Charles

CHARLES  by Shirley Jackson

   The day my son Laurie started kindergarten, he gave up his little-boy clothes. He started wearing blue jeans with a belt. I watched him go off that first morning with the older girl next door. He looked as though he were going off to a fight.

    He came home the same way at lunchtime. “Isn’t anybody here?” he yelled. At the table, he knocked over his little sister’s milk.

   “How was school today?” I asked. “Did you learn anything?’’

   “I didn’t learn nothing,” he said.

    “Anything, “ I said. “Didn’t learn anything.”

    “But the teacher spanked a boy,” Laurie said. “For being fresh.”

     “What did he do?” I asked. “Who was it?”

    Laurie thought. “It was Charles,” he said. “The teacher spanked him and made him stand in the corner. He was really fresh.”

    “What did he do?” I asked. But Laurie slid off his chair, took a cookie, and left.

     The next day, Laurie sat down for lunch. “Well,” he said, “Charles was bad again today.” He grinned. “ Today Charles hit the teacher,” he said.

    “Good heavens,” I said. “I suppose he got spanked again?”

    “He sure did,” Laurie said.

    “Why did Charles hit the teacher?” I asked.

    “Because she tried to make him color with red crayons. Charles wanted to color with green crayons. So he hit the teacher. She spanked him and said nobody play with Charles. But everybody did.”

    The third day, Charles bounced a see-saw onto the head of a little girl. He made her bleed. The teacher made him stay inside during recess.

    On Thursday, Charles had to stand in a corner. He was pounding his feet on the floor during story-time. Friday, Charles could not use the blackboard because he threw chalk.

    On Saturday, I talked to my husband about it. “Do you think kindergarten is too disturbing for Laurie?” I asked him. “This Charles boy sounds like a bad influence.”

    “It will be all right,” my husband said, “There are bound to be people like Charles in the world. He might as well meet them now as later.”

    On Monday, Laurie came home late.

“Charles!” he shouted, as he ran up to the house. “Charles was bad again!”

    I let him in and helped him take off his coat. “You know what Charles did?” he said.  “Charles yelled so much that the teacher came in from first grade. She said our teacher had to keep Charles quiet. And so Charles had to stay after school. And so all the children stayed to watch him.”

    “What did he do?” I asked.

    “He just sat there,” Laurie said, noticing his father. “Hi Pop, you old dust mop.”

    “What does this Charles look like? My husband asked. “What’s his last name?”

    “He’s bigger than me,” Laurie said. “And he doesn’t wear a jacket.”

    I could hardly wait for the first Parent-Teachers meeting. I wanted very much to meet Charles’ mother. The meeting was still a week away.

    On Tuesday, Laurie said, “Our teacher had a friend come to see her in school today.”

    My husband and I said together, “Was it Charles’ mother?”

    “Naaah,” Laurie said. “Charles was fresh to the teacher’s friend. They wouldn’t let him do exercises.”

    “Fresh again?” I said.

    “He kicked the teacher’s friend,” Laurie said. “The teacher’s friend told Charles to touch his toes. And Charles kicked him.”

    “What do you think they’ll do about Charles?” my husband asked.

    “I don’t know,” Laurie said. “Throw him out of school, I guess.”

    Wednesday and Thursday were routine. Charles yelled during story-time. He hit a boy in the stomach and made him cry. On Friday, Charles stayed after school again. All the other children stayed to watch him.

    On Monday of the third week, Laurie came home with another report. “You know what Charles did today?” he asked. “He told a girl to say a word, and she said it. The teacher washed her mouth out with soap, and Charles laughed.”

    “What word?” his father asked.

    “It’s so bad, I’ll have to whisper it to you,” Laurie said. He whispered into my husband’s ear.

    “Charles told the little girl to say that?” he said, his eyes widening.

    “She said it twice,” Laurie said. “Charles told her to say it twice.”

    “What happened to Charles?” my husband asked.

    “Nothing,” Laurie said. “He was passing out the crayons.”

    The next day, Charles said the evil word himself three or four times. He got his mouth washed out with soap each time. He also threw chalk.

    My husband came to the door that night as I was leaving for the Parent-Teachers meeting. “Invite her over after the meeting,” he said. “I want to get a look at the mother of that kid.”

    “I hope she’s there,” I said.

    “She’ll be there,” my husband said. “How could they hold a Parent-Teachers meeting without Charles’ mother?”

    At the meeting, I looked over the faces of all the other mothers. None of them looked unhappy enough to be the mother of Charles. No one stood up and apologized for the way her son had been acting. No one mentioned Charles.

