Key concepts: Protagonist: - PowerPoint Presentation

Key concepts:Protagonist: The leading character or one of the main characters in a book, play or filmAntagonist: The antagonist is the character who stands against the main character, the opponentCharacterisation: The act of creating and describing characters in a text. Writers use many methods, description, imagery, dialogue and narrative voice to create a character who seems convincing to the reader Year 7 Cycle 1 - Stone Cold, Robert Swindells LanguageImplicit: Something that is suggested, but not actually saidExplicit: Expressing details in a clear and obvious way, leaving no doubt as to the intended meaningFiction: Is a story which is imaginary and not real Non-fiction: A text which describes real life events. E.g. Newspaper articles, textbooks, journals, biographiesEmotive language: Language which evokes emotion in the readerEuphemism: The term euphemism refers to polite, indirect expressions which replace words and phrases considered harsh and impolite or which suggest something unpleasantColloquial language: Informal, everyday language which is used in conversation rather than writing. Swindells uses colloquial language at moments in the story to make the characters seem more believableVerb: A word to describe an action or a state, verbs change their endings depending on who is carrying out the action (e.g. to walk, to be, I walk, you are)Adverb: Adds detail to the verbs to describe how an action is carried out (e.g. kindly)Noun: People, places or things (e.g. man, table, England) Adjective: Describes a noun (e.g. The kind man, the little table) StructureFirst person narrator: Told from a character’s perspective (I) Unreliable narrator: A first person narrator who cannot be fully trusted. Dual narrative: Told from two different perspectives Dramatic irony : When the reader knows more about what is happening than the main characterAtmosphere: The mood or tone created by the writerForeshadowing: When the writer hints at what is going to happen Narrative voice / perspective: The attitude of the narrator to what they are talking about, e.g. Shelter is often mocking and sinisterRepetition: Repeating words, ideas or events over a texts to highlight their importanceTension: The feeling of emotional strain as the reader anticipates something happeningDialogue: Use of speech from one or more characters will help to bring the text to life. Homopohones and common mistakes: Their (possessive pronoun) – This is their football There (place) – There is your brotherThey’re (contraction) - They’re coming over for dinnerYour (possessive pronoun) – This is your schoolYou’re (contraction) – You’re going to have to work hardTo (preposition) – We are going to the the parkToo (meaning ‘as well’ – I love mangoes too Two (number) – I need two sandwiches Key themesHomelessness: Swindells shows the reader how difficult it is for people living on the streets and the dangers which they face. Do you think that Swindells is showing us that we have a problem in our society which many people try to ignore? Friendship: Swindell’s shows that it is difficult to form friendships on the street. When Link does meet Ginger, their friendship does not last long. Perhaps it is because of Link’s friendship with Toya that he is able to catch Shelter, even if she is not what he thought? Trust: On the streets, Link must be careful who he trusts. Shelter realises that he can abuse people’s trust by tricking them into his house. Insanity: We are given an insight into the mind of Shelter through the first person narrative. Is he in fact mad and therefore not to blame for his actions? Social and Historical ContextHomelessness: After the 1980s when Britain was relatively rich, the economy became less stable and more people became bankrupt and unemployed, leading to more people on the streets. In Waterloo the area which is now the IMAX became known as ‘cardboard city,’ home to up to 200 people sleeping rough in cardboard boxes 1990s: At the start of the 1990s Margaret Thatcher left 10 Downing Street and John Major become Prime Minister. The country had been under her conservative government for 11 years and many people were feeling that this was a government who was not doing enough for young people or the poorRobert Swindells: Robert Swindells believes that we are responsible for each other in society and he writes books to encourage people to share this mentalityCharles Dickens: Charles Dickens was also keen to teach people about the situation of those in poverty in Victorian London CharactersLink – The main protagonist of the novel, Link is really called Dave but changes his name on the streets. He leaves home because of his relationship with his stepdad VinceShelter – Shelter is the antagonist of the novel. He is a former sergeant-major who is on a mission to clear London’s streets of the homeless. He carefully plans his missionVince – Vince is Link’s stepdad and the reason Link leaves homeGinger – A streetwise kid who befriends Link and teaches him about life on the streetsGail – Befriends Link after Ginger has gone missing and he quickly falls for her. She isn’t quite what she seems… Connectives of comparison:however whereas in contrast instead of likewise alternatively but equally in the same way on the other hand unlike similarly WordSynonymsSay (v.)Whisper shout stutter mutter beg remark answer State beg demand declare order mumble boastWalk (v.) Saunter stagger stroll amble stride shuffle stumble prowl amble pace march traipseSad (adj.) Down depressed melancholy glum unhappy gloomy distressed bitter Bad (adj.) Apalling atrocious despicable dreadful hideous monstrous revolting terrible Emotive vocabulary to discuss homelessness: Adjectives Adverbs Verbs Destitute Down-hearted Neglected Deserted Unloved Ignored Suffering Hopeless Unfair abandoned Tragically Desperately Shockingly Appallingly Incredibly Unbelievably Unthinkingly Criminally Recently Cruelly Tragically To neglect To abandon To desert To victimise To suffer To torment To reject To dehumanise