Hello everyone and welcome today's lesson on planning a comparison between two Sherlock Holmes texts.

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

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to plan a comparison between two texts.

And as I said, we'll be comparing two Sherlock Holmes texts.

We'll be comparing 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band' and 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery' and I'm very excited to do that with you today.

We have five key words today that are gonna be really important in our learning journey.

So let's read the definitions.

Convention.

A convention is a rule within a genre.

Red herring.

A red herring is a piece of misleading information and we get quite a lot of red herrings in detective stories.

Archetypal.

Something which is archetypal is very typical of a certain type of thing.

Thesis.

A thesis is a statement put forward to be proved.

And finally, Subvert.

To subvert means to go against what is expected.

A villain that subverts the archetype may be gentle.

And the reason why we say that is because an archetype of a villain is that they are evil and cunning.

So if there was ever a villain that subverted the archetype, they might be gentle because they're going against your expectation of what a villain is.

I'll give you a moment to jot down any of those definitions.

Wonderful, let's get started on today's lesson.

In today's lesson, we have two learning cycles.

The first learning cycle will involve us planning a comparison.

So we'll be looking at similarities and differences between the two Sherlock Holmes stories.

In the second learning cycle, we'll be learning how to write a thesis statement.

A thesis statement will basically summarise our argument, summarise what we think the similarities and differences are.

So let's get started with planning a comparison.

We are going to be comparing 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band.

We're gonna call that text A and 'The Bocombe Valley Mystery', and we're going to call that text B.

So we've read both of these stories and they're very interesting, exciting stories.

Let's think about how they might both be detective stories, but actually they can be quite different.

So, as I said, they are both detective stories, meaning they should share some conventions of the detective genre.

So which conventions do both of these stories share? Remember, we are talking about text A being 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band' and text B, being 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery'.

So discuss which conventions from the detective conventions that both these stories have.

Pause the video and have a think about that question.

Great, let's go through some of the conventions that these two stories share.

Both stories contain murder.

In 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band' Julius Stoner is murdered.

In 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery' Charles McCarthy is murdered.

Both texts have a murderer.

In text A we could say Dr.

Royer is the murderer, and in text B, it's John Turner.

Both the texts have a victim.

As we said, Julius Stoner and perhaps Helen Stoner, they are both victims in text A and text B Of course, we have the victim being Charles McCarthy.

They both have a detective, and of course none other than the renowned detective Sherlock Holmes homes.

They both have clues.

Think about how there's clues in 'The Adventure of Speckled Band' such as, the saucer of milk, such as the bell rope above the bed.

And there's clues in text B, such as a grey cloak being seen at the crime scene and also the call of Kui that Charles McCarthy called out.

Finally, both texts have red herrings.

For example, in 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band', the red herrings might be the animals such as the baboon and the cheetah that we are led to believe could be involved.

And in text B, the red herring is of course Charles McCarthy's son carrying a gun and looking like he was following him.

So look at our table now.

We've just discovered that both 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band and 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery' are typical detective stories because they both share all of the detective conventions.

So being a detective story is a similarity between both texts.

Since both of the stories share the same detective conventions, we could say they are similar.

What may differ though is their presentation of each of the conventions.

So let's take a look at the differences now.

What specific differences do you know are between.

what specific differences are there between 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band' and 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery'? In this Venn diagram, we have the similarities in the middle, and we've just discussed those.

I now want you to fill in either side of the Venn diagram on the left side, you are going to write all the things unique to 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band' that are not present in 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery'.

And in the right side for text B, you'll be writing all the features that's are unique to 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery' that are not featured in 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band'.

So pause the video and fill in the Venn diagram.

Great, I think you've come up with some amazing ideas.

Let's go through what you may have said.

So in text A, 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band', you could say the victim is innocent.

For example, Julius Stoner is very much an innocent woman.

We are not led to believe that she's committed any wrongdoing.

However, in Text B, 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery' Charles McCarthy is not presented as fully innocent.

