Writing to describe Rules: - PowerPoint Presentation

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Writing to describe

Rules:

The aim of the game is to score as many points as possible – each card you use (apart from the dark cards) are worth a set amount of points.

The dark cards are worth negative points. If you do not do them, you lose 5 points.

Lay out the dark cards; start with structure, sentence and SOAPMAP cards in different piles

You must always have a SOAPMAPS and sentences card turned up. You do not have to use these straight away, but you cannot move to another card until you have.

Turn over a sentence type to start your off. Once you have used it, add it to the bottom of the pile.

Every paragraph apart from the first, turn over a

structure

card. You don’t have to use it but if you do you earn 5 points.

With

structure

cards, keep turning over sentence / SOAPMAPS cards until you are finished

When you turn over a SOAPMAPS card, pair it with a sentence card. Once you have finished, add it to the bottom of the pile.Slide2

ver

The very first sentences should shock or surprise the reader, hooking them in.

Use an

interesting sentence type

Use a powerful descriptive feature.Use a sentence that will confuse the reader.Use a very short sentenceSay something shocking / surprising / strangeExample:One moment, I was walking along a sunny street; the next, everything went black. My world became a dark soup of nothing.

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The first paragraph should make it very clear what the topic / task is. Make sure it is very clear exactly what you are describing.

Example

(

Task: Describe a surprising event in your life

)Of course, this was the first surprising thing that happened to me that day. It wasn’t the last. Not by a long way. -5Slide4

Use short, simple sentences to provide

contrast with longer sentences

and

add emphasis

Of course, this was the first surprising thing that happened to me that day. It wasn’t the last. Not by a long way. Long sentenceShort sentences

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Every time you bring up a person, place object or feeling, use clusters of language features to describe it in detail:

Example (

Feeling of pain

):

A wave of fire shot up my leg and all I could see was red; deep, hot, blood red. A piercing shriek blasted through my brain, and my vision blurred like I was underwater. Metaphor

Triplet of adjectives

Auditory imagery / adjectives / verbs

Simile

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Structure

:

Zooming (

Big to small): Start off describing an entire thing, then zoom in by describing smaller and smaller bits of that thing.Example: The trees danced and waved in the breeze, their branches whipping around wildly. Each individual leaf was a blur of deep green, twisting and shaking as if trying to rip free. A single drop of water, a perfect see-through emerald, balanced in the tip of a leaf before being tossed, shattered, into the stormy air.5Slide7

Structure

:

Zooming (

Small to big): Start off describing a tiny section of something, before zooming out to describe the entire thingExample: Something deeply green probed my eyes, a shining emerald showing up in my blurred vision. My vision cleared; there were hundreds of them, standing tall as far as the eye could see, yet I still could not picture where I was. Everywhere I looked, these green spears stuck up from the ground. I was lying on them. Of course, it was grass.5Slide8

Structure

:

Use language to make all your descriptions create a certain mood or feeling.

Example (anger):

He clenched his fists so hard that his nails left jagged marks in his palm. The setting sun, a boiling red sphere, shone its light unmercilessly down on him, lighting his eyes and face a deep, violent crimson. As he marched forward, breathing heavily and muttering, a blast of thunder rumbled overhead. 5Slide9

Comma sandwich : a sentence with an embedded clause (which is surrounded by commas

).

The sun, which had been absent for days, shone steadily in the sky.

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The more, more, more sentence

The more he worried, the more he felt uncomfortable, the more he wanted to leave the room.

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The less, less, less sentence

The less I tried, the less I cared, the less I got.

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Sentence, comma and list of verbs ending in –ing

The road unspooled on and on,

rising, falling, rising, turning, falling

.

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A list of prepositions after a verb

I look

outside, down, away, beneath, near

the dazzling presents under the table

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Sentences with a semi-colon in the middle to connect two clauses.

Spider-Man was in trouble; he was surrounded by his enemies.

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Three repeated adjectives ‘of’ sentence  

I felt full, full of food, full of bad television, full of incessant chat.

