A Christmas Dinner by Charles Dickens
Spot the words in the passage and write your own sentences. See Page 56.
- To bestow – to present as a gift; confer; to dispose of
- Of the gifts that once bestowed on hollow friends
WORDS AND TECHNIQUES
Dickens uses a lot of alliteration. Using words such as “doleful” and “dismal” write your own sentence with alliteration.
Note, too, the amazing array of sentence styles and structures:
- Negative constructions; the beginning of the passage and opposites: “Who can be insensible to the Christmas good cheer”. He would be a misanthrope indeed if one did not open one’s heart to the festivities etc. p 52
- There is a lot of tripling (3 x same grammar) : “Petty jealousies are forgotten; social feelings are awakened; … finish the sentence with the same clause, ie. “animosities are buried”. P, 52
- Dickens also uses a lot of nominals. Underline some nominals. Write your own sentences with nominals: “All is kindness and benevolence”. (doing good for others) (adjective; kind; benevolent) “Withheld by false notions of pride and self-dignity”; p, 55
- Note the section that has a lot of (present tense) verbs/activities; write a similar passage with a lot of activity and excitement. Use some of these sentence styles. (Uncle George – long sentence with present tense … winks.. suffers, exhilarates, tells, jokes, starts, carves, takes – and note too the dialogue along the way) p 55
- Note the dashes: Then the desert! — and the wine! — and the fun! P. 55
- Note the metaphor: Bitter feelings melting away like the half formed sun p. 54
- Write a story about Christmas – include a game; a story about grandma/grandpa, include a reference to someone who has not been for a while/in the bad books. The visit of poor aunt Margaret – we need to be nice to her and bury the ill will . Pleasant surprise with Aunt Marg’s husband
HOMEWORK
Write a similar Christmas or birthday story. Include a visit from a lost friend who was shunned by the family
Use a variety of sentences styles and constructions (as above). For example, you may refer to a birthday party or a school excursion and note some negatives.
- Include the dog’s excitement and lots of activity.
- Use as many of the new words as you can.
- We want to copy Dickens’ sentence styles and his techniques
- Alliteration; symbols; long sentence s- present tense verbs – to show action; tripling
Workshop one of your own creative writing pieces. Explore and play with sentence styles.