Choices, Grammar, Vocabulary

Choices

The Birds 

Writer’s Notebook 

1. Collecting Ideas for a Short Narrative 
Creating a setting. 

Reread the paragraph on page 1 of the story beginning “Nat, tramping home.” What details help you picture the isolated farmhouse by the sea, hear the wind, feel you are there with Nat in his chilly house? For the narrative you’ll write for the Writer’s Workshop at the end of this collection, you’ll also want to create a vivid setting to help readers feel they are there. Review the notes you’ve taken for a narrative of your own. Where will your story be set? List as many details about the setting as you can. Try to focus on sights, sounds, smells, even perhaps taste and touch sensations. 

Creative Writing 

2. Who’s in Charge? 

Du Maurier tells us that the birds are trying to destroy human life, but we never know what is making them do it. Is it really the weather, as some characters in the story think? Is it an evil force, as du Maurier seems to suggest at times? Suppose you are a historian at some future time studying this famous bird attack. Write a feature article summing up the main events of the historical disaster and offering some possible reasons for the birds’ sudden frenzy. Be sure to tell why the murderous birds didn’t succeed in wiping out the world. (After all, you as the historian are alive on earth. Or are you somewhere else?) 

Research/Science 

3. Looking at Birds

Find out how the birds in this story act when they are behaving normally. Review the text to locate the types of birds that are attacking. Then use a bird book or an encyclopedia or database to chart their characteristics, such as size, physical features, feeding habits, and behavior. Classify the birds according to type: land birds, seabirds, birds of prey, or any other categories you can think of. You might sketch some of the birds to show their appearance or behavior: beaks, talons, wingspans, eating habits, ways of swooping or diving. Imagine that the director of a remake of the movie The Birds wants to use your bird book as a resource. 

Speaking and Listening 

4. Story vs. Movie 

Watch a videotape of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 movie, The Birds. Assume the role of talk-show critic and compare the film with du Maurier’s story. You should focus on specific elements, such as setting, characters, or resolution of the conflict. Conclude your talk by telling which you prefer, and why: the original story or the film. Be ready to take questions on the telephone from your audience. 

Grammar  

Verb Tenses—What Time Is It? 

Verbs in English have six tenses: 

Here are three tenses in sentences from “The Birds.” 

1. “On December the third, the wind changed overnight, and it was winter.” [past tense]

2. “ ‘It will be a hard winter.’ ” [future tense] 

3. “ ‘. . . a message comes to the birds in autumn. . . .’ ” [present tense] 

Fiction is usually written in the past tense. Notice that du Maurier uses the future and the present only in dialogue. It is rare to find stories told in the present tense, though such stories have been written.

Try It Out 

Choose two narrative paragraphs from the story (try to avoid paragraphs with dialogue) and rewrite them in the present tense. Notice how the change in tense gives the story a “here-and-now” feeling. 
When you are writing, the main problem you are likely to have with verb tenses is keeping them consistent. Take out a piece of your own writing and underline all the verbs. Then label each one according to its tense. Are your tenses consistent? 

Vocabulary 

Click here to navigate through the story: page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4, page 5, page 6, page 7, page 8, 

page 9, page 10, page 11, and Homework.

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