Other Worlds

1

The Poison in the Blood

Tom Holland

Other Worlds

I Am a Dalek

Gareth Roberts / Dr Who

Other Worlds

2

Contents

Other Worlds 3

Extract from The Poison in the Blood 6

Extract from I Am a Dalek 7

Further development 9

More reading 12

Adult Literacy Core Curriculum References 14

Acknowledgement

The learning materials to accompany the Quick Reads

publications have been produced as part of The Vital

Link’s Reading for Pleasure campaign, funded by the

Department for Education and Skills and in co-operation

with World Book Day. Our thanks go to the writing and

editorial team of Nancy Gidley, Kay Jackaman and

Moreen Mowforth.

www.vitallink.org.uk

Other Worlds

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Purpose

To explore the variety of ‘other worlds’ in fiction and their uses

in reflecting our own.

To begin to develop an understanding of the role of myth and

legend as the basis for modern story telling.

Resources

Copies of I Am a Dalek

Copies of The Poison in the Blood

Handouts 1 and 2: Book extracts

Flipchart, pens

Activity

Myths, legends, fairy tales, fantasy and science fiction often

present the reader with settings that are ‘human’ or familiar to act

as the terms of reference for activities that most definitely are not.

Each of the genres has its own conventions and purposes, but all

offer readers the opportunity to project themselves into a world

familiar in some ways, but which is also ‘an other world’ where

different rules of behaviour and consequences apply. Humans are

sometimes depicted as weak, their fate in the hands of beings or

intelligences whose actions they may not be aware of, or able to

influence.

The activity below can be done prior to reading the books, or after

reading them in order to compare with other books or stories.

Write the following headings in columns on a flipchart sheet (you

will need one sheet for each small group): type of story;

characters’ appearance; speech; behaviour; physical surroundings;

methods of travel; attitudes to humanity. Ask readers, in small

groups, to use their knowledge of stories with main characters who

are not human (from books, folklore, TV, film, magazines, etc.) and

note down as much specific information as they can remember on

the features of those characters under each of the headings. If you

have enough groups, you might like to allocate a genre with which

a group is particularly familiar, so you have more to compare.

Other Worlds

continued

Other Worlds

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Activity

Display the flipchart sheets. Ask readers to comment on

similarities or clear differences between the different types of

stories. For example, are the main characters in the stories

generally completely human in physical appearance, or do they

have features that mark them out as ’other worldly‘? Is their

attitude to mankind benevolent? Do they adopt human

behaviour/characteristics to try and hide their identities and gain

acceptance, or are they just themselves and expect mankind to

accept them on their own terms? Do the human beings with

whom they interact fear and obey them, or try to

exploit/harness their powers to meet their own ends? Are the

physical settings for the stories completely supernatural, or are

they a combination of the familiar with the imaginary?

Invite readers to share their personal preferences among these

sorts of stories, identifying the qualities that make them like one

rather than another.

Reflection

I Am a Dalek and The Poison in the Blood are very different

types of book, but both include heroes who are trying to defeat

monsters and whose actions dictate human futures.

Ask readers to read through Handouts 1 and 2. What similarities

can readers see in the two extracts, one set in the future and

one in the distant past? For example, description of the

‘monsters’ (tentacles, slime, drool, noise, unusual body

arrangements!); use of tools (bows, arrows, sonic screwdriver)

to defeat them.

There would, however, appear to be some differences in the

approach of the heroes to their task. Can readers say what these

are? What hints do these give of the way in which the stories

may develop? Will the Doctor happily undertake any actions

necessary to destroy an enemy? Is Heracles likely to debate the

pros and cons of actions? How closely do the two of them seem

to be identifiable as human? Which human traits do they use

which are useful or positive, and which that are destructive or

negative?

continued

Other Worlds

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Development

These activities could be undertaken when readers have read

either of the texts.

The Poison in the Blood introduces readers to some of the

Greek myths and legends. Using a dictionary or thesaurus,

readers could define the difference between a myth and a

legend. They might like to research a myth or legend from

their own culture and present it to the rest of group.

