New
New
Year 10
AQA
'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea': explaining a writer's structural choices
I can explain the effects of structural features.
New
New
Year 10
AQA
'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea': explaining a writer's structural choices
I can explain the effects of structural features.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- When we talk about how a text is structured, we mean what does the writer focus our attention on in each part and why.
- Writers make deliberate structural choices to create precise effects.
- Don't comment on word choices or devices – instead consider the effect of shifts in focus or narrative perspective.
Keywords
Structure - The way a story is put together.
Structural features - Techniques a writer uses across a paragraph, chapter or story to organise the information.
Narrative voice - The perspective a story is told from.
Focus - The area of attention in a story or piece of writing.
League - A unit of measurement equivalent to three miles.
Common misconception
Analysing language features is enough.
The best analysis - with the richest commentary - will also spend time focusing on structural decisions a writer makes.
There are lots of great resources for teaching 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea'. Consider adding a trailer/video clip from a movie version to better demonstrate the underwater world described in this extract.
Teacher tip
Equipment
There is a copy of the extract from 'Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea’ 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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Starter quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
What do we mean by the term 'structure' in English?
the language a writer uses
the context surrounding a text
Q2.
Adding one or more adjectives to describe a noun can make it ...
a metaphor.
a simile.
imagery.
Q3.
What is being described here: 'A word that has the same meaning - or almost the same meaning - as another word.'
Q4.
'The area of attention in a story or piece of writing.' What is being described here?
Pace
Structure
Vocabulary
Q5.
What is the missing word for the definition of 'narrative voice'? The a story is told from.
direction
person
style
time period
Q6.
A league is a unit of measurement equivalent to ...
five miles.
two miles.
four miles.
Exit quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
Who wrote 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea'?
H.G. Wells
Victor Hugo
Charles Dickens
Q2.
The story 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea' is written from which narrative perspective?
Third-person limited
Third-person omniscient
Second-person
A variety of different narrative perspectives
Q3.
'The way a story is put together.' What is being described here?
tension
pace
context
consistency
Q4.
Which of the below can be considered a 'structural feature'?
alliteration
sophisticated vocabulary
Q5.
In 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea' Verne describes the underwater forest in relation to other places on Earth ('the tropics' and 'the arctic'). What structural device is this?
shifts (in time)
withholding information
narrative voice
Q6.
Which of the below is the best comment analysing structural features?
Verne varies his use use of focus and pace.
Verne uses first-person perspective really well.
Verne focuses on the plant life in detail.
Additional material
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