KS3 · English

Reading an unseen prose extract

A writer can make you dislike a character with a single word. Today you'll learn to catch that word and prove what it's doing.

English · Reading fiction

Marlow Street, after dark

An invented extract. Do pass one first: read it for the story and the feeling. Then tap the highlighted words for pass two.

The lights along Marlow Street flickered out one by one. Tamsin pressed her back against the bakery door.

A man stepped out of the dark. A deep frown cut across his face, and he growled at the empty street.

"Give me the key," he said. "Stand still. Don't make a sound."

Tamsin's stomach turned over. Her hands were shaking so badly that the key, glowing faintly gold, rattled against the door.

Invented for this lesson

Pass one: what's going on? Plot: a man steps out of the dark and demands a key from Tamsin. Characters: Tamsin looks frightened and the man looks threatening. Setting: Marlow Street at night, outside a bakery. Feeling: tense and uneasy. Now go closer.

Pass two: tap a highlighted word or phrase. Each one goes from what it means, to what it suggests, to what we can infer.

Reading “deep frown”

Negative connotation

What to notice

Means: a frown is a look where the brow pulls down. We generally share an idea of what a frown stands for: frowns go with negative emotions, where smiles go with friendliness.

Effect

Suggests: this man is not friendly. The writer gave him a frown, not a smile, so we feel uneasy about him straight away.

Meaning

Inference: he is displeased or angry, and potentially a threat to Tamsin.

Focused phrase “deep frown”. technique Negative connotation. Means: a frown is a look where the brow pulls down. We generally share an idea of what a frown stands for: frowns go with negative emotions, where smiles go with friendliness.. effect: Suggests: this man is not friendly. The writer gave him a frown, not a smile, so we feel uneasy about him straight away.. meaning: Inference: he is displeased or angry, and potentially a threat to Tamsin.

Watch out: Don't treat the man or Tamsin as real people. The writer built them, so ask why each word was chosen.

Before you go on

Who is this man, really?

You've just met the man on Marlow Street. Three people have something to say about him.

Which is closest to what you think right now?

He's like a real person, so I'd just describe him the way I'd describe someone I know.He's a fictional person the writer built for a purpose, so every word about him is chosen.Some of the details about him are probably just there by chance.

How sure are you?

I'm sureI think soI'm guessing

He's like a real person, so I'd just describe him the way I'd describe someone I know.

This is a common misconception

Easy trap, and it's why close reading stalls. He isn't a person at all. A character is a fictional person created by the writer to do a job in the story, so you analyse him as the writer's construction, not as someone you could bump into.

He's a fictional person the writer built for a purpose, so every word about him is chosen.

This matches the evidence

That's the mindset. Every word used about a character and every action they take is intentional, designed to make you feel something. Once you believe that, 'why this word?' becomes a question worth asking.

Some of the details about him are probably just there by chance.

This is a common misconception

Tempting, because lots of details seem small. But every word about a character is intentional. If you decide a detail is accidental, you stop looking at it, and that's exactly where the writer's choice is hiding.

Characters are the writer's constructions. Every word and action is chosen to make you feel something.

One word, four links

Reason it through

In an extract from Jasbinder Bilan's novel Asha and the Spirit Bird, the narrator, Asha, says some men 'tower' over her mother. Why does that one word make the men seem so threatening?

Link 1 of 4

First link · your turn

Start with the word itself. What does 'tower' mean?

Locked — reveal the link above first

Have a guess first

Same Asha extract. One of the men bares his teeth, and they are red from a nut he has been chewing.

Does that detail create a positive or a negative impression of the man?

Interpretation

Is Asha frightened or courageous?

In the Asha extract, how might a reader see Asha at this moment?

She is frightened

Asha feels sick, a physical description that signals fear to the reader.
She does not know what is happening, and neither does the reader, so the reader may share her fear.

feels sick

She is courageous

Asha tries to defend her family and home, even though she is scared.
The writer may be making the reader see her as courageous, so the reader is more likely to root for her.

tries to defend her family and home

Common ground

Both readings come from the same moment.
Both are interpretations, ideas you weigh up with evidence, not facts.

Compare the positions, then weigh them yourself.

Weighing them up

Perhaps neither cancels the other: a character can be scared and still try to defend what matters to her. What makes a reading worth believing is the evidence behind it.

Comparing 2 positions: She is frightened, She is courageous.

Your turn

Write one inference about the man

Pick a different word from the one you analysed first, if you can. Remember that Marlow Street is a real street, but the key glows. A text with a real-world setting in which magic happens is called magical realist, and knowing the genre helps you predict.

Back in the Marlow Street extract, write an inference about the man. Quote a word or phrase as evidence, say what it suggests, and finish with a prediction about what might happen next. [4 marks]

Your answer

0 words · your answer stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

The mark scheme

An inference about the man is stated, such as that he seems powerful or threatening. (1 mark)
A word or phrase from the extract is quoted as evidence. (1 mark)
It explains what that word or phrase suggests. (1 mark)
A prediction about what might happen next draws on the genre (a real-world setting in which magic happens). (1 mark)

Model answer

The man seems powerful and threatening. The writer has him say "Give me the key" and "Don't make a sound", which are commands, and a character who gives commands is generally in control and expects to be obeyed. Because this is a real street where magic happens (the key glows), I predict the glowing key will matter next, perhaps by helping Tamsin.

