Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

It's lovely to see you all here today.

My name's Dr.

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

Scrap your pen, laptop, whatever you're using for this lesson, and let's get started.

So today's lesson is called, "Explaining how a writer uses language to convey ideas about setting." So what we're gonna do today, is read through an extract from Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Secret Garden" together.

We're gonna use our first read through to establish information about the plot and characters, and then we're going to use our second read through to start thinking about how Burnett uses language to influence the way the reader sees the garden.

Then we're gonna start thinking about how you might respond to this, your analytical writing, so that by the end of the lesson you'll be able to make clear inference about the setting in an unseen text, which is supported by quotations.

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

They've identified in bold throughout the learning material.

And I'll try to point 'em out to you as well, so you can see them being used in context.

So our first keyword is setting, and this means the location and timeframe in which the action of a narrative takes place.

In today's lesson, we're specifically focusing on setting and how a writer can use language in order to convey ideas about it.

Our second keyword is language devices, and these might include things such as personification, similes, and metaphors.

They're writing technique that writers use in order to express ideas, convey meaning, and highlight important themes.

Our third keyword is tone, and this means the general mood or feeling of a text.

Writers can influence the tone through their use of language and structure.

Our fourth keyword is personification.

This is a language device when non-human objects or things are given human characteristics.

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

So pause the video and write them down now.

Amazing.

Let's get started with the lesson.

So we have three learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're gonna read through the extract together and then talk through some comprehension questions so that you'll understand what is happening with the plot and the characters.

For our second learning cycle, we're then going to consider how we can understand the extract by considering how Burnett has used personification and similes in order to have an effect on the reader.

For our third learning cycle, we're then going to consider how we can respond in an analytical way to the extract.

By writing and answering the question, how does Burnett present the garden in "The Secret Garden?" In order to get to this point, we're going to talk through how to create topic sentence and how to use evidence from the text to support your opinion.

So today we're gonna be focusing on the setting of a text.

Now setting is one of our keywords.

It means the location and timeframe in which the action of a narrative takes place.

So what I'd like you to start off by thinking, is why do you think the setting of a text is important? So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, it's a great discussions about how much stories will be changed if we alter the time or location they took place in.

You might have also said, "The setting can influence the tone of a text since it create a positive or negative atmosphere for the events to unfold in." Now we're going to read an extract from Frances Hodgson Burnett's, "The Secret Garden." You'll find this extract in additional materials.

Now this essentially a story of an orphan who comes to live with our uncle in his estate.

He discovers a walled garden that's been locked up for 10 years.

And the story's all about how the garden helps to heal the emotional and physical hurts of the family.

We're going to use our first read through to establish information about the plot and the setting.

The extract is written from the perspective of Mary, the main character of the story.

So let's begin the extract.

"They always called it Magic and indeed it seemed like it in the months that followed, the wonderful months, the radiant months, the amazing ones.

Oh! The things which happened in that garden.

If you've never had a garden you cannot understand, and if you have had a garden you will know they would take a whole book to describe all that came to pass there.

At first, it seemed the green things would never cease pushing their way through the earth, in the grass, in the beds, even in the crevices of the walls.

Then the green things began to show buds and the buds began to unfurl and show colour, every shade of blue, every shade of purple, every tint and hue of crimson." So in our first read through of the extract, we're going to establish information about the plot and the characters.

So the first question I'd like you to answer is, what is the garden doing at this moment? So pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, it's great to see people looking back through the extract to really understand how to answer the question.

You might have said, "The garden is growing and colourful flowers are starting to bloom." So let's continue with the extract.

"In its happy days, flowers have been tucked away into every inch and hole and corner.

Ben Weatherstaff had seen it done and had themselves scraped out mortar from between the bricks of the wall and made pockets of earth for the lovely clinging things to grow on.

