Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
1. In the first paragraph of the extract you are going to read, the author describes a scene in
Greenland. Some of the adjectives have been removed from this description – can you put
them back in? Here is a selection to choose from.
in front of me and took a sharp intake of breath. The hunters were dotted all around the
off man and whale and catching the soft billows of smoke from a lone hunter’s pipe.
2. When you have filled in all the gaps and are satisfied with your answer, read the completed,
correct version in the text. What impression does the author’s choice of words create for the
reader?
Extension:
3. Read the full paragraph and highlight any words or phrases you can find that
relate to light and colour. Why do you think so much of the writer’s
description focuses on this aspect of the scene?
1. Complete the sentence headings in the top line by choosing and writing in the correct
definitions:
... a statement that can be proved to be true.
... a statement of belief or judgement.
2. Decide if these four statements from the text are fact or opinion and put them into the
appropriate column of the table.
Read carefully through the extract and highlight any more statements of opinion. What do
you notice about the proportion of fact and opinion?
3. The extract ends with the statement ‘Hunting is still an absolute necessity in Thule.’ What
facts does the writer present in support of this opinion?
Extension:
4. Who do you think the author is trying to convince that hunting is necessary?
Can you explain your answer with reference to the text?
Working with a partner, you are going to look closely at the way the writer has put together the
sentences in paragraph 6 (starting at line 48).
1. Choose one person to start reading the paragraph out loud. When you get to a punctuation
mark, swap roles so that your partner has a turn to read. Continue swapping over like this
until the end of the paragraph. What effects are created by the use of punctuation marks in
these sentences? How might this reflect the author’s thoughts or feelings at different points in
the paragraph?
2. Scan the paragraph again and highlight any connectives you can find. Discuss with your partner
what you notice about the range or variety of the author’s choices.
3. The following coordinating conjunctions can be remembered with the mnemonic FANBOYS:
Usually, you will be advised not to start a written sentence with a coordinating connective
because it is informal and too much like spoken English.
Why do you think the author has started the last sentence of the paragraph in this way?
Activity 4: punctuation
Working with a partner, you are going to look closely at the way the writer has used punctuation
and connectives in paragraph 6 (starting at line 48).
1. Match the names of the following ten punctuation marks with their symbols.
Full stop ;
Comma !
Colon ( )
Semi-colon .
Brackets “ ”
Exclamation mark ?
Question mark ,
Hyphen :
Dash –
Quotation marks -
Now join up with another pair and swap partners. Partner 1 should explain to partner 2 their
ideas on how the use of punctuation helps us understand the writer’s thoughts and feelings.
Partner 2 should listen carefully and then repeat back what they have been told.
Swap roles and repeat the process.
4. Writing
Now write down your own and your partner’s ideas that you explained and repeated in task 3.
Challenge
5. Scan the paragraph again and highlight each time the author has used the word ‘and’. Can you
find a place where she has used it at the start of a sentence? Can you complete this sentence
with your own ideas or one from the list?
...............................................................................................................................................................................
1. Find and underline a sentence in the final paragraph that begins with a coordinating connective.
Find and underline one sentence in that paragraph that has a conversational tone
2. The statement that the author creates a conversation tone is a POINT. Can you develop this
point into a paragraph by referring to the text (giving an example or a quotation) and by
explaining HOW the example you have given helps to create this effect?
3. Read through the whole passage again and see if there are any more words, phrases or
expressions that add to this conversational tone. Underline them in the same colour you have
used for task 1.
Activity 6
1. The writer also chooses a more formal or impersonal style at times. Look at the four
examples in column 1.
The narwhal … is an
essential contributor to
the survival of the
hunters
In column 2 write a more informal version that is closer to the way we speak. You can change
the way you express it but keep close to the writer’s original meaning.
2. In column 3, can you briefly explain what it is about the original quotation that makes it so
formal or impersonal? (You may find this easier now that you can see what you changed to
complete the middle column.) Is it something to do with the original vocabulary, choice of
pronoun, use of connectives or type of sentence, for example?
1. Use the glossary in the book as a pre-reading vocabulary matching exercise. Then, get
students to practise inferring meaning from context: ask students to read the text (or
parts of it) through and underline any words they are not sure of. Compile a class list
and get students working in pairs to find the meanings of batches of words. They then
make their own vocabulary matching exercise for other pairs, who should try to
complete the exercise by referring to the context of the original word. Alternatively,
use this as the basis for a few rounds of ‘Call My Bluff’!
2. To focus students on the way the author brings out the drama of the scene, ask them to
choose three sentences which would be most suited to ending with an exclamation
mark. Get them to discuss in groups their collected choices and agree a single sentence,
then justify their choice to the rest of the class. Vote on or rank the suggestions.
3. Persuasive writing: Students take sides and write a persuasive piece, perhaps in the
form of a letter to the author. (Useful for revising persuasive techniques.)
4. Debate the dilemma: On the topic of hunting – specify this one only or get students
to choose an aspect of the wider debate that interests them (hunting with hounds,
Canadian seal hunt, Japanese whaling etc) and research it. Hold group or whole class
discussions of the facts, arguments and opinions.
6. Creative transformation 2: Write a haiku to express (some of) the essential ideas,
emotions or description of the original text. You could allow a free choice of topic, or
give students a list to choose from (eg, narwhal, Arctic, hunting, dilemma) or ask them
to choose one paragraph as their ‘topic’. You could ask them to use only words from
the text, or allow greater freedom.