1. Mystery Writing - intro & activities (Ignite).pptx

Descriptive Writing

1. General Objectives: Inspect the essential elements of mystery writing; mystery / characterization / setting Explore how to structure a mystery story; opening / clues / plot twist / climax / resolution

2. LO 1: Study the most important characteristics of MYSTERY writing. MYSTERY WRITING Starter Activity : Brainstorm whatever comes to your mind when you hear the concept of MYSTERY WRITING. Genre : action, adventure, horror, thriller, police detective, amateur detectives, Sherlock Holmes clues, evidence, riddles, breakthroughs, blood, DNA, fingerprints, CCTV footage, autopsy, crime scenes, red herrings (misleading clues) m urder , crime, missing people, cold cases, robberies, life or death situations, Jane Doe, Magic, puzzling situations, risky, weapons s uspects , witnesses, victims, serial killer, villain, hero, traitors , double agent, collaborator / accomplice Setting: nighttime, thunderstorm, ha unted house, dark alleyways, rooftops, abandoned places, oil tanks, banks, huge mansions, trains , school clues, evidence, riddles Strong plot, plot twist, complex plot

3. LO 1: Study the most important characteristics of MYSTERY writing. MYSTERY WRITING Starter Activity : Brainstorm whatever comes to your mind when you hear the concept of MYSTERY WRITING. action - adventure mystery acts: deaths / investigations / robberies / kidnapping / rape / dead body drama – suspense clues - puzzle – mystery – red herrings  misleading clues detective - person (people)looking for the truth suspect – criminal – villain (bad guy / antagonist ) trial - court plot twist back story details… setting / backdrop - place / location that crime / mysterious act takes place: dark (night) / abandoned place (castle / mansion), stormy, forest, bank, mall

4. Why Read Mysteries? (p.10-11) Slogans (activity 2) Are you smarter than a detective themselves? Grab a mystery novel and find out! Fair! Something I don’t know about… Police gunshots or a silent murder? The pen is in your hand. Read a mystery and overcome your fear of blood and death / darkness. Need to see something finally go well in life? Watch a mystery unfold and be resolved.

5. Lesson Objective: Identifying the typical features of the mystery genre (p.12-13) Activity 1 Activity 2 Activity 3 (predictions…)

6. Lesson Objective: Study the most important characteristics of MYSTERY writing. >> CHARACTERISATION Smart/ intelligent / perceptive Gentlemanly behaviour /respectable- polite / kind/ well mannered / encouraging / sympathetic Observant/ all comprehensive glance- suspicious of all Determined / Confident / persistent Famous / popular Helpful Logical / coherent / man of reason / calculated/ analytical /rational Meticulous – considers everything and comes to logical conclusions / organized Cautious / careful / diligent / stealthy Risk –taking / Brave Diligent / meticulous / hard-working Quick-witted – intelligent / quick at coming up with ideas Eccentric – strange , curious , weird , different , flawed – humane side to them- to connect with the reader

7. NOTE: The description of the appearance should REFLECT the actual personality of the character you are describing. Philip Marlowe Neat / Clean Rich / Upper class Attention to detail Takes pride in his appearance Arrogant / Confident Precise Serious Professional Sherlock Holmes Tall & Lean = imposing presence Quick-witted / Clever Observant Determined / Persistent Rational Arrogant Skillful / Scientifically intelligence Characterisation of Detectives – p.22-23

8. A very effective way of building powerful characters is by employing CAMEO descriptions = when using carefully chosen vocabulary to describe appearance and create an impression of a character.  cameo descriptions are effective because you can understand the character/personality of a person through their carefully crafted appearance = SHOW not TELL Lesson Objective: Crafting effective DESCRIPTIONS OF CHARACTERS

9. How do we write cameo descriptions ? Select the most powerful and precise adjectives describing the character and his/her physical appearance to create a clear/vivid image in the reader’s mind . E.g. She had cold blue eyes that reached into my soul . Her hands were clasped in front of her like she was trying to protect her body. She wore a mud brown dress and the cross around her neck hung heavy.  read people / good listener / someone on the defensive / religious E.g. He was a thin, skeletal figure in a long, flowing coat . He made me freeze as I watched him lurking (hiding) in the shadows .  mysterious / supernatural / scary / hiding something / someone scared / homeless

10. HW Think of 2 of your friends OR family members Create cameo descriptions for each of them with up to 4 pieces of information.  Please write SOPHISTICATED/ EFFECTIVE descriptions – may use similes/ metaphors/ punctuation/ enumeration/ rule of 3 ** Remember the cameo description should reflect something about character/personality but WITHOUT telling me it.

