Stories for Mental Knitting

 
Е.С. Крюкова, Н.П. Чепель 
 
 
 
 
 

STORIES FOR MENTAL 

KNITTING 
 
 
 
Учебно-методическое пособие 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Москва 

ИНФРА-М 

2021 
 
 

УДК 811.111 
ББК 81.2Англ 
К85 
 

А в т о р ы:  
Крюкова Е.С., кандидат педагогических наук, доцент, доцент кафедры 

иностранных языков Института истории, философии и политических наук 
Рязанского государственного университета имени С.А. Есенина;  

Чепель Н.П., кандидат филологических наук, доцент, доцент кафедры 

иностранных языков Института истории, философии и политических наук 
Рязанского государственного университета имени С.А. Есенина 

 
 
Крюкова Е.С., Чепель Н.П. 
К85  
Stories for Mental Knitting : учебно-методическое пособие / 
Е.С. Крюкова, Н.П. Чепель. — Москва : ИНФРА-М, 2021. — 
86 с. 
 
ISBN 978-5-16-109920-9 (online) 
 
Учебно-методическое пособие по аналитическому чтению произведений 
английских и американских писателей “Stories for Mental Knitting” ставит своими 
целями развитие иноязычной коммуникативной 
компетенции студентов, 
повышение общекультурного уровня обучающихся. 
Содержит поурочные планы-конспекты к произведениям писателей, 
представляющим собой законченные адаптированные и неадаптированные 
рассказы небольшого объема. Каждый из четырех разделов пособия посвящен 
анализу творчества одного из писателей и включает основные и дополнительные 
задания лексического и грамматического характера, задания с элементами 
стилистического анализа. 
Адресовано преподавателям и студентам, изучающим иностранный язык 
на языковых (на начальном этапе) и неязыковых направлениях подготовки, 
учащимся старших классов с углубленным изучением английского языка.  

УДК 811.111 
ББК 81.2Англ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ISBN 978-5-16-109920-9 (online) 
© Крюкова Е.С.,  
 Чепель Н.П., 2021 

ФЗ № 
436-ФЗ

Издание не подлежит маркировке 
в соответствии с п. 1 ч. 2 ст. 1

СОДЕРЖАНИЕ

Введение …………………………………………………… 4
Сhapter 1. Agatha Christie. The Labours of Hercules........... 5
Lesson 1. The Foreword & “The Nemean Lion” .................. 5
Lesson 2. “The Erymanthian Boar” .................................... 12
Lesson 3. “The Stymphalean Birds” ................................... 16
Lesson 4. “The Cretan Bull” .............................................. 19
Lesson 5. “The Girdle of Hyppolita” .................................. 22
Lesson 6. “The Flock of Geryon” ....................................... 25
Lesson 7. “The Capture of Cerberus” .................................. 28
Lesson 8. Summing Up ...................................................... 31
Summer/ Winter Vacation Task .......................................... 34
Additional Exercises ........................................................... 35
Twelve Labours of Hercules. Final Test .............................. 38
Appendix ........................................................................... 40
Video Lessons. The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman ...... 46
Hercules. The Animated Motion Picture .............................. 49
Hercules’ Biography ........................................................... 51
Chapter 2. Edgar Allan Poe. Short stories .......................... 54
Lesson 1. The Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe. An A&E Biography Video .... 54
Lesson 2. The Cask of Amontillado ................................... 58
Lesson 3. The Mask of the Red Death ............................... 60
Lesson 4. The Murders in the Rue Morgue ........................ 62
Lesson 5. The Fall of the House of Usher .......................... 64
Lesson 6. The Black Cat .................................................... 66
Chapter 3. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Best of Sherlock Holmes .... 68
Lesson 1. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle....................................... 68
Lesson 2. A Scandal in Bohemia ........................................ 73
Lesson 3. The Red-Headed League ..................................... 75
Lesson 4. The Five Orange Pips .......................................... 77
Lesson 5. The Man With The Twisted Lip ........................... 79
Chapter 4. Dan Brown. The Da Vinci Code. Extracts ........ 81
Lesson 1. Prologue ............................................................. 81
Lesson 2. Chapters 1-4 ....................................................... 83
References .......................................................................... 85

