Christmas is special. Hi, Selena. Hi. Basically, I'm still outside one of my buildings. Can you give me two minutes just to enter my office, and then I will call you. Okay, just stay on here. Give me one moment. My pad is unworking, but we can just do it from my phone. All right, I'm just going to show my screen. Remember, it's not me. Share the PowerPoint for my friend, give me ten minutes. Hello. Hello, can you hear me? Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Yes, I can. Now I could. Great. I'm just going to share my screen now. Sorry for the delay start. Do you have a lesson after no? So we we can run over. Do you have one after no? Okay. So I'll will just run over a bit to compensate for the time. Okay. Can you see my screen? Did this one already, so I'm just going to. Okay. So we're going to do some descriptive writing today. Find the right PowerPoint. Okay, so today we're going to learn about how to create our own characters. So the lesson objective is to consider three main ways to create interesting characters and the success criteria to analyze a character description, identify how to write our own character descriptions and produce your own ones too. So how do we create characters? The classroom door swung open, and the new supplies teacher strode in so tall she hardly fit through the door frame and dress from head chifffoot in purple. The law? I hardly need to say she was an imposing figure. Sit down, every one, she smiled, seizing and snapping Sarah Smith's frozen ruler as she stood across the room. So this passage contains some ways that we show different characters. So can you work out what they are? And can you describe to me how the writer has portrayed or shown the character? I Yeah so. The thing is like like should I talk about the teacher? Yes. So the character here is obviously going to be the teacher. And you need to consider how has the writer. So like the teacher, like the writer to describe the teacher as quite brutally loud and like aggressive. Because because of the door smof swaopen and then you piteachers rodent and then and he also described her or him Yeah her I think Yeah her as like a very like I don't know, like a very. A very like like you know big I'm like scary. Yeah Yeah Yeah. I agree horbuying and. Yeah and also you have to think about what words has the author chosen to show the character? What are they wearing? How is their physical appearance? What? Like how is she talking? Does the author want to portray as a nice person or a bad person? And can you find me some evidence from the passage? Your swthe word swan made it sound very brutal and aggressive, and the word on. And like the word how do you say? And the word. The word also quote again. Harley, but through not the word of the phrase, Harley fell through the door, made her sound very big and tall. Yeah, exactly. So what type of personal or character do you think the author wants to show her as? Really a very scary Yeah. Yeah kind of that kind of like and what words do you think show that? Because also it's important. I think that's really good observation. But also they need to say what specific words in the text show that and there's evidence for that words. So for example, if she's seen as scary, maybe you choose a phrase she snarls, ceasing and snapping. So that shows that she's quite intimidating or sudden. Yeah, scary. Maybe ry horrifying and. Yeah her hard eyes. Yeah. Okay, that's great. Okay. So first of all also the way that I also look at characters is sometimes also their appearance is a big aspect of how their character is portrayed and what they're trying to show and what the author are trying to show. So for example, look at what types of clothes she's wearing. Does the colsignify anything? Sometimes if someone's wearing Green, does that mean that they're slry or evil? Or if they're wearing pink, does that mean that they are a good person? Things like that are very symbolic in writing too, and it's good to pay attention to that because writers like just like in movies, they use appearances to show or to predict what character's personality is going to look like. So we can make a character come alive by vivid description, what they do or what they say. So it's really important to be nice and detailed, especially if it's the main character of your story, because it gives you a window into what they're thinking and gives you a good background and is really central to a story. So have you heard of A Christmas Carol? The book? Yeah, Yeah, okay. Have you ever read it before? Sorry. Have you ever read it before? Read it as like the book? Yeah. I no, no and know. Okay, okay, okay. Right. So there's an abtract from this novel and it's provides a good background and description of Ebeneza Scrooge, the main character of the book. And I want you to read through it by yourself, because I think it be good practice for you to understand and do comprehension reading. And I want you to pick out at least three words, or I think you can even do more. I think I want you to do five words or phrases using a description, the character's own words or actions that you provide, that you find effective in creating the character of Scrooge. Yeah. Yeah. So any specific phrases like what