Writing to Describe
The Beach
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Similes
The moody sky was as grey as …
The rough rocks were as bumpy as …
The soggy sand felt like …
Metaphors
The soggy sand was a dampened sponge cake.
The rough rocks were …
The excited dog was a …
The boat was a …
2
Extracts from ‘Holiday Memory’
by Dylan Thomas
‘I remember the patient, laborious, and enamouring hobby,
or profession, of burying relatives in sand.’
‘I remember the princely pastime of pouring sand, from
cupped hands or bucket, down collars and tops of dresses;
the shriek, the shake, the slap.’
‘I can remember the boy by himself, the beachcombing
lonewolf, hungrily waiting at the edge of family cricket; the
friendless fielder, the boy uninvited to bat or to tea.’
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‘I remember the smell of sea and seaweed,
wet flesh, wet hair, wet bathing­dresses, the
warm smell as of a rabbity field after rain, the
smell of pop and splashed sunshades and
toffee, the stable­and­straw smell of hot,
tossed, tumbled, dug, and trodden sand …
the smell of vinegar on shelled cockles,
winkle smell, shrimp smell, the dripping­oily
backstreet winter­smell of chips in
newspapers, the smell of ships from the
sundazed docks round the corner of the
sand­hills, the smell of the known and
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paddled­in sea moving …’
4
‘And the noise of the pummelling punch and
Judy falling, and a clock tolling …; now and
again a bell from a lost tower or a train on the
lines behind us clearing its throat, and
always the hopeless, ravenous swearing and
pleading of the gulls …, toy trumpets,
shouting and laughing and singing, … the
motor­boat coughing in the bay, and the same
hymn and washing of the sea that was heard
in the Bible.’
‘And the sticks of rock that we all sucked,
were like barbers’ poles made of rhubarb.’
5
Let's Play A
Game!!!
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Step One
Walk around the room and choose a picture of a beach that you are
going to describe in detail.
DON'T pick the picture up, just remember what it looks like.
Step Two
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Describe your beach in great detail, using the 5 senses to help you.
simile/metaphor/personification
punctuation
paragraphs
sentences = complex, compound, simple, one‐word.
Step Three
Guess the beach :)
Swap books and have a go at guessing which beach your partner has
described!
storm_wind
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