Year 9 reading and writing skills Reading Skills

Year 9 reading and writing skills

Reading Skills In order to write about texts, you have to know a range of methods that writers could use to convey their ideas. Using the table below, create three lists of specific methods writers could use. Add definitions and examples if you need to. Word classes Verbs Language devices Similes Sentence forms and functions Simple sentences Try and think about WHY writers would use certain methods. For example, why has Dickens used a list of adjectives to describe this character? “a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!” Therefore, always remember that it isn’t enough to just spot methods. You need to analyse the impact on you as a reader.

Comprehension skills are really important if you are going to be successful. Whenever you read an extract make sure you have identified the following: The content (what is happening? ) The characters (who is involved? ) The setting (where does it take place? ) The atmosphere (what mood is created? How do the characters feel? How does it make me feel? ) Read the following extract from ‘Cold Comfort Farm’ by Stella Gibson. Make notes below about what you learn. Use the guidance above to help you. Under the ominous bowl of the sky a man was ploughing the sloping field immediately below the farm, where the flints shone bone-sharp and white in the growing light. The ice-cascade of the wind leaped over him, as he guided the plough over the flinty runnels. Now and again he called roughly to his team: “Upidee Travail! Ho, there, Arsenic! Jug-jug!” But for the most part he worked in silence, and silent were his team. The light showed no more of his face than a grey expanse of flesh, expressionless as the land he ploughed, from which looked out two sluggish eyes. Cold Comfort Farm

Comprehension skills are really important if you are going to be successful. Use the following to help you understand these extracts. Create spidergrams for each of the texts. The content (what is happening? ) The characters (who is involved? ) The setting (where does it take place? ) The atmosphere (what mood is created? How do the characters feel? How does it make me feel? ) The scurrying crowd came at last to the big gate in the wall of the doctor's house. They could hear the splashing water and the singing of caged birds and the sweep of the long brooms on the flagstones. And they could smell the frying of good bacon from the doctor's house. Kino hesitated a moment. This doctor was not of his people. This doctor was of a race which for nearly four hundred years had beaten and starved and robbed and despised Kino's race. From ‘The Pearl’ by John Steinbeck The Republican sniper smiled and lifted his revolver above the edge of the parapet. The distance was about fifty yards--a hard shot in the dim light, and his right arm was paining him like a thousand devils. He took a steady aim. His hand trembled with eagerness. Pressing his lips together, he took a deep breath through his nostrils and fired. He was almost deafened with the report and his arm shook with the recoil. From ‘The Sniper’ by Liam OFlaherty The rain was heavy now and the hem of her dress was splattered with mud. She’d have to hide it afterwards; no one could know that she’d been out. Clouds covered the moon, a stroke of luck she didn’t deserve, and she made her way through the thick, black night as quickly as she could. She’d come earlier to dig the hole, but only now, under veil of darkness, would she finish the job. Rain stippled the surface of the trout stream, drummed relentlessly on the earth beside it. Something bolted through the bracken nearby, but she didn’t flinch, didn’t stop. She’d been in and out of the woods all her life and knew the way by heart. Back when it first happened she’d considered confessing, and perhaps, in the beginning, she might have. She’d missed her chance though and now it was too late. Too much had happened: the search parties, the policemen, the articles in the newspapers pleading for information. There was no one she could tell, no way to fix it, no way they would ever forgive her. The only thing left was to bury the evidence. From ‘The Lake House’ by Kate Morton

When exploring an extract always start by looking at the question. What are you being asked to focus on? For example, in the task below you are asked to explore how the writer uses language to ‘describe the sniper’s reaction’ Keep this in mind as you actively read the text. As you read the extract, always look for the following: Interesting words and phrases Language devices Sentence forms The sniper looked at his enemy falling and he shuddered. The lust of battle died in him. He became bitten by remorse. The sweat stood out in beads on his forehead. Weakened by his wound and the long summer day of fasting and watching on the roof, he revolted from the sight of the shattered mass of his dead enemy. His teeth chattered, he began to gibber to himself, cursing the war, cursing himself, cursing everybody. From ‘The Sniper’ by Liam Oflaherty How does the writer use language to describe the sniper’s reaction? Use the table below to help you focus your ideas. Quotation Technique / method Effect

