Starter quiz
- What is a complex sentence?
- A sentence with one subject and one verb
- Two independent clauses linked together with a conjunction
- A sentence with a subordinate clause and independent clause ✓
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- Which sentence below is a simple sentence?
- She trudged home in the relentless rain. ✓
- Whilst it poured with rain, she trudged home.
- The rain poured so she picked up her pace.
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- Which sentence below is a compound sentence?
- The rain poured so she picked up her pace. ✓
- Whilst it poured with rain, she trudged home.
- She despised the rain.
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- What is the purpose of the conjunction 'but'?
- To express addition
- To express negative addition
- To express cause and effect
- To express difference ✓
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- What is smog?
- a dark cloud
- fog made more intense by pollution ✓
- cold rain
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- Which sentence below suggests a setting with an upbeat atmosphere?
- The oppressive regime controlled citizens
- The polluted skies mocked the citizens hope
- The city's vibrant streets were bustling ✓
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Exit quiz
- What does forlorn mean?
- In ruin as a result of being damaged.
- Pitifully sad or lonely. ✓
- When things have gone wrong.
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- Which sentence uses awry most successfully?
- The cooking went awry when she realised she had forgotten an ingredient. ✓
- The buildings were awry.
- The awry city seemed to gleam in the moonlight.
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- Which of the below is an effective dystopian simile?
- The decaying buildings looked like a row of broken teeth. ✓
- The old buildings looked like ancient artefacts.
- The ruined buildings looked like the yellowing pages of an old book.
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- How could you analyse similes?
- Analyse the whole simile in one go.
- Pick out and analyse specific words from the simile. ✓
- Analyse only one word from the simile.
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- What is the most plausible effect of the word 'broken' in this simile? The decaying buildings looked like a row of broken teeth.
- It gives us a sense that the place is desolate and in ruin; neglected. ✓
- It makes us feel scared.
- It makes us feel that this is a place you would not like to live.
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- Finish the simile in order to create the most bleak and oppressive tone: the citizens trudged through the streets like...
- lethargic robots, numb to the harsh wind that chapped their skin. ✓
- nervous deer, constantly looking around them.
- tired students, ready for sleep.
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Worksheet
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Similes are a useful technique for creating atmosphere
- Excellent similes will uses carefully selected adjectives and noun phrases so comparisons are suitable
- Subordinate clauses can be used to add vivid detail to your similes
- When analysing a writer’s use of similes, zoom in on individual word choices and explain how they create atmosphere
Common misconception
As long as a similes compare something similar it is effective.
Similes are much more powerful when used alongside vivid description. Work through example in learning cycle 1 to help unravel this.
Keywords
Labyrinth - A labyrinth is a maze that is incredibly difficult to escape.
Dilapidated - If a building is dilapidated it is in a state of despair and ruin.
Awry - If something has gone awry, something has gone wrong - it is not on its expected course.
Forlorn - Forlorn means pitifully sad and abandoned.
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