1. Literature AloudLiterature Aloud 2009-20102009-2010 Please make the following announcement to your classes:Please make the following announcement to your classes: All students who wish to take part in this year’s Literature Aloud should see Mrs Quin and Miss FitzsimonsAll students who wish to take part in this year’s Literature Aloud should see Mrs Quin and Miss Fitzsimons Room 13 Room 13 Wednesday, 18 th November at 1.30 Wednesday, 18 th November at 1.30

2. Christmas Exam Drama: 1.Shakespeare play 2.Unseen Poem 3. Personal Writing 3 - 4 paragraphs based on visual images or titles based on past papers.

4. Story Openings How to keep you reader reading on!

5. Literary Toolbox Fiction

6. Plot (definition) Plot is the organized pattern or sequence of events that make up a story. Every plot is made up of a series of incidents that are related to one another.

7. Types of Linear Plots Plots can be told in Chronological order Flashback In media res (in the middle of things) when the story starts in the middle of the action without exposition

8. Identifying the Elements of A Plot Diagram Student Notes

9. Plot Diagram 2 1 3 4 5

10. 1. Exposition This usually occurs at the beginning of a short story. Here the characters are introduced. We also learn about the setting of the story. Most importantly, we are introduced to the main conflict (main problem).

11. 2. Rising Action This part of the story begins to develop the conflict(s). A building of interest or suspense occurs.

12. 3. Climax This is the turning point of the story. Usually the main character comes face to face with a conflict. The main character will change in some way.

13. 4. Falling Action All loose ends of the plot are tied up. The conflict(s) and climax are taken care of.

14. 5. Resolution The story comes to a reasonable ending.

15. Putting It All Together 1. Exposition 2. Rising Action 3. Climax 4. Falling Action 5. Resolution Beginning of Story Middle of Story End of Story

16. Conflict Conflict is the dramatic struggle between two forces in a story. Without conflict, there is no plot.

17. Setting: the time, place and period in which the action takes place. The Bean Trees: Arizona/Oklahoma 1980s. The Catcher in the Rye:New York, 1940s Lord of the Flies: deserted island, the future.

18. Why is the opening important? The first few lines of any piece of writing are essential because they set the tone and, hopefully, make the reader want to read on. This is known as a ‘hook’. When I was four months old, my mother died suddenly and my father was left to look after me all by himself. Danny The Champion Of The World by Roald Dahl

19. How do you make the reader want to read on? The first line should leave the reader asking a question. This question should invite the reader to keep reading. I disappeared on the night before my twelfth birthday. Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo

20. How should I begin? There are many different ways to start a story. Here are a few of them: Description of a character: Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis

21. Or you could begin with… Description of setting: The hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to a close and a drowsy silence lay over the large, square houses of Privet Drive. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling

22. Or how about… Description of setting and character: A thousand miles ago, in a country east of the jungle and south of the mountains, there lived a Firework-Maker called Lalchand and his daughter Lila. The Firework-Maker’s Daughter by Phillip Pullman

23. Or maybe… Action: Peter crouched over the fire, stirring the embers so that the sparks swarmed up like imps on the rocky walls of hell. Count Karlstein by Phillip Pullman

24. Or… Dialogue: I’m going shopping in the village,” George’s mother said to George on Saturday morning. “So be a good boy and don’t get up to mischief.” George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl

25. How about… A question: Ever had the feeling your life’s been flushed down the toilet? The Toilet of Doom by Michael Lawrence

26. Or maybe… A statement: It’s a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful. Matilda by Roald Dahl

27. Remember! The opening of a story should normally tell the reader: –Where and when the story is set –Who the characters are –The style and mood of the story

28. Don’t forget! Your opening should also have a ‘hook’. That is, something to keep the reader interested and make him or her want to read more. Now try planning your own story opening.

29. First you need to think about… The who, where, when and what! –Who is your story about? –Where and When is it set? –What is going to happen?