P e n g u i n R e a d e r s F a c t s h e e t s

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INTERMEDIATE

Seven

S U M M A R Y

he novel Seven is based on the original screenplay
for the film ‘Seven’, a thriller about an ingenious
serial killer. The two main characters are

detectives: William Somerset, a cynical middle-aged
black man, and David Mills, a young, eager detective who
has just come to the city. The American city in the story is
unnamed: it could be recognized as any major city such
as New York, Los Angeles or Chicago.

The book opens with Somerset thinking about his

forthcoming retirement from the police. However, his plan
is postponed with the murder of a grossly overweight
man, who has been force-fed by someone, and onto
whose house walls the word GLUTTONY has been
painted. A second murder follows – that of a well-known
defense lawyer notorious for defending known criminals.
The word GREED is painted on his floor.

Somerset realizes that the murderer is linking his crimes

to the seven deadly sins: gluttony, greed, sloth, lust, pride,
envy and wrath, and he warns his colleagues to expect
more murders. The story tells of the murders that follow
and ends with a twist that is both shocking and very sad.

Anthony Bruno’s novel Seven is based on the screenplay
by Andrew Kevin Walker. Bruno, who comes from the
USA, has written several other books in the crime genre,
including The Iceman, a true story of a serial killer in the
USA. Bruno has a Master’s degree in Medieval Studies
and has worked as an editor in a New York publishing
house. He is married and lives in New Jersey with his wife
and daughter.

The film ‘Seven’ stars Morgan Freeman as Somerset and
Brad Pitt as Mills. It was directed by David Fincher,
formerly a pop video director whose previous notable
venture into mainstream film direction was ‘Alien 3’. This
shares with ‘Seven’ a very pessimistic view of the world
and of people, realized on the screen with very dark,
d e p ressing interiors, constant rain and cloud,

and a generally oppressive feel. In ‘Seven’, these
characteristics of the film’s appearance can be related to
the depressing place that the city has become – full of
awful crimes and hopeless people. David Fincher has
since directed ‘The Game’ (1997), a science-fiction film
based on the horrors of new technology.

The main themes explored in Seven are those of good and
evil, and in particular, the different ways of viewing and
dealing with what is wrong in society. In Seven, the
concept of evil is not only embodied in the killer, but in
society itself. At one point the two detectives discover
notebooks written by the killer. Somerset realizes that he
agrees with and even sympathizes with the killer’s view of
the world: that it, and particularly the city, has become so
full of greed, selfishness and ‘sin’ in general that it is
totally rotten and no real ‘good’ is left. (The city in the
book and the film is deliberately anonymous so that the
reader/viewer can apply its ‘rottenness’ to any city.)

The killer chooses to draw attention to and fight the evil

that exists in the world with his own evil, by killing what he
hates. Somerset, on the other hand, after spending 23
years trying to clear up crimes, has given up the fight and
chosen to try to escape from it. It is Mills, his naïve and
idealistic young partner, who believes that the evil can be
removed by fighting against it.

A related theme to the theme of evil – more obvious in

the film than in the book – is that of darkness and light.
The images in both the book and the film begin with very
dark places, often the inside of drab apartments and the
dreary police precinct house, and with exteriors which are
very dull – usually with rain and heavy cloud. Through the
s t o ry, the characters are gradually seen in brighter
surroundings, and the final scene is in the desert, in
brilliant sunshine. This journey from dark to light
represents the detectives’ gradual understanding of the
m u rd e re r’s motives and of his final crime. It also
represents Somerset’s gradual realization that he cannot
retire from the police and leave others to fight crime.