Iris and white lilies rose out of the grass and sheaves, and the green alcoves filled themselves with amazing armies of the blue and white flower lances of tall delphiniums or columbine or campanulas." So what I'd like you to do is discuss the following two questions.

Number one, where are the flowers in the garden? And number two, what is Ben Weatherstaff doing? So pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, you might have said, that "The flowers are everywhere, in every inch and every corner of the garden, growing on everything." For number two, "Ben Weatherstaff is helping the flowers grow because he's clearing space for 'em to grow into." Let's continue with the extract.

"'She was main fond of them, she was,' Ben Weatherstaff said.

'She liked them things as was allus pointing up the blue sky, she used to tell.

Not as she was one of them as looked down on the earth, not her.

She just loved it but she said the blue sky allus looked so joyful.

' The seeds Dickon and Mary had planted grew as if fairies had tended them.

Satiny poppies of all tints danced in the breeze by the score, gaily defying flowers which had lived in the garden for years which might be confessed seemed rather to wonder how such new people had got there." So two questions for you.

Number one, how are Dickon and Mary helping the garden? And number two, what does Ben say about how the former mistress of the garden felt about it? So pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, you might have said, that Dickon and Mary are planting seeds to grow into plants.

And for number two, "The former mistress was very fond of the garden and she particularly liked it when the flowers grew towards the sun." Now let's read the final part of the extract.

"And the roses, the roses.

Rising outta the grass, tangled around the sun-dial, wreathing the tree trunks and hanging from their branches, climbing up the walls and spreading over them with long garlands falling in cascades.

They came alive day by day, hour by hour.

Fair fresh leaves, and buds, and buds, tiny at first, but swelling and working magic until they burst and uncured into cups of scent delicately spilling themselves over their brims and filling the garden air." So what I'd like you to do is think about what is said to be helping the garden grow.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Amazing, you might have said, "The magic is said to be helping the garden grow." Now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me which one of the following statements is true? Is it A, Mary and Dickon are trying to tame the garden.

B, Mary and Dickon are trying to help the garden grow.

Or C, Mary and Dickon are working magic to help the garden grow.

So pause the video and make a selection now.

The correct answer is B.

Mary and Dickon are helping the garden to grow.

So very well done if you've got that right.

Fantastic work so far, everyone.

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

Now when reading a text for the first time, we want to think about the tone of a text.

Now tone is one of our keywords.

It means the general mood or feeling of the text.

So to think about the tone, what I like you to do is answer the following two questions and use quotations from the text as evidence to support your answers.

So question one, how is Mary feeling at the start of the extract? And question two, what is the general feeling at the end of the extract? So, pause the video and answer the questions now.

Amazing work, everyone.

It was great to see people reading back through the extract and carefully selecting which quotations were the most effective.

You might have might have said for question one, how is Mary feeling at the start of the extract? You might have said, "Mary seems incredibly excited at the start of the extract.

The triple of a wonderful, radiant, amazing.

So she can hardly contain her joy and excitement at seeing the garden come to life." Now, triple is a useful device to use when you're trying to establish a tone.

Because our brain processes things in threes.

So having a triple really emphasises information and therefore helps to establish the mood.

Number two, what is the general feeling at the end of the extract? And you might have said, that "The same feeling excitement is echoed at the end of the extract.

The idea of the flowers bursting, uncurling, and spilling suggests there is joy and energy felt by everyone in the garden including the plants themselves." Amazing work so far, everyone.

We're now into our second learning cycle.

But we're going to consider how Burnett has used language devices, mainly personification and similes, in order to have an effect on the reader.

So in order to try to understand a text, we want to think about how the writer is using language devices in order to create an effect on the reader.

The language device is one of our keywords.

It means a writing technique that writers use to express ideas, convey meaning, and highlight important themes.

So when you're analysing a text, you want to try to work out what the writer is trying to tell us through their use of language devices.

So once you've read through an extract once, you should then returns to the extract to examine certain words or phrases in more detail to consider why the writer is using them.

