Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Ms. Watson, and I'm delighted that you've decided to join me today where we are going to be learning about how to use really sophisticated writing techniques.

I love writing.

I love reading what students write.

So I'm really looking forward to today's lesson.

So let's get started.

So the outcome of today's lesson is that you will be able to use compound adjectives and analogies to create specific effects in your writing.

We will begin with the keywords.

The first one is participial adjective, and that's when you have a past participle such as delighted and that is being used as an adjective; and then hyphen, that little punctuation mark, that small dash that is used between two words; and precise, to be precise means to be exactly or sharply defined or stated; something that is abstract exists in thought or as an idea; and that is usually seen as an opposite of something that is concrete, which exists in a material or physical form.

Now if you would like a little bit of time to familiarise yourself with the key words, please feel free to pause the video and rejoin the lesson when you are ready.

Now this is the outline of today's lesson.

There's going to be two learning cycles.

The first one is about using compound adjectives, and the second one is about using an analogy.

And both these techniques are sophisticated and will really improve your writing.

Now adjectives.

Now certain amount of this is going to be recapped because you've been using adjectives really effectively for a long time.

And adjectives are words used to enhance.

That means make better the description of nouns.

They can be words that refer to colour, blue, green, yellow; to size, huge, little, tiny; the number, one, two, three, four, or 100; or maybe the origin, maybe Turkish or French.

And compound adjectives are made up of more than one word.

And there are certain kind of rules around how you make compound adjectives.

And I'm gonna share with you four ways to form compound adjectives.

So number one is a noun plus an adjective.

Here's an example, the blood-red roses.

Blood is a noun, red is an adjective.

And number plus noun.

So you'd have here 15-mile hike.

15 is the number, the mile is a noun.

And adjective plus adjective.

Here we have a blue-grey sky.

Both blue and grey are adjectives.

And adjective past participial adjective, you have brown-eyed, an ordinary adjective in brown.

And then you have the past participle eyed making up a participial adjective.

Now I'd like you to note that the two words are hyphenated.

Compound adjectives are always hyphenated because they function as a single word.

And I would like you to think about the effect.

What is effective about these compound adjectives? I'd like you to pause the video while you have a discussion about their effectiveness, and I'm really looking forward to sharing ideas with you.

Off you go.

Welcome back.

I hope you really enjoyed that discussion.

I'd like to share with you what the Oak pupil said.

Now Izzy thought that the compound adjective blood-red was really vivid and that it conveys the exact shade and it has hints of danger.

That's because of the word blood there.

And she thought you could experiment, so you could have poppy-red and that has cheerful associations.

So I really like the way that Izzy is starting to think about how she could use the connotations of certain nouns to inform her compound adjectives.

And around the number in 15-mile hike, she said that it adds precision.

And she's quite right.

Because a 15-mile hike is very, very different to say a three-mile hike and different again to 100-mile hike.

And Jun thought that blue-grey, the double adjective compound really was very nuanced and that it perfectly captures that uncertain, maybe it will be sunny, maybe it won't quality of the weather.

I'm sure we're all familiar with weather that is blue-grey.

And he liked brown-eyed.

He thought it was concise and he thought it was much more incisive than saying their eyes were brown.

So really good thinking there.

Let's move on.

Let's have a check for understanding.

I would like you to think about which word classes, but by which I mean things like verbs, nouns, adjectives, have been used to form the following adjectives.

a, everywhere I gaze, there were snow-covered mountains; b, the ink-blue sea was not inviting; c, I smell the sweet-sour smell of burning lemons; and d, when travelling, I always advise five-star accommodation.

Have a think about how those compound adjectives have been made.

You can pause the video while you do that.

So well done.

Are you ready for me to reveal the answers? So the first one is a noun, which is snow, and then the part adjective, which is covered, and B is noun plus adjective.

The noun is ink and blue is an adjective.

And then we have the double adjective compound with sweet and sour, both adjectives.

And D, we have the number plus the noun, five-star number plus noun.

Very well done.

Let's move on.

Now what we're going to do is I am going to read to you a description and you are then going to rewrite it using compound adjectives.

But let's just start with the reading.

Follow along as I read please.

The cafe was small and cosy and extremely popular with locals.

It served simple food, made by the couple who had run it for 30 years.

Madame's specialty was pastry.

I used to speculate that she knew the recipe for at least a hundred different pies.

My favourite was the cheese one.

It was flaky and golden.

Somehow, I still don't know how she did it, it managed to be both crispy and gooey at the same time.

One day I had a pie marathon and ate three in a row and had to lie down for the rest of the afternoon.

So there's an enjoyable memory from exploring a new place.

Now I want you to rewrite this paragraph so that you are using compound adjectives for precision and specificity.

You're going to need to pause the video while you do that.

So pause the video now, off you go, and happy writing.

Hello, and welcome back.

I hope you enjoyed that writing task.

I always think compound adjectives are actually really good fun to create.

I'd like to share Izzy's paragraph with you.

And as I read it to you, I'd like you to note where she has used compound adjectives.

The much-loved, 30-year-old cafe had doll-sized tables and a meter-long menu.

It served simple food, homemade by a husband and wife team.

Madame's specialty was pastry.

My favourite was the cheese one, flaky and golden-brown, it managed to be both crispy and gooey at the same time.

On one exceptionally indulgent day, I went in for a three-pie marathon, you might call it a piathon, and had to lie down for the rest of the afternoon.

So where were the her compound adjectives? Did you pick out these? So we have much-loved and 30-year-old, which is a really concise and efficient way of conveying a lot of information.

And then she's really gone in for sort of some interesting description, doll-size tables and a meter-long menu.