he's wearing or he's saying, how he's standing, how he's communicating with someone, maybe what he's thinking, how does that show his character and provide a good background of what he's like as a person? Yeah. Okay, I'll give you some time to read through it. You can spend as much time as you want. I'll give you about five minutes and then we'll check in. And if you need longer, just let me know. Okay. So. Let's see. Also, if you need help understanding any words or phrases is well, I can help you. Yeah, finish perfect. Okay. So what words or phrases did you get? Did you understand the task? Not so. What did you do? Oh, okay. Hey, don't. Okay. Shwhat is tricheap and. Do you need a bit more time to have a look? Okay. Oh, no. Wintry weather chill or Yeah, I think that's like the high where this like a lot Yeah. So the important thing is I think you're really good to ena reading through things and like highlighting what is going on and understanding things. But also you need to have a look and say like, okay. So if the question, if there was a question that came up, your teacher asked you on your homework, on an exam, and they said, what key phrases or words show that a Scrooge is a cold and mean character? Okay, then what you need to do is you need to say Scrooge is seen as intimidating, unpleasant and cold. It says the cold within him froze his old features. So you're not only just showing what the character is like, but you're also supporting it with evidence from the text, because otherwise you could just be making it up, and then you're not actually having evidence from what the writer is saying, if that makes sense. So the way you need to structure it, it's you to say Scrooge or the characis like this, because it says shrewdly in his grating voice, which shows that he's sudden and. Evil character or something? Yeah. So do you understand what I'm trying to say? You have to kind of include evidence from the text directly to show and prove that you understand what the character is exactly like. And it's really important, okay? Because also, characters are not just like pretend people in a story. An author is trying to make a point or something about us or trying to react to certain emotion from the reader reader. So it's really important to understand the specific evidence. So could you find me one more like that, then find me an emotion that screrooge is showing, and then include evidence from the text? Scrooge lives in a very cold place when the winter comes. I know this feels like I mean, in the passage, I suggest sts a shvelled his cheeks and made his eyes red, which shows that which which highlights that Scrooge is very cold in the winter. Yeah, that's really good. And also another good example is the use of the setting and the weather to reflect the character's own emotions. Like for example, in a story, a writer might like say, Oh, it was raining outside. And then the character is really sad. So it reflects their own emotions as well. The setting reflects what their brain is thinking. Sometimes it's just like a clever way that the author uses the whether or the surroundings to reflect the emotions of the character too. Okay. Does that make sense? Yeah. Kindo you have any questions or does anything you want me to explain more? Not really okay sure. Okay, so a number important thing is, have you ever heard of the phrase show not tell from your teacher? Yeah, Yeah. I think English teachers just like to say that word a lot and sometimes it doesn't makes doesn't really make sense if youdon't really probably understand it. And they always just like show not tell, show not tell and you're just like, what's going on? But the important thing is show not tell means you're describing what a character is like, not directly telling the audience. You want them, the audience, to work it out for themselves. So how is this? For example, if you see, Mrs. Smith was a horrible, ugly lady. She didn't mean things and nobody liked her. Okay. Well, I know how she is as a person. I know she's quite mean. I know people think she's ugly, but it's actually not very interesting to read, and it's not allowing the reader to work out the character for themselves, if that makes sense. Well, it if you say of all the old ladies Sarah had ever met, the olglass, ocleus and downright Meanus was missus Smith. Every day at home, she would stand at her gate, trust in the same smelly, darting, crusted dress, shouting out obscenties, trying to scare the younger children. She never smiled, except if one of them happened to suffer a mishap such as a folover, then she would cackle Evly like a bad audition from for the wizard of oars. Poor old mad woman, you might say, but misses Smith was as sane as you are. She was just horrid. So as you can see in comparison to the last sentence, it's a lot more detailed, right? The author is directly showing the actions and the personality of the character, rather than just telling the audience directly. So instead of just saying she didn't mean things, it's actually showing the mean things that she does and the things that the way she lives her life so that reader can work it out for themselves. Yeah what do you understand about the what do you think the differences from this