THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND

Note: The transactional processes suggested in CISCE curriculum are highlighted in grey.

Learning Outcomes
Ɣ To inculcate the importance of “conscience” and its effect on one’s actions
Ɣ To understand and appreciate the value of observation and deduction
Ɣ To identify an adventurous and imaginative detective story
To identify an adventurous and imaginative detective story

Pre-reading
This section focuses on assessment for
learning as it informs the reader that the text
that follows is Sherlock Holmes episode and
is about solving a mystery.
Write the title on the board.
Ask students:
Ɣ What kind of story do you think this is?
(Write answers on the board)
Give each group few pictures and ask them to
Ɣ What are some qualities that good infer all they can from the pictures. Give them
detectives should have? time to discuss. Allow groups to share with
Group Work the class.
Inference Example: He is in pain because …
Preparation: Prior to the class cut out pictures his leg is sore because he has walked for a long
from a newspaper / magazine (e.g.: a happy distance / he has been walking without shoes /
family, an elderly couple in the park – an he has cut his leg / he has been bitten by some
example is given below) creature in the water.

READING

Students predict, scan, map out the plot of the How did Ms Stoner come to live in manor house
story at Stoke Moran? What change took over her
Put students in pairs, and tell them they are stepfather? What led to the death of Julia?
going to analyse the story as detectives. Describe the night Julia died.

Now tell them that they will have to map out How does the setting add to the tension of
the story based on the text that they will be this hour?
listening to.
(Ans: The howling wind and the beating
Play the audio track from the Smart Book. rain make the scene suitable for something
Ɣ It was early in April... He sent for medical aid exciting and perhaps even dangerous or
from the village but all efforts were in vain. terrible to happen.)

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Ɣ “Two years have passed since then... if you Why was there a horrible cry? How was it all
are ready, we shall proceed to Stoke Moran.” over? Explain what happened. What was the
Why did Ms Stoner have to move into the room motive behind the crime?
where her sister died? Why did she experience a
feeling of terror? What information did Holmes Read the last line. Why does Holmes say this?
get about the will? Do you agree with him?
(Ans: Holmes says this because Roylott
What is suggested by the information himself had killed Julia and had tried to kill
Holmes found? Helen. Free response)
This section focuses on assessment for
Ask students to write an investigation report
learning. The reader understands that Dr
based on the information and facts the
Roylott has a strong motive to commit
shared. (Tell them to only report facts at this
crime. The episode now takes direction
stage)
towards solving the mystery.
(Ans: The information suggests that Dr Investigation Report
Roylott would not want the sisters to get
married.)
Tell the pairs that based on all the clues and
Have them write a witness report based on inferences they have, they are going to now
the information and facts shared. solve the case.

Witness Report Mystery Solved – Own conclusion

Brainstorm various solutions with the class

and put up answers on the board. Continue
playing the audio till the end. Ask students to
check if they succeeded in solving the case.
Post-reading

Ɣ It was a perfect sunny day... to weigh very Group work

heavily on my conscience.” A. Ask students to create a mystery chart
What oddity did Holmes find in the room? What based on this story.
instructions does home give Miss Stoner? What 1. Plot diagram:
does he tell Dr Watson?

Which three things does Holmes name as

essential? Why do you think he insists on them?
(Ans: Holmes says that it is essential to not
make any sound, to sit without a light and
to not fall asleep. He may be insisting on
these to remain quiet, not alert whoever
was trying to make mischief and to remain
safe themselves.)

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2. Beginning, Middle and End of the story: B. Discuss and answer:
Beginning: What is the moral of the story? What was
(characters, setting) Dr. Roylott’s motive? List out some steps by
Who are the characters in the story? which we can keep our motives in check and
Where does the story take place? our conscience clean in our daily lives, in
order to be good people and good citizens
Middle: in our community.
How are the characters developed?
What is the problem?
What is the plot, the clues and the evidence?

End:
(solution and theme)
How was the mystery solved?
What do you learn from the story?

