Chapters 1- 4 activities

While reading tasks

Chapter 1

1-Who had seen the ghost?
2-What was their reaction?
3-What was the ghost’s appearance?
4-Why do you think the girls in the ballet pretended to have seen the ghost?
5-Who could give a complete description of the ghost and why?
6-Why weren’t they supposed to talk about the ghost?

A theatre box: a small area of a theatre that is separate from where other people are sitting

This is the story of what happened to Joseph Buquet. Read it and find mistakes:

Monsieur Debienne and Monsieur Poligny held a party to celebrate their retirement. The scenery manager went into Mercier’s office and told them that the body of a man had been found hanging on stage. By the time Monsieur Moncharmin ran to the stage the body had been taken by the ghost. One possible explanation for this could be that the ballet girl had destroyed the rope because they believed it could bring bad luck.

Complete these statements:
Philippe was ____________________________________________
Christine had sung really well but after the performance she________________________________
Raoul went to see Christine but she ____________________________________
Raoul seemed to be _______________________________________________ but he was disappointed as he heard _________________________________________________
When Raoul entered the room and realised _____________________________________


Chapter 2
1-Why do you think the title of the chapter is box five? What could have happened there?Complete this summary of the chapter:
Sorelli was giving a speech for _____________________________________________ when they started shouting as _______________________________________. The ghost vanished in thin air. Later as they were having supper , the ghost ________________________________ but people just looked away. The man at the end of the table told them________________________________ and the managers ___________________. The old managers explained to the new ones that the death of Joseph Buquet was due to ______________________________. The opera ghost had asked for _____________________________and for __________________________. Monsieur Richard disagreed with ______________________________.

2- Role play:
A:Imagine you are the old managers of the Opera House and you are conscious of the fact that the ghost’s will should be respected or else bad consequences could be brought about. You need to convince the new managers of fulfilling the ghost’s requirements in future. Give advice on what to do about the ghost.

B: Imagine you are the new managers of the Opera House. You have had enough of these rumours about a ghost. You believe it is ridiculous to have to respect a ghost’s rules. You are unwilling to continue with this nonsense. You have a meeting with the old managers who will tell you how to manage the theatre. Be ready to justify your point of view on why you oppose their ideas.

Monsieur Richard received a letter that proved that the “joke” about the ghost was not over. Imagine what the content of the letter could be. It was sent by the ghost to the new manager.
Start like this:
Dear Mr. Manager:
I’m sorry to bother you when you must be very busy.........

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Your most obedient servant
Opera Ghost


What did Monsieur Richard and Monsieur Moncharmin decide to do about the letter?

What was Monsieur Debienne and Monsieur Poligny’s reaction to their invitation? Was it reasonable?

What happened when they sold tickets for box five the following night?

What did they think about Madame Giry’s story?

Chapter 3

Complete these ideas about the chapter:

· The chapter is called The angel of music because.....
· When Raoul saw Christine at the Opera he remembered....
· Raoul confessed to Christine that he ........................
· Raoul was mad at her because......
· Christine explained that her father was dead and that ...........
· If Raoul had opened the door, he ................

Make some speculations about the voice Raoul heard in Christine’s dressing room:

The voice could have been.....
It can’t have been....
It must have been........... because.....

Report what Raoul told the police about the night he followed Christine.
Use these verbs: explain-add-admit-tell-realise

What did the managers see when they inspected box 5?


Chapter 4
What is a curse? Think of situations from films or books in which there was a curse on someone. Tell the other people in the group.

What were the four conditions set by the opera ghost?

What would happen if they didn’t respect the ghost’s conditions?

What was Carlotta threatened with?

What happened that night while Carlotta was singing at the theatre?

Write the newspaper story for the headline that appeared after the “accident” at the theatre:

Two hundred kilos on the head of a servant