Tess of the D'Urbervilles Imaginative Writing

Wednesday 17th November 2021

Quick Recap

1. What do pronouns replace?

2. When would we use second-person pronouns?

3. Give three examples of first-person pronouns and three examples of third-person pronouns.

Exploring Language: Determiners

• In the previous session, we looked at pronouns and how they change between the first, second and third-person.

• This session will focus on determiners.

• Determiners are words placed before a noun to modify our understanding of quantity, ownership and specificity.

Exploring Language: Definite Articles

Articles link to how specific we are being when discussing a noun.

There is the definite article, ‘the’, which is used to refer to a particular, known noun.

The cat sat on the couch.

We use the definite article when there is only one of something or when we know what is being referred to.

Exploring Language: Indefinite Articles

On the other hand, we have the indefinite article, ‘a/an’, which is more vague in its use. It doesn’t refer to a specific noun.

Do you have a pencil I can borrow?

We use ‘a/an’ before a singular noun – where there is only one. ‘A’ is used if the following word begins with a consonant; ‘an’ is used if the following word begins with a vowel.

Exploring Language: Determiners

Fill in the following sentences with the correct article.

1. _____ apple a day keeps the doctor away.

2. Mount Everest is in _____ Himalayas.

3. Peter lives in _____ biggest house.

4. I bought _____ pair of shoes.

5. Look at _____ woman of there.

Exploring Language: Quantifiers

Quantifiers are used to show quantity. This includes ‘any’, ’all’, ’many’, ’much’, ’most’, ’some’, ’a few’, ‘and a lot of’, ‘a little’, ‘a large amount of’ and ‘none’.

Many people died in the calamity.

Additionally, numbers can also be used as quantifiers.

Five children were absent yesterday.

Exploring Language: Determiners

Identify all of the determiners.

1. The girl has a brand new bike.

2. The capital of Ireland is Dublin.

3. Look at that balloon high up in the sky.

4. There is milk in the fridge.

5. The student went to an open evening.

6. Sally had an omelette for breakfast.

7. I saw the film yesterday.

8. Andy bought a cake in the bakery.

9. Go and get another one.

Learning purposes

• To consider how an author can influence readers through their use of language.

• To explore the structure of a narrative.

• To develop ability to plan and produce a well-structured piece of imaginative writing.

Recap of previous learning:➢ What do you have to do for the

imaginative writing question in Paper 1?

➢ How can you produce an effective opening to your imaginative writing?

Future learning:➢ Continue developing reading and

imaginative writing skills. ➢ Begin exploring non-fiction texts for

Paper 2 of your English Language GCSE.

Starter

What did you learn about the character of Alec D’Urberville last week? Discuss your ideas.

The following quotation is taken from Chapter 12 of the novel. In it, Alec is describing himself:

I suppose I am a bad fellow—a damn bad fellow. I was born bad, and I have lived bad, and I shall die bad in all probability.

TASK: Copy this quotation into your exercise books and annotate for how the writer uses language and structure to provide an insight into Alec D’Urberville’s character.

Read Extract 4

• Read from the beginning of the extract to line 60.

As we are reading, consider:

• How Hardy has effectively characterised Alec D’Urberville. How effectively has he made him a dislikeable character?

Extract 4

• Reread lines 37-41.

• What atmosphere do you think Hardy is attempting to create here?

• We are going to consider how effectively Hardy creates an uncomfortable and unnerving atmosphere.

• Annotate your copy using the questions to help you.

• You do not need to explicitly comment on language and structural features. Instead, consider what Hardy includes and why he does this. You can then aim to apply some of these ideas to your own writing.

She was silent, and the horse ambled along for a considerable distance, till a faint luminous fog, which had hung in the hollows all the evening, became general and enveloped them. It seemed to hold the moonlight in suspension, rendering it more pervasive than in clear air. Whether on this account, or from absent-mindedness, or from sleepiness, she did not perceive that they had long ago passed the point at which the lane to Trantridge branched from the highway, and that her conductor had not taken the Trantridge track.

• What atmosphere does this immediately create? • Why does Hardy not decide to have Tess and Alec

talking to one another?