I Am a Dalek is one of the stories of ‘other worlds’ and their

interactions with this one, which are often used to teach

readers some sort of moral lesson. What lessons can readers

draw from this one? For example, we may all have evil in our

genes; you cannot bargain with evil; it is sometimes justified

to break the rules to reward good; recognition of humanity is

not a weakness.

What other kinds of stories that have been used to teach a

lesson can readers share with each other– fairy tales,

parables, fables? The conventions of these are sometimes

followed in plots of novels about ordinary people. This could

be explored through, for example, examination of the March

Quick Reads publication Star Sullivan, short stories in

magazines or film plots.

Other Worlds

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The Poison in the Blood

EXTRACT FROM CHAPTER 6

AT FIRST THERE WAS only a single neck. It rose up

high like a snake’s. It had orange and scarlet frills

around its neck. Its mouth snarled open. Its teeth were

razor sharp. Drool dripped from them. When the drool

landed in the water, it hissed. When it landed on the

mud or rushes, it burned them. The neck coiled and

twisted. The head darted. The jaws were open wide. It

spat poison at the boat. Iolus had to row frantically to

avoid it. The boat rocked. Heracles stumbled. The water

hissed and boiled where the monster’s poison splashed.

Heracles pulled back the string of his bow. He aimed.

He fired. The arrow sang as it flew. It thudded into the

open mouth of the monster, which bellowed in pain. Its

blood was black. It spurted out in a thick flood from

between the monster’s jaws. It splashed into the water.

Again the water boiled.

‘You killed it!’ shouted Iolus. ‘You killed it.’

‘No,’ replied Heracles. ‘Look.’ He pointed. Iolus stared.

Something seemed to be moving beneath the water.

Coils, twisting and turning. ‘More snakes?’ he yelled in

terror.

Heracles shook his head. He strung another arrow and

gritted his teeth. ‘A hydra,’ he whispered. ‘It is a hydra. A hydra with a hundred necks.’……..

Other Worlds

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I Am a Dalek

EXTRACT FROM CHAPTER 6

HE HANDED KATE GENTLY over to Rose. ‘We’ve got

to get her away, far away. I’ll sort it out later. There’ll

be a way. The further she gets, the safer she’ll be.

What’s she called again?’

‘Kate Yates.’

‘Cruel parents and the Dalek factor. Unlucky girl. Go!’

Rose grabbed Kate round the middle and ran for the lift

as fast as possible.

The Doctor returned to the Dalek casing. The green

sparkles had faded.

The electronics inside were damaged by age. It was

unlikely that Kate had managed to spark them into life,

but it was worth making certain.

He waited, thinking over his next move. After a minute,

he raised the sonic screwdriver for another check and

peered inside.

A greasy green eye blinked up at him. A newly formed

Dalek creature, smaller than an adult, was already

stretching its slime-coated tentacles towards the

connections.

continued

Other Worlds

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The Doctor leapt back. ‘No,’ he breathed, staggering

a little. ‘No. That’s impossible…’

He hesitated for a second. He knew he had to kill it –

and kill it now. Could he?

The casing slammed shut on its hinge with a deafening

clang.

The tip of the eye-stalk opened, glowing a bright,

healthy blue.

The sucker arm started to twitch. The base shifted,

freeing itself from the earth that covered it. A croak

came from the grating beneath the head. ‘Aaaaaa...’

The lights on the domed head flickered into life.

The Doctor realised that he had one option left, an

option that had served him well on many occasions.

He ran to the lift doors and pressed the up button

desperately.

Other Worlds

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Further development

Readers may like to draft a short review of I Am

a Dalek, commenting on the differences between

reading the story and seeing an episode of the

series on television.

The ‘Other Worlds’ theme could also be used to

explore the myths, legends and folklore of other

cultures, including European, to see how they

might have influenced our own.

Many people may say that the huge differences

between economies and development means that

we have ‘other worlds’ on this planet now and

may have them in the same country. Readers

may like to consider the following questions:

1. What, if anything, do you think is 'wrong' with

this world, and how have you arrived at

that/those conclusion/s?

