in a ladder.
Chapter 6
• Title:
The Loch Ness Monster.
• Who are the main characters in the story?
Jock Mackay, Mr Jackson.
• What are they like?
• Jock Mackay is a tour guide. He lives in a little house next to Loch Ness.
• Mr Jackson is an American tourist who said that the story of monster was false.
• Where does the story take place?
In the Loch Ness, Scotland.
• When is it?
The stories happened in 565, 1827, 1930, 1968 and 1972.
• What is the book about?
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This chapter is about a tour guide, Jock, who tells Jackson, an American tourist, the story of the Loch Ness
Monster. The guide talks him about a priest who said Nessie, the monster, in 565. Also he spoke him about an
investigation that a group of investigators made with sonar equipment in 1968. And he talks him about an
investigation that a group of Americans made with modern equipment in 1972.
Jackson says that this was lie but Jock says that this was true.
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