Treasure island door Robert Louis Stevenson

A         My book (1pt each).

1. Title. Treasure Island
2. Author. Robert Louis Stevenson
3. First published. 1883
4. Publisher. Penguin books
5. Genre. Adventurous

B         Author (Biographical data)

1. Date / year of birth (1pt) 13 November 1850
2. Date / year of death (1pt) 3 December 1894
3. Did / does this author write about a specific theme, and / or in a specific genre? If yes, what are they and what can you say about this theme and genre? (3pts).

   No, he doesn’t. He writes pirate stories, but also novels and thriller stories.

C         Characters, Place, Time (1pt each).

1. Who is the main character? (name, short description of looks and personality, use key words).

   Jim Hawkins, very shy and normal boy. His age is difficult to say, but I think it’s around 12. He got brown hair and he is skinny.

2. Who is / are the secondary characters? (same as 1).

   John Silver, the pirate and cook. The squire Trelawney, he arranged the cruise. Captain Smollet, the boss at the cruise. Doctor Livesey, he protects Jim. Billy Bones, the man who is in the inn and the story starts with him. Pew, the blind man who wants to steal the map of the island. Captain Flint, who buried the treasure, but also the parrot of Long John Silver. Benn Gunn, who was left behind on the island and had lived there for a couple of years.

3. Where does the story take place? (give evidence from the story, use key words).

   Admiral Benbow, the pub, the bridge, another pub where Jim meats John, the harbor, on the ship ‘Hispaniola’, on see, Treasure Island, in the cabin, in the woods.

4. When does the story take place (same as 3)?

   Not really clear, but I think in the 18th century.

5. Give your opinion on the main character.

   Jim is very brave, because he stands up to the pirates and he fights them on his own way. That’s very good of him.

D         Summary or essay / letter about the story (min. 250 words).

In your piece, make sure you dig a bit deeper: motives, themes, development, links to ‘real life’. Don’t be superficial!

The theme is greed. Everyone wants the treasure. The development is that right defeats evil and right gets the treasure and evil doesn’t.

The summary:

The story begins in a small inn called the Admiral Benbow. Jim Hawkins lives there with his mother and father. The don’t get visiters really often so they are surprised that there is a man who stays a very long time in the inn. This man, called Billy Bones what they found out later, is afraid of someone with a wooden leg and asks Jim if he will look out for this guy. The father of Jim got really sick and died. Billy had visiters, but these men were not really kind. Billy died of the amount of rum he drunk all the time. But there was a chest wich he left. In this chest was a peace of paper which Jim took. But there were men coming. Men who wanted this peace of paper to (they found out later). Jim and his mother fled. The went with the paper to a pub, but no one wanted to help accept doctor Livesey. Together with doctor Livesey Jim went to the harbor were he met the squire Trelawney and told about the map (because that was what there was on the peace of paper). The got a ship and a crew. They were sailing to treasure island.

Jim found out that the cook, Long John Silver also called Barbeque, had plant a mutiny. He told this to captain Smollet, the doctor and the squire. They reached the island and the buccaneers could get ashore and had a look around. Jim went with them, but he thought it was a big mistake. So he went of on his own and met Benn Gunn. Benn Gunn was left behind by captain Flint, the guy who buried the treasure on the island in the first place. In the meanwhile the doctor, the captain and the squire had got a couple of knew allies. The went ashore and found a cabin where they could hide and attack. They were attacked by Silver and his companions. A couple of the men died. Jim got back to them, but they were under attack again. Jim fled and got a boat from Benn Gunn and went to the ship. On the ship were two men left behind, but they were really drunk and had a fight. This fight ended up in the dead of one of them and the injury of the other men Israel Hands. The man was first really kind to Jim and gave him instructions to sail the ship. But then he got violent and Jim had to kill him. He did and he ‘hide’ the ship.

Jim went back to the cabin, but his friends weren’t there. Long John Silver was there. He became a hostage. Jim was very surprised, because the doctor had gave Silver the cabin, a lot of food and the map! The next day they went treasure hunting. They found the place where the treasure had to be, but it wasn’t there. Then two men were shot from behind and the rest fled. Long John Silver stayed alive, because he had saved Jim from the dead. All the men left (Captain, squire, Benn Gunn, Jim, doctor and Silver) got on board of the ship and went home with the treasure whom Benn Gunn had found and moved. They lost Silver in a little harbor. The treasure was divided between all the men (Silver had took some with him).