Stevenson's use of structure.

Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Mr. Young and it's great to be teaching you today on this lesson all about Stevenson's use of structure in the novella, Dr.

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

So today's lesson has a very clear learning outcome, which is as follows.

So hopefully by the end of today's lesson, everybody should be able to make links between the structure and themes of the novella.

And just like in any lesson, we have our keywords to accompany us.

And in today's lesson they are as follows, exposition Rising Action, climax, denouement and motif.

So today's lesson we'll have three very clear learning cycles, in our first learning cycle.

We're gonna look at Stevenson's structure of the novella, look at all those kind of wonderful and innovative things that he does in structuring the novella of Jekyll and Hyde.

And then we're gonna move on to learning cycle two, where we're really gonna apply that knowledge and link it to theme and look at how the way that Stevenson has structured this novella really helps bring some of the themes to life.

And finally we're gonna move on to bring all that work together to write a fantastic piece of writing about theme and structure in the novella.

I'm super excited to get started.

So let's begin learning cycle one.

So we're gonna start learning cycle one by looking at a Freytag's pyramid.

Don't worry if you've not come across this before as this is what we are going to look at now.

So a Freytag's pyramid is a narrative structure that breaks a story down into five distinct sections.

And as the name suggests, it looks a little bit like this, a pyramid.

So the first thing on a Freytag's pyramid is our exposition.

So our exposition is where we are introduced to the story.

So the characters, the setting and the background.

And then you'll notice that line starts to creep up a bit and that is a deliberate choice because we hit the part of the story known as rising action.

So in this part of a story, the tension grows as it leads to a conflict.

So we start to get a bit more on edge as an audience.

Finally we hit the top of the pyramid, which is known as the climax.

So this is the turning point of any story.

So this is where the tension is at its highest and the conflict is addressed here.

Then we see the line start to fall back down again the second side of the pyramid.

And this is known as falling action.

So this is where the story shifts.

So this is where the story shifts to anything that happens as a result of the climax.

And finally, we are once again left with a straight line.

This is known as the denouement and this is where the conflict is resolved and all of the loose ends are tied up.

So when we put it all together, it looks a little bit like this.

So a Freytag's pyramid is a really great way for us to structure the narrative of any story and we're gonna apply that later on to looking at Jekyll and Hyde, but that's quite a lot of talking from me.

So over to you then for your first check for understanding of today.

So what part is missing from Freytag's pyramid below, pause the video, have a quick go and then do push play when you would like to continue.

Okay, great job if you are able to identify it as the climax, the climax which sits at the top of the pyramid, well done if you're able to spot that.

So I always find this quite tricky to understand at first, but I do find it a bit easier when I start to plot an actual story on the Freytag's pyramid.

So the example I've got for you here is the famous fable of the tortoise and the hare.

So let's have a go at plotting that on a Freytag's pyramid.

Well, I would say that the exposition is where we are introduced to the hare and the tortoise.

They're enjoying a sunny day.

That's usually how the story begins.

So where does the rising action come into it? Well, I would say the hare challenges the tortoise to race races ahead into the distance.

So the tension is increased here as we want to know who wins the race.

I would say that the climax is then when the hare falls asleep before the finish line.

Slowly but surely the tortoise builds an unassailable lead.

That means he cannot be overtaken.

And finally, the falling action is where the tortoise wins the race as a result of the actions of the hare, the hare cannot catch him and the other animals cheer.

And our denouement, is that the hare realises that slow and steady can win the race.

So that is one story that we could plot on a Freytag's pyramid.

So let's try that a little bit differently and plot the events of Dr.

Jekyll, Mr. Hyde onto a Freytag's pyramid.

So what I would like you to do please, is pause the video, have a go at that task and push play when you would like to see some feedback.

Okay, great job on that.

That is a really tricky task.

You know, the plot of Dr.

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is really convoluted.

It's really, really confusing at times.

So I'm really impressed to see how you got on with this.

When I approach this task, I kind of approached it in the following ways.

So I kind of felt that this is a good way that we could plot this story on a Freytag's pyramid.

So I would say that the exposition is where we meet Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield and we learn that Utterson is unhappy with Jekyll leaving all of his money to Hyde.

I would say that the tension in the story then starts to increase when Utterson begins confronting Jekyll about the will and Jekyll is refusing to discuss this.

I would say the climax of the story when we kind of reach the turning point that we can't come back from is the death of Sir Danvers Carew, an artisan breaking down the door of Jekyll's lab.

I would say that falling action when the tension starts to decrease is when we learn of the different narratives we learn Landon's narrative learning that Jekyll and Hyde are in fact the same person.

And I would also argue that the denouement is the death of Jekyll and Hyde and Jekyll's statement.

This is where the loose ends are certainly tied up to a certain extent.

