Hello, everyone and welcome to this lesson on planning the opening to an impactful narrative.

My name's Dr.

Clayton and I'm here to guide you through your learning journey today.

Today, we're gonna be thinking about this core idea of how stories might change someone's world.

And you're gonna be planning out a narrative that does just that.

It's going to be a story that has a powerful impact on someone's life.

So if you're ready, grab your pen, laptop, whatever you're using for this lesson and let's get started.

So by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to plan the opening to an impactful narrative.

So we have five words today we're gonna focus on as our keywords.

They're identified in bold throughout the learning material and I'll try to point them out to you as well, so you can see them being used in context.

So our first keyword is impactful and this means having a powerful effect on a situation or a person.

We're going to be thinking about what sort of stories and themes might have an impact on someone.

And then you're going to think about your own idea for a story that has a powerful effect on someone else.

Our second keyword is atmosphere and this is the overall mood of a story or poem.

We're going to be thinking about why the opening of a story is particularly important in setting the mood for the rest of the story.

Our third keyword is exposition and the exposition of the story sets up the setting, characters and the atmosphere of the story.

So we're talking about the opening of a story, we're talking about the exposition.

Our fourth keyword is climax, which means the most intense moment within a story, marking a turning point for the protagonists.

Our final keyword is denouement, which means the end of the story, the resolution of the conflict.

The exposition, climax and denouement are all part of the five key sections of a story.

And we're going to talk through each of the five elements in more detail within the lesson.

So I'll just give you a moment to write down those keywords and their definitions.

So pause the video, write them down now.

Fantastic, let's get started with the lesson.

So we have two learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to focus on gathering ideas for what sort of story you might want to write in order to have an impact on someone.

What themes or emotions might you focus on? For our second learning cycle, we're going to consider the five stages of a story as the term Freytag's Pyramid and you're going to map out each stage of your story.

So let's begin by thinking quite broadly about the concept of stories being able to have an impact on someone.

The most effective stories and the most enduring great works of literature, are those that have an impact on someone.

So those that have a powerful effect.

What I'd like you to start off by thinking about, is that why question.

Why do you think stories might have had an impact on someone? What might they be able to do or reveal to someone that might change their world, or have a powerful effect on them? Now, if you're working through this with someone else, you might talk over your ideas with them.

If you're working through this by yourself, you might just think of ideas.

So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some fantastic ideas there.

Let's talk through what you might have said.

So stories might reveal information about humanity.

They might tell us about human emotion, or something that's inherent to all of us.

I think that's why plays, such as Shakespeare's "Macbeth" are so enduring.

They reveal that inherent desire for power and the vicious nature of humans.

Stories might also change someone's perspective.

So reading about the world, or someone in particular might change your worldview, your personal perspective on that person.

They might make someone feel less alone.

I think this is a beautiful part of reading stories.

We're all inherently social beings.

We want to be included, we want to fit in.

So reading a story or a character that looks, sounds or acts like you do, might make you feel less alone and make you feel as if you're connected to society.

They also might make someone realise something about their life.

So perhaps, they might see themselves reflected in the character's situation and think that perhaps they might need to change their life or relationship.

Because seeing it from an outside perspective, makes them see it's not healthy.

Now, I'd like to think about whether you can think of any stories that have had an impact on you.

So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, that's a very personal question and everyone will have a different idea about what stories might have had an impact on them.

For me, one of the stories that had a huge impact on me was Frances Burney's "Evelina".

Now, this is an 18th-century text I happened to come across in a bookshop.

And when I read it, I felt so angry about the way women were treated in the past and how little control they had over their lives and reputations.

I think that's had a really enduring impact on me and the way I look at society and gender.

So your task for today is to plan an impactful narrative.

One way to start thinking about your narrative, is consider what theme you want to explore.

Now, the theme of the story is the central message, or the subject of a text.

So what I'd like you to think about, is what theme might you choose that could have an impact on someone? So try to think about what might be a universal theme.

