English

Word Classes

Noun: person, place, thing, idea (dog,

city, happiness)

• Abstract- Can’t be seen or touched (love, happiness, anger)

• Concrete- Can see touch hear (table, dog)

• Collective- team group class

• Gerunds- When you can replace word with ‘it’ Verb ending ing (swimming, reading)

Verb: action or state (run, is, appear)

• Main- Action (run)

• Auxiliary Primary- Am is are was were being been have has had do does did

• Auxiliary Modal- Can could may might must shall should will would

Adjective: describes noun (happy, tall,

blue)

Adverb: modifies verb/adjective (quickly,

very, silently)

Pronoun: replaces noun (he, they,

which)

Preposition: shows relationship (in, on,

between)

Conjunction: connects words/clauses

(and, but, although)

Interjection: expresses emotion (wow!,

oh no!)

Determiners- Some only much many

Clause Elements

Subject: who/what does the

action

Object: who/what receives the

action

Complement: completes

meaning (She is a teacher)

Adverbial: indicates time, place,

manner (He ran quickly)

Main- makes sense on own

Subordinate- Although because if when since where

Relative- Who which that these

Sentence Types

Simple: one main clause (I read a book)

Compound: two main clauses joined by

conjunction (I read a book, and I wrote

notes)

Complex: main clause + subordinate

clause (I read a book because I had free

time)

Active/Passive:

● Active: The cat chased the mouse

● Passive: The mouse was chased

by the cat

Tenses

Present simple - Routine or fact

continuous - now

perfect - has/have +past

perfect continuous- has/have been + verb ing

Past simple- Finished action

continuous- Actjon in progress in pqst

perfect- action completed before another action

perfect continuous- had been studying

Summary Writing

Identify main ideas

Use own words

Keep sequence and logic

Avoid personal opinion unless asked

The Drovers Wife Henry Lawson

Unnamed bush woman caring for children alone in Australian Outback while husband is away.

Isolation, resilience, gender roles of women resilience in male dominated rural society

Tough, resourceful, emotionally repressed, fiercely protective

• Imagery of harsh desolate land

• Symbolism of the snake and life’s unpredictability

• Minimalist dialogue and simple sentence structure

A Devoted Son by Anita Desai

A hard working son who becomes a doctor

Devotion vs control, conflict as father is traditional and son is modern, freedom vs restriction

Rakesh is intelligent, disciplined, obedient son became controlling adult

Varma is proud at first then bitter and frustrated

Veena is passive and traditional

• Irony- Devoted son is actually controlling

• Symbolism- Food diet as control

• Contrast- Loving son controlling adult

• Realism- Realistic family situation

The Rough Crossing by F. Scott Fitzgerald

A married couple traveling on a ship across the atlantic

Emotional distance, self deception, upper class performance

Adrian: insecure, tempted by youth & attention

Eva: sincere, loyal but anxious of her husbands affections

Betsy & Mr butterworth: distraction

• Symbolism of storm as emotional turbulence

• Pathetic Fallacy weather reflects mood & conflict

• Metaphor of ocean crossing as marriage journey

• fluid sentence structure nuanced dialogue ironic tone

The Voyage by Katherine Mansfield

A young girl travels by ferry with her grandmother after her mother has died.

Transition, (physical/emotional) Journey, Loss & grief, Innocence vs experience

Fenella: young, observant, emotionally confused but curious

Grandmother: Caring but distant representing adult world with stability

• Symbolism the voyage as life journey and sea as uncertainty and change

• Imagery from sounds movements sea

• Subtly as emotions not directly explained

• Contrast child vs adult perspective & innocence vs understanding

No place to park by Alexander Mccall smith

A crime writer attends a festival

Appearance vs reality as life is more complex as it seems

George Harris: Crime writer, intelligent, reflective, slightly humorous

Officer: Practical, Realistic

Attendees: Expect crime to be exciting like murder

• Situational irony as writer told to avoid serious crime but story circles back to murder

• Metafiction- draws attention to process of storytelling

• Humor used to satirize the connections of crime fiction

• Contrast; parking offenses vs murder

The teddy bear’s picnic by William Trevor

Newly married couple attending a teddy bears picnic

Emotional repression and alienation, Generational and psychological disconnect, Social absurdity and routine

Edwin; conventional, passive, emotionally inexpressive, sociopath, somewhat infantilised

Deborah; indifferent, immature, disengaged

• Symbolism the teddy bear as emotional stasis, nostalgia, infantilisation, the failed relationship

• Irony an innocent event becomes deadly, subtle critique of routine and social norms

• Dialogue clipped restrained emotionally hollow

• Sentence structure dry subdued reflecting edwin’s inner stagnation

• Tone is understated bleakly comic

Mothers Help by Ruth Rendell

A young and inexperienced girl works as a mothers help for a wealthy family

Maternal anxiety, psychological control, power imbalance, lie and deceit, hidden danger in ordinary life

Charlotte: Victim timid

Nell: Innocent naive

Ivan: Manipulative sociopathic lacks remorse

• Parallelism of repeated structure before and after key events (cycle)

• Foreshadowing early incidents hint at later tragedy

• Omniscient narrator gives deeper insight into character psychology

• Irony ‘safe’ home becomes dangerous