New
New
Year 7
Identifying and emulating Baum's use of pathetic fallacy in 'The Wizard of Oz'
I can confidently understand and use pathetic fallacy.
New
New
Year 7
Identifying and emulating Baum's use of pathetic fallacy in 'The Wizard of Oz'
I can confidently understand and use pathetic fallacy.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- Pathetic fallacy is a literary technique in which emotions are ascribed to non-human objects and things.
- Pathetic fallacy helps to show the mood of a piece of writing.
- Pathetic fallacy helps the reader visualise the scene and reflects the character’s emotion.
Keywords
Mood - the emotional response the story creates within the reader
Represent - to serve as a sign or symbol of something
Literary device - a tool used by writers to hint at larger themes, ideas, and meaning in a story or piece of writing
Descriptive - describing something in an interesting and detailed way
Common misconception
That pathetic fallacy can only be used to give emotion to the weather.
Pathetic fallacy is where human emotions are given to any non-human object or thing.
You could give a specific mood to students for Task C and then they can see how their examples of pathetic fallacy vary to express different moods.
Teacher tip
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision required
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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Starter quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
The mood of a text is .
the logical response the story creates in the reader
the ethical response the story creates in the reader
Q2.
Which two of the following are definitions of gloomy?
bright and open light
feeling happy and joyous
Q3.
Match the description with the emotion.
sadness
fear
happiness
Q4.
Descriptive writing means writing that is .
logical and well sequenced
persuasive and emotional
Q5.
Dreary can mean which two of the following things?
vivid and exciting
repetitive and comforting
Q6.
If a text opens with a wild and chaotic scene of storms and wind, we expect that .
something predictable is about to happen
something joyous is about to happen
Exit quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
Giving human emotions to non-human things or objects is .
personification
anaphora
Q2.
To serve as a sign or symbol of something means to .
present
depict
Q3.
Starting with the first, put the steps to creating pathetic fallacy in chronological order.
Q4.
The image of the wind 'howling' suggests .
a calm, tranquil manner
something magical is about to happen
Q5.
The word pathetic comes from 'pathos' which means .
logic
falsehood
Q6.
Which of the following is an example of pathetic fallacy?
The branches stretched their long fingers and tapped the next tree.
The branches were like hands reaching forward towards me.