Chapter 6 Poetry and fiction

Poetry
Read the poem below: ‘Hurricane’ by James Berry. In the poem, the poet
describes the effects of a violent storm on a community in the Caribbean.

Hurricane
Under low black clouds
The wind was all
Speedy feet, all horns and breath,
All bangs, howls, rattles,
In every hen house,
Church hall and school.
Roaring, screaming, returning
It made forced entry, shoved walls,
Made rifts, brought roofs down,
Hitting rooms to sticks apart.
It wrung soft banana trees,
Broke tough trunks of palms.
It pounded vines of yams,
Left fields battered up.
Invisible with such ecstasy –
With no intervention of sun or man –
Everywhere kept changing branches.
Zinc sheets are kites.
Leaves are panic swarms.
Fowls are fixed with feathers turned.
Goats, dogs, pigs
All are people together.
Then growling it slunk away
From muddy, mossy trail and boats
In hedges: and cows, ratbats, tress,
Fish, all dead in the road.

Try this
Fill in this fact file based on the poem.

How the hurricane started

The sounds it made

How it affected property

How it affected nature

How it affected animals

How the hurricane ended

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 Poetry

summary a shortened Try this

version of a text that
includes the important Using the information from your fact file, write a summary of what
details
happens in the poem in only 60 words. Write your summary by putting
one word in each box.

The wind

Try this
1 In the second verse, what does the line ‘It made forced entry, shoved
walls’ tell us about the hurricane?

2 Read the third verse again and pick out two verbs that show how
destructive the hurricane was.

3 In the fifth verse, what technique is used in the line ‘Zinc sheets
are kites’?
a Simile
b Personification
c Metaphor
d Alliteration
4 Find and write down another example of this technique in the
same verse.

5 Write down a short phrase from the final verse that shows the
hurricane had lost its strength.

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 CHAPTER 6 POETRY AND FICTION

HINT Try this

You probably
remember that a Use a thesaurus to find synonyms for the following words from
synonym is a word the poem.
with a similar meaning
to another word. For 1 black
example, ‘ancient’
would be a synonym 2 hitting
for ‘old’. 3 broke
4 growling
Add the words to your vocabulary list so you can use them in your
writing in the future.

LET’S TALK
Imagine you are a news reporter who has been sent to cover the story of the
damage caused by the hurricane. With a partner, write down the questions
you would like to ask the residents. Remember to ask open questions –
questions that cannot be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and therefore give
opportunities for longer answers.
With your partner, role-play the interview in front of your class.

TOP TIPS Try this

Make your account
more interesting by Write about a time when you were affected by bad weather.
using:
Think about the following:
l similes
l metaphors l where you were
l personification l who you were with
l interesting verbs l what happened
l different types of l what the weather was like
sentence l what happened in the end.
l different
punctuation marks. Complete this answer on a separate piece of paper.

Now read this poem called ‘Roller Skaters’ by Grace Nichols which
describes the skill and acrobatics of roller skaters.

Roller Skaters
Flying by
on the winged-wheels
of their heels
Two teenage earthbirds
zig-zagging
down the street
Rising
unfeathered –
in sudden air-leap –

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 Poetry

Defying law
death and gravity
as they do a wheely
Landing back
in the smooth swoop
of youth
And faces gaping
gawking, impressed
and unimpressed
Only Mother watches – heartbeat in her mouth

Try this
1 Pick out two examples of alliteration in the poem.

2 In the second verse, why are the skaters called ‘teenage earthbirds’?

3 Look at the third verse. Give one phrase that shows the confidence of
the skaters.

4 Find one word in the fifth verse that means ‘to stare openly and
stupidly’.

5 Enjambment has been used in the poem to create what effect?

enjambment a run-on Tick (✓) one box.
line of poetry a To make the poem longer
b To suggest the speed of the skaters
c To show how quickly everything happened
d To suggest how scared the skaters felt
6 Look at the last line, ‘Only mother watches – heartbeat in her mouth’.
What does the line tell the reader about how the mother is feeling?

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 CHAPTER 6 POETRY AND FICTION

7 The skaters are very skilful. Explain how the reader knows this. Give
two explanations in your own words and support each explanation
with a quotation from the poem.

Explanation in your own words Quotation from the poem

Try this
Use a thesaurus to find synonyms for the following words from
the poem.
1 flying
2 sudden
3 defying
4 smooth
Remember to add the words to your vocabulary list so you can use them
in your writing in the future.

