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SHORT STORY (NARRATIVE)
Have very few key characters. It can be helpful to have a male and a female so that the pronouns'he', 'she', 'his' and 'her' can be used.
Keep it simple. Have no more than four events. Fewer is better.
Vary the length of your sentences. Have long, descriptive sentences, followed by short, snappy sentences or clauses. This will give the short sentences greater impact. A longer sentence could include an embedded clause. An embedded clause is a type of subordinate clause. The information in an embedded clause adds more detail. The sentence would still make sense if the embedded clause was not read. The embedded clause often appears between a pair of commas or in parentheses. Basic examples include: The rain (which was rapidly turning into sleet) had soaked through Bill's coat. Megan, although she was looking for him, could not see Bill.
Vary where subordinate clauses appear. They can be at the beginning, middle, or at the end of a sentence.
Begin at least one sentence with an adverb or adverbial phrase. Follow it with a comma. For example: Just before dawn, the doorbell rang.
Examples of good features to include: similes; metaphors; personification; dialogue (speech between two or more people); onomatopoeia; paragraphs; adverbial phrases; punctuation (basics are full stops and capital letters and progressing in approximate order to question marks, exclamation marks, commas, parenthesis, colons, hyphens, semi-colons and dashes).
Format
The format can be as simple as having the following four paragraphs: Introduction; Build Up; Main Event (Problem); Resolution (How the problem was overcome - if it was).
Introduction
The first sentence must capture the interest of the reader. Get to the action either in the first paragraph or the second. An excellent opening paragraph will cause the reader to have a question that is so striking that the reader feels that they must find out the answer. They do so by reading more of your story.
Describe in detail the key characters and the setting.
Build Up
Hint at the problem that will appear later in the story. For example, a character could lose a map (later they get lost); have a leak in their bottle (later run out of water); see animal prints (and encounter a dangerous, wild animal).
Main Event
Describe the problem e.g. meeting something that tries to harm your character(s).
Resolution
Explain how the characters got/get on with dealing with the problem. You may have an additional paragraph that describes how the characters were remembered much later on. For example: For hundreds of years after the momentous day, huge crowds still gathered on the anniversary of Theseus' brave deeds, to celebrate the slaying of the beast.
Show, don't tell
'Show, don't tell' is a short way of saying that we should describe the characters in such a way that the reader can infer that a character being written about is either, for example, rich or poor, happy, shy or scared. This is far more effective than writing, for example: William was rich and scary.
SUSPENSE AND MYSTERY
Have four or fewer key characters
This is a good place to include an ellipsis
Include repetition of verbs e.g. closer and closer; louder and louder
Include combinations of long and short sentences. This will enhance the impact of the shorter sentences
Include words that suggest something mysterious e.g. lurking; watching; peering; shadows; cackle; howling; dark; glimpse; footsteps; terrifying; foul; lingering; disappeared; thunder; lightning
This type of writing lends itself to showing that the learner can correctly use an ellipsis. They look like this: ... For example, ending a paragraph with. Then the lights went out...
It is extremely important to describe how the characters look and feel in this type of format. Do not simply say: 'Jim was scared.'
The Format
Introduction
The first sentence must capture the reader's interest.
In detail, describe the main characters and the setting.
Consider ending the paragraph with an ellipsis.
Build Up
Hint at the problem that will happen later in the story. Consider ending the paragraph with an ellipsis.
Main Events
Write around three paragraphs, explaining the main events.
Include dialogue. Show that question marks and exclamation marks can be used appropriately.
Resolution
Describe how the problem e.g. hunter/monster/ghost was dealt with. Did the characters beat it, were they overcome by it or is the reader left with a question?
ARGUMENT/DISCUSSION
An argument or discussion piece requires the learner to demonstrate that they can politely and powerfully give both sides of an argument, giving reasons for what they say before finally stating their, own reasoned opinion.
Plan an argument/discussion by making two columns. In one column give the reasons in favour of the argument and in the other, give the reasons against the argument. For example, in an argument over whether animals should be kept in zoos you might put: 'There are many successful animal breeding programmes that have helped to save animals from extinction' and 'children can be inspired to learn more about animals by seeing them' as being reasons in favour of the argument while 'animals do not get as much space in which to live as they get in the wild' 'in many zoos, there is too much focus on having animals perform trick, which they might not want to do' as being reasons against zoos.
Format
Introduction
Clearly explain what the issue is and state that it is a 'hot topic' (meaning a topic that it feels like everyone is talking about) and say why'.
Main Body (4 paragraphs)
Include two reasons in favour of the argument and two reasons against it.
Use linking conjunctions. Possible beginnings of sentence include: 'On the one hand'; 'In addition'; 'Furthermore'; 'Moreover'; 'On the other hand'. You can alternate between paragraphs that are in favour of the arguments in favour of the arguments and against it'.
Summary and Conclusion
Explain that there are strong arguments on both sides of the argument. However, give your opinion, explaining which side of the argument you side with and what was your key reason why.