GRAMMAR Sentence conversion—simple to complex

Complex Sentences
Activity
This activity will help to convert simple sentences to complex sentences.
Material needed: Strips of paper with independent clauses written on one colour (e.g. on
yellow paper) and subordinate clauses written on another colour (on blue paper), one for
each student.
Instructions:
Ɣ Give each student a strip of prepared paper.
Ɣ Play some music and ask them to walk around the room. Tell them to stop when the music
stops, find the person closest to them with a different colour paper and stand together.
Ɣ Have a few students read their independent and subordinate clauses and join them to
form a sentence. Start the music and repeat the activity a few more times.
Ɣ Now tell students to discuss with a partner what the difference between the strips is.
Ɣ Discuss as a class that one set is a complete sentence and one is not.
Ɣ Explain: A complex sentence contains two clauses: a main clause and a subordinate
clause. It is easy to spot the subordinate clause because it begins with a subordinating
conjunction.
Provide students with this list of subordinating conjunctions:
after since although so that as though as if where
if wherever once while till provided when
whenever until because unless before
Explain: A subordinate clause begins with a subordinating conjunction. (One of the most
common mistakes is putting a comma in front of the subordinator. A complex sentence
only requires a comma when the first clause is subordinate.)

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VOCABULARY Expressions in dialogue
Follow the input given in the Reader.

LISTENING Post listening —conversation

Tell students to listen to the conversation between Sherlock Holmes and Dr, Watson at a
meeting. Allow them time to read the questions before hearing the audio. Ask students to
take down notes as they listen. Play the recording.
Play the recording a second time and ask them to fill in the details they had missed out the
first time.
Check their answers.

SPEAKING Warning
This task can be used for assessment as learning. Students take responsibility for learning
by distinguishing between strong and weak warnings and communicating using the right
vocabulary and expressions. They discuss the topics given with their partners and role-play
the situations offered in the Reader.
Brainstorm with the class some examples of warning phrases (Do not cross the road when
the pedestrian light is red), advice phrases (I wouldn’t go there if I were you) and public
warning notices (Caution: Wet Floor). Elicit more phrases from the class.
Activity: Warning and Advice phrases around the house
Divide students into groups and tell them to brainstorm warning and advice phrases
around the house, going room by room. Example: In the kitchen: Do not play with matches.
Now tell students to share their lists with the class.

WRITING Newspaper Report

Pair work
Bring newspapers to class. Hand out a page from the paper to each pair. Ask them why
reading a newspaper is important. Go through the Before-During-After reading strategies
for understanding and getting the most out of a newspaper report.
Before: a. Preview the text b. Read captions c. Look at subtitles d. Predict what
the story might be about
During: a. Look at the bold print words b. Look up unfamiliar words in a dictionary
c. Clarify information by rereading text
After: a. Summarise the text b. Create a visual image c. Think of prior knowledge
d. Connect new information with prior knowledge e. Share new information with someone

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Have students now practice these strategies with their newspapers and then share what
they have learned. Have pairs explain their article to the class.
Format
Note: Guide students through every step.
Include the following:
a. Headline: It should catch the reader’s attention and sum up the story. (Check if the
report is related to the headline.)
b. Byline: Your name, the time, date and location
c. Lead: The opening section
d. Body: Details – Answer How, What, When and Where questions
e. Quotes: Reactions of people in the report
Tell the pairs to spot these 5 things in their article and underline them. Now have them
write their reports.