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Colons to clarify

A strange hint of something filled his nostrils and made his stomach lurch: it was blood.

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Two similes sentence

It could have been Esther’s, as black as jet, as dark as the night.

It’s hard to describe how I felt - like an object no longer of use, like a parcel packed up in string and brown paper.

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Distance (closer, nearer, further) / More sentence

The further we went, the more anxious I felt.

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The three verb sentence

The monster pushed, crashed, smashed its way through.  

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Start with a prepositional (position word - under, by, near, beneath, over) phrase

Under the moon, the river snaked its way to the sea.  

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Two -ings

at the start sentence

Raising a hand to my brow, shielding my eyes from the rain once more, I saw no monster.

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So so

sentence

There was one item, so small, so

unrecognisable

, it didn’t register. 2Slide23

Subject first sentence

Lamp posts and trees reared up at him, splintering his shins.

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Verb 

 -

ed

opening

Wracked with fear, Tommy crept slowly towards the door.Scared for her life, Anna searched frantically for the key.2Slide25

Whoever/ Whenever/ Whichever two of these...

Whoever had been at the scene, whenever they had been there, it was clear something very sinister had taken place.

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Adjectives at the start sentence

Cold and hungry, Martin waited for someone to take pity on him.

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Three adjectives at the start sentence

Ruthless, dangerous, lethal, the animal leaps for its prey.

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It was one of those, one of those when sentence

It was one of those days, one of those when the air was cold and crisp and the birds’ melodious singing pierced the air.

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The Loose Sentence (an independent clause followed by a series of phrases)

It was a happy summer at the zoo, the zebras romping, the giraffes grazing, the elephants trumpeting, and the lure of a drippy popsicle on a hot day beckoning me to the snack bar.

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The personification, 5 commas and 3 tos

sentence:

Harsh white walls frown at the monotone uniformed prisoners, men with bleached faces and no eyes threaten, guns hoover, thunderously muted, waiting for someone to move, to think,

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Start with a simile sentence

Like a ghost caught in a fan, he spun round and round on the roundabout.

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1st

person narratives I / my / the / we

I

felt the sunlight gaze its eyes over my back.

My skin burned. The window was open. We usually keep the window closed. I knew something was wrong. My gut instinct was to get up. The house was silent.3Slide33

Sight / sound / touch –

Sprinkles

of light floated in and out of the shafts of sunlight. The slow creaking of wooded floorboards hid the rumble of traffic outside. The smooth boards were smothered with a thin carapace of dust and dirt.

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Noun, adjectives, verb, adverb

The floor, dusty and cracked, creaked menacingly.

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SOAPMAP

Simile

– Comparing two things using like or as.

The surface of the ice shone

like a diamond in the sun.The night was as black as a bat’s wing, and as cold as the depths of space. 1Slide36

SO

APMAP

Onomatopoeia

– Words that make sounds

The wind whistled and hummed through the trees.His feet banged heavily on the floor.1Slide37

SOA

PMAP

Adjectives –

Words that describe nouns.

Her face was red and swollen.A vivid, red sun rose amongst the dark hills.1Slide38

SOAP

MAP

Personification –

Giving an inanimate object human characteristics.

The surrounding buildings stared down with their great vacant windows, always looking, never speaking.1Slide39

SOAPM

AP

Metaphor –

Comparing two things by saying that something

is something elseThe floating blocks of ice were diamonds, each one more perfect than the last.His eyes were dark pits full of evil.1Slide40

SOAPMA

P

Adverbs–

Words that describe how an action happens (often end in an

ly)The wind whistled gently through the trees.Angrily, the man marched through the town.1Slide41

SOAPMAP

Powerful verbs –

Words for exciting actions

She

leapt across the floor and heaved open the door, dragging the body behind her.The great trees creaked and twirled in the wind.1Slide42

Imagery

Use features to create vivid descriptions of what can be

seen

and

heard.(Auditory – Onomatopoeia, verbs, simile, metaphor) The floorboards creaked and moaned, while the wind banged and clanked against the old room. I heard a thunder clap, a boom like a bomb going off.2