The other main theme is the relationship between the

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A B O U T A N T H O N Y B R U N O

‘ S E V E N ’ T H E F I L M

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T e a c h e r’s n o t e s

B A C K R O U N D A N D T H E M E S

by Anthony Bruno
based on the screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker

© Pearson Education 2000

P e n g u i n R e a d e r s F a c t s h e e t s

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two detectives. This relationship is a difficult one from the
start. Their two styles as detectives are totally opposed to
one another: Somerset takes an intellectual approach to
crime-solving, believing that the best way of catching a
criminal is to get into his mind, while Mills is very much an
‘action’ man, angry and impetuous, who believes in
searching the streets to find the criminal. In addition,
Somerset is very cynical and doesn’t believe that the
police can change much or achieve much in the fight
against crime: ‘We get all the facts, all the evidence. We
write it down and hope that one day it will be used,’ (page
22). Mills disagrees with this and feels that the police can
rid the streets of crime and help to build a better society.
As the story unfolds, we see how both approaches can
work alongside each other and the two detectives come
to respect each other’s style and way of working.
However, the pessimism of the book comes through at the
end, when Mills’ theories are put to the test and Somerset
is unable to save Mills from himself.

The following teacher-led activities cover the same
sections of text as the exercises at the back of the reader,
and supplement those exercises. Supplementary exercises
covering shorter sections of the book can be found on the
photocopiable Student’s Activities pages of this Factsheet.
These are primarily for use with class readers but, with the
exception of discussion and pair/groupwork questions,
can also be used by students working alone in a self-
access center.

ACTIVITIES BEFORE READING THE BOOK

Before students read the introduction on page v of the
book, find out if they have seen the film ‘Seven’. If they
have, ask them what the title refers to. If not, ask them to
try to guess what it refers to. If you are in a Christian
country, give them a clue by saying it comes from the Old
Testament in the Bible. Elicit the concept of the ‘seven
deadly sins’ and the names of the sins. Write them on the
board: gluttony, greed, wrath, envy, sloth, pride and lust.
Ask if any of the students can translate/explain any of the
sins. Then refer them to the explanation of the sins on
page vi of the book.

ACTIVITIES AFTER READING A SECTION

Chapters 1–2

Divide the class into two groups. One group makes notes
about Somerset’s character and his style of working; the
other group does the same for Mills. Then, as a class,
they discuss the differences and say how this may affect
their working relationship.

Chapters 3–4

Put students into pairs. Ask them to imagine that they are
either Mills/Somerset or the computer operator at the
public library (page 27). The computer operator does not

want to find the names and addresses for them. Students
imagine how Mills/Somerset tried to get the operator to
do what they want. Students have their conversation.

Chapters 5–6

Divide the class into five groups. Give each group one of
these sins: gluttony, greed, sloth, lust and pride. Each
group writes a short explanation of the meaning of the sin
and a few sentences telling the story of the crime for that
sin. They also explain why Doe chose that type of crime.
Each group reads out what they have written. Other
groups say if they agree or would change anything.

Chapter 7

Ask students to work in groups. They find the exact point
in the book where Doe talks about something which may
be linked to his final plan. (Clue: it’s on page 43.) Do they
think that Mills realizes then what is going to happen?
Could he or Somerset have changed the course of events
at any point?

ACTIVITIES AFTER READING THE BOOK

Put students into groups of three people. They imagine
they are Somerset, having a drink with some old friends
who he hasn’t seen for a few months. He explains to them
why he decided to retire and move to the country and
then why he changed his mind. His friends ask questions.

It will be useful for your students to know the following new words.
They are practiced in the ‘Before You Read’sections of exercises at
the back of the reader. (Definitions are based on those in the
Longman Active Study Dictionary.)

Chapter 1

evidence (n) facts that make you believe that something is true

fingerprints (n) the mark made by the lines at the end of your finger

homicide (n) the crime of murder

precinct (n) a part of a city in America which has its own government
and police force

retire (v) to stop working

victim (n) someone who has been hurt or killed by something or
someone

Chapter 2

clue (n) an object or piece of information that helps to solve a crime

defense lawyer (n) the lawyer in a court who tries to show that
somebody did not do a crime

investigation (n) this is when the police try to find out about a crime

link (n) a connection between two or more things

serial killer (n) someone who has murdered people one after the
other

Chapters 3–4

bandage (n) a long piece of cloth that you put around a bad cut

plead (v) to ask for something in an urgent or anxious way; ORto say
in a court that you are guilty or not guilty

