12 ‘The Gold-Legged Frog’:

Focus on structure
In this unit, you will:
l Identify the uses of structural devices in a short story.
l Explore a text beyond its surface meaning to show a deep awareness of
ideas and attitudes.
l Recognise and appreciate ways in which an author uses structural
devices to create and shape meanings and effects.
l Describe your personal response to a text in terms of structural
devices.

Key term
In this unit we will look at ways in which a writer can structure a prose text and
how choices about structure can affect the text’s meaning and have an impact
Structure: The
sequence of ideas in a
on the reader. There are four main points to consider when we are looking at
text and how it is put structure in a prose text. They involve the organisation of words and ideas at:
together » sentence level
» paragraph level
» extract level
» whole-text level.
The way the author of your prose set text crafts their work or puts it together is
an important consideration. A complete short story has been provided here to
help you develop the skills you need to write about structure.
‘The Gold-Legged Frog’ was written by Thai short-story writer Khamsing Srinawk,
born in 1930. The story focuses on an ordinary village man in Thailand, who has
to struggle to feed his family, including five children. He faces oppression from
many angles, including extremes of weather, poverty, petty officialdom and,
ultimately, what the man himself calls ‘luck’ or fate.
Glossary
Pall: A dark cloud of dust; it can also be a cloth spread over a coffin
Portent: A sign or warning that something significant (usually disastrous) is going to happen
Want: Lacking something necessary, usually food and water
Paddy fields: Fields where rice is grown
Land snail: A snail that lives on land rather than in the sea
Razor clam buried waiting for the rains: Clams usually thrive in the sea, so a clam on land
in hot weather would be in need of the rain
Faith-healers: People who use either the power of prayer or divine ritual to help heal a
sick person
Herbalists: People who use natural medicines from plants to help heal a sick person
Baht: Currency of Thailand
Taciturn: Uncommunicative, saying nothing or very little
Guffaws: Loud rude laughter

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