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Section 1: Pages 1-25

• The following version of this book was used to create this Lesson Plan: Selvon, Sam. The Housing Lark. Penguin Books, 2020. Paperback.

• The novel opens early on a Sunday morning, in the Brixton basement apartment of a man named Battersby.

• The third-person, vernacular narrative begins by chiding the protagonist: "But is no use dreaming. Is no use lying down there on your backside and watching the wallpaper, as if you expect the wall to crack open and money come pouring out" (1).

• Because he is used to getting up at five in the morning for work, Battersby wakes early even on Sunday.

• He lies in bed, daydreaming about having a genie that would grant his wishes.

• The wallpaper really does have a pattern of "Aladdin lamps" on it, as if "the company knew they could only get dreamers to live in a dilapidated room like that, and...

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