Chapters 5–6

suspect (n) somebody who may be guilty of a crime

Chapter 7

client (n) someone who pays a person or company for services or
advice

helicopter (n) this vehicle has thin metal parts on top which go round
fast to make it fly in the air

C o m m u n i c a t i v e a c t i v i t i e s

G l o s s a r y

T e a c h e r’s n o t e s

P u b l i s h e d a n d d i s t r i b u t e d b y P e a r s o n E d u c a t i o n

F a c t s h e e t w r i t t e n b y D i a n e H a l l

F a c t s h e e t s e r i e s d e v e l o p e d b y L o u i s e J a m e s

© Pearson Education 2000

P e n g u i n R e a d e r s F a c t s h e e t s

1 Read the Introduction on page v of the book. Answer

these questions.

(a) Where is Somerset going to live?

(b) How long has he worked for the police?

(c)

Whose body do they find?

(d) Does Somerset know Mills well?

2 Look at the pictures in the book. Discuss these

questions in pairs or groups.

(a) In the Introduction, Mills says ‘You think he’s

going to do one for each sin?’ One what?

(b) Will Somerset’s last days as a detective pass

peacefully?

(c) What kind of relationship will Somerset have with

Mills?

(d) What kind of story will this be?

3 From the title Seven we can understand the seven

deadly sins. We can also understand the number of
days before Somerset retires. Is there anything else
we can understand from it?

CHAPTER 1

Page 1 to near bottom of page 5

Does each sentence describe Somerset or Mills?

(a) He has been married twice.

(b) He is middle-aged.

(c) He is quite young.

(d) He has just moved to the city.

(e) He wants to do real detective work.

(f) He feels he can’t change people or the crime in the

city.

(g) He is going to move to the country.

Near bottom of page 5 to end of chapter

Are these sentences about the murder true or false?
Correct the false sentences.

(a) The fat man died in his own apartment.

(b) The man had always weighed 304 pounds.

(c) He died from eating too much.

(d) Someone killed the fat man.

(e) Mills thinks that there will be more murders like this

one.

(f) The captain puts Mills on the case.

CHAPTER 2

Page 10 to near bottom of page 15

Work with another student. Discuss these questions.

(a) What kind of person was Eli Gould?

(b) What does Somerset find on the wall behind the

fridge in Eubanks’s apartment? (two things)

(c) How do Mills and Somerset know that their two cases

were linked?

(d) Why doesn’t Mills want the case to go to the FBI?

Near bottom of page 15 to end of chapter

1 Answer these questions.

(a) When did Tracy and Mills meet each other?

(b) Why does Somerset think both his marriages

failed?

(c) What did the killer of Gould make him do with

the sharp knife?

(d) What does Mrs Gould notice about the painting

in her husband’s office?

2 What is the importance of these things in the story so

far?

• the blue stuff from the floor in Eubanks’s apartment

• the painting in Gould’s office

• the fingerprints behind the painting

CHAPTERS 3–4

Chapter 3

1 Choose the correct answers.

(a) Somerset thinks that the murderer is ...

(i)

crazy.

(ii)

asking for help.

(iii) smart.

(b) Somerset accepts that Dworkin must be the killer

because ...

(i)

his fingerprints are in Gould’s office.

(ii) he has been in prison for robbery and sex

crimes.

(iii) he knows Eli Gould.

(c) Mills doesn’t sleep very well because ...

(i)

his partner in Springfield will never walk
again.

(ii)

he has killed a man.

(iii) he is always worried about the next day’s

work.

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Seven

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Photocopiable

The following activities can be done alone or with one or
more other students. Pair/group-only activities are marked.

Activities before reading the book

Activities while reading the book

S t u d e n t ’ s a c t i v i t i e s

© Pearson Education 2000

P e n g u i n R e a d e r s F a c t s h e e t s

(d) Mills and Somerset decide to investigate John

Doe because ...