He's actually presented as somewhat of a hostile, unfriendly, aggressive man.

And therefore we could say Charles McCarthy as a victim is ambiguous.

He's not quite a conventional victim.

What else? Well, in 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band', you could say that the perpetrator is assumed correctly from the very beginning.

Holmes and the reader always have an inkling that it's Dr.

Royer and they are right.

However, in text B, a lot of the characters think that James McCarthy is the perpetrator.

And of course that is proved wrong.

So in text A, we have a correctly assumed perpetrator, and in text B, we have a person that's wrongfully accused.

Finally, in text A 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band' the perpetrator is presented as fully villainous and evil.

Dr.

Royer is presented as having no good quality at all.

Whereas in Text B, 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery', the Murderer, the perpetrator, John Turner, is actually presented by Conan Doyle in a somewhat sympathetic light.

That's very interesting.

So therefore we have three differences and three similarities for those two texts.

Well done.

Now let's check your understanding of that learning.

Which of these is a difference between 'The Adventure of Speckled Band' and 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery'? Pause the video and answer that question.

Well done, if you said a key difference between 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band' and 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery' is that the victim of 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band' Julius Stoner, is presented as fully innocent.

Whereas the victim in 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery' Charles McCarthy is not.

We know the answer A cannot be right because both texts include red herrings and we've spoken about that already.

And we know the answer C cannot be right because in 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band, no one is wrongfully accused.

And in 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery', someone is wrongfully accused.

Now, I want you to complete the table to plan a response that compares 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band' and 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery'.

So here's the table.

You've got different things filled out for you.

So I've given you the idea for victims are presented differently and you need to find the quote from text A that proves that and the quote from text B that proves that.

For the next row in the grid, I've given you the quotes from text A and B, and you need to decide what idea is being shown with those two different quotes given.

What difference is being shown.

And finally, for the third row, I've given you the idea both texts had read herrings and I've given you some quotes from text A.

You need to decide which quotes from Text B would complete that discussion of the similarity.

Okay, it's time for you to have a go at this task, pause the video, and off you go.

Great job everyone, let's go through some answers.

So you might have said, for victims are presented differently.

That text A.

you might have said for victims are presented differently, that in text A, we are looking for quotes about Julia stoner's innocence.

So for example, her face blanche with terror and her shrieking and writhing, which show her vulnerability and helplessness.

However, in text B, we need to prove that Charles McCarthy is not presented in this way.

So we have quotes such as "cold and forbidding", "grip has been upon me these 20 years." Those quotes from text A and B contrast greatly with each other to show that the victims are very much different.

Now for the second row, you had to give the idea and I gave you the quotes.

But let's take a look at those quotes there.

So for text A you have marked with every evil passion and fierce old bird of prey.

Of course, those quotes describe, describe Dr.

Royer and how he's quite sinister and hostile.

In text B, you have the quotes, limping step, bowed, shoulders, and enormous limbs.

Those quotes describe the perpetrator, John Turner.

So we can assume the idea here is that the perpetrators are presented differently.

Dr.

Royer is presented as fully evil, sinister, cunning, and in text B John Turner is presented as ambiguous.

We have him being presented as quite intimidating in that second quote, but actually quite frail if you look at the first.

So therefore the idea is that perpetrators are presented differently in both texts.

Finally, both texts have red herrings.

I gave you the quotes for the red herrings in the text A, you had to look for the text B quotes.

And we found one here, "James McCarthy going the same way with a gun under his arm", is a quote for the red herring in 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery'.

Great job on completing that task.

We're now onto our second learning cycle where we'll learn to write a thesis statement about these two texts.

Now, we may not have come across a thesis statement before, and that's okay because we are going to learn it.

So a thesis statement is the overarching argument of your essay.

It is a sentence or two that summarises the main focus of your response, and it's usually found near the end of an introduction paragraph.

So it's going right at the beginning of your essay.

Now, before you write a thesis statement, you need to consider what is your viewpoint.

You need to have a read of the question again.