PLAYS
The stage directions (that describe how a person should act or what the scene should be like) are written between brackets.
Write the name of the character's name in capital letters, then a colon, before writing what they say or do. Do not include inverted commas. Examples are below:
NINA: Who do you think stole it?
DENNIS: Well it wasn't me (Dennis shouts as he hides the crown behind his back. Nina does not see him do this.)
Include a cast list (Names of the characters). It can be useful to include a narrator.
Explanation - Explanations are about how and why something works, or is the way it is.
Write in the present tense
You could begin with a rhetorical question. If you do, make it exciting i.e. instead of writing: Would you like to know how to make an omelette? Try: Have you ever wondered how to make the world's most delicious omelette? If so, read on below and you will quickly become an omelette master!
INSTRUCTIONS
You could begin with a rhetorical question e.g. Have you ever wondered why the sky is blue? If so, read below to find out the amazing reasons why.
Include lots of imperative verbs (bossy verbs)
Include technical vocabulary e.g. rotate; anti-clockwise
Write in chronological order
Write in the second person
DIARY WRITING
Begin with 'Dear Diary'
Write in the past tense
Write in the first person
Adopt a chatty style
Write in chronological order with reference to dates and times
Use proper nouns for places e.g. Hyde Park rather than 'a park'
Describe a variety of feelings and emotions
Reported speech
Similes
Variety of time words and phrases
High quality vocabulary
Exclamation marks
Make links between paragraphs
In the final paragraph, consider swapping to the future tense, briefly stating what you plan to do to tomorrow/next week.
Interesting Opening Sentences
I.S.P.A.C.E.S. is a mnemonic that can help writer come up with enthralling ways of beginning their writing.
I stands for 'ing'. Include a word that has the suffix 'ing'.
S stands for 'simile'. Include a simile.
P stands for 'personification'. Include personification.
A stands for adverbial. Include an adverb or an adverbial phrase.
C stands for conjunction. Include an interesting conjunction.
E stands for 'ed'. Include a a word that contains the suffix 'ed'.
S stands for speech. Include speech.
High Quality Opening Sentences
If your writing begins with speech, you can demonstrate that you can correctly deploy inverted commas, exclamation marks, quality verbs and adverbs, all in the opening sentence. For example:
"Did you hear that?" whispered Amir quietly as he covered his mouth with his hand.
The above sentence includes speech, a question mark, an interested synonym for 'said', an adverb and adds further description.
RECOUNTS
Recounts are often written about trips people have been on.
Write in the first person (I; we; us)
Write in the past tense
Write mainly in chronological order
Time words: e.g. straighter registration; first; next; meanwhile; after that; finally
Include time words and phrases e.g. Before breakfast; after that; next; finally
Paragraph 1 should briefly state the event that you are recounting. Include exciting vocabulary to encourage the reader to read more.
Paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 each describe a different event.
The final paragraph (the fifth one) concludes and summarises the trip.
HOW TO ANALYSE POEMS
You may be asked to analyse poems. This usually involves commenting on the similarities and the differences between two poems. When asked to compare and contrast poems, the learner must comment on both what is the same about the poems, and also, what are the differences between them.
Make a point. Give an example from the text that backs up your point.
Explain what this means.
Explain in detail. For example: While both poems include repetition, in X poem there are 8 examples while in Y, there are only Z.
Features to comment on:
Does the poem rhyme? If so, what is the rhyming pattern? Does the rhyme apply to the whole poem?
Are the poems on the same topic?
What mood(s) are created by each of the poems?
Is the language simple or complex?
How much repetition is there? Is there anything noteworthy about the repetition, for example: the last line of each verse is repeated.
Does the poem contain similes? If so, give one or more examples.
Does the poem contain metaphors? If so, give one or more examples. Explain what the metaphor means.
Does the poem contain personification? If so, give one or more examples.
Does the poem contain alliteration? If so, give examples.
Does the poem contain onomatopoeia? If so, give examples.
You may wish to comment on whether you think the poem fits with the content.
Are the poems of the same type or style e.g. these two narrative poems or: In addition to X poem being a haiku and Y poem being a sonnet, the poems create very different moods with TITLE about the enjoyment of life and TITLE being about the misery of life. I believe this because in the short poem it says BLANK while in the longer, it says BLANK.
Make sure that you give the name of the two poems in your opening sentence.
Have different ________
A striking similarity between X and Y is ________
In addition,
Furthermore,
Moreover,
On the other hand
While
A clear difference is ____
An intriguing difference is how ________
What did the author want the reader to feel? How do you know?
Is the title descriptive of what comes later?
Does it rhyme? If it does, what rhyme pattern does it follow?
Does it contain personification, metaphors, similes or onomatopoeia? Comment on these topics.
