TEACHER’S BOOKLET
Pearson Education Limited, Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex, CM20 2JE
England and Associated Companies throughout the World
© Pearson Education Limited 2005
The right of Dr Helen Bulbeck to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted
by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
Extracts from Martyn Pig © 2002 Kevin Brooks
We are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material:
The Random House Group Limited for ‘Pigeons’ from Differences by Richard Kell,
published by Chatto & Windus.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publisher or a licence
permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing
Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4LP
ISBN 1405 828102
First published 2005
ISBN 1-405-82810-2
9 781405 828109
Introduction
Aim
This resource provides materials to support the teaching
of framework objectives through the reading of Martyn
Pig. Reading can be a shared, social activity and it is
important that pupils are given the opportunity to talk
and write about their reading. Emphasis is placed on
the promotion and development of reading as a
thinking process, as pupils are asked to reflect on the
reading strategies they use and encouraged to
consolidate their use in a range of contexts. These
reading strategies include the ability to predict,
speculate, ask questions and pass comment, as well as
being able to recognise how a writer creates images or
narrative voice and stirs the reader’s sympathies. Many
of the activities encourage pupils to develop the
evaluative, analytical and critical skills that are required
of Year 9 pupils as they progress towards Key Stage 4.
The lesson outline
The lesson outline provides a structure for teaching ‘at a
glance’. It is intended to provide a framework and can
be adjusted to suit your circumstances. The structure
enables you to cover a longer text while maintaining
pace. Assessment focuses are addressed and framework
objectives are taught explicitly and clearly placed within
the context of the book and the lesson structure. There
will be issues about coverage, but it is more important
that pupils are able to explore their reading through talk
and other interactive approaches, rather than sitting
passively as the whole book is read to them, or worse,
being asked to ‘read around the class’.
It may be necessary to expand the number of lessons
outlined here, so that the chapters that are the focus of
the lesson outline can be read and prepared in
between. This means that the focus can be on teaching
and exploring pupils’ responses to what they have read.
Approaches for progressing through the book include:
• pupils or teacher recapping previous chapters that
may not have been read
• jigsaw reading (groups are given a section or chapter
to read and then the group reports back)
• use of prepared summaries or diagrammatic
representations of the plot
• reading at home, if appropriate.
It is also important to allow pupils to control their own
reading. If they want to read on, let them; re-reading
chapters and revisiting prior reading may highlight
things that were missed before.
Reading journals
While some pupils will eagerly share their impressions
about texts they have read, others feel less comfortable
in class discussions, and will keep their thoughts to
themselves. In an effort to encourage all pupils to think
more about what they read and to share their
observations and opinions confidently, some teachers
use reading journals to great advantage. Reading
2
journals provide pupils with the opportunity to reflect,
speculate and express their immediate responses to
their reading. They can be an essential tool in tracking
how pupils are responding to the text.
Pupils can make a wide variety of entries in a reading
journal, including:
• noting responses
• questions arising
• mind-mapping and other graphic representations
(tension graphs, timelines)
• jotting down words and phrases that need clarifying,
or that they could ‘steal’ for their own writing
• keeping track of the plot.
Most pupils will need support if they are to write with
clarity and understanding, even if they are just making
notes. For example, if pupils are asked to delve into
characters’ motivations and choices, this kind of
response will need to be modelled for them. You can
also provide key words and phrases to prompt critical
responses from pupils, for example:
‘I wonder what this means …’
‘This bit reminds me of …’
‘If it was me, I would …’
‘I was surprised when …’
Assessing the reading journal
It is important that pupils regard the journal as part of a
continuing dialogue with the teacher and with each
other, rather than work that is to be marked. However,
there are three stages that reflect critical thinking and
reading and these could be used as a teacher checklist
for assessment:
1 A literal encounter with the text – the pupil’s
responses are superficial and tend towards recount.
2 Analysis and interpretation – the pupil’s responses
are more reflective, for example empathy with a
character is reflected in the journal.
3 Synthesis and evaluation – the pupil is able to make
links within and beyond the text.
It is important to remember that more challenging
content on its own does not always improve pupils’
critical thinking. Equipping pupils with the right
vocabulary and the methods by which they can
appraise their learning and progress is a critical part of
the process.
How often should pupils write in their journals?
Less is more! Writing in journals several times a week
will soon become tedious and pupils will find that they
have nothing new to add. It is much better to ask for
fewer responses, and ones that require deeper
engagement, so that pupils are writing for themselves
and not for the teacher. It may be worthwhile
establishing routines so that pupils know when they are
expected to make an entry. For example, pupils could
be asked to reflect every lesson on the reading
strategies that they have used, and make a brief note
about them, including reference to the text.
Overview of objectives
The notion of literacy being embedded in objectives involves much more than the
basic acquisition of skills. The objectives selected here focus on enabling pupils to
read as readers in order to deepen their understanding and appreciation, and to read
as writers so that they can identify typical features and explore how writers gain
impact. This is the point at which the bridge between reading and writing is made –
when the pupil has the ability to step outside the body of a text and look at it as a
writer. The objectives listed below encompass the ability to recognise, understand
and manipulate the conventions of language and develop the pupils’ ability to use
language imaginatively and flexibly in the narrative context. Objectives (and pupils)
benefit from being explicitly taught and from being identified and deployed in
context. Other objectives can also be taught (through starter activities), but it is up
to the teacher to decide where the priority lies and to adapt the resource materials
according to the needs of the pupils.
Year 9
Word
W7 Layers of meaning
Sentence
Sn3 Degrees of formality
Sn4 Integrate speech, reference and quotation
Reading
R1 Information retrieval
R2 Synthesise information
R5 Evaluate own critical writing
R6 Authorial perspective
R7 Compare texts
R9 Compare writers from different times
R10 Interpretations of text
R12 Rhetorical devices
R13 Evaluate own reading
R15 Major writers
R18 Prose text
Writing
8Wr8 Experiment with conventions
Wr11 Descriptive detail
Wr12 Effective presentation of information
Wr16 Balanced analysis
Wr17 Cite textual evidence
3
4
Reading AF3 & AF6
• W7 Layers of meaning
• R2 Synthesise
information
• R6 Authorial perspective
Reading AF5 & AF6
• R12 Rhetorical devices
1
2
Writing AF3
• Wr11 Descriptive detail
• Wr17 Cite textual
evidence
AFs and objectives
Lesson
Lesson outline
Starter/Introduction
Development
Wednesday,
Exploring narrative style:
pages 17–32
characterisation
• Text annotation • In pairs, pupils explore the
conventions of descriptive
• Empathise
writing when introducing a
• Pass judgements
character. Teacher planner
2.1
• Take feedback on the features
identified, creating a diagnostic
framework.
Exploring narrative style:
characterisation
• Use the framework to build a bridge
between reading and writing. Through
modelled, shared and independent
writing, pupils write a description of a
character. Teacher planner 2.1
Pupil worksheet 2.2
• Guided teaching with a lower-attaining
group who are insecure with
characterisation.
Wednesday,
Ways into the text
Reading journals
pages 1–17
• Introduce the use of the reading • Remind pupils of the reading strategies
• Predict
journal as a way to reflect on
that good readers use. Teacher planner
plot,
character,
ideas
and
1.2
• Pass comments
questions.
