BoybyRoald DahlMr. Coombes
Starter
Point
Can you find some evidencefor these points:
Mrs Pratchett seems like awitch to the boys.
Mrs Pratchett is a very rudewoman.
Mrs Pratchett is dirty andunhygienic.
Evidence
Can you create a point thatbelongs with this evidence:
They all started grinning. Theyslapped me on the back. Theycheered me and dancedaround the classroom.
We felt like a gang ofdesperados setting out to roba train or blow up the sheriff’soffice.
Focus
To…
Understand how to select and retrieveinformation from a text
Be able to deduce, infer and interpretinformation from a text
Reaching HigherLevels
•Relevant pointsidentified from acrossthe text
•Comments usequotations to supportargument
•Identify layers of meaning,with some detailedexploration
•Comments consider howdetails contribute tooverall meaning
Atmosphere
All of a sudden we had begun to feelslightly uncomfortable. There wassomething not quite right about theshop being closed. Even Thwaites wasunable to offer a reasonableexplanation. We became silent. Therewas a faint scent of danger in the airnow. Each one of us had caught a whiffof it. Alarm bells were beginning to ringfaintly in our ears.
What do you noticeabout the sentencelengths?
How does thiscontrast to the boysearlier attitude?
What might theboys be thinking?
How does Dahl usesthe senses here?
Do the boysseem like arowdy gang?
Earlier Quotations
They all started grinning.They slapped me on theback. They cheered meand danced around theclassroom.
We were tremendouslyjazzed up. We felt like agang of desperadossetting out to rob a trainor blow up the sheriff’soffice.
We were strutting a little as we enteredthe shop. We were the victors now andMrs Pratchett was the victim.
The writer …
suggests
gives us theimpression that
implies
highlights
indicates
evokes
emphasises
conveys
Mr Coombes
Mr Coombes was looking grim. His hammypink face had taken on that dangerousscowl which only appeared when he wasextremely cross and somebody was for thehigh-jump. I sat there small and frightenedamong the rows and rows of other boys,and to me at that moment theHeadmaster, with his black gown drapedover his shoulders, was like a judge at amurder trial.
Why use the phrases‘cross’ and ‘high-jump’?
Why is the simile used?
Why focus on the
‘rows and rows ofother boys’?
Why change hisname from ‘MrCoombes’ to ‘theHeadmaster’?
Questions
1.Why include the sentence “Mrs Pratchett was alive!” asan entire paragraph?
2.Why describe the Headmaster as an “angel of death”?
3.How does Dahl build suspense as the boys are lined up?
4.What are Mrs Pratchett’s attitudes and feelings?
5.What does the following phrase suggest about MrsPratchett: “[her face] was glimmering with venom as hereyes travelled beyond me down the line.”