Popular Poems
https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/topics/zjhhvcw
https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/topics/z4mmn39/videos/1
'Chocolate Cake' by Michael Rosen
'No Breathing in Class' by Michael Rosen
'The Magic Box' by Kit Wright
'Jabberwocky' by Lewis Carroll
'The Sound Collector' by Roger McGough
'Pinda Cake' by Valerie Bloom
'Clever Trevor' by Benjamin Zephaniah
'The School Bell' by William Hart-Smith
'The Beach' by William Hart-Smith
'Spaghetti' by William Hart-Smith
'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
'The Tyger' by William Blake
'How do I Love Thee' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
'This is the Night Mail' by W.H. Auden http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/schoolradio/subjects/english/poetry/classic_poetry_2/night_mail
'The Highwayman' by Alfred Noyes
'I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud' by William Wordsworth
'A Child's Christmas in Wales' by Dylan Thomas
SPEECH WRITING
Keep props to a minimum. Hold the item up for long enough for everyone to see it clearly. Too often I see them only go up in view for less than three seconds. You can speak while still holding them up. You may be able to ask someone else to hold the item up for you.
High impact sentences
Explain you are passionate about the subject
Include emotive words
BIOGRAPHIES AND AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
DIALOGUE
Begin speech with inverted commas. The first letter must begin with a capital letter.
Exclamation marks, commas, question marks and full stops all appear immediately before the inverted commas are closed.
For some speech, follow it with a description of how the words were said. You could also add an an adverb and description of what the character was doing as they were speaking.
Haiku
Haikus are three lines long. Think (5-7-5)
The first line must have five exactly syllables; the second line exactly seven syllables and the third line must contain exactly five syllables.
EXAMPLES
This document contains character descriptions, setting descriptions and story openers. I’ve also included a couple of other examples of descriptive writing, one scary story (more to follow) and a couple of other ideas.
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
Gollum – Character Description
Deep down here by the dark water lived old Gollum, a small slimy creature. I don’t know where he came from, nor who or what he was, He was a Gollum – as dark as darkness, except for two round pale eyes in his thin face. He had a little boat and he rowed about quite quietly. On the lake; for lake it was, wide and deep and deadly cold. He paddle it with large feet dangling over the side, but never a ripple did he make. Not he. He was looking out of his pale lamp-like eyes for blind fish, which he grabbed with his long fingers as quick as thinking. He liked meat too. Goblin he thought good, when he could get it; but he took care that they never found him out. He just throttles them from behind, if they came down alone anywhere near the edge of the water, while he was prowling about. They very seldom did, for they had a feeling that something did, for they had a feeling that something unpleasant was lurking down there, down at the very roots of the mountain.
Mrs. Pratchett – Character Description
The sweet shop in Llandaff in the year of 1923 was the very centre of our lives. To us, it was what a bar is to a drunk, or a church is to a Bishop. Without it, there would have been little to live for. But it had one terrible drawback, this sweet shop. The woman who owned it was a horror. We hated her and we had good reason for doing so.
Her name was Mrs. Pratchett. She was a small skinny old hag with a moustache on her upper lip and a mouth as sour a green gooseberry. She never smiled. She never welcomed us when we went in, and the other only times she spoke were when she said things like, ‘I’m watchin’ you so you keep yer thieving fingers off them chocolates!’ Or ‘I don’t want you in ‘ere just to look around!’
But the most loathsome thing about Mrs. Pratchett was the filth that clung around her, Her apron was grey and greasy. Her blouse had buts of breakfast all over it, toast crumbs and tea stains and splotches of dried egg-yolk. It was her hands, however, that disturbed us most. They were disgusting. They were black with dirt and grime. They looked like they had been putting lumps of coal on the fire all day. And do not forget please that it was these very hands and fingers that she plunged into the sweet-jars when we asked her for a pennyworth of Treacle Toffee or Wine Gums or Nut Clusters or whatever. There were precious few health laws in those days, and nobody, least of all Mrs. Pratchett, ever thought of using a little shovel for getting out the sweets as they do today.
The mere sight of her grimy right hand with its black fingernails digging an ounce of Chocolate Fudge but of a jar would have caused a starving tramp to running from the shop. But not us. Sweets were our life-blood. We would have put up with far worse than that to get them. So we simply stood and watched in sullen silence while this disgusting old woman stirred around inside the jars with her foul fingers.
The Hobbit – Character Description
What is a hobbit? I suppose hobbits need some description nowadays, since they have become rare and shy of Big People, as they call us. They were (or were) a little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves. Hobbits have no beards. There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear quickly and quietly when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along, making a noise like elephants which they can hear a mile off. They are inclined to be fat in the stomach; they dress in bright colours (chiefly green and yellow); wear no shoes, because their feet grow natural leathery soles and thick warm brown hair like the stuff on their heads (which is curly); have long clever brown fingers, good-natured faces, and laugh deep fruity laughs (especially after dinner, which they have twice a day when they can get it).
