the point in the narrative where the suspense and excitement reach their highest point

the feeling or atmosphere in a section of text

details that tell us what a character is experiencing (seeing hearing, doing, smelling) during a scene

details that tell us what a character is feeling and thinking during a scene

vocabulary chosen to create a particular impression or to have a particular effect on the reader

Writing the second half of a narrative climax scene in 'When The Sky Falls'

English

In this unit, pupils write a narrative climax and use it as the stimulus for writing a diary entry from a character's perspective.

In 'A Kind of Spark’: Narrative Writing', pupils finessed writing a build-up and climax with a focus on switching between the past and present tense to highlight a jump in perspective. In this unit, pupils will write a narrative climax and use it as the stimulus for writing a diary entry from a character's perspective.

'When the Sky Falls': narrative and journalistic report writing

What attributes does Joseph show in the climax section of 'When the Sky Falls' that we have written?

What mood have we aimed to set in our narrative retelling of the climax of 'When the Sky Falls'?

Which technique for increasing pace and tension is shown here? 'Why had he even come? What could he possibly achieve? How could he do anything in this chaos?'

Which techniques for increasing pace and tension are shown here? 'Suddenly, above him, he saw the bombers turning again, racing down to attack him.'

it allows us to include lots of descriptive detail

it allows us to include lots of emotive detail

What is the effect of using a succession of simple sentences in our writing?

If this passage comes at the end of our climax, what punctuation might follow it? 'Joseph knew he had to do his duty. No matter what' 

Joseph running through the air raid to the zoo

Joseph training the gun on Adonis, but being knocked to the ground

Adonis guarding Joseph and helping him get free from the rubble

What parts of the climax of 'When the Sky Falls' are we including in our narrative retelling?

to show that events are coming thick and fast

to build a sense of the pressure Joseph is under

Why do we want to give a sense of 'speed' in our narrative retelling of the climax of 'When the Sky Falls'?

an explosion shattered the buildings to his left

he threw himself on through the burning chaos

Match the features of writing a narrative climax to the examples. 

Which technique for increasing pace and tension is shown here? 'Then it came. A hail of fire from above. A cascade of destruction.'

Which cohesive device for increasing pace and tension is shown here? 'Only one thought dominated his mind: what would Mrs F want him to do?'

An explosion shook the ground, but Joseph pressed on regardless. 

As an explosion shook the ground, but Joseph pressed on regardless. 

As an explosion shook the ground, Joseph pressed on regardless. 

As an explosion shook the ground and Joseph pressed on regardless. 

Which examples combine these two ideas correctly using cohesive devices? 'An explosion shook the ground. Joseph pressed on regardless.'

Starter Quiz