•
Model
reading three extracts from the
• Speculate
novel, focusing on the purpose in reading
• Working in groups of four, pupils
• Hear a voice
the text, narrative voice, what we learn
anticipate what the novel will be
• Establish a
about Martyn Pig and what the author
about. Pupil worksheet 1.1
relationship with
wants the reader to think. Teacher
the narrator
planner 1.2
• Pupils read further extracts, focusing on
using reading strategies, what they learn
about Martyn Pig, what they feel about
Martyn Pig and how the author makes
them feel. Teacher planner 1.2
• Guided teaching with a lower-attaining
group.
Lesson focus
Homework
• Read pages 32–45.
Plenary
• Pupils share their final
paragraphs. In pairs, ask
pupils to peer review
their writing, using the
diagnostic frame.
Homework
• Write down two
examples of the way that
a writer can ‘speak’
through a text (e.g. tone,
character, inference and
deduction, etc.).
Plenary
• Ask pupils to share their
insights from reading the
extracts.
Plenary and Homework
5
4
Reading AF4
• R18 Prose text
3
Reading AF2, AF3, AF4
& AF5
• R7 Compare texts
• R13 Evaluate own
reading
Writing AF3
• Wr12 Effective
presentation of
information
AFs and objectives
Lesson
Homework
• Pupils make notes in
their reading journals
about the questions
discussed in the plenary.
Plenary
• Discuss with the class:
What effect can a
leitmotif have on a text?
Which reading strategies
have been used to
explore leitmotif?
Thursday, pages Narrative style: leitmotif
46–60
• Use the poem ‘Pigeons’, by
• Infer
Richard Kell, to explore with
pupils the concept of leitmotif.
• Deduce
Pupil worksheet 4.1
• Pass comments
• Establish a
relationship with
the narrator
Leitmotifs and characterisation
• Ask the class: What are the leitmotifs in
Martyn Pig? How do the leitmotifs
enhance the character of Martyn?
• Pupils draw a mind-map of the character
of Martyn, adding some leitmotif
quotations. Pupil worksheet 4.1
• Guided teaching with a lower-attaining
group who are insecure with the concept
of leitmotif.
Structure
• Finish reading ‘Wednesday’.
• Pupils explore the structure of the first chapter, as a starting point for
tracking the structure of Martyn Pig. Teacher planner 3.1
• NB Keep this work for later use in Lesson 5 when there will be a joint
plenary for the work done in lessons 3 and 5.
Wednesday,
pages 32–45
• Interpret
patterns
• Re-read
Form or structure?
• Explore with pupils the
differences between form and
structure. Teacher planner
3.1
Plenary and Homework
Development
Starter/Introduction
Lesson focus
6
Reading AF2 & AF4
• R10 Interpretations of
text
• R18 Prose text
Reading AF2, AF3 & AF6
• Sn4 Integrate speech,
reference and quotation
5
6
Writing AF2 & AF3
• Wr16 Balanced
analysis
• Wr17 Cite textual
evidence
AFs and objectives
Lesson
Friday, pages
78–91
• Relate to your
own experience
• Empathise
• Reinterpret
Thursday, pages
60–77
• Ask questions
• Speculate
• Rationalise
• Reinterpret
Lesson focus
Development
Plenary and Homework
Themes: right and wrong
• Pupils explain the values and
emotions revealed in a range of
quotations about right and
wrong. Teacher planner 6.1
Plenary
Writing a formal essay
• Moving from modelled to shared, then to • Pupils share their
paragraphs with their
independent writing, pupils write a formal
peers and explain to
essay on the question: Was Martyn right
each other how to
to kill his father? Teacher planner 6.1
integrate point, example,
Pupil worksheet 6.2
and explanation.
• Guided teaching with a lower-attaining
group who are less secure with writing a
formal essay.
Homework
• Martyn says, ‘I made
some tea, and then I
told her what we were
going to do.’ (page 77).
What has he planned for
them to do?
• NB Keep these
predictions until you
have read to the end of
the book.
Structure in the novel
Plenary
Structure in the novel
• Pupils compare the structure of individual • Ask pupils to discuss
• Revisit the structure maps
chapters with the structure of the novel as
what they have learnt
created in Lesson 3. Ask the
a whole. Pupil worksheet 5.1
about form and
class: How has the plot
structure. What
developed in the second chapter,
techniques have they
Thursday?
used to help their
understanding of
structure?
Starter/Introduction
7
Reading AF3 & AF6
• R10 Interpretations of
text
7
Starter/Introduction
Saturday, pages Themes: fate
Reading AF6 & AF7
122–48
• R7 Compare texts
• In pairs, ask pupils to discuss
what is meant by and to explore
• R9 Compare writers from • Empathise
the concepts of ‘fate’ and
• Pass judgements
different times
‘universality’. Teacher planner
• Interpret
• R15 Major writers
9.1
patterns
9
Writing screenplays
• In groups, pupils rewrite the episode of
Aunty Jean’s visit in the form of a
screenplay, focusing on farce and black
humour. Teacher planner 7.1
Development
Plenary
• Ask pupils to feed back
and explore patterns in
the language used, e.g.
colour.
• Ask pupils to reflect on
the reading strategies
used in this lesson and
how they have learnt to
focus on language.
Plenary
• Ask groups to share their
screenplays. Ask pupils
to discuss: How has the
text changed from its
original form? Has
anything been lost? Has
anything been gained?
Plenary and Homework
Plenary
Themes: fate
• As a class, discuss how
• Pupils compare quotations on the theme
the word ‘universality’
of fate from Martyn Pig with those from
applies to fate. How
other texts by a range of authors, focusing
‘fateful’ is Martyn Pig?
on the extent to which Kevin Brooks’
views are similar to those of other authors. • Pupils identify which
Teacher planner 9.1 Pupil
reading strategies they
worksheet 9.2
used to explore the
quotations.
• Guided teaching with a lower-attaining
group who are less secure with exploring
theme.
Saturday, pages Narrative style and structure
Narrative style: the beach
107–22
• In pairs, ask pupils to discuss
• Pupils trace how the use of language
• Re-read
how the final section of Friday
reflects Martyn’s character/mood and the
contrasts
with
Aunty
Jean’s
visit,
themes of the novel through a card sort
• Reinterpret
considering tone and pace. How
activity focusing on adjectives and
• Summarise
does this section set the reader
adverbs. Teacher planner 8.1
• Rationalise what
up for the next chapter? Teacher
Pupil worksheet 8.2
is happening
planner 8.1
• Guided teaching with a lower-attaining
• Interpret
group who are less secure with narrative
patterns
style.
Reading AF4, AF5 & AF6
• W7 Layers of meaning
• R6 Authorial perspective
• R12 Rhetorical devices
• R13 Evaluate own
reading
Friday, pages
Form: screenplays
91–106
• Ask pupils to define the key
• Re-read
words screenplay, black humour
and farce. Teacher planner
• Reinterpret
7.1
• Summarise
• Agree the conventions of
• Rationalise what
screenplay writing. Teacher
is happening
planner 7.1
• Relate to your
own experience
Lesson focus
8
Writing AF2 & AF3
• Wr8 Experiment with
conventions
AFs and objectives
Lesson
8
Characterisation: Alex
• Pupils discuss the clues in the chapter
Monday which show that Martyn may
have misjudged Alex. Pupil worksheet
11.1
• Guided teaching with a lower-attaining
group who are less secure with exploring
characterisation.
Characterisation: Alex
Monday, pages
163–92
• Pupils explore Alex’s character
and what Martyn thinks of Alex.
