Hello, everyone, welcome to the lesson.

My name's Dr.

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

Welcome to the lesson.

The lesson's called Creating a Clear Character Voice in a Monologue.

So the aim today is to think about how we can create a consistent and convincing character voice for a monologue using tone, language devices, and short sentences.

Our key words for today are claustrophobic, bitter, liberated, unshackled, and heightened.

The definitions for our keywords are appearing on your screen now.

These words will help you unlock the learning for today, and you'll see them throughout the material, so you can see them used in context.

They'll be identified in bold, and I'll try to point 'em out to you as well.

If you can, try to use them in your discussions and written work today.

So we have three learning cycles in our lesson today.

For the first learning cycle we're going to consider how to create tone.

So we're going to consider how using certain words and certain phrase choices can impact the emotion a piece of writing presents to the reader.

For our second learning cycle we're going to delve a bit deeper into thinking about how language can impact the reader's perception of emotion by looking at language devices and how they create an effect on the reader.

Finally, for our third learning cycle we're going to look at how using short sentences can really heighten the emotion of a piece of writing.

So the purpose of the lesson is to think about how to craft a convincing character voice of a monologue.

So let's begin by defining what a monologue is.

If we break down the word into its two parts, mono is a prefix, that means one, and logue means discourse or talk.

So what I'd like you to do is think about those two parts together, so we have one and talk, and think about what you think a monologue is.

Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, some great ideas there.

A monologue is a speech delivered by one actor.

Now that we've defined a monologue, let's think about what the purpose for a monologue might be.

So why do you think we might choose to have a speech by one character? What might that give us as an audience? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Amazing.

Some great ideas there.

Like Laura, you might have thought it would let us hear the thoughts of a character rather than just their interactions with other characters.

It would allow us to hear their inner reactions and feelings to really get a sense of who they are.

Like Izzy, you might also have thought that a monologue would be a great opportunity for a character to explain their actions and backstory as well.

It offers a chance for the character to contextualise what's going on.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

Which two of the following statements about monologues are true? Is it A, monologues are delivered by two actors, B, monologues are delivered by one actor, C, monologues allow us to hear a character's thoughts, or D, monologues allow us to hear interactions between characters? Pause the video and make your selections now.

The correct answers are B, monologues are delivered by one actor, and C, monologues allow us to hear a character's thoughts.

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

Now that we know monologue is a speech given by one character, we need to start thinking about how to write in the voice of that character.

So in order to write convincingly in the voice of a character, you need to understand the character themselves.

You need to think about their motivations, emotions, and reactions.

To do that, you need to think about what's happened to the character and how that might make them feel.

Let's take the character of Ariel from "The Tempest" as our example.

Here are three major plot points from "The Tempest" that happened to Ariel.

So when Prospero first arrived on the island, Ariel was magically imprisoned in a tree by Sycorax.

Then, Ariel was freed by Prospero, but forced into another form of captivity, since they were then forced to perform magical tasks for Prospero.

Finally, Ariel is freed by Prospero at the end of the play.

Now what I'd like you to do is consider how each of these events might have made Ariel feel.

Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing.

Some great ideas there.

In terms of how Ariel might've felt being imprisoned in a tree.

You might've said they'd feel helpless, desperate, and claustrophobic.

Now, claustrophobic is one of our key words and means to feel scared or uncomfortable within a small space.

Now let's think about how Ariel might have felt to be freed from the tree, but then forced to serve Prospero.

You might imagine the Ariel would feel frustrated, angry, and bitter.

Bitter is another one of our keywords that means to feel angry or unhappy.

Remember that Ariel had one brief moment of freedom before being forced back into imprisonment, so we can imagine they'd feel very angry about this.

Finally, if we think of the moment Ariel is finally freed, we might imagine they'd feel liberated, free, and unshackled.

Now, liberated and unshackled are more of our keywords and they're synonyms, or words that mean the same, as being free.

Now let's begin to consider how to portray these emotions in a piece of writing.

The general mood or attitude of a text is known as the tone, and this is how we can express the emotion of the character.

Vocabulary choices such as adjectives and verbs can influence the mood of a text.

So, if we take this sentence as our example, "I stared forlornly at the blank expanse in front of me." Now let's zoom in on some words and phrases.

So forlorn means sad and lonely.

So this choice creates a negative tone.

The phrase blank expanse can also add this negative tone, because blank means something empty, which adds this lonely and sad tone.

However, we can change the tone by changing these words.

So if we change the word for lonely to delightedly, this now creates a positive emotion, as it creates a happy and excited tone.

We can then change blank expanse to wondrous expanse.

Wondrous is something extremely good, so this adds to the happy and excited tone.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like to do is match the adjective with the tone.

So your adjectives are bitter, liberated, wondrous, and forlorn.

Now do those adjectives give a positive tone or a negative tone? Pause the video and create your selections now.

Now, bitter is one of our keywords and means to feel angry and unhappy.