So let's look at the question that we are considering.

So let's pretend we were considering this question.

How did Dr.

Royer and John Turner's presentation compare? So we'd have to think about, overall what do the characters have in common and how do they differ? Pause the video and answer that question.

Lovely, so overall I'm going to say that Royer, I see him as a clear villain deserving of his death.

And in John Turner's case, we see him as sympathetic.

And Conan Doyle presents him as undeserving of prison.

So, that's my overall opinion of their presentation.

Now let's move on to the question that we are looking at in today's lesson.

How did 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band' and 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery' compare? You need to now think about this same question.

Overall, what do the stories have in common and how do they differ? Pause the video and answer that question.

Excellent ideas, everyone.

Now, true or false, let's check your understanding of what we've just talked about.

A thesis statement is found in the conclusion of your essay.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done if you said false.

A thesis statement is not found in the conclusion of your essay.

Now pause the video and justify your answer.

Well done if you said a thesis statement is not found in the conclusion of your essay because it's found at the end of the introduction paragraph.

Remember, a thesis statement summarises the argument and you need to let the reader know of your argument at the very beginning of your essay.

So it goes in the introduction.

Now let's take a look at an example thesis statement in response to the question, how are Dr.

Reyer and John Turner presented? Now we're going for this question because I want to give you an example of how to create a thesis statement before you look at the question that we are actually working on.

So both Dr.

Royer and John Turner are the perpetrators of brutal murders in their respective stories and boast a somewhat intimidating presence.

However, whilst Royer is presented as a foul and evil man, deserving of his own brutal end, Turner is presented as deserving of sympathy and avoids Holmes's wrath entirely.

I am gonna unpick each part of this thesis statement so you can see how it's been successful.

So the first thing you can see is that I have a clear focus on the question.

The question is asking me about John Turner and Dr.

Royer, and that's how I've started my response by talking about those two characters.

I also have started with a similarity and I've summarised it.

My similarity is that they're both perpetrators of brutal murders and are somewhat intimidating.

I then summarise my differences.

That whilst Royer is presented as foul and evil, deserving of his death, John Turner is presented as deserving of sympathy and avoids Holmes' Wrath.

Lastly, I have used comparative discourse markers such as both, however and whilst.

So those four things make a great thesis statement, and I hope you'll be able to use those confidently when you write your thesis statement in a moment.

It's your turn now.

Write a thesis statement in response to the question, how is 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band' different and or similar to 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery'? So this is the question we've been working on in the first learning cycle where we prepared lots of good ideas.

In your thesis statement, you need those four things that we just talked about.

You need a focus on the question, to summarise the similarities, to summarise the differences, and to use comparative conjunctions.

Pause the video and have a go at writing your excellent thesis statement.

Wonderful writing everyone.

It's now time to self-assess, reread and check your work.

Have you included the following, reread and check your work.

Before you do that, I'm going to read out an example thesis statement for the question that you've been working on.

Then you can compare if you've achieved the whole success criteria as well.

So both 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band' and 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery' share several elements typical of the detective genre.

However, whilst Conan Doyle adheres to the archetypal villain and victim roles in 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band', he subverts these archetypes in 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery'.

Let's unpick that answer.

So we start with a clear focus on the question.

Again, the question asks us about the two texts and we've introduced our thesis statement, referring to those two texts.

Next, we have a similarity summarised.

We've talked about how one main similarity is how they share detective conventions.

We've then summarised the differences, we've talked about how the villain presentation is different.

And lastly, we've got our disc comparative discourse markers such as both, however, and whilst.

So now it's time for you to make sure you've included those four elements of a thesis statement.

So pause the video and reread and check your work.

Great job everyone.

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

Both 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band' and 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery' share detective conventions.

'The Adventure of the Speckled Band and 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery' mostly differ on their presentation of key characters.

And lastly, a thesis statement appears in the introduction and is a summary of your viewpoint on a topic.

I've loved learning with you today, and I really hope to see you in another lesson sometime soon.