So in order to create an effect on the reader, the writer might use certain language devices such as personification and similes.

Now, personification is one of our keywords.

It means when non-human objects or things are given human characteristics.

For example, the sun smile gently down.

Here, the sun is said to be smiling, and that's a human characteristic.

And therefore, it personifies the sun and creates a warm and happy tone.

Now, what I'd like you to think about is why might personification help a reader to understand a scene better? So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, you might have said, that "By giving non-human objects or things human characteristics, the writer is allowing us to understand the scene better because we can connect to the body language and the mannerisms of the object and consider what they mean." Now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do, is tell me which one of the following uses personification? So A, she swayed and twirled in the moonlight.

B, her dress swayed and twirled in the moonlight.

Or C, he swayed and twilled her around in the moonlight.

So pause the video and make your selection now.

The correct answer is B.

Her dress swayed and twirled in the moonlight.

Because the dress is an inanimate object and yet we're saying it's swaying and that's a human characteristic.

Now similes are where something is compared to something else using like or as.

So for example, her eyes shone like starlight.

Here, her eyes are said to be starlight, was just they're bright and sparkling.

So what I'd like you to think about, is why might using similes help a reader to understand a scene better? So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, you might have said, that "Because similes act as a comparison, they allow the writer to transform the abstract into something more familiar and concrete for the reader and therefore we can better understand the scene." Now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is complete the following sentences.

So sentence one, something is when non-human objects or things are given human characteristics.

And sentence two, Similes are where something is to something else using like or as.

So pause the video and complete the sentence now.

Amazing, you might have said, "The personification is where non-human objects or things are given human characteristics.

And similes are where something is compared to something else using like or as." So very well done if you've got those right.

Fantastic work, everyone.

We're now under the second task of the lesson, but we're going to consider how Burnett has used personification and similes.

So I'd like you to answer the following three questions.

Number one, where can you see personification in the extract? So where can you see human characteristics being given to non-human objects or things? What does that personification suggest about the garden? And what does the simile "grew as if fairies had tended them" suggest about the garden? So pause the video and answer the questions now.

Amazing work, everyone.

It was great to see people looking back at their examples to really understand how using personification and similes can create a certain tone or mood.

You might have said for number one, where can you see personification in the extract? And you might have said, "An example of personification in the extract is 'Satiny poppies of all tints danced in a breeze.

' Since the poppies are dancing and that's a human characteristic." Number two, what does that personification suggest about the garden? You might have said, "The personification suggest the garden is alive and the plants and flowers themselves feel joy to be alive.

It gives the garden a magical quality and adds to the happy, energetic emotions of the extract." For number three, what does a simile "grew as if the fairies had tended them" suggest about the garden? You might have said, "The idea fairies tending the plants further adds to the magical, enchanting sense of the garden and also adds a sense of importance to the garden if magical beings are helping it to grow." You are doing really well, everyone.

We're now to our third learning cycle.

We're going to consider how we can respond to the extract and answer a question about it by looking at topic sentences and using quotations as evidence to support our ideas.

Now we're going to consider how you might respond to the extract.

What is your opinion on how the setting is presented? So what I'd like you to do is read back through the extract and create a table of the positive or negative words or phrases you find within it.

So pause the video and complete the table now.

Amazing.

You might have said.

One of your positive words might have been radiant.

Now radiant is part of light imagery.

It's just that something is bright, shiny, therefore we think of it as a positive word so we associate light with happiness.

Might also have chosen Satiny poppies.

Satin is a fabric.

Idea of poppies being satiny is just a flowers are soft and smooth to touch, which adds the positive imagery because it creates a positive sensory detail.

Might have also said, scent delicately spilling.

Now delicate means something soft and gentle.

And therefore, this adds the positive imagery because it implies the garden is moving and growing very gently and softly.

Now for your negative imagery, you might have said tangled.

