Hello and welcome to today's English lesson.

Thank you so much for joining me.

My name's Mrs. Butterworth, and I'm looking forward to this lesson because we get to read from the novel, "The Twisted Tree".

So I want you to make sure you have access to that text.

And we're going to be looking at the descriptions created by the writer, particularly thinking about that tree and how it creates an ominous and foreboding presence.

So should we get started? So in this lesson, you'll identify and explain a writer's use of similes and then use some of your own to create your own description.

But before we delve into the lesson, let's look at some key words that will be popping up in our reading today and will help with our understanding.

So these words are forlorn, oblivion, desolate, temperamental, and malice.

Now, forlorn means sad, lonely, or devoid of hope.

So it can be used as a way to describe a person, perhaps.

So the person looked for lawn.

Then we have this word oblivion.

Now, oblivion can be defined as a lack of awareness or consciousness, this idea of nothingness.

So you may have heard people say that they are staring into oblivion, and it's this decided that they're staring into nothingness like a blank space.

We have this word desolate, which means abandoned and joyless.

And we could say that the setting in the twisted tree is very desolate.

You know that isolation, that sense of bleakness, all links to this idea of desolation and the setting being desolate.

We get this word temperamental, which means unreliable or changing quickly.

And the word malice, which means evil or the desire to harm someone, and this word malice, become quite important as we go through the novel, as the evil really starts to come in to the plot.

So the outline of our lesson looks like this.

We're going to begin by reading pages 29 to 43, and then we're going to think about using similes.

So let's start by exploring those pages 29 to 43.

Now, before we delve into our reading, I'd like us to discuss how would you describe the atmosphere of the previous chapter and what did Martha discover? So pause the video so you've got time to discuss these questions, or you may need to sit quietly and think by yourself, but we'll feed back some answers in a moment.

Off you go.

Wow, some excellent memories there.

Lots of you remembering moments from the last chapter, and also some great descriptive words for the atmosphere.

So we've got some of our Oak pupils here to share some feedback.

So here, one of our pupils has said that, "The atmosphere is typical of a Nordic thriller.

It's suspenseful and ominous." And you may have heard this word, Nordic thriller before, which is almost like a genre of its own, and it's that setting that is suspenseful and ominous that is a convention of this, very bleak.

As Izzy has just said, "The isolated bleak and desolate setting adds to the eerie and creepy atmosphere." And then finally, what happened at the end? "There was so much tension in the chapter." I totally agree.

"And it ended with a cliffhanger and Martha discovering her Mormor is actually dead." I gasped aloud when I read that moment when Martha realised that she'd travelled all the way to Norway to discover that her not only was Mormor's cabin being lived in by Stig, but also that her Mormor was dead.

So there's lots of tension and this ominous foreboding atmosphere being created in this bleak and isolated setting.

Okay, so a question for you.

The setting in the twisted tree could be described as.

You need to pick a, b, or c to finish the sentence.

Are we ready for the answer? Okay, so hopefully you picked the answer c.

So the setting in the twisted tree could be described as isolated, bleak, and desolate.

So we're going to look at some vocabulary that appears in the next chapter of the twisted tree.

So here is the vocabulary, here are the words.

So we have got forlorn, silhouetted, desolate, loiters, jagged, rickety, malice, and temperamental.

And what I would like you to do is I'd like you to read through the definitions carefully and then put three of the words in a sentence of your own.

So let's read through the definitions together first.

So we've looked at forlorn already.

So this idea of sad, lonely or devoid of hope.

We have this word silhouetted as well.

And this means something that is shown, something that is dark and outlined in shape.

So you might describe someone being silhouetted against a landscape.

Okay, so it's the idea that you can only see the dark outlined shape.

We've looked at the word desolate.

We know this means abandoned and joyless.

We also have this word loiters, which means to stand or wait with no purpose.

You're kind of hanging around with no real intention.

Then we have this word jagged, which I really like.

I like this word.

And this means having sharp or uneven edge.

So you could talk about the jagged mountains, or even you could say that someone has a jagged personality.

We have the word rickety, which means poorly made and likely to collapse.

So the person fell from the rickety chair.

Then we have malice, which we've looked at already this lesson.

So evil, the desire to harm someone, and then finally temperamental, which means unreliable or changing quickly.

Okay, so we've looked at those definitions.

So now you'll need to pause the video and come up with a sentence that uses three of those words.

Off you go.

Some excellent sentences coming up there, and some really creative use, creative uses of some of those words.

So I think I'm going to have a go and see what I'm going to come up with.

Okay, so the forlorn woman stood silhouette against the desolate landscape.

That was okay, wasn't it? Hopefully you came up with something as well.

So true or false time.

The word forlorn can be described as hopeful, happy, and content.

Is that true or false? What do we think? False, that's right, it's not.

Hopeful, happy, and content.

So now you need to justify your answer by picking a or b.

