Bring it to life!

Reading
How writers create effects
The follovwing passage is taken from the start of The
Listener', a
Blackwood, and it sets the Scene for later events. Read it carefullymystery story by Algernon
that follow. and then answer the questions

Extract: The Listener'

The flare of the gas jet illumined an empty room; there was not a sign
of a
hair stir upon my head, and instinctively I backed up against the wall, lest person anywhere. Ifelt the
me from behind. I was distinctly alarmed. But the next something should approach
minute I recovered myself. The door was open
onto the landing. and Icrossed the rOom, not without some inward
from the room fell upon the stairs, but there was no one to be trepidation, and went out. The light
seen anywhere, nor was there any sound
on the creaking wooden staircase to indicate a
departing creature.
Iwas in the act of turning to go in again when a
sound overhead caught my ear. It was a very faint
sound, not unlike the sigh of wind; yet it could not have been the wind, for the night was still as
Though it was not repeated, Iresolved to go upstairs and see for myself what it all meant. Two the grave.
had been affected - touch and hearing - andIcould not believe that I had been senses
deceived. So, with a
lighted candle, I went stealthily forth on my unpleasant journey into the upper regions of this queer little
old house.
On the first landing there was only one door, and it was
locked. On the second there was aso only one
door, but when I turned the handle it opened. There came forth to meet me the
chill musty air that is
characteristic of a long unoccupied room. With it there came an indescribable odour. I use the adjective
advisedly. Though very faint, diluted as it were, it was nevertheless an odour that made my gorge rise. I
had never smelt anything like it before, and I cannot describe it.
The room was small and square, close under the roof, with a sloping celing and two tiny
windows. It
was cold as the grave, without a shred of carpet or a stick of furniture. The icy atmosphere and the
nameless odour combined to make the room abominable to me, and, after lingering a moment to see
that it contained no cupboards or corners into whicha person might have crept for
concealment., I made
haste to shut the door, and went downstairs again to bed. Evidently I had been
deceived after all as to
the noise.

Algernon Blackwood
Reading

Now answer these questions. Try to use your own words in your answers as much as poSsDe.
1 How would you describe the atmosphere of the scene in the extract? You can use a Word or d
whole sentence.

2 Wite down three quotations (words, phrases or sentences) from the extract that you think the
author has chosen to help create the atmosphere:

3 Look at the first sentence in the extract:'The flare of the gas jet illumined an empty room; there
was not a sign of a person anywhere.
a What type of sentence is it?

b Why do you think the writer has chosen to usea semi-colon rather than a connective word in
the sentence?

4 Look at this part of a sentence from the third paragraph: 'I went stealthily forth on my
unpleasant journey'.
a What type of word is 'stealthily'?

b What type of word is 'unpleasant'?

c Explain the effect the author's word choices here have on the meaning of this sentence
 1 Bring it to life!

d Replace the words 'stealthily' and 'unpleasant' in the sentence to create a different
atmosphere. Write your new sentence below, with another sentence to explain what
atmosphere you are aiming to achieve.

5 What is the adjective that the narrator says he uses 'advisedly' (paragraph 3)?

6 Which sentence in the same paragraph explains the meaningof this adjective?

7 What are the narrator's feelings when he enters this room? What causes him to feel as he does?

8 What actions does the narrator perform when he has entered the room?

9 This passage is taken from the opening of a mystery story. Select some details mentioned by
the writer and explain how they help to establish the scene and prepare you for any mysterious
events that may follow. Also comment on how the writer's language helps to establish the sense
of mystery.
 Reading