Введение

Учебно-методическое
пособие
по
аналитическому
чтению
произведений 

английских и американских писателей Агаты Кристи, Эдгара По, Артура Конан Дойля 

и Дэна Брауна ставит своей целью развитие иноязычной коммуникативной 

компетенции студентов, навыков изучающего чтения, подготовленной и спонтанной 

устной речи, обогащение и активизацию словарного запаса, формирование навыков 

самостоятельной работы над языком, умения интерпретировать и оценивать 

художественные произведения, а также повышение общекультурного уровня 

обучающихся как одного из основных аспектов формирования универсальных, 

общепрофессиональных и профессиональных компетенций, необходимых для 

осуществления практической деятельности в соответствии с выбранным направлением 

подготовки.

Пособие состоит из четырех разделов. Каждый раздел пособия посвящен 

анализу творчества одного из писателей детективного жанра. Поурочные разработки 

включают задания лексического и грамматического характера, способствующие 

развитию лингвистической компетенции обучающихся, а также задания с элементами 

стилистического анализа, нацеленные на формирование умений ретроспективно 

оценивать замысел художественного произведения и его реализацию, вычленять и 

анализировать особенности языковой организации, выразительных средств и 

стилистических приемов, характерных для этого жанра литературы, т.е. способствуют 

развитию аналитической компетенции студентов. Цель занятий по представленным в 

данном пособии планам-конспектам заключается не только в обучении анализу 

детективных 
художественных 
произведений, 
но 
и 
в 
развитии 
умений 

интерпретировать смысловую информацию, формулировать и аргументированно 

выражать свое понимание проблем, затронутых в произведении и собственное 

отношение к прочитанному, т.е. способствовать формированию и развитию

интерпретационной компетенции обучающихся.

В пособие включены основные и дополнительные задания (Раздел 1: Summer/ 

Winter Vacation Task; Additional exercises; Video Lessons), что дает возможность 

преподавателям выбирать задания в соответствии с уровнем иноязычной компетенции 

обучающихся, а также количеством часов, отводимых учебным планом на изучение 

дисциплины «Иностранный язык». Задания предусматривают практику как устной, так 

и письменной речи, следовательно, на усмотрение преподавателя они могут быть 

использованы как для аудиторной, так и для самостоятельной работы студентов.

Достоинством учебно-методического пособия «Stories for Mental Knitting» 

является не только изучение нового лексического материала, но и дальнейшее его 

закрепление, а также задания, помогающие адаптировать материал для чтения, 

творческие задания, критические статьи, которые способствуют формированию 

социокультурной и дискурсивной компетенций и развивают умение формулировать 

оценочные суждения о прочитанном. 

Учебно-методическое пособие адресовано преподавателям и студентам, 

изучающим иностранный язык на языковых (на начальном этапе) и неязыковых 

направлениях подготовки, учащимся старших классов с углубленным изучением 

английского языка.

CHAPTER 1

Agatha Christie. The Labours of Hercules

Lesson 1. The Foreword & “The Nemean Lion”

If you place your head in a lion’s mouth, 

then you cannot complain one day

if he happens to bite it off.

A. Christie

1. Read and listen to Agatha Christie’s biography

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6ILPRJciAg). 

Agatha Christie was born Agatha May Clarissa Miller in Devon, England on September 

15, 1890. The youngest of three siblings, she was educated at home by her mother, who 

encouraged her daughter to write. As a child, Christie enjoyed fantasy play and creating 

characters, and, when she was 16, she moved to Paris for a time to study vocals and piano.

In 1914, she wed Colonel Archibald Christie, a pilot, and took up nursing during World 

War I. She published her first book, ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’, in 1920. The story 

focused on the murder of a rich heiress and introduced readers to one of Christie's most 

famous characters - Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.

In 1926, Christie released ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’, a hit which was later 

marked as a genre classic and one of the author's all-time favorites. She dealt with tumult 

that same year, however, as her mother died and her husband revealed that he was in a 

relationship with another woman. Traumatized by the revelation, Christie disappeared only 

to be discovered by authorities several days later at a Harrogate hotel, registered under the 

name of her husband's mistress.

