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Year 6

Analysing the main character in 'Sherlock Holmes'

I can orally present a paragraph about the main character of 'Sherlock Holmes'.

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Year 6

Analysing the main character in 'Sherlock Holmes'

I can orally present a paragraph about the main character of 'Sherlock Holmes'.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. A text gives us clues about a character's features and feelings.
  2. Some text clues about a character are explicit and some text clues about a character use subtext.
  3. We can infer a character's traits by examining their behaviour.
  4. Sherlock Holmes is a complex character.
  5. 'Shrewd', 'unflappable', 'presumptuous' and 'assertive' are words that can be used to describe Sherlock Holmes.

Keywords

  • Explicit - clear and exact

  • Subtext - a hidden or less obvious meaning

  • Character traits - the special qualities that make a character in a story unique and interesting

  • Inference - a conclusion drawn from information and evidence in a text

Common misconception

Pupils may struggle with some of the complex character trait vocabulary.

Use the vocabulary pictures to tell a very short story about how what the character is doing reflects the word - or choose your own images which do this in another way if you prefer.


To help you plan your year 6 english lesson on: Analysing the main character in 'Sherlock Holmes', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

For Task B, you may wish to use an adapted or abridged version of a complete Sherlock Holmes story to give pupils a lengthier opportunity to reach conclusions about the character.
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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What language feature is seen in the following sentence? 'As the fire blazes, Holmes puts down his violin.'
Correct answer: complex sentence
fronted adverbial of place
semi-colon
rhetorical question
Q2.
A semi-colon can be used to ...
Correct answer: join two closely-related sentences.
join a main clause and a subordinate clause.
separate a fronted adverbial from the rest of a sentence.
Q3.
After which word could the semi-colon be placed in the following sentence? 'Holmes sat by his desk Watson was in an armchair close to the roaring fire.'
sat
Correct answer: desk
armchair
was
Q4.
Which of these sentences could be joined by a semi-colon?
Correct answer: Holmes takes a seat at his desk.
The sound of a violin issues from within the house.
Correct answer: Watson takes a sip from his drink.
There is thick smog above the city.
Q5.
What features are seen in the following sentence? 'On the street, the cobbles shine in the light of the gas lamp; from inside, the sound of a violin can be heard.'
Correct answer: fronted adverbials of place
Correct answer: historical context
complex sentence
Correct answer: semi-colon
Q6.
Which of these sentences could include a semi-colon?
On the desk there was a pile of leather-bound books.
Correct answer: On the desk there was a pile of books on the wall a clock ticked.
On the desk there was a pile of books that were leather-bound.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
If you make something explicit, you are making it ...
difficult.
Correct answer: clear.
confusing.
complicated.
Q2.
What inferences can we make from the following description? 'Holmes barely looked up when I walked in, so engrossed was he in his work.'
Correct answer: Holmes can be rude.
Holmes is kind.
Correct answer: Holmes is single-minded.
Holmes is friendly.
Q3.
What character trait is shown in the following description? 'Holmes ordered the man to leave Baker Street immediately.'
diffident
presumptuous
Correct answer: assertive
shrewd
Q4.
What character trait is shown in the following description? 'Holmes deduced from the woman's appearance that she had been riding in a dog-cart.'
diffident
presumptuous
unflappable
Correct answer: shrewd
Q5.
Match the words to their definitions.
Correct Answer:presumptuous,over-confident or possibly rude
tick

over-confident or possibly rude

Correct Answer:diffident,modest and shy
tick

modest and shy

Correct Answer:assertive,confident
tick

confident

Correct Answer:unflappable,calm under pressure
tick

calm under pressure

Q6.
Which description shows that Holmes is 'presumptuous'?
Correct answer: Holmes stands by Watson's bed at seven in the morning, waking him up.
Holmes tells someone he does not want to take on a case.
Holmes is not upset when he is told about a shocking crime.

Additional material

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