THE AUTHOR

Frank Brennan hails from the North West of England and he has graduated from the University of Wales. He was an actor and writer in a theatre group for schools and has taught English and Drama in secondary schools both in the UK and in Singapore. He has experienced editing books of short stories and plays. He has published original short stories and plays and written literature guide books for secondary students. Currently, he is working on a new collection of short stories. His interests include music, especially jazz and roots music, and history.

He is also the author of five collections of short stories in the Cambridge English Readers series: Three Tomorrows, Circle Games, Tales of the Supernatural, The Fruitcake Special and Windows of the Mind. He wrote a collection of stories based on a
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particular theme - such as 'discovery' in the Fruitcake collection so that he can present a variety of ways of looking at that theme. in the short story, The Fruitcake Special, there is a lot of lighthearted humour.

Synopsis

The Fruitcake Special is written by Frank Brennan. Frank Brennan and his wife wrote novels together and many of their novels were published by Mills and Boon, a publishing house that publishes romance novels.

Synopsis
The fruitcake special is a short story about A n n a , a 2 7 y e a r - o l d s i n g l e g i r l w h o discovered an am azing perfume concoction by accident. She worked as a chemist at Amos It all Cosmetics started factory she which was produces perfume. when

designing a new perfume mixture. Later, she put some of the mixture at the back of her hand and did not give much thought to it. However, as her boss David Amos, was passing nearby, the potent perfume took effect and he was immediately attracted to her in some strange way. He invited her for a date later that night, much to the surprise of Anna. Annas mum and Aunt Mimi who had been concerned about her single status were thrilled to know that she would be dating her boss.That night, Anna wore a different perfume called Intrigue and was curious to
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know why h e r b o s s h a d a s u d d e n l i k i n g f o r h e r . B u t when they met that night, he seemed to act differently towards her as they drove to and dined at an expensive French restaurant. He mentioned that he only took her out as reward for her hard work. His changed behaviour upset her. She decided to put on half a bottle of her fruitcake special perfume and a dramatic change happened. The waiter who passed by her was madly attracted to her and Mr Amos too began to show his affection towards her. It was then that she realised the fruit cake special was the cause of the strange behaviour of the two men. She was careful to avoid being near other men in the restaurant. By that time, Sabina, a beautiful young model who was Mr Amos latest girlfriend, appeared and was surprised when the two men professed their deep love for Anna. After Sabina hit David on the chin, a fight broke out between two men, Sabina and several other waiters. Anna took this opportunity to leave the restaurant and took a taxi home. The next day, she didnot go to work but decided to find out how to make the fruitcake from Aunt Mimi. However, she learnt that her aunt did not make the cake. It was made and sold by an old lady at the open- air market. She had seven husbands who
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all liked and ate her fruitcake. Unfortunately, she had already passed away the previous week. Anna was disappointed that the secret of the fruit cake died with her. When she returned to work two days late, Anna had a message on her desk asking her to see her boss. In her boss office, she discovered that David Amos was spotting a large black eye and Sabina was seated beside him. David tried to explain what had happened but was cut short by Sabina. Anna was offered some money as compensation. This made Anna angry. She found what was left of the fruitcake special and threw all or the content on Sabinas dress. Anna left the factory and her job on that day. Sometime later, Anna had started working for a rival perfume company. Armstrong, the former pizza delivery man, then owned the pizza company. He dropped by her house one day to profess her love for her. Anna started to take an interest in him from then on.

Elements of the short story

SETTING

"The setting is the surrounding for the action of the story. The setting could change from one place to another as the story goes on"

Amos Cosmetic factory in New Jersey, USA Anna works as a chemist designing new perfumes here. When she makes a new perfume with a little piece of fruitcake as part of the ingredients, she attracts her rich and handsome boss, David Amos, who has little regard for ordinary people.

Home Anna, the main character, lives with her mother at home. Her aunt Mimi is a frequent visitor to the house. Anna is single and the two women in her life are constantly reminding her that she should find herself a husband.

French Restaurant It is an expensive place for food and drinks. David Amos brought her here for their dinner date. The hilarious incident during which
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David Amos and the waiter react to the captivating perfume Anna uses, takes place here.Both David and the waiter try to win Anna s love and they fight over her here.

Aunt Mimis Apartment Aunt Mimi lives in a nice little apartment on the other side of town. She wants to help Anna find a suitable husband.