• The horse is said to be ambling ‘for a considerable distance’. Why does Hardy not decide to set this in the middle of the town?

• We then find out that Tess and Alec are far away from civilisation. Why does Hardy do this?

• What technique has been used here and how does this contribute to the atmosphere?

• Why has Hardy not set this in bright sunshine? Why fog?

What about this makes Tess vulnerable? Why does Hardy do this?

Read the end of extract 4.

As we are reading, consider the following:

• How Hardy develops the character of Alec D’Urberville

• How Alec D’Urberville manipulates Tess

• How Tess is presented

Section B: Imaginative Writing (40 marks)

• So far we have looked at Section A of Language Paper 1.

• In Section B you will be asked to produce a piece of imaginative writing.

• You will be asked to respond to a statement such as: • Write about a time when ………

• Your responses can be real or imagined.

Top tips for effective openings

• Start in the middle of the action (in medias res) - you don’t have to start at ‘the beginning’.

• Use a powerful line of dialogue- an interrogative, exclamative or simple sentence for example.

• Show rather than tell.• Don’t give away too much information- keep the reader guessing what will

happen.• Use an impressive range of vocabulary- avoid using ‘good’ ‘bad’ ‘went’

etc. Aim to build a clear image in the reader’s mind.• Vary your sentence openings – start each sentence in a different way, try

not to overuse ‘I’.• Use a range of sentence types- simple/compound/complex sentence,

interrogative, exclamative.

Narrative structure

• Last week, we explored how to structure a narrative.

• TASK: Copy the graph into your exercise books and plot the events from the extract today onto the graph.

• There may not be a clear resolution to the story – it may be left on a cliff-hanger.

Imaginative writing

• In today’s extract, Alec, a character who is relatively new to Tess’ life, manipulates Tess and takes advantage of her.

• Today’s imaginative writing task is linked thematically to this extract, however you do not necessarily need to write about a negative experience like Tess had.

Write about a time when you met somebody new.

Your response could be real or imagined.

Imaginative writing – planning

Consider all of the extracts that we have read in class so far this year. Could you use any of these for inspiration for this question?

The Great Gatsby➢Gatsby and Daisy meeting for the first time

The Catcher in the Rye ➢Caulfield meeting people on the train whilst running away

Tess of the D'Urbervilles ➢Angel Clare seeing and meeting Tess for the first time.

You cannot copy the exact plot/characters of these extracts but you can use them for inspiration. See the next slide for an example.

Imaginative writing - planningInspiration: The Great Gatsby

➢Gatsby and Daisy meeting for the first time

My story: ➢Two characters meeting for the first time having been set up on a blind date. At the end of the story it’s

revealed that they loved each other many years ago. 1st person perspective. Past tense

Description of setting/weather etc. Pathetic fallacy used to create an uncomfortable atmosphere – warm, stormy etc.

Description of thoughts and feelings before the narrator meets their date. Describe nervous mannerisms.

Narrator is sat waiting for date and reminisces on a love they they had many years ago but lost. Nobody has compared since. Refer to recognisable features (voice/perfume etc.)

Narrator comes back to the present and hears a recognisable voice talking to the bartender. The two lock eyes and story ends with female character dialogue as she recognises the narrator.

Imaginative writing - planning

TASK: Now plan your story. You will then have 45 minutes to write this.

Points for consideration:

• Exposition – outline your setting and character or characters (no more than two)

• Rising action – events leading to your climax

• Climax – the most intense part of your narrative; the ‘big’ event

• Falling action – solve the issue in your climax

• Resolution – All plot points are resolved

• Purposeful use of language – include plenty of descriptive language (use of the senses and colours can help with this)

• Purposeful use of structure – one sentence paragraphs, variety of sentence types, dialogue

Imaginative writing

Write about a time when you met somebody new.

Your response could be real or imagined.

➢45 minutes

➢Consider how you want the reader to feel at each point in your story and how you can use language/structure purposefully to influence your reader.

Plenary

• Read through your work. Make three improvements.

• This could be improving your spelling, vocabulary, sentence structures etc.