enext passage was written by a poet, Rupert Brooke. It describes a visit to the Niagara Falls and
tries to Capture the atmosphere of the falls and the
surrounding area.
You are going to practise readingan unseen text
aloud.
When redding unseen texts, sometimes we might not understand straightaway what we dre reddin9.
Ihere are lots of strategies you can use to help you make connections as you redd:
- Look at any pictures, graphs or
isuals to help you
Think about why you are reading. For example, is itunderstand.
to find a piece of specific information? Are
you performing? Are you trying to bring a place or a
character to life?
Pause when reading and think about what is happening in the story: try to make
connections to
hew content. Make predictions and confirm previous predictions. You can summarise, self-talk,
paraphrase and re-tell the story.
Read ahead then come back. Sometimes the author has not given the information yet. Note the
problem and read ahead to get additional information. You can then go back to see if you have
solved the problenm.
Look for definition clues (the word's meaning is explained in the sentence), example clues (an
exampie of the word isgiven in the following sentence or within the sentence), inference dues
(you need to look for clues before and after the sentences). synonym clues (other words are used
in the sentence that have similar meaning) and antonym cues (where the word is clarified by
giving the opposite meaning).
1 Read aloud the passage below to somebody nearby. Here are some questions to help you as
you read.
What is the text about and when is it set? What genre is it?
How does it begin and what is the structure? Are there links between sections?
How does the text engage the reader?
What is the tone and mood?
Are there any descriptive sections? How effective are they?
2 When you have finished readingaloud, ask the listener for feedback. Did the strategies above
help you?

Extract: 'Niagara Falls'

Half a mile or so above the Falls, on either side, the water of the great stream begins to run more swiftly
and in confusion. It descends with ever-growing speed. It begins chattering and leaping, breaking into
a thousand ripples,throwing up joyful fingers of spray. Sometimes it is divided by islands and rocks,
Sometimes the eye can see nothing but a waste of laughing, springing, foamy waves, turning, crossing,
even seeming to stand for an instant erect, but always borne impetuously forward likea crowd of
triumphant feasters. Sit close down by it, and you see a fragment of the torrent against the sky, mottled,
steely, and foaming, leaping onward in far-flung criss-cross strands of water. Perpetually the eye is on
the point of descrying a pattern in this weaving, and perpetually it is cheated by change. In one place
part of the flood plunges over a ledge a few feet high and a quarter of a mile or so long, in a uniform
and stable curve. It gives an impression of almost military concerted movement, grown suddenly out of
confusion. But it is swiftly lost again in the multitudinous tossing merriment. Here and there a rock close
to the surface is marked by a white wave that faces backwards and seems to be rushing madly upstream.
but is really stationary in the headlong charge. But for these signs of reluctance, the waters seem to fling
themselves on with some foreknowledge of their fate, in an ever wilder frenzy...
 1Bring it to life!

But there they change. As they turn to the sheer descent, the white and
blue and slate colour, in the
heart of the Canadian Falls at least, blend and deepen to a rich,
wonderful, luminous green. On the edge
of disaster the river seems to gather herself, to pause, to lift a head
noble in ruin, and
arandeur, to plunge into the eternal thunder and white chaos below. Where the streamthen, with a slow
runs shallower it
is a kind of violet colour, but both violet and green fray and frill to white as they fall. The
mass of water,
striking some ever-hidden base of rock, leaps up the whole two hundred feet again in
pinnacles and
domes of spray. The spray falls back into the lower river once more: all but a little that fines to foam
and
white mist, which drifts in layers along the air, graining it, and wanders out on the
wind over the trees
and gardens and houses, and so vanishes.

Rupert Brooke

Now answer these questions. Try to use your own words in your answers as much
as poSSible.
3 The author has used a literary device in this passage where he presents things in the scene
as
though they are human. What is the name of this literary device?

4 Find three examples (words or phrases) from the extract of the literary device you have
named above:

5 Explain why you think the writer has chosen to use this device. Think about the effect he might be
trying to create in the reader's imagination.

6 Work out the meaning of the following words from the context:
a descrying

b merriment

c foreknowledge

d borne
Reading

think the
'But there they change'. Why do youlength
?Atthe beginning of paragraph 2, the writer savs
gbout bis choice of connective and the of the
Think
te cnose to use this sentence here?
sentence compared to others he uses.

3 One of the main impressions that the writer has of the Falls is a sense of confusion. By rererring
ClOsely to the passage, explain why this is the case and how the writer tries to suggest tnis
confusion through the words he uses.

9 How successfuldo you think the writer has been in describing his experience of Niagara Falls?
Support your answer by refering closely to the text and explaining your judgements.