<Miss Honey and Miss Trunchbull

Miss Honey and Miss Trunchbull edit

1. Miss Honey and Miss Trunchbull are two characters from a book called Matilda by Roald Dahl. Can you imagine what they are like just from their names?

2. Think about what they look like, their personalities and what they might wear for a few minutes and then talk to a friend about your ideas.

3. Did you both describe Miss Honey and Miss Trunchbull in the same way?

4. What was similar about your descriptions?

5. What was different about your descriptions?

Now read a description of them:

Miss Honey could not have been more than twenty three or twenty four. She had a lovely pale, oval, madonna face with blue eyes and her hair was light brown. Her body was so slim and fragile one got the feeling that if she fell over she would smash into a thousand pieces, like a porcelain figure.

Miss Jennifer Honey was a mild and quiet person who never raised her voice and was seldom seen to smile, but there is no doubt she possessed that rare gift for being adored by every small child under her care. She seemed to understand totally the bewilderment and fear that so often overwhelms young children who for the first time in their lives are hearded into a classroom and told to obey orders. Some curious warmth that was almost tangible shone out of Miss Honey’s face when she spoke to a confused and homesick newcomer to the class.

Miss Truchbull was something else altogether. She was a gigantic holy terror, a fierce tyrannical monster who frightened the life out of the pupils and teachers alike. There was an aura of menace about her even at a distance and when she came up close you could almost feel the dangerous heat radiating from her as from a red hot rod of metal. When she marched – Miss Trunchbull never walked, she always marched like a stormtrooper with long strides and arms swinging – when she marched along a corridor you could actually hear her snorting as she went, and if a group of children happened to be in her path, she ploughed right on through them like a tank, with small people bouncing off her to left and right.

6. Were your descriptions similar to the descriptions in the story? If not how were they different?

7. Do you think their names fit their appearance and personalities? Why/Why not?

8. Describe the kinds of clothes they might wear.

9. Can you think of any other suitable names for Miss Honey and Miss Trunchbull?