Lesson video

<v Sutherland>Hello everyone, and welcome to your lesson on using vivid imagery to describe dystopian settings.

I'm Miss Sutherland and I'll be teaching you today.

Our learning outcome for today is to be able to use language devices to make our writing more interesting and creative.

Our key words for today are imagery.

Imagery uses words that create vivid images in the reader's mind.

Similes, similes compare two things using the words like or as.

Metaphor, a metaphor compares two things by saying one thing is another.

Vivid, a vivid image is clear and powerful and easily visualised.

And sentinel, a sentinel is a soldier or guard whose job is to keep watch.

These words are gonna be really important in our learning today.

So in today's lesson, we are firstly going to learn a little bit about language devices and how to create effective language devices.

We're then going to be improving a piece of work by adding effective language devices.

Let's begin, a language device is any technique a writer uses to achieve their purpose.

Discuss this, in dystopian descriptions the writer will be using language devices in order to, in other words, what purpose does a dystopian writer have? What are they trying to achieve with their language devices? Pause the video and have a think.

In dystopian descriptions the writer will be using language devices in order to create an image of an oppressive society where there is injustice, lack of freedom and suffering.

Well done if you said anything along those lines.

Now, discuss what language devices do you know already? Pause the video and have a think.

There are many language devices that you could have said, but today we are going to focus on dystopian imagery and how similes and metaphors can help us achieve effective dystopian imagery.

So what we're trying to do is create an image in the reader's mind with our similes and metaphors that we create.

Imagery is the words that create a vivid image in the reader's mind, and as we've said, this can be achieved through similes and metaphors.

A simile compares two things used in the word like or as.

Let's look at how to create a simile.

First, you must decide on the tone of your writing.

That's the feeling you want the reader to have as they read through your work.

So say we wanted to create a bleak tone, we write that down.

We then need to take an object from our scene and add an adjective to describe it.

So I think I want to describe the torrential rain.

I then need to find something to compare it to that fits with the tone.

So I'm going to compare the rain to tears.

So I'm going to say the torrential rain fell like the tears.

But I also want to make that simile a bit more emotional.

I want to create an emotional reaction from the reader.

So I'm going to add this at the end.

The torrential rain fell like the tears of a neglected world, heavy and relentless.

I could have left the simile at the torrential rain fell like tears.

I could have left it like that.

But I've chosen to add an extra bit of information at the end just to make the reader feel that bleak atmosphere even more.

Let's move on to a metaphor.

A metaphor compares two things by saying one thing is another.

Let's look at how to create a metaphor.

Again, you are first going to decide on tone.

So let's say we wanted to create an oppressive tone because that is very typical of a dystopian genre.

We then wanna take an object from the scene and add an adjective to describe it.

So it's not that different from creating a simile.

I'm now choosing that I want to describe the towering skyscrapers.

Next, I need to think of something to compare it to that fits in with the tone.

So I need to think to myself, what else is oppressive that compares to a towering skyscraper? (Sutherland sighs) I've chosen to go with a sentinel, so a watchguard.

I can compare the towering skyscrapers to a watchguard, a sentinel.

Then I'm going to add an adjective to my comparison and put the ideas together.

So I'm going to say the towering skyscrapers were cold and unforgiving sentinels.

So in the metaphor I'm saying the skyscrapers were not like sentinels, but they were sentinels.

And I'm adding the words cold and unforgiving to fit in with the oppressive tone.

Answer this question.

The first step to creating an effective simile or metaphor is by? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done if you said the first step to creating an effective simile or metaphor is to decide on your tone.

That's very important, so you can impact the reader in the way that you want.

I now want you to match the sentence to the language device used.

So these sentences are either similes or metaphors.

Let's go through them.

The steel forms of the buildings were like shackles trapping people in.

The windows of the buildings were like the hollow eyes of haunted people.

The dilapidated houses were warped skeletons left to rot.

The citizens were ghosts, wandering aimlessly haunted by unthinkable tragedies.

Pause the video and have a go at matching the sentence to the language device used.

The steel forms of the buildings were like shackles trapping people in is a simile.

It uses the word like to compare the steel forms of the building to shackles, to chains or handcuffs.

The windows of the buildings were like the hollow eyes of haunted people.

That is a simile because it uses the word like to compare the windows of the buildings to hollow eyes of haunted people.

The dilapidated houses were warped skeletons left to rot.

That is a metaphor.

It says, the dilapidated houses were the skeletons to show how they are decayed and destroyed.

And lastly, the citizens were ghosts wandering aimlessly haunted by unthinkable tragedies.

That is a metaphor.

It says, the citizens were ghosts to emphasise how they are lifeless and haunted.

Well done on that task.

I now want you to upgrade the similes and metaphors to create effective dystopian imagery.

So you need to upgrade these similes and metaphors.

The cameras were like evil spies.

Citizens wandered like clueless cats.

