Unit 1

GRAMMAR V OCA B UL A R Y TEXTS

O B J E CTI V E
F O CUS F OCUS
Paper 2 – Composition Vince Vince Short Stories
QUESTION 2 Unit 3 Places The Fall of the House of Usher
Narrative Parts of the The Hidden Box (IGCSE)
House

V OC ABUL ARY F OC US
Vince – Vocabulary Unit 4
Work on the activities on Unit 4. Use the dictionary if you need.

Parts of a House

Which other landforms do you know? Write them in the box.

Work on Padlet.

Look for pictures of two

completely different houses
online.

Upload them on Padlet with

your name and a description
of each house.

The description must be

accurate, detailed and about
60-word long. Make sure you
vary the structure of your
sentences and avoid boring
lists at all costs.

Use all the classroom material

and the dictionary if you need.
G RAMMAR F OC US
Past Time – Vince Unit 3 and 4

S I M P LE P A ST P A ST C ONT IN UOUS P A ST P ER FE CT

Completed actions. Actions in progress, often “The past in the past”. It’s
Habits & states in the past. interrupted. used to jump in time to an
In those days I liked reading Background description in action that happened
under the trees, so I went to narrative. before the ones that are
the park every day. I entered the office and looked narrated.
Doesn’t express annoyance. around. Most people were working By the time I got to the
It’s most commonly used to at their desks, but Jane was staring station, the train had
describe a sequence of events out of the window. already left.
in the order they occurred. Changing states It often occurs in
The train left 5 mins before I One of the headlights was gradually Reported Speech
got to the train station. falling off and the engine was
Definite time in the past. making more and more noise.
I bought a new car last week. To express annoyance.

U SE D TO W OUL D

It implies a contrast with the present It is used to describe a habitual activity.

time. He would buy me flowers and take me out dancing.
I ed o didn e o go imming More common in written language.
Used to describe states. It often occurs in reminiscences (experiences you
I ed o hink o like o be remember)

U N FUL FI L L E D E VE NT S
Used to events intended to take place, but which did not happen.
I was going to phone, but I forgot. I was about to do it, but I got distracted with something else.

P R E SE NT P E R FE CT P R E SE NT P ER FE CT C ON TI N UO US

An incomplete activity. I e been cleaning b I

Indefinite time in the past. I have bought ha en fini hed
a new car. To emphasize the duration of the activity.
Event have a result in the present. I e To show the repetition of the action. I e been aking
ained m ankle ha h I m lim ing
lessons.
To describe a state that still lasts. I e
To describe a state that lasts up to that moment. I e
lived in Buenos Aires all my life.
been waiting for you!

Work on Vince Unit 3.

 N ARRATIVE W RITING

In paper 2 (Writing) section 2 you are given four titles, two descriptive and two narrative. You must
choose one title and write about 350-450 words.

What to consider

Your narrative must follow a Narrative Arc or Plot Line:

you need a clear beginning, middle and end. This will Make it believable and realistic.
give your story a sense of direction; your story must Describing the weather helps a lot.
lead somewhere. The description of the setting can also
Intro (Exposition): Establish characters and setting. create a sense of character. E. g. If the room
Rising Action: think carefully about the events that will is milimetrically organised then the reader
lead to the climax. can infer something about the owner of the
Falling Action: The conflict may be resolved or not place.
depending on your confidence as a writer.

Structure Setting

Tips

Style Characters

Avoid clichés. If you want to use similes, You want your characters to be fully rounded:
don’t say “your eyes are like the stars”. consider their physicality, what they are
Use direct speech, but be wise! Use it wearing, how they speak and how they
sparely so your narrative doesn’t become a interact with others in your story.
script. Moreover, your character should Be smart: don’t introduce or characters!
say things that will elevate your characters are enough.
characterization and, of course, make sure
you punctuate it properly. Write from personal experience and spice it
Choose your words carefully: Ways of…, up with a bit of imagination.
adverbs, adjectives, specific nouns… Extra Avoid end-of-the-world narratives and topics
that you might not control (monsters, alien
invasions, zombies…)
Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar are key!
 How to Punctuate Direct Speech1

Introduction
In Direct speech punctuation is used to separate spoken words, or dialogue, from the rest of a story.
The words spoken by a character sit inside speech marks (a.k.a. inverted commas or quotation
marks):

Remember to open – and close – the speech marks at the start – and end – of the direct speech.