So well done if you are able to identify anything similar in your own discussions.

Okay, so can you link now any key themes of the novela to any of the plot points below? So pause the video, have a quick discussion, and then do push play when you'd like to continue.

Yeah, great work on that.

And I really agree you could apply lots of different themes to these different plot points.

Some of the things I was thinking of were concealment, secrecy, reputation and this kind of idea of good versus evil, which I think is shown at quite a lot of these through quite a lot of these plot points on the Freytag's pyramid below.

So well done if you are able to identify those.

Okay, quick check for understanding for me then please.

So when Sir Danvers Carew dies and Utterson and breaks down the door of Jekyll's lab, this is arguably the blank of the story, pause the video, have a quick go and then push play when you'd like to continue.

Okay, great job if you identified it as climax, I agree, I think this is where the tension is at the highest in the novella and this is where we reach a turning point that we can't come back from.

Great job if you identified that.

Okay, so we've looked at how the novella has been structured, now we're gonna look at the actual form of the novella, the form it takes.

So the story takes the form of a novella, but specifically it is an epistolatory novella and this means that the narrative includes letters or other documents as part of the storytelling.

So my quick question for you then is can you think of what documents are included as part of the narrative? Have a quick discussion, pause the video and push play when you'd like to continue.

Okay, great job on that, some really fantastic discussions taking place.

It's lovely to hear you use your extensive knowledge of the plot to answer this question, but some of the things that really stuck out to me were, were the ones on the board now.

So you know, Jekyll's will, I would say Jekyll's will is a quite a big part of the narrative structure here.

Again, we've got Hyde's letter sent to Jekyll, we've also got the sealed and stamped envelope on Carew's body and then we've also got the way the novella ends, we've got Dr.

Lanyon's letter, his narrative, and we've also got Dr.

Jekyll's letter as well, also known as his full statement on the case.

So this is significant because we hear from lots of different characters at lots of different times and it really contributes to this multiple narrative perspective that Stevenson uses.

So my next question, and this is a much more tricky one, is why do you think Stevenson chose this form for his novella? So pause the video, have a quick discussion, and then do push play when you'd like to continue.

Okay, great job on those discussions and I'll be super impressed if anybody got something similar to what is on the board now.

So I would argue that the use of documents as part of the narrative increases tension by framing it as an investigation.

The very title of the novella, "The Strange Case of Dr.

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" suggests that this is not a story but a matter to be investigated.

The documents also make us suspicious of each character's intentions and motives.

The audience takes the role of detectives scrutinising these reputable men and their actions in the story.

Really well done if you are able to identify anything similar in your own discussions.

So ultimately the detective form and the differing narratives presented in this letter form help drive the key themes of concealment, false appearances and human curiosity that are central to the novella's plot.

Well done if you're able to pick up any of those kind of similar ideas in what you spoke about on that last task.

Okay, we have reached another check for understanding.

So my check for understanding is as follows, the novella can be considered an epistolary novel, true or false.

Pause the video, have a quick go and then push play when you'd like to see some feedback.

Okay, great job if you identified it as true, but how can we justify that statement? Is it A, some of the narrative takes the form of letters and other documents or is it B? The narrative is in a detective form and even framed as a case that needs to be investigated by the reader.

Once again, pause the video, have a quick go and then push play when you'd like to continue.

Okay, excellent job if you identified A, some of the narratives takes the form of letters and other documents and that is why it is an epistolary novella.

So well done if you identified that.

Okay, so we have reached our first practise task of today's lesson then, so super excited to see how you get on with this one.

So your task is as follows, using the sentence stems below, write a summary about the novella's form and structure, your sentence starters are as follows, the novella takes the form of A, Stevenson's use of this form.

The story itself can be structured using and the rising action is arguably, okay, pause the video, have a go and then do push play when you'd like to see some feedback.

Okay, great job on that.

It's really nice to see you take all of that fantastic content of learning cycle one and apply it to your own work.

So we've got an example of how you could have approached that task on the board in front of you.

Now this is by no means the only correct answer, it's just a way that you could have approached it, but really well done if you were able to replicate any of these ideas in your own work.

So our example paragraph goes, the novella takes the form of an epistolary novella.

This means some of the narrative takes the form of letters and documents including Lanyon's letter, Jekyll's will, and his full statement of the case.

Stevenson's use of this form increases tension in the novella and frames the story as an investigation.

Ultimately we are suspicious of different characters at different times.

The story itself can be structured using Freytag's pyramid with clear plot elements matching key parts of the story.

For example, the rising action is arguably when Utterson begins his investigation into Hyde.

He makes inquiries, accosts him on the street and becomes increasingly suspicious of his motives and the tension rises accordingly.