STUDENTS’ BOOK ANSWER KEY

The Adventure of the Speckled Band
Pre-Reading
Free response
Comprehension
A. 1. Helen Stoner was a young lady who came to visit Sherlock Homes in April. She was
shivering, and she said it was out of fear, not cold. Her face was drawn and grey, and
her eyes were restless and frightened.
2. Julia was Helen’s twin sister. She had died two years ago. She had been about to
get married. But one night a few days before her wedding, Julia screamed and then
appeared at Helen’s door. She said something about a speckled band, pointed to
their stepfather’s room and fell down dead. At that time, Helen had heard a low
whistle. Julia had also heard the whistle a few times before she died. Recently, Helen
had to move to Julia’s room, and she had heard the same low whistle again. She had
been terribly scared and in the morning had come to visit Holmes for help.
3. After Holmes inspected the rooms at Stoke Moran, he found that there had not been
any great need for repairs at Helen’s room. In fact, Helen said that it must have been an
excuse to move her from that room to Julia’s. Then Holmes saw Julia’s room and noticed
a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed. It looked newer than the other
things. Holmes found that it was a dummy fastened to a hook just above the ventilator.
The ventilator itself was strange, because it opened into another room, when it could
and should have opened out to the fresh air. He also noticed that the bed was clamped
to the floor—it could not be moved. Dr Roylott’s chamber was larger than that of his
stepdaughter’s. Holmes discovered a small saucer of milk under his bed.

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 4. That night, Holmes and Watson sat inside Julia’s room without a light, silently
awake. Suddenly, they could hear a very gentle sound. Holmes sprang from the bed,
struck a match, and lashed furiously with his cane at the bell-pull. Soon after that,
the two of them heard a horrible cry. They went to Dr Roylott’s room and found
him seated on a wooden chair. His eyes were fixed in a dreadful stare at the ceiling.
Bound tightly round his head was a peculiar yellow band, with brownish speckles—
the speckled band. As Watson stepped forward, the band began to move and from
Roylott’s hair rose the head and neck of a deadly snake. They managed to put it
away and informed the police.
5. The speckled band was actually a swamp adder—a deadly snake from India with a
squat, diamond-shaped head and a puffed neck. It was yellow in colour with brownish
speckles, which made it look like a speckled band. Dr Roylott must have got it from
India and kept it as a dangerous pet, hidden from everyone else. He had trained it using
milk. He whistled to make it move. Roylott made the snake slide through the ventilator
and down the false bell-rope to the fixed bed and kill Julia. He had tried to kill Helen the
same way so that he would not lose money when the girls got married.
B. 1. a. Sherlock Holmes said this to Helen Stoner.
b. The listener, Helen, had just said that a terrible event had killed her sister Julia.
c. The speaker, Holmes, wanted precise details so that he could understand exactly
what had happened and find out the truth.
2. a. Julia said this to Helen. In answer, Helen said that she had never heard such a sound.
b. Yes, Helen did hear the whistle later—first, when Julia was dying, and then
one night two years later, when Julia was dead, and Helen herself was staying
temporarily in Julia’s room. She became so scared that the very next morning, she
came to Sherlock Holmes to ask him to help her.
c. It had actually been Dr Roylott who had been whistling. He had trained his pet
snake to move through the ventilator and down the false bell-rope to sting the
sleeping girl, but he had to bring it back before anyone discovered it. He whistled
when he wanted to bring the snake back to his room.
3. a. The speaker, Helen, was referring to the repairs that had begun in her own room.
She thought they were only an excuse to move her from that room to Julia’s.
b. Yes, it was really an excuse made by Roylott. The real reason for moving Helen from
her room was to bring her to Julia’s room, which was next door to Roylott’s. It had a
ventilator on the middle wall, a false bell-rope and a fixed bed, all of which Roylott
could use to send his snake to bite Helen.
4. a. Helen Stoner said this to Sherlock Holmes.
b. The listener, Holmes, had asked if there was a cat in the house, especially in
Dr Roylott’s room.
c. Holmes had had that idea because he had discovered a small saucer of milk under
Roylott’s bed. Actually it was for the snake.
C. 1. a. i. India ii. animals iii. snake
b. i. the sisters ii. Julia iii. took her money iv. her wedding
c. kill her