Inference, quoted evidence, what the word suggests. Then use the genre to look ahead.

WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

A quick recap of today's lesson.

Read for the story first, then squeeze single words until they tell you what the writer wants you to feel.

What you need to know

An extract is a short passage taken from a text, film or piece of music.
Read an unseen extract twice. Pass one is for plot, character and setting, plus the emotion you get from it.
Pass two is closer: look at the meaning of specific words and phrases, and what effect they have.
Have a goYour mate Zed announces: 'I skip the first read and go straight to hunting for clever words.' What has Zed skipped, and what is it for?
The first read: it establishes plot, character and setting, and the emotion you get from the text.
The emotion from the first read helps guide your understanding of the text and the writer's intentions, so Zed's close reading has nothing to stand on.
Inference means a conclusion reached from the evidence in the text, so always point to the words.
Have a goA line reads: 'Leila slammed the door and stamped upstairs.' A pupil writes: 'Leila is angry.' What must they add for it to be a proper inference?
Evidence from the text: quote words like 'slammed' and say why they point to anger.
An inference is a conclusion reached from the evidence in the text, so the words have to be pointed to. Without them it's a bare guess.
Characters are fictional people created by the writer for a purpose, so analyse them as constructions, not real people.
Every word about a character, and every action they take, is intentional, chosen to make the reader feel something.
We generally share a sense of positive and negative connotation: smiles go with friendliness, frowns with negative emotions.
Imperative language means giving commands. A character who uses it is generally in control or in a position of power.
Have a goSpeaker A says: 'Open your books.' Speaker B says: 'Would anyone mind opening their books?' Which uses imperative language, and who sounds more in control?
A uses imperative language, so A generally sounds more in control.
Imperative language means giving commands, and someone who gives commands and expects them to be obeyed is generally in control. B asks a question instead.
Giving a human character animal characteristics is zoomorphism, which writers generally use to suggest something unsettling or scary.
Have a goWhich is zoomorphism: 'The caretaker was tall' or 'The caretaker barked at the children'? And what would it generally suggest?
'Barked': it gives a human an animal's sound, and generally suggests something unsettling.
'Tall' only describes him. 'Barked' gives a human character an animal characteristic, which is exactly what zoomorphism means.
Magical-realist texts have a real-world setting in which magic happens, and knowing the genre helps you predict what comes next.

The big picture

Read an unseen extract twice: first for the story and the feeling, then closely for what the words suggest. Go from a word's meaning to its connotation to an inference about a character, and back it with evidence. Characters are the writer's constructions, so every word is a choice.

Key points

1Two passes: the story and the feeling first, then words and their effects.

2An inference needs evidence: point to the words you are reading it from.

3For any word, go from what it means, to what it suggests, to what you infer about the character.

4Characters are the writer's constructions, so every word and action is a choice.

5Commands generally show power, animal characteristics generally unsettle, and physical signs can signal fear.

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Worked example

Problem

Take the line 'Maya smiled warmly and held the door open.' Use the word, then meaning, then connotation, then inference steps to say what we learn about Maya.

⚠ Watch out

Talking about a character like a real person ('he's just grumpy') or treating a detail as accidental, instead of asking why the writer chose that word.

🧠

Memory hook

Means, Suggests, Infer: what does the word mean, what does it suggest, and what do I infer about the person the writer built?

✓

Check yourself

Cover the page. Explain the two passes and what each is for. Then say why 'describe the character like a real person' is the wrong way to read.

Flashcards

(14)

What is an extract?

A short passage taken from a text, film or piece of music.

What is a quotation?

A phrase or short piece of writing taken from a longer work of literature.

What is the first read of an unseen extract for?

Establishing key information about plot, character and setting, and noticing the emotion you get from it.

What happens on the second, closer read?

You consider the meaning of specific words and phrases, and their effects.

What is an inference?

A guess or opinion formed from the information you have; a conclusion reached from the evidence in the text.

What is a character?

A person in a novel, play or film. Characters are fictional people created by the writer for a purpose.

Which words and actions about a character are intentional?

Every one of them, designed to make the reader feel a certain way.

Which feelings do we generally associate with smiles and with frowns?

Smiles with friendliness; frowns with negative emotions.

What is imperative language, and what does it generally show?

Giving commands. A character who uses it is generally in control or in a position of power.

What is zoomorphism?

Giving a human character animal characteristics. Writers generally use it to suggest something unsettling or scary.

Why does zoomorphism generally unsettle?

It suggests the character is more like an animal than a human, and unpredictable.

What does it mean to predict?

To say what you think will happen in the future.

What setting do magical-realist texts have?

A real-world setting in which magic happens.

How can a physical description, like feeling sick, work on the reader?

It signals fear. If the reader doesn't know what's happening either, they may share that fear.

Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.

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