Year Four writing Developing character within a narrative

Year Four writing – Developing character within a narrative. Character = Narrative =

Us as authors. Us as readers.

His awareness tingled. The fur on the back of his neck prickled. It felt like he was being watched. He swivelled to face the top of the alley – and immediately wished he hadn’t. A thin white cat sat there. She was licking her claws, watching him with one ice blue eye. Where the other eye should’ve been was an empty socket. Her fur was spotless clean, but around her was the smell of darkness, of dank and deadly things and places.

His awareness tingled. The fur on the back of his neck prickled. It felt like he was being watched. He swivelled to face the top of the alley – and immediately wished he hadn’t. A thin white cat sat there. She was licking her claws, watching him with one ice blue eye. Where the other eye should’ve been was an empty socket. Her fur was spotless clean, but around her was the smell of darkness, of dank and deadly things and places. appearance manner effect

manner appearance How does she move/speak? What does she look like? a single eye as blue as the winter sky crystal clear voice effect What do Varjak and the other cats do in reaction? heart hammered in his chest

Write a paragraph introducing the character of Sally Bones. Think about: • Appearance - what does she look like? • Manner- how does she moves and speak? • Effect – What do Varjak and the other cats do in response? Challenge: Could you write a character description for the other cats in the picture? What type of characters are they? How will you use show not tell to get this across to your reader?