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8/21/2019 Fruitcake 1

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THE FRUITCAKE

SPECIALFrank Brennan


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ELEMENTS OF THE FRUITCAKE SPECIAL

SETTING

PHYSIC L SETTING

*Amos Cosmetics, NewJersey* Annas home*French restaurant* Aunt Mimis house

SOCI L SETTING

Middle-class urbanites

TIME

20thcentury America

CH R CTERS

M IN

CH R CTERS

*Anna*David AmosAunt Mimi

MINOR

CH R CTERS

*Momma*Armstrong*Sabina* The Waiter

THEMES

*Physicalappearance versustrue love

*importance ofintegrity andself-respect

MESS GE

Be realistic in our expectations

Always look beyond physicalappearances.

MOR L V LUES

*rationalityand moral courage

* diligence and

perseverance


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THE SYNOPSIS

The Fruitcake Special is an amusing story about Anna, a

scientist, who creates a perfume that has an extraordinary

effect on men. Her boss, David Amos, is instantly smitten with

her the minute he smells the perfume on Anna. Chaos ensues

when Anna and David dine together as Anna also becomes the

object of the waiters affection. Anna asks her Aunt Mimi for

more information about the fruitcake before coming to a dead

end. Guided by his jealous girlfriend Sabina, David offers amoney-based apology to Anna, who decides to leave for a rival

company. Annas love life develops together with her career as

she is wooed by Armstrong, her local pizza delivery man, who is

now a pizza owner.


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

An Australian writer, originally a businessman.

Started to write fiction in 1983.

Died in 1995.

Wrote with his wife, Wendy Brennan under thepseudonym Emma Darcy. As a team, they wrote morethan 45 romance novels.
http://www.google.com.my/imgres?imgurl=http://128.232.233.16/elt/ms_images/readers/FrankBrennan.jpg&imgrefurl=http://128.232.233.16/elt/readers/authors.htm&usg=__YvJuOdy9OJ7PBDAXXSrVu1aVbpw=&h=120&w=120&sz=5&hl=en&start=15&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=AJwEYZiGXhfDbM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=88&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfrank%2Bbrennan%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=E1ZZTb_UCoqyvwOojN3YBA


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CHARACTERS

THE FRUITCAKE

SPECIAL

SETTING

THEME

S

MORAL

VALUES

Inner beauty vsouter beauty

True love can do

wonders

Determination Honesty Courage Acceptance Rationality

Lesson

Learnt

Try out new

ways and

experiment

Maintain dignity

when being

insulted

New does not

mean better

Some secrets arebetter left buried.

Nobody is perfect.

ANNA

DAVID

AMOS

AUNT MIMI

MOMMA

ARMSTRONG

SABINA

THE WAITER

Aunt Mimis

apartment

Annas home

Amos Cosmetics

factory

The FrenchRestaurant


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Anna experiments by adding a slice offruitcake to a mix of flowers tocreate a new perfume.

EXPOSITION

Mr Amos is attracted to Anna

who is using the perfume andinvites her to dinner

RISING CTION

The Fruitcake Special attracts both MrAmos and the waiter. A fight breaks outbetween David, Sabina and the waiter.

CLIM X

Anna visits Aunt Mimi anddiscovers that the fruitcake was

brought from an old lady who hadput in a special ingredient.Unfortunately the woman is nowdead and so is the secret.

F LLING CTION

Armstrong, the owner of ArmstrongsPeachy Pizzas, presents Anna with flowersand pizza and tells her that he had fallen inlove with her from the very first time hedelivered pizza to her.

RESOLUTION

THE PLOT


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Anna DavidAmos

AuntMimi

Sabina WaiterMomma

THE CHARACTERS

Armstrong


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ANNA

CURIOUS

INTELLIGENT

OBSERVANT

PRACTICAL

INNOVATIVE

INTEGRITY

SENSIBLE

DETERMINED


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NN S

Character Traits

Evidence from text

Practical * thinks her new invention smells nice but nothing more (p.32)

* uses the same handbag she does for work on her date with David

(p.38)

Sensible

Knows she is an ordinary-looking girl and is not actually Davidstype (p.34)

Reminds the waiter to serve the lobster instead of being silly (p.43)

Realizes the effect of the perfume on the waiter and ensures she

does not walk by other men (p.44)

Innovative Tries to concoct new perfumes (p.31)

Intelligent Realizes that the fruitcake perfume had an effect on her boss

(p.41)

Observant Notices that her boss prefers pretty young models (p.32)

Observes that men say one thing but mean another

Curious Wants to know why David suddenly finds her attractive (p.38)

Determined Anna was determined to design good perfumes

When she knew the effect of the fruitcake special on men , she

stayed at home to find out the truth about the fruitcake given by

Aunt Mimi.