Hope was a ray of sun and the clouds were a grey blanket.

These similes and metaphors at the moment are not creating a tone typical dystopian genre.

So here are your tips to make them better.

First, decide on tone.

Make sure it's a tone typical of the dystopian genre.

For example, bleak or oppressive.

Next, take an object from the scene and add an adjective to describe it.

The objects already given to you.

You just might need to now add an adjective, for example.

Third, think of comparing that object to something that fits in with the tone.

That step is going to need the most work in those sentences because at the moment those sentences do not compare the object to something that fits in with the tone.

And lastly, if you want to challenge yourself, add a subordinate clause to the end of your simile or metaphor.

Pause the video and have a go at upgrading the similes and metaphors to create effective dystopian imagery.

Off you go.

Let's go through what you may have written.

I've decided that I want all my similes and metaphors to create an oppressive tone.

So look at how I write my language devices to match that.

Number one, the cameras were like hypervigilant watchguards, ready to pounce on every small act of defiance.

Number two, citizens wandered like brainwashed robots numb to the relentless cruelty and nonsensical orders.

Number three, hope was the cruel flicker of a dying flame waning with every millisecond.

And number four, the clouds were a thick grey sheet suffocating the sun.

Notice in the last sentence, I've changed the word blanket to sheet because blanket almost gave a positive cosy feeling, and I want to create an oppressive feeling.

So I've changed the word blanket to sheet and I've added the word thick to describe that sheet.

And I've also said that they suffocated the sun.

Suffocated is a verb that matches more closely to the tone of oppression.

Well done on that task everybody.

We are now going to look at how we can improve an answer using effective language devices to enhance it and upgrade it.

Read the similes by Laura and Jacob and think about which one you find more effective and why.

Let's read them together first.

The surveillance cameras were like ravenous hawks preying on our every move with unblinking eyes.

That's Laura's simile.

Jacob's simile is, the surveillance cameras were the unfeeling eyes of an owl watching our every step.

Pause the video and discuss which simile is more effective and why.

You may have said that Laura's similarly is more effective as she uses a carefully selected noun phrase, ravenous hawks.

That's carefully selected because it's trying to create a tone of oppression.

Laura also extends the similarly with a similar idea of predator prey dynamics because she says preying on our every move.

So Laura's simile all the way through achieves an oppressive tone because she's matched the noun she's comparing to the cameras to with her subordinate clause at the end.

Jacob simile, whilst it uses a good adjective to describe the owl's eyes, unfeeling, his use of the bird owl is less effective as well as the verb watching.

We don't usually associate the verb watching with an oppressive tone.

So it is unclear what tone Jacob was trying to achieve in his simile.

When creating a simile or metaphor, which is not the most important? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done if you said, adding a verb onto the end of the sentence is not the most important.

It's very important to keep the tone consistent as we've seen, and it's also quite important to choose an interesting adjective to describe the object of comparison so that you meet the tone that you intended.

I now want you to rewrite this description, improving it by adding appropriate imagery through similes and metaphors.

So at the moment this answer it doesn't have any similes or metaphors.

So it definitely can be improved.

Let's read it through so you can begin to get a feeling of where you could add the similes and metaphors.

His city was in ruin.

The air was thick with acrid haze and the buildings loomed above.

Abandoned cars lined the streets, their windows shattered and their tyres deflated.

The defiant graffiti sprawled boldly on the walls was the only thing of colour.

Inconspicuous cameras hovered everywhere.

Had breathing always been so difficult? Had this place always been so bleak? Had we never been free? A shrill alarm sounded which instantaneously erase his mind of these questions and speculations, those small remnants of suspicion remained.

This mind-wiping happened daily.

He was beginning to despair.

It was impossible! He would never find out the truth! Now, pause the video and have a go at rewriting this description to include similes and metaphors in order to improve it.

Well done on that task.

Let's see what you could have written.

You could have added that the buildings loomed above like the skeletal remnants of a nightmare.

That adds a simile to suggest the buildings are in a bad condition.

You could have added the buildings loomed above like the skeletal remnants of a nightmare.

This simile adds a haunting quality to the writing.

You could have added that the scrawls of graffiti were shards of hope in a subdued world, because actually the graffiti in dystopian world symbolises an act of defiance or resistance to the cruel leadership.

So that metaphor suggests that people are rebelling, and we know that's a convention of the dystopian genre.

We might also add the simile, inconspicuous cameras hovered everywhere, like the sharp eyes of ravenous hawks, to show that the cameras are relentless predators.

Lastly, there's a simile at the end there.

He drooped down into his seat like a wilting flower.

This represents the hopeless nature of the citizens that we often see in a dystopia.

Well done on that task everybody.

Let's go through what we've learned today.

Imagery uses words that create clear images in the reader's mind.

Similes, compare two things using the word like or as.

Metaphors say something is something else when it is not literally.

And language devices should match the tone you have intended to create.

Great job in today's lesson.