The Interlopers by Saki

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The Interlopersby Saki
Feature Menu
Introducing the Story Literary Focus Omniscient
Narrator Literary Focus Surprise Endings
Reading Skills Monitoring Your Reading
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The Interlopersby Saki
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The InterlopersIntroducing the Story

• The world perishes not from bandits and fires,
  but from hatred, hostility, and all these petty
  squabbles.
• Anton Chekhov

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The InterlopersIntroducing the Story

• Ulrich von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym are sworn
  enemies. What happens when these two armed
  enemies come face to face in the woods on a
  winter night?

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The InterlopersLiterary Focus Omniscient Point
of View

• An omniscient narrator

• is not a character in the story

• knows everything about all the characters in the
  story

• can reveal characters thoughts and actions

• can zoom from place to place

• may tell all or save information until the end

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The InterlopersLiterary Focus Surprise Endings

• A surprise ending resolves a storys conflict in
  a totally unexpected way.

• The ending, while surprising, is still logical.

• The unexpected ending may make you rethink the
  story.

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The InterlopersReading Skills Monitoring Your
Reading

• When you encounter a difficult sentence or
  passage, try one of these strategies.

• Use context clues to figure out the meaning of
  unfamiliar words. Context clues may

• give the words definition

• restate the words meaning in a different way

• provide an example

• show comparison or contrast

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The InterlopersReading Skills Monitoring Your
Reading
When you encounter a difficult sentence or
passage try one of these strategies.

• Break long sentences into simpler ones.

• Look for the subject and the verb.

• Stop to rephrase or summarize.

• Finally, take time to re-read.

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The InterlopersQuickwrite
Make the Connection
Most arguments can be settled when people agree
to talk or compromise, but some disagreements
become so bitter that they last for many years.
Indeed, some regions of the world have been
locked in conflict for generations. Write down a
few examples of feuds from history or literature
that have torn families or even countries apart.
What keeps such bitter hatred alive?
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Vocabulary
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The InterlopersVocabulary
Previewing the Vocabulary precipitous adj. very
steep. acquiesced v. (used with in) accepted
complied with. marauders n. people who roam in
search of loot, or goods to steal. exasperation
n. great annoyance. pious adj. showing
religious devotion.
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The InterlopersVocabulary
Previewing the Vocabulary retorted v. replied
sharply. condolences n. expressions of
sympathy. languor n. weakness
weariness. reconciliation n. friendly end to a
quarrel. succor n. help given to someone in
distress relief.
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The InterlopersVocabulary
Vocabulary Activity Context Clues Context
cluesthe words and phrases around a wordcan
point toward the meaning of an unfamiliar word.

1. Definition The people who interfered were
   accused of being interlopers.

2. Restatement The interlopers, intruders on
horseback, rode into town.
3. Example Guards treated all visitorstourists,
journalists, photographersas interlopers.
4. Comparison or Contrast Far from being welcome
guests, those dropping by were seen as
interlopers.
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The InterlopersVocabulary
Vocabulary Activity Use context clues to complete
each sentence with the correct word.
condolences reconciliation retorted acquiesced exa
speration
1. They agreed to forget and forgive and shook
hands as a sign of ____________. 2. Both teams
____________ in the umpires ruling. 3. At the
memorial service, we offered ____________. 4. Yo
ure late, he said, tapping his watch in
____________. 5. Well, your watch is wrong, she
___________ in anger.
reconciliation
acquiesced
condolences
exasperation
retorted
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Meet the Writer
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The InterlopersMeet the Writer
Hector Hugh Munro (18701916) adopted the pen
name Saki, after the character who served wine to
the gods in the then-popular Persian poem the
Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Saki was born in Burma,
where his father was an officer in the military
police. After the death of his mother, Saki and
his two older siblings were sent to England to
live with their grandmother and two aunts.
More About the Writer
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