Boy by Roald Dahl Mr Coombes Starter Point

Boy by Roald Dahl Mr. Coombes

Starter Point Can you find some evidence for these points: Mrs Pratchett seems like a witch to the boys. Mrs Pratchett is a very rude woman. Mrs Pratchett is dirty and unhygienic. Evidence Can you create a point that belongs with this evidence: They all started grinning. They slapped me on the back. They cheered me and danced around the classroom. We felt like a gang of desperados setting out to rob a train or blow up the sheriff’s office.

Focus To… ü Understand how to select and retrieve information from a text ü Be able to deduce, infer and interpret information from a text

Reaching Higher Levels • Relevant points identified from across the text • Identify layers of meaning, with some detailed exploration • Comments use quotations to support argument • Comments consider how details contribute to overall meaning

Do the boys seem like a rowdy gang? Atmosphere What might the boys be thinking? All of a sudden we had begun to feel slightly uncomfortable. There was something not quite right about the shop being closed. Even Thwaites was unable to offer a reasonable explanation. We became silent. There was a faint scent of danger in the air now. Each one of us had caught a whiff of it. Alarm bells were beginning to ring faintly in our ears. What do you notice about the sentence lengths? How does this contrast to the boys earlier attitude? How does Dahl uses the senses here?

Earlier Quotations They all started grinning. They slapped me on the back. They cheered me and danced around the classroom. We were strutting a little as we entered the shop. We were the victors now and Mrs Pratchett was the victim. We were tremendously jazzed up. We felt like a gang of desperados setting out to rob a train or blow up the sheriff’s office.

The writer … highlights suggests implies conveys indicates emphasises gives us the impression that evokes

Why change his name from ‘Mr Coombes’ to ‘the Headmaster’? Mr Coombes Why focus on the ‘rows and rows of other boys’? Mr Coombes was looking grim. His hammy pink face had taken on that dangerous scowl which only appeared when he was extremely cross and somebody was for the high-jump. I sat there small and frightened among the rows and rows of other boys, and to me at that moment the Headmaster, with his black gown draped over his shoulders, was like a judge at a murder trial. Why use the phrases ‘cross’ and ‘high-jump’? Why is the simile used?

Questions 1. Why include the sentence “Mrs Pratchett was alive!” as an entire paragraph? 2. Why describe the Headmaster as an “angel of death”? 3. How does Dahl build suspense as the boys are lined up? 4. What are Mrs Pratchett’s attitudes and feelings? 5. What does the following phrase suggest about Mrs Pratchett: “[her face] was glimmering with venom as her eyes travelled beyond me down the line. ”