Page 37 of ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck’
A tall man stood in the doorway. He held a Stetson hat under his arm. While he combed his long, black, damp hair straight back. Like the others he wore blue jeans and a short denim jacket. When he had finished combing his hair he moved into the room, and he moved with a majesty only achieved by royalty and master craftsmen. He was a jerkline skinner. The prince of the ranch, capable of driving ten, sixteen, even twenty mules with a single line to the leaders. He was capable of killing a fly on the wheeler’s butt with a bull whip without touching the mule. There was a gravity in his manner and a quiet, so profound that all talk stopped when he spoke. His authority was so great that his word was taken on any subject, be it politics or love. This was Slim, the jerkline skinner. His hatchet face was ageless. He might have been thirty-five or fifty. His ear heard more than was said to him, and his slow speech had overtones not of thought, but of understanding beyond thought. His hands, large and lean, were as delicate in their action as those of a temple dancer.
‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’, The Boy Who Lived; Page 16 (J.K. Rowling)
If the motorbike was huge, it was nothing compared to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild – long tangles of bushy hair and beard hid most of his face, his hands the size of dustbin lids and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.
Opening – Character description and building tension
‘The Iron Man’ by Ted Hughes
Chapter 1: Opening -
The Iron Man came to the top of the cliff.
How far had he walked? Nobody knows. Where had he come from? Nobody knows. How was he made? Nobody knows.
Taller than a house, the Iron Man stood at the top of the cliff, on the very bring, in the darkness.
The wind sang through his iron fingers. His great iron head, shaped liked a dustbin but as big as a bedroom, slowly turned to the right, slowly turned to the left. His iron ears turned, this way, that way, he was hearing the sea. His eyes, liked head lamps glowed white, then red, then infra-red, searching the sea. Never before had the Iron Man seen the sea.
He swayed in the strong wind that pressed against his back. He swayed forward, on the brink of the high cliff.
And his right foot, his enormous iron right foot, lifted – up, out, into space, and the Iron Man stepped forward, off the cliff, into nothing-ness.
CRRRAAAASSSSSSH!
Character Description p.214 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Then Harry saw shining, high-heeled black shoe emerging from the inside of the carriage – a shoe the size of a child’s sled – followed, almost immediately by the largest woman he had ever seen in his life. The size of the carriage, and of the horses, was immediately explained. A few people gasped.
Harry had only ever seen one person as large as this woman in his life, and that was Hagrid; he doubted whether there was an inch difference in their heights. Yet somehow- maybe simply because he was used to Hagrid – this woman (now at the foot of the steps, and looking around at the waiting crowd) seemed even more unnaturally large. As she stepped into the light flooding from the Entrance Hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face, large, black, liquid-looking eyes and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at he her throat and on her thick fingers.
Her face relaxed into a gracious smile, and she walked forwards towards Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand.
Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it. ’My dear Dumbly-dorr,’ said Madame Maxine, in a deep voice. ‘I ope I find you well?’
Character Description
‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ by J.K. Rowling
Mad Eye Moody p. 163
A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black travelling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swiveled towards the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that fished across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark grey hair, then began to walk up towards the teachers’ table.
A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right and limped heavily towards Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. Hermione gasped.
The lightning had thrown the man’s face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike Harry had ever seen. It looked a though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces were supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the man’s eyes that made him frightening.
One of them was small, dark and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down and from side to side, quiet independently of the normal eye – and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man’s head, so that all they could see was whiteness.
The stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbledore shook it, muttering words Harry couldn’t hear. He seemed to be making some enquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded, and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side.
The stranger sat down, shook his mane of dark grey hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages towards him, raised it to what was left of his nose and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. His normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the students.
POSSIBLE OTHER SOURCES FOR CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
Holes – by Louis Sachar
The Hobbit - Smaug
‘Treasure Island’ by Robert Louis Stevenson – Description of Long John Silver
Description of Blackbeard
‘Kidnapped’ by Robert Louis Stevenson is also a great source
Charles Dickens – Description of Scrooge
Street Child Berlie Doherty – Descriptions of characters – possibly settings too
James Bond Books by Ian Fleming (Character and setting) but find the child appropriate sections
From Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling (Scholastic, 1998) • He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours. (p. 1)
• A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair. (p. 46) From I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (Bantam, 1993)
• Where I was big, elbowy and grating, he was small, graceful and smooth. …he was lauded for his velvet-black skin. His hair fell down in black curls, and my head was covered with black steel wool. And yet he loved me. (p. 17)
• Her skin was a rich black that would have peeled like a plum if snagged, but then no one would have thought of getting close enough to Mrs. Flowers to ruffle her dress, let along snag her skin. She didn’t encourage familiarity. She wore gloves too. (p. 78) From Holes by Louis Sachar (Scholastic, 2000)
• They were dripping with sweat, and their faces were so dirty that it took Stanley a moment to notice that one kid was white and the other black. (p. 17)
