The Man Who Was Thursday

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

DEBATE: “Religion in Chesterton’s Novel”

In this activity, students will argue either for or against the assertion that Chesterton’s novel is an example of Christian literature.

While there are very few references to religion explicitly, Chesterton’s novel is considered to possess religious undertones. Using the text as well as your own research, you will argue either for or against the following assertion: Chesterton’s novel is an example of Christian allegory. Working with your classmates, you will develop an argument, including opening and closing statements as well as rebuttals, that supports your point of view. Be sure to rehearse your argument with your group prior to the in-class debate. Finally, participate in a post-debate class discussion in which you analyze and reflect on each team’s argumentative approaches.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity invites students to apply their analytical and debate skills to the theme of The Narrative As Metaphysical Thriller. You may wish to point out that the character Sunday, as well as his leadership and guidance of his “chosen” council, can be seen to represent the leadership of God—which may appear to be cruel and chaotic but is actually loving and orderly. Students may use arguments from the text, their own research regarding Chesterton, and other scholars’ and philosophers’ views on the subject. This teacher-facing resource from Harvard University provides guidance on facilitating in-class debates.

Differentiation Suggestion: To focus on the development of writing styles, this activity may be amended to an argumentative paper in which students must write an essay on the following topic: Could Chesterton’s novel be viewed as Christian text? Why or why not?

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. As Syme watches the crowd approach, he notes the following:

The ex-Marquis had pulled the old straw hat over his eyes, and the black shade of the brim cut his face so squarely in two that it seemed to be wearing one of the black half-masks of their pursuers. The fancy tinted Syme’s overwhelming sense of wonder. Was he wearing a mask? Was anyone wearing a mask? Was anyone anything? This wood of witchery, in which men’s faces turned black and white by turns, in which their figures first swelled into sunlight and then faded into formless night, this mere chaos of chiaroscuro (after the clear daylight outside), seemed to Syme a perfect symbol of the world in which he had been moving for three days, this world where men took off their beards and their spectacles and their noses, and turned into other people. That tragic self-confidence which he had felt when he believed that the Marquis was a devil had strangely disappeared now that he knew that the Marquis was a friend. He felt almost inclined to ask after all these bewilderments what was a friend and what an enemy. Was there anything that was apart from what it seemed? The Marquis had taken off his nose and turned out to be a detective. Might he not just as well take off his head and turn out to be a hobgoblin? Was not everything, after all, like this bewildering woodland, this dance of dark and light? (Chapter 11)

• Analyze the meaning of this quote. What is Syme’s main purpose in this reflection? (topic sentence)
• How does this incident link to another misrepresentation in the novel? Identify and analyze this example.
• Overall, how does this quote link to the broader theme of Identity and Disguise?

2. Chesterton’s novel continually oscillates between realistic observations and fantastical incidents.

• How does Syme process this oscillation as the novel progresses? (topic sentence)
• Identify and explain 2-3 incidents in the novel in which the lines between reality and fantasy are blurred.
• How does this oscillation fit into the larger theme of Reality Versus Fantasy?

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by textual details, and a conclusion.

1. Consider the comedic undertone that Chesterton incorporates throughout the novel. How do the more comic elements of the text inform or color the larger plot? Does this comedy detract from the seriousness of the content? Why or why not?

2. Technology plays a large role in the narrative. In your opinion, does Chesterton view items like cars, trains, and more far-fetched technology, such as the bar table, as more positive or negative for society? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

3. Analyze the characterization of Syme, a poet-philosopher who became a detective. Compare and contrast the character’s two roles in the context of the story. Do you view Syme’s “choice” of becoming a policeman as more predetermined or truly of his own volition?

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following natural events signals the arrival of Syme to Saffron Park?

A) The brilliant sunset

B) The sparkling comet

C) The devastating hurricane

D) The torrential rains

2. Which of the following phrases best describes the initial exchange between Syme and Gregory?

A) Curt and blasé

B) Witty and argumentative

C) Shrewd and devious

D) Romantic and coy

3. Which of the following words best describes the relationship between Syme’s mother and father?

A) United

B) Abusive

C) Polemic

D) Conservative

4. Which of the following words best describes Syme’s attitude at his first meeting with Sunday?

A) At ease

B) Unnerved

C) Ill-spirited

D) Impatient

5. Which of the following literary terms does Syme use in his deduction about Professor de Worms as having “one character as a paralytic and another character as a pursuer?”

A) Allegory

B) Allusion

C) Anaphora

D) Antithesis

6. As he stares out into the Thames river, Syme notes that “[o]n the Surrey side at this point there ran out into the Thames, seeming almost to overhang it, a bulk and cluster of those tall tenements, dotted with lighted windows, and rising like factory chimneys to an almost insane height. Their special poise and position made one block of buildings especially look like a Tower of Babel with a hundred eyes.” Which of the following literary terms are used in Syme’s observations?

A) Allegory

B) Allusion

C) Anaphora

D) Antithesis

7. Which of the following words best describe the tone of the conversation between Friday and Syme as they plan their secret code?

A) Placid

B) Secretive

C) Boisterous

D) Stern

8. Which of the following historical events does Syme recall upon seeing Dr. Bull?

A) The Glorious Revolution

B) The American Revolution

C) The French Revolution

D) The Russian Revolution

9. Which of the following situations is true for the six men’s induction into the secret police team against the anarchists?

A) They were all forced to wear elaborate costumes.

B) They were all invited to attend a luncheon at Scotland Yard.

C) They were all offered a red card of identification.

D) They all spoke with their superior in a dark room.

10. Which of the following phrases best describes the setting of the duel?

A) Dubiously dark

B) Comically contrasted

C) Shamefully shadowy

D) Wintery wonderland

11. Which of the following phrases applies to six men, other than Sunday, of the Council?

A) They are all united in their love of anarchy.

B) They all strongly oppose the presence of a democratic president.

C) They were all unaware of their real mission upon joining the Council.

D) They were all confident in their abilities to reinstate Sunday as the supreme leader of the police.

12. As the group watches the amassing crowd in the distance, the Colonel remarks, “Could you possibly know your President among all those people?” to which Syme replies, “Could I know a white elephant among all those people! […] As you very truly say, they are on the horizon; but if he were walking with them...by God! I believe this ground would shake.” Which of the following implications can the reader make based on Syme’s comment in this situation?

A) The President owns an elephant.

B) The President is a large man.

C) The President possesses qualities that are indistinguishable from others.

D) The President is active in social movements.

13. Which of the following phrases best describes why Chesterton would make Syme and his companions seek solace at the police station with the impending mob?

A) To suggest that police are not as intelligent as detectives

B) To highlight the necessity of larger police units

C) To emphasize the importance of law and order in society

D) To disregard the fear of anarchy

14. Which of the following words describes the clash between the policemen and the mob toward the end of the novel?

A) Chaotic

B) Orderly

C) Diplomatic

D) Humorous

15. Which of the following phrases best describes Chesterton’s use of “chiaroscuro” in the novel?

A) A recollection of the importance of modern lighting techniques

B) A commentary of the obscurity of the human condition

C) A reflection on the necessity of light and dark in art

D) A manifesto on the necessity of non-governmental protestations

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating textual details to support your response.

1. What is the narrative style of the story? How does this narrative style serve to reveal the characters?

2. Identify three uses of similes and three uses of metaphors in the novel. How do these choices of figurative language develop the plot? Be sure to cite your answer.