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PLOT

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PLOT "A Sequence Of Events In The Story. It is the storyline which has a beginning, middle and end. The story could have a major conflict or several conflicts which will build up to the climax or high point of the story and be resolved at the end. Often the ending is unexpected, creating the twist in the story. The story usually develops along the line as shown in the graph"


Anna is a chemist at Amos Cosmetics factory. She creates a special fruitcake perfume. She calls her perfume the fruitcake special. Anna applies the perfume without realizing that whoever uses the perfume will attract any man to fall in love with her.

Her boss, David Amos who has never showed any interest in her invites her to dinner that night just after walking past her.

At home, Annas mother and her Aunt Mimi are discussing her marriage. They were talking about Amstrong but Anna was not interested.

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At dinner, David treated Anna as usual- as just an employee. She goes to the washroom and applies the perfume. As she walks past a waiter, the waiter fell in love with her. David too showed the same reaction. Anna then realizes that it is all due to the fruitcake special. Sabina, Davids girlfriend became furious with Davids behaviour. The waiter starts to sing for Anna and soon after there was a confusion. Sabina punches David and then David and the waiter fought with each other.

Anna is eager to find out about the fruitcake. She visits her Aunt Mimi who tells her that the cake was made by an old lady who used special ingredients. Unfortunately, it is impossible to find the old woman as she has passed away recently.

When Anna returns to work, David was there with Sabina. She meets Sabina with Mr. Amos in his office and Sabina insults her. Sabina tells Anna that David will give Anna a sum of money to compensate for his behaviour. In anger, Anna
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splashes the perfume on Sabina. She then resigns from the company and finds a new job in the factory that produces IntrigueAnna feels insulted and quit her job.

At home, Armstrong visits her wit pizza and flowers. He told her he had fallen in love with her since her first delivered pizza to her house. Now that he has his own pizza company, he is ready to go out with her. Anna accepts Armstrng.

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CHARACTERS

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CHARACTERS "A character in a literary work can be a person, an animal, a non-entity or even a supernatural being. The number of persons in a short story is usually small. The personality traits of the important characters, their appearance, actions and ideas are usually portrayed

ANNA~ Anna works as a chemist in the Amos Cosmetics factory in New Jersey. Her job is to design new perfumes. Anna is single and lives with her mother. Her mother and Aunt Mimi are worried she is not getting married. Anna is very aware of what goes on around her and quite a discerning character. She knows that David Amos is not possibly in love with her nor is the waiter at the restaurant. She recognizes that it is the result of the powerful perfume she has created.

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MINOR CHARACTERS

~DAVID AMOS~ An important minor character is David Amos. He is the owner of Amos Cosmetics. David Amos is a dark, handsome and fashionable gentleman who is often seen with beautiful women. He appears polite but he actually does not think much of his workers.

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~AUNT MIMI~ Aunt Mimi, is pleasant but she also likes to mind other people's business. She is constantly trying to find a suitable partner for her niece. She gives some fruitcake to Anna.

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~SABINA~ A beautiful young model who is David Amos' girlfriend. She looks down on Anna and is furious when David professes his love for an ordinary and plain-looking girl like Anna. David and her offer compensation to Anna in the form of money to forget the whole incident at the French Restaurant.

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~ARMSTRONG~ He is the pizza delivery boy. He provides the perfect contrast to David Amos. Armstrong, through effort and determination, grows from a mere pizza delivery man to become the owner of the pizza company. He wants to make a success of himself before he declares his love for Anna.

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~ANNA'S MOTHER~ Anna's mother is naturally anxious that her daughter is still single. Right from the beginning, she believes that Armstrong, the pizza delivery man, would make a good husband for Anna. Thus turns out to be right, at the end.

~WAITER~ He works in a French Restaurant. He adds humour and comedy to the story by the way he behaves towards Anna when under the spell of the fruitcake perfume.
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~OLD WOMAN~ She used to sell fruitcake in the market. Nobody knows much about her except for Aunt Mimi. She had seven husbands who ate her magical fruitcakes. She seemed to have been able to read people's mind and had offered the cake to Aunt Mimi for her niece. She dies early in the story.

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THEMES

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"The Main Idea Behind The Story The effects of a perfumeThe fragrance of a perfume has a very strong appeal. Men are attracted to ladies who are wearing it. Thus, it is popular amongst women. Keeping ones dignityAnna rejects both David Amos and the waiter as they are not genuinely concerned about her. She has integrity and has pride in her own worth. She resigned from her career at Amos Cosmetics because she did not like the way her employer, David Amos treated her.

