the most important or exciting part of a story

Emulating Saramago's use of structure in 'Blindness'

English

Developing reading skills by responding to Murakami's 'After Dark'

'After Dark': selecting evidence to support language analysis

‘After Dark’: exploring Murakami’s extended metaphor

Exploring structure in Murakami's ‘After Dark’

Emulating Murakami’s craft to write a descriptive opening

Analysing Saramago's use of structural devices in 'Blindness'

Using inversion and asyndeton to craft interesting sentence structures

Using onomatopoeia and alliteration to craft interesting sound imagery

‘Suite Française’: forming opinions on fiction

Suite Française’: evaluating ideas about a writer’s craft

Exploring and emulating character description in Nemirovsky's 'Suite Française'

Analysing images of hope and destruction in Galloway's 'The Cellist of Sarajevo'

Exploring the use of time in Galloway's ‘The Cellist of Sarajevo’

'The Cellist of Sarajevo': expressing a personal and critical response to a text

Exploring and emulating Galloway's use of symbols in ‘The Cellist of Sarajevo’

Structuring paragraphs effectively in creative writing

Crafting an engaging narrative

In 'Fiction: Read Around the World', pupils identify and comment on a range of language devices in extracts from texts. In 'Fiction: Science Fiction Writing', pupils identify and comment on recurring images and symbolism in texts.

In 'A World at War: Short Stories', pupils read short stories, analysing how authors structure full texts. In 'Fiction: Read Around the World', pupils analyse structural choices in smaller extracts of texts.

In this unit, pupils read extracts from four novels from around the world, and use them to develop their narrative writing. In particular, pupils explore writers' use of structure. At the end of the unit, pupils consider their own use of paragraphs for effect and write an engaging narrative.

Fiction: read around the world

What can be used to set the scene successfully at the beginning of a narrative?

to make the reader feel in awe of the setting

to create a strong contrast between the mundane and the chaotic

to allow intrigue to build as the scene develops

Why might Saramago have chosen to begin his narrative by describing a mundane traffic setting in 'Blindness'?

describe the sensory experiences within a mundane setting

craft a long sentence where each additional clause adds panic

How could you craft a sentence to build tension?

"Each pair of legs was a cog in a machine: quick, determined, relentless, but one pair halted the rhythm: faltering limp, immobile."  Which word here presents a shift?

We are placed in a mundane situation: cars at a traffic light.

Green signal for cars, most drive off but one is left stationary.

The man inside the vehicle grows frantic, people try to help.

Starting with the first, put the parts of Saramago's opening to 'Blindness' in chronological order.

What is unique about the sentence that Saramago uses to reveal the man is blind in the opening of 'Blindness'?

the narrative reaches the peak of tension

Match the different parts of the story with the correct definition.

Which of the below could be described as mundane?

a section of text containing a subject and verb

describing a strange noise but not telling the reader where it is coming from

keeping a consistent tone throughout an extract

The fresh scent of peonies filled the air.

Which of the below uses sensory language?

What type of sentence would slow down the pace of a narrative the most?

This lesson will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Emulating Saramago's use of structure in 'Blindness'

Lesson outcome

This lesson will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.