So that's a negative tone.

Liberated is another one of our keywords and means to feel free.

So that's a positive tone.

Wondrous means something magical and happy.

That's a positive tone.

And forlorn means sad, so that's a negative tone.

So very well done, if you've got those right.

You are all doing really well, everyone.

We're onto our first task of the lesson.

Now what we're going to do is put into practise how word choice affects the tone of a piece of writing.

So in Shakespeare's "The Tempest," Ariel is magically trapped in a tree before being freed by Prospero.

Now we can imagine that being trapped in a tree would be a fairly negative experience.

So what I'd like you to do is rewrite the highlighted words in the below account from Ariel to make it seem like a negative experience.

"The tree bark felt warm under my palm." So instead of warm, how might the tree bark actually feel to make it seem more negative? "The scent of fresh jasmine wafted through the air." So instead of fresh jasmine, what smell might actually be more unpleasant? You might also think about the way the smell is circulating.

Wafting makes things sound really expansive and open, but being trapped in a tree would actually be a really small and confined space.

"I breathed as deep sigh of contentment." What emotion could we replace the word contentment with to make it sound more negative? "An uplifting breeze lifted the tendrils of my hair." How might we describe the breeze to fit the negative tone? The sense of the hair being lifted gives an almost joyous feeling.

How would you actually be feeling? Finally, "I was free." What word can we swap with free to show what's actually happening to Ariel? Pause the video and create your version now.

Amazing.

Some fantastic ideas there.

So, you might have said, instead of warm, you could replace it with cold.

The idea of the tree bark being cold would give a sense of it being uncomfortable and unwelcoming.

We might replace the phrase fresh jasmine wafted with mould and damp stifled.

The smell of mould and damp would again give the impression of a really uncomfortable place to be.

And the idea of the smell stifling rather than wafting gives the impression of Ariel being quite claustrophobic and trapped within the space.

Rather than contentment, Ariel might breathe a sigh of loneliness instead to reflect that negative emotion.

Rather than uplifting, we might instead say the breeze is dispiriting to show it's dragging Ariel's emotion down rather than lifting them up.

Instead of lifting the tendrils of their hair, the breeze might instead cling to the hair to again show how confined and uncomfortable Ariel is.

Finally, we might swap the word free for trapped to better show what's actually happening to Ariel.

You're doing amazingly well, everyone.

We're onto our second learning cycle.

Here we're going to focus on similes and metaphors.

We're going to find their purpose and then practise using them to create different emotional tones.

So in this learning cycle we're looking at language devices.

Now, a language device is a technique that a writer uses to create an effect on the reader.

So they're used to communicate an emotion or a feeling to the reader.

There are many different types of language devices, but the two we're gonna focus on are similes and metaphors.

Now you might have come across simile and metaphors before, so I'd like to think about what you already know about them.

So you might think about what the purpose of them is and maybe what specific words they might use.

Pause the video and take a few moments to discuss.

Amazing.

Heard some great ideas there.

Like Lucas, you might know that a simile is a comparison between two things using either like or as while a metaphor is a comparison where something is said to be something else.

Now have a quick check for understanding.

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

So similes and metaphors are used to show, something.

Similes show a, between two things by using.

And finally, metaphors are where something is said to.

Pause the video and complete the sentences now.

Amazing.

You might have said that similes and metaphors are used to show comparisons.

Similes show a comparison between two things by using like or as.

And then finally, metaphors are comparisons where something is said to be something else.

So very well done if you got those right.

So let's look at how to create a simile.

So your first step is gonna be decide on the tone.

Essentially, do you want it to be positive or negative? And then think about a specific emotion to attach to that.

So you might decide on a negative tone, we might choose a specific emotion of anger.

Our second step, take an object from the scene and add an adjective to describe it.

So if we imagine Ariel on our island as our point of reference, we might think of the leaves on the island.

We might describe them as rustling.

Now rustling is a sound that comes from movement.

This could suggest an agitation in the leaves that fits with the angry tone we're trying to create.

Our third step is to compare that with something that fits the tone, in this case anger.

Because it's a simile, we need to remember to use like or as.

So you might say hissed like a provoked cat.

Now a cat generally hisses when they want someone or something to stop.

So that fits with our negative tone.

If you're provoked, that generally means someone has done something to deliberately annoy you.

So again, it fits with our overall tone of showing anger.

So our full sentence then is the rusting leaves hissed like a provoked cat.

Now let's think about how to create a metaphor.

Again, our first step is decide on the tone.

So we might go with another negative emotion.

We might decide on trapped.

Again, we then need to take an object from the scene and add an adjective to describe it.

So we think of the island again, we might think of branches, we might add the adjective bristling.

Now bristling means something spiky or tense.

So we're always thinking how to consistently match the tone of all the words we're using.

Our third step is to find something to compare the branches to that fits with that negative tone.

Remember, it's a metaphor, so we're saying that something is something else.