Great job, if you've got anything similar to that on the board in front of you, okay, we have reached learning cycle two, well done for all of your fantastic work in learning cycle one.

So let's keep that going into our next learning cycle.

So this learning cycle is all about themes and how they can link to the structure that we spoke about in learning cycle one.

So in the novella, the way the story is structured contributes to our understanding of theme.

Before we unpick that a little bit more, I've got a a really quick opening question for you, which is what are the key themes from Dr.

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Pause the video, have a quick discussion and then push play when you would like to continue.

Okay, so great conversations taking place there.

A really enthusiastic start to learning cycle two, which is lovely to see and it's lovely to hear you recapping your excellent knowledge of the story and all of the themes within it.

The ones that really jumped out to me were as follows.

So the themes I've identified are concealment, false appearances, human curiosity, scientific development, repression and duality.

And well done if you picked up on anything similar.

But for me, the three that really stick out in terms of how the structure helps bring them to life are these ones concealment, false appearances and human curiosity.

So let's unpick that a little bit more.

So let's take a look at how the structure helps develop certain themes of the novella.

So we've got some example themes on the board.

We're gonna start with concealment.

And remember concealment means keeping something hidden.

So our summary of this in the story is as follows.

So in the novella various things are concealed including Hyde's true identity, the truth of the case by Lanyon and anything that damages reputation.

So how can this link to structure? Well I would say that through the use of letters throughout the narrative Stevenson develops the idea of concealment.

Different characters conceal things at different times.

So I would say that the way that he structures the novella, the multiple narratives, we see different characters hiding things at different times and this really helps bring that theme out even more.

Again, we've got this theme of human curiosity.

So again, what is the summary of this in the novella? Well this is a theme shown throughout, Utterson, Lanyon and Jekyll are all curious and they're curiosity leads to some of their downfalls.

So for example, Lanyon's curiosity and wanting to see the transformation, Utterson's curiosity in chasing the case and Jekyll's curiosity in kind of pushing the boundaries of science.

So how can this link to structure? Well I would say that the detective form and the twin narratives of Lanyon and Jekyll revealed at the conclusion show the power of curiosity and how it's ruined these two men.

So a really nice point there about how the detective form helps bring out the theme of curiosity.

So finally we also have the theme of false appearances.

So again, how does this present itself in the novella? Well, throughout the novella things are not as they appear, the mask in particular blurs the distinction between Jekyll and Hyde.

So towards the end of the novella, Jekyll is wearing a mask whenever he's kind of inhabiting this Hyde persona.

So how can this link to structure? Well I would say that it is only at the end with Jekyll's full statement that we learn of his difficulty controlling the transformation.

The motif of the mask emphasises false appearances.

So that kind of motif of the mask throughout the novella really helps bring out that theme of human curiosity.

So that's quite a lot from me.

So quick check for understanding for you then.

So the theme of human curiosity is emphasised through the novella's form, true or false? Pause the video, have a quick go and then push play when you would like to continue.

Absolutely it is true and well done if you identified that.

But let's just add an extra layer of challenge to this question by trying to justify that answer.

So how could we justify that? Could we justify it with A, the two narratives of Jekyll and Lanyon build tension and their final reveal shows how curiosity has led to the ruin of both or is it B, it is a piece of detective fiction and these notoriously encourage curiosity among the characters, a curiosity the audience share, once again, pause the video, have a quick go and then push play when you'd like to see the correct answer.

Okay, excellent work if you identified it as A, it is those two narratives of Jekyll and Lanyon, which are only revealed at the end, which kind of build that tension and really bring out that theme of human curiosity.

Fantastic work if you are able to identify that.

Okay, so we have reached the practise task then for this learning cycle and it is as follows.

So I would like you to use the sentence fragments below to write a summary of how the theme of human curiosity can link to structure and those fragments are as follows.

Throughout the novella, in each man's downfall, the audience's understanding of key themes, the role curiosity played, Stevenson's use of structural devices, help develop, the audience can make direct comparisons of, for example, by only revealing the twin narratives of Lanyon and Jekyll at the novella's conclusion.

I'm super excited to see how you got on with this.

This is a really tricky task.

So do pause the video, have a go, and then push play when you'd like to see some feedback.

Okay, great job on that, I always find those kind of tasks really, really tricky indeed having to kind of put those things together to make a really nice paragraph.

So really well done on all of the fantastic work you've done to get an answer to that task.

So we've got an example on the board of how you could have approached it.

So throughout the novella, Stevenson's use of structural devices help develop the audience's understanding of key themes.

For example, by only revealing the twin narratives of Lanyon and Jekyll at the novella's conclusion, the audience can make direct comparisons of the role curiosity played in each man's downfall.

Great job if you're able to identify anything similar in your own piece of writing.

