Objectives: Wednesday, 10/23/13
I can…
• identify the mood of a short story by analyzing the
author's use of words/phrases.
• determine the resolution of a short story by
analyzing the events and character actions in the
stories.
“The Third Wish”
by Joan Aiken (pages 101-107)
Literary Elements
1. Mood: the overall feeling of a story (See page 859.)
a. What are 3 examples of mood?
b. How does a writer produce the atmosphere, or
mood?
2. Resolution: final part of the story in which the conflict is
resolved and the story is brought to a close. (See pp 869870.)
a. Do all stories have a traditional plot structure?
b. What is a traditional plot structure?
c. What is interesting about the resolutions in “The
Landlady” and “Those Three Wishes”?
Answer the following questions from the PowerPoint
on your green “Comparing Stories” Chart:
“The Monkey’s Paw” “The Third Wish”
Main character
_________
What does he want?
_________
First wish
_________
(and consequences)
_________
Second wish
_________
(and consequences)
_________
Third wish
_________
(and consequences)
_________
Mood of the story
_________
How does the story end?
_________
Lesson about life
_________
1. What does Mr. Peters (THE MAIN
CHARACTER) desire, or want? (page 103)
Mr. Peters had most of the things which he wanted
and was very content with his life. The only thing
that troubled him was that he was a little lonely, and
had no companion for his old age. He decided to use
his first wish and to keep the other two in case of an
emergency.
2. What is Mr. Peters’ first
wish? (page 103)
“I wish I had a wife as beautiful as
the forest.”
3. What is the initial consequence
of the first wish? (pp. 103-104)
“Are you the wife that I wished for?” asked Mr.
Peters.
“Yes I am,” she replied. “My name is Leita.”
4. What is an unexpected consequence
of the first wish? (page 104)
She was weeping, and as he came nearer he saw
that tears were rolling, too, from the swan’s eyes.
“Leita, what is it?” he asked, very troubled.
“This is my sister,” she answered. “I can’t bear being
separated from her.”
Now he understood that Leita was really a swan
from the forest, and this made him very sad
because when a human being marries a bird it
always leads to sorrow.
5. What is Mr. Peters’ second wish?
(page 105)
He stooped down and kissed her goodbye, then
took another leaf from his notecase, blew it out
of the window, and used up his second wish.
6. What is the initial consequence of
the second wish? (page 105)
Next moment instead of Leita there was a
sleeping swan lying across the bed with its
head under its wing.
7. What is another consequence of the
second wish? How does Leita feel about
the second wish? (pages 105-106)
…and then came up to him and rested her head
lightly against his hand; next instant she was
flying away over the trees toward the heart of the
forest.
8. What is Mr. Peters’ third wish?
(page 107)
9. What is the consequence?
In between his hands, which lay clasped on his
breast, were a withered leaf and a white feather.
10. How does the story end? (page 108)
Mr. Peters was found peacefully dead in his bed
with a smile of great happiness on his face.
11. In the end how does Mr. Peters’ feel
about turning Leita back into a swan?
(pg. 108)
[This is the resolution: Leita’s struggle
as a human results in Mr. Peters’
turning her back into a swan.]
In between his hands, which lay clasped on his
breast, were a withered leaf and a white feather.
12. What is a lesson about life that
can be learned from the story?
HINT: What do we learn about true
love? What does Mr. Peters’ actions
tell us about loving another?
13. What is the mood of the story?
Based on the life lesson learned and Mr. Peters’
desires and actions, what do you think is the
overall feeling of the story?
Use two details from the story to support your
response.
Homework: Wednesday, 10/23/13
1. Write a paragraph summary of “The Third
Wish.” Remember to include ALL of the
questions word responses. Please write
clearly and reread your work for any
mistakes.
2. Study your vocabulary words (#s11-30) for a
test Friday.