What issues affect everyone? So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

Let's talk through what you might have said.

So you might have thought about the theme of love and relationships.

Now, love and relationships might look different for different people.

But they're a core part of our existence as human beings.

You might also have thought about grief and death.

What are the inevitabilities of life? As we'll all have to deal with grief and death at some point.

And sometimes, books can be very helpful in thinking about how we can process those emotions.

For me, Max Porter's "Grief is the Thing with Feathers", is an incredibly powerful book that considers those themes.

You might also have said gender and sexuality.

Now, as with love and relationships, gender and sexuality might look different for different people, but another core aspect of humanity and reading stories can help us understand ideas about our own sexuality, our own gender identity and perhaps also find other people who feel the same way.

You might have thought about family.

Again, the idea of family might look different to different people.

But often great works of literature consider this idea of family.

One of Tolstoy's famous quotes from "Anna Karenina", is "All happy families are alike.

Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." And reading ideas about family, can help us understand our own family dynamics.

You might have thought about friendships.

Another universal aspect of being human is our desire to make social connections to be included.

And books can help us consider how we can navigate those friendships, how they might change and develop and how they actually might become quite toxic.

You might also have thought about stereotypes.

Books can help us understand societal perceptions about people or cultures, help us to challenge them or accept those perceptions.

So now for a quick check for understanding, what I'd like you to do, is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false, that stories are only impactful if they make someone feel less alone? Pause the video, make your selection now.

Now, the correct answer is false.

Now I'd like you to tell me why it's false.

So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said, "Stories might be impactful for many reasons.

They might change someone's perspective, make them realise something about themselves, or reveal something about humanity." So very well done if you got those right.

Amazing work, everyone.

We're now at the first task of the lesson.

Now, the overall task for today, is to plan the opening to an impactful narrative.

In order to do that, you first need to decide on a central theme or message.

So what I'd like you to do is create a mind map with potential ideas for your impactful narrative.

What could you write about that might impact how someone feels about themselves, or how they see the world? Now, if you're going through this with someone else, you might talk about your ideas together.

If you're doing this by yourself, you might just think of your ideas.

So pause the video, take a few minutes to consider.

Welcome back, everyone, some fantastic ideas there.

Now, we're going to talk through the ideas of one of our Oak pupils, Izzy.

I'd like you to think about how well they align with your ideas.

Izzy thought perhaps she could write a story about someone whose parents are going through a divorce.

This is something that many people have to process and deal with.

And reading a story about how someone else is going through it, might help someone understand their emotions about it.

She also thought she could write a story about someone leaving a toxic friendship.

Friendships can be wonderful.

They can also be fraught with negative emotions and peer pressure.

The idea of someone recognising and leaving a toxic friendship, might help someone recognise something about their own life.

Another idea was a story about someone experiencing grief for the first time.

As we said, this is something we'll all have to deal with.

They're incredibly heavy emotions.

And reading a story about how someone else dealt with it, might help someone to process.

She also thought about a story of someone experiencing love for the first time.

And love can be an incredibly powerful emotion.

It can be really heady and difficult to process for the very first time.

So pause the video.

Consider how well Izzy's ideas align with your ideas.

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people noticing how universal Izzy's themes are and how they could have a really powerful impact on someone by helping them consider how to deal with emotional situations in a healthy way.

Amazing work so far, everyone.

Onto our second learning cycle, we're going to map out a plan for our narrative, using Freytag's Pyramid.

Now, as I said, we're going to map out a plan for our narrative.

Now, the narrative structure of a story can be broken down into five distinct sections, known as Freytag's Pyramid.

Each story begins with an exposition, then has rising action, reaches a climax, then has falling action and then ends in the denouement.

Now let's break down each of the elements, so we understand what happens in each stage.

So the exposition is also known as the introduction of act one.

It sets up the setting, time, location of the story, as well as the main characters and the atmosphere of the story.

Exposition also informs the reader or viewer about each character's backstory and how they relate to each other.

