➢ Joan Aiken was born on September 4th 1924 in East Sussex in the U.K.

➢ Joan read hundreds of books as a child, but in the late thirties her school was shut down due to world war 2

➢ In the forties Joan fell extremely ill, left school, and failed her university entrance exam

➢ Joan went to work for the United Nations Information office where she met journalist Ronald Brown and they fell in love and get married

➢ In 1952 Joan sent her first collection of short stories to be published called “Bonnie Green”

➢ In 1955 Ron dies and Joan moves into a house with her children and her mother and stepfather

➢ In 1958 “Sonata for Harp & Bicycle” was published➢ In 1960 Joan’s first complete novel was published➢ Throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s Joan publishes many

more novels and short stories➢ Joan moves to America➢ Joan Aiken died on January 4th 2004 at 80 years old

Joan writing as a young woman

Joan with family

Sussex, U.K.

Joan’s Biographical

Other works by Joan Aiken

➢ The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1962) is her first novel, a children’s

book that was set in England during the 19th century

➢ The Silence of Herondale (1964) is a mystery that is her first adult fiction

novel

➢ All You’ve Ever Wanted (1953) and More Than You Bargained For (1955)

are collections of short stories

➢ She wrote a television series called Midnight Is a Place

Setting

Sonata for Harp & Bicycle is set at Grimes Buildings in Clerkenwell, a central district of London, England. The short story is set in the 1950s and in a middle class environment. The English setting influences the dialect in which the characters speak. For example, the author writes “lifts” instead of “elevators”. As a result of the layout of Grimes Building, Jason was forced to climb a fire escape up nine stories while investigating the building. It also influences the story when Jason was almost pushed off the balcony of the building and cursed to jump off the fire escape five days after meeting William Heron.

CharactersJason Ashgrove is curious and brave. He is a round character because the audience knows what kind of person he is. He is characterized through indirect action. The fact that he climbs up the building reveals that he is brave because it was very dangerous to do that.

Berenice Golden is a solicitous person. She is a dynamic character because during the first part of the story, she is very compliant and follows the rules, but during the second part of the story, she changes and becomes rebellious when sneaking into Grimes Building with Jason. She is characterized through indirect speech because when Jason asks about Grimes Building closing time, she shushed him. This reveals that she is careful and always looking out for Jason’s well-being.

William Heron is a depressed character. He is a dynamic character because though he is depressed when he loses Daisy, he is happy again when he reunites with her. William Heron is characterized through indirect effect on other characters. The fact that he caused Jason extreme fear reveals that he is frightening.

Daisy Bell is a love-struck person. She is a flat character because the reader does not know much about her besides the fact that she loves William Heron. She is characterized through indirect action. The fact that she would stay up late just to spend time with him reveals that she is devoted to him.

An employee named Jason Ashgrove begins working at Grimes Building. A mandatory rule is that all workers have to leave the building before 5 pm. Finding this rule strange, Jason asks one of his co-workers, Berenice Golden, about this but she will not tell him. Jason returns to the building in the night out of curiosity. When he begins to explore the building, he hears a bicycle bell. He also hears a voice calling out the name “Daisy”. Jason comes face to face with a ghost, whom he later finds out is William Heron and was looking for his long-lost love, Daisy Bell (who is also a ghost). The next morning, Jason returns to work with gray hair and Berenice realizes he visited the building after 5 PM. Later in the day, Berenice tells him the myth about the watchman named William Heron and the music teacher named Daisy Bell. Daisy gave harp lessons, and William was the night watchman in the building. They began seeing each other and one night, William decided he wanted to propose to Daisy. However, Daisy took a nap and forgot to set her alarm to go meet William. He became paranoid that she had left him, which caused him to jump off of a fire escape. He died at 5 PM. Berenice tells him whoever returns to the building after 5 pm is cursed to suffer William’s fate after 5 days. Though Jason may die soon, he sets out with Berenice to reunite the two ghosts. Jason and Berenice create a plan and meet up in the building after 5 pm. Jason summons the ghosts to room 92 and leaves roses and a bottle of wine in a room. The ghosts are reunited at last. Jason breaks the curse by jumping off the fire escape with Berenice while wearing a parachute and kissing mid-air.

Plot diagram for “Sonata for Harp & Bicycle”

Setting: The story is set in Grimes Building located in Clerkenwell, England in the 1950’s in a middle-class environment.

Exposition: It’s a normal business day in Grimes building until everyone evacuates Grimes Building before 5 PM. Jason Ashgrove wants to know more about the mystery of Grimes Building.

Inciting incident: As Jason explores the building, he comes face to face with the “Wailing Watchman”, otherwise known as the ghost, William Heron.

