The Landlady

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. Billy is drawn into the house by a strange force, even though he had originally planned to look at some other lodgings first.

• What is the nature of the “strange force” that pulls Billy into the bed and breakfast? Do you think that it is emotional, supernatural, or both? (topic sentence)
• Identify 1-2 examples from the text to substantiate your argument.
• How do the elements that draw Billy to the house connect with the larger theme of The Anonymity of Modern Life?

2. Billy’s youth is referred to numerous times throughout the story.

• Is Billy’s youth considered to be a positive or negative attribute in the story? (topic sentence)
• Find 2-3 examples to substantiate your argument.
• How does the story’s theme of The Fetishizing of Youth connect with the reality of youth and wisdom?

3. Throughout the story, Billy fails to pick up on what seem to be some fairly obvious hints that all is not right with the landlady.

• Why does Billy dismiss the landlady as a threat? (topic sentence)
• Identify 2-3 examples from the text to substantiate your point.
• How does Billy’s inability to understand the landlady’s sinister nature relate to The Power of Convention and Social Customs, particularly regarding gender and age?

Full Essay Assignments

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

1. Why do you think the author chose to end the story where he did? How would the story be different if the ending were less ambiguous? Consider the audience, as well as the time period in which it was written, as you compose your response.

2. While the landlady is a dangerous predator, her demeanor around Billy is somewhat absentminded; for example, she keeps getting his last name wrong, as well as the last names of the other two boarders. Do you believe that her absentmindedness is sincere? Why do you think she pointed him to look at the book? Do you think she wanted him to know his fate before?

3. Consider both the tone and mood of Dahl’s story. What are some key details in the story—small and large, background and foreground—that help to convey a mood of claustrophobia and dread? How is the mood accentuated by the tone? How would you describe the tone of the narration of this story: jokey, serious, or both? How does this tone affect our reading of the story?