'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea': explaining a writer's structural choices
I can explain the effects of structural features.
'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea': explaining a writer's structural choices
I can explain the effects of structural features.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
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.
To help you plan your year 10 english lesson on: 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea': explaining a writer's structural choices, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 10 english lesson on: 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea': explaining a writer's structural choices, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 english lessons from the Fiction: science fiction writing unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
There is a copy of the extract from 'Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea’ available in the additional materials.