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Year 10
AQA

Exploring structure in Murakami's ‘After Dark’

I can identify and comment on the effect of interesting structural features in ‘After Dark’.

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New
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Year 10
AQA

Exploring structure in Murakami's ‘After Dark’

I can identify and comment on the effect of interesting structural features in ‘After Dark’.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Structure refers to the way a text has been organised.
  2. Different structural features can have different effects on the reader.
  3. Interesting structural features in 'After Dark' are the perspective choice, repetition and the creation of suspense.
  4. After identifying a structural feature in a text, it is important to discuss its effect.

Keywords

  • Structure - the way a text has been organised

  • Omniscient - all-knowing

  • Conceptualise - form a concept or idea of (something)

Common misconception

Students may confuse language and structural features.

Getting into a habit of asking a range of questions interrogating perspective, repetition, beginnings and endings can help students ease into the analysis of structure.

Model how you would go about reading 'After Dark' and answering the questions on the text in Learning Cycle 1.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need access to a copy of the opening paragraph of Chapter 1 of 'After Dark' by Haruki Murakami for this lesson.

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.
Which of the below is not a structural feature?
Correct answer: metaphor
repetition
shift in focus
Q2.
Which of these refers to a structure in which the end of a text links to the beginning?
fragmented
in medias res
Correct answer: circular
Q3.
What is narrative perspective?
Correct answer: the point of a view that a text is written from
the overall mood of a text
the number of characters in a text
Q4.
Match the words up to the perspective they offer.
Correct Answer:I, me, my,First

First

Correct Answer:She, him, they,Third

Third

Correct Answer:You, your,Second

Second

Q5.
What perspective is the opening of Murakami's 'After Dark' written from?
first
second
Correct answer: third
Q6.
What is tension?
the way in which a text gets progressively funny
Correct answer: a feeling of nervousness or stress created in the reader
a melancholy tone that persists throughout an extract

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which narrative perspective allows us to emotionally connect the most with a specific character?
Correct answer: first person
second person
third person
Q2.
Which technique would make an image persist in a reader's mind?
use of dialogue
Correct answer: repetition
foreshadowing
Q3.
What is one possible effect of the third person perspective in the opening of 'After Dark'?
it helps us connect to the main character
Correct answer: it helps us visualise the dynamism of the whole city
it helps us to understand one particular part of the city
Q4.
Which structural technique does Murakami use to emphasise the image of the city's dynamism in our heads?
flashback
Correct answer: repetition
juxtaposition
Q5.
How does the opening paragraph of 'After Dark' end?
with a sense that the characters will fall in love
Correct answer: with a sense that something bad will happen
with a sense of safety
Q6.
What is the effect of ending the opening paragraph of 'After Dark' in the way that Murakami does?
Correct answer: It creates a sense of suspense as we await sinister happenings in the night.
It creates a sense of nostalgia for the characters' childhood.
It allows us to imagine we are the arteries of the city.