• Empathise
Pupil worksheet 11.1
• Pass judgements
• Interpret
patterns
• Ask questions
Reading AF3 & AF6
• R1 Information retrieval
• R6 Authorial perspective
• R13 Evaluate own
reading
11
Writing AF2
• Sn3 Degrees of
formality
Narrative style: internal dialogue
• Explore with pupils how we know that
these extracts reflect internal dialogue.
Using a grid of features of spoken
grammar, pupils identify which features
are used in the internal dialogue on pages
149–152 and which are used in the
conversation on page 154. Pupil
worksheet 10.1
• Pupils write a paragraph of internal
dialogue in which they write their
thoughts as they happen. Pupil
worksheet 10.1
Sunday, pages
Narrative style: internal
149–62
dialogue
• Ask pupils to skim read pages
• Empathise
149–152, identifying which
• Pass judgements
sections are descriptions of
• Interpret
Martyn’s actions and which
patterns
reflect his internal dialogue. Ask
• Use reading to
pupils how they know which is
inform writing
which.
Development
Reading AF5 & AF6
• Sn3 Degrees of
formality
• R5 Evaluate own critical
writing
• R12 Rhetorical devices
Starter/Introduction
10
Lesson focus
AFs and objectives
Lesson
Plenary
• We only ever see Alex
through Martyn’s eyes.
This is not a view to be
trusted. Discuss what
reading strategies we
need to use to see
beyond the narrator’s
viewpoint, so that we
don’t fall into this trap.
Homework
• Write a further
paragraph of internal
dialogue in the next 24
hours.
Plenary
• In pairs, pupils share
examples of their writing
and explore the effects
created. How many of
the features of spoken
grammar have been
used?
Plenary and Homework
9
Endings and beginnings
• Ask pupils to update the structure map of the whole text that was
last updated in Lesson 5.
• In small groups, ask pupils to discuss the following questions:
- To what extent do you think the author plotted and planned the
fine detail of the narrative? When he began, did the writer know
exactly where the plot would go and how it would end? Or did the
writer start with an idea and enjoy the journey his imagination took
while following this idea?
- How is the ending linked to the beginning?
- In what ways has reading this novel developed your understanding
of what you read and how you read?
Epilogue, pages
236–45
• Interpret
patterns
• Ask questions
• Re-read
• Reinterpret
Reading AF2 & AF4
• R1 Information retrieval
• R13 Evaluate own
reading
• R18 Prose text
14
Endings and beginnings
• Revisit the predictions made in
Lesson 5 and discuss the extent
to which pupils’ predictions were
accurate. Pupil worksheet
5.1
Plenary
Subgenres of crime fiction: the caper
story
• Ask pupils to share their
mind-maps and explain
• Introduce the idea of subgenre, and the
how the chapter fulfils
caper story as a subgenre of crime fiction.
the criteria of a caper
• Pupils explore how this novel fulfils the
story.
criteria of a caper story by creating a
mind-map of the chapter Christmas Day.
Teacher planner 13.1
Homework
• What loose ends in the
plot are still to be tied
up?
Christmas Day,
Genre: crime fiction
pages 216–35
• In pairs, ask pupils to write a
• Pass judgements
definition of crime fiction and to
identify the key features of the
• Interpret
genre. Teacher planner 13.1
patterns
• Ask questions
• Relate to
previous reading
experience
Reading AF6 & AF7
• R12 Rhetorical devices
• R18 Prose text
Characterisation: Martyn
Plenary
• Model reading an extract, reflecting on
• Discuss with the class
Martyn’s character and the reader’s
how helpful annotating
response to him. Teacher planner
the text was in the
exploration of Martyn’s
12.1
character. How might
• Pupils read and annotate further extracts,
this technique help them
considering their feelings about the
when reading texts in
character of Martyn.
the future?
• Ask pupils to re-read page 212 and
consider the dilemma of right and wrong
faced by Martyn. Does Alex’s betrayal help
the reader to form a view of Martyn?
• Guided teaching with a lower-attaining
group who are less secure with exploring
characterisation.
13
Plenary and Homework
Tuesday, pages
Characterisation: Martyn
193–215
• Discuss what Martyn means by
• Text annotation
‘outside real’. Teacher planner
12.1
• Empathise
• Pass judgements
Development
Reading AF3 & AF6
• R6 Authorial perspective
• R13 Evaluate own
reading
Starter/Introduction
12
Lesson focus
AFs and objectives
Lesson
Pupil worksheet 1.1
Lesson 1
Anticipation guide
1 In groups of four, use the information below to anticipate what you think Martyn Pig will be
about. You will need to:
• preview, speculate, hypothesise, predict, discuss, ask questions and make guesses
• look for patterns.
A Reviews of the book
‘Gripping plot twists … fresh and edgy … will have tremendous teen appeal.’ (School
Library Journal)
‘A breathless read … the macabre details are as compelling as the edgy realism.’ (Booklist)
‘What sets it apart for me, aside from the originality of the story, is the quality of the
writing. It's sparsely done, beautifully crafted, but full of depth and savage mystery.’ (Marc
Lambert, Former Assistant Director (Children & Education) of Edinburgh International Book
Festival)
‘Inventive, original and distinctively alarming. A very fine first novel.’ (Michael Morpurgo,
children’s author)
‘Hard-boiled, wide-eyed and despite its downright grisly subject matter laugh-aloud
funny.’ (Publishers Weekly)
B Chapter headings
Wednesday
Monday
Thursday
Tuesday
Friday
Christmas Day
Saturday
Epilogue
Sunday
C Book jacket and the back cover blurb
Martyn is resigned to having a lousy Christmas: his mum’s gone, his best friend
Alex is going out with an idiot, and he hates his dad. What he didn’t foresee is
the nasty accident that leaves him with a real problem on his hands. Before he
knows it, Martyn finds himself on a rollercoaster of deceit, mystery and betrayal.
Martyn loves detective stories, but he never meant to end up starring in one
himself.
D The first and last lines
‘It’s hard to know where to start with this.’
‘I put the letter down and looked out of the window. It was starting to snow.’
E From Amazon.co.uk
Customers who bought this book also bought:
Lucas by Kevin Brooks
Kissing the Rain by Kevin Brooks
You Don’t Know Me by David Klass
Stone Cold by Robert Swindells
The Defender by Alan Gibbons
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly.
10
© Pearson Education Limited 2005. This may be reproduced for class use solely within the purchaser’s school or college.
Teacher planner 1.2
Lesson 1
Teaching objectives
• W7 Recognise layers of meaning in the writer’s choice of words, e.g.
•
connotation, implied meaning, different types or multiple meanings.
R6 Comment on the authorial perspectives offered in texts on individuals,
community and society in texts from different cultures.
Focus
• Ways into the text.
What do we learn about Martyn Pig?
Remind pupils of the reading strategies that good readers use when reading fiction:
When getting ready to read, we need to:
• preview, speculate, predict, discuss, ask questions and make guesses about a text to make sense of it
• find organisational patterns.
When engaging in reading, we need to:
• think about how we read – understanding how we read is called metacognition
• read between the lines – infer and deduce
• visualise, see images
• hear a voice
• sort out ideas
• make connections, re-read and reinterpret
• make meaning from texts
• empathise, feel
• establish a relationship with the narrator and the author.
When reacting to reading, we:
• respond to what we read differently, depending on our own experiences and insights
• make judgements
• draw conclusions.
Model reading the three extracts below and make links between them, focusing on:
• the purpose in reading the text
• hearing a narrative voice
• what we learn about Martyn Pig
• what the author wants the reader to think.
Extract 1: page 1
Use of the first
person
immediately
anchors the
reader in the
narrative voice.