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 d. the snake had come from there
e. Roylott could carry out his plan as before
f. i. ventilator and false bell-rope ii. the snake could reach it
g. killed Roylott
2. Free response; suggested hints: He would be able to use technology and the internet
to find information more easily and quickly; he could communicate with others
more easily too, through phones or emails. However, he would still examine places
with the same care and thoroughness and use his intelligence the same way to
understand the meaning of different facts and reach the correct conclusions.
Grammar
A. 1. The little girl chose a doll which wore a blue dress.
2. The students hope that they will hear the results by evening.
3. Masha laughed when she saw her childhood photo.
4. The girl who is sitting next to Peter is his sister.
5. My father is the man who can solve this problem. / The man who can solve this
problem is my father.
6. The waiter served a curry which smelled delicious.
B. Sample answers:
Drawing has always been my favourite hobby. (simple sentence)
When I was ten, I used to copy pictures from storybooks. (complex sentence)
Although my drawings were not always very good, my parents encouraged me.
(complex sentence)
They asked me whether I want to join drawing classes. (complex sentence)
I preferred to learn on my own. (simple sentence)
I like working with pastel as well as water colours. (simple sentence)
My aunt gave me a colouring box which has thirty tubes of water colour. (complex
sentence)
I will paint a beautiful landscape with those colours. (simple sentence)
Vocabulary
1. With your permission 2. As it happens
3. why do you ask? 4. imagine my
5. sooner or later 6. in the first place
7. No doubt 8. You can see
Listening
Listening text:
Stamford: Dr Watson, meet Mr Sherlock Holmes.
Holmes: Hello! How are you? You have been in Afghanistan, I see.

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Watson: How on earth did you know that!
Holmes: Never mind.
Stamford: My friend Watson here wants to take rooms, and as you were complaining that
no one would share a flat with you, I thought that I would introduce the two of you.
Holmes: Excellent! I have my eye on a flat in Baker Street which would suit us very well. You
don’t mind the smell of strong tobacco, I hope?
Watson: No. I am a smoker myself.
Holmes: I generally have chemicals about, and occasionally do experiments. Would that
annoy you?
Watson: By no means.
Holmes: Let me see—what are my other faults? I become quite depressed at times, and
don’t open my mouth for days on end. You must not think I am sulking when I do that. Just
let me alone, and I’ll soon be right. What have you to confess now? It’s just as well for two
fellows to know the worst of one another before they begin to live together.
Watson (laughing): I object to quarrelling because my nerves are shaken. I get up at
strange hours each day and I am extremely lazy.
Holmes: Oh, that’s all right. I think we may consider the thing as settled—that is, if the
rooms are agreeable to you.
Watson: When shall we see them? But I wonder how you knew about Afghanistan.
Holmes (laughs): Come here at noon tomorrow, and we’ll go together and settle
everything.
Watson: But…
Holmes: Goodbye.
Watson: All right—noon exactly. Goodbye.
Answers:
1. b 2. b
3. Holmes: a, b and e; Dr Watson: a, c and d
4. a
Writing
Free response
Punctuation
This is an excerpt from The Hound of the Baskervilles, first published in The Strand Magazine
(1901–1902).
Sherlock Holmes was seated at the breakfast table. I picked up the stick which our visitor
had left behind him the night before. It was just the sort of stick that the old-fashioned
family practitioner used to carry—dignified, solid and reassuring.

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“Well, Watson, what do you make of it?”
Holmes was sitting with his back to me and I had given him no sign of my occupation.
“How did you know what I was doing? I believe you have eyes in the back of your head./!”
“I have a well-polished, silver-plated coffee pot in front of me,” said he.