11. Feedback: some of your ideas… Cuteness is drawn on her face , when she smiles kindness can be seen on her full, red lips. Her eyes are green that speak to the soul of nature, of wands/blades of grass and fresh buds. Rosy cheeks splattered with freckles like an artist would splatter little stars onto a canvas. Spirals of black curls like ink Sweet delicate curl of her lips

12. Build Height Hair Face Complexion Jawline Nose Eyes Neck Other   Stocky Stout Burley Brawny Heavy Light Slim Slender Broad Delicate Petite Big-boned Emaciated Round-shouldered                   Tall Short Medium Towering Petite     Afro Frizzy Dry Greasy Glossy Shiny Well-kempt Unkempt/ Messy Wispy Dark/blonde/ fair/ brunette Bald Receding   Round Oval Moon-shaped Heart-shaped Thin Square       Dry Sallow Ruddy Pale Pallid Fresh Smooth Pitted Olive Wrinkled   Sharp Rounded Pointed Jutting   Pointed Long Roman Up-turned Bulbous French   Deep-set Round Almond-shaped Protruding Bulging Sleepy Fiery Narrow Piercing Blank Expressionless Sunken Evil/diabolic   Stocky Delicate Swanlike Sagging Smooth     Bushy/fine/ arched eyebrows Furrowed / Wrinkled brow    Age Childlike Juvenile Adolescent/ teenaged Middle-aged Elderly Seasoned   Voice High-pitched Grating Mumbling Rough / gruff Gravelly Sweet/ soft Lyrical Brittle   Adjectives Describing Physical Appearance- Using Selective Vocabulary

13. The Ruby in the Smoke p.25 (Philip Pullman) How does the writer present Sally in this extract? Focus on her physical description.  Clear focused description – so that the reader could have an image of her/impression of her Young girl Sixteen or so Alone , uncommonly pretty Slender Pale Dressed in mourning (in black) Twist of blonde hair = All the above give an impression of an innocent good girl – sympathy for being alone- comes in antithesis / contrast to what she is going to do She will kill someone Unusually dark eyes for one so fair (light , white)… SO WHAT IS THE WRITER TRYING TO TELL US WITH THIS FOCUS ON HER DARK EYES? She will do something dark… she is going to kill a man = murderer/killer

14. EXAMPLE/QUOTE EFFECT/IMPRESSION ‘My father was…’ / ‘You been here before’ ‘slender…dressed in mourning…pale’ ‘I’ve come to see…’ ‘unusually dark eyes’; ‘uncommonly pretty’ ‘Her name was…kill a man.’ ‘you sat by the fire…’ Man’s reactions/ behaviour *name/recognized – a name that is easily recognisable /familiar name but we don’t know why *introduces herself – polite/proper; not afraid 2. Tells us something about her mood/emotional state- not happy; tormented by something 3. Direct and abrupt; straight to the point – determined 4. Strangeness; out of the ordinary 5. Complex sentence – image of a woman who can be dangerous/threat ; contrast to images above 6. Contrast to her present state – image of past suggests happiness and carefree – not now 7. Startled at her appearance; then with the memories – ‘father…real gentleman’ Activity 6a

15. Activity 6b Look at where the ellipsis is used in the passage – what does it tells us about her feelings? 1) when revealing her name  hesitates = suggests grief and sadness for her father’s death; is she pretending/lying? Is she uncomfortable/brings back memories? 2) ‘I don’t remember…’ = unfinished thought/tries to remember/ did not expect to be recognized ‘Dear me…’ = pause – expresses his sadness; not sure how to comfort her or what to say/a surprise for him as well

16. Homework Look carefully at the images to follow. Choose one and write an effective cameo description (focus on describing the physical appearance) - aim for 4 ideas. Aim to include: Metaphor Simile Effective Vocabulary Complex sentence Effective Punctuation ( : ; - …) Technique

17. His blue gateways give us access to his soul… We can feel his sadness His eyes are as blue as the sky but sad as a grey cloud on a dull day. His eyes are as blue as a precious aquamarine stone, piercing your heart when you look into them, begging you for help. The map of wrinkles on his face tell of the most incredible and difficult journeys. His dark, tiny eyes with the droopy eyelids reveal his loneliness and giving up on the world. The devil is dancing in her eyes with mania and her spirals of black boucles engage your gaze into her deep, dark, devilish soul. She looked desperate… Her eyes, full of hate, danger and darkness, were screaming for help. .

18. Lesson Objective: Recap how to PLAN a detective story (with Robin Stevens) Task : As we are watching the video, please make a note of the most important tips Robins gives us.