Use of ‘suppose’
and ‘could’
suggests that the
narrator is not
obliged to tell us
if he doesn’t
want to.
11
I suppose I could tell you all about where I was born, what
it was like when Mum was still around, what happened
when I was a little kid, all that kind of stuff, but it’s not
really relevant.
Colloquial,
informal style.
Direct address to
the reader
engages us.
She isn’t around
any longer and
she isn’t
important to him,
nor is his past.
Lesson 1
Teacher planner 1.2 (continued)
Extract 2: page 36
Use of this
conjunction tells
us that Martyn is
speculating.
Unusual,
biological term –
suggests his
mother didn’t
have a choice.
If he hadn’t been my father, you know, if he hadn’t
impregnated Mum, then I would never have been born. I
wouldn’t have existed. And he would still be alive. It was
his fault that I existed. He made me. I never asked to be
born, did I? It was nothing to do with me.
Why not use
‘lived’? ‘Existed’
suggests that he
hasn’t really lived.
What does this
mean? Is his
father dead? This
means he has no
mother or father.
Use of italics
adds emphasis
and emotion – he
feels angry.
Typical teenagespeak.
Extract 3: page 111
This extract links
back to Extract 1
– he hasn’t done
much that is
worth
remembering.
It felt strange being out of the house. Exciting, but a little
scary, too. I wasn’t used to it. My world consisted of my
house, the street, school, and the occasional trip to town.
Anywhere beyond that was an adventure. Pathetic, really.
He does not feel
good about
himself.
Use of the list in
this order reflects
the way children
often think. How
old is Martyn?
Words like
‘impregnated’ (in
Extract 2) suggest
he is a teenager,
not someone
younger.
Give each pair of pupils one of the extracts below. Ask pupils to explore their extract, considering:
• which reading strategies they are using
• what they learn about Martyn Pig
• what they feel about Martyn Pig
• how the author makes them feel.
✁
Christmas meant nothing to us. It was just a couple of weeks off school for me and a good excuse for Dad to
drink, not that he ever needed one.
I hate waiting for someone to turn up. I can’t understand why anyone should be late for anything. Unless
something disastrous happens there’s no reason for it. No reason at all. I’m never late for anything.
She kissed me again before she left. Just a peck on the cheek, and then she was gone. I watched her cross the
empty street and follow the pavement down towards her house, a slight dark figure stooped against the
falling snow. The touch of her kiss on my cheek grew colder with every step she took.
It’s no good wishing things were different, wishing you could turn the clock back, wishing you had another
chance, because things aren’t different, you can’t turn the clock back, you don’t get another chance.
I went on. ‘And a cigarette end, too. Remember? You dropped one on the kitchen floor. That went in the
sleeping bag as well. Hairs and cigarette ends. Your hairs, your cigarette end. It’s amazing what the police can
do these days. Hairs, cigarette ends, fingerprints, DNA. Forensics, it’s amazing stuff.’
12
Lesson 2
Teacher planner 2.1
Teaching objectives
• R12 Analyse and discuss the use made of rhetorical devices in a text.
• Wr11 Make telling use of descriptive detail, e.g. eye-witness accounts, sports
•
reports, travel writing.
Wr17 Cite specific and relevant textual evidence to justify critical judgements about
texts.
Focus
• Characterisation.
Starter
Give each pair of pupils one of the character descriptions below to read and annotate. As they read, pupils should
create a list of the key features of effective character descriptions. Model reading the first extract, if necessary.
✁
Martyn’s father, Billy: page 4
He could have been quite a handsome man if it wasn’t for the drink. Handsome in a short, thuggish kind of
way. Five foot seven, tough-guy mouth, squarish jaw, oily black hair. He could have looked like one of those
bad guys in films – the ones the ladies can’t help falling in love with, even though they know they’re bad – but
he didn’t. He looked like what he was: a drunk. Fat little belly, florid skin, yellowed eyes, sagging cheeks and a
big fat neck. Old and worn out at forty.
Aunty Jean: pages 4–5
Dad’s older sister. A terrible woman. Think of the worst person you know, then double it, and you’ll be
halfway to Aunty Jean. I can hardly bear to describe her, to tell you the truth. Furious is the first word that
comes to mind. Mad, ugly and furious. An angular woman, cold and hard, with crispy blue hair and a face
that makes you shudder. I don’t know what colour her eyes are, but they look as if they never close. They have
about as much warmth as two depthless pools. Her mouth is thin and pillar-box red, like something drawn by
a disturbed child. And she walks faster than most people run. She moves like a huntress, quick and quiet,
homing in on her prey.
Father Christmas: page 8
In town, outside Sainsbury’s, the scariest Father Christmas I’d ever seen was slumped in the back of a plywood
sleigh. He was thin and short. So thin that his big black Santa’s belt wound twice around his waist. Stiff black
stubble showed on his chin beneath an ill-fitting, off-white Santa beard and – strangest of all, I thought – a
pair of brand new trainers gleamed on his feet. When he Ho-ho-ho’d he sounded like a serial killer. Six
plywood reindeer pulled his plywood sleigh. They were painted a shiny chocolate brown, with glittery red eyes
and coat-hanger antlers entwined with plastic holly.
Alex: page 14
I watched the way her eyes blinked slowly and I watched her mouth say Thank you and I watched the coalblack shine of her hair as she took the bus ticket and rolled it into a tube and stuck it in the corner of her
mouth. I watched her hitch up the collar of her combat jacket and I saw the bright white flash of her T-shirt
beneath the open folds of her jacket as she strolled gracefully to the back of the bus.
Alex: page 15
Nice. She looked nice. Pretty. Kind of scruffy, with straggly black hair sticking out from a shapeless black hat.
She wore battered old jeans and a long red jumper. I liked the way she walked, too. An easy lope.
Alex’s mum: page 16
She was quite tall, for a woman. Sort of dumpy, too. Medium-tall and dumpy, if that makes any sense. Her
hair was black, like Alex’s, but short. And her face was sort of grey and tired-looking, like her skin needed
watering. She wore faded dungarees and a black T-shirt, long beady earrings, and bracelets on her wrists.
13
Teacher planner 2.1 (continued)
Lesson 2
Take feedback on the features pupils have identified and create a diagnostic framework with pupils, using the
model below as a prompt. This will be used to support pupils’ own writing.
Yes
No
A little
Word level
Nouns/noun phrases to add detail
Repetition of key words for emphasis
Some action verbs and many linking verbs, e.g. is, has, are, have
Consistent use of tenses
Descriptive language, including similes and metaphors
Sentence level
Topic sentences
Variety of sentence types, including use of subordination to develop ideas
and simple sentences for effect
Adverbs and adverbial phrases
Adjectives and adjectival phrases
Appropriate amount of detail
Connectives for sequence, comparison, cause and effect
First person or third person according to audience and purpose
Punctuation
Punctuation used to clarify meaning, particularly at the boundaries between
sentences and clauses
Words in lists
Development
Explain to pupils that they are going to use this framework to build a bridge between their reading and their own
writing. They will write an effective introduction to a character of their choice.
Using the planning frame on Pupil Worksheet 2.2, model how to plan the writing and, if necessary, model
writing the start of the first paragraph. Below is an annotated example of the start of a description of a mother.
Words in a list
create a minor
sentence.
Non-referent
pronoun used to
hook the reader.
Simple sentence.
Use of
conjunction for
dramatic effect in
a minor sentence.