Now apply the same process to the following: Green curtains (some sort of velvety material) were hanging down on either side of the window. The flowers looked wonderful beside them. He went right up and peered through the glass into the room, and the first thing he saw was a bright fire burning in the hearth. On the carpet in front of the fire, a pretty little dachshund was curled up asleep with its nose tucked into its belly. The room itself, so far as he could see in the half-darkness, was filled with pleasant furniture. There was a baby-grand piano and a big sofa and several plump armchairs; and in one corner he spotted a large parrot in a cage. Animals were usually a good sign in a place like this, Billy told himself; and all in all, it looked to him as though it would be a pretty decent house to stay in. From ‘The Landlady by Roald Dahl How does the writer use language to describe the B&B? Remember to link your ideas back to the focus in the question. Use subject terminology when crafting your points. Embed your quotations. Fully explain your ideas. Zoom in on key words. What is the impact on you as a reader? Feeling ambitious? Can you link this to another example in the text? Develop your ideas by turning them into a strong analytical paragraph. __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ _________________

Use the following to help you find your own process for deconstructing and writing about texts. The water was rising steadily. It must have been five centimeters deep already. The floor had disappeared. There were no windows, and the door was rock solid. There was only one possible way out of here and Alex was almost too afraid to try it. But one of the planks was loose. Maybe there was some sort of well or pipe underneath. After all, he reasoned, there had to be some way for the water to come in. And it was gushing in now, more quickly than ever. Alex hurried back down the stairs. The water level was well over his ankles, almost reaching his knees. He made a quick calculation. At this rate, the room would be completely submerged in about three minutes. He ripped off the waistcoat and threw it aside. He wouldn’t need that now. He waded forward, searching with his feet for the loose plank. He remembered that it was somewhere in the middle and soon found it, stubbing his toe against one side of the opening. He knelt down, the water now circling his waist. He wasn’t even sure if he could squeeze through. And if he did, what would he find on the other side? How does the writer use language to create a sense of fear and panic? Use the following to help you find your own process for deconstructing and writing about texts. The end of the cylinder was being screwed out from within. Nearly two feet of shining screw projected. Somebody blundered against me, and I narrowly missed being thrown onto the top of the screw. I turned, and as I did so the screw must have come out, for the lid of the cylinder fell upon the gravel with a ringing concussion. I think everyone expected to see a man emerge - possibly something a little unlike us terrestrial men, but in all essentials a man. I know I did. But, looking, I presently saw something stirring within the shadow: greyish billowy movements, one above another, and then two luminous disks--like eyes. Then something resembling a little grey snake, about the thickness of a walking stick, coiled up out of the writhing middle, and wriggled in the air towards me--and then another. A sudden chill came over me. There was a loud shriek from a woman behind. I half turned, keeping my eyes fixed upon the cylinder still, from which other tentacles were now projecting, and began pushing my way back from the edge of the pit. I saw astonishment giving place to horror on the faces of the people about me. I heard inarticulate exclamations on all sides. There was a general movement backwards. I found myself alone, and saw the people on the other side of the pit running off, Stent among them. I looked again at the cylinder, and uncontrollable terror gripped me. I stood petrified and staring. How does the writer use language to describe the aliens and how people respond to them?

Writing Skills When writing creatively it is important that you use similar methods used by established writers such as figurative devices (similes, metaphors…) and a range of sentence forms. Use the texts you have read as inspiration for your writing. It’s important to know how to use an image as a stimulus. Use the steps below to help you deconstruct the image. 1. What do you actually see? 2. What adjectives would you use to describe what you see? 8. What other devices could you use? Personification? Pathetic fallacy? Alliteration? 3. How does the image make you feel? 4. What would you hear? 5. What would you smell? Taste? Touch? 7. What could you compare it to? This will help you create interesting similes or metaphors. 6. What would you zoom in on?

One way to structure your writing is to think about a logical order using the steps below. Using the image you have just deconstructed, write a brief plan detailing what you could include in your writing. 4. Change 3. Develop 5. Conclude 2. Introduce 1. Establish Remember to pick a suitable narrative voice. 1 st person will give you an insight to how a character thinks and feels. 3 rd person will give a broader overview. Use a range of pronouns to help you with this.