sentence in this paragraph? Like the paragraph is like more interesting and like. It's much more detailed, right? And it gives you the opportunity for you to work out the character for yourself rather than just being told what the character is because everyone might have a slightly different view. But generally then it gives a good detailed overview. Okay, perfect. Okay. So now I'm going to show you some character descriptions from some works of literature, but just have a think. And Serena, make sure you remember, just to specifically answer the question of the task, so what do you learn about the characters here? How are the descriptions effective? And don't look, just look at what is said, but what we can work out from how the characters are apto. Let me just find the character description for a minute. Okay, can you do this one? This is a description of a character. I think you'll know this one from a movie when I tell you. But can you work out what the character is like as a person? What kind of things do you imagine this character to be doing? And how do you know that? Yeah. Oh, it telyou Yeah. I was like, Yeah, but it's okay. You don't need to guess it. Just try and answer the questions. Like, what kind of character do you like, type of person do you think it is? What kind of things would you include if you were to write about this character? I'll give you a few minutes to think about it, and I want you to come up with some key kind of things that I've told you about. Oops. Oh, is it like is it like this? I should never mind anything. Maybe like. When. This is a man who. This is a man who. Who love? No, he will go and solve a problem. No, he would go and catch criminals when there's a robbery in the bank. Maybe. I have no idea. Yeah, no, that's good. That's good. So you first of all, when you're considering a character, you need to think when you're creating one, learning about one, you need to understand what kind of personality do you think they are? Okay, I think he's clever. He's brave, he likes danger, he likes his adventurous. So those are their character traits. Then you kind of imagine what kind of things they do on a day to day basis. Okay, so he he looks like he works for a spy agency. Where do you think he goes? What are some potential stories you could think about. And also, sometimes the name is really important too. I mean, I don't think here the name is really that important, but sometimes the name is like a play on words or show something. Okay, no. Can you try and create your own character? So the first step is I want you to choose a character that you're gonna to create for yourself. Could be literally anything you want it to be. Then I want you to write an interesting character description, just like the one I showed you this one. Can you write two paragraphs of an interesting character description telling me, but showing showing me what the character is like, what kind of things they do, and how is the readers supposed to understand their personality from it? So be as creative as you like, and I'll give you five or six minutes to do that. Okay. I. Okay. I'll try start. Her high start. How should I start? Hello, your mic is off. Hello, hello sorry. Yeah my audido you got disconnected. Hello would you say Yeah sorry my audio got disconnected. Yeah you can Carry on and meant how should I start? How should you start? Okay, so you need to think step by step. Serena I've told you you need to choose the character and you need it can be literally anything and then you need to write your own description showing what the character is like. It can be creative, but maybe what the character does on a day to day basis, how maybe youstart off a story, that kind of thing. A lot, a lot of the times character descriptions are placed at at beginning of the story as well. I see. Okay okay. Great. What did you get even made? Yeah. Where's I? I was supposed to write two paragraphs, right? Yeah. Aa moves through the hallway as if the noise of the school shift around her. Her lobster carries just enough to make people turn their heads, and her wavy hair swings behind her. The gsee cover of her minor catches the light, and her sneakers leave quick. Neat steps on the way. What was that word versus you? B? Okay, wait, let me change that. Leave quick and personation. On the pavement, as you say, okay. Around her, people shipped closer without meaning to hoping shelook their way. Even the poster along the Walson embrser when she passes, like the space itself, adjust sts to her presence. At lunch, avis table fills up before she even sits down. Her friends lean in when she speaks, their face glowing with the coof tension that feels like so light she doesn't interrupt or shout. She just tilts her head, smiles, and somehow everyone listens when she ops away, her perfume lingers faintly in the air, and for a moment it feels like the whole cafe cafeteria has gone a little quieter, waiting for her to come back. Yeah, that's really good. That's exactly what we wanted. So you had a good description of what the character is actually doing rather than just saying it directly. That's really, really good. Okay. If you I check if there's any more slides left on this. Okay, all right. So now what? Now what I want you to do just as a final task on this unit is can you. Wait a, can you hear me? Okay. Sorry. That's okay. Can you, as a final task, just create a step by step of plan on how you would go about creating a character and what's the steps that you used for writing up your description and what you would take forward if you were to do it again? So like number one, you would do this then not number one, name me and then tell me, okay? 