Try this
The roller skaters clearly enjoy their hobby/sport.
persuade to
encourage someone Imagine that you want to persuade your classmates to take up a hobby
to do something or sport that you feel passionate about.
Write a speech to persuade them.
Complete this answer on a separate piece of paper.

tone the feeling or TOP TIPS

mood of a piece of
writing l Think about the tone you will use when addressing your classmates.
l Remember to sound enthusiastic and persuasive by using techniques
rhetorical question such as rhetorical questions, tripling, direct address and emotive
a question asked language.
in order to create a l Make your chosen hobby/sport sound exciting by using adjectives,
dramatic effect or to adverbs and verbs.
make a point rather l What arguments/points about the benefits of taking up a hobby or sport
than to get an answer could you include?
tripling using three
related words or
phrases for emphasis
direct address use
of the second person
(you/your/you’re) to
appeal to a reader

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 Fiction

Fiction
Fiction texts are pieces of writing about imaginary events or people.
There are different types, or genres, of fiction writing and most people
have a favourite. For example, you might enjoy reading adventure
stories, or mysterious tales involving crimes and murders with a twist
at the end. Perhaps you prefer fantasy stories, such as The Lord of the
Rings trilogy or the Harry Potter series, or maybe horror stories involving
dystopia an ghosts and supernatural or unexplained events. Science fiction is another
imaginary world popular genre, and includes tales set in the future which might describe
or society in which
people suffer or are
dystopian worlds where robots and technology are dominant. There is
treated unjustly also historical fiction as well as realistic fiction which describe believable
characters and conflicts, or situations that you might face one day.
Fiction can take many forms, including:
l narratives l poems
l short stories l plays.
l diaries
This extract is from a novel called The Hunger Games which is about a
dystopian future. The novel is narrated by a teenage girl, Katniss
Everdeen, who has to compete with and fight to the death in an outdoor
narrator the person
who is telling the
arena against another chosen teenager from a neighbouring district. In
story this extract, Katniss, the narrator, has climbed a tree to escape from
those chasing after her.
Read the extract.

Rosy streaks are breaking through in the east. I can’t afford to wait any
longer. Compared to the agony of last night’s climb, this one is a cinch. At
the tree limb that holds the nest, I position the knife in the groove and I’m
about to draw the teeth across the wood when I see something moving.
There, on the nest. The bright gold gleam of a tracker jacker lazily making
tracker jacker a its way across the papery grey surface. No question, it’s acting a little
genetically mutated subdued, but the wasp is up and moving and that means the others will
wasp be out soon as well. Sweat breaks out on the palms of my hands, beading
up through the ointment, and I do my best to pat them dry on my shirt. If
I don’t get through this branch in a matter of seconds, the entire swarm
could emerge and attack me.
There’s no sense in putting it off. I take a deep breath, grip the knife handle
and bear down as hard as I can. Back, forth, back, forth! The tracker jackers
begin to buzz and I hear them coming out. Back, forth, back, forth! A stabbing
pain shoots through my knee and I know one has found me and the others
will be honing in. Back, forth, back, forth. And just as the knife cuts through,
I shove the end of the branch as far away from me as I can. It crashes down
through the lower branches, snagging temporarily on a few but then twisting
free until it smashes with a thud on the ground. The nest bursts open like an
egg, and a furious swarm of tracker jackers takes to the air.
I feel a second sting on the cheek, a third on my neck, and then their
venom almost immediately makes me woozy. I cling to the tree with one
arm while I rip the barbed stingers out of my flesh. Fortunately, only these
three tracker jackers had identified me before the nest went down. The
rest of the insects have targeted their enemies on the ground.

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 CHAPTER 6 POETRY AND FICTION

HINT Try this

Remember to tick
only one box. If you 1 What time of day is it? Tick (✓) the correct box.
tick more than one a Early evening
box, even if you have
b Dawn
the correct answer,
c Mid-morning
you will not score any
marks in the exam. d Afternoon
2 Write down one phrase from the first paragraph that shows the
narrator is starting to panic.
HINT
Make sure you
write down a short
phrase and not a full 3 Find and write down a word from the first paragraph that
sentence. means ‘whole’.

HINT
4 Which of the following two techniques does the writer use in the
Make sure you choose
only one word. second paragraph? Tick (✓) two boxes.
a Repetition
b Metaphor
HINT c Simile
Even if you are unsure d Personification
of an answer in the 5 The narrator is feeling anxious and scared. Explain how the reader
exam, it is worth knows this.
ticking a box instead Give two explanations in your own words and support each
of not answering the explanation with a quotation from the text.
question, because
there is a chance you Explanation in your own words Quotation from the text
might be correct.

