Using the tabs above (Extracts A – D), read the four extracts on the theme of dreams. Then answer the questions opposite.
Extract A
Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and for a while I could not enter, for the way was barred to me. There was a padlock and chain upon the gate. I called in my dream to the lodge-keeper, and had no answer, and peering closer through the rusted spokes of the gate I saw that the lodge was uninhabited. Then, like all dreamers, I was possessed of a sudden with supernatural powers and passed like a spirit through the barrier before me. The drive wound away in front of me, twisting and turning as it had always done, but as I advanced I was aware that a change had come upon it; it was narrow and unkempt, not the drive that we had known. At first I was puzzled, and it was only when I bent my head to avoid the low swinging branch of a tree that I realized what had happened. Nature had come into her own again and, little by little, in her stealthy, insidious way had encroached upon the drive with long, tenacious fingers.
Using the tabs above (Extracts A – D), read the four extracts on the theme of dreams. Then answer the questions opposite.
Extract B
Why do we feel the urge to talk about our dreams? We like to talk about dreams to help us prepare for how to act in dangerous situations in the future. Most of your dreams are going to seem pretty boring to most people. But if you’re going to talk about some of your dreams, pick the ones in which you deal with a problem in some new way. This would make them more interesting than your happy dreams, and if you feel that you learned something about how to deal with a threat, maybe your audience will, too. We tend to think of dreams as being really weird, but in truth, about 80 percent of dreams depict ordinary situations. We’re just more likely to remember and talk about the strange or dangerous ones. Information we do not understand can often rouse our curiosity, particularly in the presence of strong emotion. The emotional pull of dreams makes even the strangest incongruities seem meaningful and worthy of discussion and interpretation.
Using the tabs above (Extracts A – D), read the four extracts on the theme of dreams. Then answer the questions opposite.
Extract C
One morning, when I was younger, I gave a detailed description of my previous night’s dream to my mother. When I finished, she said, “I’m going to tell you something. Don’t ever share your dreams with anyone. It’s boring to listen to other people’s dreams.” I was offended at first. But of course she was right; it’s almost always deadly to hear other people talk about their dreams. As a rule, dreams die in the glare of the waking world, their shimmering aura evaporating in the harsh air outside the psyche. And yet, paradoxically, it’s the emotional aura of dreams that makes them feel so urgently worth sharing in the first place. I still share my dreams — just not verbally. Like so many other writers (and artists too) I employ dreams in my creative work. They’re an engine, a lending library. It’s a thrill to awake with a strange, arresting image in mind, or still grasping the thread of an allegorical dream story.
Using the tabs above (Extracts A – D), read the four extracts on the theme of dreams. Then answer the questions opposite.
Extract D
For the first time in a long while, I had a dream which I feel like writing down. This was a dream where I was auditioning for an acting job, and the dream went lucid; I realized that what was going on was a dream. So, as I often do in these situations, I chilled out and tried not to actively do anything; I often like to just see what the dream reveals. A nondescript person came up to me and handed me a small white book with gold lettering. "Remember this book," said the person, "because when you wake up you're going to want to get a copy. Really remember it." I thanked them and looked at the book in my hand. There was a title and author's name written on it, but I couldn't interpret the text. I'd look at it, trying to remember what it said, then I'd look away, and when I looked back it said something completely different and I was unable to remember what I'd just read.
There's a great Batman episode all about this! Sometimes I can fully recall bits of dreamed text, but on waking after other dreams, it's all gone.