THE
FRUITCAKE
SPECIAL
M ENU P AGE
Author
Summary
Plot
Setting
Characters
Language and Style
Themes
Moral Value
Exercises
Glossary
A UTHOR
Frank Brennan
Frank Brennan and his wife are
novel writers and managed to
publish many of their novels
through Mills and Boon, a
publishing house that publishes
romance novels.
S UMMARY
Anna, a chemist who works at the Amos
cosmetics factory in New Jersey, USA is trying to
discover a new perfume. One day she mixes a slice
of the fruitcake given by her Aunt Mimi into a
mixture of flowers. It smells wonderful so she
tried it on her. Not too long, her boss, David
Amos who is a handsome English guy who had
never said any nice thing to ordinary girl like her
asked her out for dinner with him.
That would be because of fruitcake. Anna realizes
now that the perfume is responsible for his
strange behavior. At dinner, there was a
competition between David Amos and the waiter
for her attention. The night ended with both men
hitting each other and Sabina (David’s girlfriend)
punching David.
Anna later found out more about the fruitcake
from her Aunt Mimi and realized that it was made
by an old woman who had just passed away. Later
David apologized and offered Anna a raise as
compensation. Anna feels insulted and quit her
job. Then, the pizza man appears at her door with
pizza and a box of flowers. He is now the owner of
his pizza company. Anna decides to go out with
him.
LATER..
P LOT
Anna is a chemist at Amos Cosmetics factory. She
creates a special fruitcake perfume. She calls her
perfume ‘The Fruitcake Special’. Anna applies the
perfume without realizing that whoever uses the
perfume will attract any man to fall in love with her.
Her boss, David Amos who has never showed
any interest in her invites her to dinner that
night just after walking past her.
At home, Anna’s mother and her Aunt Mimi
are discussing her marriage. They were talking
about Armstrong but Anna was not interested.
At dinner, David treated Anna as usual- as just an
employee. She goes to the washroom and applies the
perfume. As she walks past a waiter, the waiter fell in
love with her. David too showed the same reaction.
Anna then realizes that it is all due to the ‘fruitcake
special’. Sabina, David’s girlfriend became furious with
David’s behavior. The waiter started to sing for Anna
and soon after there was confusion. Sabina punches
David and then David and the waiter fought with each
other.
Anna is eager to find out about the fruitcake. She
visits her Aunt Mimi who tells her that the cake was
made by an old lady who used special ingredients.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to find the old woman as
she has passed away recently.
When Anna returns to work, David was there with
Sabina. She meets Sabina with Mr. Amos in his office
and Sabina insults her. Sabina tells Anna that David
will give Anna a sum of money to compensate for his
behavior. In anger, Anna splashes the perfume on
Sabina. She then resigns from the company and finds a
new job in the factory that produces Intrigue. Anna
feels insulted and quit her job.
At home, Armstrong visits her wit pizza and
flowers. He told her he had fallen in love with her
since her first delivered pizza to her house. Now
that he has his own pizza company, he is ready to
go out with her. Anna accepts Armstrong.
S ETTING
•Time
•Place
T IME
The events happened within a week
P LACE
Amos Cosmetics Factory, New Jersey, USA.
Anna’s home.
A French restaurant
(Dinner between Anna and her boss)
Aunt Mimi’s apartment
(Anna visited her Aunt Mimi)
C HARACTERS
Main
Character
Minor
Characters
A NNA
She is 27-year old simple looking chemist.
She works at Amos Cosmetics factory.
She is rather sensible.
She realizes that her boss would not be attracted to a
simple girl like her.
David Amos
Anna’s Mother
Aunt Mimi
The Waiter
Sabina
Armstrong
D AVID A MOS
He is a shrewd businessman. He is an
English man who is rich and handsome.
He is the owner of Amos Cosmetics
Factory, a factory that manufactures
and sells perfumes. He has been going
out with beautiful young models.
However, his current girlfriend is
Sabina.
A NNA ’ S M OTHER
She is rather caring and is very eager to
find a groom for Anna. She recommends
Armstrong, the pizza man as she feels he
has ‘nice eyes’.
A UNT M IMI
She is a helpful and caring person. She
is also very keen to find Anna a nice
husband. She buys a special fruitcake
for Anna.
T HE W AITER
He works at a French restaurant. He is
attracted to Anna when she dabbed the
fruitcake perfume and competes with
Amos for her attention.
S ABINA
She is the current girlfriend of David
Amos. She is young and pretty. She
works as a model. She gets angry when
David pays attention to Anna.
A RMSTRONG
He is a very hardworking man. He
delivers pizzas and fell in love with
Anna. Soon, he becomes the owner of a
pizza company. He is returns to ask
Anna out.
L ANGUAGE AND
S TYLE
First Person
Point of
View
Imagery
Simile
F IRST P ERSON
P OINT OF V IEW
The story uses the first person ‘I’ and it
is told from Anna’s point of view.
