Controlled Assessment Task:

Place a character from a literary text you have read into a new piece of your own writing.

Text: “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens

Read chapter 1 and then write your imagined next chapter. You can select from: Magwitch or Pip

Magwitch is a fearsome criminal, a fugitive from a prison ship when he meets Pip on the marshes one Christmas Eve.

Pip, an orphan is being raised by his sister and her husband Joe in the marshes of Kent. Pip dreams of following in Joe’s footsteps as a blacksmith. After a summons to meet Miss Havisham and her daughter Estella, Pip’s horizons open up and he starts to imagine a different future for himself.

1.Location and weather2.Your character [Pip]3.Other character

[Magwitch] and dialogue4.Something happens5.Realisation

Structure

Planning ideas

2. Pip: 3. Magwitch:

1. Location: 1. Weather:

4. What happens?: 5. Realisation/reflection/learning?:

3. Dialogue topic:

The marshes were just a long black horizontal line then; and the river was just another horizontal line, not nearly so broad nor yet so black; and the sky was just a row of long angry red lines and dense black lines intermixed. On the edge of the river I could faintly make out the only two black things in all the prospect that seemed to be standing upright; one of these was the beacon by which the sailors steered,—like an unhooped cask upon a pole,—an ugly thing when you were near it; the other, a gibbet, with some chains hanging to it which had once held a pirate.

Section 1: Describe location: Dickens in “Great Expectations”

Section 1:Describe weather: Dickens using the weather to create mood and atmosphere in another novel

Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits and

meadows; fog down the river, where it rolls defiled among the tiers of

shipping and the waterside pollutions of a great (and dirty) city. Fog on

the Essex marshes, fog on the Kentish heights. Fog creeping into the

cabooses of collier-brigs; fog lying out on the yards and hovering in the

rigging of great ships; fog drooping on the gunwales of barges and

small boats. Fog in the eyes and throats of ancient Greenwich

pensioners, wheezing by the firesides of their wards; fog in the stem

and bowl of the afternoon pipe of the wrathful skipper, down in his

close cabin; fog cruelly pinching the toes and fingers of his shivering

little 'prentice boy on deck.

Section 2: Character 1

Face shape and bone structure

Eyes and eyebrows

Nose, mouth

Body shape, posture and clothing

Hair – colour, length, style, condition

Clothing and items

Section 2: Character 2

Face shape and bone structure

Eyes and eyebrows

Nose, mouth

Body shape, posture and clothing

Hair – colour, length, style, condition

Clothing and items

Section 2: Character

Agatha had a narrow, oblong face with angular cheekbones and a pointed chin. Her slit-like eyes were a clouded hazel, and her thinly plucked eyebrows were shaped into a deceivingly perfect arch that followed the slight curve of her eye. A long nose hooked over continually pursed lips, which were painted a bright red in an unsuccessful effort to mask their natural thinness. Bleached blonde hair, made thin from too many years of hair dye, hung straight down into an angular cut at her jaw. The sharp features of Agatha's face were merely a reflection of her entire body structure, and everything—from her skeletal arms to her paper-thin waste—screamed of unnatural skinniness. She walked in long strides, her shoulders back and face held forward, wearing tall stiletto heels and a bold leopard-print mini-dress.

Section 3: Dialogue

1. Who talks first?Why?What is the response?Facial expression / body language / gesture/ prop/movement?

2. Remember to use specific word-tags. Do not overuse said

Alternatives include: whispered – answered – muttered – stuttered – declared – snapped – shouted – barked – bellowed – screamed. Do you have any of your own alternatives?

Section 4: Something happens

What is going to happen between the two characters? Does the dialogue link/trigger this event?

Remember to use short, simple sentences for to emphasise the action in this section as well as other varied sentences too.

Ways of Ending

Cliffhanger:Leave a character

in jeopardy where they

wonder/question how they will

survive/escape/move on, etc

Echo:Repeat image, colour, weather or sentence

from the opening and add a change to it.

Keyhole/ClueSuggest next development without giving

any detail. Possibly

ending in a question

?Extreme Close-up:End with a focused

description of something to show emphasis

Section 5: Realisation point

bolt bounce careen dart dash dive drop plummet propel rush race ram rip

scampershovespeedspinspringsprintstrideswerveswoopzipstrayswayscramble

amblecrawlcreepdragdriftdroopheaveedgeloiterlumberplodsaunterslink

Above all, after all, indeed, as a matter of fact, the main issue is, chiefly, especially, actually, the most significant, the chief characteristic, the major point, the most necessary, extremely, to emphasize, to highlight, to stress, by all means, undoubtedly, more importantly, most important of all, most of all, moreover, furthermore, significantly, without a doubt, certainly, to be sure, surely, absolutely, obviously, more and more, of major interest, to culminate, in truth, the climax of, to add to that, without question, unquestionably, as a result, probability

Emphasis Discourse markers for emphasis

Frankly, he/ sheHonestly, he/ sheShe/he thought,He/ She supposed, After all, No doubt,He was/ she was afraid, Actually, As a matter of fact, To tell the truth, Unfortunately, She/ he believed,

To express

attitude: