Creating worlds from words Think of a room in your house. Your task is to describe that room to your partner – to take the text-world in your mind and plant it in your partner’s mind. Now, your partner should describe the room back to you. Do you think you did a good job of planting your text-world in your partner’s mind? This starter activity is designed to get students thinking about text-worlds in relation to the writing process. What kinds of decisions do writers have to make when creating worlds? How do they try and ‘send’ a particular text-world in their own mind to a reader’s mind?

What are some of the challenges a writer faces in trying to create a text-world in their reader’s mind? Reader’s text-world Writer’s text-world Students should think about some of the challenges. They might think about: Word choices Mis-matches in background knowledge

Bundles of knowledge When we read, we use background knowledge of the world to help us understand language. Words don’t just exist ‘by themselves’ – they trigger other bits of relevant information. For example: 4 walls Roof Windows Garden Safe, warm, cosy Family Pets HOUSE Bundles of knowledge have been visited before in this SOW, in reference to metaphor and how we blend together two ‘spaces’ to create new meanings. Bundles of knowledge (or ‘schemas’) are a result of our experience with the real world, and are not fixed – they are edited and accrued all the time.

What bundles of knowledge for each word are activated now? Why? BEACH RAIN RESTAURANT AIRPORT Students should explore the various connotations and knowledge stores these words activate for them as individuals.

The man sat in the armchair by the fire reading a book. What age is the man? How is he dressed? What kind of material is the armchair made of? What colour is it? What time of day is it? What kind of book is he reading? Is it dark or light in the room? The old man sat in the red leather armchair by the fire one evening wearing a suit and reading an old hardback book in the dark. This asks students to think about the level of detail they should give when creating worlds. How much work do they want their reader to do, in constructing a text-world? Which version asks the reader to imagine more? What bundles of knowledge does the writer ask you to activate in the first version?

What bundles of knowledge does this poem activate for you? To a Daughter Leaving Home By Linda Pastan When I taught you at eight to ride a bicycle, loping along beside you as you wobbled away on two round wheels, my own mouth rounding in surprise when you pulled ahead down the curved path of the park, I kept waiting for the thud of your crash as I sprinted to catch up, while you grew smaller, more breakable with distance, pumping, pumping for your life, screaming with laughter, the hair flapping behind you like a handkerchief waving goodbye. What bundles of knowledge does this poem activate for you? What do you think the poet is saying about parent-child relationships? A simple poem to consolidate some of the ideas around schemas and bundles of knowledge.

memory, regrets, history Transforming texts You are going to produce a new poem, using the diagram below to help. Write from the perspective of the parent, the daughter or a different character we did not meet in the original. You could choose to go back or forward in time. You will then be asked to provide a short commentary, where you reflect on your own choices. DAUGHTER marriage jobs house This is based on the seminal work by Rob Pope and his Textual Intervention framework (1995). school children conflict siblings grand-children birth and beyond death and beyond PARENT memory, regrets, history present hopes, fears, future

Before you create your fictional world, think: What kind of text-world do you want to send your readers? What do you want your readers to feel, when they read your poem? Where do you want your reader to be? Inside the world of the poem, as a participant? Or outside, looking in? Ask students to think explicitly about the ‘meaning-making chain’. This is important during all reading/writing activities, because it acknowledges the fact that meanings are not isolated in the minds of readers or writers, but are constructed through a combination of text, author and reader.

Now, write a short paragraph explaining: Commentary Now, write a short paragraph explaining: The kind of text-world you were trying to create, and how you did that The significance of a few individual words/phrases: why did you choose them? How is your text-world different/similar to the original one? What bundles of knowledge did you want your readers to try and draw on when they read your poem? The commentary is important because it asks students to justify and rationalise their own linguistic choices and decision making processes.