Short Story: QWERTYUIOP Practice 3

Read the following questions and provide short answers.
1. Describe Lucy's two feelings when the letters 'QWERTYUIOP' kept popping up on the typing paper?
(a)
(b)
2. The typewriter 'took over' from Lucy. How did this happen?
3. What was the change in Lucy towards Uncle Bert? What did she do?
4. Lucy handled Miss Broome's spirit skillfully. How did she do it?
5. What lesson have you learnt from this short story?

Short Story: QWERTYUIOP Practice 2

1. Describe the life of Lucy Beck. Focus on:

a)    Her relationship with her family

b)    Her work

c)    Her ‘relationship’ with Ms. Broome

2. In your opinion, why do Lucy and her mother have a strained relationship with Lucy’s Uncle Bert?

3. “Beggars can’t be choosers.” How does this expression apply to Lucy with regards to her job?

4. Why was Ms. Broome reluctant to let go of her job?

5. In your opinion, did Lucy do an amicable job at persuading Mrs. Broome to move on? Justify your answer.

Short Story: QWERTYUIOP Practice 1

1.    Who are the people involved in the story?

2.    Where did the events in the story take place?

3.    Why didn’t Lucy and her uncle Bert get along?

4.    How did Lucy’s mother react to her daughter getting a job?

5.    What strange thing happened to Lucy on her first day of work?

6.    How did Lucy handle the situation?

7.    Why was Ms. Broome unhappy?

8.    How did Lucy persuade Ms. Broome to ‘leave her job’?

Short Story: QWERTYUIOP - Summary

• The short story QWERTYUIOP describes a young secretary's struggle with the spirit of her predecessor, Miss Broome.
• Miss Broome was the previous longtime secretary of Mr Bannister.
• At 17, Lucy Beck wanted a job desperately to move away from her mother.
• When she graduated from the Belmont Secretarial College, things did not look good.
• She had always been at the bottom of her class and her usually upbeat principal, Mrs Price, did not hold out much hope for her being successful at a job.
• However, Lucy did get a job as a secretary at Ross and Bannister's.
• On her first day, she realised that the position came with some baggage.
• The ghost of Miss Broome was determined to be around to haunt her typewriter.
• Only Harry Darke knew about this and he hinted it to Lucy.
• At first, no matter what she tried to type, Lucy could not finish her work because the letters QWERTYUIOP kept popping up on the paper.
• When she finally realised that she was powerless to complete her work, she reconciled with Miss Broome's spririt. This was by communicating with the spirit through the electric typewriter.
• Finally, she managed to get rid of the spirit by typing a goodbye letter to Miss Broome.

Short Story: QWERTYUIOP - The Author

Vivien Alock

• Born in 1924 in Worthing, West Sussex in England.
• Author of children's book.
• Sudied at the Oxford School of Art.
• Best described as the Alfred Hitchcock of children's literature.
• Died in 2003