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Year 8

Organising our gothic writing to build tension

I can structure my piece of gothic writing to build tension.

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Year 8

Organising our gothic writing to build tension

I can structure my piece of gothic writing to build tension.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. It is important to create tension in Gothic writing because it keeps your reader in a state of anticipation.
  2. Keeping the reader in a state of anticipation makes reading the text a thrilling experience for the reader.
  3. You can build tension by delaying revealing key information, switching focus or ending with a cliff-hanger.
  4. Fronted adverbials tell us the way in which something is done.
  5. Fronted adverbials can be used to build tension.

Keywords

  • Structure - the way a text is organised - what comes where and why

  • Tension - the mental strain a reader is put under because of their suspicion that something bad is about to happen

  • Strain - a state of tension or pressure

  • Suspense - feeling anxious or excited about what may happen

  • Aghast - filled with horror or shock

Common misconception

Pupils often reveal things early-on in descriptions by saying things like 'it was a painting' and then proceeding to describe it.

It can be much more effective to describe your narrator's view before revealing what the view actually is. This way, the reader is kept in a state of anticipation, as they try to work out what the view is.


To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Organising our gothic writing to build tension, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

For less-confident pupils, you can adapt Task B by giving them your own sentences, or working through the task as a group, writing the sentences together and then asking them to add in a fronted adverbial, before going through some possible answers as a class.
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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
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Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

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Licence

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 is structure?
the kind or type of text
the story of a text
Correct answer: the way in which we organise a text
Correct answer: what comes where and why in a text
the time in which a text was produced
Q2.
What is tension?
a feeling of confusion that the reader gets when things are unclear
Correct answer: the feeling that something bad or unpleasant might happen
a feeling of relief the reader gets at the end of the text
Correct answer: a feeling of anticipation as the reader waits to discover something
Q3.
Which of the following describes 'mirroring'?
changing the focus of your writing to build tension
repeating ideas throughout a text
Correct answer: reflecting ideas from the beginning of a text again at the end
using the same metaphor throughout a piece of writing
Q4.
Which of the following words is an example of an adverb?
aghast
Correct answer: slowly
frightened
Correct answer: silently
shivering
Q5.
Which of the following is an example of a cliff-hanger?
The end.
Correct answer: The door slammed as the realisation dawned on me: it had been him all along...
I struggled on, without hope and without answers.
And that was how I became world champion.
Q6.
Which of the following similes would be most appropriate in this Gothic description: "Her windows, like __________ stared out into the abyss, reflecting only the pallor of the moon"?
rare crystals
Correct answer: vacant eyes
pools of blue lagoon
sheets of ice

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is tension?
the feeling of anger the reader gets when you leave them with a cliff-hanger
the feeling of dread a reader gets because something bad is going to happen
Correct answer: the mental strain the reader is put under as they wait to see what happens next
the feeling of concern the reader gets when you describe something horrifying
Q2.
Which of these can be used as a synonym for tension?
action
Correct answer: suspense
plot
protagonist
irony
Q3.
Which of the following methods can delay action to create tension?
mirroring
Correct answer: switching focus
cliff-hanger
parallel narrative
extended metaphor
Q4.
Which of the following methods can be used to create tension at the end of a piece of writing?
mirroring
Correct answer: cliff-hanger
shift in focus
extended metaphor
parallel narrative
Q5.
Which of the following statements is true about fronted adverbials?
they tell us undertaking the action in a sentence
they indicate the topic of the sentence
Correct answer: they should always be followed by a comma
they appear at the end of a sentence
Correct answer: they tell us the way in which something is done
Q6.
Which of the following does not use a fronted adverbial?
Correct answer: Its colour was deep mahogany, and the sunlight illuminated its imperfections.
With my heart in my mouth, I pushed the heavy door open and entered the room.
Correct answer: I gazed up at her, in as much awe as horror.
Like a bull in a china shop, I grabbed the coffee from the barista.
Foolishly and optimistically, I had believed that he had changed.