Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Ms. Watson and I'm delighted that you've decided to join me today for another lesson on "The Twisted Tree." In today's lesson, we are going to be looking at the character of the draugr, the villain of the novel, so very, very exciting reading we are going to be doing today.

So let's get started.

You will need a copy of the book by Rachel Burge and you will need the 2019 edition.

It is published by Hot Key Books.

So when you have your book and your ready, we'll get started.

So the outcome of today's lesson is that you will understand the plot and you will also understand how the villain is introduced.

Let's start by looking at the key words.

There are five key words that you need to know in order to unlock your learning today.

And the first one is transfixed.

And if you are transfixed, you are motionless with horror or astonishment.

Can you see that the word fixed is in there as if you are kind of rooted in one spot? To be mortified is to feel very embarrassed or ashamed.

Inheritance, that is a word that refers to belongings, maybe money or property that has been received from someone after they have died.

A horde is a large group, and a draugr, that comes from Norse mythology and it is a word for a ghost, or a spirit, or a reanimated corpse.

Now if you would like to spend a little bit more time with the key words, familiarising yourself with them, please feel free to pause the video and rejoin the lesson when you are ready.

So let's look at the outline of today's lesson.

There are two learning cycles.

We are going to start with reading and we are going to be reading pages 134 to 153.

And then we are going to dive in and look at how the villain is introduced.

Let's get started.

But first to recap.

I would like you to discuss what happened in chapters 13 and 14.

There on pages 114 to 133 of "The Twisted Tree," pause the video and have a discussion or pause the video and just make some notes if you are working by yourself, off you go.

Okay, so welcome back, great recall.

Let me share with you what some of the Oak pupils said.

Sam remembered that through touching his clothes, Martha discovers that Stig feels responsible for his father's death.

And she tells him about her supernatural powers.

And Jacob says that Martha discovers that her mom knows where she is after she leaves a frantic message telling them to leave.

And Alex says that Martha and Stig find the murdered bodies of Olav and Yrsa.

Very good recall and a lot happened in those two chapters.

Very dramatic, very exciting, very tragic.

Let's move on.

We're going to have a check for understanding.

Is it true or false to say that Stig feels responsible for his father's death? Have a think, make your choice.

That's right, it's true.

And I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it true because of A that Martha discovers this through touching his clothes? Or B, Martha discovers this after he accidentally tells her.

So have a think, make your choice.

Did you say A? Yes, Martha uses her supernatural powers or her supernatural powers tell her the truth of this.

Okay, let's move on.

So in this lesson we are going to read chapters 15 and 16.

These words appear throughout the chapter.

Frantically, that means in a hurried, panicked or anxious way.

Forlorn that means very sad, abandoned or lonely.

Eccentric, that means unconventional and slightly strange.

And one of our key words, inheritance which are belongings, for example, money and property received from someone after they have died, and draugr from Norse mythology that ghost, spirit, or reanimated corpse, and transfixed, meaning to be motionless with horror or astonishment, and mortified to feel very embarrassed or ashamed.

Before we start reading, I'd like you to look at those words and make some inferences or predictions about what you think this chapter's going to be about.

You can pause the video while you do that, while you have your discussion or pause the video and make some notes.

We're going to have a check for understanding of the vocabulary.

Which of these words could be described as unconventional and slightly strange? Is it A, forlorn, B, eccentric, C, draugr? Have a think, make your choice.

Did you say B? That's right, it's eccentric.

Forlorn means lost and abandoned, and a draugr is a reanimated corpse or ghost.

Very well done if you got that right.

Now it's over to you to read.

Read "The Twisted Tree" from page 134 to the end of page 153, and I'd like you to summarise the most important information and events into five bullet points.

You're going to need to pause the video while you do that, so pause it now, and off you go.

Happy reading.

Welcome back, and well done for some really focused reading.

And I'm going to share with you some suggestions for the five most important points that you might have considered these were the five most important points.

You may wish to add them to your own ideas.

You may disagree with some of them, but I think you'll find it really, really helpful to compare them.

So here they are.

That Martha and Stig run through the dark forest trying to outrun the distant howls.

That Martha works out, that the tree is rotting from not being watered and that the dead are escaping in the form of a draugr.

And that Martha sees the forlorn looking face of a woman in the ceiling who seems to be trying to warn her.

And shadows and faces seem to be closing in on the cabin, and Stig and Martha work out that they can only be seen in the dark.

And the doll begins to crawl towards Martha and then she blacks out.

It's a really frightening chapter, isn't it? Let's move on.

So we're making really good progress today.

You've read pages 134 to 153, and now we are going to look at the villain.

So first of all, what is a villain? Well, it is usually the antagonist in the story, which means that they oppose or create challenges for the protagonist.

The protagonist being the main character, sometimes referred to as the hero, and they create conflict in the narrative.

It is often that the antagonist is the major source of conflict in a narrative.

I'd like you to have a discussion.