In 1930, she married archaeology professor Max Mallowan, with whom she traveled on 

several expeditions, later recounting her trips in the 1946 memoir ‘Come, Tell Me How You 

Live’. The year of her new nuptials also saw the release of ‘Murder at the Vicarage’, which 

became another classic and introduced readers to Miss Jane Marple, an enquiring village 

lady.

Poirot and Marple are Christie's most well-known detectives, featured in dozens of 

novels and short stories. Poirot made the most appearances in Christie's work in titles that 

included ‘Ackroyd’, ‘The Mystery of the Blue Train’ (1928) and ‘Death in the Clouds’ 

(1935). Miss Marple has been featured in books like ‘The Moving Finger’ (1942) and ‘A 

Pocket Full of Rye’ (1953).

Agatha Christie wrote more than 70 detective novels as well as short fiction. Though 

she also wrote romance novels, Christie's success as an author of sleuth stories has earned 

her titles like the "Queen of Crime" and the "Queen of Mystery." Christie can also be 

considered a queen of all publishing genres as she is one of the top-selling authors in history, 

with her combined works selling more than 2 billion copies worldwide.

Christie was a renowned playwright as well, with works like ‘The Hollow’ (1951) and 

‘Verdict ‘(1958). Her play ‘The Mousetrap’ opened in 1952 at the Ambassador Theatre and 
at more than 8,800 showings during 21 years - holds the record for the longest unbroken run 

in a London theater. Additionally, several of Christie's works have become popular movies, 

including ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ (2017) and ‘Death on the Nile’ (2020). In 1974, 

she made her last public appearance for the opening night of the play version of ‘Murder on 

the Orient Express’. Agatha Christie died on January 12, 1976.

https://www.biography.com/writer/agatha-christie

abridged version

Make up 4 questions to the text. 

e.g. When did Agatha Christie marry Max Mallowan? – This is a question to a sentence from 

the text.

Agatha Christie was the brightest pupil in her class, wasn’t she? – This is a question to the 

text.

2. Introduce the characters, places and other things mentioned in the list (provide a one 

sentence description):

e.g. Mrs. Harte is the manageress of the Balaclava Private Hotel whom Mr. Poirot 

interviews to find out some details during his investigation.

Hercule Poirot
Miss Keble
Labours of Hercules

Amy Carnaby
Mrs. Samuelson
the Nemean Lion

Sir Joseph Hoggin
George
Kensington Gardens

Lady Hoggin
a Pekinese dog

3. Active Vocabulary. Find the following words and word combinations in the text. Be 

ready to pronounce them correctly & give their Russian equivalents:

To investigate something, to remind somebody of something, to be in the habit of doing 

something, to cheat, to kidnap/ kidnapping, to be sensitive, to be anxious, a criminal, a 

suspect/ to suspect somebody of something, to exclaim, the threats of violence, intelligent, to 

give the alarm, ridiculous, to be in the first rank, inevitable, to prosecute, a former client. 

Translate the full sentences with them into good Russian.

4. Active Vocabulary. Find English equivalents for the following words and phrases in the 

text:

неохотно

выпуклый

гонорар, вознаграждение

неохотно давать, жалеть

обманывать

настоящий, истинный

отвратительный, противный

детская коляска

перекись водорода

свободно свисать, качаться

щепетильный совестливый

вилять хвостом

вбить себе в голову 

собираться идти домой 

художественный вымысел

 

5. Are the following sentences true or false? Correct the false ones. Follow the example. 

e.g. The man came into the room. – Yes, he did. / No, he didn’t. He didn’t come into the 

room. He came out of the room.

1) “These 12 labours will make me famous,” Poirot thought.

2) Poirot trusted Miss Lemon. She had a rich imagination. 

3) Miss Lemon informed Poirot about the kidnapping of a Pekinese dog. She thought he 

would be interested in it.

4) Poirot supposed that he had seen Sir Joseph before.

5) Hoggin said that he had allowed his wife to send the money the criminal wanted to get. 

6) Poirot knew that there had been several cases of kidnapping of dogs like the one which is 

described.

7) Poirot came to the hotel to stay there for a week or two. 

8) Miss Carnaby was afraid that everything would become clear, so she told Poirot the truth. 