She was the mother from hell. Loud, domineering,
manipulative. And fat. So fat that even the largest belt
wouldn’t meet round her middle. Not that she had a
middle. No, she was more the Michelin mould –
rolls of lard layered like tyres on a race track. You know,
the ones the cars bounce off as they round the corner.
Use of simile for
visual effect
Contraction adds
to informality.
Subordination
adds detail and
contrasts with
the simple and
minor sentences.
Direct address
appeals for
agreement from
the reader.
Conjunction to
link with the
previous
sentence.
Repetition for
effect.
Minor sentence
emphasises
informality.
Dash acts as a
pause.
Move to shared writing. Pupils write the first sentence of the second paragraph, using the diagnostic frame as a
prompt. They should complete the paragraph together. Support a guided group who are less secure with character
description. Pupils should then work independently to write a third paragraph.
14
Pupil worksheet 2.2
Lesson 2
Exploring characterisation
You have read and annotated a description of one of the characters from Martyn Pig. In pairs,
you are now going to take the ideas from your reading and use them to write your own
effective introduction to a character.
To achieve a level 5, you will need to:
• show control of the narrative by commenting on characters
• use paragraphs to mark the main divisions in the narrative
• vary sentence types and lengths, including the use of subordination to develop ideas
• use simple sentences for effect
• make links between paragraphs, e.g. repetition of vocabulary, adverbials
• use figurative language to involve the reader and build the character
• use the full range of punctuation.
1 Jot down key ideas about character descriptions from the starter activity in a planning frame.
You can use a copy of the planning frame below to help you, or you could use a different
type of plan.
Paragraph 1 First impressions – what is the character like?
Paragraph 2 Use language to create detail and manipulate the reader’s response. (Use the
diagnostic frame to help you here.)
Paragraph 3 Concentrate on the way the character moves or speaks.
2 Think about the style of the language that you will need to use. Your teacher will model the
opening paragraph for you.
3 Working in pairs, write the second paragraph of your character description.
4 Working on your own, write the third paragraph.
5 Share your third paragraph with your partner. Use the diagnostic frame created earlier in the
lesson to discuss:
• what is effective about your description
• an area you need to improve.
15
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Teacher planner 3.1
Lesson 3
Teaching objectives
• R18 Discuss a substantial prose text, sharing perceptions, negotiating common
•
readings and accounting for differences of view.
Wr12 Exploit the potential of presentational devices when presenting information
on paper or onscreen, e.g. font size, text layout, bullet points, italics.
Focus
• Form and structure.
Starter
Group pupils into pairs and label each pair A or B. Ask the ‘A’s to decide on a working definition of what we mean
by the ‘form’ of a text and the ‘B’s to decide on a working definition of ‘structure’. Each ‘A’ pair should then join
with a ‘B’ pair to share their definitions and work together to refine them.
Ask groups to apply their definitions to a text they have read recently and explain the form and structure of this
text. Each group should then feed back to another group (moving from fours to eights).
Development
Ask pupils to explain the difference between a short story and a novel.
Explain that novels tend to be much more complex in structure than short stories. The structure of a novel will
consist of a precipitating incident, followed by rising action, then reversals, anti-climaxes, setbacks and events in
any number, before the actual climax and then the dénouement. In the novel, the dénouement tends to be longer
than that of a short story because of the complexity of the plot and the need to unravel everything. With all the
complications, it can take longer for the writer to get the characters back to ‘normal’ and to show the results of
the climax.
Below is an example of a diagrammatic structure for a typical novel:
Climax
Reversals and
anti-climaxes
Falling action
Rising
action
Precipitating
incident
Dénouement
Explain that the structure of Martyn Pig is slightly more complicated because Martyn also weaves in flashbacks so
that the story is not sequential. Using sugar paper, ask pupils to use a diagrammatic approach to plot the structure
of the first chapter, Wednesday (pages 1–45). To help them do this, they should:
• skim read the chapter again and separate out the events that began a year ago, the week before Christmas,
from the flashbacks much further back from Martyn’s past. This can be done through the use of sticky notes.
• draw a line similar to the one above that reflects the tension in pages 1 to 45.
• above the line, trace the events of the story that began a year ago. The sticky notes could be stuck on to the
sugar paper.
• below the line, note the flashbacks from much further back in Martyn’s life, e.g. the name calling, the custody
battle.
These sheets can be added to and displayed around the classroom as ‘work in progress’. They will also act as good
memory joggers when pupils are reflecting on the structure of the whole novel.
NB Keep this work for later use in Lesson 5, when there will be a joint plenary for Lessons 3 and 5.
16
Pupil worksheet 4.1
Lesson 4
Context
As a group we have:
•
•
•
•
revised reading strategies and used them as a way into the novel
explored our initial impressions of Martyn
built a bridge between your reading and your writing
begun to think about the structure of Martyn Pig.
Now you are going to explore leitmotif.
Objectives
• R7 Compare texts
• R13 Evaluate own reading.
1 In pairs, read the poem below. As you read it, highlight any references to water, whether
they are direct or indirect. Indirect references might just suggest water. How many references
can you find?
2 What is the effect of the references to water in this poem?
‘Pigeons’ by Richard Kell
They paddle with staccato feet
In powder-pools of sunlight,
Small blue busybodies
Strutting like fat gentlemen
With hands clasped
Under their swallowtail coats;
And, as they stump about,
Their heads like tiny hammers
Tap at imaginary nails
In non-existent walls.
Elusive ghosts of sunshine
Slither down the green gloss
Of their necks in an instant, and are gone.
Summer hangs drugged from sky to earth
In limpid fathoms of silence:
Only warm dark dimples of sound
Slide like slow bubbles
From the contented throats.
Raise a casual hand –
With one quick gust
They fountain into air.
17
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Lesson 4
Pupil worksheet 4.1 (continued)
This use of references is called leitmotif. A leitmotif is a repeated expression, event or idea used
to unify a piece of writing.
3 What are the leitmotifs in Martyn Pig? Look at the quotations below. Highlight any ‘unifying’
references you can find in them.
Horrible tinny Christmas musak … synthesised sleigh bells and chirpy pianos, groany old
singers … A great swirling mess of sound searing its way into my head … chattering
machine guns, talking animals, wailing police car sirens, dee-dur dee-dur dee-dur … the
constant sound of thousands of people … all talking, jabbering away, yammering rubbish to
each other – scuffle scuffle scuffle, blah blah blah, scuffle scuffle scuffle.
It’s there all the time, the sound of too much everything, but no one ever listens to it.
Pounding on the window. Gusting against the glass. Louder and louder. It wouldn’t stop. I
couldn’t get it out of my head. It was so loud. So insistent. Pounding, pounding rain. Louder
and louder and louder, like a thousand angry fingers rapping on the window.
Most people, they just keep yapping all the time, even when there’s nothing to say. Talking
for the sake of it, spouting rubbish. Making noise. What’s wrong with silence? Listen to it,
it’s beautiful.
4 Martyn spends a lot of time watching and looking out of windows. This is another leitmotif
in Martyn Pig. Skim read pages 46–60. How many examples can you find of Martyn looking
out of windows, or referring to windows?
5 Join with another pair to make a group. Compare your ideas.
6 Draw a mind-map of the character of Martyn. Add in some of the leitmotif quotations. How
do the leitmotifs enhance his character?
18
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Pupil worksheet 5.1
Lesson 5
Structure in the novel
Work in small groups.
1 Revisit your structure diagrams of the first chapter. Update these to include the events in the
second chapter, Thursday.
2 Now you are going to compare the structure of individual chapters with the emerging
structure of Martyn Pig as a whole. Using the grid below, map in the events of Thursday.