Physical attraction/superficial love versus true love ~ David Amos has only been attracted to pretty young models in the past. However, after Anna wears the special perfume, he becomes physically attracted to Anna and thinks that he loves her. So does the waiter at the French restaurant who smells her perfume. Anna does not believe it because she knows that David Amos does not like plain girls like her.
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In contrast, Armstrong

who has fallen in love with Anna when he was only a pizza delivery man, withholds his declaration of love until he feels that he is worthy of her love. He only dares to proclaim his love for Anna after he has become successful owner of a pizza company. Anna realizes that he truly loves her and would be a suitable life partner for herself.

Integrity/self-respect~ Anna rejects both David Amos and the waiter as they are not genuinely concerned about her. She has integrity and has pride in her own worth. She resigned from her career at Amos Cosmetics because she did not like the way her employer, David Amos, belittled her , particularly in front of his snooty girlfriend, Sabina.

Seeking the right life partner is fraught/filled with problems~ Anna faces wrong suitors, fights and job resignation before finding her true love

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The influence of the supernatural is not desirable~ The special ingredient in the fruitcake that was mixed in the perfume did not bring happy consequences for Anna because she attracted the wrong type of men who were shallow and foolish. True love does not need supernatural aid.

Fulfilling family obligations to marriage~ Anna was under pressure from her mother and aunt to get married because they were afraid that she was too old (27 years) to find a suitable life partner.

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MORAL VALUES

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M ORAL V ALUES


Appreciate ourselves for who we are and not depend on the supernatural- The special ingredient in the fruitcake that was mixed in the perfume did not bring happiness to Anna because she attracted the wrong type of men.

We should appreciate true love- Armstrong who has fallen in love with Anna when he was only a pizza delivery man, withholds his declaration of love until he is successful. Although Anna did not like Armstrong at first, she realizes that he truly loves her and would be a suitable life partner.

Hard work is the key to success- Anna works very hard. She spends long hours at her working place. This is the reason why her boss wanted her to continue working for him. Armstrong worked very hard to become successful. Finally he became the owner of a pizza company. He asked Anna out on a date when he had achieved his goal.

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We must not compromise our dignity- Anna has integrity and has pride in her own worth. She walked out of her job when she was insulted with the boss offer.
 

We must not be blinded by physical attraction. Appreciate ourselves for who we are and not depend on the supernatural. Do not be deceived by flattery/ We should appreciate true/sincere love. We should respect the opinions of our elders. Hard work is the key to success. We must not compromise our dignity.

  

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LITERARY DEVICES

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POINT OF VIEW This story is written from the first person point of view. The narrator is also the main character.

The pronoun I is used. We see the events from Anna s perspective. We can experience her thoughts and feelings.  TONE The story is narrated in a humorous way.

 DICTION (the choice of words used in the story)

Lighthearted/ humorous he smiled until I thought his face would break into two

y y

Casual use of slang e.g. momma, guy use of clichs (overused expressions) e.g. Im crazy about you; You are so beautiful
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simple vocabulary; short dialogues; lots of exclamation marks (!); unfinished sentences(); use of italics(darling)to show emphasis and unexpected surprise

American boss  STEREOTYPES

~ e.g. pretty young models; rich and handsome employer;  SLAPSTICK COMEDY ~ e.g. ridiculous behavior of singing waiter; silly fights  IMAGERY The fruitcake ingredient makes the sophisticated perfume smell like a glorious mix of all natural,delicious, inviting and warm smells (like fresh bread and flowers and sunshine all mixed together).  LANGUAGE AND STYLE The story uses the first person I and it is told from Annas point of view. The language is simple and clear. Through Annas description, the readers get the insight into the feelings of the characters. It uses simple vocabulary; short dialogues; lots of

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exclamation marks (!); unfinished sentences (); there is a use of italics to show emphasis and unexpected surprise.  Simile The story has several interesting and funny similes: he looked like a dog who had just found a bone; mouths wide open like a couple of fish. Why did everybody sound like bad movies tonight?  Symbol French restaurant-a symbol of status, fine, personal servise, and romantic atmosphere for a serius date. Flowers-brought by Armstrong as a gift to Anna, symbolises his romantic interest in her.

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THE END

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