• Madame Zeroni had dark skin and a very wide mouth. When she looked at you, her eyes seemed to expand, and you felt like she was looking right through you. (p. 29) From The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (Harper Collins, 1998) • We wore our best dresses on the outside to make a good impression. Rachel wore her green linen Easter suit she was so vain of, and her long whitish hair pulled off her forehead with a wide pink elastic hairband…. Sitting next to me on the plane, she kept batting her white rabbit eyelashes and adjusting her bright pink hairband, trying to get me to notice she had secretly painted her fingernails bubble-gum pink to match. (p. 15) continued
• Mama Bekwa Tataba stood watching us—a little jet-black woman. Her elbows stuck out like wings, and a huge white enameled tub occupied the space above her head, somewhat miraculously holding steady while her head moved in quick jerks to the right and left. (p. 38) From The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Hayes Barton Press, 2005, originally published 1885) He was most fifty, and he looked it. His hair was long and tangled and greasy, and hung down, and you could see his eyes shining through like he was behind vines. It was all black, no grey; so was his long, mixed-up whiskers. There warn’t no colour in his face, where his face showed; it was white; not like another man’s white, but a white to make a body sick, a white to make a body’s flesh crawl – a tree-toad white, a fish-belly white. As for his clothes – just rags, that was all. He had one ankle resting on t’other knee; the boot on that foot was busted, and two of his toes stuck through, and he worked them now and then. His hat was laying on the floor – an old black slouch with the top caved in, like a lid. (p. 11) From The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander (Henry Holt, 1965)
A bellow of laughter resounded beyond the chamber, and in another moment a giant, redheaded warrior rolled in at the side of Adaon. He towered above all in the chamber and his beard flamed around a face so scarred with old wounds it was impossible to tell where one began and another ended. His nose had been battered to his cheekbones; his heavy forehead was nearly lost in a fierce tangle of eyebrows; and his neck seemed as thick as Taran’s waist. (p. 25) From Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe (Simon & Schuster, 1995, originally published 1929)
My brother Ben’s face, thought Eugene, is like a piece of slightly yellow ivory; his high white head is knotted fiercely by his old man’s scowl; his mouth is like a knife, his smile the flicker of light across a blade. His face is like a blade, and a knife, and a flicker of light: it is delicate and fierce, and scowls beautifully forever, and when he fastens his hard white fingers and his scowling eyes upon a thing he wants to fix, he sniffs with sharp and private concentration through his long, pointed nose…his hair shines like that of a young boy—it is crinkled and crisp as lettuce. (p. 135) Sample Character Descriptions (continued) continued Supported by the Verizon Foundation Copyright 2008 IRA/NCTE. All rights reserved. ReadWriteThink materials may be reproduced for educational purposes. From A Separate Peace by John Knowles (Simon & Schuster, 2003, originally published 1959)
For such and extraordinary athlete—even as a Lower Middler Phineas had been the best athlete in the school—he was not spectacularly built. He was my height—five feet eight and a half inches…He weighed a hundred and fifty pounds, a galling ten pounds more than I did, which flowed from his legs to torso around shoulders to arms and full strong neck in an uninterrupted, unemphatic unity of strength. (p.16)
SETTING DESCRIPTIONS
Story Opener and Setting Description
‘Stig of the Dump’ by Clive King – Chapter 1, The Ground Gives Way, p. 1
If you went too near the edge of the chalk pit, the ground would give way. Barney had been told this often enough. Everybody had told him. His grandmother, every time he came to stay with her. His sister, every time she wasn’t telling his something else. Barney had a feeling, somewhere in his middle, that it was probably true about the ground giving way, but still, there was a difference between being told and seeing it happen. And today was one of those grey days when there was nothing to do, nothing to play and nowhere to go. Except to the chalk pit.
Setting Description from ‘Stig of the Dump’ by Clive King – From Chapter 1
He crawled through the rough grass and peered over. The sides of the pit were white chalk, with lines of flints poking out like bones in places. At the top was crumbly brown earth and the roots of the trees that grew on the edge. The roots looped over the edge, twined in the air and grew back into the earth. Some of the trees hung over the edge, holding on desperately by a few roots. The earth and chalk had fallen away beneath them and one day, they too would fall to the bottom of the pit. Strings of ivy and the creeper called Old Man’s Beard hung in the air.
Far below was the bottom of the pit. The dump. Barney could see strange bits of wreckage among the moss and elder bushes and nettles. Was that the steering wheel of a ship? The tail of an aeroplane? At least there was a real bicycle. Barney felt sure he could make it go if only he could get at it. They didn’t let him have a bicycle.
Barney wished he was at the bottom of the pit.
And the ground gave way.
Later description
Setting Description
‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck p. 1
A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool. On one side of the river, the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees – willows fresh and green with every spring, carrying in their lower leaf junctures the debris of the winter’s flooding; and sycamores with mottled, white, recumbent limbs and branches that arch over the pool. On the sandy bank under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them. Rabbits come out of the brush to sit on the sand in the evening, and the damp flats are covered with the night tracks of ‘coons, with the spread pads of dogs from the ranches, and with the split-wedge tracks of deer that come to drink in the dark.
Setting Description
‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ by J.K. Rowling
Hogwarts
There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide sweeping ones, narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on Fridays; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. There were doors that wouldn’t open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place and doors that weren’t doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where everything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other and Harry was sure the coat of arms could walk.
