Hello and welcome to today's lesson! Thank you for joining me today for another lesson about "The Twisted Tree" by Rachel Burge.

You're going to need a copy of the book for today's lesson and you need to have the 2019 edition.

It's published by Hot Key Books.

Today, we're going to be reading about the climax of the novel, the exciting bit, the highest drama in the novel.

So as soon as you've got your book and you're ready, we'll get started.

So by the end of today's lesson, you will understand what the climax of the novel is.

Let's look at the keywords.

There are five keywords that will help to unlock your learning in today's lesson.

The first one is climax, which is the main focus of this lesson, and it's the point in the narrative where the suspense and excitement is at their highest point.

Something that is gnarled is rough and twisted with age, like the tree.

And if you recoil from something, you flinch back in fear, terror, or disgust.

And something that emanates spreads out from a source.

And fledgling.

It's a new, inexperienced, or immature person or animal, or a bird that has just left the nest.

If you'd like a little bit of time to familiarise yourself with the keywords, please feel free to pause the video and rejoin the lesson when you're ready.

So let's look at the lesson outline.

There are two learning cycles and we are going to start by reading pages 193 to 218.

And then we are going to move on and consider the dramatic part of the novel, the climax of the novel.

Now I would like you to look at the title of chapter 22.

It begins on page 193.

And after you've looked at the title, I want you to discuss the following questions.

What do you consider to be the most important words in the title? How do they link to the themes or other ideas in the novel? And what inferences and predictions can you make about the next part of the novel? Pause the video while you have that discussion.

And if you are working by yourself, pause the video and make a few notes.

And welcome back.

That was a really interesting discussion.

I remember when I read the novel for the first time, I was really intrigued by the word thread.

It made me think of the Norns and it also made me think of all the links there are, you know, the way that Martha is connected to her past and the way she also is beginning to feel herself connected to Stig.

And the word blade, I remember, gave me shudders because I just thought there is going to be a fight and it's going to be dangerous and I don't know what's going to happen to the characters that I've learned to care about.

So let's move on.

Now as I've said, this part of the novel could be considered the climax.

This is where the suspense and excitement reach their highest point in the novel.

And considering what has happened so far, what do you think the climax of "The Twisted Tree" is going to be? Pause the video while you have a discussion or pause the video while you make a few notes.

So let's have a check for understanding.

Which of these answers best describes the climax of a novel? Is it A, where the setting and characters are introduced? Is it B, where the protagonist begins their journey? Or is it C, where the suspense and excitement reach their highest point? Have a think.

Make your choice.

That's right.

It's C.

So let's move on.

So now it's over to you.

And I would like you to read "The Twisted Tree" from page 193 to the end of page 218.

And then, I would like you to summarise each chapter into three bullet points.

So chapter 22, it begins with the word "Where," and it's on pages 193 to 201.

And chapter 23 begins with the word "Our," and it's on pages 202 to 208.

And chapter 24 begins with the word "A," and it's on pages 209 to 218.

You're going to need to pause the video while you read.

So pause the video now and off you go and happy reading of those three chapters.

So well done, welcome back, and congratulations on your incredible focus.

Wasn't that an exciting three chapters? I'm going to share with you some suggestions that I think you might have found of most importance in those three chapters.

Now chapter 22, which begins with the word "Where," on the pages 193 to 201.

Now in that chapter, Martha comes face to face with Hel, you know, the queen of the underworld, and she is half beautiful and half skull-like.

And she's grotesque.

And she also has this kind of symbolic image in that she presents both life and death.

And Martha has a very strong reaction to Hel.

She wants her help.

She keeps trying to look at the beautiful side of her face, but is drawn to the death-like part of her face.

And Martha discovers that Stig's spirit is still inside of him and that Mormor is with the dead that are restless due to her regret.

I don't know about you, but I did not see it coming that Stig was going to, there was still going to be a chance for Stig.

And Hel tells Martha how to kill the draugr and she gives Martha a thread that can save the dead.

And here are some suggestions for chapter 23, which is on pages 202 to 208.

Now Martha is sobbing, desperate about her losses and the enormity of her situation.

Often, in the climax of a story, the bit just before is when our hero feels at their lowest.

And Martha really feels low in this part of the novel.

But she uses her powers to communicate with Karina, who tells her exactly what she needs to do.

And so Martha scratches the symbol of the rune into the axe and seals it with her blood, and now she's ready to confront the draugr.

And I really, really was rooting for her at that point and how brave she was.

Weren't you? And finally, chapter 24 on pages 209 to 218.

Martha uses the thread that Hel has given her and begins to release the dead.

And she tells Mormor to be at peace and go to the Underworld.

And the ravens help Martha defeat the draugr.

And then Martha's mum appears and fends off the draugr, allowing Martha to kill it with the axe.

I wanted to give three cheers at that point.

Didn't you? What a fantastic read that was! Well done.

Let's move on.

So we have read pages 193 to 218 and now we are going to consider those pages and the climax of the story in a little bit more detail.

So in this part of the lesson, we are going to consider the climax of "The Twisted Tree." So first of all, we're going to think about the structure of a story, which can look like this.

Opening, build-up, climax, resolution.

You may have sometimes seen the opening called the exposition and the build-up the rising action, but the climax, it's nearly always the same word, the most tense part of the story.

And the opening is where the writer describes the setting and the characters.

And the build-up is where the problems are introduced and tension rises.

And the climax is the high point of the action and tension.

And then the resolution is where the problems are resolved.

Maybe all the loose ends are tied up.

Now, many stories follow this structure and it can be really helpful, as a way of understanding the structure, to apply it to a story we're familiar with.