2. What do you think would make the world a

'better' place? Their ideas could be researched,

structured in note form and then presented orally

to the group with supporting material from their

research.

Useful websites

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/ – BBC

Doctor Who website

http://www.gallifreyone.com/ – Outpost

Gallifrey, a popular Doctor Who fan website with

over 24,000 readers daily

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_mythology#T

he_Olympian_gods – very accessible introduction

to Greek mythology

http://www.greatdreams.com/myth.htm – myths

and legends from around the world

continued

Other Worlds

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Links to individual author websites can be found

with the author biographies in the file ‘Further

Approaches to Reading for Pleasure’, and with

the individual book files for the relevant March

Quick Reads.

Other Worlds

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Other Quick Reads with

an ‘Other Worlds’ theme:

Title Author

Someone Like Me Tom Holt

Other books with an ‘Other Worlds’ theme from the First Choice database:

Title Author ISBN

The Highway Men Ken Macleod 1905207069

The Underbury Witches John Connolly 1905494017

Alien Deeps Douglas Hill 1902260554

The Stainless Steel Rat Harry Harrison 1857984986

The Big Book of the Doug Moench 1563892545

Unexplained

Eve (The X Files) Ellen Steiber 0006483259

Cold Tom Sally Prue 0192718878

Coraline Neil Gaiman 0747562105

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More reading – Quick Reads

March title Author ISBN

The Thief Ruth Rendell 0091796865

Woman Walks into a Bar Rowan Coleman 0099492288

Blackwater Conn Iggulden 0091907039

Star Sullivan Maeve Binchy 0752879545

Hell Island Matthew Reilly 0330442325

The Book Boy Joanna Trollope 0747582114

Don’t make me Laugh Patrick Augustus 1902934466

Someone Like Me Tom Holt 1841494461

Screw it, Let’s Do It Richard Branson 0753510995

How to change your life in 7 steps John Bird 0091907039

Chickenfeed Minette Walters 0330440314

The Team Mick Dennis with 0552153729

the Premier League

May title Author ISBN

Danny Wallace and the Danny Wallace 0091908949

The Centre of the Universe

Desert Claw Damien Lewis 0099493535

Cleanskin Val McDermid 0007216726

The Name You Once Gave Me Mike Phillips 0007216718

Grey Man Andy McNab 0552154334

I Am a Dalek Gareth Roberts/Dr Who 0563486481

The Poison in the Blood Tom Holland 0349119643

I Love Football Hunter Davies 0755314700

Winner Takes All John Francome 0755329481

The Dying Wish Courttia Newland 0349119635

Secrets Lynne Barrett-Lee 1905170300

The Corpse’s Tale Katherine John 1905170319

Other Worlds

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See www.quickreads.org.uk for information on these and

future Quick Reads. £1-off Quick Reads book tokens,

valid from 2 March-31 December 2006, are available here.

The books are available everywhere; high-street bookstores,

independent bookshops, supermarkets, libraries and more.

You can also search for your nearest Quick Reads selling store

on a Store Finder Database.

Audio versions of the Quick Reads are available from

W F Howes Ltd as part of their Clipper Emergent Reader

programmes (www.wfhowes.co.uk/cerp/).

See First Choice library booklist at

www.firstchoicebooks.org.uk for mainstream books selected

against criteria for their suitability for emergent readers

Other publications for emergent readers include those from

Sandstone Press (www.sandstonepress.com) and New Island’s

Open Door series (www.newisland.ie).

Other Worlds

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Adult Literacy Core Curriculum References

Activity, Reflection

and Development

Speaking and listening

SLlrE3.1–.6

SLc/E3.1–.4

SLd/E3.1–.3

SLlr/L1.1–.6

SLc/L1.1–.4

Reading

Rt/E3.1, .2, .4, .7, .8

Rt/L1.1–.3, .5

Writing

Wt/E3.1–.4

Wt/L1.1–.6