(i)

he’s got a very ordinary name.

(ii)

he’s borrowed lots of books from the public
library.

(iii) he’s borrowed books on subjects that are

linked to the murders.

2 Discuss these questions in pairs or small groups.

(a) What evidence is there that the killer has planned

the murders very carefully?

(b) Why has the killer cut off Dworkin’s right hand?

(c) What is the meaning of the name John Doe?

Chapter 4

Answer these questions about this chapter.

(a) How do Mills and Somerset know John Doe’s

address?

(b) What happens to Mills in the narrow street?

(c) Why doesn’t Doe kill him, do you think?

(d) Whose hand is in the jar in Doe’s apartment?

(e) Who phones the apartment while Mills and Somerset

are still in it?

(f) Why does the writer say ‘Having your picture taken by

Doe wasn’t a good sign’?

CHAPTERS 5 - 6

Chapter 5

Correct these sentences.

(a) Somerset calls Tracy late at night.

(b) They meet the next morning at the precinct house.

(c) Tracy doesn’t like the school she is working in.

(d) Somerset advises Tracy to tell Mills if she doesn’t

want to have the baby.

(e) The massage parlor reminds Mills of a scene from a

film.

(f) The gray-haired man is covered in blood.

(g) The victim is a dark-haired woman.

(h) The gray-haired man had a gun.

Chapter 6

1 Who said or wrote each of these things?

Somerset, Mills, Tracy, John Doe, California

(a) ‘I’ve done it again.’

(b) ‘We also found another body.’

(c) ‘What’s happening?’

(d) ‘I did not kill her. She was able to choose.’

(e) ‘The killer cut off her nose.’

(f)

‘On the ground! Now! Move!’

(g) ‘Hands behind your head!’

(h) ‘I want to speak to my lawyer.’

2 Work in small groups. Try to agree on answers to the

following questions.

(a)

Why do you think Doe has given himself up to
the police?

(b) Why does he want to speak to his lawyer?

(c) What do you think is going to happen with the

last two sins: envy and wrath?

Chapter 7

Fill the gaps to make a summary of the final chapter. (The

gaps may be one or more words.)

John Doe’s lawyer told Mills and Somerset that there

were still two more (a) ............................ and Doe wanted

to show the two detectives where they were. Mills and

Somerset drove with Doe through the city into the

(b) ............................ , and California followed them in a

(c) ............................. . Soon after they stopped,

a (d) ............................ came down the road and

(e) ............................ went to meet it. The driver gave him

a (f) ............................ addressed to David Mills. When he

opened it, Somerset discovered (g) ............................

inside. He felt sick. Doe started to tell Mills that he had

visited Tracy that morning and that he had taken her

head because he (h) ............................ Mills. He wanted

Mills to become (i) ............................ . Mills was very

confused and upset and he wanted to kill Doe. Somerset

tried to tell him not to, because Mills would go to

(j) ............................ . Then Doe told Mills about the

(k) ............................ Tracy was carrying; Mills couldn’t

stand any more and he shot and killed Doe. At the end,

Somerset decided not to (l) ............................ because

someone had to stay and ‘fight the fight’.

Discuss the following questions with one or more other
students.

(a) At the end of the book, Somerset says there are nine

victims. Who are the last four victims and in which
way was each a victim?

(b) In Chapter 7, Doe says that he will plead madness if

Mills and Somerset don’t agree with his plans. Is he
crazy, do you think? Do Somerset and Mills think he
is crazy? Why/why not?

(c) In the book we are never told the name of the city.

Why do you think this is?

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P u b l i s h e d a n d d i s t r i b u t e d b y P e a r s o n E d u c a t i o n

F a c t s h e e t w r i t t e n b y D i a n e H a l l

F a c t s h e e t s e r i e s d e v e l o p e d b y L o u i s e J a m e s

Activities after reading the book

S t u d e n t ’ s a c t i v i t i e s

© Pearson Education 2000