MRS BIXBY AND THE COLONEL’S COAT

A- Checking comprehension

What do we learn about Mr and Mrs Bixby, and how they got on?
What about the relationship between Mrs Bixby and the Colonel? What did her husband think about her going away?
What did she receive as a gift? Why was it different from any other he had given her before?
What idea occurred to her so that she could keep the coat?
Would you have thought of a different idea?
What did Mrs Bixby get in return?
What was implied at the end of the story?

B- Role-plays:
Situation 1: Conversation between the pawnbroker and Mrs Bixby
Situation 2: Conversation between Mrs Bixby and her husband about the pawnshop ticket
Situation 3: Conversation between Mrs Bixby and her husband when he gives her the neckpiece, and later notices that her husband’s secretary is wearing the coat.
Situation 4: Possible follow-up to the story.

Taste

TASTE - FURTHER ACTIVITIES

A- Checking comprehension – True or false – correct the sentences when necessary

1. The narrator seems to quite like Richard Pratt, especially because of the way he describes him at the beginning of the story.
2. Mike does not seem to care what Richard thinks of the wine he serves at dinner.
3. Richard apparently likes Mike’s daughter, but she does not feel the same way and feels a bit uncomfortable while talking with him.
4. The perfect place in Mike’s house where to leave the wine to breathe had been chosen by Mike himself, with no help whatsoever.
5. The bet in the tale was not their first one.
6. The one who suggested increasing the bet was Mike.
7. Both Mike’s daughter and wife opposed his bet.
8. It’s not fully clear whether the servant was actually telling the truth or not.

B- Role-plays:
Situation 1: Deciding on the bet
Situation 2: What could take place at the end of the story
Situation 3: Richard trying the wine, Mike reacting, and servant coming in with the glasses.