2.13 To understand title, setting, plot

English first additional language

Grade 6

Module 24

To understand title, setting and plot

Activity 1:

To understand title, setting and plot [lo 3.1.1]

To understand characters [lo 3.2.1]

To answer and ask some complex questions [lo 5.2.1]

Today we are going to focus on reading – reading out loud to each other and we are going to make it more interesting, by reading a prose dialogue.

Your teacher will help you divide into groups of four. There are four characters in the story and each of you will be a different character. Read the story out loud in your group. Remember to use the correct interpretation techniques to make listening more enjoyable.

Before you start, decide who will be:

Dave: ___________________ Mr Catt: ____________________

Mrs Longton: ________________ Narrator: ____________________

Pet's Paradise

It was Monday morning and Dave's first day in his first job. He arrived at 8.30 sharp, spick and span. The owner, Mr Catt, was sitting in his office drinking tea and scribbling in a grubby notebook. He looked up and smiled. `Good morning Dave! How are you today?'

`Fine thanks, Mr Catt.'

`Ready for a hard day's work?'

`Ready when you are, Mr C.'

`Then give me a word that rhymes with "rest".'

Dave, somewhat puzzled said, `Best.'

Mr Catt turned back to his notebook. Dave stood patiently by the desk.

Mr Catt stood up, notebook in hand. `How does this sound?' He spoke like a vicar, as if his teeth were stuck together with chewing gum. `Tiddles the cat lies here at rest. At catching mice she was the best.' He dropped the notebook on the desk with a flourish and looked at Dave. `Well? What do you think?'

Dave didn't know what to think. When he applied for the job at Pet's Paradise his friends said he was daft. He was beginning to think they were right. `It's ... er ... all right.'

`All right? All right? It's more than all right! It's a masterpiece. I can see it now, carved in Roman letters on a black marble slab.' He took Dave by the arm and led him out of the office. `Come on, Dave, we've got work to do. We've got to lay poor old Tiddles to rest at 10:30 sharp, and we haven't dug her grave yet.'

That morning Dave helped Mr Catt bury (or `lay to rest') three cats, a dog, two goldfish, a goose and a scorpion. All the graves, even the scorpion's, were dug with great care. All were to be marked with a headstone or slab, set into the neatly mown turf.

As they worked Mr Catt told Dave a string of jokes. They were all very old, very bad jokes and they were all about animals. `Dave,' said Mr Catt as they put the finishing touches to Tiddles' grave, `What's the highest form of animal life?'

`I don't know Mr C. What is the highest form of animal life?'

`Why, a giraffe of course.'

Dave groaned. Mr Catt laughed. `You need a sense of humour, Dave, to work in a cemetery.'

Half way through digging the grave for the goose Mr Catt said, `What sort of TV programmes do ducks like to watch?'

Dave shrugged his shoulders. `Don't know.'

`Duckumentaries of course!' And so it went on, one awful joke after another until 10:30 when the burial services began.