mr.-known-all.pptx the presentation for education

The short story

1. Short story Mr. Known-All by W. Somerset Maugham

2. Plan of presentation short summery and genre of the story Characterize main characters Main idea of the story What was the purpose Creative device with examples

3. Little about the writer William Somerset Maugham is a 20th century short story writer, novelist and playwright. He wrote the story ‘Mr. Know All’ in the year 1966. The story is a brilliant read and concentrates of racial prejudice and stereotypes. It also tells people that looks can be deceiving, which is why we should not jump on to make opinions about people. On the other hand, the other side of the coin is that one should make impressive first impressions instead of the ones that can make people around you uncomfortable.

4. summery All is a story with a moral lesson. The subject is simple. A rich British merchant of Oriental origin, called Mr. Kelada, meets a group of Westerners on a ship sailing across the Pacific Ocean. His cabin-mate, a British citizen who is the Nameless narrator of the story, dislikes Mr. Kelada even before he sees him. However, at the end of the story Mr. Kelada, the Levantine jeweller , proves to be a real gentleman when he sacrifices his own pride and reputation to save an American lady’s marriage. As a result, he earns the respect of the narrator.

5. Main plot and sub-plot Mr. Max Kelada : He is the central character in the story, known for his confidence and know-it-all attitude. The Narrator : The unnamed narrator serves as the storyteller and observer of the events that unfold during the voyage. Mrs. Ramsay : A fellow passenger on the ship who becomes a key figure in the story due to her involvement in a bet concerning Mr. Kelada. Mr. Ramsay:  An overconfident and argumentative person who is travelling with his wife to Japan. He is the only person on the ship who matches the antics of Mr. Keleda

6. The narrator the narrator was being racist towards him, because he had a slightly black skin then any of these people in the ship, as he says that everyone hated him on the ship, it doesn’t means they disliked him only for his color though, but it was a start of it. Then, due to the fact that, he had every answer of every question, he never backed down and stood his ground, he loved to chat a lot and actually was very skilled, especially with rare and beautiful rocks, he was friendly and almost too nice as well

7. Mr. Kelada Hi is kind young gentleman, who is kind of annoying our main character, who is kind of annoying our main character, the narrator, didn’t even met this man and he already doesn’t like him, at first a reader, might think that it is because, he sticks his nose everyone’s business or perhaps it is due to the fact that he has a more of a dark color skin then others.

8. Mr. Ramsay Mr. Ramsay was in the American Consular Service and was stationed at Kobe. He was a great fellow from the Middle West, with loose fat under a tight skin. If one could describe Mr. Ramsay they would say, that he is a kind of a man who thinks that nobody would dare go against him at all, he thinks highly of himself, a little bit arrogant but knows how to keep a conversation.

9. Mrs. Ramsay Mrs. Ramsay, as narrator describes her is a pretty little thing, with pleasant manners and a sense of humor. She knows how to dress up simply, but at the same time know how to wear her clothes, due to the fact that, even though protagonist doesn’t want to stare at her, he says that something about Mrs. Ramsay drives him in and he states that she possess some qualities that women nowadays doesn’t have. It is implies, that she, indeed, has a lover, beside her husband .

10. The content theme in the story and symbolic representation Prejudice - unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group. The major theme of the story is prejudice. From the very first paragraph, the narrator expresses his negative feelings about the man with whom he must share a cabin on the ship. He dislikes Mr. Kelada’s name, his belongings, his appearance, his manners and even his pride in being British. When the narrator says that there are too many labels on Mr. Kelada's luggage it has a double meaning: First, Mr. Kelada travels a lot so there are labels from different ports on his suitcases. Second, people put labels on him so they are prejudiced and they have stereotypes about him.

11. Racism the belief that some people are superior and others are inferior based on racial, religious or national group. As the story develops, the narrator changes from referring to Mr. Kelada by name, to us in the term “Levantine", which is an insult. This suggests that the narrator’s prejudice against Mr. Kelada is an example of racism, which is supported by the fact that he also refers to Kelada’s oriental smile and possible birth in Alexandria or Beirut. Stereotype - a widely held, but fixed and oversimplified image or idea, of a particular type of person

12. Example from the text The closed portholes – These represent the close-mindedness of the narrator towards people from other societies. The cabin – On a boat people live in confined quarters The small living area represents the closed (small) mindedness that our narrator has when it comes to people of different backgrounds from his. The labels on the suitcases – While the labels on Mr. Kelada’s suitcases tell us that he travels a lot, the labels also represent the labels, that prejudiced people place on other people.

13. A lack of a name for the narrator – The author does not name the narrator for a purpose: the racist narrator can be any one of us. We may all be guilty of judging people by stereotypes and generalizations rather than examining their true character and getting to know them as individuals. Thus, the moral lesson of the story is to avoid stereotypes and prejudices and to judge people as individuals

14. The symbol of the story The most important symbol in the story is the pearls The message of the story is that looks can be deceiving and misleading . We mustn’t judge people according to stereotypes and preconceived prejudices. Maugham urges the readers to have open minds and to be willing to change their minds about preconceived notions. This story exhibits the fact that first impressions can be misleading and that first appearances are often wrong. In other words, Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover.

15. Creative device Irony First, Mr. Kelada is forced to say that he is wrong about the pearls, when in fact pearls are the one thing he can truly be said to “know all” about. Second, Mr. Kelada, who is originally presented as a pushy person, concerned mainly with appearances, turns out to be sensitive, considerate and noble. However, Mrs. Ramsay, who is described as modest and possessing a quiet distinction, turns out to be an unfaithful wife.

16. Dialogue- "Do you mind just throwing them out of the porthole?" I did as he asked, and then I looked at him with a smile. "No one likes being made to look a perfect damned fool," he said. "Were the pearls real?" "If I had a pretty little wife I shouldn't let her spend a year in New York while I stayed at Kobe," said he. A metaphor- "at the end, it turns out the Mr. Kelada is the real pearl" "he decide to forsake his need to save Mrs. Ramsay" "He has a kind heart "

17. Thank you!!!