9) Poirot understanding Carnaby’s situation very well promised her not to tell anybody about 

her crime.

10) Poirot hinted that he knew the truth about Mr. Hoggin’s past.

 

6. The Belgian detective Hercule Poirot first appeared in 1920 in Agatha Christie's first 

novel “The Mysterious Affair at Styles”. Agatha later wrote numerous books about him and 

the last one was published in 1975 – “Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case”. Poirot has many 

characteristics which have made him а legend all over the world - the odd moustache, the 

egg-shaped face and his high opinion of himself. He will though most likely be best 

remembered for his ability to solve complicated mysteries with the help of his little grey 

cells. In that area he was a worthy successor of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. 

Hercule Poirot hardly looked like an ancient Greek hero. Yet he was responsible for ridding 

society of some of its most unpleasant monsters. So in the period before he retired he made 

up his mind to have just twelve more cases (his Labours). 

What do you think is the purpose of the Foreword (in the book!!!)? What is it given for? 

Explain in a few sentences.

 

7. Study the information. 

Tips for Writing a Successful Summary

Summary is a shortened version of a text that highlights its key points. A summary needs to 

be clear to someone who hasn’t read the original.

1. Read the text for general understanding. 

2. Read it more attentively. Find all the new words for you, which can prevent you from 

complete understanding. Use the dictionary to find out their meaning (pay special attention 

to the context).

3. Try to retell the text in your own words. Mind that you should sum up the events in no 

more than 10-12 simple sentences. 

Remember:

✓ use the present or past tense. Don’t mix tenses; 

✓ maintain good paragraph structure: topic sentence, supporting sentences, concluding 

sentence;

✓ topic sentence identifies the title, the author, the main characters and the setting of the 

story;

✓ be concise, not wordy. No specific details, dates or figures unless essential for the 

reader to understand the story;

✓ add some transition words (however, also, then, moreover) that help with the overall 

structure and flow of the summary;

✓ paraphrase, don’t quote directly (No direct speech!). Don’t copy/ paste the sentences 

right from the original;

✓ be objective. Don’t include your opinion. Remember, you’re just reporting the 

information.

Sum up the events of the story. Make ample use of the Active Vocabulary.

Example (Just an example!): The story ‘The Nemean Lion’ by Agatha Christie is about 

investigating a kidnapping of a Pekinese dog. Hercule Poirot is a famous detective who 

decides to investigate this crime. The gist of the crime is that someone kidnapps rich 

women’s dogs and asks big sums of money for them. Poirot finds out that there has been a 

series of similar crimes. The criminal is a modest companion, a modern Robin Hood who 

loves dogs and has no cunning plans. The final of the story is neutral. Most of the money is 

returned to the owners, the criminal promises not to repeat her mistakes and live a usual life.

8. Read the Greek myth.

The Nemean Lion was a legendary creature in Greek mythology that ravaged the area 

of Nemea. Its fur was impenetrable by the weapons of humans and hence, was unstoppable. 

It was considered to be the child of Typhon and Echidna, father and mother of all monsters.

Slaying the Nemean Lion was the first task that King Eurystheus asked of the demigod 

Hercules during the myth of the Labours of Hercules. One version has it that the lion 

kidnapped women from Nemea and kept them in its lair, in order to lure warriors. When the 

brave warrior would see the woman, she would turn into a lion and kill him.

Hercules tracked down the lion and tried to kill it by shooting arrows. He realised 

though that it was no use because of its impenetrable fur. He then waited until the lion 

entered its lair from one of the two entrances. He then blocked off the second entrance, and 

entered the cave as well. There, he managed to kill the lion by strangling it with his bare 

hands.

Nemean Lion: GreekMythology.com

abridged version

a) Characterize Hercule Poirot. Compare him with Hercules. The following adjectives are 

sure to help you: brave, strong, clever, fat, cunning, resourceful, small, stupid, athletic, 

murderous, greedy, handsome, silly, violent.

Use comparative structures and don’t forget to ground your opinion.

e.g. Hercule Poirot is not as strong as Hercules. He didn’t defeat the criminal with his bare 

hands.

b) Draw parallels between the myth and the story. In your opinion, who is the Nemean 

Lion in the story? Explain your point of view.