Rising Action: Jason discovers that he has only five days left to live because he saw the ghost of William. He quickly develops a plan to reunite William and Daisy Bell, his lover, who haunts the building as well but hasn’t seen William in fifty years.

Falling Action: This is when the image of the harp and the bicycle are seen together with a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine.

Resolution: At this moment, the ghosts are finally reunited and Jason and Berenice escape safely down the fire escape.

Climax: Jason sets down a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine in room 92. This is the moment of highest tension because it determines whether the conflict will be solved, and whether the ghosts will meet again.

Point-of-View

➢ The point of view that “Sonata for Harp and Bicycle” by Joan Aiken is written in is third person omniscient. Third person omniscient point of view means that although the story is narrated in third person point of view, the narrator can still read the main character’s thoughts and emotions. The narrator of the story explains the main character, Jason’s perspective as well as Ms. Golden’s perspective.

➢ The point of view enhances the story because the third person omniscient narrator is able to describe the actions of all of the different characters along with their inner thoughts and feelings. Through this point of view the reader can see a full picture of the characters, which enhances the reader’s ability to understand the story. Through the characters’ perspectives the reader can feel the suspense as well and the love that the characters felt for each other.

Examples of Techniques

● Suspense is used in the story at the very moment that the bouquet of flowers and glass of wine is placed in room 92 because this determines whether or not the ghosts will be reunited again.

● Irony is found in “Sonata for Harp & Bicycle” because though both ghosts have been haunting Grimes Building for fifty years (and have constantly been trying to meet each other), the ghosts were never reunited until Jason solved this conflict.

● Foreshadowing is used in this story when Jason Ashgrove is told that he can not enter Grimes Building after 5 PM. This foreshadows that Jason will explore the building despite Mr. Manaby’s requests, because this intrigues the reader and provides a direction for the story (it foreshadows Jason’s next actions).

Symbolism

The roses in Sonata for Harp & Bicycle symbolize love. On the night he is planning to propose to Daisy, William Heron plans to give her roses to show his love for her. Also, when Jason and Miss Golden reunite William and Daisy, they put roses in the room to fix what went wrong when William tried to propose to her fifty years ago. The roses helped rekindle William and Daisy’s lost love. When they are reunited, William and Daisy ride off on William’s bicycle with the roses. The roses also symbolize Jason and Miss Golden’s love. When they jump off the building with a parachute, Miss Golden holds the roses while Jason kisses her, symbolizing their love for each other.

One theme that is apparent in Sonata For Harp & Bicycle is: Jumping to conclusions can force us to not see the truth right in front of us. William Heron assumed that Daisy left him so he took his own life. When in reality, Daisy had simply forgotten to set her alarm. It is clear that this one mistake caused fifty years of grief for both ghosts, though it could have been fixed by not making assumptions. It is clear that Daisy loved him and would never have abandoned Wiliam out of will, but if William had not jumped to conclusions, he would have had his happy ending sooner.

Rating

Our group would give “Sonata for Harp and Bicycle” a two out of possible three stars rating. The story was interesting, suspenseful, and extremely well thought-out. The main part of the story really gripped the reader while the end left the reader to contemplate what happened after the ghosts were reunited. Although the story was enticing, there were a few moments when the reader was left lost due to a lack of details. The only other reason why our group deducted a star from the story was because the beginning of the story seemed to drag on as a boring and rote office story, and may cause the reader to be disinterested even after the story started to pick up.

Title Image: https://www.google.com/search?q=old+london+buildings&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=622&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMI8siT_M27yAIV

ARw-Ch2G0QNu#imgrc=vJYo5eOn2zWt4M%3A

Summary Image: https://www.google.com/search?q=old+london+buildings&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=622&source=lnms&tbm

=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMI8siT_M27yAIVARw-Ch2G0QNu#imgrc=a46PT9ghTopzaM%3A

Plot Image: http://www.christopherfowler.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/1924-London.jpg

Theme Image: http://spitalfieldslife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/45-31.jpg

Citations Image: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4116/5437757225_599d67013d_b.jpg

Biographical info: http://www.joanaiken.com/pages/timeline.html, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/University_of_Sussex_accommodation.jpg, http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/images/joan-

aiken-3.jpg, http://mattoid.com/data/jpegs/Authors/Aiken184.jpg,

Responsibility Chart

Niharika Kaushik: Plot diagram (30 min.), Examples of techniques (30 min.)

Ila Jagannath: Biographical (20 min.), Point of view (20 min.), Rating (20 min.)

Alyssa Ramoutar: Title page (20 min.), Summary (30 min.), Explanation of theme (10 min)

Lauren McNally: Other Works (10 min.), Description of setting (20 min.), Characters (20 min.),Symbols (20 min.)

Everyone: Color, Theme, Pictures, Citations