Okay, we have arrived at learning cycle three and the time is here to put all of that fantastic work into practise in a really nice piece of writing about theme and structure.

So let's get started.

Okay, so we have a statement here from Lucas.

So Lucas said the following things, he said, "When writing about the structure of the novella, it is important to recognise that although the case is solved, we are arguably left with more questions than answers." So a really interesting comment there from Lucas and quite cryptic really.

So my task is one for you.

So why might Lucas have said this? So have a quick discussion of that question, pause the video and then push play when you'd like to see some feedback.

Okay, some really nice conversations taking place there.

And I agree you could actually justify what Lucas has said here in a couple of different ways, but kind of what really leaped out to me was, was the following.

So you know, the novella leaves us with questions about Utterson's role.

The story ends with Lanyon's letter and Jekyll's full statement, yet we don't have a firsthand account from Utterson on the conclusion or its impact upon him.

Ultimately we hear the story told from different perspectives by different characters, which invites us to doubt the truth of what we hear.

So if I was trying to back up Lucas's statement, I would really be focusing on the role of Utterson.

You know, we hear firsthand from Lanyon, we hear firsthand from Jekyll, but we don't really get any kind of final conclusions from Utterson, which I would argue, we could agree with Lucas's statement there, which gives us kind of more questions than answers.

So well done if you identified anything similar in your own discussions.

Okay, quick check for understanding for me then please.

So in the novella we don't get to know Utterson's response to Lanyon's letter and Jekyll's full statement.

Is that true or false? Pause the video, complete the task, and then push play when you'd like to see some feedback.

Yep, that's absolutely correct.

That is true.

We do not get to see Utterson's response to Lanyon's letter and Jekyll's full statement.

So how could we justify that statement? Is it A, we don't get any commentary from Artisan on the story's conclusion or the impact of its consequences after the two documents? Or is it that Utterson is the narrator, his views are well known as he narrates most of the story.

Bit tricky, this one.

Pause the video, complete the task, and then push play when you'd like to see the correct answers.

Okay, really well done if you identified it as A, we don't get any commentary from Utterson on the story's conclusion or the impact of its consequences after the two documents.

So it's certainly true to say that yes, Utterson is the narrator, but he only narrates the story up to chapter eight.

So after the reveal from Lanyon and Jekyll, we don't get any further commentary from Utterson on the story.

Okay, so we have reached our third and final practise task of today's lesson.

And it is as follows, I would like you please to use the sentence starters below to answer the question, how does Stevenson structure the novella to highlight key themes within the text? And you've got some sentence starters there, and those are Stevenson explores the theme of false appearances through the motif of, the motif symbolises, the novella's form is intricately linked to the theme of curiosity, and Stevenson explores the theme of concealment through.

Okay, this is a really good chance to bring together everything that you've learned in this lesson and I'm really looking forward to seeing how you approach this task.

So pause the video, have a go, and then push play when you'd like to see some feedback.

Okay, superb work on that.

That is a really tricky task.

I always find it really, really tricky sometimes to link structure and theme.

So I'm super impressed at all of your hard work so far and I'd be really impressed if you identified anything similar to what is on the example student paragraph in front of you.

Now the paragraph goes, Stevenson explores the theme of false appearances through the motif of the mask, depicting it as a crucial element blurring the distinction between Jekyll and Hyde, emphasising the necessity for Jekyll to hide his dual identity.

The motif symbolises the duality within individuals serving as both a physical cover and a psychological shield against societal expectations, suggesting that concealment is integral to navigating the darker aspects of human nature.

The novella's form is intricately linked to the theme of curiosity, employing a detective structure and twin narratives to mirror the relentless curiosity of characters like Utterson, Lanyon, and Jekyll.

Ultimately showcasing how unchecked curiosity leads to their downfall.

Stevenson explores the theme of concealment through the epistolary narrative structure to invite us to question his characters and whether things are always as they seem, throughout the novella, we see characters that conceal key pieces of information to protect their own reputations and the reputations of their wider social class.

A really nice paragraph that and great work if you're able to identify anything similar in your own work.

Okay, we've made it to the end of the lesson.

We've learned a lot today, so let's recap exactly what we have focused on.

So firstly, the power of human curiosity is a key theme shown through the detective form and final narratives of Lanyon and Jekyll, concealment is a key theme shown through the motif of letters and the detective form.

False appearances is a key theme shown through the motif of the mask.

Arguably the novella's climax is when they break down the door to Jekyll's cabinet linking to secrecy and concealment.

And Jekyll offers a full statement in the denouement yet we don't see Utterson's response or the consequences of this.

Thank you very much for all of your hard work today.

It's been great to teach you and I look forward to teaching you on another lesson in this Jekyll and Hyde sequence.

Thank you very much and goodbye.