BEING DESCRIPTIVE
Below is an extract from the beginning of Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian. Read the extract and answer the questions. "She stepped to one side. Behind the large iron gate which stood at the end of the graveyard were a small group of children. Many of them were filthy and very poorly clad. Only a handful had a blazer or coat. They all looked bewildered and exhausted. One tiny dark-haired girl in the front was hanging firmly on to a new teddy-bear. The woman touched the boy at her side and pushed him forward. ************************************************* Tom took a second look at the child. The boy was thin and sickly-looking, pale with limp sandy hair and dull grey eyes. 'His name's Willie,' said the woman. Willie, who had been staring at the ground, looked up. Round his neck, hanging from a piece of string, was a cardboard label. It read 'William Beech'. Tom was well into his sixties, a healthy, robust, stockily-built man with a head of thick white hair. Although he was of average height, in Willie's eyes he was a towering giant with skin like coarse, wrinkled brown paper and a voice like thunder. He glared at Willie. 'You'd best come in,' he said abruptly." |
LEARNING GOALS
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questions
1. In a table, record all the adjectives in the passage used to describe the children and Tom.
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2. Find two similes used to characterise Mr Tom. Quote them and explain what image they convey of the character.
3. Choose one image from the passage that is designed to evoke an emotional response in the reader. Quote it and explain how it has this effect.
4. The narrative point of view changes twice in this extract. (Consider whose eyes we are looking through as we read the story). What role does shifting narrative point of view play in character description in Goodnight Mr Tom?
4. The narrative point of view changes twice in this extract. (Consider whose eyes we are looking through as we read the story). What role does shifting narrative point of view play in character description in Goodnight Mr Tom?
5. How has Michelle Magorian created strong characters through her use of descriptive technique?
6. Choose a character and a situation from the table below. Write a paragraph where you SHOW what the character is feeling without telling us. Use and underline...
- effective, well chosen adjectives
- a simile or a metaphor
THE RULES
You are not allowed to TELL the audience
- who the character is (age or profession)
- how the character feels
You must SHOW us these things through your effective use of technique.
CHARACTER |
SITUATION |
A small boy |
Climbing a ladder to rescue a cat |
A fireman |
Picking up son/brother/grandson from school |
A grandmother |
parachuting out of a plane |
A teenage girl |
visiting a grandparent/parent/child in an aged care facility |
A grumpy old man |
walking a dog |
ACCOMMODATIONS AND RESOURCES
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7_are_you_talking_to_me_writing_descriptively_-_gnmt.docx | |
File Size: | 26 kb |
File Type: | docx |