The most important element of this first act, is suggestion of the story's primary conflict through the way the atmosphere is set up.

We then have the rising action.

This is where the story builds towards its central conflict.

Now, this might happen through placing obstacles in the path of the protagonist as they attempt to reach their goals, or the action could rise further with the introduction of new characters, so a primary antagonist or other adversaries, who complicate matters for the other characters.

We then have the climax.

The third part of Freytag's Pyramid is the part of the story that signals a turning point.

It occupies the highest point of the plot structure.

It's the most intense moment within a story and marks a turning point for the protagonist.

We then have the falling action.

Now, the falling action is the action after the climax.

And it can foreshadow the final outcome of the story.

But Freytag also notes successful drama, will also feature a sense of final suspense, a possibility that the conclusion may not end as expected.

We then have the denouement, the fifth and final act.

It's also known as the resolution, conclusion or the moment of catastrophe.

It's the end of the story.

It's either a happy ending where the protagonist achieves their goals, or a tragic ending in which they fail to overcome the primary conflict.

Writers tie up loose ends in the denouement and provide the audience with a moment of catharsis, a series of events that allows the tension of the story to dissipate.

So now let's look at an example, so you can see how this looks in practise.

So here's how Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" maps out onto the pyramid.

So in the exposition, we introduce the Montagues and Capulets and the feud between them.

The violent language in the opening, foreshadows the violent and tragic ending of the play.

In the rising action, Romeo and Juliet meet, fall in love and marry in secret.

In the climax of the play, we have a series of violent murders that set up the tragic ending of the play.

So Tybalt incensed by Romeo's (indistinct), challenged him to a fight.

But Romeo refused to fight him, given he's just married Tybalt's cousin Juliet.

Mercutio steps in to defend Romeo's honour.

In the ensuing fight, Tybalt kills Mercutio.

Blinded by his rage, Romeo pursues Tybalt and kills him.

This sets up a chain of events that leaves the tragic outcome, since Romeo's then banished from Verona.

In the falling action, Lord Capulet says that Juliet's to marry Paris, which she knows she cannot do, because she's already secretly married to Romeo.

Now to get herself out of the situation, she fakes her own death and sends a letter to Romeo, explaining the situation.

However, he doesn't receive the letter.

In the denouement, this leaves the final tragic act of the play.

Grief-stricken, Romeo buys poison and kills himself next to what he thinks is Juliet's dead body.

Juliet then wakes from her sleep and seeing Romeo's dead body, kills herself.

So now for a quick check for understanding around the terminology.

So which Oak pupil is describing the exposition of Cinderella? So Laura says, "Cinderella's fairy godmother arrives and transforms Cinderella's dress and pumpkin in order to make her able to attend the ball." And Izzy says, "Cinderella lives with her stepmother and stepsisters.

They treat her like a servant, rather than a member of the family." So pause the video, consider which one of those is the exposition of the story.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now as we said, the exposition sets up the story and introduce us to the characters and their backstory.

Therefore, when Izzy says that Cinderella lives with her stepmother and stepsisters, they treat her like a servant, rather than a member of the family, she's describing the exposition of the story, 'cause we have the backstory.

We also have an undercurrent of tension and that sets up the rest of the narrative.

So very well done if you got that right.

Now we've just spent some time thinking about the whole narrative pyramid, even though we're only going to be planning the exposition, or the opening of an impactful story.

So why do you think we need to understand and map out the whole pyramid in order to create an effective exposition? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, as Izzy says, "In order to write an effective opening or an exposition, we need to know what we're setting up in order to craft an effective atmosphere." A common way to plan a story is to start at the end, 'cause you need to know what you're building towards in order to effectively foreshadow it throughout the novel and set up the necessary emotions.

Now for a quick check for understanding, what I'd like you to do, is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false? You don't need to consider the ending of a story in order to write the opening.

Pause the video, make your selection now.

The correct answer is false.

Now I'd like to tell me why.

So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said, "In order to create an effective exposition, you need to know what you're building the narrative towards in order to create a cohesive atmosphere." So very well done if you've got those right.