Well done to everyone said b, that actually the word forlorn can be described as sad, lonely, or devoid of hope.

So well done to everyone that got those answers right.

Okay, so now it is finally time to do some reading.

So make sure you have access to "The Twisted Tree".

And what I would like you to do, please, is I would like you to read "The Twisted Tree" from page 29 to the end of page 43.

Okay, so you're going to do your reading first, and then I would like you please to discuss the following questions.

So on page 33, Martha describes the tree in her dream.

So number one, how is the tree described? Do you think the tree will be important and why? And what predictions can you make about the role of the tree in the rest of the novel.

In your discussions, try and include evidence from the chapter two, okay? So you're gonna start by reading and then you're gonna move on to those discussion questions.

You may need to think quietly to yourself or jot down some ideas instead.

That is absolutely fine.

What you'll definitely need to do is pause a video to give yourself time to complete the reading and the discussion tasks.

Okay, pause the video and off you go.

Great, thank you everyone.

I hope you are enjoying the novel as much as I am.

It really is exciting, isn't it? There is just so much tension and I just really love the spooky setting, the spooky atmosphere.

It's just fab, isn't it? So let's just do a little bit of feedback.

And these are just some suggestions of what you may have discussed.

You may have discussed something slightly different, and that's absolutely fine as well.

But these will just give you some pointers.

So how is the tree described? So we know that the tree is presented as ancient and has an ominous presence in the world, not in the words gnarled and twisted.

This word gnarled comes up quite a lot in the novel to describe the tree, and you can almost see it all twisted and gnarled.

So showing it as really ancient and important.

And there's also personification.

So some of you may have picked up on this, which really brings the tree to life and reveals its menacing and vicious actions.

It's almost described as being quite violent.

And the tree is destructive and terrifying.

So Martha gives us this description of being in this hollow of the tree, and it's almost as if she's being eaten alive.

It's truly terrifying and really shows how powerful and mystical this tree is.

So do you think the tree will be important and why? So the tree seems to symbolise something deeper, doesn't it? And possibly related to Martha's fears, her past or hidden family secrets, there's definitely some hints that the tree is going to be very important to the novel.

And the tree could for shadow something maybe because the detailed dream seems to suggest that the tree will play a significant role in the story hinting at future conflicts or revelations.

So there is a sense that it could foreshadow something that is going to happen.

And there is definitely this link to Mormor, isn't there? And this in turn suggests it is tied to Martha's family, which could be crucial to her journey.

So there's lots of clues here as to the importance of the tree and why it might be so important.

And what predictions can you make about the role of the tree in the rest of the novel? Well, I think it will continue to play a significant role in the plot development of the novel.

And I think perhaps it has some supernatural powers which will be revealed as the story progresses.

That's one of my predictions, and I predict that it is somehow connected to Mormor and Martha and may even have had an active role in Martha's accident.

If you remember, from what we have read, Martha sees the tree and is reminded of her accident.

So there's some connection there perhaps, isn't there? Okay, so well done.

That's the first part of the lesson completed.

We are now moving on to the second part.

So we need to keep up that excellent work because we're now going to look at using similes.

Now a simile is used in writing to compare two things.

So to draw a comparison to between two things.

And it uses the words like or as.

So similes are a great way and can be used to create vivid imagery and also help the reader experience what is being described.

So when you are trying to describe something for a reader, you really want to bring it to life, don't you? You want the reader to be able to really experience the description, and similes can really help with that.

And in "The Twisted Tree", Burge the writer uses multiple similes.

You may have noticed some of these already.

What I would like you to do is I'd like you to look back through the chapters we've just read so you can skim and scam what we have just read and see if you can find any similes.

So any examples of similes, and can you explain how Burge uses them? Now I'm gonna give you a hint.

So as you are skimming and scanning, you may wish to look for these words.

Forlorn, angel, tongue and needles.

If you find these words, they may put you on the right track to find those similes.

Okay, so pause the video so you've got time to look for those similes and consider how Burge uses them too.

Off you go.

Okay, fantastic.

Lots of you using those hints to find those similes.

We get Stig, who is being described as like an angel, as a forlorn angel, and that sore tongue comparison as well, which I think is really fantastic and really vivid and the needles to describe the weather.

And again, it really helps us as a reader, doesn't it? Experience that painful, brutal, and bleak weather that Martha does.

So you can start to see how those similes are really effective at bringing those details to life for us as the reader.

Is it true or false.

Burge compares Stig to an angel, true or fasle.

The answer is true.

Okay, well done to everyone that said true.

Now we need to justify your answer by picking a or b.

Okay, who's feeling confident? Oh, lots of you, fantastic.

And the answer is b.

The simile also uses the word forlorn to emphasise his innocence and emotional complexity.

And again, those two words forlorn and angel, you can almost see Stig, can't you? Like his demeanour, the way he's standing, the way his expression might be.

It really adds to his overall presence this simile, doesn't it? It's really effective.

