Lesson video

Hi, my name is Miss Smith and welcome to lesson one of 10 of "The Golden Compass" and this is our outcome two.

In this lesson we are going to be planning a new narrative scene.

So, when you're ready, let's get started.

At the start of the lesson we're going to think about describing Lord Asriel, who's going to be crucial to this next scene.

Before we analyse the scene and make sure we're really familiar with everything that happens at this point in the plot.

And then we'll move on to plan this narrative scene.

So, you're going to need something to write on and something to write with.

So, let's just remind ourselves.

Who is Lord Asriel? Can you remember who Lord Asriel is? That's right.

So, Lord Asriel in our story is Lyra, our main character, he is her uncle.

And Lord Asriel lives in Oxford College and his job is to research and he researches dust.

So, he's a researcher.

And you can see him dressed for work in the college and he's deep in thought in the image on the left-hand side and on the right-hand side you can see him in a different setting and he's in the north during parts of his quest for dust.

So, what we're going to do to start lesson today is think about different ways that we might refer toward Lord Asriel and think about adjectives that we might use to describe him in these different ways.

In our writing we want to avoid repeating the name Lord Asriel.

Lord Asriel, over and over again.

And when thinking of different ways to refer to him, that's going to mean we've got variety in writing for this scene.

So, let's have a look at the options that we're going to sort in a moment.

We've got, researcher, quick-thinking, explorer, hiker, prepared, courageous, adventurer, steely and smart.

So, just pause the video and sort those words under the correct heading.

Okay, so hopefully you had a good opportunity to sort them.

Let's see if you put them in the same places that I did.

Alternative ways of referring to him then, researcher, hiker, in that second image, the one on the right-hand side, he's hiking, isn't he? And so we might also say that he's quite an adventurer.

An explorer, hiking in somewhere that has been undiscovered so far and we therefore might infer that he's courageous.

He often has a steely, determined look about him.

He's quick-thinking.

He's smart and he's prepared.

You can see in the image where he's in the north.

He's got all the kits and all the supplies he might need to survive in that environment.

Okay.

So, today then, we are planning a new narrative scene.

And in this scene there are some key terms and important vocabulary to know before we watch the scene.

So, you can see below we've got two images.

One, that shows Lord Asriel and he's the main character in the scene.

And we've already said that he is Lyra's uncle.

And with him in the scene is his daemon and her name is Stelmaria.

Stelmaria.

Great job.

So, you can see the spelling for both of those on the screen now as well if you wanted to jot those down.

And so, like all daemons in "The Golden Compass," Stelmaria is always with Lord Asriel and Stelmaria is Lord Asriel's soul in animal form.

So, they are the tightest of partnerships.

And then, in the scene we see Lord Asriel in the north in a place called Svalbard.

Svalbard.

Great job.

So it's a tricky word, Svalbard, but it's a place.

So, it needs a capital letter, 'cause it's a proper noun.

If we're using that word.

And so, you can see two still images from the scene that we're watching in minutes and one shows you Lord Asriel and Stelmaria and the other is Svalbard.

So, that's where they are.

And the third word to listen out for in the clip and to be aware of is the word bandit.

Bandit.

Now, a bandit is a robber or an outlaw.

So, it means the same as robber or an outlaw.

And there are some bandits in our scene today.

So, we will first watch the clip and then we're going to sequence the events in the scene.

So, first we get to watch the clip and then afterwards we'll just sequence the main events in this scene.

Svalbard.

Kingdom of the Ice bears.

We shall have to watch ourselves Stelmaria.

You can bet that Coulter woman has hired every semi-good bandit from here to the pole to hunt us down.

Okay.

So, can you sequence the scene? That's what lots of images taken from that scene and press pause now and see if you can put them in the order in which they happen.

Okay.

Let's have a look, shall we? So, firstly we get that big dramatic opening scene, where we get to see the spectacular landscape of Svalbard.

Before Lord Asriel emerges over the ridge of the snow peak and we zoom in on him temporarily with Stelmaria as they survey the landscape.

And then, there's a real shift in tension in these scene and there's a gunshot that hits the snow right beside Stelmaria and the quick-thinking Lord Asriel dives down the sheer cliff face and between the crevice of ice, but when he emerges, you see at the end that he is surrounded and him and Stelmaria are, yep, so as I said, surrounded.

So, what then do we need to think about when we plan this scene? That's our objective today, is to plan the writing for this scene.

So, I thought about three different sections that we might break the scene into.

We can think about describing that very opening setting.

So, for beginning of our writing, to describe the setting.

Before we turn our focus to introducing the character to the scene.

So, we've got two images that will help us to focus in on Lord Asriel and describe him as he enters the scene.

And then the majority of the scene we're going to focus on capturing the drama.

So, from the point at which he dives over that sheer ice face and rushes down through the crevice, we need to capture all of that drama into our writing.

So, our planning then, for this piece of writing.

We will look at describing the setting together.

And then when we look at the character and planning for the character today, we'll do a little bit together and I'll ask you to do a little bit on your own.

And then, capturing the drama is the part that you will go away and think about for your task at the end of the lesson.

So, describing the setting is a very first part of this writing outcome we're aiming to do.

So, with that in mind, what will we need to focus on when we are planning this particular part of the opening? Just have a look and think.

I had a think and I thought, if I'm trying to describe the setting for the reader I need to make sure that I've picked out and used the picture to help me with this, nouns that I can describe.

