Starter quiz
- What is tone?
- the level of formality of language
- the mood or attitude of a text ✓
- the writer's feelings
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- Which of these conveys a condescending tone?
- "I don't think you know enough about the topic to make a comment." ✓
- "Tell me more about yourself."
- "Are you okay?"
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- What is register?
- the level of formality of a text ✓
- the writer's feelings
- the volume of a speech
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- Which of these conveys a conversational register?
- "Do you wanna go out for dinner?" ✓
- "She put on her coat and left for dinner."
- "That evening, I decided I would go out for dinner."
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- What is narrative perspective?
- the writer's feelings
- the point of a view a text is written from ✓
- someone's tone of voice
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- Which of these is the most unusual narrative perspective?
- a narrative written from the perspective of an animal ✓
- a narrative written from the perspective of the protagonist
- an omniscient narrative perspective
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Exit quiz
- When might we use a formal register?
- when talking to friends
- when talking to colleagues in a meeting ✓
- when talking to people we do not know ✓
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- What makes the narrative perspective in 'The Lovely Bones' by Alice Sebold unique?
- It is written from the perspective of a pet.
- It is written from the perspective of a dead girl. ✓
- It is written from the perspective of Death.
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- Match each sentence to the register being used.
- "Are you alright?"⇔conversational ✓
- "I am worried about Edward's health."⇔formal ✓
- "My darling, what's wrong?"⇔intimate ✓
- Which might provide the most unique narrative voice in a story or novel?
- an old woman
- a child
- a clock ✓
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- "It's that new tiny human, it's led them to forget about me!" In this sentence, what makes it obvious that this is from a pet's perspective?
- the syntax
- the punctuation
- the word choice ✓
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- "I hold myself supremely blest—blest beyond what language can express; because I am my husband's life as fully as he is mine." This example from 'Jane Eyre' uses which tone and register?
- bitter tone, formal register
- melancholy tone, conversational register
- proud tone, formal register ✓
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Worksheet
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Register and tone are important parts of establishing voice in a narrative.
- Register is the formality of language whilst tone is the mood of a text.
- 'The Lovely Bones' has a unique perspective, tone and register, making the narrative voice engaging.
- Unique perspectives might include writing from the perspective of an inanimate object, an animal or an abstract idea.
- We can adapt our perspective, register and tone to create unique voices in our own creative writing.
Common misconception
Pupils may not realise that they can choose a unique narrative perspective for their creative writing as they may not have come across that many narrative perspectives other than human.
Tell pupils that writers have written from the perspective of animals, objects, abstract ideas etc. Give examples. 'Black Beauty' is written from a horse's perspective. 'The Book Thief' is narrated by Death.
Keywords
Register - the level of formality of language
Tone - the mood or attitude conveyed in writing
Voice - the language a writer uses to communicate their perspective or a story
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