Set the scene
Introduce a problem
(precipitating incident)
Complication
(rising action)
Crisis
(climax)
Adjustment
(falling action)
Resolution
(dénouement)
3 How far do you think the structure of this chapter will reflect the structure of the whole
novel? Why is it important that some chapters have this underpinning structure?
4 Throughout the novel, Martyn creates and tries to carry out plans to deal with his situation,
which keeps changing. All of the events in the novel stem from the precipitating incident –
his father’s death. In a copy of the grid below, list the actions and events that Martyn has
planned, and those that he hasn’t planned. Update this as you read the rest of the novel.
Precipitating incident: Martyn’s father’s accidental death
Planned actions or events
on Martyn’s plans
Unplanned actions or events
Impact of unplanned actions or events
Not to tell the police
Bequest of £30,000
Provides him with new opportunities
To tell Alex
5 At the end of Thursday, Martyn says, ‘I made some tea, and then I told her what we were
going to do.’ What has Martyn planned for them to do? Make a prediction based on the
paragraph on page 77 beginning, ‘Later, after Alex had left …’. Keep this prediction until
you have finished reading the book to see how close your prediction is to what actually
happens.
19
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Teacher planner 6.1
Lesson 6
Teaching objectives
• Sn4 Integrate speech, reference and quotation effectively into what they write.
• Wr16 Present a balanced analysis of a situation, text, issue or set of ideas,
•
taking into account a range of evidence and opinions.
Wr17 Cite specific and relevant textual evidence to justify critical judgements about
texts.
Focus
• Writing a formal essay.
Starter
Pupils work in pairs. Give each pair two of the quotations from Martyn Pig below about right and wrong. Ask
pupils to take one quotation each and explain to their partner the values and emotions it reveals.
✁
Look, he was already dead. I couldn’t change that. I didn’t mean it to happen, it just happened. It happened.
All I was trying to do was make the best of it. I wasn’t harming anyone. I wasn’t hurting anybody. You can’t
hurt the dead, can you? I was just looking out for myself, that’s all. What’s wrong with that?
You think that any of this really matters? You think I care what happens? To me, to anybody, to anything? I
know it. I know. I know that nothing matters. That’s what makes me strong.
‘Good, bad. Right, wrong. What’s the difference? Who decides?’
‘But what we’re doing – it’s against the law.’
I shrugged. ‘What’s the law? It’s only someone’s opinion.’
‘It’s only wrong if you think it’s wrong. If you think it’s right, and others think it’s wrong, then it’s only wrong if
you get caught.’
None of us has any control over what we do. If you’re good, you’re good – if you’re bad, you’re bad.
I have no right to judge anything – a fly, a rat, a tapeworm, whatever.
Development
Distribute Pupil worksheet 6.1 and use it to guide pupils through the writing task: ‘Was Martyn right to kill his
father? Support your answer with reference to the quotation you have read.’
Model how to plan a response to the question. If necessary, model writing the opening to the first paragraph.
Topic sentence
introduces the
theme.
Portrays Martin
as a victim.
Martyn’s father, Billy, is portrayed as an unpleasant,
bullying drunk, who lacks the skills of a father. He has a
history of physical and mental abuse of Martyn, so it is not
surprising that Martyn repeatedly had to defend himself
against his bullying father.
Repetition of
‘bullying’
reinforces the first
sentence.
Use of adverb
emphasises
Martin’s position.
Relative clause
expands the idea.
This sounds more
formal than ‘I am
not surprised’
because it begins
with an
impersonal
pronoun.
Next, move to shared writing. Pupils write and share the next sentence of the first paragraph, using a quotation
from the book to support their view. Complete the paragraph as a shared activity.
In pairs, pupils write the second paragraph, including quotations and using the grid on the pupil worksheet as
support. Work with a guided group needing additional support with composing a response.
Independently, pupils write the third paragraph.
20
Pupil worksheet 6.2
Lesson 6
Writing a formal essay
You have been asked to present a case defending Martyn’s actions. To do this, you are going to
plan and write a short piece of reflective writing in response to the question:
Was Martyn right to kill his father? Support your answer with reference to the extract you have
read.
To achieve a level 5, you will need to:
• show an understanding of Martyn and his behaviour
• analyse the features and effect of language
• show an understanding of ideas, themes and issues
• illustrate your points with evidence from the text, picking out key words or phrases
• show a considered personal view.
1 Highlight the important words in the question.
2 Jot down key ideas from the starter activity on a copy of the planning frame below. (You can
use a different planning format if you wish.)
Was Martyn right to kill his father? Support your answer with reference to the
quotation you have read.
Paragraph 1 Introduce the topic. Describe the relationship between Martyn and Billy,
his father.
Paragraph 2 Show an understanding of the issue. Illustrate your points with evidence
from the novel.
Paragraph 3 Your own personal view
21
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Pupil worksheet 6.2 (continued)
Lesson 6
3 Think about the style of language that you will need to use to write a formal response. Your
teacher will model the opening sentences for you.
4 Include quotations from Martyn Pig in your writing to support your ideas. Use the grid below
to help you link the points you want to make with evidence from the text and an
explanation of the effect on you, the reader.
POINT: What the character does
It/He
appears
seems
uses
says
tries
is
does
speaks
EXAMPLE: Evidence from the text
For example, when it says ‘…’
For instance, when it describes Aunt Jean/Father Christmas/Martyn’s father as ‘…’
This is illustrated when …
This is highlighted when …
EXPLANATION: What effect this has on you, the reader
This/which
creates the/an impression of/that …
shows that …
emphasises that …
makes me feel that …
suggests that …
5 Work in pairs to write the second paragraph, then working on your own, write the final
paragraph explaining your personal view.
6 Share your final paragraph with a partner. Explain to your partner how you have integrated
point, example and explanation in your paragraph.
22
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Lesson 7
Teacher planner 7.1
Teaching objectives
• R10 Comment on interpretations of the same text of idea in different media, using
•
terms appropriate for critical analysis.
8Wr8 Develop an imaginative or unusual treatment of familiar material or
established conventions, e.g. updating traditional tales.
Focus
• Screenplays.
Starter
Ask pupils to work in pairs to define screenplay (a script for a film, including descriptions of scenes and some
camera directions); black humour (the treatment of serious topics, e.g. death, in a humorous way to create a
disturbing or macabre effect); and farce (a humorous play or scenario in which funny or unlikely things happen –
the humour often comes from the physical situations characters find themselves in).
Use the extract below to agree the conventions of screenplay writing.
Sean is walking across the field. All over, there are pupils reading copies of the official school magazine. He is
the editor.
One girl, FRANNIE DUBOIS, is laughing hysterically. She is young and beautiful.
Sean stops and stares at her.
A friend of Frannie’s is reading over her shoulder, a look of shock on her face.
Conventions include:
• Use of present tense
• Clear, direct writing
• Vertical writing (not much on one line)
• Short paragraphs, each representing one camera shot
• Simple sentences
• No rhetorical devices.
Development
Ask pupils to skim read the description of Aunty Jean’s visit on pages 91–101.
Pupils work in small groups. Give each group a section of these ten pages to work on. Using the conventions
discussed in the starter, pupils should write a screenplay version of their section. They should consider how they
can emphasise the elements of black humour and farce in this section of Martyn Pig.
23
Lesson 8
Teacher planner 8.1
Teaching objectives
• W7 Recognise layers of meaning in the writer’s choice of words, e.g.