Now, an effective simile will develop a description and give the reader a clearer understanding.

So let's look at a simile and I want us to think about whether it is effective.

So here's the simile, the icy weather stung her face like fish flying from the sky and slapping her repeatedly.

So do we think this is effective? Let's just unpick it a bit together.

So some of you may have picked up that actually the fish flying from the sky, it's not very plausible, is it? It's actually implausible and it's an unrelated combination.

As you were reading it, you might have thought, why is this simile talking about fish flying? Which means it's not being very effective because it's not very plausible and it's not very related.

It also lacks clarity and relevance.

It doesn't convey a meaningful comparison.

Like I cannot imagine the weather feeling like a flying fish.

It doesn't quite equate in my head.

So it's not really clear and it's not really relevant and it is confusing.

Every time I read it out loud, it becomes more and more confusing.

And in this case, it means that the reader is less likely to understand the comparison.

If it's confusing, it's not going to bring that description, that experience alive for the reader.

It's just going to leave the reader baffled, which is not what we want.

So here is an improved version, okay.

Let's think about what makes this simile more effective.

So let's read it through.

So the icy weather stung her face, like the slap of a frozen hand, cold, hard, and unexpected, okay.

So definitely more effective, don't you think? So let's just see why this is more effective.

So it's plausible, isn't it? This idea of the hand and the weather, it's a plausible comparison.

You can imagine what that feels like.

And it's a relevant comparison and it emphasises the brutal experience of the weather.

I read that and it made sense.

I can envisage it, I can experience it through that similarly.

And it creates a clearer imagery and is much easier for the reader to visualise and understand.

And it also uses personification, doesn't it, in there like the slap of a frozen hand.

So it's using multiple things to really make it clear, really help the reader to understand and visualise how that icy weather feels.

Okay, so now you need to make some decisions.

So I'd like you to pick a, b, or c thinking about what we have just explored.

And I'd like you to decide please, which simile is the most effective at describing a character's feelings? Is it a, b, or c? Are we ready for the answer? Okay, here we go, it's b.

So her sadness hung about her like a restless storm cloud.

So again, it's using the weather, this is an expected comparison.

We're used to seeing the weather being linked to emotion.

So this really works as a simile.

So if we look at things like a rubber duck, she felt her heart sink.

That rubber duck kind of takes away from the seriousness of those emotions.

You know, if you're imagining a rubber duck sinking, it doesn't really link to the idea of someone's heart sinking or being broken.

So that one doesn't really work in a.

And then c, she was happy like a bicycle made of feathers.

It's a bit nonsensical, isn't it? And it doesn't really work.

It's not relevant, it's not plausible, which is what makes this simile not effective.

So it's important to think about all of these things when we're creating our own similes.

And you'll notice as you continue to read through the novel, that Burge is really good at creating these effective similes that allow us as the reader to re-visualize and experience everything that is happening in the "The Twisted Tree".

So now it's over to you.

So for this task, what I would like you to do is I would like you to write a short description of five sentences, which include at least one similarly, okay? So you've got to include one simile.

So what you may wish to do is to.

You may wish to focus on describing a setting or a character's feelings.

So you may wish to pick one of those just to focus your description and make the simile writing a little bit easier.

What I would also do is I would also use Burgess similes as inspiration.

So look back at those similes we've discussed and think about how they could be adapted for your own description.

Okay, so I think we've got everything that we need to complete this task.

Great, so you're gonna need to pause a video to give yourself time to get your description written.

I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Off you go.

Great work everyone.

We have some excellent descriptive writers in our midst and some excellent writers of similes.

Well done for using that advice about keeping it relevant, making sure it's not confusing.

Some of you even added in some personification, which is fantastic.

So really well done on creating those effective similes.

So what I would like you to do now is I would like you to self assess your own work.

So I want you just to look at your similes and ask these questions.

Are your similes plausible and related? Are they clear and understandable? Are they effective at creating imagery and enabling the reader to visualise and understand? So look through your similes and ask yourself these questions.

And then what I would like you to do is I would like you to give your writing of what went well and an even better if, okay, so pause the video so you've got time to do this feedback task.

Off you go.

So fantastic work everyone.

We have reached the end of the lesson and are very well done for making it this far.

So let's just remind ourselves of everything.

We have looked at this lesson.

So we know that Martha has a vivid nightmare about the tree.

It really is vivid and spooky, isn't it? Martha allows Stig to stay.

We've started to understand that the tree has a symbolic meaning and we are predicting that it will be revealed throughout the novel.

We know that similes can be used to create vivid imagery and help the reader experience what is being described.

Keep your eyes peeled for those as you read through the novel as well, because as I say, Burge is really good at creating those similes.

And when crafting similes, they need to be plausible, draw relevant comparisons and not be confusing for the reader.

So again, thank you for your hard work and I hope to see you all again in a lesson soon.

But until then, goodbye.