Introduction
In today's lesson we are going to look at an adventure story by Jack Heath, 300 Minutes of Danger. It is a thrilling and suspense filled novel. Each chapter is a short story where the main character faces a life and death situation. George is trapped in a falling aeroplane with no engine and no pilot. Milla is covered with radioactive waste and her hazard suit is running out of air. Otto is in the darkest depths of the ocean, where something hungry is circling . . . 10 dangerous situations. 10 brave kids. 30 minutes to escape.
We are going to read as much of the first chapter as we can during our library lesson. If you get hooked you'll have to borrow the book from our library!! We have more than one copy. |
While Reading Chapter 1 ...
As the story is being read, consider the role of the dialogue. There is only conversation in the first half of the chapter.
How does the dialogue between the pilot and George help to build suspense?
How does the dialogue make the situation seem more real?
George asks quite a lot of questions through his dialogue? What effect does this have? Do you feel panic in these questions? Do we get a greater sense of his fear??
How does the dialogue between the pilot and George help to build suspense?
How does the dialogue make the situation seem more real?
George asks quite a lot of questions through his dialogue? What effect does this have? Do you feel panic in these questions? Do we get a greater sense of his fear??
Comparing two pieces of text
Here are two versions of the same story. One has direct speech and one has in-direct speech. Which is the most effective and why?
Version 1
The pilot was already grabbing a tattered map and a ruler. George could make out a few names of cities, or maybe provinces - Kyshtym, Kasli, Argayash. The pilot marked their current co-ordinates. A few seconds later he did it again. The he used the two points to extrapolate, drawing a line along the ruler to -
'Oh no,' he muttered. His face had gone even paler than before. 'No, no!' 'What is it?' George demanded. The pilot flicked a few switches, got out of his chair and started moving to the back of the plane. 'What are we going to hit?' George demanded again. 'Another Mountain?' 'Much worse,' the pilot said. 'We're going to have to evacuate.' 'Evacuate? As in -' The pilot was already pulling on a backpack marked PARACHUTE. George's physics may not have been good, but he was on top of his class in French. Paracete chute meant protect from falling. 'We're going to jump out of the plane?' George felt dizzy. 'Trust me,' the pilot said. 'It's better than the alternative.' |
Version 2
The pilot was already grabbing a tattered map and a ruler. George could make out a few names of cities, or maybe provinces - Kyshtym, Kasli, Argayash. The pilot marked their current co-ordinates. A few seconds later he did it again. The he used the two points to extrapolate, drawing a line along the ruler to -
The pilot couldn't belive what he saw and his face went even paler than before. George wanted to know what it was. The pilot flicked a few switches, got out of his chair and started moving to the back of the plane. George wanted to know what they were going to hit, thinking that perhaps it was a mountain. The pilot said that it was worse than he thought and that they would have to evacuate. George wanted to know more but the pilot was already pulling on a backpack marked PARACHUTE. George's physics may not have been good, but he was on top of his class in French. Paracete chute meant protect from falling. George felt dizzy at the thought of jumping out of the plane. However the pilot said that George needed to trust him because it was better than the alternative. |