New Speaker, new line

Direct speech must be carefully structured to help the reader follow the conversation. Every time
thre is a new speaker in the conversation, a new line is used. Observe that each new section of the
dialogue is like a new paragraph, so each new line is also indented and it starts with a capital letter:

A reporting clause after the direct speech tells the reader who is speaking. The line above misses the
reporting clause because the reader can see that Molly is replying to George, so it’s fine to drop the
reporting clauses.

Punctuation inside Speech Marks

Each section of direct speech should end with a punctuation mark. If there is no reporting clause then
this is likely to be a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark. Notice that these punctuation
marks are included inside the speech marks.

If there is a reporting clause, then there is often a comma before the final speech marks.

There is usually a full stop after the reporting clause. This may come later if the sentence continues.

1Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zr6bxyc/articles/zhqh92p
Moving the Reporting Clause
Sometimes the reporting clause is added in the middle of the direct speech:

In these examples the punctuation still goes inside the speech marks of the first section.
A punctuation mark is then used after the reporting clause, before the next set of speech marks. If
you’ve put the reporting clause in the middle of a sentence of speech then this should be a comma.
If it’s between two sentences of speech then it should be a full stop. You can see both examples
above.
The second section of direct speech ends with the punctuation mark inside the speech marks.
 2

Read the following passage carefully, and then answer all the questions.

In this passage the narrator returns to an old house in which he hid something several years before.
He thinks that the house is empty and deserted.

THE HIDDEN BOX

I opened the iron gate and walked as softly as I could up the weed-tufted gravel drive. My
mind was strangely empty. I felt no glow of pleasure and was unexcited at the prospect of
becoming rich. I was occupied only with the mechanical task of finding a black box.

The front door was closed and set far back in a very deep porch. The wind and rain had
whipped a coating of gritty dust against the panels and deep into the crack where the door 5
opened, showing that it had been shut for years. Standing on a derelict flower-bed, I tried to
push open the first window on the left. It yielded to my strength, raspingly and stubbornly. I
clambered through the opening and found myself, not at once in a room, but crawling along
the deepest window-ledge I had ever seen. After I had jumped noisily down upon the floor, I
looked up and the open window seemed very far away and much too small to have admitted 10
me.

The room where I found myself was thick with dust, musty and empty of all furniture. Spiders
had erected great stretchings of their webs about the fireplace. I made my way quickly to the
hall, threw open the door of the room where the box was and paused on the threshold. It
was a dark morning and the weather had stained the windows with blears of grey wash 15
which kept the brightest part of the weak light from coming in. The far corner of the room
was a blur of shadow. I had a sudden urge to have done with my task and be out of this
house forever. I walked across the bare boards, knelt down in the corner and passed my
hands about the floor in search of the loose board. To my surprise I found it easily. It was
about two feet in length and rocked hollowly under my hand. I lifted it up, laid it aside and 20
struck a match. I saw a black metal cash-box nestling dimly in the hole. I put my hand down
and crooked a finger into the loose reclining handle, but the match suddenly flickered and
went out and the handle of the box, which I had lifted up about an inch, slid heavily off my
finger. Without stopping to light another match, I thrust my hand into the opening and, just
when it should be closing about the box, something happened. 25

I cannot hope to describe what it was but it had frightened me very much. It was some
change which came upon me or upon the room, indescribably subtle, yet momentous. It was
as if the daylight had changed with unnatural suddenness, as if the temperature had altered
greatly in an instant or as if the air had become twice as rare or twice as dense as it had
been in the twinkling of an eye. Perhaps all of these, or other things, happened together, for 30
all my senses were bewildered all at once and could give me no explanation. The fingers of
my right hand, thrust in the opening in the floor, had closed mechanically, found nothing at
all, and came up again empty. The box had gone!

I heard a cough behind me, soft and natural, yet more disturbing than any sound that could
ever come upon the human ear. That I did not die of fright was due, I think, to two things: the 35
fact that my senses were already disarranged and able to interpret to me only gradually
what they had perceived, and also the fact that the utterance of the cough seemed to bring
with it some more awful alteration in everything. It was as if the universe stood still for an
instant, suspending the planets in their courses. I collapsed weakly from my kneeling
backwards into a limp sitting-down position upon the floor. Sweat broke out on my brow and 40
my eyes remained open for a long time without a wink, glazed and almost sightless.

In the darkest corner of the room, near the window, a man was sitting in a chair, eyeing me
with a mild but unwavering interest.