Amazing work, everyone.

Well, now the final task of the lesson, what I'd like you to do is use your ideas from task A, pick a narrative and map out each of the elements of the narrative arc.

So what will happen in each of these five stages of the narrative? What will happen in the opening? How will you set up the characters in the setting? What will the rising action be? How is the story gonna build towards a central conflict? What will the climax be? So what will be the most intense moment? What will the falling action be? So what happens after the climax? Will it foreshadow the ending? And what will the denouement will be? So how will the story be resolved and come to an end? Then once you have your whole narrative, I'd like you to zoom in on the exposition.

What atmosphere do you need to create in order to set up the rest of the story? I'd like you to make some extended notes.

I want emotions or ideas you need to create the appropriate mood.

So pause the video, map out your narrative now.

Well, welcome back, everyone, some fantastic ideas there.

Now Sofia chose to write about someone leaving a toxic friendship.

We're gonna read through Sofia's plan and then I'd like you to consider how it might impact someone.

So for Sofia's exposition, she said that Lacey and her friends are hanging out before school.

For the rising action, she said to the rumour about Lacey swirls around the year group and she finds out that Mary, one of her friends, started it.

For the climax, she said that Lacey would confront Mary.

For the falling action, she said the drama would spill out into the friends group as a whole.

And Mary demand that people pick sides.

Then you have the denouement.

Sofia said that Lacey would realise she's better off without all of them.

So pause the video, consider how Sofia's story might impact someone.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said, "Sofia's idea is around friendship and the dynamics between friends, something that everyone has to deal with.

And seeing a toxic friendship might inspire someone to consider whether their own friendship is serving them in a healthy way." Now I'd like to consider your own plan.

How do you think it might impact someone? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people reflecting on their own narratives and how they feel as that they might inspire people to process emotions, or deal with difficult situations in their life.

I love seeing that some people felt as if their narratives, would make you feel accepted and included.

Now, for the second part of the task, it was to extend the notes on your exposition.

Now to set out how you're going to use your exposition, set up the atmosphere of the story.

So let's read Sofia's notes.

Sofia said she wants to foreshadow the problems within the friendship by showing subtle signs of tension and jealousy between the friends.

She thought she might do that through snide looks, whispers and closed body language.

She's crossed arms or leaning away from someone.

So I'd like you to now think about how Sofia's notes set up the atmosphere of the whole narrative.

Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people thinking.

They thought the subtlety of Sofia's ideas was really good.

You want to build the tension rather than starting out with an argument.

Sofia's using body language and the exchange of looks to communicate that is really effective.

Because you're not starting out with conflict, rather you're planting the seeds of a conflict that will come later.

We can all relate to this idea of feeling that something's a bit off with our friendship with someone through their body language, but not quite yet understanding why.

Finally, I'd like to reflect on your own notes in the exposition.

Does it set up the rest of the narrative? Pause the video, reflect on your own notes now.

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people making small alterations of their notes to think about how they can build emotions as Sofia did, rather than revealing them straight away.

So now you have your plan for an effective exposition that will set up the atmosphere for the rest of your narrative.

You all did amazingly well today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

Stories might have an impact on someone's life by changing their perspective, or revealing something about humanity.

All stories are composed of five different elements, the exposition, which sets up the character, setting and atmosphere of the story, the rising action that builds a central conflict, the climax, which is the most intense part of the story, the falling action, which shows the aftermath of the climax and might foreshadow the ending and the denouement, which is the ending of the story and offers resolution, whether happy or tragic to the story.

In order to write an effective opening, we need to know the rest of the narrative to set up the atmosphere.

Not just create the appropriate mood, we need to know what we're building towards.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson, everyone.

It's been great to talk through these ideas with you and think about why stories are important and how they might have a powerful impact on someone's life.

Hopefully it might help you answer that why question, why do we read stories and how they might offer this window onto human emotions and the human experience? I hope to see you for another lesson soon, good-bye.