New
New
Year 7

Explaining how Burnett presents the garden setting in 'The Secret Garden'

I can explain how Burnett uses language devices such as personification and similes to present the garden setting in ‘The Secret Garden’.

New
New
Year 7

Explaining how Burnett presents the garden setting in 'The Secret Garden'

I can explain how Burnett uses language devices such as personification and similes to present the garden setting in ‘The Secret Garden’.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Use the first read of an unseen extract to establish key information about plot, character and setting.
  2. After a first read, read a text more closely, considering the meaning of specific words/phrases and their effects.
  3. Writers deliberately use a range of language techniques to create meaning.
  4. Every idea we have must be clearly supported by evidence from the text.

Keywords

  • Setting - the location and time frame in which the action of a narrative takes place.

  • Language devices - a writing technique that writers use to express ideas, convey meaning, and highlight important themes.

  • Tone - the general mood or feeling of a text.

  • Personification - when non-human objects or things are given human characteristics.

Common misconception

That we will all respond to a description in the same way.

The way we respond to a description and the language devices will always be unique because we all have different experiences.

You could ask the pupils to draw the garden based on the description and then compare their descriptions to see how words and ideas can be interpreted differently.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need an extract from 'The Secret Garden' which is available in the additional materials.

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).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is an extract?
the blurb on the back cover
Correct answer: a small piece of a text
the biography of the writer
your opinion about the text
Q2.
We stereotypically think of flowers as .
Correct answer: beautiful
dangerous
boring
Q3.
The tone of a text is .
the use of a variety of sentences
the general happiness in a text
Correct answer: the general mood or feeling of a text
Q4.
In order to evidence your opinion about a text you should use .
Correct Answer: quotations, Quotations, quotes, Quotes
Q5.
Which of the following is a simile?
The tree branches were manacles.
Correct answer: The tree branches were like grasping hands.
The tree branches chuckled to themselves.
Q6.
A writing technique that writers use to express ideas, convey meaning, and highlight important themes is known as devices.
Correct Answer: language, linguistic, Language, Linguistic

6 Questions

Q1.
The setting of a text is .
the general mood or feeling of a text
the range of punctuation in a text
the use of language devices
Correct answer: the location and time frame
Q2.
In Burnett's 'The Secret Garden', Mary felt seeing the garden come to life.
nothing
Correct answer: excited
unhappy
Q3.
Giving non-human things or objects human characteristics is known as .
Correct answer: personification
imagery
pathetic fallacy
idealisation
Q4.
In Burnett's 'The Secret Garden', the garden is given a magical quality when are said to help the plants grow.
humans
witches
Correct answer: fairies
angels
Q5.
In Burnett's 'The Secret Garden', the flowers are personified when they are said to .
Correct answer: dance
laugh
cry
run away
Q6.
Which of the of the following is an effective topic sentence?
Correct answer: In 'The Secret Garden', Burnett presents the garden as enchanting.
In 'The Secret Garden', Burnett uses similes to describe the garden.
In 'The Secret Garden', the writer presents the garden as beautiful.

Additional material

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