© UCLES 2006 0500/01/O/N/06

Answer these questions

Writing exercise – Planning your story

Imagine you are the man who is sitting watching from the corner of the room. Write a planning for
your story:
Explain why you are there.
Describe what you have seen and heard.
Explain what happens after the person searching for the box sees you.

Use the charts on the next page to brainstorm, organize your ideas and choose key vocabulary. You
don’t need to write the story, just the planning.
 Planning Chart

T ASK I DE AS (ONLY GUIDELINES )

Personal Info: Name? Age? Social background? Way of

speaking? Cleanliness? Any ticks? Some peculiarity?
“you are the man” Relationship with other character: Do you know him? Who is
he to you? Friend? Enemy? What are your feelings towards
him? How long since the last time you have met?
“who is sitting Where are you sitting on? Chair? Stool? …
watching from the On which of the 4 corners? Are there other objects around G I VE N
corner of the you? What’s the distance between you and the other C I R C U M S T A N C ES
room.” person?
What’s your purpose? How did you get in? Did you know
“why you are about the box and its contents? Were you expecting him to
there” come? What were you doing before he arrived? How were
you feeling?
Vocabulary
Seen: What relevant object/element? Specific vocabulary to
what you have
describe it. Colour? Shape? Shadow? Movement? Texture? …
seen and heard.
Heard: What? Specific vocabulary to describe it. Where does
the sound come from? What effect does it have on you? C I R C U M S T A N C ES
AT PLAY
Action
what happens after
These events leading to the climax will depend on the
the person
relationship between these characters, on their personality,
searching for the
their purpose, the contents of the box and the secrets they
box sees you.
may have

C I R C U M S T AN C E S A T P L A Y
M A K E Y O U R C HO I C E S .
O R G A N I S E T HE M I N
P A R A GR AP HS .
HAND IN YOUR PLANNING.
Writing exercise
Read the following poem and follow the instructions below.

Home
by Madison Julius Cawein

I dream again I’m in the lane Against my horse’s galloping hoof;

That leads me home through night and rain; And if the old gate, with its weight and chain,
Again the fence I see and, dense, Should creak, she‘ll think it just the wind and
The garden, wet and sweet of sense; rain.
Then mother’s window, with its starry line
Of light, o’ergrown with rose and trumpet Along I‘ll steal, with cautious heel,
vine. And at the lamplit window kneel:
And there she ‘ll sit and rock and knit,
What was ‘t I heard? Her voice? A bird? While on her face the light will flit,
Singing? Or was ‘t the rain that stirred As I have seen her, many a night and day,
The dripping leaves and draining eaves Dreaming of home that is so far away.
Of shed and barn, one scarce perceives
Past garden-beds where oldtime flowers hang Upon the pane, dim, blurred with rain,
wet I‘ll knock and call out, ‘Home again!’
Pale phlox and candytuft and mignonette. And at a stride fling warm and wide
The door and catch her to my side
The hour is late. I cannot wait. Mother! as once I clasped her when a boy,
Quick. Let me hurry to the gate! Sobbing my heart out on her breast for joy!
Upon the roof the rain is proof

V OC ABUL ARY - F L OWE RS

Trumpet vine Phlox Candytuft Mignonette

Discuss:
What’s the poem about?
What’s the meaning of “along I’ll steal”?
In pairs imagine:
The setting
How do you imagine the house and its surroundings?
What’s the time period of the poem?
What’s the season?
What’s the mother’s room like?

Lift key words from the poem, use synonyms where you can and include vocabulary of your own.
Make a word cloud in your folder / notebook.

The Mother
How old is she? How many children did she have? Is her husband alive? What does he do? How is
he? If he is not alive, what happened to him? What’s the family’s financial situation? What does she
feel about her missing son? Was she to blame for him leaving the house? Does she regret it? Does
she even remember him? How does she react when she sees him?

The Son
How old is he now? How old was he when he left the house? Why did he leave? Did he leave on his
own accord? Did he say goodbye before leaving? What did he experience as he was away? Does he
regret leaving? How is the house different from what he remembers?

Draw the characters (or look for pictures online)

and write key information about them like in the
example

Imagine you are the mother of the poetic voice and

your son is actually back home. Write an
introduction to a story. In your introduction you
must:

Write powerful opening sentence (hook) to

engage the reader.
Introduce the mother.
Establish place, time and given circumstances.
Write a powerful closing sentence to keep the
reading wanting more. The final line might be related to the moment mother and son finally meet.
Thus, the reader would expect the conflict to begin in the next paragraph.