Hello, and welcome to the lesson.

My name is Ms. Watson, and I'm delighted that you have decided to join me today.

We're going to be looking again at the prologue to "The Girl with Seven Names" by Hyeonseo Lee.

You will need to find a copy of it.

And we are going to be looking at structural methods in that dramatic account that she writes of the fire.

So when you are ready, we'll make a start.

So by the end of today's lesson, you will be able to identify and use a range of structural methods to plan a dramatic account of an event.

So as ever, we are going to start with the keywords.

You can see there are five keywords and they are all really useful for unlocking your learning today.

The first one is in media res.

That is a Latin expression and it refers to a story that starts in the middle of the action.

A cliffhanger, I imagine you are familiar with that term.

It is a dramatic ending to a text which leaves the orderings wondering what will happen next.

Autocratic, that means you are demanding that people obey completely without asking or caring about anyone else's opinion.

It can refer to people, but it can also refer to government systems. Surveillance, that is the careful watching of a person or place, especially by the police or army, and often by order of the state.

And an escalation.

If something escalates, it becomes greater or more serious.

If you would like a little bit of time to familiarise yourself with the keywords, please feel free to pause the video while you do that and then rejoin the lesson.

There are two learning cycles.

The first one is we are going to look at the structural methods used by the writer Lee in the prologue to the girl with seven names.

And then we are going to use some of those methods to plan your own writing.

So let's go.

So let's look at these three important words and phrases that are useful for identifying and discussing structure.

In media res, one of our key keywords, so that's the beginning in the middle of the action.

Repetition, something that is said or written several times.

And then there's the cliffhanger, meaning ending at a moment of drama or the introduction of a new idea feeling.

And what I would like you to do is discuss why might a writer use the above methods.

Pause the video while you have that discussion.

And if you are working by yourself, just pause the video and make a few notes.

Well done and welcome back, and what an interesting discussion that was.

I would like to share with you what the Oak pupils said, and I invite you to consider whether your ideas were similar or different.

So here's one idea from Aisha, which is that repetition in reinforces ideas and feelings.

And Andeep talked about in media res and how it gets us straight into the action, and therefore is exciting.

We are not building up to the exciting moment.

We are right in there at the beginning.

Jacob pointed out that a cliffhanger leaves us with a question.

And, of course, we read on to find out the answer.

Let's move on.

So you're going to read the prologue, an extract from "The Girl with Seven Names" by Hyeonseo Lee.

You'll need to find your own copy.

It's published by HarperCollins.

A reminder of the context to it.

It's a memoir about Lee's escape from North Korea and it chronicles this harrowing journey she took through China and Southeast Asia to South Korea, and it describes the very severe restrictions on personal freedom in North Korea.

And it also explains how people were expected to show respect for North Korea's autocratic rulers, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il by, for example, having their portraits in their homes.

So read the prologue.

It begins with Lee being woken by her mother and ends with the word surveillance.

And then I would like you to discuss the following points.

I would like you to consider how it begins and ends, the father's behaviour throughout this extract, and what the narrator, Lee, learns later.

So time to pause the video and start reading.

I hope you enjoy reading the prologue as much as I do.

Off you go.

Welcome back.

Excellent focus.

Let's look here at the sequence of events.

You'll have thought about things like the beginning and ending.

And I want us to look in more detail at the sequence of events and have a check that we understand what structural techniques Lee is using at different points.

So it begins with Lee's mother shouting and waking her up, and her father gets the family out of the house.

And then in amazement, Lee watches her father enter the burning house.

He goes back in.

And there's the sound of fire all around them.

And the neighbours then try to put out the fire, but they are unable to.

And then Lee sees her father coming out of the house.

He's carrying two portraits, and we are soon they are of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, the leaders of North Korea.

It's later revealed that the fire was caused by a can of aviation fuel.

And the extract, the prologue, ends with Lee realising that family, not things, is what matters.

And she also refers to her father being watched by the authorities.

Now, I want you to think about this.

Where do you see the structural device in media res? At the beginning.

We begin right in the middle of the fire.

She doesn't wake up and smell a little bit of burning and wonder what it is.

We are bang in the middle of the danger right from the beginning.

And where do you see the repetition of an idea or a feeling? It's with the father.

She watches him go into the house, she watches him come outta the house, and then she refers to him being watched.

She learns that he's under surveillance.

And where do you see a cliffhanger? That's right, at the end.

We don't know what he is being watched.

We don't know why he is being watched, but we can infer being watched is a difficult, challenging, dangerous situation to be in, and we wonder why.

Really good work.

Let's move on.

So what I would like you to do now is to answer the following questions about this prologue.

Number one, how does the text begin and end? Two, what idea is repeated with variations? Three, how does the text move between the past, present, and the future? Now, I would like you to show your understanding in a little bit more detail.

I would like you to answer the following questions about the prologue.

Number one, how does the text begin and end? Two, what idea is repeated with variations? Three, how does the text move between the past, present, and the future? So what you will need is what you learned from the last task, when you check your understanding of the structural techniques and also the discussion that you have.

So gather up all your ideas and any notes you may have made and answer those three questions.

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

So off you go.

Well done and welcome back, and excellent focus there.

Now, what I'm going to do is share some possible answers with you, things that you might have said.

I'm not saying they're the only answers or that they are perfect answers.