And I chose "Little Red Riding Hood." So the opening of "Little Red Riding Hood." This is where we are first introduced to the character of Little Red Riding Hood.

And the build-up is when she goes into the forest to visit her grandmother and there she encounters the wolf.

And then the climax, this is where Little Red Riding Hood is faced with the wolf and exclaimed, "Oh, what big teeth you have!" And the resolution is when the woodsman comes in and saves Little Red Riding Hood and her grandma.

So you may have seen that there are certain similarities between "Little Red Riding Hood" and "The Twisted Tree," things like forests and brave young girls and grandmothers.

But that should help you think about this.

Which moments from "The Twisted Tree" might link to each part of the story? Please have a discussion about that.

Pause the video while you do it.

On the right-hand side of the slide, you will see there are the summaries of what those four sections refer to.

So pause the video and have a discussion.

And if you are working by yourself, pause the video and make some notes.

Off you go.

Now when we think about whether the climax of a story is effective, we are thinking about these things.

Does it address the major conflicts? When you reach the climax, it should confront whatever the central conflict of the story is.

And it should have maximum emotional impact.

It needs to evoke strong feelings in the reader, such as excitement or fear or relief.

We need to really care what happens at that point.

And character development is important.

The climax often serves as a really critical point for character growth and development.

Do you remember I said earlier that sometimes before the climax, the character reaches their kind of lowest point, and that sometimes is their point of growth.

Out of that, they become better, stronger, and realise they are capable of more than they thought.

And there needs to be real pace and tension.

Often, the climax moves very, very quickly, with lots of shifts and changes.

So now we're going to move on and think about whether the climax of "The Twisted Tree" is effective.

And Laura and Jun discuss the question, do you think the climax of "The Twisted Tree" is effective? And I would like to share with you what they thought.

Now Laura said that she thought that it was a bit predictable.

She thought the fact that Martha defeats the draugr was predictable.

She expected it to happen.

There were no surprises there for Laura.

And Jun accepted that point.

But he homed in instead on the idea about Martha's character development.

Because actually, this isn't just a plot-driven story.

This is a story about Martha's development.

And he thinks that everything in the novel so far has been leading to this point where Martha faces her fears and really embraces her ancestry.

What do you think? Do you agree with Laura that it's a little bit predictable? Or do you think Jun has a point? Pause the video.

Discuss whether you agree or disagree with those comments.

And if you're working by yourself, just pause the video and make a few notes.

And now I'd like to share with you Alex and Sofia's point of view about it.

I think it's always so useful when you hear other people's ideas and then use them to kind of benchmark and consider your own.

Now Alex said that he thought the novel had an effective climax because of its emotional impact.

There's a huge amount of fear present that is created by the draugr and then there is the relief when Martha's mum appears.

So quite a rollercoaster of fear and relief for Alex.

And Sofia agreed.

She thought that the climax was effective because of the fear and there's a lot of terror anticipation created, she said.

And then Martha finally confronts the draugr.

So there's a lot of pacing and tension leading up to that moment when Martha takes on her enemy.

Again, pause the video while you discuss whether you agree or disagree with their comments.

Or just pause the video and make some notes.

And after that fantastic discussion you've had, I'd like to have a check for understanding.

Is it true or false to say that an effective climax will address the central conflicts presented in the story? Is that true or false? Have a think.

Make your choice.

It's true.

Would you say this is true? A, it will also have emotional impact.

Or B, it will also introduce a new character.

Have a think.

Make your choice.

It's A.

It will always have emotional impact.

In the case of "The Twisted Tree," that's fear and then relief.

Usually, in a climax, we don't introduce a new character because this is all about following the hero on their adventure and their moment of truth and realisation and greatest danger and, we hope, greatest success.

Let's move on.

Now what I would like you to do is to bring together all that you have learned about these chapters from "The Twisted Tree" and what you have learned about story structure and the climax of stories, and use these sentence starters below to create a short paragraph.

These are the sentence starters.

In "The Twisted Tree," the climax is where.

This is effective because.

However, some readers.

And I think this climax will be followed by.

The sentence structure that begins with "However, some readers," that will really allow you to draw on the discussion where you responded to some of the things that the Oak pupils said.

And for "I think this climax will be followed by," that's your opportunity to make predictions about where you think the story will go.

What do you think will happen to Martha after this climactic moment in the novel? You will need to pause the video while you do that.

So gather together everything you need, pause the video, and off you go.

So welcome back.

What excellent focus.

I'm really impressed.

Well done.

Just in order to help you think about how you completed that task, I'd like to share with you how Aisha completed the third sentence.

She wrote this.

That, however, some readers may feel that Martha's interaction with her Mormor is over too quickly, particularly when we consider the importance of their relationship throughout the novel.

So she's considering other people's points of view and she's focusing on why they might think that.

Now I'm interested, do you agree or disagree with Aisha's comment? And I would also like you to use just a little bit of time before the end of the lesson to reflect on your own paragraphs.

If there is anything you would like to add, I would strongly urge you to make sure you have explained your reasons for why you think what you think.

Pause the video while you do that and then please join me for the end of the lesson.

So now we've reached the end of the lesson and I'd like to say a big well done for how well you have focused today.

I hope you enjoyed reading these three exciting chapters.

I know I did.

I love this novel.

So before we say goodbye, I would like to summarise what you have been learning today.

You have been learning that Martha visits Hel in the underworld.

And that Hel gives Martha a magical cord that could allow her to return the dead to the underworld.

And Martha's mother arrives to help her.

And Martha and her mother work together to kill the draugr.

And that this is the climax of the novel.

So, I'm going to say goodbye now and I'm going to wish you a really good rest of the day, and I look forward to seeing you in another lesson about "The Twisted Tree." Bye for now!.