•
•
•
connotation, implied meaning, different types or multiple meanings.
R6 Comment on the authorial perspectives offered in texts on individuals,
community and society in texts from different cultures.
R12 Analyse and discuss the use made of rhetorical devices in a text.
R13 Review and develop their own reading skills, experiences and preferences,
noting strengths and areas for development.
Focus
• Narrative style.
Starter
Pupils skim read the final section of Friday (pages 102–106). Ask pairs to discuss:
• How does this contrast with Aunty Jean’s visit? Think about the tone and pace.
• How does this section set the reader up for the next chapter?
Development
Most of the adjectives and adverbs used in pages 109–120 are listed on Pupil worksheet 8.2. (Words that have
been used adjectively are also included.) Make a set of these word cards for each group of three to four pupils. For
less able pupils, the number of words could be reduced.
Ask pupils to cluster the cards into groups and to think about the following questions:
• What are the moods that emerge?
• How does the language reflect the themes in the novel?
• How does the language reflect Martyn’s character?
Pupils should discover and agree the criteria for grouping the cards through discussion.
Ask pupils to re-read this section and, using ‘Post-it’ notes, map in the changes to Martyn’s mood, thinking about
how the author has used language to reflect how Martyn feels. Pupils can then transfer the notes to their reading
journals. The same activity could be repeated with nouns from this section.
24
25
long
empty
weather-faded
false
exciting
curved
bunged-up
walking
happy
still
flesh-pink
sudden
awesome
solid
sticky brown
tight
strange
meaningless
small
clean
ramshackle
plastic
fresh
icy
blue
old
momentous
salty
dead-looking
coloured
pathetic
long
lazy
steep
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heavy
blameless
dark
coast
silent
long-legged
frozen
alien
big
paper-thin
woolly
cold
doddery
fantastic
brown
fish-mouthed
fresh
rusted
funny looking
straight
menacing
unintelligible
countless
hostile
symmetrical
blind
fat
thick
down
wild
half-dead
hot
lucky
silver
candle-white
good
blurred
shapeless
unique
alone
soft
dull black
calm
unwelcoming
lonely
clean
thin
smeared
small
corrugated
cob
faded
narrow
muddy
sticky out
great
bad
formless
shingle
abominable
indeterminate
white
pale grey
fine
raw
clinking
pretty
black
aluminium grey
tiny
gutted
high
dull grey
shiny
cross-legged
snow-filled
colourless
immeasurable
serene
rubbery
dry
open
distant
sleepy
low
wet brown
hidden
hard-packed
wind whipped
bone dry
falling
beautiful
alive
lifeless
creamy-white
drunk
pale
ghoulish
ragged
ghosts
grey-white
sensible
hard
shiftless
mad
sandy
mashed
✁
Lesson 8
Pupil worksheet 8.2
Lesson 9
Teacher planner 9.1
Teaching objectives
• R7 Compare the presentation of ideas, values or emotions in related or
•
•
contrasting texts.
R9 Compare themes and styles of two writers from different times.
R15 Extend their understanding of literary heritage by relating major writers to their
historical context, and explaining their appeal over time.
Focus
• Themes.
Starter
Working in pairs, ask pupils to define fate (an event, or a course of events, that will inevitably happen in the
future) and universality (the quality of being universal, of existing everywhere). Display these definitions around the
room.
Encourage pupils to discuss the concept of fate, using the following questions as prompts:
• How important is fate to you?
• Do you believe that your destiny is mapped out for you, or do you think that you have some control over your
destiny?
• How important is fate to Martyn?
• Does he believe that he has control over the events in the novel?
Pupils update the grid from Pupil worksheet 5.1 on the planned and unplanned events in Martyn’s life.
Development
In pairs, ask pupils to skim read the quotations on Pupil worksheet 9.2. Each pupil should select one quotation
and explain what it means to their partner.
Ask pupils to identify which quotations are from Martyn Pig and which are from a different source. (Answers –
1: Martyn Pig, page 148; 2: Thomas Hardy; 3: Franklin D. Roosevelt; 4: Martyn Pig, page 103; 5: Henry Miller;
6: Horace; 7: Martyn Pig, page 60; 8: Martyn Pig, page 36; 9: Martyn Pig, page 49; 10: John Dryden; 11: Martyn
Pig, page 50; 12: Martyn Pig, page 64).
Pupils should then explore the links between the quotations, e.g. highlight similar meanings, repeated words.
26
Lesson 9
Pupil worksheet 9.2
Fate
27
1
I put my hands in my pockets and looked up at the stars. Everything is determined, the
beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control.
2
Once victim, always victim – that's the law!
3
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
4
Nothing. No life, no point. Too many people with nothing to say and nothing to do
and nowhere to go. Grey souls. Waiting for it all to end. This is it, this is what I have.
5
We create our fate every day we live.
6
With equal pace, impartial Fate
Knocks at the palace, as the cottage gate.
7
Look, he was already dead. I couldn’t change that. I didn’t mean it to happen, it just
happened. It happened.
8
Does there have to be a reason for everything?
9
What happened next, I suppose you’d call it fate. Whatever that is.
10
All human things are subject to decay
And when fate summons, monarchs must obey.
11
Everything is determined, he said, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over
which we have no control. It is determined for the insect as well as for the star. Human
beings, vegetables or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the
distance by an invisible piper.
12
Things don’t just happen, do they? They have effects. And the effects have effects.
And the effects of the effects have effects. And then the effects of the things that
happen make other things happen, so the effects of the effects become reasons.
Nothing moves forward in a straight line, nothing is straightforward.
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Lesson 10
Pupil worksheet 10.1
Internal dialogue
The sections of the novel that reflect Martyn’s internal dialogue can be identified because the
grammar is different. Spoken English has its own form of grammar, a bit like the way text
messaging has developed its own characteristic grammar.
The grid below details some characteristic grammatical features of spoken English.
Feature
Explanation
Examples
Interjections
Expressions of emotion
Wow! That’s great!
Phatic
phrases
Words and phrases that we use as ‘fillers’.
Hello, how are you?,
Fine thanks
Heads
Used at the beginning of sentences to let us
know what is being talked about.
That boy, you know,
Steve …
Tails
Used at the ends of sentences or clauses to
reinforce or echo what has been said.
I’m going out tonight, I am
Ellipsis
Parts of the sentence are omitted because
we assume the listener knows what we are
talking about.
A: Are you going to the
party on Friday?
B: Yeah, of course [I'm going].
Discourse
markers
Words or phrases used as 'punctuation' to
mark boundaries in conversation between
one topic and the next.
Anyway, so, right, now,
okay, I mean, you know
Adverbs and
adverbials
Often used at the end of an utterance.
It’s not a bad film but I
didn’t like the violence,
though.
Incomplete
sentences
Speakers often use single words or
self-contained phrases to convey meaning.
Think
Tag question
A short question added to the end of a
statement.
I’m intelligent, aren’t I?
He is, isn’t he?
Deictics
These make sure that the listener knows
what, where and to whom you are referring.
He, she, it, they
‘Wh-’
questions
These questions show that the speaker is
engaged with what is being said. The
speaker is often seeking clarification to
ensure that there is a shared understanding
of what has been said.
What do you mean?
Why can’t …?
1 Look again at the sections of internal dialogue you picked out. Which features of spoken
English can you find? What effect do they create?
2 Read Martyn’s conversation with Mrs Freeman on page 154. Which features of spoken
English can you find in the conversation? What effect do they create?