Integrity Anna portrayed integrity when she walked out of her job

She did this when she was insulted by her boss humiliating offer ofcompensation.


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DAVID AMOS

Weak

Impulsive

Superficial

Not employee-friendly


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DAVID MOSS

Character Traits

EVIDENCE FROM TEXT

WEAK Is controlled by Sabina and so offers Anna money

rather than apologizing properly

SUPERFICIAL Prefers the company of beautiful young models p.34)

Looks at nnas body instead of her face when she

returns to the table p.41)IMPULSIVE Is flabbergasted when the waiter starts singing very

loudly, so he hit the waiter.

Feebly explains to Anna that they would not be a

good match, unlike him and Sabina p.56)

NOT EMPLOYEE-

FRIENDLY

Anna is afraid to tell him how she made the new

perfume as he might have laughed at her p.32)

David only speaks to his employees when he has

complaints p.34)


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AUNT

MIMI

WARM

GENEROUS

GOOD-HEARTED

OBSERVANT

CURIOUS


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AUNT MIMIS

Character

Traits

Evidence from text

WARM

Welcomes Annas visit even though she may haveother interests at heart (p.48)

GENEROUS Always brings gifts when she visit (p.37)

GOOD-

HEARTED

Being very concerned for Annas future, she wants to

find a nice husband for Anna.

OBSERVANT Tells Anna about her market experience and the

people she met at the funeral (p.52)

CURIOUS Is suspicious about Annas sudden interest in baking.

(p.49)


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MOMMA

Annas mother

Loving and caring- stillpacks meals for Anna

Gets on well with AuntMimi

Sabina

The latest girlfriend of DavidAmosBeautifulSnootyVain, Dominant, confident,

well-spokenCondescending but is actually

jealous that David asked AnnaoutHot-headed- Hits David hardin the face when he proclaimslove for Anna.

ARMSTRONG

The pizza delivery man

Fell in love with Anna atfirst sight

Hardworking-saved hardand finally bought over thepizza company he worked for

Was determined to improvehis social and economic statusbefore asking Anna out

The Waiter

*Like David Amos, wasimpulsive and effusive inhis words and actions afterinhaling the Fruitcake

Special

* Bold told Anna how hefelt, and called her eventhough she was in therestaurant with David on a

date.


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THEMES

Annas experiences with David and the waiterat the French restaurant illustrate the

fragility of physical attraction or superficiallove.

Both the men are drawn to her not becauseof her own qualities but because of thespecialperfume she is wearing.

Fortunately Anna realizes that true love is notbased on external appearances but on genuineliking and mutual self-respect.

The man who truly loves her- Armstrong thepizza delivery man- declares his love for heronly after he has achieved success in his life.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE VSTRUE LOVE


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We should focus on a personscharacter rather than their physical

appearance.

Anna is a person of integrity andpracticality who is truly a credit toher company.

Anna has dignity, pride and principlesand looks for these qualities in a

future husband.

She finds them in Armstrong, aslightly short and balding man, but isa gem compared to the superficialDavid.

IMPORTANCE OF INTEGRITY AND

SELF-RESPECT

THEMES


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Rationality

and moral

courage

When Anna creates the potent perfumeby chance, she does not give it to herboss immediately as she is afraid of himmaking fun of her.

She reveals her character and goodsense of values in her actions, speech and

thoughts ( mental self talk)

Her outrage at Davidstreatment of herand the scene in the office with Sabinapresent shows her sense of dignity, prideand moral courage.

Annas character grows and in the endwe see her willingness to acceptArmstrong even though she may have

higher expectations before.


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Diligence and

Perseverance

Annas painstaking attitude and

seriousness about her work are work

ethics that should be followed.

She is creative and intelligent in the

work she is doing.


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Determination

Can be seen in Armstrongs characterHe is determine to be successfulbefore he can declare his love toAnna.

From just ordinary pizza deliveryman, he turns to be the owner ofthe pizza restaurant.

All this displays his strongdetermination to be successful in life.


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Honesty

Momma is honest in terms of her feelingstowards Armstrong. Even Armstrong is just a

pizza delivery man, she does not look down on

her.

Aunt Mimi is honest in finding a husband forAnna.

Anna is an honest employee. She does not reveal

the secret


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Armstrong accepts Anna for who sheis. He also able to accept his own

weaknesses and work to improve on

them until he becomes successful.

Anna accepts the fact to let the

secret of the fruitcake special lie

buried with the old woman who has

died. She never pursues the matter

although she was persistent in finding

out the truth about it.

Acceptance


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Courage

It takes courage to stand up to ones

beliefs. Anna is willing to walk out of

her career in Amos Cosmetics after

the event in the French restaurant.

Armstrong is courageous in asking

Anna out at last. He knows his status

but never gives up .

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