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Lets Tell a Story About a Great Event That Changed Our Lives!

In class we have started reading The Killing Sea by Richard Lewis.

We have been introduced to our two main characters, Ruslan and Sarah.

And we have learnt something about Indonesia, the place where the book is set.

Q 1. In the columns below describe Ruslan and Sarah. You may use words and/or pictures. Make sure to quote from the text, or add page numbers in order to give evidence for your description.

RuslanSarah

The reason why this text was chosen is because it is a good example of a coming-of-age story (we will discuss this genre of story a lot in the coming days).

It is also a good example of how a single event can change your entire life.

Q 2. What are some events that have changed your life? Write examples in your exercise book, and then pick your best ones to share with the class.

Our job from now on is simple:

First we will need to gain a good understanding of the book. We need, for example to learn:a. How the main characters change from how they acted at the start of the novel, to how they act at the end of the novelb. What caused this changec. Where the main changes in the novel occur (for this we will need a good understanding of the novels plot) After we have gained this understanding of the novel our job will be

To Create. To tell stories.

In order to tell a good story we must have knowledge of different literary devices. Literary devices are the techniques the author uses to bring his story to life.

The first literary device we will learn is

SUSPENSE.

But first we will read chapter four of The Killing Sea as a class and answer the following questions:

Q 1. Which main character is the subject of this chapter?

Q 2. Who else is important to this chapter?

Q 3. What are the characters trying to run from?

Q 4. What complicates their ability to escape?

Q 5. Who survives the ordeal?

Q 6. What do you think will happen to the survivors? How will they be changed by this terrible event?

Let us look closer at the first few pages of chapter four (pages 26-28). We will study it for its use of suspense.

Suspense is all about waiting. The people who wait are the audience. They wait in fear, apprehension, expectation, nervously, anxiously, they wait and worry because the characters they love are in danger.

For suspense to exist there must be danger and uncertainty about the future. If we know the outcome of a problem, then there is no reason to worry about it.

Activity 1. Describe a moment where you felt suspense. Make sure to give some background to the story, so that your story is relatable (in other words, so the audience can see a little bit of themselves, or someone they know in the story).

In chapter four of the book the characters are in great danger. Q 7. Is this danger present? Or is it in the background?

Q 8. What is the difference between a danger that is in the background and a danger that is visible to the reader and the main characters?