Cue for Treason Text Analysis
1. Research word meanings & topical allusions: pike, peat, beadle, beck, fells, livery, dale 11 Golden Hind 14 Romulus and Remus 24 peels 126 peel tower 25 forrader 124 30 cheapjacks 34 Richard III 46 aslant 47 vagabond 49 doublet 53 gape 56 farthingales 58 "Ralph Roister-doister" 61 gist 61 plague 75 Globe theatre 81 garret 82 Marlowe, Jonson Twelfth Night at Whitehall Palace 110 cutpurse 111 sonnet form 111 painter 114 treason 128 vouch 129 greensward 142 tarn 147 vigil 153 "deal with Bess" 155 "mistake of the Spanish Armada" 158 shingle 173 scree 184 rapiers 190 sentinel 194 Horace 199 cuirass and halberd War of the Roses 102 a rose-noble 203 spinney 221 a ha'porth of tar 238 cambric
2. Explain these Sayings and Idioms: 12 the die is cast 46 we hadn't had a dog's chance 48 a poor pitch 49 cursed like a carter 52 playing the dog in the manger 127 "ferret them out ... scotch rumours" 140 "like the tower of Babel"
3. "Kit Kirkstone, Kit the Wit" p. 54 are puns. What are puns? How do puns work as humour?
4. Peter is very perceptive: he later sums up the sermon railing against actors and theatre and even remembers the steps of the argument. What does this tell about his character?
5. Economic setting described p. 63 and causes are suggested. Suggest in general terms why large scale unemployment and social dislocation occurs at this time in English history.
6. "We decided to go to London...." (p. 74). How is this phrase a significant springboard for the story?
7. "Afterwards of course...." p. 116 "She argued afterwards..." p. 212 Write often and increasingly in the last few chapters, Trease uses this narrator's interpolation (an afterwards explanation) to reassure us even that the worst came out right in the end. Does this device take away the drama of the occasion? Why?
8. ". . . the mountains of home" (p. 131) Trease uses many local proper place names and makes a powerful appeal to be proud of the native English countryside and its food. Name after name rolls off the page in a patriotic appeal to what's "ancient and true". Discuss this device and style for readers in 1940.
9. "Spies spend most of their time drawing blank" (147) Well may we ask: how would he know? Do you suspect that Peter's level of perception exceeds that of a 16 year old? "No one knew what I knew"(168) Overall, is Peter a convincing narrator?
10. Trease is not afraid to use lucky coincidence (e.g., finding Mr Desmond again). Does it work convincingly?
11. The captive becomes the captor on the island; justice is tricked upon the wicked Sir Philip; Kit's secret is never revealed; Peter's clan gets their land back. Discuss these reversals in the novel.
12. Deceit, deception and secrets drive this novel. "The whole countryside is riddled with treason - even the magistrates. Who is loyal? Who can be trusted?" (196). Common sense says "Keep your plans/secrets to yourself" yet Peter discovers his plans are used against him by the miners (218). Peter's loyalty to the Queen drives him into revealing a treasonous plot. The irony of his telling secrets to the enemy spy, Magistrate Armthwaite (192), dramatises problems of Britains at war with the Nazis. How relevant would treason, spying and deceit would be to Trease in 1940?
13. There are several lucky escapes in this novel (163), the chase up the mountains (169-174), the long ride to London (197), and the homecoming in disguise (195). How do such escapes add interest to the story? Do you think they are too good to be true?
Å G.Smith 1996
Link to rascal exercise