Now tangled means something that's twisted together in an untidy or messy way, and that might create a negative impression 'cause it's just a disorder, maybe even a danger to the garden.

You also might have said armies.

Now the flowers are described as armies in the extract.

This might potentially make us think of violence and war, rather than the softness and beauty, and therefore, it creates a negative impression.

Now to express our response to the extract, we need a topic sentence and evidence from the text to support our opinion.

Now a topic sentence introduces the main idea of your paragraph.

It clearly tells the reader what your idea is.

And evidence from the text means we need to consider which words or phrases support our ideas and opinion.

Now a good topic sentence should, explain the specific focus of the paragraph.

Be concise, that means be short and clear.

And reference the writer's name if it's available.

So an example might be, "In 'The Secret Garden', Burnett presents the garden as enchanting." Now here, we've referenced the writer's name, we said it's written by Burnett.

We've said the garden is enchanting.

And that's a really concise and simple idea for the reader to understand.

The rest of our paragraph would then be to use evidence from the text to support our ideas about the garden being enchanting.

Now let's consider quotations.

So quotations should, ideally be short.

Sometimes it'd be tempting to use long quotations, shows much evidence as possible, but it's much more effective to choose a couple of words as your quotation to really show you've understood how this quotation shows your idea.

They should also, match the point being made in the topic sentence.

They need to be evidence of your point.

And they should be embedded in the sentence.

Now embedding means to put a quotation within your sentence so it forms part of that complete sentence and makes grammatical sentence.

So for example, your topic sentence might be, "In 'The Secret Garden', Burnett presents the garden as enchanting." And the evidence, might be "The garden is given a magical quality when Burnett says that it was 'as if the fairies' helped the plants to grow." Here, we've only used three words in our quotation.

It matches the point of the sentence.

Since enchanting makes us think of magic, and the idea that fairies helped to grow the garden, it's just a magical quality.

The quotation is also embedded in the sentence, so it makes grammatical sense within it.

Now, for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me which two of the following statements are true? So A, a good topic sentence includes language analysis.

B, a good topic sentence is concise.

C, quotations should be embedded in the sentence.

Or D, quotations should ideally be long to show as much evidence as possible.

So pause the video and make a selections now.

The correct answers are B, a good topic sentence is concise.

And C, quotations should be embedded in the sentence.

So very well done if you got those right.

Fantastic work, everyone.

Now we're going to bring everything from the lesson together.

In order to write an answer to the question.

How does Burnett present the garden in "The Secret Garden"? So essentially, you're telling me how you think Burnett describes the garden to the reader.

Now, I have some sentence starters for you to help you express your ideas.

It's a great idea to use sentence starters when you start writing analytical answers.

And then as time goes on, the phrase will become more natural to you.

So you might use, "In 'The Secret Garden,' Burnett presents the garden as." So here, you simply add in your idea about the garden and how it's shown to the reader.

You might also say, "The garden, because." Here, you add in your evidence.

So you tell me how the garden is shown to the reader, and then you add in a quotation, and an explanation in order to tell me why you think that.

Now within your answer remember to express your main idea concisely in a topic sentence and use evidence from the text to support your opinion.

So pause the video and write your answer now.

Amazing work, everyone.

It's great to see people using the sentence starters to help them express themselves concisely.

Now, I'd like you to self-assess your answer.

So think about, did you, express your main idea concisely in your topic sentence? Use evidence from the text to support your idea? And did you embed your quotations in your sentence? So pause the video and self-assess your answer now.

Amazing, everyone.

Fantastic to see you looking back over your answer and really making sure you express yourself in the most concise and clear way possible.

Fantastic work today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

Use the first read of an unseen extract to establish key information about plot, character, and setting.

Next, read more closely, considering the meaning of specific words or phrases and their effects.

Writers deliberately use a range of language devices to create meaning.

And every idea we have must be clearly supported by evidence from the text.

I really hope you enjoy the lesson, everyone.

Goodbye.