    After the meeting, I found Laurie’s teacher. “I’ve been wanting to meet you,” I said. “I’m Laurie’s mother.”

    Oh, yes,” she said. “We’re all so interested in Laurie.”

    “He certainly likes kindergarten,” I said. “He talks about it all the time.”

    “He’s had some trouble getting used to school,” she said. “But I think he’ll be all right.”

    “Laurie usually fits in quickly,” I said. “I suppose his trouble might be from Charles’ influence.”

    “Charles?” the teacher said.

    “Yes,” I said, laughing. “You must have your hands full with Charles.”

    “Charles?” she said. “We don’t have any Charles in kindergarten.”

http://storyoftheweek.loa.org/2010/06/charles.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap5OE0LHAdM

—> Make your own list of 10 things you know you are supposed to do and a list of 10 things you are not supposed to do in class.  For example, You are supposed to be attentive to the teacher at all times and you are not supposed to talking with your neighbor while the lesson is going on. Right? 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.

Are you supposed to arrive late to class?  Why not?

Are you supposed to arrive to class without a pen, pencil and paper?  Why not?

Are you supposed to talk during a writing assignment?  Why not?

If student near to you  asks you, “What did the teacher say?” Are you supposed to answer that student or ignore him or her?  (Hint: that student should raise his or her hand and ask the teacher, right?)

If you don’t have a pen or pencil or some paper, are you supposed to raise your hand tell the teacher or talk to the students around you to ask them for what you need?

If the teacher or another student is reading out loud, are you supposed to be talking to your neighbor, fidgeting with your cell phone, or listening and taking notes?

When people are talking, it usually means they aren’t listening, right?  In class, when should you be listening and when should you be talking?

If you don’t follow the rules, shouldn’t you get a lower grade since the rules are for everybody to follow all the time, not just when somebody feels like following them, right?  Later in life those grades are used to judge you.  How do you want to be judged?  

When you are at home, what happens if you don’t follow the rules and you disobey your parents?  

How would your parents feel if they saw you in class at a time when you weren’t following the rules or doing what you are supposed to be doing?  Would it make sad?  

When a student is not doing what the teachers says, should the teacher think, “Oh, that student has bad parents , that’s why they’re not being good in class.”  Is that what you want your teachers to think?  

DO NOW: Explain this saying, "ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS."
-Do we better understand someone by what a person actually DOES, or by what a person SAYS?

AIM: How does listing WHAT a character DOES help us to understand the character better?

What is Characterization?  - How does the author create an idea about who Laurie really is?

HOMEWORK: Complete the Hand-out and Selection  Quiz

DO NOW: Remember when your parents would call you in from play and you and your best friend had to go home?  How would you like to have two best friends?  One who you can see and go out with to play, and the other who never has to go, one who is invisible and seen only by you?  What name would you give your invisible friend?

AIM:  Why doesn't the teacher understand who Charles is?

Note about the author: Shirley Jackson is most famous for her stories about the supernatural.  Her most famous work is a movie, The Haunting of Hill House (1963)

Directions: 

Begin, by reading the short story, “Charles”  by Shirley Jackson.

After reading the story, answer each question on loose-leaf, in your best English.

Did something about the ending of the story surprise you?

Who is narrating the short story Charles?

According to the narrator, how did Laurie change when he started kindergarten?

When did Laurie first speak about Charles?  

What does the detail of the spilled glass of milk show about Laurie’s mood?

Why had Charles become a household joke with Laurie’s parents?

Why do you think Laurie’s parents were looking forward to meeting his kindergarten teacher and Charles’s parents?

What did Laurie’s parents think when the teacher told them, “We don’t have any Charles in the kindergarten.” 

Was there ever really a Charles?  

10.  Is there something supernatural or strange going on in this story?

Part II Vocabulary

Vocabulary - Locate the words listed below in the story and copy the sentence.  Then, to make sure, look up the word in the dictionary.

“The day my son Laurie started kindergarten he renounced corduroy overalls with bibs and began wearing blue jeans with a belt

elaborately

simultaneously

incredulously

resolute

benediction 

privilege

AIM:: 

AIM:   Why is making up stories about other people or about yourself such an important part of everyone's life?   Where does Charles come from and when will he return to where he came from?

DO NOW: 1. Write your name in your best handwriting.

Questions on CHARLES by Shirley Jackson - List what Charles does in school

Note about the author: Shirley Jackson is best known for her book and film, The Haunting of Hill House

After reading the story, view a short project based on the story.  

List the events, in the order they occurred.

Homework: create a “Charles” story of your own, using a different name and different things he or she does.