Use the tasks below to help you prepare for creative writing tasks. Using the following image as inspiration, write a description of an abandoned house. Write a text using the title ‘The Forgotten Place’. This could be either fiction or non-fiction. Remember to use the image as inspiration. Using the following image as inspiration, write a description of a fairground. Write a text using the title ‘An unforgettable summer’. This could be either fiction or non-fiction. Remember to use the image as inspiration.

One way to get higher marks in any writing assessment is to vary your vocabulary, sentence forms, and punctuation. Complete the SPAG tasks below. It is really important that you know a range a punctuation. Create a revision guide to the rules and function of each piece of punctuation. Full stop . Comma , Question mark ? Exclamation mark ! Apostrophe ’ Speech marks “ ” Colon : Semicolon ; Dash/hyphen - Brackets () Ellipses …

Vocabulary choices There are different levels of words: relevant, interesting and ambitious, however this doesn’t mean you have to fill your work with exceptionally long words. Often the most interesting work uses a variety of all these words. Using your skills from the dictionary and thesaurus pages, fill in the blanks in the table below. Relevant Interesting Said Shouted Ambitious Sad Happy Evil Nice Mean Barbaric The words you choose when writing - creatively or in analysis - are vital to what you are telling the reader. For example, are you telling the reader “Tommy cried because he was sad” or are you describing, “Tommy’s face glistened with tears through sorrow”? You need to try and use the ‘show don’t tell’ rule. Show the readers what is happening and how characters feel rather than just telling them. Example: David was in a furious temper. David stomped to his desk spilling coffee as he went. Pushing past a group of people, he threw himself into his chair. With one sweep of his hand, he cleared his desk and growled at the nearest secretary. TASK – Re-write the statements below so that you are showing, not telling, the reader how these characters are feeling. 1. She was frightened. 2. He was unhappy. REMEMBER TO USE: • Interesting verbs - 'doing' words or 'being' words. E. g. 'walk', ‘feel’ • Adverbs – words that add information to the verb. • Adjectives - describing words that tell you more about nouns. CHALLENGE: Can you include a simile or metaphor?

Different types of sentence There are three different types of sentence, we are going to look at the basic way to write these and when you learn more about punctuation you can extend these in different ways. In section two we looked at how to structure a simple sentence using a main clause. We are now going to look at how to construct a complex sentence and a compound sentence. The prince smiled. Subordinate clause Part of a sentence that doesn’t make sense on it’s own. The prince smiled, while skipping down the road. While skipping down the road, the prince smiled. The prince, while skipping down the road, smiled. The subordinate clause can go at the beginning, middle or end of the sentence. Examples of Complex sentences This is our main clause, to make it into a complex sentence you need to add a subordinate clause. How to write a compound sentence – this one is much easier! A complex sentence is basically two main clauses stuck together with a connective – and, if, so, but, yet etc. The prince smiled. He was happy. The prince smiled because he was happy. By adding one connective in the middle you have transformed your sentence. Try to use a variety of connectives in your work.

Task 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Highlight the subordinate clause in these complex sentences. The sun was shining, trying to peep out from behind the cloud. Running at full speed, the cheetah pounced on it’s prey. The wizard, not seeing the gremlin, tucked his wand inside his cloak. Shining in the autumn sun, the knight’s armour looked reflected his bravery. The wind echoed through the trees, ripping the leaves from their branches. Task Re-write these simple sentences turning them into different variations of complex and compound sentences. I love chocolate. The frog jumped really high. The perfume smelt like roses. The window was frosted. Babies cry all the time. I can use simple sentences in my writing. Ben walked home from school. The princess was annoyed.

Task: Extend all these sentences – make sure you read the instructions for each section properly. Add a subordinate clause to these sentences to create a complex sentence 1. The rain was pouring 2. The unicorn was jubilant 3. The night was a catastrophe 4. The house was bleak 5. The nail varnish was sparkly Add another main clause and connective to these sentences to create a compound sentence – Remember, connective doesn’t only mean and or because. 1. The anchor dropped into the sea 2. The locket opened 3. The squirrel was sprinting 4. The shiny boots were fabulous 5. The campfire was scorching Add a main clause to these subordinate clauses to create a complex sentence. 1. Shrieking as it went 2. Revolving around, 3. Believing the lies 4. Sizzling against my skin 5. Indifferently