那给我留一点呃，留一半呗。啥了？行了，给我留一半一半的一半。11万。I think I'm done. Okay, let me know what your list has done. So you first think of the name and then you either side like they're pnot personality tebut like like they're kind of like age and like their background like that, and then picture their appeand. Then you like think of their personality and then imagine how others see what we act to. Yeah, that's really good. Yeah, I like that plan a lot. Okay, now what I'm going to do is just open my file. Sorry, so pretty happy then. Okay. Okay, so now we've done characters just to and the lesson, we're going to have a look at ways you can open a story. We're going to run over the lesson to about 215, if that's okay. Yeah. So now I don't think I can hear you. Is your mic on? Sorry. Basically I thought you joined that like eleven past, right? Yeah. And I really need that 45 minutes of rest to play piano. Okay, okay. So we can do it to eleven. Yeah no, eleven payeah. Yeah. Okay, sure. Okay, let's continue then. So the objective is to investigate different ways of opening the story. So we need to compare different story openings and to practice opening a plan Ned story if we have time, but I don't think we'll have time for that. Okay. So think of some of your favorite story of opinions, maybe from a story you read or a book that you're reading. And can you consider what a good story opening should look like? Yeah. Sorry, what do you just say? Sorry, can you hear me? Yes, it was like a little ggy. Okay, so can you think of your some of your favorite story openings? Can you consider what a good story your opening should do? It should tell like the readers how like you how to like like what is going on like at the moment like be for that? Yeah but still like, you know, I don't know. So it just still like so it should maybe have the characters, the setting and Oh Yeah, it should be clear with like all these things that are saying right now Yeah. So narrative and character voices, one way to hook the reader might be to establish an interesting narrative voice, perhaps one which addresses the reader directly to draw them into the story. So, for example, Kate Norford's Green glass house begins like this. And the same in the book thief. This is a really good book to read. By the way, the narrator of the story doesn't say who or what they are, but we can, far from what they do, say that they are not human. So similar to the beginning of Matilda by rodoll, this is a really good one to read as well. So if you, we read the opening, it says it's a funny thing about momthers. And fathers, even when they're in charge, is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine. They still think that he or she is wonderful. So sometimes you have to think, why did the author choose to use those words and that sentence? And what is the reader trying to say? Why are they brought up that topic? So for example, this is how I would interpret it. I would first look at what's the actual, what are actual words saying? It's saying that even when a child is maybe not the best child, a mother and father will still love them and think that they're wonderful. Okay. So that we know that maybe the story is, the topic is about family, children, parents, parents loving their children. And we know that because Matilda is about how she was treated quite badly by her parents, right? So Yeah we need to consider the opening is giving a good introduction and foreshadowing what's going to happen into the story. So another way is to use rhetorical questions and puzzles. It's Serena. Can you see the screen? Yeah, they just, I kind of, I'm on that bar for a second. Okay, no problem. So another way to hook the reader is to raise some unanswered questions by setting them a puzzle. So a writer might deliberately set their reader up to ask questions about the environment or about a character. They might hide some information that will only get revealed later on. So that's a really good one too. The author might start straight away by asking a question that's left unanswered. And then, you know that could be, for example, a murder mystery Mont novel, who killed the character or something could be the question at the beginning. And then over time, you'll read through the story trying to answer that question. So it's a good hook as well. Okay. So read this opening to a novel. I'll give you a few minutes. What puzzle are they setting? What is the puzzle? What is the mystery about this for the reader in the opening? Oops, sorry, 1s, let me just go. Sorry, so can you read this opening to the novel? Yeah. And what is the puzzle here? I told you that sometimes the author starts with a mysterious opening. What is the puzzle here? And what is the mystery? The puzzle here is. No, like done. I'll give you a few more to think about it because I want you to properly read through it and understand what is the opening saying. Then I want you to think, okay, what kind of mystery it's showing. And then I want you to give me specific evidence and a words from the opening. