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Year 7

Using sensory language and figurative language to create an atmospheric setting

I can craft my own atmospheric setting using precise imagery.

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New
New
Year 7

Using sensory language and figurative language to create an atmospheric setting

I can craft my own atmospheric setting using precise imagery.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The atmosphere in literature is the way an author uses setting, objects, or thoughts of characters to create mood.
  2. The atmosphere can be influenced by sensory and figurative language.
  3. Sensory language is language where some or all of the five senses are evoked.
  4. Figurative language is non-literal wording that adds creativity to your writing.

Common misconception

That descriptive writing is all about telling the reader what's in the image.

Descriptive writing is about showing the reader what's in the image through sensory and figurative language.

Keywords

  • Setting - the time, place and environment in which something occurs

  • Sensory - relating to sensation or the physical senses.

  • Atmospheric - the way an author uses setting, objects, or internal thoughts of characters to create emotion.

  • Mood - the emotional response that a writer wants to give the reader.

  • Figurative language - non-literal wording that adds creativity or rhetorical meaning to your writing.

As part of the peer-assessment, you could ask pupils to choose one sentence from each other's work to rewrite to show them how different people respond differently to images and prompts.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
The five senses are: taste, touch, smell, hearing, and .
Correct Answer: sight, see, seeing
Q2.
The mood of a literary text is .
the time, place, and environment in which it occurs
Correct answer: the emotional response that a writer wants to give the reader
relating to sensation or the physical senses
Q3.
The setting of a text is .
Correct answer: the time, place and environment in which it occurs
the time, mood and environment in which it occurs
the characters, place and, environment in which it occurs
Q4.
Personification is .
giving human emotions to non-human things
Correct answer: giving human characteristics to non-human things
giving human names to non-human things
Q5.
Which emotion does 'the pansies swayed leisurely in the wind' create?
jealousy
Correct answer: relaxation
anxiousness
excitement
Q6.
Which of the five senses does 'the damp air clung to me' evoke?
smell
sight
taste
Correct answer: touch

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What does sensory mean?
relating to touch
Correct answer: relating to the physical senses
relating to how you feel about something
Q2.
Which of the five senses does 'the birds twittered softly' evoke?
sight
smell
Correct answer: hearing
taste
Q3.
What is figurative language?
Correct answer: non-literal wording that adds creativity to your writing
literal wording that adds creativity to your writing
sensory language that adds emotion to your writing
anecdotes that add realism to your writing
Q4.
Which emotion does 'the clawed branches swiped at me' suggest?
happiness
jealousy
Correct answer: anger
sadness
Q5.
What does atmosphere mean?
the general mood or feeling of a text
Correct answer: the way a writer uses setting or objects to create emotion
the way a writer uses sensory language to create emotion
Q6.
Why is creating an atmospheric setting important for the reader?
Correct answer: it helps transport them into the story
it shows off your creativity and flair
it helps turn the concrete into abstract for them