Both of those have to be a kind of exaggeration, but it's very effective having that contrast between something being dull sized and something else being metre long.

And she's used the double adjective compound with golden-brown and then number and noun with three pie.

And it really emphasises just how many pies she ate.

And I would like you to think about how it worked the way her use of compound adjectives made the paragraph more precise and more vivid.

And then I'd like you to look at your own writing and to underline the compound adjectives in your writing and consider what the effect is.

You'll need to pause the video while you reflect on your work.

So do that now and then rejoin the lesson.

So let's look at the lesson outline again.

We're making brilliant progress.

We've looked at using compound adjectives and now we're going to look at how you might use an analogy.

Analogies, what are they? Let's have a look.

Now an analogy is a figure of speech that compares two different things or ideas by highlighting their similarities.

And you might very well think on hearing that, that that's basically a simile or a metaphor.

And yes, it is similar to similes and metaphors, but also different in quite significant ways.

And I would like us to look now at those similarities and differences.

So let's take this example.

Simile: life is like a river.

A comparison between life and a river using the word like.

And with a metaphor, we use the verb to be.

So life is a river.

And you know by now because your experienced readers of text that with imagery like simile and metaphor, we, the reader, explore those connotations.

We make inferences from our understanding of what rivers are.

Now an analogy works slightly differently.

So let's look at how it works.

An analogy starts with a comparison and it uses it to make and develop a point.

So here's an example of one.

Life can be seen as a river.

Sometimes, it's fast flowing and exciting.

At other times, it's so flooded and overflowing that we're at risk of drowning in the same way that we sometimes take on too much and feel overwhelmed.

At other times it's as if the water has evaporated and there's just a muddy stream.

That's us when we are feeling bored and depleted of energy, depleted means drained.

Mostly though the river runs smoothly, like our lives, gliding downstream to the river's end.

Now what I want you to do is discuss, what are the specific comparisons being made? One example would be this.

The fast flowing, the river is fast flowing, which is suggesting that life moves fast.

Look at the other specific comparisons that are being made.

And I would also like you to look at the phrases that are used to make those comparisons.

And finally, I would like you to think about what is the effect of the analogy? You can pause the video while you do that.

Have a great discussion.

So welcome back.

What a great discussion you had so much to say.

And here are some ideas that I would like to share with you that you can compare with your own ideas.

You might have said that specific comparisons were: drowning in the river equates to feeling overwhelmed, and that a muddy stream equates to dull and boring, and run smoothly is calm and uneventful, and the river's end is death.

And the comparative phrases that are used to make those comparisons are: can be seen as, in the same way that, it's as if, and like.

And really interesting ideas about the effect.

You might have said things like this, but it makes the abstract idea concrete.

This is a series of thoughts on the meaning and nature of life.

That's quite philosophical, that's quite abstract that relates to ideas.

But you make it concrete by using an image of a river, which is something we've all appreciated and we can see and we know what it looks like and how it sounds.

And making the abstract idea into a concrete image makes the abstract idea easier to understand.

And you might have noticed that it's imaginative and it's rich in connotations, which similes and metaphors often are.

But it's really clear because the writer actually explains the point clearly.

It's not just for us to make inferences from.

And the analogy is developed.

We can see how the ideas change too.

The river at different stages, is life at different stages.

So really, really good response to the question on that analogy.

Let's move on.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which of the following is true of analogies? Is it a, they are best used in descriptive writing because they create vivid imagery; b, like similes and metaphors, they involve making a comparison between two things; c, they are a powerful literary device for making clear points about an abstract idea; and d, you need to use inference to interpret analogies.

Have a think.

Make your choice.

Are you ready for me to reveal the answer? They are b and c.

Now they can create vivid imagery, which is what a says.

But they are best used for when you want to make a point about something.

When you want to make a complex idea, easy to understand.

Well done if you've got those right.

Let's move on.

Now it's over to you.

I would like you to pick one of these examples and develop it into an analogy that makes a clear point or a clear series of points.

The possibilities are: waiting in a long queue to check in at the airport, trying to make yourself understood in a different language, and returning home after a holiday.

In your writing, please remember to use the phrases can be seen as, in the same way that, it's as if, and like.

You're going to need to pause the video while you do this writing task.

So do that now, and off you go.

Happy writing.

Welcome back.

Well done, what fantastic focus.

Now I'd like you to do some self-assessment and self-reflection.

Read over your work.

Check that you used the useful phrases.

The comparative phrases can be seen as, in the same way that, it's as if, and like.

And when you've done that, I'd like you to share your work with a partner and use the following reflective sentence starters while you are sharing.

I compared A to B, whatever it is you are comparing; and I wanted to make the point that; and I developed the analogy by, usually analogy has develop of development stage; and I use comparative phrases such as.

You're going to need to pause the video while you share your work with a partner.

If you are working on your own, just use the sentence starters to reflect on your own work.

You can make some notes in response to them.

Pause the video and do that now and then rejoin me for the end of the lesson.

Off you go.

So what a fantastic lesson it's been.

And before we say goodbye, I'd like to remind you of what you have been learning today.

So let me summarise it now.

You have been learning that compound adjectives are highly effective in your writing and you've been learning that compound adjectives are created by combining multiple words.

And you've been learning that compound adjectives help to add precision and vivid description to your writing.

You also know that they must always use a hyphen.

And analogies, you've been learning about those two and they are aware of comparing two things in order to make your point both clear and imaginative.

You have been fantastic learners today.

It's been a pleasure to teach you.

I would like to thank you for your attention and your focus and your writing.

I look forward to seeing you again in another lesson.

Have a great rest of the day, and bye for now.