I then need to plan some ambitious language, particularly adjectives, to describe those nouns.

But, whilst I'm planning, I might think of other vocabulary.

It might be adverbs, verbs, sentence openers, figurative language.

I'm going to need somewhere to organise those ideas when I generate them.

So, I've got three columns to my planning.

You might want to pause the video and recreate this table on your page, so that you can add to it for this first part of your plan.

Okay, so now that you have that table, I want you to have a think of, by looking at the picture, things you could describe in that image.

So, can you think of some nouns and things that we could describe? You might even have some ideas of some adjectives and perhaps some other vocabulary that we could fit into the plan for this point.

So, pause again and have think of those things for this first image.

Okay, so I'll share what I decided I would try and use in my description of the opening.

So, nouns then, I thought we'd go with some mountains.

We've got clouds.

The weather generally.

Whether that's the wind that's perhaps whistling through the setting.

The peaks.

So, the mountains have really clear peaks in this picture.

The vast space that exists and the fact that we're introduced to this setting from such a distance helps us to really feel how big a space and how big a place Svalbard is.

And then throughout that very opening part we see lots of rocks that I might pick out and describe.

So, those are some nouns that I've listed.

And then I thought about those nouns and how to describe them in terms of ambitious adjectives.

So, I've said, snow-capped, compound adjective.

Two words forming one word using a hyphen.

Vast, so the vast space.

It seems endless, this landscape.

And a synonym for endless that I could also use, I thought was infinite.

So, I've got some really ambitus language there already, just having thought of what I can see in the picture and some adjectives.

And I'm sure you have others in your table too.

Things in my other column, well I said, pierced because where the clouds sit on top of the mountains, sometimes those peaks are piercing through.

And that snow at points, is like a blanket.

That's a good starter isn't it, for a sentence? And the weather then.

If I zoom in on the winds, they were howling through the space that we can see.

So, some real excellent quality, in terms of our ideas for that description in the opening part of the scene.

Let's move on and think about introducing our character.

So, we've got two images to help us with this.

What will we focus on this time? 'Cause our noun is Lord Asriel and Stelmaria.

So, we need to think slightly differently about how to describe and introduce the character.

Can you pause and have a think as to what the headings might be in our planning table this time? Okay, hopefully you've had a little think.

This is what I thought.

I thought, I'm going to need some really specific verbs to describe Lord Asriel entering this scene, rather than just writing that he walking into the space.

Again, I'll need some adjectives or adverbs perhaps, to describe his movements.

And then I've got other category again because I always think of other things that I need to record in an organised way.

So, pause the video again and see if you can pop anything into the table as it is at the moment.

Okay, let me share my ideas for this one again.

Doing really well so far.

So for verbs then and how Lord Asriel and Stelmaria come into the scene, I've said trudging.

It's a great verb for people in the snow.

And crunching, as well, because it really captures the noise snow makes underfoot.

Thrashing, when that bullet hits the snow, we might use the verb thrashing.

And squinting, 'cause Lord Asriel removes his goggles or glasses at one point and the sun is so bright that he's squinting in the light.

Adjectives then, I've got some adjectives to describe his appearance, mostly.

He's got a leather coat on in the scene.

Stelmaria's almost speckled on her coat.

Much of Lord Asriel's equipment that he carries is well-worn, so another compound adjective, using that hyphen to connect two words to form a new word.

And it seems that this is equipment that he uses over and over again.

And so we might describe it as trusty or trusted equipment.

And those are specs of his appearance or things you might zoom in on, so, his goggles, his coat, his boots, all of those things form that appearance of a really confident and experienced explorer that he is.

Stelmaria and Lord Asriel break the silence.

So, we have that big, dramatic opening scene and they come into the scene and their crunching and their trudging feet, they broke the silence.

And they emerge over that ridge of snow and ice.

So, I thought of two I-N-G sentence starters, that I could use for this point in my writing.

So, well done if you added some of that content to your plan as well and all of your ideas will be really useful for writing of this scene.

So, your task then is to plan the narrative scene.

And we've done two big parts together.

And so, the section that remains for you is to capture the drama in the rest of the scene.

And I've broken down some things that you might want to think about, that might guide headings if you create a table for the next part of this plan.

For you to think about describing some character action.

So, verbs that describe what Lord Asriel and the bandits are doing at each point in the next part of the scene.

To plan some short sentences.

So, we know that short, sharp sentences, perhaps three in one go, really add to that dramatic nature of your writing.

They cut short the flow and it makes it seem dramatic for the reader.

So, you might plan that for that final part.

And as always, be really careful.

Be specific and make sure your verb choices are descriptive as well.

A verb like trudging is a really descriptive verb 'cause it really communicates how they're walking, as well as the fact that they're walking.

So, planning a narrative scene and here are the four images that you need to focus on for the remainder of that scene.

And you should pause the video and complete the task now.

Congratulations.

That is the end of today's lesson.

So, we thought in detail today about Lord Asriel and describing Lord Asriel in different ways.

We really analysed in depth that new scene where he explores Svalbard.

And well done for all of your hard work on planning the narrative scene that you will get to write.

You should feel so proud of all that hard work today.

Planning a scene in so much detail, with such high quality content is a really challenging task, so give yourself a big pat on the back and you should feel really chuffed all day.

I hope you have a great rest of your day.