We might choose to say, the branch are shackles.

Shackles are used to fasten people's hands together, so it really shows that feeling of being trapped.

So our full sentence is the bristling branches were shackles.

Now I have a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is match the sentence to the language device used.

So your sentences are, the twisting branches were like grasping hands.

The murky fog was like a blindfold.

The sludgy mud was a prison.

I was a ghost.

Now are those metaphors or are they similes? Pause the video and make your selections now.

Now you might remember that similes use like or as, so the twisting branches were like grasping hands is a simile because the branches are being compared to hands using the word like.

Similarly, the murky fog was like a blindfold is also a simile because the fog is being compared to a blindfold using the word like.

The sludgy mud was a prison is a metaphor rather than a simile, because the mud is said to be a prison.

Same way, I was a ghost is again a metaphor, because you are saying you are a ghost.

You're all doing really well, everyone.

We're on to our second task of the lesson where we're going to put some of our ideas about language devices into practise.

So what I'd like you to do is complete the table below to create some interesting similes for Ariel on the island.

Notice that we're just creating similes rather than metaphors.

So you need to use like or as to create your comparisons.

Now the subjects of our similes are the sea, the sand, and the wind.

So, you need to decide whether you're creating a positive or negative tone.

You need to pick an object that's related to either the sea, the sand, or the wind, and choose an adjective to describe it that matches the tone.

And then you need to think of your comparison.

Remember to make sure that all of your aspects match in tone.

Pause the video and complete the table now.

Amazing.

Some great ideas there.

You might have said you're gonna create a positive tone throughout your description.

Now the object that might be related to the sea are the waves.

We might describe them as gentle.

Our comparison might then be the gentle waves embraced the shore like a warm hug.

For the sand, we might say the sand is warm, and we might create the comparison the warm sand felt like honey in my hand.

Finally, we might think about the breeze for the wind and describe it as cheerful.

Our comparison might then be the cheerful breeze sang like a choir.

Now notice that all the comparisons and adjectives match the positive tone and all of the comparisons use like in order to show they're similes.

Amazing work, everyone.

We're onto our final learning cycle, where we're going to think about how we can use short sentences to enhance our writing and demonstrate certain emotions.

Now, all sentence forms have a particular purpose.

For short sentences, their purpose can be to show heightened emotions such as anger or excitement.

Now heightened is one of our key words and means intense.

So short sentences show intense emotions.

What I'd like you to think about is why do you think short sentences might be effective at showing heightened emotion? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing.

Some great ideas there.

Like Laura, you might have thought that a short sentence doesn't give any other information, so it suggests the only thing happening is that feeling or emotion which makes it seem heightened and more intense.

Now, let's have a go at thinking about some short sentences and what emotions they express.

So what emotion do you think I hissed suggests? And what emotion do you think I beamed suggests? Pause the video and take a few moments to discuss.

Amazing.

Some great ideas there.

Now you might know that hissing is a cat's way of expressing anger or fear.

So to have the character hiss with no context shows the reader they are feeling extreme anger or fear.

I beamed, on the other hand, is another way of saying has a big smile on someone's face.

So to have the character beam with no other information shows that they're experiencing joy.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

So which two of the following are true of short sentences? Is it A, they're good for showing heightened emotion, B, they're good for adding information, C, they highlight the importance of the topic, or D, they minimise the importance of the topic? Pause the video and create your selections now.

So the correct answers are A, they're good for showing heightened emotion, and C, they highlight the importance of the topic.

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

You're all doing really well, everyone.

We're onto our final task of the lesson.

What I'd like you to do is put into practise what we've just learned about short sentences to complete the following table.

So you have three emotions you want to express, anger, happiness, and sadness.

What short sentence can you think of that would express those emotions? Try to keep your sentences to only two or three words long.

Pause the video and complete the table now.

Amazing.

Some great ideas there.

For anger, you might have said, "My fists clenched." Generally, when we're feeling angry, our body tenses up.

One way of showing this tension is to show the body curling in on itself rather than being open and expansive.

A clenched face is not only an example of the body curling in on itself, but it also suggests potentially the character might be trying to hold themselves back or preparing themselves for a physical altercation.

For happiness you might have said, "My eyes sparkled." Eyes are said to be the windows to the soul.

So whenever you're trying to describe an emotion, it's really useful trying to think about the character's eyes and what they might be showing.

Sparkling suggests something happy and magical, such as sparkling eyes suggest happiness.

For sadness you might have said, "My voice shuttered." Thinking about the tone of voice can be a lot more powerful than the words a character is saying.

When we're sad and trying to hold back tears, we often find it hard to speak.

So to have the character's voice shuddering suggests sadness to the reader.

You all did really well today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

A monologue is a long speech by one character.

You should choose your words carefully to create tone.

You can use language devices such as similes and metaphors to add to the tone and you can use short sentences to show heightened emotion.

I really hope you enjoyed today's lesson, everyone.

Goodbye.