Sherlock Holmes
ACTIVITY 1
A.1. Fill in Sherlock Holmes’s Identity Card with everything you know about the
character.
2. Watch the short video about Sherlock Holmes and add elements to your ID Card.
B. Using quotations to explore a character.
1. Look at the quotations below, all taken from the first description of Sherlock
Holmes in the novel A Study in Scarlet (1887).
2. Organise the quotations under the following headings:
a. Physical Description
b. The Way He Speaks
c. His Attitude to His Work, His Personality
3. Use these ideas to add to your ID Card.
C. Write a short description of Sherlock Holmes based on your ID Card.
ACTIVITY 2
A. Watch the trailer for the TV series Sherlock.
1. Note down the ways in which Sherlock matches your description from ACTIVITY 1.
2. Note down any ways in which he seems different.
B. You are a reviewer and have just watched the BBC trailer for the new series
Sherlock. Prepare a short speech stating how much you feel Benedict Cumberbatch
measures up to the description of Sherlock Holmes.
• similar to • lives up to expectations • fits the description of
• bears a close / striking resemblance to… • is different from •
is poles apart from • is at odds with • does not measure up to •
unlike / contrary to • whereas • instead of…
ACTIVITY 3
A. “The Speckled Band”.
1. Read the text down to “Pray proceed with your statement”, and complete:
a. Who is telling the story of what happened?
b. Draw a diagram illustrating the wing of the manor house where the story took
place. Label the diagram indicating precisely:
• where the different rooms are.
• who sleeps where.
• where the corridor is.
• where doors and windows are if any,
• where the lawn is.
c. How does Helen’s sister know that Dr Roylott is not asleep in his room that night?
d. What event is Helen’s sister looking forward to?
e. What has disturbed her the last three nights?
2. Read the end of the passage and put the following events back into the order in
which they happen.
dies.
sister falls to the floor.
B. Finding Clues.
Imagine that you are Sherlock Holmes. Read over the extract again and fill in the
clues in the notebook.
C. Making deductions.
In pairs, make your own deductions about how Helen Stoner’s sister was killed and
by whom. Use the prompts to help you:
If she could smell… it means that…
She was killed by …
The murderer is …
He / She / It entered her room by ….
The murder weapon is …
The speckled band is …
The most important clues were …
The red herrings were …
ACTIVITY 4
A. Creating Suspense and Analysing Writer’s Effects.
Look at the following sentences from the story:
1. The wind was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing against the
windows.
Underline the verbs in the sentence. What impression do these verbs create on the
reader?
2. Suddenly … there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman.
Underline words in the sentence which create a sense of fear.
3. I sprang from my bed … and rushed into the corridor.
Underline the verbs in the sentence. What do they show about Helen’s movements?
4. I saw my sister appear … her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for
help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a drunkard.
Underline the simile. What does this tell the reader about her movements? Find two
other descriptions that add to the sense of fear.
5. She writhed as one who is in terrible pain.
Underline the verb in the sentence. What does it suggest about her movements?
6. She suddenly shrieked out …
Underline the verb in the sentence. What effect does it have on the reader?
B. Commenting – Using all of the above ideas, explain how the writer creates
suspense in the extract.
The writer makes this a scary moment by using …
The description of the weather adds to …
The description of Helen’s sister is striking because …
C. Creating – Use some of the vocabulary from the previous exercise to improve
these sentences. Make them more suspenseful.
It was raining against the window.
She moved across the room.
She felt scared.
I heard a scream.
Her face was white.
ACTIVITY 5
Final Project
A. Role-playing an Interview
In pairs, role-play an interview between Sherlock Holmes and a journalist AFTER the
case has been solved.
Student A: You are Sherlock Holmes. Be ready to answer questions about the case
and how you solved it. Use your answers from Activity 3 (B and C) to help you.
Student B: You are a journalist. Ask Sherlock Holmes questions about the case and
how he solved it.
B. Creative Writing
Rewrite the story from Helen Stoner’s sister’s point of view.
What happened inside that room? Decide on the following:
How did you die? What was the speckled band? Who killed you? What was the
strange whistling sound?
Use language of suspense to make your description come to life. Use Activity 4 to
help you.