Creating Tension Lesson objective To learn how to

Creating Tension Lesson objective: To learn how to vary sentence structures and use vocabulary to create tension. Create a mind map for this picture: • • • What is the setting like? What is the character thinking? How did this situation occur? Who is holding their hand? Describe what the character can hear, smell, see and feel. What ambitious vocabulary have you used?

Free Writing I would like you to write continuously (without pausing) for three minutes using the information from your mind map. See if you can add tension and drama. Do not worry about the quality of your writing. Once three minutes have finished highlight words or phases that you think were effective.

Can you improve this sentence? ' I held my friend's hand so that I didn’t fall down the cliff’ • Can you add adjectives before the nouns ‘hand’ and ‘cliff’ ? • Can you replace the verb ‘held’ with a more powerful one? • Can you add an adverb before the verb ‘held’? • Can you reorder the words? • Can you drop in a clause after the word ‘Karl’? • Can you add a simile?

Varying Sentence Structure 1) The first two –three sentences should be complex sentences which describe what happens before the fall. You might like to include the character’s inner thoughts and / or background information. You could also use senses and descriptive detail. 2) The next two-three sentences should use simple sentences to describe how the main character slipped, nearly falls and how their friend stops them from falling. 3) The last section should zoom in on the character’s thoughts and feelings as they hang over the cliff. Try to use a mixture of simple, compound and complex sentences.