I just think it's really useful for you to read an answer and compare yours with it.

So let's look at number one, how does the text begin and end? And what is the effect? So you might have said something like this, that the text begins with a dramatic and immediate scene of crisis.

The narrator is woken by their mother's screams and their father rushes them out of the house as it catches fire.

This sets a tense and urgent tone right from the start.

The text concludes with a reflective moment where the narrator realises the true importance of family over things, even houses.

But the warmth of family love is offset by the threat implied by the by the word surveillance, and we are left with a cliffhanger that makes us ask questions about this autocratic world they are living in.

And for number two, you might have said, "What idea is repeated with variations and why is this effective?" And the idea of the father's movements in and out of the burning house is repeated in varying words throughout the text.

Now, initially, the father is depicted as rushing into the burning house, which seems inexplicable to Lee.

And when she asks where we can sense her panic escalating.

Then she seems to go into shock as she recalls there was no tears or breathing.

And when he finally comes out, we can sense her relief, but also her horrified understanding that he was prepared to risk his life in order to look like a good citizen by rescuing the portraits of the leaders.

And then for number three, where we're looking at how the text moves between the past, present, and the future, you might have said that most of the text is about the immediate event of the fire and the family's escape.

And the writer also explains how later she learned how the fire was caused.

And she also learns later that her father was already in danger.

And this combination of past considerations, which is how the fire was caused, and this cliffhanger that hints at troubled to come, and then this immediate chaotic present that illustrates the long term misery of life in North Korea, the past, the present, and the future.

And interestingly, it also places us, the reader, in the same position of the young Lee.

We realise the power of the leaders at the same time that she does.

Now, if you would like to take a little bit of time to take some of these ideas and add them to your own answers, please do that now.

Pause the video and then rejoin me for the second half of the lesson.

Okay, so let's look at what we've done so far.

We've looked at the structural methods and you've considered them in detail.

And now, we are going to look at how you might use those methods to plan your own writing.

So look at this photo, and then I'm going to put up some discussion questions for you to help you generate ideas.

So what is happening in this picture? Well, you might say that someone is in deep thought, possibly sadness, you might say other things, of course.

And then I want you to think about in your discussions, what do you think happened a year for the scene? And what happened 10 years later? And then I want you to discuss how can you use the answers to these questions to structure an account of a dramatic event.

So there's three things for you to think about and talk about them.

So pause the video while you respond to those questions.

And if you are working by yourself, just pause the video and make a few notes.

So, welcome back.

Let's have a look at some ideas from oat pupils.

Aisha said, "I think the character is in hiding." And if we went with that approach, we could describe their fear and the sounds of their pursuers, just lightly describes the sound of the fire.

"And there could be a reference to how it happened," says Andeep.

And he introduced this phrase, later he learned.

And Jacob said that 10 years later, he can learn about an even greater danger.

He did not know it, but.

So I really like the way that all three Oak pupils have decided not only what they are going to write about, but what they are, how they are going to write about it.

So Aisha identify the importance of having description, particularly that kind of aural imagery of how it sounded.

And Andy and Jacob have identified the phrases for introducing the future.

Let's move on.

We're going to have a chat for understanding.

Now, the Oak pupils have listed three of Lee's methods.

They've listed in media res, cliffhanger, and movement between past, present, and future.

So what one is missing? Have a think.

Did you say an idea repeated with variations? That's the correct answer.

Remember she has her father coming in and out of the house.

Let's move on.

So we're going to use the image as inspiration for your account, and we are going to use this grid as a way of helping you scaffolding your plan for that dramatic account.

Let me just outline for you the sort of four things that I would like your plan to include.

I'd like your plan to begin in media res.

So jot down what you see in the picture.

And the key here is to plunge the reader straight into the character's feelings.

And then I would like you to note down the origin of the crisis.

What happened? Is there someone at fault? How did it happen? So you are moving there to the past.

And then think about an idea that you can repeat with variations.

Maybe there's a recurring image or a recurring sound.

And end with a cliffhanger.

Introduce a hint of mystery.

What is the question you will leave with the reader? So you are going to need to gather all your ideas together and make, start making those notes.

So when you are ready, pause the video, and off you go.

Welcome back.

Once again, excellent focus.

So I'm going to share this checklist with you, and I would like you to use it to check over your plan.

There are just four things that I want you to look for.

Did you use vivid imagery? That could be of things seen and things heard.

Did you have phrases that indicated the past, present, and future? Later he learned, that sort of idea.

Were there phrases to indicate a cliffhanger.

He didn't know yet, but, soon he was to discover.

Was there a phrase or sentence that you repeated with variations? Because that's a really effective way of escalating the dramatic energy of the event of your description.

So just pause the video while you check over your plan and then rejoin me for the end of the lesson.

So before we say goodbye, I would like to have a summary of what you have been learning today.

You have been learning that using structural methods effectively can make your writing dramatic.

And that examples of effective structural methods are in media res, repetition, and cliffhangers.

And that varying how an idea is repeated can indicate escalation.

You've also learned that when planning a piece of writing, it can be helpful to think about now, before, and later.

And a cliffhanger, that leaves a reader with a question to be answered.

It has been a real pleasure to teach you today.

Thank you for coming to the lesson.

I look forward to seeing you again in another lesson on non-fiction: teenage kicks.

Have a great day and bye for now.