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So it was the puzzle and the what? Puzzle or a mystery or just something unknown. He was gone. Yeah but can you explain to me in full sentences because I want you to properly understand what I'm trying to say that the opening is, even though it's quite short you to think about like what does it trying to show? What does it make you think of? What does it make you want to find out more? Why is that? What kind of emotions is it evoking in you? So it gives out like a mysterious at the same time, like scary and terrifying and also like. Let me say maybe. Maybe I don't sure, okay. So it gives like. It is like a vibe that like. They're like. Oh, I know. Oh Yeah, it gives like a very mysterious irat the same time like that. Serious and scary and like don't know what is happening. Viyeah, definitely. I agree with you. Like unknown. Unknown. Yeah. Okay, great. Well done. I think they're doing really, really well. So and I'm really impressed with like it. And you do another one. My name is Francis Joseph assaval, and I have returned to French town in monument, and the wars over, and I have no face pume. Think it's way. Okay, Yeah dit was my mono problem, so can you look at this sentence now? My name is Francis as, but I have just returned to a monome and the war is over in our home. O, it creates like a descriptive scene that's like mysterious at the same time. It's almost like kind of, I like, it's almost a little bit exciting, like because it says the war zso. It's kind of like, okay, wow. Like what has this guy done? Like, well, the war is over, but then he has no face, so it's like what he gonna do next? Yeah, do you have anything else you want to say or no? Okay? So this is a really, really famous book for 1994 by George Orwell. And it starts with a hook. It was a bright cold day in April, and the books were striking 13. So what makes what stands out for you there? I think there's a few things that stand out for me, but I'll tell you afterwards. Probably like. Stand out. What stands out to you about this sentence? What makes you think it's odd or mysterious or puzzling? What kind of emotions does it make you feel? And it strikes 13, as in like 13:00. Yeah, exactly. Isn't that strange? Yeah, Yeah. So youit's straiaway notice, ed, that Boxford usually strike that team. So what kind of place are we in? What is so odd about this place? What makes it so special that the clock strikes that team? But also, if you think about it, I mean, in London it is so quite cold in April, but usually April is supposed to be quite warm maybe. So hearing that it's a cold day could make it seem a little bit like what's going when it was it mysterious cold day? It could be like a day that's like. It could be like a cell cousin. No, yes, cell cousin like. Like it like the day that's going against what's happens normally? Yeah Yeah almost like something strange is happening that day. Yeah. So it makes you think like what's going on? Yeah, kind of. So there are also other ways that a writer can grab the reader's attention. So Louis sash's holes uses a factual tone to reveal something a little surreal. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. It's quite a short settlement, actually. Yeah, Yeah, I know that. But Yeah, do that one. Yeah. Did you like it? Yeah. Okay, great. So that one. Like what does that sentence make you feel now? And also that that you've read the book, it makes me feel that like I know that they're used to your maybe early or like why isn't there local to it disappear? Was it never there? That kind of thing. Yeah, Yeah. It's like the name is so weird. Okay, as a final task, when you read through this opening of the story and then we're going to finish the lesson, can you read through this? What technique is a story opening? Muhow? Does it make you want to keep reading? And what stands out to you in this opening? Like very mysterious and it's like a clip. Hagger, and at the start, the inside of the end. Like I don't know say but like maybe Yeah try your best because sometimes in thin an exam or something you're going to get a text and maybe you don't particularly like but you're going to have to analyze it anyway where right? So just try and think of as as much as you can. I will actually yes so I together to work I had maybe like four so they actually mentioned that this year. Oh, I know, maybe like the technique you're using is not a cliffhanger and but at the start story, Yeah so it's kind of like unanswered question or a mystery. Sorry like an unanswered question or a mystery still. Yeah and like it just makes you want to be more because you don't know what happening. I don't want to know. Yeah, definitely hundred percent making half that, right? Okay, so we don't have time to do any more because we're to finish at eleven PaaS. But thank you so much, Surin. I'm sorry for the late start, but I'll see you next time. Okay, great okay okay, bye bye, have a good day, bye bye.