[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-207247-en":3,"doc-seo-207247-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":90},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":11,"is_downloadable":11,"audit_status":11,"page_count":20,"language":21,"language_code":22,"site_id":23,"html_lang":22,"table_of_contents":24,"faqs":25,"seo_title":26,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},207247,2336475104736,"วิน","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/22000c4c5e0e5b17e70?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1786591360781797222",1,"Story & Novel","AQA-8702-TG-TALES - The AQA Anthology of Modern Short Stories - Chemistry - Graham Swift","A modern short story set in a family’s intimate world, told through a child’s perspective. It centers on the pond and a battery-powered motor-launch built by the narrator’s grandfather, whose careful routines shape a sense of security. Loss arrives when the boat sinks after the engine fails, followed by emotional distance, household tensions, and the entanglement of grief with relationships, culminating in a family history marked by death, silence, and unresolved conflict.","Telling Tales  \nThe AQA Anthology of Modern Short Stories  \nChemistry  \nGraham Swift  \nThe pond in our park was circular, exposed, perhaps fifty yards across. When the wind blew, little waves travelled across it and slapped the paved edges, like a miniature sea. We would go there, Mother, Grandfather and I, to sail the motor-launch Grandfather and l made out of plywood, balsawood and varnished paper. We would go even in the winter-especially in the winter, because then we would have the pond to ourselves-when the leaves on the two willows turned yellow and dropped and the water froze your hands. Mother would sit on a wooden bench set back from the perimeter; l would prepare the boat for launching. Grandfather, in his black coat and grey scarf, would walk to the far side to receive it. For some reason it was always Grandfather, never I, who went to the far to side. When he reached his station I would hear his 'Ready!' across the water. A puff of vapour would rise from his lips like the smoke from a muffled pistol. And I would release the launch. It worked by a battery. Its progress was laboured but its course steady. I would watch it head out to the middle while Mother watched behind me. As it moved it seemed that it followed an actual existing line between Grandfather, myself and Mother, as if Grandfather were pulling us toward him on some invisible cord, and that he had to do this to prove we were not beyond his reach. When the boat drew near him he would crouch on his haunches. His hands-which I knew were knotted, veiny and mottled from an accident in one of his chemical experiments-would reach out, grasp it and set it on its return.  \nThe voyages were trouble-free. Grandfather improvised a wire grapnel on the end of a length of fishing line in case of shipwrecks or engine failure, but it was never used. Then one day- it must have been soon after Mother met Ralph-we watched the boat, on its first trip across the pond to Grandfather, suddenly become deeper, and deeper in the water. The motor cut. The launch wallowed, sank. Grandfather made several throws with his grapnel and pulled out clumps of green slime. I remember what he said to me, on this, the first loss in my life that I had witnessed. He said, very gravely: 'You must accept it – you can't get it back- it's the only way,' as if he were repeating something to himself. And I remember Mother's face as she got up from the bench to leave. It was very still and very white, as if she had seen something appalling.  \n• • • •  \nIt was some months after that Ralph, who was now a regular guest at weekends, shouted over the table to Grandfather: 'Why don't you leave her alone?!'  \nI remember it because that same Saturday Grandfather recalled the wreck of my boat, and Ralph said to me, as if pouncing on something: 'How about me buying you a new one? How would you like that?'And I said, just to see his face go crestfallen and blank, 'No!', several times, fiercely. Then as we ate supper Ralph suddenly barked, as Grandfather was talking to Mother: 'Why don't you leave her alone?!'  \nGrandfather looked at him. 'Leave her alone? What do you know about being left alone?' Then he glanced from Ralph to Mother. And Ralph didn't answer, but his face went tight and his hands clenched on his knife and fork.  \nAnd all this was because Grandfather had said to Mother: 'You don't make curry any more, the way you did for Alec, the way Vera taught you.'  \n• • • •  \nIt was Grandfather's house we lived in-with Ralph as an ever more permanent lodger. Grandfather and Grandmother had lived in it almost since the day of their marriage. My grandfather had worked fora firm which manufactured gold and silver-plated articles. My grandmother died suddenly when I was only four; and all I know is that I must have had her looks. My mother said so and so did my father; and Grandfather, without saying anything, would often gaze curiously into my face.  \nAt that time Mother, Father and I lived in a new house some d","cbCaijxj1KRtpBKy","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijxj1KRtpBKy","pdf",842840,55,"English","en",105,"# Telling Tales - The AQA Anthology of Modern Short Stories\n## Chemistry\n## The Motor-Launch and Its Loss\n## Ralph, Reproach, and Family Conflict\n## Grandparents, Parents, and Death","[{\"question\":\"What is the significance of the motor-launch on the pond?\",\"answer\":\"The motor-launch represents the grandfather’s careful craft and the family’s shared ritual. Its sinking becomes the first major loss the narrator witnesses, shifting the mood from play to grief and acceptance.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the character Ralph confront the others repeatedly?\",\"answer\":\"Ralph repeatedly challenges the way Grandfather and Mother relate, especially through lines such as “Why don't you leave her alone?!” These confrontations reflect deeper family tensions tied to past behavior and treatment.\"},{\"question\":\"How do the deaths of the narrator’s grandmother and father shape the story?\",\"answer\":\"The grandmother’s sudden death leads to lasting household bitterness and separation. The father’s death, occurring under tragic circumstances, intensifies the narrator’s grief and reframes family relationships, with adults interpreting absence and loss differently.\"}]","AQA-8702-TG-TALES - The AQA Anthology of Modern Short Stories - Chemistry - Graham Swift | PDF",1788599006,85,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":23,"language":22,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":85,"head_meta":87,"extra_data":89,"updated_unix":27},"aqa-8702-tg-tales-the-aqa-anthology-of-modern-short-stories-chemistry-graham-swift","",{"@graph":35,"@context":84},[36,53,67],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,47,50],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":46},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/aqa-8702-tg-tales-the-aqa-anthology-of-modern-short-stories-chemistry-graham-swift/207247/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":22,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":61,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":62,"interactionStatistic":63},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":40,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-05",true,{"@type":64,"interactionType":65,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":66},"ViewAction",{"@type":68,"mainEntity":69},"FAQPage",[70,76,80],{"name":71,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":73},"What is the significance of the motor-launch on the pond?","Question",{"text":74,"@type":75},"The motor-launch represents the grandfather’s careful craft and the family’s shared ritual. Its sinking becomes the first major loss the narrator witnesses, shifting the mood from play to grief and acceptance.","Answer",{"name":77,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":78},"Why does the character Ralph confront the others repeatedly?",{"text":79,"@type":75},"Ralph repeatedly challenges the way Grandfather and Mother relate, especially through lines such as “Why don't you leave her alone?!” These confrontations reflect deeper family tensions tied to past behavior and treatment.",{"name":81,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":82},"How do the deaths of the narrator’s grandmother and father shape the story?",{"text":83,"@type":75},"The grandmother’s sudden death leads to lasting household bitterness and separation. The father’s death, occurring under tragic circumstances, intensifies the narrator’s grief and reframes family relationships, with adults interpreting absence and loss differently.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":86,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":88,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":23},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":91},[92,95,99,103,108,113,118,123,128,131,135],{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},90,"story-novel",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":100,"show_sort_weight":101,"slug":102},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":104,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":109,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":114,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]