ANSWER KEY TO WORKSHEET 10

A. 1. Everyone knows that Goa has beautiful beaches.
2. We will have the meeting after we have had lunch.
3. Rajesh worked hard so that he could pass the exam.
4. Central Maidan is the place where the book fair used to be held.
5. Tourists flocked to the hill station although it was overcrowded.
6. When the thief saw the police, he ran away.
B. Sample answers:
1. Are you sure this is the way to the library?
2. It’s all very well to say, ‘eat healthy’, but it’s not always easy to do.
3. Now that we are all gathered here, let us begin the discussion.
4. Of course I will help you to finish the assignment.
5. Tell me Suraj, are the roads always in such a bad state in this locality?
6. What do you say to having lunch before touring the gardens?
C. 1. a. the process of reaching a conclusion from available information
b. laughing quietly
c. remove; get rid of
2. a. Holmes could understand that Watson had been to the Wigmore Street Post-
Office that morning and had dispatched a telegram there.
b. Just opposite the Wigmore Street Post-Office, the pavement had been dug up.
Some red earth, which could be found only in that neighbourhood, was lying
there in such a way that it was difficult to avoid stepping on it while entering the
post-office. Hence some of the red earth was sticking to Watson’s shoe.
c. Holmes knew that Watson had sent a telegram because they had sat opposite
each other the whole morning and he had not seen Watson write a letter.
Watson also had plenty of stamps and postcards on his desk, so he could not
have gone to the post-office to buy any of those.
3. Sample answer: Sherlock Holmes could notice little things (Watson’s activities, his
desk, the earth on his shoe), remember them and draw the correct conclusions from
them. He did it so cleverly that it seemed puzzling at first to think how he could
have known something that he had not witnessed or heard.
4. Free response

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 QUESTION BANK
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
A. Answer in brief.
What was Misss Stoner terrorised about?
Ans: Miss Stoner was living with her stepfather. Miss Stoner suspected that her
stepfather had a role to play in her sister’s death. She was now terrorised that even her
life was in danger as something similar to what happened to her sister before her death
was happening to her also.
B. Answer in detail.
What role did the snake play in the story?
Ans: Dr. Roylott had a passion for Indian animals and had a cheetah and baboon as his
pets. What no one knew was that he also had a deadly Indian snake which, apparently,
was his tool to commit the crime against the sisters. Julia came out of the room
shrieking ‘the Speckled Band!’ and then fresh convulsions seized her, and choked her
to death. The speckled band was the snake which bit Julia and led to her death. As the
title of the story suggests it was the snake that played a major role in the story and in
the end the suspect himself became the victim of its deadly bite.
C. Choose the correct answer.
“But within a fortnight of the day which had been fixed for the wedding, a terrible event
occurred which has deprived me of my only companion.” How was the speaker deprived of
her only companion?
a. Miss Stoner’s sister Julia got married and went away from the house.
b. Miss Stoner’s stepfather went away to India on vacation and left her alone.
c. Miss Stoner’s sister Julia succumbed to a sudden, terrible, mysterious death.
Ans: c
D. Read the lines and answer the questions.
“There isn’t a cat in here, is there?” he asked at length.
a. Who asks this question? To whom?
b. Why does he ask so?
c. How does that information help the speaker?
Ans: a. The speaker is Mr. Holmes. He asks this question to Miss Stoner.
b. He sees a saucer of milk under the bed which made the speaker suspect the
presence of a cat.
c. When he was told there was no cat there Mr. Holmes deduced that there must be
some other animal which was fed with milk in that house.
E. Answer in brief. (Think and Answer)
Why do you think a change came over Miss Stoner’s stepfather after they moved into
the old manor house at Stoke Moran?
Ans: Miss Stoner’s stepfather was fine with both daughters till their mother’s death.
After that there came a change in his behaviour. This could be because he was
aware of the contents of the will which would leave him with very little money if his
stepdaughters got married. This probably was the onset of his plan to get rid of them
permanently.

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F. Answer in detail. (Think and Answer)
Usually, in the beginning of mystery stories, there is a tendency to suspect someone
who turns out to be innocent in the end. Did you expect something similar in this
story? Discuss.
Free response Suggested Answer: Yes, I agree with the statement. I felt the mystery was
a bit too easy for Mr. Holmes to solve. So I thought that maybe Dr. Roylott was not the
culprit. I was a bit disappointed when Dr. Roylott really turned out to be the culprit.
The suspense factor associated with mystery stories was not there in this story and it
made the story a bit uninteresting towards the end. I agree that being an intelligent
detective, Mr. Holmes could solve the case in no time. What I enjoyed most in the story
was Mr. Holmes’ ability to observe everything very closely and logically deduce from his
observations so that he could catch the culprit without any doubt. It is a detective story
and not a suspense thriller.

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