HINT
Make sure that your
explanations are in
your own words and
not copied from the
text.
6 What is the effect of the repetition of ‘Back, forth, back, forth’ in the text?

7 Look at the line, ‘I cling to the tree with one arm while I rip the barbed
stingers out of my flesh’ in the last paragraph.
What type of word are ‘cling’ and ‘rip’?

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 Fiction

LET’S TALK Try this

People can be scared
of many things from The following groups of words are synonyms for words found in the first
insects to small paragraph. Identify the correct words and add them to your vocabulary list.
spaces. Katniss is in a
frightening situation 1 Suffering, anguish, pain, distress – are synonyms for
in the extract.
Explain to your
partner or group what 2 Casually, indolently, listlessly, sluggishly – are synonyms for
you are frightened
of and explain your
reasons for these 3 Come out, appear, materialise – are synonyms for
feelings.

4 Crowd, horde, throng, multitude – are synonyms for

Try this
In the extract, Katniss says, ‘There’s no sense in putting it off. I take a
deep breath …’.
Write about a time when someone has to be brave and face a
difficult situation.
Complete this answer on a separate piece of paper.

HINT
Make a quick mind Will the account be
Will you have a first-
map or scatter diagram or third-person
fictitious or based on
to help you decide narrator?
something that has
happened?
on and organise your
ideas.

A time when someone

has to be brave and face a
difficult situation

How does the account end?

Decide this before you start
writing.
Possible ideas:
Someone has been caught out in telling a lie,
cheating in a test, lying to parents/best friend
Having to report a friend for breaking the rules
Owning up to breaking the rules
A visit to the dentist
A ride on a roller coaster

A mind map template for a time when someone has to be brave and face a difficult situation

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 CHAPTER 6 POETRY AND FICTION

This extract is from the novel War Horse by Michael Morpurgo. The novel
tells the story of the experiences of a horse, Joey, who is sold to the army
and is plunged into battle in France during the First World War.
This extract is written in the first person, from Joey’s viewpoint, and
first-person narrator
a narrator writing from describes a terrifying attack against the enemy. Joey’s rider is
his or her viewpoint Trooper Warren.
using I
All around me, men cried and fell to the ground, and horses reared and
screamed in an agony of fear and pain. The ground erupted on either side
of me, throwing horses and riders clear into the air. The shells whined and
roared overhead, and every explosion seemed like an earthquake to us.
But the squadron galloped on inexorably through it all towards the wire at
the top of the hill and I went with them.
On my back Trooper Warren held me in an iron grip with his knees. I
stumbled once and felt him lose a stirrup, and slowed so that he could
find it again. Topthorn was still ahead of me, his head up, his tail whisking
from side to side. I found more strength in my legs and charged after him.
Trooper Warren prayed aloud as he rode, but his prayers turned soon to
curses as he saw the carnage around him. Only a few horses reached the
wire and Topthorn and I were amongst them. There were indeed a few
holes blasted through the wire by our bombardment so that some of us
could find a way through; and we came at last upon the first line of enemy
trenches, but they were empty. The firing came now from higher up in
amongst the trees; and so the squadron, or what was left of it, regrouped
and galloped up into the wood, only to be met by a line of hidden wire
in amongst the trees. Some of the horses ran into the wire before they
could be stopped, and stuck there, their riders trying feverishly to extract
them. I saw one trooper dismount deliberately once he saw his horse
was caught. He pulled out his rifle and shot his mount before falling dead
himself on the wire. I could see at once that there was no way through,
that the only way was to jump the wire and when I saw Topthorn and
Captain Stewart leap over where the wire was lowest, I followed them
and we found ourselves at last in amongst the enemy. From behind every
tree, from trenches all around it seemed, they ran forward in their piked
piked helmets helmets helmets to counter-attack. They rushed past us, ignoring us until we
with a spike on top found ourselves surrounded by an entire company of soldiers, their rifles
pointing up at us.
The crump of the shelling and the spitting of rifle-fire had suddenly
stopped. I looked around me for the rest of the squadron, to discover that
we were alone. Behind us the riderless horses, all that was left of a proud
cavalry squadron, galloped back towards our trenches, and the hillside
was strewn with the dead and dying.

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