Setting Description/Character Description/Dilemma
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
The Whomping Willow
“MIND THAT TREE!” Harry bellowed, lunging for the steering wheel, but too late –
CRUNCH.
With an ear-splitting bang of metal on wood, they hit the thick tree trunk an dropped to the ground with a heavy jolt. Steam was billowing from under the crumpled bonnet; Hedwig was shrieking in terror, a golf-ball sized lump was throbbing on Harry’s head where he had hit the windscreen, and to his right, Ron let out a low despairing groan.
“Are you okay?” Harry said urgently.
“My wand,” said Ron, in a shaky voice. “Look at my wand.”
It had snapped, almost in two; the tip was dangling limply, held on by a few splinters.
Harry opened his mouth to say he was sure they’d be able to mend it up at the school, but he never even got started. That very moment, something hit his side of the car with the force of a charging bull, sending him lurching sideways into Ron, just as an equally hard blow hit the roof.
Ron gasped, staring through the windscreen, and Harry looked around just in time to see a branch as thick as a python smash into it. The tree they had hit was attacking them. Its trunk was bent almost double, and its gnarled bows were pummeling every each of the car it could reach.
“Aargh!” said Ron, as another twisted limb punched a large dent into his door; the windscreen was now trembling under a hail of blows from the knuckle-like twigs and a branch as thick as a battering ram was pounding furiously on the roof, which seemed to be caving in.
“Run for it!” Ron shouted, throwing his full weight against the door, but next second, he had been knocked backwards into Harry’s lap by a vicious uppercut from another branch.
“We’re done for!” he moaned, as the ceiling sagged, but suddenly the floor of the car was vibrating – the engine had re-started.
“Reverse!” Harry yelled, and the car shot backwards. The tree was still trying to hit them; they could hear its roots creaking as it almost ripped itself up, lashing out at them as they sped out of reach.
“That,” panted Ron, “was close. Well done, car.”
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ by J.K. Rowling
Dumbledore’s Office – Setting Description
Harry looked around. One thing was certain: of all the teacher’s offices Harry had visited so far this year, Dumbledore’s office was the most interesting. If he hadn’t been scared out of his waits that he was about to be thrown out of school, he would have been pleased to have had chance to look around it.
It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and mistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also enormous claw-footed desk, and sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tattered wizards hat – the Sorting Hat.
Harry hesitated. He cast a wary eye around the sleeping witches and wizards on the walls. Sure it couldn’t him if he took the hat down and tried it on again? Just to see ... just to make sure it had put him on the right house.
What’s in the Attic? – Setting description/Opening
The attic door creaked open. Something rustled in the darkness, I stared, but could see nothing beyond the vague shapes of old suitcases and trunks piled high. It smelt damp. I struggled up into the attic and wedged the door open. Light poured into the darkness. The darkness in the head of the house. I balanced carefully upon the floor beams. I knew that if I had stepped onto the plaster I could fall straight through into the room below. A cobweb brushed my face and I felt the sudden tickle of a spider crawl across my cheek. As I made my way forwards, it grew darker and colder. I was blocking the light from the attic door. There were piles of old newspapers, brown paper bags tied with string, cardboard boxed and ancient, moth-eaten rugs that smelt of mothballs. Thick dust powdered every surface. I kept thinking I would slip and put my foot through the floor. I stopped at a pile of old camping equipment. It was a jumble of guy ropes, torn canvas, poles, wooden pegs, metal skewers and a mallet. It was there that I saw the hand. It was quite still – and white. At first I thought that it was marble. But then it moved.
Setting Description
‘Lord of the Flies’ by William Golding – p. 38 Chapter: The Sound of the Shell
“This belongs to us.”
It was roughly boat-shaped: humped near this end with behind them the jumbled descent to the shore. On either side rocks, cliffs, tree-tops and a steep slope: forward there, the length of the boat, a tamer descent, tree-clad, with hints of pink: and then the jungly flat of the island, dense green, but drawn at the end to a pink tail. There, where the island petered out in water, was another island; a rock, almost detached, standing like a fort, facing them across the green with one bold, pink bastion.
The boys surveyed all this, then looked out to sea. They were high up and the afternoon had advanced: the view was not robbed of sharpness of mirage.
“That’s a reef. A coral reef. I’ve seen pictures like that.”
The reef enclosed more than one side of the island, lying perhaps a mile out and parallel to what they now thought of as their beach. The coral was scribbled in the sea as though a giant had bent down to reproduce the shape of the island in a flowing chalk line but tired before he had finished. Inside was peacock water, rocks and weed showing as in an aquarium; outside was the dark blue of the sea.
The tide was running so that long streaks of foam tailed away from the reef and for a moment they felt that the boat was moving steadily astern.
Jack pointed down.
“That’s where we landed.”
Beyond falls and cliffs there was a gash visible in the trees; there were the splintered trunks and then the drag, leaving only a fringe of palm between the scar and the sea. There too, jutting into the lagoon, was the platform, with the insect-like figures moving near it.
