in the Yoruba religion, goddess of creation, water, moon, motherhood and protection

a water spirit or deity (god) sacred to West, Central and Southern Africa

responding quickly and unthinkingly to something

a transition in a story to an earlier time in the life of one or more characters

The five part narrative structure

English

Bruegel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus: how the myth inspired the painting

Exploring William Carlos Williams’s poem ‘Landscape with the fall of Icarus’

Exploring W.H. Auden's poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts'

Exploring William Carlos Williams's poem 'The Hunters in the Snow'

Exploring Walter de la Mare's poem 'Brueghel's Winter'

Comparing poems: 'Brueghel's Winter' and 'The Hunters in the Snow'

Alfred, Lord Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott': understanding the ballad

Symbolism in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's ‘The Lady of Shalott’

Exploring enjambment in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's ‘The Lady of Shalott’

Descriptive writing using Lord Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott' as stimulus

Effective sensory language using ‘The Execution of Lady Jane Grey’ as stimulus

Third person omniscient writing: ‘The Execution of Lady Jane Grey’ as stimulus

Writing a full descriptive piece: ‘The Execution of Lady Jane Grey' as stimulus

Reviewing and refining descriptive writing: alliteration, plosives and sibilance

Natasha Bowen's ‘Skin of the Sea’: understanding the extract

Writing inspired by ‘Skin of the Sea’: varying sentence types to create rhythm

Use of flashback in Natasha Bowen's 'Skin of the Sea'

Geoffrey Chaucer's ‘The Canterbury Tales’: compelling characterisation

Creating convincing characters using ‘The Canterbury Tales’ as stimulus

Pat Barker's 'The Silence of the Girls': understanding the extract

Madeline Miller's 'The Song of Achilles': understanding the extract

Comparative paragraphs: 'The Silence of the Girls' and 'The Song of Achilles'

Hanan Al-Shaykh's ‘The Fisherman and the Jinni’: understanding the story

Exploring the theme of power in Hanan Al-Shaykh's ‘One Thousand and One Nights’

Planning a narrative using the five part narrative structure

Writing a full narrative piece using the five part narrative structure

Improving and proofreading a piece of narrative writing

In 'Myths and Legends Re-Told', pupils explore how they can alter traditional stories to convey modern ideas and morals. In 'Animal Farm: the Pigs and Power', pupils learn about Orwell's allegory and understand how he uses an apparently simple fairy story to convey a political message. 

In 'Step Into the Unknown', pupils look at the ways in which famous children's writers create convincing settings, particularly through descriptions of windows and doors. In 'Myths and Legends Re-Told', pupils take inspiration from the ways in which writers and poets use powerful imagery and symbolism, to inspire their own writing. 

In this unit, pupils read and explore a range of text types in connection to classical myths and legends. They first look at poetry before doing some descriptive writing inspired by poetry and paintings. They then explore Chaucer and modern retellings of myths to inspire their narrative writing.

Myths, legends and stories that inspire

Discriminatory behaviour or images, whether on the grounds of race, gender, disability, religion or belief or sexual orientation, or otherwise.

Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour

Historic or outdated representations of people that may portray inequality or injustice.

Subjects which particular individuals may be sensitive to, eg, adoption, migration, bereavement or death, divorce, poverty, deprivation.

Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Depiction or discussion of sexual or domestic abuse or violence, including  threats of or the aftermath of.

Depiction or discussion of sexual violence

The {{ }} part narrative structure is a way of sequencing a story so that it has a logical and engaging structure. ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire')

Starting with the first, put these sub-headings from the five part narrative structure ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire') in chronological order.

establishes character/setting; introduces a problem

most intense, and often deciding moment, of a story

Match the sub-headings of the five part narrative structure to their function. ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire')

The pupils felt there was too much homework and were disgruntled.

"That was so fun!" she said, disgruntledly.

The judge received disgruntled letters about her controversial decision.

It was a great day and everyone looked disgruntled in the pictures.

Which sentences use the word disgruntled (or a form of it) correctly? ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire')

He paused before he shouted but normally he was quite a reactive person.

The starting gun went; the athletes were reactive, leaping forward immediately.

She thought slowly and reactively about her decision.

He said, "Don’t make your decision now. Be reactive and wait until tomorrow."

Which sentences use the word reactive (or a form of it) correctly? ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire')

A {{ }} is a transition in a story to an earlier time in the life of one or more characters. 

Match each story type to its example, all taken from 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire'.

Match each character, all from 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', to what we know about them.

she gathers the souls of the enslaved who die at sea.

Match the sentence stems about Simidele, a mermaid from Natasha Bowen's 'Skin of the Sea' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire'), to their endings.

Daedalus and Icarus are imprisoned on the island of Crete.

Daedalus creates wings from wax and feathers so they can escape.

Daedalus warns his son not to fly too close to the sun or the wax will melt.

Daedalus and Icarus take flight, and Icarus ignores his father's advice.

Icarus feels like a god as he flies through the sky, higher and higher.

The wax melts, and Icarus plunges to his death.

Daedalus offers his wings to the god, Apollo, and swears never to fly again.

Starting with the first, put these plot points from 'The Fall of Icarus' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire') in chronological order.

The fisherman catches a jinni in a jar in his net.

The fisherman releases the jinni from the jar, who threatens to kill him.

The fisherman tricks the jinni into returning to the jar.

The fisherman tells the jinni a story in order to teach him a lesson.

The jinni understands the lesson and no longer wants to kill the fisherman. 

The jinni rewards the fisherman with precious jewels.

Starting with the first, put these plot points from 'The Fisherman and the Jinni' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire') in chronological order.

What is the technical term for a transition in a story to an earlier time in the life of one or more characters? ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire')

The five part narrative structure

Lesson outcome

Content guidance