3 Imagine that you have been asked to do something that you’d rather not do, e.g. walk the
dog in the rain, or do your homework when there’s a big football game on television. Write
a paragraph of internal dialogue that reflects your thoughts as they happen.
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© Pearson Education Limited 2005. This may be reproduced for class use solely within the purchaser’s school or college.
Lesson 11
Pupil worksheet 11.1
Alex
When Alex is asked what she wants to be at the beginning of the novel, she says:
‘The murderer’s beautiful mistress.’ (page 27)
At the end of the novel, Alex writes, in a letter to Martyn:
‘Badness is a relative thing … something’s only wrong if you think it’s wrong … if you think it’s
right, and others think it’s wrong, then it’s only wrong if you get caught.’ (page 245)
1 Working in pairs, spend one minute writing down on a mind-map as many words as you can
to describe Alex’s character from your point of view. Think about:
• the two quotations above
• your understanding of Alex’s character
• the way she reacts to events in the novel.
2 With your partner, discuss whether you like Alex. Join with another pair to make a four and
share your ideas.
3 Imagine that you are Martyn. Using a different colour, add words to your mind-map that
Martyn would use to describe Alex. Are they same or is there a difference between your
opinion and Martyn’s opinion of Alex?
4 In your group, skim read pages 166–192. You may want to divide these pages between you.
As you read, note down any phrases or actions which suggest that Martyn may have judged
Alex wrongly.
5 Thinking about the quotations above, discuss the following questions:
• What clues are there in Monday that there is more to Alex than Martyn thinks and that
he may have misjudged her?
• To what extent is Alex ‘the murderer’s mistress’?
• Do we ever see Alex in any other way, apart from through Martyn’s eyes?
• On pages 165–166, Martyn describes how he felt when he once killed a bird. He says, ‘It
left me cold. Ashamed. Scared. Dirty and bad.’ Do you think that Alex would have felt the
same way?
6 Martyn’s opinions about Alex may not give us, the reader, the full picture about Alex’s
character and we should be careful not to judge her on this alone. What reading strategies
do we need to use to see beyond the narrator’s viewpoint, so that we don’t fall into this
trap?
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© Pearson Education Limited 2005. This may be reproduced for class use solely within the purchaser’s school or college.
Teacher planner 12.1
Lesson 12
Teaching objectives
• R6 Comment on the authorial perspectives offered in texts on individuals,
•
community and society in texts from different cultures.
R13 Review and develop their own reading skills, experiences and preferences,
noting strengths and areas for development.
Focus
• Characterisation.
Starter
Write the following quotation from page 212 on the board:
‘It was too much. Too real. It was real real. Not just … well, not just whatever other real I’d been living in for the
last week. It was outside real.’
Ask pupils to discuss the question: What does Martyn mean by ‘outside real’? Draw out the idea that he has been
living in an unreal world – one based on detective novels and murder mysteries. Explain that this chapter is a
crucial turning point for Martyn. He has to face up to the reality of what he has done, and, more importantly, of
being betrayed by Alex. It is this betrayal that makes him physically sick, not the fact that he has killed his father.
Development
Model reading the extract below from page 193, using annotation and underlining to highlight:
• what we learn about Martyn’s character
• what we feel about him.
Reinforces the
point made in the
preceding
sentence.
Remind pupils that Martyn wrote this with hindsight.
Past tense and
the adverbial
‘that’ used to
describe how
Martyn was
feeling. This
suggests that,
with hindsight, he
should have been
more worried
than he was.
Shows that he
was trying to
reassure himself.
Use of modals
suggests he is
speculating.
Change to
present tense to
explain his
stupidity. He goes
on to justify why
he continues to
believe Alex will
turn up.
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I wasn’t that worried when she didn’t show up the
following morning. Not at first anyway. Annoyed, maybe.
But not worried. Alex was often late. She could never
understand why it bothered me. ‘I’m here now, aren’t I?’
she’d say. She was right, in a way. If you like someone
enough, it doesn’t matter how long they keep you waiting
– as long as they turn up in the end, it’s all right.
I can’t help it, though. I hate waiting for someone to turn
up. I can’t understand why anyone should be late for
anything. Unless something disastrous happens there’s no
reason for it. No reason at all. I’m never late for anything.
Repetition for
emphasis – her
behaviour is
inexcusable. This
links back to
‘Annoyed,
maybe’.
Use of italics
sounds
sanctimonious –
Martyn may be
cross with himself
at this point.
Use of an adverb
reinforces the
idea that he is
trying to reassure
himself.
Adverbial phrase
tells us Martyn is
still trying to
convince himself,
but isn’t sure.
Strong statement
at the end of this
paragraph tells us
that Martyn still
falsely believes
that he was right
not to worry.
With hindsight,
we know
differently.
Lesson 12
Teacher planner 12.1 (continued)
Divide the chapter up into sections and allocate these to pairs to be annotated, following the example above.
Ask pupils to discuss the following questions:
• What do you feel about Martyn?
• Do you want him to ‘get away with murder’?
Ask pupils to re-read page 212. This is where Martyn faces the truth for the first time. Does it change our view of
him? Does Alex’s betrayal help us to form a view of Martyn? Select pairs to feed back their ideas to generate a
discussion.
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Lesson 13
Teacher planner 13.1
Teaching objectives
• R12 Analyse and discuss the use made of rhetorical devices in a text.
• R18 Discuss a substantial prose text, sharing perceptions, negotiating common
readings and accounting for differences of view.
Focus
• Crime fiction genre
• Subgenres of crime fiction.
Starter
In pairs, pupils write a definition of crime fiction (a genre of fiction that deals with crimes, their detection, and with
criminals and their motives). Discuss how crime fiction differs from other fiction genres, e.g. historical, romantic,
science, fantasy, horror.
Discuss the key identifying features of crime fiction. Ask pupils to decide on five key features and share these with
another pair. (The number could be reduced for lower ability pupils). Examples include:
• The catalyst event is a crime.
• The setting is plausible and described in detail.
• There is a dénouement (a resolution or ‘unknotting’).
• There are twists and turns in the plot.
• There are dangerous moments and cliff-hangers.
• The action is fast paced.
• A criminal case is built up.
Development
Introduce the idea of ‘subgenre’. Pupils work out what ‘subgenre’ means from their knowledge of language.
Explain that crime fiction has several subgenres, e.g. detective fiction, legal thriller, forensic fiction, ‘whodunnit’.
Pupils may link their ideas to other books they have read or films they have seen.
The caper story is another subgenre of crime fiction. The typical caper story involves one or more crimes (especially
thefts, swindles, or occasionally kidnappings) perpetrated by the main characters in full view of the reader. The
actions of the police or detectives attempting to prevent or solve the crimes may also be included, but are not the
main focus of the story. The caper story is different from other crime fiction subgenres in its use of elements of
humour, adventure, or unusual cleverness.
Ask pupils to discuss how Martyn Pig fulfils the criteria of a caper story. Pupils create a mind-map of Christmas Day,
exploring how this chapter fulfils the criteria of a caper story and, therefore, crime fiction. They should include
examples from this chapter, using the following prompts:
• Characters: How do the characters in Martyn Pig fulfil the expectations of a caper story? To what extent are the
policemen stereotypes?
• Language and narrative style: Is the lexical field of this chapter related to crime fiction? Look at adverbs,
adjectives, and noun phrases.
• Setting: How does the description of the setting fulfil the reader’s expectations for crime fiction?
• Plot: Are there the twists and turns that you would expect?
• Pace: Is the action fast paced? Does Martyn feel the situation is out of control?
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