Lesson Plan:

Red herrings

One of the interesting features of this episode is the use of the tramp as a narrative device - the mysterious stranger who turns up and who seems to be connected with mysterious occurrences. In fact the tramp is a red herring. The audience is led to expect that the tramp will hold the solution to the mystery of why the rubbish sticks to Pete, but in fact he doesn't. Many narratives use red herrings - devices which lead us to generate certain expectations, as a way of adding suspense. Think of most murder mysteries.

As a whole class

View Sloppy Jalopy after asking students to look for the 'red herrings'.

Individual activity

Teach the concept of the 'red herring', asking students to suggest other examples from their reading and viewing. Students could be asked to write their own narrative making use of this device.

Class discussion

Most narratives based on suspense or the search for a solution to a mystery provide hints as to the solution as a way of increasing reading or viewing pleasure.

Ask students to discuss when they first knew it was the ear-ring causing the rubbish to stick to Pete. What cues and strategies did they use to work this out? Replay the episode and ask students to note any hints they missed the first time round.

Poetice Justice

As a whole class

This is a useful episode for teaching the concept of poetic justice. Most audiences enjoy seeing an unsympathetic character suffer as a result of their own evil or selfish actions. In this episode Mr Gribble suffers a form of poetic justice in getting covered by the effluent he was trying to dump on the beach.

Teach the concept of poetic justice and ask students to suggest how it can be applied in this episode. Discuss other examples from students' reading and viewing.

Individual activity

Allow students to write or stage their own narrative which employs a form of poetic justice.