Ralph sketched a twining line from the bald spot on which they stood down a slope, a gulley, through flowers, round and down to the rock where the scar started.
“That’s the quickest way back.”
Eyes shining, mouths open, triumphant, they savoured the right of domination. They were lifted up: were friends.
“There’s no village smoke, and no boats,” said Ralph wisely. “We’ll make sure later; but I thik it’s uninhabited.”
“We’ll get food,” cried Jack. “Hunt. Catch things … until they fetch us.”
Simon looked at them both, saying nothing but nodding till his black hair flopped backwards and forwards: his face was glowing.
Ralph looked down the other way where there was no reef.
“Steeper,” said Jack.
Ralph made a cupping gesture.
“That bit of forest down there … the mountain holds it up.”
Every coign of the mountain held up trees – flowers and trees. Now the forest stirred, roared, flailed. The nearer acres of rock flowers fluttered and for half a minute the breeze blew cool on there faces.
OTHER SOURCES OF SETTING DESCRIPTIONS
p. 47 Robinson Crusoe Setting Description ???
‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’ by Michael Morpurgo - Description of the Island
Swiss Family Robinson
Charles Dickens – Description of the workhouse
The Man with the Yellow Face
The Secret Garden
BUILDING TENSION
‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ p. 236
He took out the wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semi-darkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything n the whole Hall, he sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes, Everyone watched, waiting … a few people kept checking their watches …
‘Any second,’ Lee Jordan whispered, two seats away from Harry. The flames inside the Goblet suddenly turned red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it – the whole room gasped.
SHOWING WITHOUT TELLING
‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ BY Harper Lee – Description of the boy eating. What does this tell you about his character and that of Scout of Jeb?
DESCRIPTION OF A BOAT
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Beauxbatons and Durmstrang p. 216-217
Description of a boat – Compared to the Green Ship
What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool … and then Harry saw the rigging …
‘It’s a mast! He said to Ron and Hermione.
Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it was a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the shop emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide backwards towards the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.
P. 213 Vehicle description – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
SCARY STORIES
‘The Nightmare Man’ by Pie Corbett
Sally was afraid. At school, they called her the ‘Fraidy Girl’ because she seemed afraid of everything. But what she feared the most was the darkness. Every night she didn’t want to go upstairs to bed. She hung around in the kitchen making excuses. Anything to delay going up the stairs. Anything to delay the moment when the light was switched off, plunging he room into darkness.
One moment the room was bright; the next split second and he room was darker than jet. As her eyes adjusted, vague shapes swam into view. The chair in the corner looked like an old man crouching down, ready to leap at her. The dressing gown on the back of the door was like a thin man, leaning, waiting for her to go to sleep before he hobbled across the room towards her …
Sally lay in the darkness every night watching the old man and the thin man. Neither of them ever moved but she was sure that when she fell asleep they would be up and wandering around – peering at her sleeping face. But, more than anything, she feared the Nightmare Man.
Sally had seen him once, watching her through the window – a tall, dark shape with a cloak billowing out behind him and two red eyes that glowed. She had spent the rest of the night buried under the covers, waiting for dawn. Of course, she had told her mother but all she ever said was, ‘Don’t be so silly’ or ‘Hurry up and eat your breakfast’ or ‘not now, we’ll be late for school’. Since that night, Sally ad made sure that her curtains were tightly pulled together.
The night of the storm, Sally lay in her bed watching the old man and the thin an. Thunder grumbled in the distance and lightning crackled. Rain lashed the street. Surely, the Nightmare Man wouldn’t be out on a night like this? Sally just had to know. Heart thudding, she crept from her bed and peeked through the curtains. She got the shock of her life because there he was, clinging to the window with his twin red eyes staring right up at her.
Sally stepped back but at that very moment the lightning flashed, lighting up the night sky. The Nightmare Man had gone but Sally could see a distant tower, a tower with two red lights. She also saw the tree by her window move into the wind, causing a dark shadow. In that moment, as the lightning lit up the night, she realised that the Nightmare Man had not really existed at all. Only in her mind. She laughed aloud …
Her bed seemed warm and cosy. She stared across her room, through the curtains at the distant lights of the tower and watched the tree’s shadow blowing in the wind. After that, the Nightmare Man never came back. Soon the thin man became a dressing gown and he old man was just a chair with her clothes draped across it, ready for the next morning, ready for the sunlight.
‘Short!’ by Kevin Crossley-Holland – Story called ‘Room for One More’
How difficult it was to sleep in that bed! She wrestled with the duvet and thumped the pillow; she turned her back n the flimsy curtains; she wished she had never come up to London.
At midnight she heard her grandfather clock whirr and strike; and then she heard the gravel in the driveway crunch. At once she jumped out of bed and cross the room and peeped between the curtains.
The man’s breath was coming in short sharp bursts. He was bending over as he rain, almost crouching and keeping his head down, clutching his side. He cared not at all as the brambles scratched his coat, legs and ace, and the low-lying branches of the smaller trees slapped him as he passed. He was running blindly, dashing hither and thither through the forest. But he was also searching, desperately seeking something. A sign, a small indication.
