Starter quiz
- Which of the five sense is missing from this list: touch, taste, smell, feel and ....?
- 'sound' ✓
- A ______ field is a group of words that all share meaning.
- 'semantic' ✓
- Which of the following colours are considered Gothic?
- blue
- black ✓
- pink
- white ✓
- red ✓
-
- Which of the following would make the best Gothic setting?
- a grand mansion ✓
- a school classroom
- a quaint cottage
- a tropical beach
-
- Which of the following animals are considered Gothic?
- spiders ✓
- doves
- butterflies
- bats ✓
- dog
-
- Which methods do we see in this quotation: "The windows were like vacant eyes, blinking in the pale light of the moon."?
- simile ✓
- metaphor
- personification ✓
- onomatopoeia
- pathetic fallacy
-
Exit quiz
- What is multi-sensory language?
- language that affects your emotions
- language that appeals to more than one sense ✓
- language that you have not encountered before
- language that appeals to your sense of reason and logic
- language that is persuasive and convinces you to take action
-
- Which of the following are shades of red?
- crimson ✓
- indigo
- porcelain
- lilac
- scarlet ✓
-
- Gothic writers often ______ Gothic colours to reflect the battle between good and evil that many Gothic texts explore.
- 'contrast' ✓
- Which of the following words means 'to lack courage or confidence'?
- bold
- timid ✓
- congealed
- vivid
- sceptical
-
- Why might you not reveal the object you are describing until the end of the description?
- to create a thrilling experience for the reader ✓
- to make your reader confused about the text
- to build tension by withholding information ✓
- to foreshadow later events to come
-
- Which of the following sentences uses the word 'congealed' correctly?
- She was so angry that congealed tears fell from her eyes.
- The burger began to congeal as it started to ooze liquid.
- The jelly-like substance had begun to congeal, forming horrible clumps. ✓
- The torrential rain congealed as it pummelled the pavement.
- The dog snarled, congealed spit flying towards me as it did so.
-
Worksheet
Loading worksheet ...
Presentation
Loading presentation ...
Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- In descriptions, you can focus on how the scene smells, feels, sounds and tastes, as well as just what it looks like.
- Multi-sensory descriptions make the scene more vivid for your reader.
- You can use figurative language to create vivid imagery for the reader.
- Fronted adverbials can build tension by elongating the sentence and delaying the action.
- To build tension, try describing small details quite comprehensively.
Common misconception
In descriptive writing, students often just describe what their protagonist can see. They often neglect the other senses.
To create the most vivid description possible, students should focus their description on the five sense, subtly moving between exploring how the scene feels, smells, looks, tastes and sounds.
Keywords
Imagery - words used to create a clear image in the reader’s head
Vivid - producing strong or clear images in the reader’s mind
Multi-sensory - involving more than one sense
To congeal - to begin to change from a liquid state to a more solid state
Timid - showing a lack of courage or confidence
+