Through Anna’s description, the
readers get the insight into the feelings
of the characters.
I MAGERY
The fruitcake ingredient makes the
sophisticated perfume smell like a
glorious mix of all natural, delicious,
inviting and warm smells (like fresh bread
and flowers and sunshine all mixed
together).
S IMILE
The story has several interesting and funny similes:
he looked like a dog who had just found a bone
mouths wide open like a couple of fish.
Why did everybody sound like bad movies tonight?
T HEMES
The effects of a perfume
The fragrance of a perfume has a very
strong appeal. Men are attracted to
ladies who are wearing it. Thus, it is
popular amongst women.
Keeping one’s dignity
Anna rejects both David Amos and the waiter as they
are not genuinely concerned about her. She has
integrity and has pride in her own worth. She resigned
from her career at Amos Cosmetics because she did
not like the way her employer, David Amos treated her.
M ORAL V ALUES
Appreciate ourselves for who we are and
not depend on the supernatural- The special
ingredient in the fruitcake that was mixed in the
perfume did not bring happiness to Anna because
she was attracted the wrong type of men.
We should appreciate true love- Armstrong who has
fallen in love with Anna when he was only a pizza
delivery man, withholds his declaration of love until he
is successful. Although Anna did not like Armstrong
at first, she realizes that he truly loves her and would
be a suitable life partner.
Hard work is the key to success- Anna works very hard.
She spends long hours at her working place.
This is the reason why her boss
wanted her to continue working for
him. Armstrong worked very hard to
become successful. Finally he became the
owner of a pizza company. He asked Anna
out on a date when he had achieved his goal.
We must not compromise our dignity- Anna has
integrity and has pride in her own worth. She walked
out of her job when she was insulted with the boss’
offer.
EXERCISES..
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
EXERCISE 1
a)
Who does Anna fell in love with?
A.
David Amos
B.
Armstrong
C.
The Waiter
b) Who is Anna?
A.
Sales Assistant
B.
Model
C.
Chemist
c)
c) How old is Anna?
A.
25
B.
26
C.
27
d) Where did Anna worked before resigning her job as a
chemist?
A.
Avon Cosmetics Factory
B.
Amos Cosmetics Factory
C.
Asus Cosmetic Factory
EXERCISE 2
a)
Why did Anna’s mother recommended her to get married
with Armstrong?
A.
He is a hardworking boy
B.
Anna’s mother loved pizza
C.
He has attractive physical attribute
b)
How many times did Armstrong asked
Anna out?
A.
1
B.
2
c. 3
c)
Where is Amos’ factory is located?
A.
New Jersey
B.
Newcastle
C.
New York
d)
Why did Anna quit her job in Amos Cosmetic Factory?
A.
Anna was insulted by David
B.
Anna was insulted by Sabina
C.
Anna was insulted by David’s office staff
EXERCISE 3
a)
Below are the moral values from this story, EXCEPT?
A.
Appreciate ourselves for who we are and depend on the
supernatural
B.
We should appreciate true love
C.
Hard work is the key to success
b)
Which of the words below are BESTto describe the smell of
the perfume?
I.
Fresh bread
A. I & II
II.
Flowers
B. III & IV
III.
Cheese
C. II & III
IV.
Shoe
c)
The author of this short story is ________.
A.
Frank Brendan
B.
Frank Bernam
C.
Frank Brennan
d)
Who gave Anna the fruitcake?
A.
B.
C.
Aunty Meme
Aunty Mimi
Aunty Sally
EXERCISE 4
a)
Who is the main character in this short story?
A.
The Fruitcake
B.
Aunt Mimi
C.
Anna
b)
A mixture of _________ produced ‘The Fruitcake Special’.
A.
Fruitcake & Chocolate
B.
Fruitcake & Flowers
C.
Fruitcake & Perfume
c)
Which one from the following types of cake did Aunt
Mimi gave Anna?
A.
Cheese Cake
B.
Fruitcake
C.
Chocolate Cake
d)
The new factory where Anna
worked produces________.
A.
B.
C.
Intrigue
Entrigue
intrique
GLOSSARY
1.
Appeal
3.
Compensation

Temptation, attract

Payment, damages,
reparation
2.
Appreciate

Be grateful, glad or
pleased about
something
4. Compromise

Negotiate, cooperate,
give in
5.
Concerned

Worried, disturbed
6.
Dabbed

Touched gently with
something soft/moist
7.
Declaration

Statement,
announcement
8.
Eager

Enthusiastic, excited,
impatient
9.
Employee

Worker, staff
10.
Fragrance
13.
Glorious

Scent, smell

Magnificent,
wonderful
11.
Furious
14.
Insight

An understanding of
something

Angry, mad, irate
12.
Genuinely

Authentically, actually,
really
15.
Insulted

Offended, upset
16.
Integrity

Honesty, reliability
17.
Keen

Devoted, intense,
wholehearted
18.
Manufactures

Producers, creators
19.
Pride

Honor, self-respect,
dignity
19.
Recommends
22. Sophisticated

Suggests, proposes

20.
Sensible
23. Splashes

Rational, wise

21.
Shrewd
24. Supernatural

Sharp, smart, clever

Complicated
Splatters, sprays
Paranormal, mystical
OPPS!! W RONG A NSWER..
P LEASE T RY A GAIN..
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C OME O N!
C AN D O B ETTER
T HAN T HIS!
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OH N O!
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…