W.A.G.O.L.L.
Scary Story
I don’t scare easily. I don’t cry. I’m brave. But I didn’t feel it last night...
The papers said that the sun would be smiling and the ponds would be ripple free. Indeed, the day started that way and Amy (my sister) and I were looking forward to a wonderful ascent of Mount Snowdon.
Before long, we had covered the short distance from our hostel to the Mount Snowdon Tourist Information Office. We thought we’d take the long route up the mountain but we met Griff, an elderly shepherd. “Take the Pyg track. Views are much better – sure as day,” croaked the old man. We thanked him for his advice. There wasn’t anyone else taking that route so we weren’t sure. We turned back to check with Griff, but he was gone. It was all very odd. There was only one exit and neither Amy, nor I, saw him leave. Still, it was a busy room. Had we missed him?
High in the mountains, the mists were rolling in like a tanker of the sky. The cotton clouds disappeared and dark, foreboding clouds replaced them. All became dark.
As we reached the base of the steep-sided ridge of the Pyg track, tiny daggers of ice rained down upon us. Still we plodded onward. Soon, we were high on the mountain – lost; lost, afraid and in need of help. And soon.
Shivering, we scanned the horizon again and again, using our hands to block the stinging winds and rain. Amy was the first to see hope. We huddled under our poncho to read the sign – squinting as we tried to see through the curtain of water. It read: ‘WARNING: PYG TRACK CLOSED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER’. As we read the sign, rocks started to fall, tumbling, tripping, twisting down the mountain. That’s when we saw Griff and the ground gave way…
By Joel Carr
POETRY/SONGS p. 156 goblet poem/song
‘The Subtle Knife’ by Philip Pullman
Will tugged at his mother’s hand and said, “Come on, come on…”
But his mother hung back. She was still afraid. Will looked up and down at the narrow street in the evening light, along the little terraces of houses, each behind its tiny garden and its box hedge, with the sun glaring off the windows of one side and leaving the other in shadow. There wasn’t much time. People would be having their meal about now and soon there would be other children around, to stare and comment and notice. It was dangerous to wait but all he could do was persuade her, as usual.
MYSTERY AND PICTURE BOOK
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Explanation Text – copied from an unknown sources with minor changes by J. Carr
How to Make Totally Brilliant Toast
I know what you’re thinking: ‘I already know how to make toast; it’s easy! However, would you like to know how to make perfect toast? Well, with these easy-to-follow instructions you will have a slice of toast which is fit for a King and in much less time than it even takes to read these simple instructions. I can tell that you’re desperate to start toasting, but before you start, make sure that you decide which of your ingredients you would prefer to use.
Ingredients:
Bread (brown or white);
Butter or margarine;
A plate;
Oven gloves;
A grill – NOT a toaster!
Instructions:
1) Turn on the grill to 220ᴼC or gas mark 7, before carefully placing your bread in the middle of the oven shelf.
2) Put on the oven gloves and place the oven shelf in the top of the oven.
3) Leave the toast in for 2 or 3 minutes, depending on how you like it, 2 minutes for a softer, lightly toasted slice or 3 minutes for crunchy toast.
4) Take the oven shelf out and leave it on top of the hob of the oven.
5) Remove the oven gloves and flip the toast over that both sides of the bread toast evenly.
6) Only leave the toast in for 1 minute now, since the grill will have heated up; hence it will toast your bread a lot quicker.
Check your toast regularly and when you are happy with how toasted it is, repeat Step 2.
Carefully move the toast from the oven shelf onto a plate and quickly butter it, being careful to spread the butter evenly.
Now you should have a golden slice of succulent toast, with the butter having melted into the bread, making the toast ready to melt in your mouth. If you enjoyed following this recipe, why not check out www.recipesmadesimple.com for more like it?
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
Fisher’s Catch of the Day!
Yesterday afternoon, by the large bridge at Verulamium Park, St Albans, a remarkable capture of a robber took place! Quick thinking Debbie McLennon (aged 66) heard John Pritchard shouting “Stop! Thief!” when she saw 15 year-old, Tom Robbins, running away from a security guard with a large stack of stolen musical instruments.
Mrs McLennon had been fishing on the River Ver when she saw the young thief running away. She threw her fishing net like a well-trained gladiator and it landed like a dream – straight over the robber’s head. The result was that the thief lost his bearings and ran straight into the river. Splash! That will teach him!
Police praised Mrs McLennon’s heroic actions and gave her a medal as a reward for her bravery. When the Mayor Peters presented her with the award, he asked what Mrs Lennon what plans she had for the future. “I can imagine telling my grandchildren about today,” replied the broad-beaming pensioner.
Let this be a warning to thieves out there. In the future, think twice about trying to steal and get past a senior citizen! This reporter wouldn’t bother trying!
Photo by Darren Kern
Mrs McLennon receiving a reward
By Joel Carr
BIOGRAPHIES
A great source for writing a biography is to watch the cartoons on Youtube tiled: Draw my life