What other villains have you encountered in literature and what would you say made them effective? Pause the video while you have that discussion or pause the video while you make some notes if you're working by yourself, off you go.

Now, villains are present in lots of texts, not just in books, in films and theatre as well, and they have, there are particular conventions and characteristics, things that you will expect to find when you encounter a villain.

And evil intentions, sorry.

Evil actions and intentions are among those conventions and characteristics.

The villain means to do what they do, they intend it.

It's not just accidental bad or wrong behaviour.

And they have a range of emotions, but they can include greed and revenge or sometimes just simply the desire for power.

And traits, that means qualities, can include cruelty, deceit, malevolence, violence, and unpredictability.

And I often think that it is the unpredictability of villains that makes them so frightening.

It's that wondering what on earth they will do next.

And they have a scary or unsettling presence or appearance.

And they challenge the protagonist.

They get in the way of what the protagonist hopes or wishes or desires.

So with that in mind, let's consider the draugr in "The Twisted Tree." I would like you to look at the description on page 138 and then to have a discussion about how the draugr is described and how does it make Martha feel.

So find page 138 and pause the video so that you can have your discussion or pause the video while you make some notes.

Off you go.

So welcome back, well done.

What good focus you showed there.

I'd like to share some ideas with you.

You might have said that the use of the word skull and then burial and mound, it creates a macabre and haunting presence and that the matted hair and claws, they create a terrifying and grotesque image.

And Martha describes how just hearing the word draugr makes her turn to ice inside, which really suggests the intense fear that the draugr creates.

Now I want you to discuss this.

I want you to think about what we said and about the conventions and characteristics of a villain and discuss whether the draugr in "The Twisted Tree" conforms to those conventions and is it an effective villain? Again, you need to pause the video while you do that or just pause the video and make some notes.

Off you go.

Well done, welcome back.

What interesting ideas we have to share.

Now the draugr has evil actions and intentions definitely, and it's motivated to kill the living and it's malevolent and violent, and it's supernatural forms means that it is very unpredictable and it is a scary and unsettling presence, and it challenges the protagonist, Martha.

So I think we can say that the draugr in "The Twisted Tree" is a very effective example of a villain displaying the conventions of a literary villain.

Really good work, good thinking, good focus.

Let's move on.

Now we're going to have a check for understanding.

A villain can also be referred to as, is it A, a protagonist, B, an antagonist, or C, a contagonist.

Have a think, make your choice.

Did you say antagonist? That's the right answer.

The protagonist is the hero and the antagonist is the person opposing the hero.

Excellent, let's move on.

So now this is the question I would like you to focus on.

What makes the draugr an effective villain? And you are going to write a paragraph to answer this question, and you should aim for a minimum of five sentences, and you need to include evidence from "The Twisted Tree." By that I mean you need to use quotations and references from "The Twisted Tree," and I want you to use your findings from the discussions you have had in the lesson to help you.

You've had some brilliant discussions, you've listened to some really, really interesting ideas, and you have lots to say in response to this question, and you may wish to begin using this sentence starter.

The draugr is an effective villain.

So make sure you have everything you need, all your notes, and now you need to pause the video and write that paragraph, off you go.

So welcome back.

Now I'm going to share with you an example of how the task could be completed.

I'm not saying that this is the correct way to do it or the perfect way to do it, but it is a good example and I think you will find it useful to compare your answer with this.

So let me read it to you.

The draugr is an effective villain and compelling antagonist.

It's supernatural existence means it is unpredictable, which adds to its scary and unsettling presence.

The description of its skull head, matted hair, and claws evokes terror, and the imagery of it crawling over a burial mound adds to its menacing presence.

Its ability to strike fear into Martha's heart with just its name illustrates its impact as a chilling and powerful force in the narrative.

It leaves a lasting impression on both characters and readers alike.

So it's a good answer because it refers to the text, it clearly answers the question, and it gives a personal response how the reader feels about encountering the draugr.

Take a little bit of time to compare this paragraph with yours.

If there's anything you would like to add, feel free to borrow, pause the video while you do that, and then when you are ready, join me for the end of the lesson.

So now we are at the end of today's lesson, and I hope you agree that it has been a really, really exciting read of a particularly fantastic part of this book.

Before we say goodbye, I'd like to summarise what you have been learning today.

You have been learning that Martha thinks the dead have escaped from the tree in the form of a draugr, and that Martha can see faces appearing in the shadows around the cabin and a howl sounds close to the cabin.

So it was a very, very tension-filled and scary chapter that you read today.

And you've been learning about villains, about villains in literature and that a villain can be considered an antagonist and that a villain has an evil and scary presence, and you've been learning that the draugr in "The Twisted Tree" is an effective villain because it has a malevolent presence and it is also unpredictable.

So well done, well done for your hard work and your focus and your fantastic discussions.

I wish you a brilliant rest of the day and I look forward to seeing you in another lesson about "The Twisted Tree." So bye for now.