Lesson Plans The Loneliness of the Long-distance Runner

The intelligent reader will see that most educated speakers of English use the word in both senses without confusion. This leads naturally into the second section with its account of the events that have led to Smith's being in the borstal. Part Two is more conventional narrative. It is in the past tense and the first grammatical person, and deals with a simple series of events: Conveniently, this character is stupid, bullying and authoritarian. That this officer is truly stupid rather than merely being thought stupid by Smith is made clear in two places.

Smith dreams of a revolution, as in Hungary, in which the policemen will have the tables turned on them. The police are especially despised because they originate from the working class the one in this story clearly does yet they sustain the ruling classes in power - thus they are seen as treacherous and unnatural. Those in power are merely selfish; those who keep them in power have betrayed their own kind. Part three has a more sophisticated narrative method.

It is principally an account of the race, but even in this Sillitoe switches from the use of the past to the use of the present tense and back to give certain passages greater immediacy. Worked into this is a more detailed account of the death of Smith's father briefly related in Part Two. We see how Smith confronts temptation as the Governor shows him the prospect of material wealth and social status that his running can give him.

Like Jesus in the gospels he undergoes a long period of privation , after which the tempter invites him to use his unique powers, against the dictates of conscience, for worldly gain. This is more a parody of, than a parallel to, the gospel story: Smith also briefly considers running away from the borstal but realises he would then forfeit the pleasure of witnessing the governor's disappointment and humiliation. Near the line Smith fears that the next runner may be too far behind for him to lose properly, but he decides that, if need be, he will stand still in front of the winning tape, just as his father, in refusing hospitalisation, remained true to his beliefs in spite of pain.

At last another runner arrives, to overtake Smith before the tape.

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The story concludes with an account of the governor's expected punishment of Smith. Contrary to the governor's intentions, these have helped Smith further. Six months of tiring menial work cause Smith, on his release, to go down with pleurisy , which enables him to avoid National Service. We learn, finally, how borstal has made Smith a more skilful burglar, rather than a reformed character. As we are reading the apparently now-published work, we must assume that Smith's fatalistic fear of his inevitable return to custody has now been realised - and the pal has kept his word.

Quite how this person would get such an account published is not clear. Smith likes his friends from the same class and background as he is.

He hates policemen, who come from the working-class but help those in power. In a different way he hates those who own property and those who run the country the middle classes and the upper class. He has a very simple view of society. Sillitoe the writer wants to show how such a person tries to fight against the system, and how he can succeed, but only by hurting himself.

Make sure you can explain this and quote to support your view. Sillitoe also does it by the symbolism of a race: Smith thinks he is treated like a race-horse not a person but less well; he is running against the system people in power and their way of running the world ; he cannot win the race, but he must keep running; when he stops, it will mean he is dead.

Sillitoe makes this symbolism or metaphor more vivid in that Smith is also literally running a race, against other borstal inmates. He loses the real race, while keeping going not losing the metaphorical one. There are no real characters the story is far too short but Smith tells us about a number of people who have influenced him, or with whom he has a relationship.

Sometimes the reader can see these people slightly differently from Smith Sillitoe intends this to happen. People Smith quite likes are. Smith is strongly motivated by his dislike of them. But the biggest influence in his life is his dad. We find out about him quite late in the story.

In every case the person has been used by Sillitoe to show us something about Smith and his outlook. Try to say what this is. Sillitoe lets Smith tell his own story: Smith is offered a light workload for his last six months at Ruxton Towers if he wins in an important cross-country competition against a prestigious public school.

For Ruxton Towers to win the cross-country race would be a major public relations boost for the borstal administrators. However, when the day of the race arrives Smith throws victory away: He lets the other runners pass him and cross the finishing line, thereby losing the race in a defiant gesture aimed against his Ruxton Towers administrators.

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In deliberately losing the race, Smith demonstrates his free spirit and independence. The response of the borstal authorities to Smith's action is heavy-handed: Smith resigns himself to the drudgery of manual labour he is returned to. However, looking back on his actions, he has no regrets. Long-distance running gives the character an ability to freely escape from society without the pressures of a team, which may be found in other athletic stories.

Fun activities are a great way to keep students interested and engaged while still providing a deeper understanding of The Loneliness of the Long-distance Runner and its themes. Students should have a full understanding of the unit material in order to answer these questions. They often include multiple parts of the work and ask for a thorough analysis of the overall text.

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They nearly always require a substantial response. Essay responses are typically expected to be one or more page s and consist of multiple paragraphs, although it is possible to write answers more briefly.

These essays are designed to challenge a student's understanding of the broad points in a work, interactions among the characters, and main points and themes of the text. But, they also cover many of the other issues specific to the work and to the world today. The 60 Short Essay Questions listed in this section require a one to two sentence answer. They ask students to demonstrate a deeper understanding of The Loneliness of the Long-distance Runner by describing what they've read, rather than just recalling it. The short essay questions evaluate not only whether students have read the material, but also how well they understand and can apply it.

They require more thought than multiple choice questions, but are shorter than the essay questions. The Multiple Choice Questions in this lesson plan will test a student's recall and understanding of The Loneliness of the Long-distance Runner. Use these questions for quizzes, homework assignments or tests.

The questions are broken out into sections, so they focus on specific chapters within The Loneliness of the Long-distance Runner. This allows you to test and review the book as you proceed through the unit. Typically, there are questions per chapter, act or section. Use the Oral Reading Evaluation Form when students are reading aloud in class. Pass the forms out before you assign reading, so students will know what to expect. You can use the forms to provide general feedback on audibility, pronunciation, articulation, expression and rate of speech.

You can use this form to grade students, or simply comment on their progress. Use the Writing Evaluation Form when you're grading student essays. This will help you establish uniform criteria for grading essays even though students may be writing about different aspects of the material. By following this form you will be able to evaluate the thesis, organization, supporting arguments, paragraph transitions, grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. They pull questions from the multiple choice and short essay sections, the character and object descriptions, and the chapter abstracts to create worksheets that can be used for pop quizzes, in-class assignments and homework.

Periodic homework assignments and quizzes are a great way to encourage students to stay on top of their assigned reading. They can also help you determine which concepts and ideas your class grasps and which they need more guidance on. By pulling from the different sections of the lesson plan, quizzes and homework assignments offer a comprehensive review of The Loneliness of the Long-distance Runner in manageable increments that are less substantial than a full blown test. Use the Test Summary page to determine which pre-made test is most relevant to your students' learning styles.

This lesson plan provides both full unit tests and mid-unit tests. You can choose from several tests that include differing combinations of multiple choice questions, short answer questions, short essay questions, full essay questions, character and object matching, etc.