What evidence from "The Storyteller” supports the theme that pride goes before a fall? Select two options.
“‘It’s a very difficult thing to tell stories that children can both understand and appreciate,’ she said stiffly.”
“‘Once upon a time,’ began the bachelor, ‘there was a little girl called Bertha, who was extraordinarily good.’
“The children’s momentarily-aroused interest began at once to flicker; all stories seemed dreadfully alike, no matter who told them.”
“‘Was she pretty?’ asked the bigger of the small girls.
“‘Not as pretty as any of you,’ said the bachelor, ‘but she was horribly good.’
“There was a wave of reaction in favour of the story; the word horrible in connection with goodness was a novelty that commended itself. It seemed to introduce a ring of truth that was absent from the aunt’s tales of infant life.”
“‘Why weren’t there any flowers?’
“‘Because the pigs had eaten them all,’ said the bachelor promptly. ‘The gardeners had told the Prince that you couldn’t have pigs and flowers, so he decided to have pigs and no flowers.’”
“‘Unhappy woman!’ he observed to himself as he walked down the platform of Templecombe station; ‘for the next six months or so those children will assail her in public with demands for an improper story!’”
- The bachelor's attempt to tell a story that children can understand and appreciate shows his pride in his storytelling abilities.
- The bachelor's decision to include the word "horrible" in his description of Bertha's goodness and his belief that it introduces a ring of truth suggests his pride in his ability to engage and captivate the children with his storytelling.
The evidence from "The Storyteller" that supports the theme that pride goes before a fall includes the following options:
1. "‘It’s a very difficult thing to tell stories that children can both understand and appreciate,’ she said stiffly." - This statement suggests that the aunt is proud of her storytelling abilities and believes she knows what children want to hear. However, her pride leads to her inability to captivate the children's interest.
2. "‘Once upon a time,’ began the bachelor, ‘there was a little girl called Bertha, who was extraordinarily good.’ ... ‘Not as pretty as any of you,’ said the bachelor, ‘but she was horribly good.’" - The bachelor's deliberate use of the word "horribly" to describe the girl's goodness suggests a sense of pride in her exceptional virtue. However, this pride turns the children's attention away from the aunt's conventional stories and towards the unconventional story about the "horribly good" girl.